He Was A Tall, Thin Fellow Of Only Thirty-Two Years Of Age,
And Yet His Present Wife In Florida Blanca Was His Sixth, All The
Others Being Dead.
I used to chaff him about having poisoned them,
which much amused him.
After some days the American returned, and he
told me of a very good spot in which to collect up in the mountains,
so one morning I started off with Vic for a long stay in these mountain
forests. We left Florida Blanca before the sun had risen, my luggage
being carried in one of the curious buffalo wagons. We soon left
the dry rice-fields behind, and for some distance passed over a wide
uninteresting plain of tall grass, dotted about with a few trees. After
going some distance our two buffaloes were unyoked and allowed to soak
in a small pond. This process was repeated every time we came to any
water, and this, together with the slow progress of the buffaloes,
made the journey longer than I had anticipated. After crossing a
fair-sized river, we began a gradual ascent into the mountains. My
luggage was then carried for a short distance, and after travelling
through some bamboo thickets and crossing a rocky stream, I beheld my
future abode. It was a small grass-thatched hut, with a flooring of
split bamboo, raised four feet from the ground; up to this we had to
climb by means of a single bamboo step. About two-thirds of the hut
consisted of a flooring of bamboo, fairly open on all sides but one;
this part did as my bedroom, and to get to it I had to crawl through
a hole - one could hardly call it a door!
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