104 JUNGLE PEACE 



white ants. Two antithetical black maids at- 

 tended noisily but skilfully to all my wants. At 

 night, cats and frogs divided the vocal watches, 

 and a patient dog never tired of rolling the 

 garbage-can downstairs past the Supreme Court 

 to the first floor. I thought of this at first as 

 some strange canine rite, a thing which Alice 

 could have explained with ease, or which to 

 Seumas and to Slith would have appeared rea- 

 sonable and fitting. I used to wait for it before 

 I went to sleep, knowing that comparative si- 

 lence would follow. I discovered later that this 

 intelligent dog had learned that, by nudging 

 the can off the top step, the cover would become 

 dislodged at about the level of the Supreme 

 Court, and from there to the government offices 

 he could spend a night of gastronomic joy, 

 gradually descending to the level of the entrance. 

 A kind planter put me up at the club, the 

 usual colonial institution where one may play 

 bridge or billiards, drink swizzles, or read war 

 telegrams " delayed in transit." These were 

 the usual things to do, daily duties, timed almost 

 regularly by the kiskadees' frantic farewell to 

 the day or the dodging of the first vampire 

 among the electric-light bulbs. But in this ex- 



