Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 36 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

0036	Among the Celestials : vol.1

14 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. I.

perfect little country, and we revelled in the

beauties about us.

But beautiful though the country was,

travelling through it was not unattended with

disadvantages, for it rained almost daily at this

season. We fortunately always had either inns

or farmhouses in which to put up at night, but

we were constantly drenched through on the

march, and the going was excessively heavy.

We had work, too, to get over the ground at

the rate we wished. We used to rise at 4.3o

or 5 every morning, pack up our things, have

our breakfast, and then have to hang about for

two dreary hours whilst the lazy mule-men were

loading up their animals. On the march we

had to keep constant watch over the mules to

help them past rocky prominences by the river-

side, over boggy places, and through the thick

low scrub of the woods. At midday we halted

for a couple of hours to feed man and beast,

and then went on again till six or seven in the

evening. It was constant, steady work through-

out, and more than once on the march I re-

member being so tired that I lay down on a

fallen log, propped myself up against some

branch, and went off fast asleep in spite of

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