TRAVELLING EXPERIENCES. 65 



addition to the day's work of drying and labelling 

 your plants, putting animals into spirit, breaking 

 rock specimens, packing up insects, plotting your 

 day's march, taking the temperature, and perhaps 

 a boiling observation for altitude, and writing 

 your notes. Usually, one is busy from morning 

 to night, and it is not till half an hour before bed- 

 time that you close the day by half an hour of 

 Shakespeare or Browning. (I cannot recommend 

 anything else for daily and incessant reading.) 



I notice that people always ask one when one 

 returns home, "Did you enjoy yourself?' 



A curious feature of some parts of the country 

 is a gigantic grass, the "bamboo or elephant 

 grass " of some travellers. This grows to a height 

 of 10, 15, or even 20 feet, and the stems are 

 usually scarcely 6 inches apart. 



Sometimes I had to pass through this for 8 

 or 10 miles, and it was not pleasant. These 

 stems, which overhang the path (only 18 inches 

 wide), always begin to branch, and succeed in 

 completely roofing it over. The way has to be 

 forced under and through the haulms, which per- 

 petually fly back and hit one across the face. The 

 air is hot and stifling, and nothing is visible but 

 this endless mateitei. The plant is, however, a 

 sure sign of good and fertile soil, and the stems 

 are extremely valuable for building houses. When 

 young, the cattle are very fond of it, though it 

 grows so quickly that it forms far too dense a 



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