88 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF INDIA. 



Certainly we hoped against hope, but I for one never thought 

 to see our dear Philosopher alive again. 



It was half past one ; when would this terrible suspense end ? 

 suddenly a faint flickering light glimmered out towards the 

 edge of the jungle like a star struggling through a thick cloud. 

 Then it grew a little brighter, then a second light appeared, and 

 we saw men coming towards the water's edge. 



Now the signals after each traverse were to be " bang, bang," 

 " no tidings :" ll bang, — banc? " " found, but not all right," to be 

 further explained by other subsidiary signals ; " bang, — bang, — 

 bang" (i found, all right." 



Directly the party reached the shore ; we saw a red flash, 

 just as the sound reached us, a second, then there was a slight 

 pause (a gun had missed fire as we afterwards leirnt) ; that 

 moment's pause, it may seem ridiculous now, all's well that ends 

 well, but at that instant it was terrible ; then the third flash, and 

 with the report, clear and sweet over a mile of heaving waves, 

 rang out a real British cheer that did credit to our gallant 

 comrades. 



How happy we were may be easily guessed, the ladies dis- 

 appeared at once to their cabin, and I think they were not the 

 only persons who felt it almost impossible to struggle through 

 this joyful reaction with decent composure. 



Although in great pain I managed somehow to crawl down 

 to the top of the ladder, and when at last our lost sheep stag- 

 gered up it, I know I could have hugged him, but Englishmen 

 are denied the pleasure of anything beyond a strong grip 

 and a "hurray, old fellow," and no one who had not seen it all 

 could have guessed how all had hoped, suffered and rejoiced; and 

 when he did make his appearance, he was a sight such as one 

 rarely looks upon ; his clothes were in rags ; his face and hands 

 and shoeless feet were bleeding; and he looked more like a 

 corpse than a living man, except for the indomitable twinkle in 

 his eye, which showed that he might have died (and he would 

 I believe have died if not relieved before morning) but he would 

 have died game 1 As for the rest of the party they all 

 looked wretched, some quite as ragged and shoeless as the 

 Philosopher, all worn and pale. No one who has not tried 

 it knows what it is to work hard from daylight to sunset inside 

 a thorny tropical jungle, and then at night, sore and scratched 

 from head to foot, weary and stiff, to go in for some more hours 

 of struggling through cane jungles till past one at night ; it is 

 not merely the violent physical exertion necessary, the thorns, 

 the feet upon the coral ridges, but it is the intense breathless 



