The horsekeepers could not possibly arrive that night.
We therefore cleaned and fed our own horses, and littered them down with a good bed of paddy straw; and, that being completed, we turned our attention to curry and rice.
The next morning at break of day we fed the horses.

Old Jack was as fresh as a daisy.

The morning was delightfully cloudy, but free from rain; and we cantered on to Innamalow, five miles from Dambool.

Here we procured a guide to Minneria; and turning off from the main road into a narrow jungle path, we rode for twenty miles through dense jungle.
Passing the rock of Sigiri, which was formerly used as a fort by the ancient inhabitants of the country, we gradually entered better jungle, and at length we emerged upon the beautiful plains of Minneria.

I had ordered Wallace to pitch the encampment in the exact spot which I had frequently occupied some years ago.