104

THE SUBMERGED JUNGLE.

"Give way," exclaimed Barclay, "and get above them!" In a moment our paddles struck the water, and our craft seemed to lift and jump at every stroke. The other canoe was not idle; for a few minutes it was doubtful which would win, and we could hear the men cheering one another on to exertion. "A scout! a scout!" exclaimed our Malays; "the prahus will be down when the ebb-tide makes!" I told Barclay this. "I hope to God they will!" he exclaimed; "we shall be ready for them!" We now began to head the canoe: as soon as we saw we could do that, Barclay got his musket ready, and gave orders, directly he fired, for the helmsman to steer diagonally across the stream, so as to get on the same side as the craft we were in chase of.

Taking a deliberate aim at the scout canoe he fired, and we with a shout struck across for her, hoping either to lay her alongside or drive her back upon the gun-boats; but we had counted without our host, and the Malays of our party gave a yell of disgust as the enemy disappeared as it were into the jungle. We were soon on her heels, and guided by the sound she made in forcing through the mangrove swamp, held our course: now aground upon the straddling legs of a mangrove tree; then pushing

AN INDIAN NIGHT-SCENE.

105

through a thicket, out of which the affrighted birds flew shrieking; then listening to try and distinguish the sound of the flying canoe from all the shrill whistles, chirrups, and drumming noises, which render an Indian jungle far more lively by night than by day. Once or twice we thought we were fast catching her, when suddenly our canoe passed from the mangrove swamp into an open forest of trees, which rose in all their solemn majesty from the dark waters. We saw our chance of success was now hopeless, for the scout canoe had fifty avenues by which to baffle us, and terra firma was, we knew, not far distant. It was a strange and beautiful scene. The water was as smooth as burnished steel, and reflected, wherever the trees left an opening, the thousand stars which strewed the sky: the tall stems of the forest trees rose from this glittering surface, and waved their sable plumes over our heads; whilst the fire-fly, or some equally luminous insect, occasionally lit up first one tree and then another, as if sparks of liquid gold were being emitted from the rustling leaves.

Silently we lay on our oars, or rather paddles; not a sound of the flying canoe could be heard it was evident that the scout had escaped, and it only remained for us to make the best of

106 THE WHIP AND MANGROVE SNAKES.

our way back again-a task which, in the absence of all excitement, we found an extremely tough one; indeed, we grounded so often on the roots of the mangrove trees, that I proposed to wade through the mud and water, dragging the canoe after us. To this, however, the Malays would in nowise listen, and spoke so earnestly of the danger arising from a particular kind of snake, that we thought it better to listen to them — a piece of wisdom upon our part which gave rise to some congratulations on the morrow, when, in company with our advisers, we visited the mangrove swamp, and found in the fork of many of the trees a perfect nest of snakes. These, the Malays assured us, were very venomous, yet the reptiles were not above a foot or eighteen inches long, and about the girth of a man's little finger; the greatest peculiarity being strong black markings about the body, which gave them an appearance somewhat in keeping with their bad reputation. Having, like most youths, read every book which I could get hold of, descriptive of wild beast, bird, and reptile, I, from my reading, had been led to believe that the whip-snake was everywhere most dangerous; and I must say—when I observed a number of these long green-coloured creatures hanging like tendrils from the trees we

THE WHIP AND MANGROVE SNAKES. 107

had in the darkness of the previous night been pushing our way through I felt thankful for our escape. Touching one of the Malays who were with me, I pointed at them and said, " They are very bad." He smiled, and assured me they were not by any means so dangerous as those in the forks of the trees in the mangrove swamps,

108

MAHOMET ALEE DOES NOT ATTACK.

CHAP. IX.

Mahomet Alee does not attack.-Start Crane shooting.-Daybreak in Malayia.—The Adjutant. · The "old Soldier!"— The "old Soldier" fishing. — The "old Soldier" weathers a young Sailor.- No Cranes.-Plenty of Monkeys.-Monkeys in a Passion.-A sudden Chase of a Prahu.-Birds'-Nests and Pulo Bras Manna. — The edible-nest-building Swallow, Hirundo esculenta; Food; Habits. - Decide upon seeing the Nests collected.—Difficulties in the way of doing so. - Jamboo enjoying Company's pay.-Jamboo remonstrates. - A scramble for Birds'-Nests.-The Malays descend the Face of the Cliff. The Home of the edible-nest-building Swallow. The Birds'-Nest Trade. The Nests composed of Gelatin.

THE chase by night was followed by no general attack from the piratical fleet, and we surmised that the scouts, having found us on the “qui vive,” had reported unfavourably of the probability of surprising the blockading squadron,—a surmise which the inhabitants of the neighbouring village afterwards confirmed.

One middle watch in January, the look-out man awoke me, and told me my sampan and gun were ready as I had desired.