A Thousand Miles in a Machilla 



was noticeable amongst them ; there was a run 

 certainly on the quinine supply, and instead of " hard 

 stomach " the opposite prevailed, and opium pills 

 were in request ; but this I think was as much due to 

 the fruit country we were entering as to the rain. 

 At the same time we could not help feeling extremely 

 sorry for the discomfort the men had to put up 

 with; and though personally I think in a hot climate 

 the absence of much clothing is on the whole 

 beneficial, the sight of their shivering forms, clad 

 only in calico rags, with perhaps a blanket over their 

 shoulders, was most pathetic. The fact, however, 

 that we were travelling in a forest country proved 

 of benefit to them, for wood was always to hand. 



The men were wonderfully expert at building 

 themselves shelters. The moment we arrived at 

 our journey's end, all those who were not required 

 for the various duties connected with our camp, 

 scattered among the trees, some looking for poles 

 for uprights, others cutting and collecting leafy 

 branches, or gathering long grass for thatching, 

 the sound of the little wood-axes they carried 

 reverberating from every direction. 



Soon a row of comfortable looking huts would 

 spring up as if by magic, from the tops of which 

 smoke was not long in appearing. These shelters, 

 which were built on exactly the same principle as a 

 native hut, had of course no chimneys ; and as about 

 ten men lived in each, and in wet weather did all 

 their cooking there, the atmosphere inside can 

 be better imagined than described, for we never 

 investigated one ourselves. Notwithstanding these 



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