mr low s clerk a came to arrange an expedition and early the next morning after i had with the he arrived bringing the elephant as well broken and stately an animal as i should wish to ride he is such a height they say ten feet that though he lay down to be mounted a good sized ladder was needed for the climb upon his back put pillows and a good lunch into the baskets and as the day was glorious from sunrise to sunset i had an altogether delightful expedition we turned at once into the and rode through it for seven hours on the left bank of the river the loveliness was the trees were lofty and magnificent there were very many such as i have not seen before many run up a hundred feet or more before they branch the was green and dim and amidst the wealth of vegetation not a flower was to be seen but as often through in the far aloft there were glimpses of the sunny letter xx a heavenly blue sky and now and then there were where trees had fallen and the glorious tropical sunshine streamed in on gaudy blossoms of huge trees and on pure white and coloured clusters borne by on sun birds and gorgeous in the sunlight and on some all golden others and black and and blue some with bands of violet and green others altogether black with spots of or green the under side of the wings corresponding to the spot while sometimes a of blue or wholly coloured fluttered in the the flash of sun birds and the flutter of giving one an idea of the joy which possibly was intended to be the of all animated existence in these i was glad for the moment to be neither an nor an so that i might leave every one of these coloured creatures to the enjoyment of its life and beauty it was not the trees and only that were beautiful in these sunny but the and with the crimson tipped and the crimson and the great red with purple on its nearly and another plant of an habit with green to a great height over the branches of the smaller trees the beautiful tree themselves were loaded with other and every fallen tree was draped with fresh green forms every bit was the home of and foliage plants mostly green and gold while in some places there were with noble shining leaves six feet long in the green twilight of the depths of the forest the dew the leaves till nearly a m but in the the sun blazed with the heat of a furnace the golden letter xx the silence and of the heart of the forest and the colour vivacity light and movement in the and among the tree tops contrast most curiously of the tree tops and seem to lead a completely life it is said that they never come down to earth but that they cross the forests swinging themselves from tree to tree the if they can build their near rivers and during the day we passed several of these several had more or less rude every village consists of such houses as i have described before but not by any means closely under the shade of bread fruit and other fruit trees of are never far off many of these people have dug or other boats on the adjacent river some have bathing sheds and others these have much of the as well as of tropical life about them they are beautiful and appropriate and food is above them and around them the curse can hardly be known a very little labour all that the desires and if the of the land be secure and the lack of security is one of the great evils and he be not over his life must be calm and easy if not happy the people were always courteous and my escort held long conversations in every these raise their houses on high posts partly because abound the trees near of kin to the bread fruit and the flourish round all the dwellings the fruit which may be food rather than fruit grows without a visible stem from the trunk and branches of the very handsome tree which bears it and from sixty to seventy pounds the grows to the size of a man s head and is covered closely with hard sharp letter xx village life the fall of either on ones head or shoulder is much to be and the stretch strong above their houses to secure themselves from accidents i saw for the first time the growing in perfection it was a great delight as is the first sight of any tree or flower well known from description it is a beautiful tree from forty to fifty feet high when with shining foliage somewhat resembling that of the bay and its fruit looks like a very large one ripe was gathered for me it had opened and revealed the with its dark brown showing through its crimson envelope of the whole lying in a bed of pure white a beautiful object each house in the seemed to have all its inmates at home doing nothing but nut in their home the men wear only the and a handkerchief knotted round their heads and i think that the women also dispense with an upper garment for i noticed at the approach of two strange men they invariably huddled another over their shoulders heads and faces holding it so as to conceal all but their eyes the young children as usual were only clothed in silver ornaments this dress in the privacy of their homes is merely a matter of custom and climate for these people are no more savages than we are these glimpses of a native entirely by european are most interesting in these the people have 