South Formosa and its Birds. 309 



animal life. Alcippe morrisonia, Pumatorhinus musicus, 

 Ixus sinetisis, Munia topela, M. acuticauda, and a Dove or 

 two were about all that I noticed. 



Towards evening, as we drew near the top of the range, 

 the ascent became very rapid. As far as we could see, for 

 the evening haze was beginning to settle and had hidden the 

 plain from view, a mass of steep and sharp-crested hills, the 

 blue clay showing on their southern slopes, but many of the 

 hill-sides still clothed in dense vegetation, unrolled itself in a 

 succession of peaks, of which the outlines became gradually 

 fainter and more rounded in shape as they faded away and 

 disappeared in the evening mist. After passing through a 

 belt of wood we reached the top of the hills, and, wandering 

 down in the semi-darkness, found with some difficulty the 

 inn where we were to spend the night, Baksa being vmat- 

 tainable that evening. The inn was not exactly a palace ; 

 still it surpassed my expectations, as it contained a small 

 closet where Bain was able to put up his camp-bed, and I 

 found ample space in the adjoining public room to sling my 

 hammock. 



Next morning we were up and stirring before daybreak, 

 and as dawn appeared the exterior of our hotel and its sur- 

 roundings were revealed to us. From the back of the inn, 

 a long mud-walled shed, Avitli a narrow yard in front and a 

 belt of bamboos enclosing the whole, we overlooked the 

 Baksa valley. The panorama was superb. Below us the 

 slopes of our range came down in a rapid descent, the hill- 

 sides all clothed in the most gorgeous tropical verdure — 

 beautiful woods alternating with stretches of jungle formed 

 of tall grasses and plants of all kinds intermingled in a wild 

 and glorious confusion. On our left the valley was some- 

 what uneven, with steep hillocks rising up singly, or else 

 forming a sort of connection with the opposite range. On 

 the right the valley opened out into a flat cultivated plain, 

 where groves of feathery bamboos, doubtless hiding farm- 

 houses, were dispersed here and there in the midst of the 

 rice-tields. The plain seemed to continue right out to the 

 south, and probably extends to the Takow plain. Behind 



