A PAIR OF NATIVES. 221 



Having partially dressed, they very coolly 

 paid their respects to the Padre, who soon 

 recovered his good humour, and laughed 

 heartily at the droll figure they had cut. 

 The women also made plenty of amusing 

 remarks, especially on the surprising way 

 that dress and covering improved some 

 shapes, but our two friends paid the ladies 

 back in their own coin, and most certainly 

 had the best of it, keeping the Padre and 

 all who heard them in a continual roar of 

 laughter. 



I here took leave of my two fellow- 

 travellers, and wish them luck and plenty to 

 drink wherever they go. They certainly 

 kept my Indian and myself in a fit of laugh- 

 ter pretty nearly all the time we were to- 

 gether, but we were almost tired of them at 

 last. The fat one did not laugh aloud, but 

 had a droll twinkle in his eye, and gave forth 

 a quiet chuckling and curious grumbling, as 

 if he were actually laughing inside his fat 

 carcass : the little thin man, who looked up 

 with great reverence to his fat friend, had 

 the most shrill, ridiculous, crying laughter 

 ever mortal heard. Famine was on a very 

 inferior level to Plenty in the eating depart- 

 ment, but in the drinking and smoking de- 



