292 JUNGLE PEACE 



all the years, it had seen no change wrought 

 beneath it. The animal trail was trod now and 

 then by Indian hunters, and lately we had passed 

 several times. The sound of our guns was less 

 than the crashing fall of an occasional forest 

 tree. Now, with no leaf moved by the air, with 

 only the two of us squatting in the moonlight 

 for audience, the last cell had given way. The 

 sap could no longer fight the decay which had 

 entered its heart; and at the appointed moment, 

 the moment set by the culmination of a greater 

 nexus of forces than our human mind could ever 

 hope to grasp, the last fiber parted and the mas- 

 sive growth fell. 



In the last few minutes, as it hung suspended, 

 gracefully spiraled in the moonlight, it had 

 seemed as perfect as the new-sprouted moras at 

 my feet. As I slowly walked out of the jungle 

 I saw in this the explanation of the simile of 

 artificial scenery, of all the strange magic which 

 had come to me as I entered. The alchemy of 

 moonlight turned all the jungle to perfect 

 growth, growth at rest. In the silvery light 

 was no trace of gnawing worm, of ravening 

 ant, or corroding fungus. The jungle was re- 

 juvenated and made a place more wonderful 



