would never have saved the bather from the 

 malicious grasp ot a giant water^bear. The 

 beast had already punctured the toe referred to, 

 but was driven off before serious damage was 

 done. It had had time, however, to inject an 

 anaesthetic, as our comrade passed into a coma^ 

 tose state after about one minute, and did not 

 revive for over half an hour. ^ So accustomed 

 had we now become to our new surroundings 

 that we passed a few days not unpleasantly, 

 drifting down the stream. The vegetation, 

 though luxuriant of its kind, grew much less 

 dense, and we came at length to more or less 

 open country. There plant life was represented 

 by mushroom^like fungi arranged in clumps 

 over the plain. Our artist was in specially 

 good spirits, and, on our mooring alongside the 

 bank, took the opportunity to scramble on to 

 the top of a clump of giant toadstools hard by, 

 intending to size up the sketching possibilities 

 of the neighbourhood. A sharp report shortly 

 afterwards attracted our attention in time to 

 see him executing evolutions in mid" air about 

 fifteen feet above the summit of the toadstools 

 and some thirty feet from the ground. It 

 happened that this particular toadstool was 

 matured and required to burst it only the slight 

 irritation supplied by our comrade in mounting. 



45 



