WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD 



where we were literally thrown up. Once we reached 

 it luck was certainly on our side. A little way 

 off we saw a light, which we found came from a 

 bamboo-and-nipa house. Of course, we were clad 

 merely in pyjamas, but in a storm such as that it 

 made little difference what one was wearing. The 

 rain would have driven through any garments. It was 

 almost as bad as being in the river itself. 



I cUmbed up the crazy little bamboo ladder and 

 looked into the house. I shall never forget the weird 

 pathos of the sight which met my eyes. In a tiny wicker 

 cradle suspended from the roof was a native baby only 

 a few days old. Hanging over it was a very large 

 dried leaf. On one side of this was painted in white 

 a crude representation of a bird, and on the other 

 a drawing of a man. The mother was walking round 

 and round the cot, a torch in her hand, muttering what 

 I guessed to be an incantation against evil spirits. She 

 took practically no notice as I huddled myself down 

 into a corner of the hut, but continued to tramp 

 round, whilst between the crashes of the thunder 

 I could hear snatches of her weird, monotonous chant. 



A few minutes after reaching the hut I looked out, 

 and with the aid of the lightning saw that our late 

 camping ground had disappeared entirely. We had 

 only just escaped in time. 



The following morning we reached some 

 experimental copper mines, and another half-day's 



26 



