IN THE JUNGLE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 540, 25 May 1933, Page 3

IN THE JUNGLE

BEAUTY OF WILDS ANIMAL LIFE AT A WATERING PLACE. AT THE TANK. There are times in our jungle bungalow when we fell that the worries of an official life in Ceylon should be forgotten on a Sunday evening (writes a corresp-ondent to the ' Manchester Guardian. We decide that ' all the small jobs left over for the week-end can be postponed once more. For the good of our minds and souls on such occasions we go to one of the tanks with which' the district is dotted. There we commune with nature, letting the peace of the wilds and the beauty of the trees and sunlight strengthen us for the trials of another week. A "tank," let me explain, is an artificial lake or reservoir in which water is stored during the wet season and used for the cultivation of paddy, or rice, fields during the remainder of theyear. A large earth "bund," or dam, is built across the bed of a stream, blocking it up and causing the water to spread over the surrounding country until a lake is formed. The top of the bund is our promenade. Som*times 20 or 30 f eet high, and wide enougH at the top to take two vehieles abreast, a good view of the surrounding country can be obtained from it. On one side of the bund is the water, on the other a wall of jungle. Crocodiles Basking. As we climb up the end of the bund we look cautiously over the top, for there may be some crocodiles basking in the sun a.t the e'dge of the water. They lie motionless with jaws wide open, while small birds p>iek out remnants of their last meal from between their teeth. We stroll along the top of the bund, and, as we approach, these monsters, with hardly an effort, slide into the water and move away with only the tips of the sno.uts show- . ing above the surface, looking like small pieces of old wood. A great chattering in the branches overhanging the bund indicates the presence of monkeys, resenting the arrival of human beings on their preserves. They crash through the branches, jumping gaps of ten to twenty feet, gabbling and hissing. The baby monkeys cling, upside down, to their mothers, their faces buried in fur. As we watch we see a mother monlcey jump from tfne trees to another, her baby clinging to her as she leaps through the air. The poise dies down a.nd only one old monkey, the rearguard of the troop, sits leering at us, his black i'ace framed in grey fur, and watching our movements, ready to report when the bund is clear again. Herons and Kites. Cranes and herons fly over our heads, and in the distance a number of pelicans can be seen on the water. A brown and white shape glides gracefully up in the air, and through | our glasses we can see the kite's head peering down, ready to pounce on its prey. Perhaps this was the enemy which took two of our best chicks two days ago. A sudden splash indicates that a clumsy tortoise has decided that discretion is the better part of valour and has taken a header into the water. The path is littered with traces of crocodiles. Evidently, they lie on the bund at night. Near the sluice, where the supply of water to th'e fields is regulated, we stop and rest. Truly the best things in life are free. The water, faintly rippled by the breeze, is taking colour from the sunset, which is' mixing its colours for the masterpiece of the day. On the other side of th'e tank, over a mile away, the jungle comes down to the waters' edge, and we sean that shore with the glasses. We may he fortunate enough to see an elephant coming for its evening drink and bathe. - Beyond the trees are distant hills entirely covered with impenetrable jungle. A few yards away a kingfisher, with plumage of wonderful blue, is perched upon a stone. We watch as he dives into the water, rises up into the air, and returns to the stone, wh'ere he shakes off the moisture and immediately becomes alert for the next victim. Our presence does not seem to disturb him. Over th.e water is a cousin of his, the black-and-white kingfisher. As he hovers above the surface his wings move su fast that they can hardly. be seen. Suddenly they are folded away, and black and white drops witli a splash into the water like a stone. Rarely does he miss his target, and up he goes again, h over ing and quivering in a new spot. The sunset is at its best, the colour spreading high into the sky and tingeing even the top of the trees. It is time for us to go. Darkness will have fallen by the time we reach the end of the bund where the car is waiting to take us back to another week of officialdom.

"About how many brands of tobacco do you reclion there are, all told?" enquired a Dunedin man of his smoke merchant. "Couldn't say," replied the latter, "but my encyclopedia says about 500." "And all smokeable," went on the customer with a laugh. "Wouldn't care to bet o nthat," said the tobacconist. As you know there are hrands mild enough for a baby and others strong enough to make your hair curl." "But surely," remarked the customer, "there must be brands that are comparatively free from nicotine?" "I know of only four like that," said the tobacconist. "And where do they come from?" asked the customer. "They're grown right here in New Zealand," replied the tobacconist, "and toasted in the eourse of manufacture." That takes the poison out of them and leaves them sweet and fragrant — also quite harmless. Tes, I said four brands: Riverhead Gold, Navy Cut No. 3, Cavendish, and Cut Plug No. 10. The customer said he'd been told something worth re- • membering. He had.