he European rajah gives his audiences: and it is also in this room that
every day, at five o'clock, a capital dinner is served up, to which we
were made heartily welcome. During our stay, Mr. Brooke, accompanied by
several of our officers and some of the residents, made an excursion up
the river. We started early in the morning, with a flowing tide; and,
rapidly sweeping past the suburbs of the town, which extend some
distance up the river, we found ourselves gliding through most
interesting scenery. On either side, the river was bounded by gloomy
forests, whose trees feathered down to the river's bank, the water
reflecting their shadows with peculiar distinctness. Occasionally the
scene was diversified by a cleared spot amidst this wilderness, where,
perchance, a half-ruined hut, apparently not inhabited for years, the
remains of a canoe, together with fragments of household utensils, were
to be seen, proving that once it had been the abode of those who had
been cut off by some native attack, and probably the heads of its former
occupants were now hanging up in some skull-house belonging to another
tribe. The trees were literally alive with monkeys and squirrels, which
quickly decamped as we approached them. Several times we were startled
by the sudden plunge of the alligators into the water, close to the
boats, and of whose propinquity we were not aware until they made the
plunge. All these rivers are infested with alligators, and I believe
they are very often mischievous; at all events, one of our youngsters
was continually in a small canoe, paddling about, and the natives
cautioned us that if he was not careful he certainly would be taken by
one of these animals.

Early in the afternoon we disembarked at a Chinese village twenty-five
miles from Kuchin. The inhabitants of this village work the gold and
antimony mines belonging to Mr. Brooke. We remained there for the
night, and the next morning proceeded further up the river, and landed
at another village, where we breakfasted, and then proceeded on foot to
visit the mines. Our path lay through dense forests of gigantic trees,
whose branches met and interlaced overhead, shading us from the burning
rays of the sun. At times we would emerge from the wood, and find
ourselves passing through cultivated patches of ravines, enclosed on all
sides by lofty mountains, covered with foliage. In these spots we found
a few natives with their families, who seemed to be contented in