I NQUISITIVENES8. 
1 63 
certain villagers would never let us pass, on en- 
countering them, without hearing the unforget- 
able esd , eroo , eteloo , efat> elima, enean, c/itoo , — - 
one, two, three, &c. 
We were rather pestered by their perpetual 
presence in our- dwelling, for, like all untutored 
races, their inquisitiveness knows no bounds. 
From morning till night we had constant relays 
lying in, or sitting about, our house, whom it 
was impossible to dismiss without giving offence. 
One day the hunters brought in a snake, already 
dead, but at the sight of it all near fled in the 
wildest terror. This hint PI. made good use 
of, and when we were not in the mood to be 
interested ^watching their ways, or found them 
objectionable at meal- times, PL would cautiously 
insert his hand into the large tin where his 
specimens were kept in spirit, without any ap- 
parent reference to our visitors. Of course they 
pressed round to see what was going on, but 
when he withdrew his hand with a writhing 
snake in it, they would tumble over each other 
out at the door, screaming and shouting. As 
they never waited to see how the matter ended, 
they never came to know that we did not have a 
mania for keeping live snakes. 
We managed to make them understand that 
