234 Voyage of the Novara. 



and gratified, at bringing down a splendid specimen of what 

 is known as the Kalong or Roussette Bat [Pterojms vulgaris). 

 These singular nocturnal animals hang in enormous quan- 

 tities throughout the entire day from the branches of the 

 trees, amid the profoundest stillness, till evening sets in and 

 dismisses them to their nightly evolutions. They are then 

 visible flying through the air like gigantic bats, or flying foxes. 



While riding back to Tjipannas we remarked amid the 

 smiling rice fields several poles with hangings of various 

 kinds, resembling those erected on the shore in front of their 

 huts by the superstitious natives of the Nicobar Islands, in 

 order to keep his Satanic Majesty at a distance. The 

 natives call these poles Tundang-Setan (talisman against 

 the devil), and believe they can by their aid frighten away 

 the evil spirits, while they are gathering the crop from their 

 rice fields. 



From Tjipodas the excursionists proceeded to Tjiangoer,* 

 the present capital of the Preanger Regency, containing about 

 15,000 inhabitants, where some days were to be spent in ex- 

 cursions, collections, hunting, and other amusements, after 

 which we were compelled by the limited time available to return 

 to Buitenzorg and Batavia. Two members of the Expedition, 

 Drs. Hochstetter and Scherzer, penetrated a little further into 

 the interior, with the purpose of paying a visit to Dr. Junghuhn, 

 to whose researches in the Natural History of Java we are so 



* Pronounce Tschipodas and Tschangschoor (Sweet Water) respectively. 



