was answered by another farther down the river, and the
report of my gun when I fired at a bat brought forth a wild "pe-haun,"
"pe-haun," "pe-haun" from half a dozen places.

The ferry was a raft built of long bamboo poles lashed together with vines
and creepers. It floated just above the surface and was half submerged when
loaded. The natives used a most extraordinary contrivance in place of oars.
It consisted of a piece of tightly woven bamboo matting three feet long and
two feet wide at right angles to which was fastened a six-foot handle. With
these the men nonchalantly raked the water toward them from the bow and
stern when they had poled the raft well into the current. The invested
capital was not extensive, for when the ferry or "propellers" needed
repairs a few hours' work in the jungle sufficed to build an entirely new
outfit.

All of the peacocks were on the opposite side of the river from our camp
where the jungle was thickest. On the first morning my wife and I floated
down the river on the raft for half a mile and landed to stalk a peacock
which had called frequently from a rocky point near the water's edge. We
picked our way through the jungle with the utmost caution but the wary old
cock either saw or heard us before we were within range, and I caught just
a glimpse of a brilliant green neck as he disappeared into the bushes. A
second bird called on a point a half mile farther on, but it refused to
come into the open and as we started to stalk it in the jungle we heard a
patter of feet among the dry leaves followed by a roar of wings, and saw
the bird sail over the tree tops and alight on the summit of a bush-clad
hill.

This was the only peacock which we were ever able to flush when it had
already gained cover. Usually the birds depend entirely upon their ability
to hide or run through the bushes. After several attempts we learned that
it was impossible to stalk the peacocks successfully. The jungle was so
crisp and parched that the dry leaves crackled at every step and even small
birds made a loud noise while scratching on the ground.

The only way to get the peacocks was to watch for them at the river when
they came to drink in the early morning and evening. Between two rocky
points where we had first seen the birds there was a long curved beach of
fine white sand. One morning Heller waited on the point nearest camp while
my wife and I posted ourselves under a bush farther down the river. We had
bee