274 TWO YEARS IN THE JUNGLE. 



my bands off that driver, and was only able to do so by scolding 

 like a shrew. The bullocks shared my feeling of disgust, for when 

 we turned to go back they became very refractory, and the poor 

 wretch of a driver actually burst out crying. When the tears be- 

 gan to make furrows in the dust that lay on his dusky cheeks, my 

 anger vanished and I was content to make the best of the situation. 

 At length, we took a short cut through the jungle to reach the other 

 road, and the track we got into was loose sand. By this time the 

 bullocks were almost fagged out and contrary, and for the last half- 

 mile of the short cut Henrique and I had to push with all our 

 strength to keep the cart going. This, at noon, in April, one of 

 the hottest Indian mouths, in a bed of hot sand, with the sun pom-- 

 ing down upon us and not a breath of air stirring ! I thought the 

 conditions for sunstroke were about all there, but neither of u,s 

 dropped. 



" At last we got out, having lost nearly eight miles. Rested a 

 whUe, then on. Shot a grizzly squirrel {S. macrourus). At night- 

 fall, reached a smaU village twelve and a half miles from home. 

 Stopped for the night, and quartered under a shed. Bought and 

 shot a chicken, and while Henrique did the cooking act I skinned 

 the squirrel. 



" Wednesday, April Sd. — On early in the morning, when the air 

 was balmy and refreshing. At once we started a lot of wanderoo 

 monkeys, of which I killed three of the largest. Also shot three 

 Macacus j)ileatus, one of which was an old female with a tiny young 

 one cHnging to her body. It was ahve and unhui't, so I kept it. 

 Farther on shot three more big wanderoos, making six in all, and 

 another gi-izzly squirrel. 



"The jungle which everywhere covers this low, level country be- 

 tween the sea-coast and the mountainous interior, can scarcely be 

 dignified by the name of forest. To my mind, it may be regarded 

 as typical jungle, low, dense, veiy thorny as a rule, barren of grass 

 and difficult to penetrate. Taken all over, it is decidedly low and 

 scrubby, the top of the leafy mass averaging scarcely more than 

 thirty feet in elevation above the ground. There are few trees of 

 good size, and all have a very scraggy appearance, due to the cor- 

 rugated and irregular growth of their trunks. There is no ground 

 verdure to speak of, and the undergrowth consists of brush with 

 slender, leafless stems. By stooping low and crawling under this 

 growth, one can get along pretty well, but it is vei'y tiresome. 

 In looking under, it is often possible to see for fifty yards around, 



