14 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 



development and relinquishment of a great gold 

 mine. 



For a time we arranged and adjusted and 

 shifted our equipment, tables, books, vials, 

 guns, nets, cameras and microscopes, as a dog 

 turns round and round before it composes itself 

 to rest. And then one day I drew a long breath 

 and looked about, and realized that I was at 

 home. The newness began to pass from my 

 little shelves and niches and blotters ; in the dark- 

 ness I could put my hand on flash or watch or 

 gun; and in the morning I settled snugly into 

 my woolen shirt, khakis, and sneakers, as if they 

 were merely accessory skin. 



In the beginning we were three white men and 

 four servants the latter all young, all individ- 

 ual, all picked up by instinct, except Sam, who 

 was as inevitable as the tides. Our cook was too 

 good-looking and too athletic to last. He had 

 the reputation of being the fastest sprinter in 

 Guiana, with a record, so we were solemnly told, 

 of 9% seconds for the hundred a veritable Mer- 

 cury, as the last world's record of which I knew 

 was 9%. His stay with us was like the orbit of 

 some comets, which make a single lap around the 



