228 



long before the time of quinine and mosquito-nets, 

 and the remainder come back but shaky yellow 

 skeletons, but the lust for gold would quickly fill the 

 places of the missing ones. 



Now, however, on such a voyage, lasting nearly a 

 fortnight, when head-winds, calms and strong adverse 

 tides are met with, time naturally hangs very heavily 

 on one's hands, so that watching the birds and beasts 

 (the latter monkeys, hippo and alligators), as the boat 

 crept slowly along or lay at anchor awaiting a turn of 

 the tide, has been my chief amusement in the airless 

 heat, and some distraction from the insect pests, large 

 and small, which swarm on a " blackman " boat. 



For the first hundred miles or so bird-life is 

 scarce, as for this distance the river is fringed with a 

 continuous unbroken belt of mangroves, among 

 which birds or animals, even when present, are 

 practically invisible from a passing boat ; here, there- 

 fore, as soon as the Gulls, Terns and other sea-birds 

 are left behind, one may go for miles without seeing 

 anything but an occasional Eagle or Kite overhead. 

 Egrets and small Blue Herons, with perhaps a Pied 

 Kingfisher or two on the lookout for fish on the edges 

 of the mangrove wall. Towards evening a few more 

 signs of life appear, Pigeons and Doves, screaming 

 parties of fast-flying Parrots, Hornbills in pairs, rising 

 and falling in the air as their slowly-flapping wings 

 bear them on their course, and home-returning Star- 

 lings fly across, while the Egrets begin to hurry up or 

 down the river in long-drawn lines or scattered flocks 

 seeking their chosen roosting-places ; for these birds 

 make a habit of sleeping in large parties on the trees 

 at particular spots along the river, and to these they 



