88 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



tute of herbage, almost as the Sahara. It is now one 

 sheet of verdure. 



But particular instances will make the change more 

 fully to be realized. There was one piece of ground 

 in the compound which, without any exaggeration, was 

 as absolutely bare, dry, and hard as the high-road. On 

 this piece of land I several times made excavations, 

 and although I looked carefully, I could never detect 

 in the soil that was upturned the slightest appearance 

 of either roots of grass or seeds of any description ; 

 but in the course of no more than three days after 

 the first fall of rain the surface of this piece of land 

 was covered with a thick crop of grass. The grass 

 was of a deep rich green, and its average height, which 

 I took much pains in measuring, was no less than three 

 inches. 



But I think the growth of the young bamboo shoots 

 which now appear is even still more marvellous ; one 

 can almost see them grow. Certainly the difference 

 in their height from one day to another is quite plainly 

 noticeable. The point of the bamboo stems is exceed- 

 ingly hard and sharp ; and this and their rapid growth 

 caused them, so I have been assured, to be used occa- 

 sionally in former days, under native rule, as instruments 

 for the execution of criminals condemned to death by 

 impalement. The victim was securely fastened to a 

 stake in a sitting posture. The stake was fixed by the 

 side of a just appearing stem of bamboo. As the 

 stem grew the body of the victim became transfixed. 

 A death of more lingering agony is hardly to be 

 conceived. 



