68 THE OUT- STATION ; OR, 



digested (that is to say, about nine, P.M.), how clear 

 would be the head and steady the hand the next 

 morning at five, A.M. ; but whether it is the ever- 

 lasting rule of contrariety that regulates human 

 nature generally, or the idea that we may possibly 

 not survive to pass another evening in the same 

 agreeable manner, that invariably makes the claret 

 more fruity, the beer more malty, the cognac more 

 seductive, and the cheroots more aromatic, is a ques- 

 tion I would at present rather not undertake to pene- 

 trate into the depths of ; but certain it is, that in 

 nine cases out of ten the slightest ghost of a head- 

 ache, and the pop of a soda-water cork at our neigh- 

 bour's bed-side the next morning, brings remem- 

 brance and repentance at the same moment into our 

 hearts. 



This being our first excursion, however, the excite- 

 ment consequent thereon leaves little room after a 

 few minutes for other reflections ; we are about to 

 encounter a wilderness of monsters, the slightest con- 

 tact with the weakest of whom would leave difficult 

 work for mortal experience to remedy ; and after all, 

 there is a mighty small degree of Kvdos attached to 

 being crunched like a beetle under the feet, or within 

 the proboscis of an offended elephant ; such were the 

 thoughts that, no doubt, preponderated in the minds 

 of the party generally as we sallied forth for the first 

 time from the bungalow into the plain. 



Leading the van, marched the old Elephant-finder, 



