106 



A NATUHALISrS WANDEBINOS 



next stiititm. By and by the ascent becafme steej>er, and our 

 team had to be augmented by the addition of a buftViio in 

 front of onr homes; further up a second was addt^dj till at hist 

 4;be equine was altogether discarded for the lx>vine tdenK*nt- 



Under the soothiug evenness of their progress I might have 

 dropjiinl int<t a pleasant doze; but the niglit was so hdantiful 

 that I preferred to enjoy the picturesque effect produced by 

 the light of the torches on our team and their drivers— who 

 were dressed in short red trousers, deep yellow jackets, and 

 their tartan &irongs thrown stisli-wise across their shoulde^i'^ti 

 and wore immense hats more than two feet in diameter ; and 

 to lose none of the charm of the bright starlit night and the 

 fire-flies that illnminated with their titful light the borders 

 of the forest through which we were ascend iug whose low moan 

 was the only sound that brctke the stillness of the night, ihv 

 the driver had coiled himself up as best he could, and was ftust 

 asleep^ and the buft'ulo-boys walked like mutes ut a funertd. 



At abcait midnight we reached the summit of the pass, where 

 it was so cold that I was glad to cronch by the tire of a . small Itut 

 there, while the buffaloes were being changed. The jdace of 

 the oxen was now taken by a single horse, which, urged at a 

 pace more swift than safe, carried ns down the mountain side 

 into a wanner region in a very short time. The up-hill seat 

 might have been more comforttible ; but the down-hill ride 

 was interspersed with practical lessons in dynamics whi<-h 

 rather tended Uj disagree with the general quiet order of one's 

 internal arrangements, yet the sensation of being whirled 

 along at such a rapid speed was full of exhilaration and great 

 pleasure. At 3 a,BI. we pulled up at our half-way honsc^ — 

 the past-ofUce jit Tjandjoor — where i mis checked off" with the 

 rest of the Iwiggage which had been consigned to the driver at 

 Euitenzorg, re-booked for the remaimler id" the jonrney, and 

 handed over to the charge of a new Jehn to be deliveretl at 

 his destination. 



Beyond Tjandjoor the road passed through a more level 

 ctiuntryj leading to the deep valley of the TjitanMan. As 

 there wiui no bridge over the ravine we were, on arriving at 

 the near bank, iissisteil to aUght by what seemed a regiment 

 of walking torches, and with ctirt and horses trans jwrted on a 

 bamboo raft to the further side, where two buffalo friends were 



