AMONG PAPUAN PEAKS 
would be on the qu vive, thinking something was 
about to happen; they were, in fact, hike men living 
on avolcano. Before we left we were in such stress 
that we were compelled to try bird-of-paradise soup ; 
it was truly abominable, and after the first spoonful 
we got no further. 
All our things were packed, and Harry and I were 
inside taking the fly-tent down, when suddenly we 
heard a terrible uproar among the carriers. I rushed 
out, but by the time I got into the open I found one 
of the native houses in flames, and in less than ten 
minutes the whole camp was ablaze. I immediately 
demanded of the boys what they meant by this act, 
but they seemed to look upon it as a great joke, much 
as youngsters at home would regard a bonfire. It is 
not improbable that their object was to compel me 
to go, for the previous day my shooters had brought 
in twelve paradise birds, at which I had shown great 
delight, and they probably thought that I should be 
tempted to prolong my stay. It is just possible that 
I might, for the last days were the richest we had 
had so far as the capturing of birds and specimens 
was concerned. When the camp was still roaring up 
in flames we departed with our few remaining 
followers, the main body having gone on already 
with the chief part of the loads. One thing that 
makes me sure that the firing of the camp was 
deliberate was that the outbreak occurred in two or 
three places simultaneously. 
