290 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



tribe, is very difficult to ascend. Round his an- 

 cles, and under the soles of his feet, the climber 

 fixes a rope ^ his feet, thus bound together, he 

 places against the stem, and while he holds on 

 steadily with his hands, he gently draws up his 

 feet. He thus moves one hand forward and then 

 the other hand, and afterwards again draws up 

 his feet. In this manner he slowly reaches the 

 top of the tree, where he makes fast a rope, the 

 end of it being tied to the middle of a short slick 

 on which he seats himself and performs his work ; 

 drawing up whatever he wants from below, by 

 means of a line hanging from his girdle. When he 

 has covered all the fruit, he unties his seat, secures 

 it round his neck, and swings the tree backwards 

 and forwards, till he can reach another tree, 

 ipon which he throws himself, and again makes 

 fast his seat. In this way he swings from tree 

 to tree, and covers or cuts the fruit in the 

 whole garden without once descending to the 

 ground. 



19th. I hear such quantities of amusing 

 things from this East Indian friend of my uncle's, 

 that I scarcely know how to select from them. 

 I wish you were here to listen to his adventures 

 and to see his beautiful drawings. He lent me 

 a sketch of the famous talipot tree of Ceylon, 

 which I have been trying to copy. What a mag- 

 nificent object it appears, crowned at the top by 



