EXPERIENCES OP MR. STALE. 
Jhey attempted it, their feet and legs over the knees 
were found to be “ stuck in mud,^ and they could 
not get out! ‘‘Swami, swami i” What was to be 
done ? They were fairly fixed like birds caught in 
‘ ‘ bird-lime. ” They cried out to the man who was 
employed filling the earth in, and he stretched out 
both his hands for them to lay hold of and help 
them out ; a cooly seizes hold of each hand and tugs 
away, but with the help of the duction of the mud 
on the legs of the men in the hole, and the grasp 
of two men upon one, instead of pulling them out, 
he himself was pulled in, and, of course, the sudden 
relax of the strain sent them all ‘‘head over heels,’’ 
sprawling in the mud hole. They could not even 
call out “ Appa-a-a,” for tjieir mouths were filled 
with mud ; but it takes *a good deal of mud and 
dirt to choke a cooly at all events, the mud in that 
hole was not sufficient, for they all got up and did 
not even take the opportunity of ceasing from work and 
taking a rest j they seemed to consider it a capital joke, 
a nd resumed the mud dance and song< But the worst 
of these mud holes used for making plaster was, 
that there were so many of them, they actually 
surrounded the house on every side ; and the reasons 
for this were that they found it cheaper to make 
mud just at the spot it was required than to carry 
it. We have even seen a mud hole directly in the 
pathway from the kitchen, which was crossed by the 
boy balancing a curry dish in each hand on a six- 
inch plank, which bent considerably under his weight, 
so much so as to cause some anxiety to the gentle- 
man waiting for dinner as to whether that dinner 
would ever reach the dinner table. After the bunga- 
low was finished these mud holes would still remain 
open ; after rain they filled with water, which, owing 
to the hardness of the ground at the bottom of 
the hole, remained there a long time ; and none re- 
quire to be told what the condition of stagnant water 
becomes, especially as the holes of course became 
the receptacle of all the dirt and sweepings from the 
bungalow. Indeed, we have sometimes seen an old 
bungalow so entrenched by mud holes, full of water, 
as to give one the idea that it was fortified by them 
against outward attack, and that the holes very 
frequently running into each other were meant to 
represent a “moat.” The occupant of the bungalow 
would, perhaps, suddenly become alive to this un- 
pleasant state of matters, and order a gang of men 
to have all the holes filled up ; and how do you 
think they did it under his ov/n personal directions ? 
They collected all the rotten sticks, roots, and pieces 
of old timber lying about, and pitched thesn into 
