xxx A FEW THRILLS AT BANGALLA RIVER 271 



shreds, crunching the pole in his powerful jaws, and 

 finally flinging the unrecognisable remains of the 

 offending object aside. He had, in all probability, 

 scented the odour of human beings from the 

 maschilla and mistaken it for some portion, or 

 strange species, of the living individual at least, 

 this is the only explanation of this curious incident 

 that occurs to me. 



We had now been fifteen days in the pori, and as 

 our food supply was running low, and we had 

 temporarily had our fill of adventure, I decided to 

 return to camp for a few days' rest. On our arrival, 

 we found that Makakora, whose ankle was now 

 quite well again, was eager to return at once to his 

 home. He gave as reason for this sudden desire to 

 leave us, that he was afraid of the village headman, 

 Karanji, bewitching him ; for, some years ago, he had 

 eloped with Karanji's favourite wife, and Karanji, as 

 he explained in a luminous phrase, now loved him 

 as he would a snake. Under the circumstances, it 

 behoved him to make himself scarce, for death by 

 poison or violence would certainly be the price of a 

 lengthier stay in the neighbourhood. He further 

 informed us that he had decided to plunge into the 

 forest and only converge on the direct homeward 

 path some miles from the village, because he feared 

 that Karanji, having become acquainted with his 

 intention to depart, might have arranged poisoned 



