338 BANDITTI OF THE INTERIOR. [Cuar. XVIII. 
the country, where the natives bear a very bad 
character, having frequently attacked and robbed 
travellers. During our progress my companions 
related a great many stories of this kind, and were 
evidently not a little frightened. The roads were 
only narrow lanes, leading through dense thickets 
of brushwood, and the locality was certainly an ex- 
cellent one for lawless characters of every descrip- 
tion to do exactly as they pleased in. On one oc- 
casion, when I had gone a little way ahead of the 
party, something alarmed them, and the whole set 
took to their heels and ran off in another direction. 
I rode back after the fugitives, and being well armed 
explored the ground in every direction to find out 
the cause of their alarm, but could discover no- 
thing, and at length I persuaded them to return 
and pursue the journey. Shortly after this, however, 
a wild-looking Indian stepped out of the forest, 
and stood eyeing us narrowly as we passed him on 
the road. He had a short matchlock in his hand, 
and evidently belonged to the band of freebooters 
who infested this part of the country. I passed 
him in a very slow and deliberate manner, taking 
care to watch his motions, and to let him see that 
I and some of my party were well armed, and 
prepared for any attack. After looking at us im 
silence for a minute or two, he jumped into the 
jungle and disappeared. 
As our path winded through the jungle, we some- 
times could only see a very short distance either 
before or behind us. At one of these bends we 
