waterfalls, since we had to
scramble all the way over large slippery boulders covered with ferns
and _begonias._ We at length came to a tempting-looking river full of
large pools of clear water, into which I longed to plunge. The banks
were extremely beautiful, being overhung by the forest, and the rocky
cliffs were half hidden by large fleshy-leaved climbers and many
other beautiful tropical plants. It was one of those indescribably
beautiful spots that one so often encounters in the tropical wilds,
and which it is impossible to paint in words. A troop of monkeys were
disporting themselves on a tree overhanging the river. Vic was most
anxious for me to allow him to shoot one, but I have only shot one
monkey in my life, and it is to be the last, and I always try and
prevent others from doing so. We waded the river in a shallow place,
and climbed up the steep hill on the other side. We had gone a good
distance over hills covered with tall grass, and I was now looking
forward to a bit of decent walking, as hitherto it had been nearly all
miserable scrambling work, and the Negritos told Vic that the worst was
now over. But we were approaching a hut, overhanging a rocky cliff,
when we heard the sound of angry voices and wailing above us, and we
soon perceived four Negritos (three men and a woman) approaching us. I
thought the old woman was mad; she was making more noise than all the
others put together, shouting and screaming in her fury. At first I
thought they might be hostile Negritos who resented our intrusion,
but they belonged to the tribe of the chief who was with me, and they
were soon talking to him in loud, excited voices. Our own party soon
got excited, too, and, as may be imagined, I was longing to find out
the cause of all this excitement. Vic soon told me the reason. It
appeared that on the previous day a large party of our Negritos had
gone into the territory of the Buquils in order to get various kinds
of forest produce (as they had often done in the past), and had been
treacherously attacked by these Buquils, and many of them killed. One
of these was the brother of a sub-chief, who now approached us, and
who was, I believe, the husband of the frenzied woman. It was a very
excitable scene that followed. I suppose one might call it a council
of war. It was a mystery to me where all the Negritos came from and
how they found us out; but they came in ones and twos till there was
a huge concourse of them present,