pure; for I noticed that all the dogs in the place were
the same. A clear stream ran past the front of our
house, and we were glad to get a bath before dinner.
In this stream were at least two species of little fish, the
largest rarely exceeding three inches in length, being
beautifully spotted with dark brown on their sides. We
felt deliciously cool after bathing, and ate our dinner comfortably,
on seats we extemporised just ^outside our door.
After a smoke, in the cool of the evening, we prepared
our sleeping gear, and turned in for the night. We were
up at sunrise, and bathed in the little stream, while
my friend’s servant and our men prepared breakfast.
We left some of our less needful gear in charge of the
headman, and then shouldering our guns, we set out for
the mountain, a good ten mile walk, over bad roads,
and the last three or four miles is stiff climbing most of
the way. Altogether it took us about six hours to
accomplish, as we started at about seven o’clock in the
morning, and reached the hut at the top a little after
one p .m .
The first mile or two the path lies through gambier
patches; and at one of the clearings we flushed a couple
of fire-back pheasants, but we were too far off to get a
shot at them. Their plumage shone resplendently in
the morning sunlight, as they rose with the “ whir-r-r,”
so familiar to sportsmen nearer home. A tolerably level
jungle path succeeds the gambier patches for two or
three miles further, and then the path commences,
leading up the mountain-side.
Our first stopping place was at some distance up the
base of the rise, where a bit of folded paper in a split
stick directed us to the “ Lady Jervoise F a l l s a n d ,
as we stood quietly, the sound of the falling water fell
on our ears from the left-hand side of the path. We
soon plunged down the slope, and reached them, but
were rather disappointed, as all the water visible was a
brook rushing down a rocky gully, and falling a distance
of five or six feet over into a water-worn basin below.
The water was clear and cool, and we took advantage
of it to secure a bath in the shade of the tall trees overhead.
The rocks were beautifully draped with ferns
and mosses; and a small species of ansectochilus grew
here and there on the mossy rocks. Its leaves were
of a rich velvety-green colour, netted with golden
veins.
We sat here, and rested awhile, the cool splash of
the water sounding pleasantly as it fell into the spreading
limpid pool at our feet. Here, for the first time,
I made the acquaintance of the jungle leech, a most
energetic thing, which neglects no opportunity of taking
its sanguinary toll from the passing traveller. Several
of them fixed themselves on our legs, the first notice of
their unwelcome presence being the oozing of our blood
through our white trowsers. Their first bite is rarely
fe lt; and very often, as I afterwards found, it is only by
their gorged bodies feeling cold to the skin, that their
presence becomes known.
The road from the falls to the summit is in places very
steep, and the muscles of one’s legs feel it ere the end of
the journey is reached. Many of those who read of
jungle travel at home will be sure to imagine it very
pleasant to explore a tropical forest, accompanied by a
posse of native guides and carriers—with gun on shoulder,
and luxuriant vegetation on all sides, and an occasional
shot at a big monkey or a beautiful bird overhead. So of
a truth it is, but in common with all other pleasures it has
its drawbacks. After three or four hours hard walking,
varied by a rest now and then, and a few stumbles, we