About 3 A.M., a crowd, hooting,
yelling, and beating clappers, passed not far off in the darkness, and
there was a sound of ravaging and rending caused by a herd of elephants
which had broken into the banana grounds.
Besides apes, elephants, dogs, and other pets, there are some fine
jungle-fowls, a pheasant, a "fire-back," I think, and an argus pheasant
of glorious beauty; but glorious is not quite the word either, for the
hundred-eyed feathers of its tail are painted rather in browns than
colors. These birds are under the charge of a poor Chinaman, who once
had money, but has gone to complete ruin from opium-smoking. His frame
is reduced to a skeleton covered with skin. I never saw such emaciation
even in an advanced stage of illness.
Just now I saw Mahmoud and Eblis walk into my room, and shortly
following them, I found that Mahmoud had drawn a pillow to the foot of
the bed, and was lying comfortably with his head upon it, and that
Eblis was lying at the other end. I do hope that you will not be tired
of the apes. To me they are so intensely interesting that I cannot help
writing about them. Eblis has been feverish for some days. I think he
has never recovered from the thrashing he got the day I came.
