door and windows of our supper tent were hung up by the neck
sundry well-bedewed goglets of spring water, cheek by jowl with a
jolly string of long-necked bottles of Lafitte and Chateau Margaux,
joyously fanning themselves in the thorough draught of the cool
night-breeze, breathing so gently along, that we could just hear it
whispering through the leaves of the damp forest, and sweeping towards
the lake past the tents, the curtains of which it scarcely stirred.

The wine perhaps was almost more chilled than a fastidious
wine-fancier might have directed; nevertheless, it flowed over our
parched palates with an intensity of zest which I do not believe it is
in mortals to be conscious of enjoying till they have toiled a whole
day in the sun within half-a-dozen degrees of the equator. Bottle
after bottle--each one more rich and racy than its valued and lamented
predecessor--vanished so fast, that, ere an hour had elapsed, we felt
as if a hundred mad elephants would have stood no chance with us!

As we straggled off to our respective beds, made up in the palankeens,
according to the custom of the country, we became sensible of a
serious annoyance, of which we had taken but little notice while
baling in the hot curries and cool clarets within the tent. A most
potent and offensive smell was brought to us by the land-wind; and the
Admiral, who was not a man to submit to any evil capable of remedy,
insisted on an immediate investigation into the cause of this
annoyance.

After hunting about in the wind's eye for a short time in the jungle,
with torches in our hands, we came upon a huge dead buffalo, swollen
almost to double his natural size. Upon seeing this, the bearers and
servants shrugged their shoulders, as if the case had been hopeless.
Not so the gallant Admiral, who, in his usual style of prompt
resource, called out, "Let us bury this monster before we go to bed."
And, sure enough, under his directions, and by his assistance, we
contrived, in a quarter of an hour, to throw sand, earth, and leaves
enough over the huge carcase to cover it completely. "There's a cairn
for you!" exclaimed the Admiral, throwing down his spade, which he had
been using with his only hand; "and now let us turn in; for by the
first peep of the morning we must have a touch at the wild ducks and
peacocks on the sides of the lake, and perhaps we may contrive to have
a shot at a buffalo or a stray elephant."

Accordingly, next morning, actually