202 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. x. 



in sculpture, the caterpillar, attractive in its way, and 

 chiefly remarkable for its leaf-eating powers ; then the 

 long sleep in a silken hammock, and finally a sunny 

 awakening into life and beauty as a daintily painted 

 butterfly. There must be something in the climate or 

 vegetation of the Sum islands especially favourable to 

 insect life, and nowhere else did I see butterflies so plen- 

 tiful as here, not only in the forest and by the river, but 

 around the houses of Meimbong itself. 



The site of the market being littered with fragments of 

 fruit and other debris, was especially attractive to them ; 

 on being disturbed they fluttered away in crowds, only to 

 return almost immediately to feast on the wasted sweets, 

 and to open and close their gorgeous wings in the sun- 

 shine. 



We were fortunate in obtaining plenty of fresh fish 

 while lying in harbour here, and there were many kinds, 

 some being strikingly beautiful in colour. Herrings 

 and mackerel — or fish which so closely resemble them in 

 size, colour, and flavour, that we did not distinguish the 

 difference, were often brought on board. A singular 

 white " ink fish," having large dark eyes and long ten- 

 tacles, is eaten both by natives and Chinese. A large 

 fish of a vermilion colour, in shape like a large carp, is 

 plentiful and nice eating, as also is a similarly shaped 

 species of an ashy grey colour, its sides delicately banded 

 with blue and yellow. In the river are freshwater 

 fish a couple of pounds or more in weight, and good 

 angling is obtainable. Captain McNeil caught a nice 

 basketful or two with rod and line by whipping down 

 stream in the true Devonshire style. One of the fish he 

 captured would weigh nearly two pounds, and had a sharp 

 spined dorsal fin like an English perch. Mr. Cowie 

 maintains that he has seen real spotted trout taken out 



