of the Old World. 101 



people, and lit a huge fire, round which all were as- 

 sembled, preparing the evening repast. One of the 

 shekarries brought a piece of hard wood with a sharp 

 point, and three or four wild jungle yams, which he 

 said these wild people must have dug up just before 

 we surprised them, as they were quite fresh. I gave 

 the yams to the child, who, after a little hesitation 

 began to eat, in which operation the mother assisted. 

 I then sent for some raw potatoes, which both ate 

 with great relish, though they still evinced great fear 

 of us, and watched with suspicion every movement 

 we made, with their little twinkling eyes. When our 

 dinner was served we threw them bits of meat and 

 some boiled rice, which seeing us eat, they followed 

 our example. When we took our coffee after dinner 

 I gave them some sugar, at which they evinced their 

 satisfaction by clapping their hands on their thighs as 

 they sat on their heels, smacking their lips and utter- 

 ing some curious grunting sentences to each other, 



which neither M , myself, nor any of our people 



could understand. Towards evening they appeared 

 to have gained more confidence, and I made one of 

 the servants unfasten the old woman. He had hardly 

 done so, when, finding herself at liberty, she gave 

 herself a shake like a dog on coming out of the water, 

 and with a grunt and a yell sprang into the jungle 

 before any of our people could stop her. Finding, 

 however, that the child, which was still fastened, did 



