CHAPTER XXI 
BACK HOME FROM AFRICA. NINETY DAYS ON THE 
WAY THROUGH INDIA, JAVA, CHINA, MANILA 
AND JAPAN. THREE CHOW DOGS AND A FI¬ 
NAL SERIES OF AMUSING ADVENTURES 
At last the day came for us to say good-by to the 
happy hunting grounds and return to the perils and 
dangers of civilization. Occasional newspapers had 
filtered into the wild places and in the peaceful 
security of our tents we had read of frightful min¬ 
ing disasters in America, of unparalleled floods in 
France, of the clash and jangle of rival polar ex¬ 
plorers, of disasters at sea, of rioting and lynching 
in Illinois. Automobile accidents were chronicled 
with staggering frequency, and there were mur¬ 
murs of impending rebellions in India, political 
crises in England, feverish war talk in Germany, 
volcanic threats from Mount Etna, and a bewilder¬ 
ing lot of other dreadful things. 
In contrast to this dire picture of life in civilized 
places, our pleasant days among the lions and wild 
beasts, of Africa seemed curiously peaceful and 
orderly. Now we were to leave—to go back into 
the maelstrom of the busy places and bid farewell 
to our friendly savages and genial camp-fires. The 
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