210 TWO YEARS IN THE JUNGLE. 



•wandering about the dark forest within a mile's radius of oui 

 camp. A goodly number, beyond doubt, enough to make my 

 reader shudder, perhaps, at the bare thought of being there. But 

 softly ! Wild beasts are far better company than the dininken roughs, 

 the thieves, burglars, incendiaries and murderers who surround 

 you in the city, or the tramps, combining all these disagreeable vo- 

 cations, who infest the country generally. If I am to choose be- 

 tween tramp and tiger, I will say, give me the tiger every time, for 

 he is far more honest and respectable as a general thing, far less 

 revengeful, and a better member of society every way. 



We had saved the skin of our elephant, or were in a fair way to 

 do so at least, but there remained the task of cutting out the bones 

 of the skeleton also. Our animal had been dead three days, and he 

 began to smell like Lazarus in the sepulchre. The carcass had 

 become a perfect ammonia-generator on a large scale and the vapor 

 soon became almost overpowering. It was necessary to cut out the 

 bones very quickly, or advanced decomposition would very soon 

 render it impossible. 



My boy and I were up at daybreak, and after drinking a pint 

 of good strong coffee I called the men. Instead of getting up and 

 preparing to work, they merely sat up and stared at me in a sleepy, 

 stupid way, without offering to obey. Doraysawmy exhorted 

 them briskly to get up and go to work, for the carcass was be- 

 ginning to smell bad. 



The men replied, " How can we work on that stinking thing ? 

 It would make our stomachs sick ! " Moreover, they declared they 

 had only agreed to work on the skin, and that was done ; they did 

 not care to work on that thing for eight annas a day ! Then, in 

 my most commanding manner I commanded them to get up anl 

 help me. I commanded in splendid style, but they wouldn't obey ! 

 They merely gazed at me in sullen silence, stubborn as mules, and 

 after a while lay down to sleep again. 



It was a regular strike, from sheer laziness, and was perfectly 

 exasperating. Should I take a stout stick and attempt to thrash 

 them into obedience ? If I did, they would of a certainty run away, 

 and that would be a calamity indeed. I thought of a milder and 

 far better plan, although I could not expect any results from it 

 until the next day. An Indian native is proud and insolent so long 

 as his stomach is full, and he has you in his power ; but when it is 

 empty, he is your humble servant. I told Doraysawmy to take no 

 further notice of the men in any way, and after sharpening the 



