152 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



he should be ruined. I granted his request ; and, 

 from a small distance, had the satisfaction of seeing 

 him taken off by the people in the canoe, and of 

 feeling myself alone in a desert, hungry, and with- 

 out the means of procuring food, and even ignorant 

 of the road, and, of course, with little chance of 

 finding any of the letter-carriers or their huts. It 

 was now drawing towards three o'clock, and with my 

 little valise in one hand, and my brandy-bottle, about 

 half full, in the other, I went in search of the hut. 

 After fruitlessly spending an hour in endeavouring 

 to find it, I deemed it better, as the sun was fast 

 descending, to turn my face towards the west, and 

 to endeavour to reach the next station, Yalle by 

 name, about sixteen miles distant, and where there 

 was a rest-house. The country was a number of 

 open plains of different sizes, divided from each 

 other by extensive low jungles, interspersed with 

 the large forest-trees of the country. It was not 

 without some difficulty that I could find the path ; 

 and my striking upon the right one I considered as 

 particularly fortunate. I jogged on at a brisk pace, 

 and all went well till about sunset, when I was aware 

 of a herd of elephants in the jungle on each side of 

 the path I had to pass. I could just see their backs 

 occasionally above the bushes, and hear the small 

 trees cracking and giving way on each side, as they 

 walked through them, as a man would through a 

 field of corn. These animals gave me but little un- 



