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looking dug-outs that they use.

We are staying at the Prapat Hotel, which is on a promontory and overlooks the water on both sides. We have a "bungalow" - the usual arrangement of living-room, bedroom and bath, but with a most unusual view out over the garden (where dahlias, asters, snapdragons, etc. are in bloom) to the lake and the mountains beyond.

March 9 - Prapat

We had morning coffee in our bungalow, and heard siamangs howling in the mountains. Magpie robins walked about our garden, and honey creepers came to the hibiscus bush to feed.

Dr. Coenraad took Bill ant-collecting. They started out in his little collapsible boat, and went across the lake to some trees, where he got three Sumatran species of ant, and several good beetles.

Mrs. Coenraad and I went for a walk, and visited the nearby Batak Kampongs. Several of them are quite close together, and we went through them, accompanied by a horde of small boys in ragged shirts and shorts. One's first impression of a batak village is of the dirt, both in the street and on the people. Their handwoven garments, un which indigo predominates, are not unattractive, but the old men, old women, and children certainly are. The young ones were out, the men, I suppose,fishing, the women working in the rice fields. Underfed, mangy dogs set up a dismal series of barks as a stranger approaches. Pigs of all ages root under the houses, and practically under one's feet. Caribou are [[strikethrough]] hous [[/strikethrough]] penned under the houses, which are built on stilts from six to ten feet above the ground. The houses, with their exaggeratedly high pitched roofs, and with painting and carving on the front, are grand, but many of the newer houses in the kampong are being built modern style, just square boxes with no decoration at all.

When we got back to the hotel, we went for a swim in the lake - lovely cool, refreshing water, and a nice little sandy beach.

Tea at the Coenraads' was enlivened by the advent of millions of midges. Gaddi turned up with quite a collection of fishes, and a few large toads.

The Coenraads and Mrs. Ingle had dinner with us at the Hotel.

March 10 - Prapat

Mrs. Coenraad took Bill and me by boat over to the edge of the kampong, and we wandered around there for some time, Bill trying to catch ants and the natives trying to guess what he was doing. A second visit to a kampong is less perturbing, and I can face the prospect of camping in one with a little more equanimity. I didn't relish the idea at first, but Dr. Coenraad is planning a camping trip for us next week.

Another swim - lunch - a nap for Bill while I study Malay. Tea at the Coenraads, and we watch a gorgeous sunset. Heavy clouds