102 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



are the Malay Archipelago ; don't you see ? it is as plain 

 as a pike-staff there is Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the 

 Celebes ; that is the Straits of Malacca, and those Sunda. 

 Well, I have often thought of going to them parts ; for, the 

 oftener I spit, the more frequently I make the self-same 

 show, clearly telling that there is an opening in that coun- 

 try for a man of intellect and energy. You are not listen- 

 ing; but look here, Britisher, just look how .quick the Hin- 

 doostan peninsula dried up, showing nairey a doubt that 

 there an't a show for a Yankee nohow in that benighted 

 land." 



From my own experience, I knew there was a deal of 

 truth in what the Massachusetts school-master said ; and I 

 wished Old England would only see the necessity of hold- 

 ing in her own hands these self-same Straits of Malacca 

 and Sunda with the same jealous care as she does our In- 

 dian empire, as through them all our most valuable com- 

 merce must pass to the populous north-eastern shores of the 

 Pacific. 



Pleasant company, yet a great character, was this Yan- 

 kee. Here he was evidently on a hunting tour, yet he could 

 not shoot; and when in search of game, in spite of remon- 

 strance, would frequently produce his tuning-fork, and strike 

 up some doleful psalm through his nose, instead of from his 

 mouth, to let the hills of this heathen land resound, as he 

 said, to the songs of the Lord. 



Mr. School-master for I found out he was a dominie; 

 any fool with a grain of sense, except myself, might have 

 known with half an eye that he was something out of the 

 ordinary line never killed any thing ; so the duty of sup- 

 porting two mouths instead of one devolved upon me. 

 From soon after sunrise to sundown I was invariably from 

 camp, leaving my new associate to the bent of his fancies, 

 provided he looked after the horses, and kept sufficient fire- 



