THE MIDDAY MEAL 77 



sive. The voices of the birds grow less and less frequent. 

 Even the insects do not appear to be so busy as they were 

 in the earlier hours of the day. Moses has abandoned his 

 rambles in the bush, and sits on a fallen tree, with his 

 arms folded, as if he had finished work for the day. 



Along towards this hour everything in the forest seems 

 to become quiet and inactive, and continues so until about 

 two o'clock in the afternoon. I was impressed upon 

 more than one occasion with this universal rest during the 

 hottest part of the day, and the same thing seems to pre- 

 vail among aquatic animals. 



I now prepare my repast for midday by opening a can 

 of meat or fish, and warming it on a tin plate on the little 

 stove. I have no vegetables or dessert, but with a few 

 crackers broken up and stirred into the grease, and plenty 

 of water to drink, I make an ample meal. When it is 

 finished, Moses coils up in his little hammock, swung by 

 my side, and takes his siesta. The boy, when there, 

 stretches out on the floor and does likewise. During the 

 hours about noon, few things are astir, though during that 

 time I have seen some interesting sights. 



It must not be supposed that the change is sudden at 

 the beginning or at the end of this period, for such is not 

 the case. There is no fixed time for anything to cease 

 activity. It is by slow degrees that one thing after another 

 becomes quiescent, until life appears to be for a time 

 almost extinct ; but as the sun descends the western sky, 

 life and activity revive, and by three o'clock everything is 

 again astir. Now, a lone gorilla comes stalking through the 

 bush, looking for the red fruit of the batiLna> a peculiar 



