It Was Quite Dark Inside,
But There Was Just Room Enough To Lie Down On The Split Bamboo
Floor.
All round the hut was a large clearing, planted with maize,
belonging to a Filipino, who from time to time lived in another small
hut about one hundred yards away.
He also owned the one I was living
in, and for this I paid him the not very exorbitant sum of one peso
(two shillings) a month. Tall gaunt trees rose out of the corn on all
sides, and in the early morning they were full of bird-life - parrots,
parakeets, cockatoos, pigeons, woodpeckers, gapers and hornbills,
etc. A clear rocky stream flowed by the side of the hut, the sound of
whose rushing waters by night and day was like music to the ear in this
hot and thirsty land, whilst shaded as it was by bamboos and trees,
it was a delightful spot to bathe in every morning and evening. I was
well pleased with my surroundings, and looked forward to a successful
and interesting stay. I fared well though the food was rough, and I
subsisted chiefly on rice and papayas, together with pigeons, doves,
parrots, and the smaller hornbill, called here "talactic," all of which
fell to my gun. The surrounding country in these lower mountains was
a mixture of forest and open grass-country, the grass often growing
far over my head. The forest, which abounded in clear, rocky streams
of cold water, was very luxuriant and beautiful, especially in many
of the cool, damp ravines further back in the mountains.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 66 of 217
Words from 18049 to 18313
of 59060
