AN ELEPHANT 217 



The natives we encountered along the rivers were 

 not friendly ; nor were they unfriendly to the state 

 of being offensive: they were simply indifferent 

 and left us severely alone; churlish is the more 

 apt adjective, and it so affected my Malays that 

 they grew morose and paddled with little spirit 

 and not much more strength, until by cigarettes and 

 a judiciously small libation of that insinuating 

 " pint " I lifted them above their uncongenial sur- 

 roundings. So it was, day after day, I kept heart 

 in them by bribery and amusement; one day my 

 camera afforded entertainment ; another, my rifles 

 and cartridges served ; again my shoes, or my note- 

 book and pencils ; my pigskin case of toilet articles 

 was a veritable wonder-box, and served unfailingly 

 when the situation was unusually vexatious. The 

 only members of my company who really found 

 life satisfying were the two Chinamen; they took 

 turns in smoking, and in rowing the sampan ; and 

 when we stopped for any cause or for any period 

 however brief, they curled up in the stern and slept 

 peacefully, unconcernedly, while Malay aristoc- 

 racy jabbered and gesticulated and tottered upon 

 its foundation over failure to trade rice for the 

 rotted fish which scented the air whenever we 

 halted at a settlement. 



Always, as we worked our way up stream, mon- 

 keys and birds of several varieties were to be seen 



