I was reminded by my hostess, that, besides the necessity of taking natives on such an expedition, it would also have been more prudent to have taken a few grains of quinine—of which I now swallowed five, at her express solicitation—before setting foot in a place known to be deadly, owing to pent-up malaria. And this was why the orchids were left to waste their beauties on the forest air and blush unseen! I saw but little of the native stockade, which, if my memory serves me right, stood on a kind of delta, some way from the European quarters. The inhabitants led a peaceful existence; the sea supplied them with quantities of fish, which were dried for export; the land with timber and “tuskers,” the latter very valuable for their ivory. Pearls too were by no means rare, though not fished under any organized system. Some of the islands further south are, I believe, several thousand feet in height and extremely volcanic; but I had to refuse the only offer to see them that was ever made to me. A few hours after our arrival, another and larger steamer put in an appearance _en route_ to the Andamans. I was offered a passage; a tempting proposition, but which had to be declined. Besides being averse to leaving my host so abruptly, in short, making a convenience of him, I had to consider the scanty state of my wardrobe—I had left nearly everything at Moulmein, and the still lower ebb of my funds. Pay was very small in those days, while the bulk of what I received had to be remitted home forthwith. Fortunately the rate of exchange was then about par; what my position would have been under the present abnormally low rate, I tremble to think. Having been thoroughly cleared out by the Mutiny, I found myself severely handicapped by having to support a wife and child at home. Some folks, dazzled by the brilliant prospects of the Indian Service, refuse to see the reverse side of the medal; but they should take into consideration the fact that on retirement with, say a colonel’s pension of 365_l._, 60_l._ is deducted towards the Widows’ and Orphan’s Pensions Fund, the same amount as he has paid for years from his full pay. The accounts are never published, never go beyond the sacred precincts of the India Office, so we must take it on trust, that the funds could not be maintained in any other way. The calculation of what an officer has paid at this rate for forty years, with donations, interest, etc., would make the mouth of many an insurance agent water!