Page:Life in Java Volume 2.djvu/142

 126 LIFE IN JAVA.

cover the vessel they were in, or bring tlieni into the house ?"

" No, sir, you never told me to do so."

"Tlien, that is why they are gone, Drahman," said I, h\ughing, in spite of my disappointment, at his superstitious notions ; " the water rose as it rained, and the vessel once full their escape was very easy."

"I never thought of that;" said Drahman, retir- ing from the room without that triumphant ex- pression on his face which it had worn when he entered.

Through the kindness of my friends I obtained two more turtles, one of which died on its passage back to Singapore ; and the other from an acci- dental fall during our stay at Bath, which was the more disappointing as it had then been nearly two years in my possession. There is no specimen of the kind in the Zoological Gardens.

A short drive beyond the fort brought us to the

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