34 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



bank of the great Perak River. Our stay there was 

 rendered most pleasant by the hospitality and 

 cheery personality of the British Resident, Mr. B. 

 The picture made by his little white bungalow, 

 sheltered by palm trees and surrounded by smooth 

 green lawns, like an oasis in the dark jungle desert, 

 its cool interior well fitted with pictures and game- 

 heads, its library and many long, comfortable cane 

 lounging-chairs, is one which I shall not soon forget. 

 Whether such comforts can make up for a life of 

 almost absolute loneliness, so far as intercourse with 

 white men is concerned, is a question which only a 

 man's personal character can decide ; many of these 

 officials, their wives and children at home, remain 

 for years up in the interior of the countries they 

 labor in, without a holiday, with almost never the 

 sight of a white man's face, and few indeed with the 

 comforts I have described, their whole nature ab- 

 sorbed in their work, all their sympathies centred 

 in their black charges, whom they doctor, teach, 

 and govern. It is a true labor of love and patriotism 

 this, and one worthy of admiration. Mr. B.'s face 

 lighted with affection and pride when he spoke of 

 the men he worked among ; perhaps, after all, there 

 are better things in the world than creature com- 

 forts. 



On the day after our arrival the whole village, 



