DANCING ON THE EQUATOR 



The whole company then joined in the final chorus: 



''When the rain comes 

 We plant trees 

 We plant trees." 



They had remembered these improvised songs, and 

 sang them with their hearts in a way that delighted me. 

 This night, as the evening proceeded, the dancing be- 

 came livelier and the excitement increased, and finally 

 about midnight, the evening's entertainment ended in 

 a grand finale. Torches were kindled from the dying 

 embers of the fires, and the whole throng began to dis- 

 perse, each man escorting his favourite partner to her 

 home. 



Sitting in my camp, it was a picturesque sight to 

 watch the many little parties breaking up to wend their 

 ways in single file, carrying lighted torches along the 

 winding trains. As the moon dipped behind the distant 

 hills, again the final chorus was taken up and echoed 

 across the valleys: 



"When the rain comes 

 We plant trees. 

 We plant trees" 



When the last string of flame had disappeared, once 

 again all was silent save for the night's weird calls and 

 the forest sounds. But in my mind still rang the memory 



i6i 



