But to begin at the beginning. Bed was so much the most comfortable place, with a wet tent, a small pond at one end of it, and a mass of mud at the other, that we did not turn out so early or so willingly as usual, especially as there was a thick mist and heavy drizzle, as there had been all night. The general public outside, however, evidently thought it high time the exhibition opened for a morning performance; and so, without our intending it, there _was_ a performance, which, if there had been a daily paper at Iòlomàka, might have been described as consisting of five acts or scenes, as follows:—_Scene first_: Distinguished foreigners are seen lying in bed, so comfortably tucked up that they feel most unwilling to get out on to the wet and muddy floor. Curtains only half drawn (by an eager public) during this act. _Scene second_: Somewhat of a misnomer, as D. F. were, by the exercise of some ingenuity, _not_ seen during the operations of bathing and washing. _Scene third_: D. F. seen by admiring public—who again admitted themselves—in the act of brushing their hair and performing their toilet. _Scene fourth_: D. F. seen at their breakfast; the variety of their food, dishes, plates, etc., a subject of mute amazement. _Scene fifth and last_: D. F. seen rapidly packing up all their property for their approaching departure. _N.B._—Probably their last appearance on this stage. We packed up in the heavy drizzle, and fortunately, just as we were about to start, three or four Tanàla came up and agreed to be our guides. We had to wait until they had their rice, but at last we got away, soon after ten o’clock, rather too late as it turned out. Our way for more than two hours was through the outskirts of the forest: a succession of low hills partially covered with wood, and divided from each other by swampy valleys. In these we had two or three times to cross deepish streams by bridges of a single round pole, a foot or two _under_ water, a ticklish proceeding, which all our luggage bearers did not accomplish successfully. After crossing a stream by the primitive bridge of a tree which had fallen half over the water, we entered the real forest, our general direction being to the south-east.