JUNGLE FIRE. 147 



distilled it becomes " arrack," and by boiling a sugar 

 is obtained, called "jaggary." 



After a very uncomfortable night, owing to the 

 want of mosquito curtains, and an early cup of tea 

 with some delicious chupatties, made of rice and cocoa- 

 nut milk, we returned on the following morning by a 

 longer but easier route, across many a field now almost 

 bare, as the annual fires during the hot month of May 

 liad burnt off every blade of grass. These conflagra- 

 tions, the deliberate act of the natives to obtain a fresh 

 crop of herbage for the cattle, are a grand sight as they 

 rage along at considerable speed, covering a large 

 ^expanse of ground, but they are dangerous to cattle, 

 .and it requires the assistance of all hands to prevent 

 the fire approaching the bungalow and the coffee 

 gardens. The coolies extinguish or beat it out with 

 long palm branches. 



It is also at this period that the stillness of a piping 

 hot day is frequently broken into by a tremendous 

 crash in the depth of the forest, indicating the sudden 

 ooUapse of some gigantic tree, long decayed to the 

 core, breaking down in the midst of the dense growth 

 around it. There is something very solemn in this 

 last outburst of nature's decrees ; the very air seems 

 suddenly hushed, the birds stop their song, and all 



living things seem awed by it. 



L 2 



