TWENTY YEARS AGO 47 



man that Erskine had sent had soon some 

 dinner cooking, and everything seemed to be 

 comfortable for the night, when the syce 

 came to me and asked where the pony was 

 to go. This was a puzzler. The hut, which 

 contained a churpoy and a stool only, con- 

 sisted of (if I may so call it) one room only 

 with a door of branches fastened on a 

 bamboo frame. At one end of the hut the 

 roof overhung and formed a sort of verandah, 

 where the men had their mats and where the 

 fire was. There was no alternative ; the 

 pony had to share my apartment, and he did. 

 Four of my precious days were gone already, 

 I reflected that night ; and the next night 

 added another one to the number, for we 

 saw no game, at least only small deer at 

 which I would not fire. On the sixth day 

 we saw bison tracks, but not fresh enough to 



