246 Celebes. 



the cascade already described. From it the limestone preci- 

 pices rise abruptly ; and in ascending the little stairway along 

 the side of the fall, you step two or three times from the one 

 rock on to the other, the limestone dry and rough, being worn 

 by the water and rains into sharp ridges and honey-combed 

 holes, the basalt moist, even, and worn smooth and slippery 

 by the passage of bare-footed pedestrians. The solubility of 

 the limestone by i-ain-water is well seen in the little blocks and 

 peaks which rise thickly through the soil of the alluvial j^laius 

 as you approach the mountains. They are all skittle-shaped, 

 larger in the middle than at the base, the greatest diameter 

 occurring at the height to which the country is flooded in the 

 wet season, and thence decreasing regularly to the ground. 

 Many of them overhang considerably, and some of the slender- 

 er pillars appear to stand upon a point. When the rock is 

 less solid it becomes curiously honey-combed by the rains of 

 successive winters, and I noticed some masses reduced to a 

 complete network of stone, through which, light could be seen 

 in every direction. From these mountains to the sea extends 

 a perfectly flat alluvial plain, with no indication that water 

 would accumulate at a great depth beneath it, yet the author- 

 ities at Macassar have spent much money in boring a well a 

 thousand feet deep in hoj^e of getting a supply of water like 

 that obtained by the Artesian wells in the London and Paris 

 basins. It is not to be wondered at that the attempt was un- 

 successful. 



Returning to my forest hut, I continued my daily search 

 after birds and insects. The weather, however, became dread- 

 fully hot and dry, every drop of water disappearing from the 

 pools and rock-holes, and with it the insects which frequented 

 them. Only one group remained unaffected by the intense 

 drought ; the Diptera, or two-winged flies, continued as plen- 

 tiful as ever, and on these I was almost compelled to concen- 

 trate my attention for a Aveek or two, by which means I in- 

 creased my collection of that order to about two hundred spe- 

 cies. I also continued to obtain a few new birds, among 

 which were two or three kinds of small hawks and falcons, a 

 beautiful bi-ush-tongued paroquet (Trichoglossus ornatus), and 

 a rare black and white crow (Corvus advena). 



At length about the middle of October, after several gloomy 



