WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD 



auspicious one. Clarke had let me have what would 

 ordinarily have been sufficient provisions to last me 

 until I reached a Government post ; but before we 

 had gone very far one of my boys managed to fall 

 into the water and lose his load, which contained 

 most of my foodstuffs. The prospect was not a 

 pleasant one — there was a certain three days' journey 

 ahead of me — but I decided to go on, and manage 

 as best I could. Fortunately, it was a case of travelling 

 by canoe ; if it had been a matter of tramping through 

 the jungle, hard physical work, I might have suffered 

 considerably. As it was, we kept going night and day. 

 Every now and then we were lucky enough to spy some 

 fruit on the trees along the bank, and this, if not exacdy 

 satisfying, proved to be sufficient. Still, I was by no 

 means anxious to repeat the experiment. 



From the canoe I saw traces of wild pigs, whilst 

 of course there were monkeys in abundance, and 

 every now and then the boys would show me a snake 

 coiled up on the branch of a tree. Once, too, I had a 

 glimpse of an Argus pheasant. 



At last, during the midday rest on the bank, the 

 boys informed me that we were within half a day's 

 journey of the Government post, and in honour of 

 the occasion I decided to allow myself a treat. One 

 solitary bottle of beer had been saved. I had kept it 

 carefully throughout the journey, intending to have 

 it only when I found myself within reach of fresh 



28 



