ch. iv.] Fruits and Birds. 6 1 



large-urned variety of the last named, known as " gla- 

 berrima." A dendrobium bearing clusters of milk-white 

 flowers was common, as also were bolbophyllums and 

 several greenish-flowered ccelogynes. 



The ground in some places was matted with a very 

 pretty terrestrial orchid (Bromheadia Firilaysoniana) 

 which has leafy stems two to three feet in height, 

 terminated by a zig-zag flattened spike of white-petalled 

 flowers as large as those of the " Spotted Indian 

 Crocus " (Pleione maculata), and having a blotch of 

 lemon-yellow on the lip and some bright amethystine 

 veins or streaks. We loaded the men with roots and 

 specimens, and then returned to the houses just before 

 nightfall. It was during the wet season, and after dark 

 each evening the mosquitoes were most ravenous. As a 

 remedy for this annoyance the women lighted fires 

 beneath the house, on which cocoa-nut husks were 

 placed and made to smoulder gradually. This certainly 

 kept the little pests at bay, but the smoke brought tears 

 to one's eyes, and was almost as bad to bear as the mos- 

 quito bites. 



The wild forest fruits were now plentiful in this 

 district, and, as a natural consequence, birds and 

 monkeys were abundant also, for they migrate to diffe- 

 rent places as the fruits begin to ripen. The bird- 

 hunters were busy, and rarely a day passed but I was 

 gladdened with the sight of some bird or other animal 

 that was novel to me. Argus, Bulwer, and Fireback 

 pheasants and other large ground birds were caught in 

 snares or springes, while hornbills, owls, eagles, or hawks, 

 and large birds generally were killed with shot, or very 

 often small gravel discharged from an old Tower musket. 

 The smallest birds, especially the brilliant little sweets or 

 sunbirds, were killed with small arrows from the blow- 



