My request for hospitality, until the morning, was received with evident
distrust, but the hope of coveted gifts in the end, got the better of
Islamatic superstition in the soul of the Malay, and a covered corner of
his humble residence was accorded me and my men.

During the night I tried to make the Malay talk about the Sakais but I
could not ask him any direct questions as it would have been a serious
affair if my companions came to suspect that our way through the forest
was entirely new to me and that I was ignorant of the place where our
journey would end.

I managed, however, to find out that quite recently some Sakais had
ventured as far as there to exchange _rattan_ (Malacca cane) and rubber,
for tobacco and rice. They had then departed, but the Malay did not know
from whence they had come or whither they had gone. He believed that
they could not be very far off as a few days before he had distinctly
heard their call-whistles.

For various causes I felt obliged to doubt the truth of what the man
related, not the least of which being his ill-disguised desire to rid
himself of our company as soon as possible.

* * * * *

At day-break we started off again, following an almost untracked path
which led us over miasmatic marshes swarming with insects. Our poor legs
were attacked by a perfect army of leeches and subjected to a most
inopportune and undesirable bleeding. From time to time we were
compelled to stop and free ourselves from their tenacious hold. They
seemed to prefer European blood to Asiatic and made me suffer more than
my escort, perhaps because my skin being more tender they could better
succeed in their sanguinary intent, but although my flesh smarted and my
strength failed it was necessary to keep cheerful and pretend, every
now and then, to recognize our whereabouts just as if I had passed the
same way other times. I even assured my five companions that when we
reached the Sakais there would be no more difficulties, and so urged
them on the faster.

I hoped that the farther we penetrated into the vast wilds around us the
more I might depend upon the fidelity of my carriers as they would have
to rely upon my supposed knowledge of the country we were entering and
so would be less likely to beat a retreat. As we went along, however, I
leading the way which. I did not know myself, I could not help noticing
that they paid particular attention to every characteristic p