SAVAGES IX THE [UNGLES OF HOANG HO. 



37 



and the rippling of the waters in a brook 

 before me. 



Almost involuntarily and with haste, 

 I leaped to the body of a dendron and 

 clung to the spreading arms above. 

 Thus secure, I looked down on four sav- 

 ages, young' and lightly clad, who, car- 

 rying canoes above their heads, rushed 

 out of the thicket on the opposite bank 

 of the stream. 



Judging from the outlandish language, 

 which was mingled with their fiendish 

 yells, as the young savages hurried from 

 different directions to wdiat seemed to be 

 a point of rendezvous, I was not a little 



made a pleasing picture, as they stood 

 in the shallow water at the opposite side 

 of the stream. The canoes above their 

 heads pointed upward; the tangled 

 shrubbery formed a beautiful back- 

 ground, while, to me, in my perch in the 

 dendron, the entire scene was reflected in 

 trembling flashes, as the water rose and 

 fell in broken ripples at their feet. 



They seemed oblivious of the whole 

 world, except of that small part contain- 

 ing themselves and their canoes. With 

 a cry of raucous stridor, one dropped 

 his boat and fell beside it on his knees. 

 As the others clustered about him, with 



THE "SAVAGES" READY TO MIGRATE WITH THEIR BELONGINGS. 

 "They made a pleasing picture, as they stood in the shallow water at the opposite side of the 

 stream. The canoes above their heads pointed upward : the tangled shrubbery formed a 

 beautiful background." 



a repetition of his bellowing, the air to 

 me appeared to acquire a peculiar con- 

 dition, by which I was enabled to see to 

 the bottom of the stream, and to hear 

 delicate vibrations wdiich were appar- 

 ently non-existent to the wild creatures 

 on the bank. 



Within the water, advancing over the 

 sand, was the most horrible monster 

 that my eye had ever seen, although I 

 had been using the microscope and its 

 accessories for manv vears. With a 



surprised to observe, that they could 

 speak many words not wholly familiar 

 to me, yet not entirely unknown. I re- 

 tained a recollection of certain parts of 

 some peculiar intonations, and of certain 

 inarticulate gurglings, that I myself had 

 often uttered in my own youthful days. 

 Could these creatures be what are gen- 

 erally known as boys? They appeared 

 to be such, and I must admit that, in 

 spite of the horrible sounds that contin- 

 ued to issue from their breasts, they 



