Ul 



literally washed by the sua, as the festoons of sea weed about its 

 base testified. Prom this romantic outlook, we saw in front of 

 us an uninterrupted expanse of sea stretching away to the 

 horizon, and breaking on tlie rocks at our feet, while on either 

 side the coast line was marked by a desolate waste of yellow 

 sand-hills in sharp contrast with their dark fringe of casuarinas. 

 Seldom have I experienced a scene so picturesque, but at the 

 same time so utterly lonely. 



We picked our way amongst the s^jppery rocks and col- 

 lected a few of the many species of shells with which tlic beach 

 was lined. Unfortunately they had be^n sadly damaged against 

 the rocks, and were of little value as specimens, but they 

 conveyed some idea of the richness of the sea which washes this 

 coast, and of the plentiful harvest which might be derived from 

 a dredging expedition. Retracing our steps we stumbled 

 through the loose sand, stopping from time to time to look at 

 queer little families of frogs domiciled in -pools of water which 

 had collected in deep conical pits. We now came to a temple 

 which had been biiilt on a rocky peak, sufFiciently high above 

 ail the others to command the neighbouring coast and sea. 

 This the Government had utilized as a lighthouse, and it now 

 warns vessels from that dangerous coast. Climbing the steep 

 steps to this beacon, we were rewarded at the top by a magnifi- 

 cent panorama. East of ua was the sea and the long line of sand 

 hilli. To the west stretched for miles a low lying marshy tract 

 of land, intersected by tlie thin line of the canal down which we 

 had come. Below us lay the broken rocky country we had lately 

 been exploring, with here and there a pagoda standing amidst 

 stunted borassi and prickly palms and bushes of. various kinds. 



But it was time to return to our boat, so we reluctantly 

 turned our backs on this strauge district, interesting alike to 

 the aichasologist, to the naturalist and to the sportsman. The 

 journey back to Madras _ was accomplished without mishap, 

 except that one or two of the surviving cockroaches avenged 

 their slain comrades by biting my face as I slept. On our 

 arrival in Madras we parted, Buckmaster going to join the other 

 party in Calicut, while Thomson and I crossed the sea to Rangoon. 

 October 7th, 1892. 



CASTNIA LICUS, A BAI-TAITA PEST. 



By TiioiFAS I. Potter Esq. 



When the peasant cultivators in my district see a banana 

 tree backward in growth, they say that it is the worm vrhichalways 

 attacks the banana sucker when planted at a '■' bad moon."" On 



