Humours of the Trackers 1 1 1 



the easiest path at my leisure. Rounding a point where the 

 junk hung fire, and the trackers were giving way step by step, 

 notwithstanding the vociferations and blows (harmless) of 

 the half-dozen overseers, I saw the gang-master quietly divest 

 himself of his clothing, which was carefully gathered up by a 

 colleague, rush into the river, and then roll himself in the 

 sand, taking special care well to plaster his face. Then, 

 like a maniac, he danced, howled, tumbled, crawled on all- 

 fours through the ranks of the trackers, jumped at and struck 

 them. After having thus warmed them to their work, and 

 the tight place being successfully passed, he washed himself, 

 methodically resumed his clothing, and became restored to 

 his senses. At a distance, a group of these trackers on all 

 fours, howling and bellowing like cattle, and surrounded by 

 six or eight overseers walking erect and belabouring their 

 men with split bamboos — which make more noise than 

 hurt — has all the appearance of a drove of donkeys being 

 forced along a difScult path, the junk itself, the corps de 

 delit, being generally out of sight in the rear. Each of these 

 unfortunates gets a couple of dollars, besides his rice, for 

 his two months' arduous work, and coming down-stream, he 

 works for his rice alone. These big junks are also a 

 curious sight, descending the river. The mast is unshipped 

 and slung alongside, the deck is covered with seventy or 

 eighty men with white turbans, brown, naked bodies, and blue 

 trousers, some working the big bow sweep; others rowing 

 erect, with their faces forwards j others, again, working the 

 gigantic oars, called the " Che " (carriage or wheel), formed 

 of the trunk of a cypress, the stem in-board, each of 

 which takes eight or ten men to work it. The larger junks 

 have six or eight of these, in addition to oars and yu-loes (hugh 

 sculls, working screw-fashion over the stern or alongside, 

 parallel to the ship's rail) ; and yet, such is the deceptive size 



