of the Old World. 341 



from which hung festoons of the pusivel creeper (En- 

 tada purscetha) with its gigantic pods nearly six feet 

 in length, and other blooming parasites. 



Chineah and the people were not long in con- 

 structing two huts (one for us and the other for them- 

 selves) by sticking bamboos into the ground, bending 

 their tops together, which they fastened with creepers 

 so as to form an arch, and wattling the sides with 

 twigs. A trench was then dug, the earth heaped up 

 all round, and the whole covered with a combley 

 which was well pegged down, making an impervious 

 shelter. In our tent a carpet was spread over a bed 

 of dry leaves, a rest for our rifles constructed, and a 

 bull's-eye lanthorn hung up ready for lighting. 



I was accustomed to make myself at home and 

 comfortable when in the jungle, being always very care- 

 ful in the selection of my sleeping-place, for although 

 after many long years campaigning my constitution 

 has become more hardy and less susceptible of injury 

 from cold and damp, still I have seen so many fine 

 fellows succumb to dysentery and fever, the seeds of 

 which diseases were laid by careless exposure to the 

 night air, after extreme heat and exhaustion, that I 

 always take care of myself, besides which it is 

 wretched beyond description to be shivering beneath 

 a scanty covering, and feel the night air cut through 

 one until the life-blood is almost frozen, when alittle 

 care and forethought would have prevented it. 



