314 THE HUNTING GROUNDS 



at that early hour. Our toilet was soon completed, 

 and on stepping outside the hut we found the gang 

 all wrapped up in their combleys and couched over 

 a wood-fire, for the early morning was damp and 

 chilly ; so I ordered a glass of grog to be served out, 

 and Chineah distributed the spare guns, blankets, 

 stores, &c., that each had to carry in case of our 

 being benighted in the jungle, which was a common 

 occurrence. 



In tropical climates the interval between the first 

 faint glimmering of dawn and daylight is very short, 

 and as soon as we could distinguish objects pretty 

 clearly we entered the forest, where we heard jungle- 

 cocks already crowing merrily. 



The first living creatures we encountered were 

 two great hooded-owls, who, like drowsy revellers 

 after their nightly carouse, sailed hooting past, lei- 

 surely flapping their wings as they returned to their 

 haunts in some hollow tree. Shortly afterwards we 

 surprised a troop of monkeys who were evidently 

 making their way towards the pool for a morning 

 draught, but who fled, skipping from branch to 

 branch, chattering and showing their teeth as soon 

 as they detected our presence. Every now and again 

 the dun sides of deer flashed for an instant before 

 us, as they bounded across the open vistas of the 

 forest and disappeared in the dense cover. The 

 fresh morning air was loaded with the perfume of 

 different flowering jungle-plants, and the forest re- 

 sounded with the melody of feathered songsters. 



