xni ON THE HOMEWARD TRAIL 281 



never been " up against " such a slippery customer as the 

 Httle Jap who was pitted against me. To land him fairly on 

 the head or body was impossible. He avoided punishment 

 by every form of antic known to man or beast, falling back- 

 wards or forwards, and once even passing between my legs 

 in a scrimmage, almost throwing me as he did so, and 

 recovering his feet behind me in time to avoid a vicious 

 back-handed swing. I tried everything, from straight 

 punches to wild forms of windmill fighting, but he was too 

 good for me, and once he had come to close quarters a 

 certain fall for me was the result. Altogether it must have 

 been rather a comical exhibition for the spectators, and 

 judging by the laughter and applause, I fancy that the show 

 amused them. After taking three or four good tosses, I had 

 had enough of it, having due regard to the fact that I had 

 only an hour or so before just got through a particularly 

 long and good dinner. After this, nothing would satisfy the 

 members of the club except an adjournment to the smoking 

 room, where every member in the room insisted on the 

 guests taking a drink with each of them. As the club was 

 pretty full, the early hours of the morning were well 

 advanced before we escaped from all this hospitality. 

 Fortunately we were a pretty hard-headed lot, and I noticed 

 that as the English contingent marched back to their 

 respective quarters, not a man wavered in the ranks, 

 although all had been subjected to a pretty severe ordeal. 



Next morning early I crossed in the ss. Clallam to 

 Victoria, where I spent the day, visiting the Union Club and 

 bidding good-bye to several friends there. Here also I 

 parted with Glyn, who had decided to push on as far south as 

 Mexico, where he had determined to hunt the Ovis nelsoni, 

 another form of the big-horn sheep inhabiting the desolate 



