15 
We learned that the hammock boys are fighting to carry Bill’s 
hammock, because they like cigarette buts, and more come out of his 
hammock than out of the other three combined. ^ They get several 
puffs from the cigarette when we consider it finished, and even 
share one butt between two or three of the boys* The usual curious 
crowd hung around the windows of the rest house watching our every 
move* I tossed a cigarette butt out the window, a small boy picked 
it up, and put it, still burning, in the pocket of his shirt* The 
school teacher - had to call out to him that it would burn him! 
March 21 - 
We got down to the waterside about 8 o’clock, the Paramount 
Chief and the school teacher being on hand to say goodbye to us and 
wish us good luck and a safe journey. Xt took nearly an hour ^ 
again to get our gear across the river, and we walked all morning, 
and for an hour after lunch (which we ate in the forest) along a 
beautiful forest trail* The only drawback is the bridges, which 
happen along about every fifteen minutes* They are usually two 
limber saplings, tied together with rattan, and require a better 
head and a steadier equilibrium than I possess* I finally gave up 
trying to get across them by myself, and adopted Bobor, our overseer, 
as my personal guide* When he walked in front of me, and X. put my 
hands on his shoulders and concentrated on following his footsteps 
I forgot to look down at the streams below me, and was dizzy no 
lfenger* 
The little dormouse slept most of the day in my pocket. He 
is tied with a short light piece of twine, and I fastened one end of 
it to my zipper in the front of my shirt so that he wouldn’t scamper 
away when I wasn’t watching him. 
We reached Balala about two thirty, and although it was early 
in the day to make camp, it seemed like a nice little town, and it was 
far to the next one. The Chief was not in the village, dug ouu on 
his farm, and we spent the afternoon sitting in the palaver kitcnen 
waiting for him to return and assign us a house. The ^palaver kitchen, 
of which there are usually several in a village, consists of a 
low mud wall, about two or three feet high, with a high lhatcned roof 
all sides open. This one was near the river, with huts crowded close 
about us on three sides. When the Chief finally got in it was nearly 
dark, and he said there was only one small house available, but that 
we were welcome to sleep in the palaver house * We accordingly seb up 
our four cots and mosquito nets side by side, lit our pressure kero- 
sene lantern, and then dined once more in the presence of all the 
villagers* They were .a quiet crowd here, more so than at Dobli’s 
Island, and they sat in solemn rows on the ground as though they were 
watching a theatrical performance. Two or three of the women wore 
leopard" teeth on necklaces, and Si tried to buy them, but they refused 
to sell at any price. 
We curtained off a small annex to the kitchen, where we could 
bathe and undress in private, and then climbed into bed in full view 
of the natives. Xt was a gorgeous night, with a lull moon maxing 
the village as black and white as a wood-cut. As I wrote up my notes 
I observed that it was the first day of spring, which seems IncrediDle 
in this tropical setting. Charlie the cook is still among an un- 
