272 TWO YEARS IX THE JUNGLE. 



The loss of the money was a mere trifle, but the outrage upon 

 my inner man I could not condone, and have not to this day. 

 After about twenty meals of plain boiled rice with no accompani- 

 ments my appetite succumbs, and my palate refuses it entirely. 

 In a hot climate I beheve I could starve easier than eat food 

 which has lost all relish. My hmiger was of the kind which called 

 not merely for food of any sort, but palatable, relishable food. In 

 a cold climate, one's hunger is of the ravenous kind that devours 

 whatever comes within reach, and feels satisfied with fulness. In 

 the tropics, I have always found it necessary to have something in 

 reserve to afford the appetite an entire change, even if it be only 

 for a single meal, to break the monotonv which would otherwise 

 cause a good ai'ticle of food to become utterly unpalatable. 



When my larder was at its lowest ebb, Mr. Long, the road en- 

 gineer, whose bungalow was just on the other side of the fever- 

 breeder, kindly sent me a good-sized pumpkin as a present, one of 

 two he had secvu'ed from some distance. It was perfectly deKcious, 

 and as long as it lasted I lived high. That pumpkin was an oasis 

 in a desert of rice. 



About this time letters came from Professor Ward informing me 

 that, on account of continued hard times, he might be obHged to 

 caU me home soon, even in his next letter. The funds sent me 

 were so meagre that I scarceh' dared go on collecting, and at most 

 had not enough to go fax\ Another letter conveyed the intelhgence 

 that a dear fiiend at home was very ill. Add to the above, the 

 hunger, dirt, and discomfort in which I Hved, and the sum of my 

 discouragements was complete. As I lay in my hammock one night, 

 thinking over the gloomy situation and quite unable to sleep, I 

 summed up everything and said to myself, "I could not be any 

 worse off than I am." The thought had not more than taken shape 

 in my mind when a hook snapped, and my hammock went down 

 "bows foremost," giving my head and shoulders a good bang on 

 the concrete floor. It was such a forcible and instantaneous refu- 

 tation of my gloomy proposition that, in spite of the stars dancing 

 before my eyes I took the joke and laughed over it. 



The water available for drinking pui'poses at MuUaitivu is so 

 wholly bad that I did not taste it a second time, and diu'ing my en- 

 tire stay drank only water fi-om green cocoanuts. 



Fortunately there is a fine grove of cocoa palms a mUe above 

 the village, from which I drew my supply of green nuts at the rate 

 of one rupee per dozen. 



