156 TROPIC DAYS 



steep emerging from an entanglement of jungle on a 

 high and open ridge which commanded an unimpeded 

 view to the west — a scene of theatrical clarity with a 

 single theatrical smear. From a hollow far below 

 slothful smoke filtered through the matted, sombre, 

 dew-bespangled foliage, rose a few feet, and drifted 

 abruptly, dissolving from diaphanous blue to nothing- 

 ness. The resonant whooping of a swamp pheasant, 

 antiphonal to a bell- voiced, crimson-crowned fruit 

 pigeon in a giant fig-tree, the screeches of a sulphur- 

 crested cockatoo as it tumbled in the air, evading the 

 swoops of a grey goshawk, materialised the peace and 

 the conflicts of a scene upon which no man had made 

 mark . 



The phantom trail of smoke betrayed the resting- 

 place of the fugitives, though all tracks on the uneasy 

 earth had failed. Odours of the jungle soothed my 

 mind, contradicted the transaction of any unholy orgy, 

 and gave assurance that the men had unravelled Soosic's 

 wanderings until she had begun to ascend the mountain, 

 and that, being then on strange and terrifying ground, 

 they had abandoned the search, returning to familiar 

 level countr}' free from the excursions of dreaded spirits. 



With light hearts we descended the ridge, and, 

 plunging again into the dimness of the jungle, struck 

 as direct a route as possible for the smoke-revealed 

 camp. Crossing a narrow creek, we peered silently 

 through the screen of ferns and banana plants, where 

 in a secluded glade were the wanderers in happy festival. 



Could any scene approach nearer the ideal ? Men, 

 women and children, mostly unclad, talking and laugh- 

 ing in modulated tones, while amusing themselves 

 with trivial occupations and eating convenient food 

 in the depths of the jungle, sanctified by distance and 

 scene and sound ! Peace smiled, propriety approved. 



