built for us on the banks of
the clear running stream. Raised as if by an enchanter's wand, this
hut in the jungle was an inestimable comfort, and enabled us to rest
quietly for a short time. At first it was proposed that we should
certainly dine and possibly sleep in it; but when it was remembered
that, pleasant and picturesque as might be the situation, we were
still in the midst of a malarious mangrove swamp, prudent
considerations prevailed, and it was decided to move on. After giving
time, therefore, to the coolies to cook and eat their well-earned
repast, everything was put into the prahu, which lay half in and half
out of the water. Mabelle and I then seated ourselves in the centre of
the boat, while everybody else pushed and shouted; some walking, some
wading, some occasionally swimming. Thus we proceeded down the shallow
stream, the prahu frequently on her beam-ends on one side or the
other, until righted by friendly hands; shipping comparatively little
water, but still taking in enough to make everything damp and
uncomfortable.

[Illustration: Returning at Low Water]

It was a curious sight, the long boat, pushed by fifty or sixty
natives and about a dozen Europeans, now in the water, now almost out
of it. More than once I thought the natives must have been jammed
between the bank and the boat when they slipped into a deep hole, and
the great length of the prahu prevented her from turning quickly. At
the nest-hunters' landing-place we found ourselves fairly high and
dry, and had to be carried, prahu and all, for some little distance
until we reached the deeper water beyond, only to find our further
passage blocked by the trunk of a huge tree, so firmly imbedded in the
mud that the united efforts of our large band of followers were
powerless to move it. We had therefore to be pulled and hauled over
the obstacle--a feat accomplished with much shouting and hullabaloo.
First our long sharp prow rose in the air, submerging our stern, and
taking, of course, some water on board; then the process was reversed,
and we went bows under. At last we emerged quite safely and in deep
water. Most of the swarm of swimmers quickly scrambled into the boat
and converted themselves into paddlers, while the remainder swam
ashore and either waited on the bank for the return of the prahu or
shouldered their kajang mats and cooking-utensils, and trudged off
again through the swampy jungle to the little rest-house which we had
quit