the leaves that had wrapped them
up under the feet of an unsuspecting friend, who presently, warned
of the danger, escaped with a terrified shriek and a wild jump. It
would seem that physical disgust had as much to do with all this as
religious fear, although the natives show none of this disgust at
handling the remains of pigs. Naturally, the old men were the most
superstitious; the young ones were more emancipated, some of them
even going the length of picking up a bone with their toes.

Most of them had quite a similar dread of snakes, but some men handled
them without much fear, and brought me large specimens, which they
had caught in a sling and then wrapped up in leaves. While I killed
and skinned a big snake, a large crowd always surrounded me, ever
ready for flight, and later my boys chased them with the empty skin,
a performance which always ended in great laughing and dancing.

I had been in Port Olry for three weeks, waiting anxiously every
day for the Marie-Henry, which was to bring the luggage I had left
behind at the Segond Channel. My outfit began to be insufficient;
what I needed most was chemicals for the preservation of my zoological
specimens, which I had plenty of time and occasion to collect here. One
day the Marie-Henry, a large schooner, arrived, but my luggage had been
forgotten. I was much disappointed, as I saw no means of recovering
it in the near future. The Marie-Henry was bound for Talamacco,
in Big Bay, and took the Rev. Father and myself along.

One of the passengers was Mr. F., a planter and trader in
Talamacco, and we soon became good friends with him and some of the
others. Mr. F. was very kind, and promised to use all his influence to
help me find boys. The weather was bad, and we had to tack about all
night; happily, we were more comfortable on the big schooner than on
the little cutters. At Talamacco Mr. F. offered us his hospitality,
and as it rained continually, we were very glad to stay in his
house, spending the time in sipping gin and winding up a hoarse
gramophone. Thus two lazy days passed, during which our host was
constantly working for me, sending his foreman, the "moli," to all
the neighbouring villages, with such good results that at last I was
able to engage four boys for two months. I took them on board at once,
well pleased to have the means, at last, of moving about independently.

We sailed in the evening, and when, next morning, we rounded Cape
Quiros, we foun