AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION xxvii 



ease on a mattress on the floor of his boat ; before him 

 are his crew, their backs swinging rhythmically and 

 untiringly to the paddle-strokes. Framed in the opening 

 to his covering of palm-leaf is the brilliant blue of the 

 tropical sky, a kite or osprey perhaps soaring in the 

 empyrean or sweeping in grand curves out of the field 

 of vision : the brown turbid water slides past unceasingly, 

 and the regular chunking of the paddles against the boat's 

 gunwale and the splash of the water upon the blades has 

 an indescribably soothing and even soporific effect. At 

 intervals the bowman or steersman gives a shout, and 

 the long, rhythmic swing is changed instantaneously into 

 a short, digging stroke that makes the boat quiver from 

 stem to stern and propels her with lifting jerks through 

 the water, until gradually the spurt dies down and the 

 old steady stroke is resumed. 



