OUR VISIT TO THE NICOBARS III 



either side of the stream. A monitor, one metre in length, hastily sought 

 the shelter of a pile of brushwood. Soon the forest was so thick that further 

 advance was out of the question. The native shook his head; so we sat 

 down and had a smoke, before turning back and making our way along 

 the coast by another route. I shot some small birds, including a mountain 

 myna, which is a brillant black starhng with yellow flaps on the head. At 

 our landing-point we had a refreshing bath and slaked our thirst with the 

 milk of fresh coconuts gathered at the top of a tall coconut palm by a 

 little fellow who climbed the smooth trunk with great agility, holding a 

 large knife in his hand. At twelve o'clock we weighed anchor and left 

 the Nicobars for good. But I will not deny that, in the long Northern win- 

 ter, some of us dream of one day returning to this paradise and resuming 

 the scientific work which had all too quickly to be broken off. 



