A few days after my arrival at Saikwah sufficed to plaster my mat-and-grass cottage with mud, and with the assistance of the Sipahees, a chimney for a fire-place was soon constructed, with bricks and mortar obtained from old buildings at Suddeah; then putting in a glass window, I was enabled, in comfort and solitariness, to pursue my usual vocations in all weathers. In this secluded retreat, every incident, however trifling in itself, acquired an importance which induced me to note it in my tablets. On one occasion, about eight o'clock at night, sitting by a snug fireside, my attention was arrested by the approach of an unwelcome visitor making his way in at the door. Taking up a candle to ascertain who or what was forcing ingress to my dwelling, I beheld a python, or boa-constrictor, about six feet long, steadily advancing towards me. In my defenceless position it may be imagined that safety depended on immediate flight; and the monster thus speedily gained entire possession of my habitation. It was, however, for a few minutes only, that he was permitted to remain the undisturbed occupant of the abode; for my servants quickly despatched the intruder with a few blows inflicted with long poles. An apothecary, who had long been attached to the Assam Light Infantry, assured me that pythons, or boa-constrictors, were very numerous in our vicinity, and of an immense size, some not being less than fifteen or eighteen feet in length. I had evidence of the truth of the statement; a skin, fifteen feet long, being subsequently brought me by the natives. I caused it to be tanned and sent to England. Small serpents were often met with. On one occasion the apothecary brought me two boa-constrictors of about four feet long, which he had found on a table curled up amongst some bottles in the same room where his children were sleeping. In all probability the lives of the infants were saved by the musquitto curtains preventing access to the bed. Boa-constrictors are exceedingly fond of rats, and on this occasion they had evidently been in search of their prey. As my cottage had not the usual white cloth ceiling suspended, insects, snakes, and vermin frequently descended from the roof into the rooms; but by keeping the house free of baggage and well swept, contact with them was avoided. The reader will suppose an Assam mat-hut to be a dreary kind of residence; but I can assure him, the logwood fire on a hearth one foot high, in the centre of the room, with a small window cut high in the wall for the escape of the smoke, is by no means devoid of cheerfulness.