p. [8].
Footnotes:
[1] An Italian poet who wrote many humorous verses.—Translator's Note.
CHAPTER II
My escort—By steamer to Telok Anson—The other bank of the Perak—Towards the forest—First news—Blood-letting in the swamp—Robbed and forsaken—Revenge in due time—The Malay's instigation—My little Sam Sam's fidelity—Philosophical reflections under a heavy weight.
The kind reader who peruses these poor pages of notes and memories, accustomed to hear speak of expeditions organised for the purpose of penetrating into inhospitable lands or into regions encompassed by all the terrors of the unknown, will perhaps think that I was jesting when I gave the inventory of my luggage in the last chapter and that from sheer vaunt I did not mention the support of some Geographical or Commercial Society and neither the tons of goods which would follow in my wake, nor the numerous waggons and armed battalion that had to escort me.
No, nothing of all this, for to tell the truth I have always found more harm than good done by these etceteras to an explorer's equipment, and for this reason, even in my most arduous travels, I always set out, as it were, alone, confiding only in my own forces. And let me explain why.
From the very beginning of my wanderings in countries populated by savages, to some of whom is attributed the most sanguinary instincts, I reassured myself by a logical conclusion which experience has shown me to be quite right.