times, and with singular appropriateness, called "wait-a-bits."
In
this respect, I shall never forget the ludicrous appearance of a friend
of mine who had incautiously ridden under some trees, from the branches
of which a few shoots of this desperate trailing plant depended. His
solar topee had been caught; and the tearing noise startled the pony,
which unluckily bolted through the thicket—the result being the
complete destruction of almost every article of clothing my unfortunate
friend had on him.
After
proceeding for some distance through the forest, we came to an enormous
mass of rock towering like a wall high above our heads, with, at our
feet, an exceedingly steep descent. Our road lay down the latter, and
this, we were told, was the worst part of the journey. Looking at it
did not improve matters; so we set about getting down as best we could,
slipping continually, for the dead leaves with which the ground was
covered afforded no 'foothold. Nor was it a very cheering thought that
on our return we must climb this formidable hill. Safely at the bottom,
we found ourselves on the banks of the Grlenrock river; a foaming
cascade over which somehow we managed to scramble, and then ascended
the opposite side through more forest, in which the splendid timber had
given place to fine clumps of bamboo.
Another mile, and we descended into an open
