148 p o s t e I s i a 



ask about the sad occurrence ; but from 

 his very poor English we made out that 

 a wedding feast was being held in the 

 first Chinaman's house, and the musi- 

 cal disturbance was a part of the cere- 

 monies. We returned to our work with 

 lightened hearts and renewed energy. 

 Later on in the forenoon a Spanish 

 luna talked with us, and from him we 

 were somewhat mortified to learn that 

 the wailing of the Chinaman was sim- 

 ply a common device to scare away the 

 birds from the young rice plants. 



There were many other early morn- 

 ing rides through sugar and rice plan- 

 tations, and we frequently beheld sights 

 that caused us to rub our eyes and 

 suddenly ask each other if we were 

 really experiencing this life, or only 

 dreaming. On sugar plantations there 

 were big irrigation ditches, sometimes 

 flooded, sometimes dry for several days. 



