Chap. XXXIII. SPIRIT OF THE NATIVES. 
391 
from the important billama a man who was to assign 
us quarters, we returned over the wide grassy plain 
towards the eastern group, while beyond the quarter 
which we were leaving I observed the sacred grove, 
of considerable circumference, formed by magnificent 
trees, mostly of the ficus tribe, and surrounded with 
an earthen wall. 
At length we reached the eastern quarter ; but 
the owners of the courtyards which were selected 
for our quarters, did not seem at all inclined to re- 
ceive us. I had cheerfully entered with Bu-Skd the 
courtyard assigned to me, in order to take posses- 
sion of it, and my servant had already dismounted, 
when its proprietor rushed furiously in, and, raising 
his spear in a most threatening attitude, ordered me 
to leave his house instantly. Acknowledging the 
justice of his claims to his own hearth, I did not 
hesitate a moment to obey his mandate ; but I had 
some difficulty in persuading my servant to go away 
peaceably, as he was more inclined to shoot the man. 
This dwelling in particular was very neatly arranged ; 
and I was well able to sympathize with the proprietor, 
who saw that his clean yard was to be made a stable 
and littered with dirt. The yards contained from 
five to seven huts, each of different size and arrange- 
ment, besides a shed, and gave plain indications of an 
easy and comfortable domestic life. 
Billama, that is to say, my guide, who seemed not 
to have been more fortunate than myself in his en- 
deavour to find a lodging, being rather crest-fallen 
c c 4 
