Under It Are Four Guns Of Light Calibre,
Mounted On Carriages, And Outside Is A Gong On Which The Policemen Beat
The Hours.
At the river we were told that the natives would not go up the shallow,
rapid stream by night,
And now the corporal says that no man will carry
us through the jungle; that trees are lying across the track; that
there are dangerous swamp holes; that though the tigers which infest
the jungle never attack a party, we might chance to see their glaring
eyeballs; that even if men could be bribed to undertake to carry us,
they would fall with us, or put us down and run away, for no better
reason than that they caught sight of the "spectre bird" (the owl); and
he adds, with a gallantry remarkable in a Mohammedan, that he should
not care about Mr. Hayward, "but it would not do for the ladies." So we
are apparently stuck fast, the chief cause for anxiety and
embarrassment being that the youngest Miss Shaw is lying huddled up and
shivering on one of the beds, completely prostrated by a violent sick
headache, brought on by the heat of the sun in the launch. She declares
that she cannot move; but our experienced escort, who much fears
bilious fever for her, is resolved that she shall as soon as any means
of transit can be procured. Heretofore, I have always traveled "without
encumbrance." Is it treasonable to feel at this moment that these fair
girls are one?
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