270 UDA PRANG 



clung to me. Thus attacked by the insects above 

 and by the red ants below, one was not lacking occu- 

 pation at any time. 



Uda, after all, proved to be a tolerably fair man 

 in the jungle. He was not so accomplished as his 

 tales suggested, but, as Malays go, he was a pretty 

 dependable tracker. Above all he was good- 

 natured. In fact, all three of my men, Uda, Bilal 

 and Che, were even-tempered and took the trials 

 as they came— and they came often— without 

 getting sulky, and always seemed ready for more. 

 They were a long way the best jungle men I secured 

 at any time in the Far East. Neither Bilal nor 

 Che could speak a word of anything except Malay, 

 but Bilal was a facile sign talker, and he and I had 

 many animated conversations through that me- 

 dium while we were in the jungle. I usually took 

 him with me in the lead, leaving Uda to round up 

 Che, or to follow independent tracks. Bilal was 

 not handsome, but he was strong and ready and 

 exceptionally good-humored; and his dearest pos- 

 session was an undershirt he had somewhere got 

 in trade, and which was especially useful in the 

 jungle— but he wore it on all occasions. Bilal, so 

 Uda gave me to understand, was quite an elephant 

 hunter, his professed method being to trap or to 

 steal upon the animal when sleeping, and, with a 



