HAY-PADDED MOCASSINS. 119 



sandals, becoming very footsore all at once, 

 and remaining so for a considerable time ; but 

 to me during the whole time, and to him as 

 soon as his feet had hardened, these rough 

 hay-padded mocassins were inexpressibly easy 

 and useful. To attempt to climb grass slopes 

 on the mountain sides without them would 

 appear to me madness, for while nails in your 

 boots make a noise and slide off every smooth 

 rock, your sandals are so thin and j)liant that 

 your foot can grip the hillsides like a hand, 

 and your tread is as noiseless as a cat's. The 

 sandal in use here, by the way, is laced along 

 the bottom, so as to give a better grip. 



Our path to-night ran along the side of 

 a chain of wooded hills, from which we caught 

 glimpses of Gebi and the river, set in a frame 

 of leafy boughs, from time to time. As we 

 left the town further and further behind us, 

 we began to come upon small clearings, 

 patches of corn, and groups of those villagers 



