ward and betrayed our whereabouts. My uncle did not move
from the spot, but continued to peer out from among the bushes. The
pirates who had first reached the house were seen going in and out at
all the doors like a troop of monkeys. They now came to the verandah
and shouted out to the others. They were evidently disappointed at
finding no one within. I could not help feeling pleased, however, that
they were not likely to find anything which they would look upon as
valuable, however much the articles might be prized by the owners. In a
short time those who had been on the beach came up, and now they all
rushed in together, and we could hear them shouting to each other as
they ran about seeking for booty. Their shouts of satisfaction were
soon changed to cries of disappointment and rage, as they found that
everything they prized had been carried off. Some of the provisions,
however, which had been left behind were at length discovered; and
before long they found their way to the menagerie. This seemed to
astonish them not a little. Several of the creatures, however, having
been left without food, were howling piteously. At last I caught sight
of a fellow rubbing away with two pieces of bamboo, and I knew well
enough that he was striking a light. Another brought some dried boughs,
and they soon had a torch twisted up and blazing away. Uttering a shout
of triumph, one of them rushed up the steps of the house with a blazing
torch, and ran round it, setting fire to the light wood-work and thatch.
It rapidly caught, and the flames darting out in all directions, the
whole house was soon furiously blazing away. Some of the men who had
been inside rushed out, reeling as if they were drunk, and I guessed
that they had got hold of some of the arrack which had been kept for
preserving specimens. They now began to dance round the house, shouting
and shrieking as if in delight at the destruction they had wrought.
Some of them, however, were hid from our view by the building, so that
we could not see what they were about. Presently their shrieks and
cries seemed to increase, and we saw those from the other side of the
building scampering away as fast as their legs could carry them,
apparently in a panic. The rest followed. Away they went, each man
tumbling over the other, and caring only for his own safety. I really
think that at that moment, had our whole party been together, we might
have rushed out and cut them to