108 
The Shadow of Tragedy. 
long and li feet girth, as well as a large poisonous snake ( Trigono - 
cephalus a b ox Selileg.) 4 feet long, called Laharia by the Colonists. They 
had found both electric eels in an almost dried up swamp and I am 
firmly convinced that a “shock" from them would have killed the strong- 
est ox. Mr. Glascott could not describe laughably enough the procc 
dures carried out by the negroes in putting the dangerous brutes to 
death. The Indians had found the Laharia rolled up under a tree, and 
had killed it. The Gymnotus was served by our negroes for their sup- 
per and eaten dripping over with fat: as our table was supplied with 
something better, I felt no inclination to share theirs. 
o7l\ On account of his hand (Stöckle was unfortunately still unable 
to help me with the skinning, and as a large number of birds had to be 
prepared as quickly as possible or run the risk of turning bad, I was 
on the 18th May prevented accompanying either my brother or Mr. 
Glascott, though 1 did not like missing the opportunity at all, ever 
since the capture of the Gymnotus. Mr. King accordingly went with 
the latter as a welcome companion: along with three Indians they both 
left in the cheeriest mood for the point determined upon, while my 
brother hastened to the shore opposite. After the lapse of an hour I 
heard the first, shot fired, but, what remained unaccountable to me, was 
its being immediately followed by a second though much weaker one. 
Stöckle's genial accounts of the homeland and his younger days had 
almost made me forget the whole thing when, in about another short 
hour's time, he called out to me: “There's Mr. Glascott's boat coming 
already back but without him, Mr. King, and (la* third Indian.” Of 
course I immediately jumped up and hurried to the boat, where, even 
before it landed, I heard my name being called amidst an awful wail- 
ing, and soon recognised a black and bloody body lying in the bottom 
as Mr. King. His whole face was blackened and trickled with blood 
which had formed a thick coagulum on the top of his head and on dif- 
ferent parts of his body: his hands and arms appeared to me to be 
in the same condition, and as for his pride, the beautiful moustache 
and whiskers, together with the largest part of his crop of hair, had 
disappeared. At first sight I was momentarily robbed of speech: shud- 
dering in my very soul I stood before my disfigured and suffering 
friend. Full of life, joking, and chaffing, he had left me hardly two 
hours before, and now r Everyone’s Favourite lay before me in the most 
deplorable condition, his groaning and moaning only interrupted every 
now and again with the agonising cries of: “Oh God, my eyes,” “I am 
blind and always unlucky,” “Both my eyes are shot out,” Close to him 
lay a figure no less pitiable, the third Indian who stretched both his 
burnt arms out towards me. 
?>73. Neither of the two Indians accompanying them spoke a word 
of English, King was no longer master of his senses, while the un- 
restrained and perplexing pantomime of both paddlers could have 
driven even the most cold-blooded individual to despair. Help as far 
as it lay in my power to give, was the one thing I felt demanded of me. 
With the assistance of Stöckle and the two Indians Mr. King was ac- 
cordingly carried as quickly as possible to the house wehere, while the 
