'BY STREAM AND RIVER' 171 



And at a cable's length from the bank, whereon 

 I had stood amazed at the sight, was anchored a 

 floating house gaily decked out with flowers and 

 paint of many colours, and from the open windows 

 thereof came the strains of light music and the 

 savour of much good food. And as my stomach 

 fell a- craving for the taste once more of the food 

 of man, I resolved that there I would stay and 

 pitch my camp, in the hope that when night 

 should fall I might be able to make my way by 

 some means into the storehouse of dainties which 

 lay floating so gaily within smelling distance. 

 What I can smell I can generally contrive to 

 reach somehow, if it seems to me safe and profit- 

 able to do so. 



I was a trifle disconcerted, when I descended the 

 bank, to find that many rats had already taken up 

 their abode there. It was now a long time since I 

 had enjoyed the soc'ety of my fellows in any con- 

 siderable number, and I began to wonder whether 

 my manners would pass muster, or whether the 

 rust of solitude had gathered upon them. How 

 would my sudden appearance be received ? Should 

 I be rent in pieces as an intruder, or welcomed as a 

 friend ? I was not left for long in doubt, as two 

 or three members of the colony soon put in an 



