82 APES AXD MONKEYS 



black shadows or to wait for the leopard's attack ? What 

 is his exact pose ? What does he intend ? How big is he ? 

 Can he see me ? A category of similar questions rises at 



this critical moment. 



A clash of bushes and he is gone ; not with the stealthy, 

 cautious steps with which he advanced, but in hot haste. 

 He has taken alarm, abandoned his purpose, and far away 

 can be heard the dry twigs crashing as he hurries to some 

 remote nook. He flees as if he thought he was being pur- 

 sued. He is gone, and I feel a sense of relief. 



It is ten o'clock. The low rumbling of distant thunder 

 is all that remains of the tornado that swept over the forest 

 a few hours ago. The stars are shining, but the foliage of 

 the forest is so dense, that one can only see here and there 

 a star peeping through the tangled boughs overhead. I 

 hear some little waif among the dead leaves, but what it is 

 or what it wants can only be surmised. 



Another hour has passed, and I retire for the night. The 

 sounds of nocturnal birds are fewer now. I hear a strange, 

 tremulous sound from the boughs of the bushes near the 

 cao'e. The leaves are vibrating. The sound ceases and 

 again begins at intervals. I listen with attention, for it is 

 a singular sound. It is the movement of a huge python 

 in search of birds. He reaches out his head, stretches his 

 neck, grasps the bough of a slender bush, releases his coil 

 from another, and by contraction draws his slimy body 

 forward. The pliant bough yields to his heavy weight. 

 The abrasion causes it to tremble and the leaves to quake. 



I fall asleep and rest in comfort, while the dew that has 

 fallen upon the leaves gathers itself into huge drops ; their 



