GIANT SPIDERS' WEBS 



clearing where I decided to camp. The camels 

 arrived very shortly after, as they had not rested long 

 at midday ; my tent was soon up, and I was obliged 

 to be content with a frugal meal of rice and tea, for I 

 had been unable to shoot any game during the day. 

 The men were very tired and, instead of the usual 

 singing and talking, they were silent after their 

 dinner and were soon asleep. At eight I went my 

 rounds ; all was quiet, the camels chewing the cud in 

 a great semicircle behind my tent, the dim figures of 

 the sleeping men lying around the fires and the two 

 sentries pacing up and down, the light from the new 

 moon shining on their fixed bayonets ; all around was 

 the dense bush, broken only by the yak trees whose 

 giant forms rose here and there above it, their whitish 

 trunks oleamino- like silver in the moonlii^ht. All 

 day long I had seen no living thing except a few 

 lizards, snakes and ants ; that night, at any rate, we 

 were the only human beings in that huge wilderness. 



The next morning's march was through a country 

 very similar to that which we had passed the day 

 before, except for the thorn scrub, which was more 

 than usually dense, so that I foresaw trouble for the 

 camels. Moreover there were thousands of giant 

 spiders' webs, almost invisible in the early morning 

 light, which kept brushing across my face in a most 

 irritating manner as I rode along, so I decided to 

 walk, especially as I was somewhat saddle - sore 

 after the long march of the previous day, and had not 

 yet recovered from my illness. We marched on at 

 a very good pace, the sun rose a dull smoke-coloured 

 disc seen through the thick mist, and the heat grew ; 

 but at 7.30 a great surprise was in store for me, for 

 as we emerged from the forest for a moment, I saw a 



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