266 IN A LOG CAMP 



foot, but treacherously turning over or col- 

 lapsing on being touched, with a layer over 

 all of dead branches, thus providing impene- 

 trable retreats for the shy porcupine and the 

 wary fox, and delightful thickets for the 

 birds, but a woe and a weariness to the hu- 

 man invader. 



In some places where the needs of the few 

 human dwellers (there were six permanent 

 residents) had made a so-called path, there 

 was a particularly dangerous trap for the 

 unwary. The earth being worn away by 

 their feet, left uncovered sundry tough small 

 roots, the size and strength of whipcord, 

 which, being held at both ends, made a snare, 

 in which to catch a careless foot was to fall 

 headlong, lucky, indeed, to escape serious 

 hurt. Such was the stern reality of the pic- 

 ture so inviting from the piazza, and after 

 a few disastrous attempts to penetrate the 

 jungle so tantalizingly spread out before me, 

 I was fain to content myself with what I could 

 see from the outside. 



There were no houses, I said, except the 

 three mentioned, but soon was revealed to 

 me a fourth, more interesting than all the 



