280 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



from the sea is only a few feet above sea-level and 

 being shut in by jungle-clad mountains the climate 

 is very unhealthy. During my sojourn there bugles 

 announced nearly every morning and evening that 

 one or several soldiers were being laid in their last 

 resting-place. The tiny steamer which left for down- 

 stream every Sunday morning was always laden with 

 sick or convalescing soldiers and officers. The heat 

 during the greater part of the day was intense and I 

 could go walking for a few hours only after sunrise 

 and for an hour or so in the evening. It was the rainy 

 season and nearly every day rain fell in tropical fury. 

 My diary shows that at first although disappointed 

 I settled down to make the best of things and amused 

 myself investigating the flora of the immediate 

 neighborhood of Laokai. As my stay lengthened 

 into weeks my hopes of continuing my journey sank 

 lower and lower and I went so far as to write to both 

 Dr. Henry and my employers advising them that 

 I should have to abandon the effort when, quite un- 

 expectedly, I managed to move onward. Reviewing 

 the affair after a lapse of seventeen years I rather mar- 

 vel that I did not abandon the venture. Certain it 

 is that my enforced sojourn and inactivity at Laokai 

 were the most discouraging, the most trying, and the 

 most unpleasant to endure of any experiences during 



