Sickness. 229 



all this had been fully explained to them, with a long talk 

 and discussion between every sentence, I could see that I had 

 made a favorable imiiression ; and that very afternoon, as if 

 to test my promise to buy even miserable little snail-shells, a 

 dozen children came one after another, bringing me a few 

 sj^ecimens each of a small Helix, for which they duly received 

 " coppers," and went away amazed but rejoicing. 



A iew days' exploration made me well acquainted with the 

 surrounding country. 1 was a long way from the road in the 

 forest which I had first visited, and for some distance round 

 my house were old clearings and cottages. I found a few 

 good butterflies, but beetles were very scarce, and even rotten 

 timber and ncAvly-felled ti'ees (generally so pro.ductive) here 

 produced scarcely any thing. This convinced me that there 

 was not a suflicient extent of forest in the neighborhood to 

 make the place worth staying at long, but it was too late now 

 to think of going further, as in about a month the wet season 

 would begin ; so I resolved to stay here and get what was to 

 be had. Unfortunately, after a few days I became ill with a 

 low fever, which produced excessive lassitude and disinclina- 

 tion to all exertion. In vain I endeavored to shake it off"; 

 all I could do was to stroll quietly each day for an hour about 

 the gardens near, and to the well, where some good insects 

 were occasionally to be found, and the rest of the day to wait 

 quietly at home, and receive what beetles and shells my little 

 corps of collectors brought me daily. I imputed my illness 

 chiefly to the water, which was procured from shallow wells, 

 around which there was almost always a stagnant puddle in 

 which the buffaloes wallowed. Close to my house was an in- 

 closed mud-hole where three buffaloes were shut up every 

 night, and the effluvia from which freely entered through the 

 open bamboo floor. My Malay boy Ali was affected with the 

 same illness ; and as he was my chief bird-skinner, I got on 

 but slowly with my collections. 



The occupations and mode of life of the villagers difiered 

 but little from those of all other Malay races. The time of 

 the women was almost wholly occupied in pounding and 

 cleaning rice for daily use, in bringing home firewood and 

 water, and in cleaning, dyeing, spiiniing, and weaving the na- 

 tive cotton into sarongs. The weavinc: is done in the sim- 



