n we got to the top, Gallman and I, we could both have
exclaimed with Villon,

"_Je crache blanc comme coton._"

What wonder, then, that on finding a clear, cold spring at hand,
Gallman should have drunk his fill of the cool water, and that
he should have persuaded me, against my better judgment, to take a
swallow of it, just one swallow, no more? Who would have believed that
a mere taste of such innocent-looking, refreshing water could have
had such dire consequences? For it made me ill for six weeks, at times
all but disabling me. However, as water, it was irreproachable; and,
anyway, as though to compensate the tiresome climb just finished, we
had before us now one of the most glorious views imaginable. From far
to the south--indeed, from the blue mountains bounding the view miles
away, the silver ribbon of the Rio Chico unrolled itself in a straight
line between green-sloped mountains, rising from its very banks and
towering into the clouds. At our feet, but far below, the river turned
square to the east in a boiling rapid between gigantic walls of rock,
the mountains here yielding to its sweep in a broadening valley only
to press on it beyond and thrust it back on its way northward. It
was all splendid and simple; if you please, nothing but a stream
filling the intersecting slopes of a wedge-shaped valley and turning
off because it had to. But the serenity of the whole composition:
gray rocks, shining waters, green slopes; white mists, enveloping the
crests, smiling in the afternoon sun! Jaded as were our faculties of
admiration by the many exquisite scenes we had already passed through,
this one held us. We had to leave it, though, making our halt later
for the night at a rest-house in a pine wood, near a good stream.

CHAPTER XXI

Deep valley.--A poor _rancheria_.--Escort of boys.--Descent of
Tinglayan Hill.--Sullen reception at Tinglayan.--Bangad.--First
view of the Kalingas.--Arrival at Lubuagan.

We were off early the next morning, the 11th, our destination
being Lubuagan, the capital of the Kalinga country. We had a long,
hard day before us. As I was about to mount, I noticed that Doyle,
Mr. Forbes's groom, looked seedy, and learned that Bubud had broken
loose in the night and gone the rounds of the herd, kicking every
animal in it before he could be caught, and so robbing poor Doyle
of a good part of his sleep. After riding a bit through the pines,
the ground apparently droppe