BOTUMAN. 



13 



to hazard such a remark in the very cabin of the 

 Chief himself; and I observed that Botuman's 

 countenance assumed an expression of great indig- 

 nation, whilst he vociferously exclaimed against 

 the injustice of the charge. During his delivery of 

 a long incoherent story, which referred, I believe, to 

 some dispute between himself and a neighbouring 

 chief, and which none of his party dared to interrupt, 

 I stretched myself upon the ground, overcome with 

 the intense and stifling annoyance of the smoke; and, 

 taking my saddle for a pillow, with my cloak wrapt 

 around my limbs, I mused in quiet on the novelty of 

 the scene. The rain was then descending in tor- 

 rents, and the loud peals of thunder, reverberated by 

 the surrounding mountains, tended to reconcile me to 

 this rude and miserable dwelling. Botuman, with 

 his wives, withdrew to some adjacent huts, but he 

 did not forget to remind us of the customary pre- 

 sents, stating that, as we might probably be hurried 

 in the morning, it would be better for him to receive 

 them before his retirement for the night. Thack- 

 wray, being an old traveller in this part of the world, 

 dissuaded me from complying with the suggestion, 

 as, by his account, the wily Chief would not fail to 

 renew his application at the period of our depar- 

 ture. At break of day I crawled out of my hive, for 

 such it might literally be called with regard to its 

 outward appearance, although the title would ill 

 apply to the economy of its internal construction ; 



