THATCHINa. 
rain, the mud floors of the bungalow would stand 
in pools of water. I quite recollect one night of 
being awakened by a heavy downpour of rain, when 
'my bungalow was in progress of thatching, and 
•f getting some old talipot umbrellas conveyed 
over the top of the bed, to keep off the droppings. 
All seemed right for a time : but, on quietly falling 
asleep, I was somewhat astonished at again being 
awakened by a sudden deluge of water over my face. The 
talipots had not taken off the water i it had accu- 
rmulated upon them until the pools burst and came 
down on my face, with the concentrated force of a 
small waterfall. ' There was nothing for it but to get 
up, and look out for a dry corner, probably again to 
be disturbed before morning with a similar result. 
The floors of the bungalow and verandah were laid 
down — it was not considered necessary to be level — with 
pounded mud and gravel. This looked very well, also 
neat, when newly d >ne ; but by-and»by, as time wore, 
on, the pounded mud would get dry and loose, so that 
the floors were simply dry loose earth. Underneath 
the table, where the planter sat at his meals, a large 
hole would be excavated by the action of the feet. 
Also, where he sat at his writing-table, up and down 
the verandah, where he paced backwards and forwards, 
smoking his pipe and listening to the complaints of hia 
coolies, a pathway would be worn out of loose earth, 
and so on. So, it was judged necessary to have a. 
periodical repair of the floor of the house. This was 
done, weekly or monthly, by filling up the holes with 
sand, gravel and mud, pounding it in, and making all 
as level as possible ; after this a solution of cow-dung 
was washed on the floor. This was done on a dry day, 
and it soon caked and hardened. No unpleasant smell 
resulted from this, and the temporary effect was to 
give the house a neat and clean appearance • it also 
destroyed all insects, whenever they began to lodge in 
the dry loosened earth floor. The mud walls were 
also washed with this solution : it filled up all the holes, 
and cracks, and prevented the loosened pieces of dry 
earth from crumbling and dropping down it may be on 
tbe bed, couch, or writing-table and materials. 
This solution generally made a temporary clearance 
of insects with a propensity to leap. They leaped out 
of the house, taking shelter in the dry sand outside, 
merely to return again, whenever their old accommo- 
dation became more convenient. 
But the mosquitoes took refuge in the roof amongst 
the thatch, for in these days there was no ceiling. 
From this refuge, as evening began to draw in, they 
would descend in clouds and attack the inhabitant or 
inhabitants below ; but still we were net to be beaten, 
