EOAD TO THE COAL-MlNES. 335 



passed behind my house, and which here rushed and gurgled 

 over a rocky or pebbly bed, sometimes leaving wide sand- 

 banks on its margins, and at other places flowing between high 

 banks crowned with a varied and magnificent forest vegeta- 

 tion. After about two miles the valley narrowed, and the road 

 was carried along the steep hill-side Avhicli rose abruptly from 

 the water's edge. In some places the rock had been cut away 

 but its surface was ah-eady covered with elegant ferns and 

 creepers. Gigantic tree-ferns were abundant, and the whole 

 forest had an air of luxuriance and rich variety which it never 

 attains in the dry volcanic soil to which I had been lately ac- 

 customed. A little further the road passed to the other side 

 of the valley by a bridge across the stream at a place where a 

 great mass of rock in the middle offered an excellent support 

 for it, and two miles more of most picturesque and interesting 

 road brought me to the mining establishment. 



This is situated in a large open space, at a spot where two 

 tributaries fall into the main stream. Several forest-paths and 

 new clearings offered fine collecting-grounds, and I captured 

 some new and interesting insects ; but as it was getting late, I 

 had to reserve a more thorough exploration for future occa- 

 sions. Coal had been discovered here some years before, and 

 the road was made in order to bring down a sufficient quanti- 

 ty for a fair trial on the Dutch steamers. The quality, how- 

 ever, was not thought sufficiently good, and the mines were 

 abandoned. Quite recently works had been commenced in 

 another spot, in hopes of finding a better vein. There were 

 about eighty men employed, chiefly convicts ; but this was far 

 too small a number for mining operations in such a country, 

 where the mere keeping a few miles of road in repair requires 

 the constant work of several men. If coal of sufficiently good 

 quality should be found, a tram-road would be made, and would 

 be very easily worked, owing to the regular descent of the valley. 



Jiist as I got home I overtook Ali returning from shooting 

 with some birds hanging from his belt. He seemed much 

 pleased, and said, " Look here, sir, what a curious bird !" hold- 

 ing out what at first completely puzzled me. I saw a bird 

 with a mass of splendid green feathers on its breast, elongated 

 into two glittering tufts ; but what I could not understand 

 was a pair of long white feathers, which stuck straight out 



