60 BIG GAME FIELDS 



ies, which continued to wriggle about us through- 

 out the night. 



At dawn great banks of sullen clouds drifted 

 over our heads and piled up threateningly. We 

 thought we were in for a heavy downpour but 

 decided to continue up up, always up and 

 southward ; for the general trend of these rivers is 

 to the north. We were now within less than four 

 degrees of the equator, and the day continuing 

 overcast, we did not stop until we finally turned 

 up a tributary stream and were compelled to por- 

 tage around a series of falls and rapids. At the 

 next piece of white water the crew hauled the 

 boat up with long ropes which they had brought 

 with them for such an emergency. The stream 

 then became quiet and deep; the jungle roof 

 leaned out over the water until in places the arch 

 was complete and formed a beautiful bowery 

 waterway. At length the stream opened out 

 again, and selecting a spot where the growth was 

 less dense we made a small clearing and pitched 

 quite a comfortable camp. 



A heavy rain came on in the night and contin- 

 ued intermittently throughout the day. In the 

 afternoon Ranjettan paddled me up the stream 

 in the wood-skin. We had not gone far when I 

 caught sight of a handsome red deer (Coassus 



