elephant, simply for the sake of amusement; for neither hide, feet,
tail, nor bones are of much, if of any, value, and it would surely be
better to catch and tame the poor creatures if possible.

Arrived on board the yacht, I found Tom just returned from a long
examination of the dockyard and naval establishment. The remainder of
the party appeared later on, all rather exhausted, and disappointed at
not having seen any alligators. They were, however, laden with lovely
lotus-like water-lilies, collected during a pleasant little paddle on
the tank in a very leaky canoe.

During the morning we had many visitors on board, all profuse in kind
offers of hospitality, and desirous of doing everything to make our
brief stay agreeable. The children went back with the ladies to spend
the afternoon at the fort, while Tom and Mabelle landed to play
lawn-tennis.

About five o'clock Major Nash called and took us for a drive on the
heights, from which there was a fine view across the bay and harbour
beneath us. This island originally belonged to the Dutch, by whom it
was ceded to us; and it has since been used as a club and
recreation-ground for the officers. Several pleasant bungalows have
been established, and a good breakfast, lunch, or even dinner, can be
obtained at a moment's notice. The old account-books kept by those in
charge of the mess bungalow are still preserved, and many a now
celebrated name may be seen entered therein.

We went to Mr. Millett's house to see what he called a tame cheetah,
but which was really a wild panther--a handsome little beast, who
became greatly excited when the dogs appeared on the scene. We also
saw a tiny crocodile, only a month old, in an earthenware pan, which
snapped and hissed and flapped his tail, and was altogether as angry
as any creature of his diminutive size could well be, making it quite
clear that only the power--not the will--to eat us all up was wanting.
There are many crocodiles in these lakes and streams, and they
occasionally carry incautious people off, especially the women who go
to the tanks to fill their water-jars.

Mr. Millett had also quite a large collection of elephants' heads,
tails, and feet--the spoils of a recent shooting expedition. These
trophies seemed to give one a better idea of the immense size of the
elephant than the sight of the animal itself. It was most interesting
to be able to handle and to examine closely their great bones, though
I felt sad to s