A TROPICAL JUNGLE. 97 



osity. We stopped and talked to them a little, 

 chaffed the pretty girls they were really pretty 

 and marched on. 



About noon our elegant guide stopped, struck 

 an attitude, and pointed with his silver-headed 

 rattan cane. 



" This," said he, " is where we must camp." 



We marched through a little village. A 

 family party sat beneath the veranda of a fine 

 building a very old wrinkled couple ; two 

 stalwart beautiful youths ; a young mother 

 suckling her baby ; two young girls ; and eight 

 or ten miscellaneous and naked youngsters. As 

 the rest of the village appeared to be empty, I 

 imagined this to be the caretaker's family, and 

 the youngsters to belong to others. We stopped 

 and spoke, were answered cheerfully, suggested 

 that we might like to buy chickens, and offered 

 a price. Instantly with a whoop of joy the lot 

 of them were afoot. The fowl waited for no 

 further intimations of troublous times, but 

 fled squawking. They had been there before. 

 So had our hosts ; for inside a minute they had 

 returned, each with a chicken and a broad grin. 



After due payment we proceeded on a few 

 hundred yards, and pitched camp beneath two 

 huge mango trees. 



