202 A DIFFICULT CHOICE. 



menced the search. Some were too old, some 

 stood in a crowded neighbourhood, the repairs of 

 others would have required an outlay of five or 

 six dollars, here the thatch was nearly all gone, 

 and there the garden was too small, and the last 

 was worse than all, for, by a curious accident, 

 the roof settled down on the top of us as we 

 entered, the wattled wall on the outside giving 

 way as we pushed open the dilapidated door to 

 get in. There was not one, in fact, that I could 

 fix my mind upon, and Walderheros being equally 

 difficult to please, we might have continued a long 

 time without coming to a decision, had not the 

 next day's visit to the Xegoos rendered it necessary 

 to fix upon some one, that I might be prepared to 

 answer the Xegoos's usual question, " What is it 

 you desire?" in return for the memolagee or offer- 

 ing I had prepared for his acceptance, and which, 

 as it was of a peculiar kind, it shall be treated of 

 in the next chapter. 



