375 



Lest the coiicliologists sliould tliink 1 liave qiiitc iie- 

 glected their interests, 1 may mention , that 1 have col- 

 lectcd all the landshells I could find or procure from 

 the iiatives. I have only obtained , however , 25 spe- 

 cies. Ahiiost all are Helices (20 species), some pretty and 

 some of curious forins,, but I ain not sufnciently ac- 

 quainted with shclls to say how much novelty thej- present. 

 It is rcmarkable that 1 have not found a single Biili' 

 mus, which in Celebes was the most abundant gronp ; 

 the few Cydostomata are also small and obscure, liep- 

 tilcs are scarce. 1 did not see a snake six times in 

 as many months. There are , however, on the shores 

 many sea-snakes, whose bite is very deadly. The na- 

 tives spear and eat them. Lizards are rather plentiful 

 in species and individuals; they are almost all plant- 

 dwellers, and run on the 1'eaves and twigs with great 

 agility. The coasts swarin with fish in immense varie- 

 ty, and moUusca innumerable. A shell-collector woiild 

 obtain a fine harvest, biit I have been too fully oc- 

 cupied myself to attend to any of these last-mentioned 

 groups; having often found the greatest difficulty in 

 properly drying and securing my bird and insect 

 collections in the rude houses, boats, and sheds 

 I have been compelled to orciipy. Damp, mites, 

 ants, rats and dogs, are all enemies which must 

 be guarded agalnst with ever-watchful vigilance, and 

 from all of them I have sufiered more or less se- 

 verely. l?ird and animal skins require daily exposure 

 to air and sun for weeks before they are dry enougU 

 te pack away. In this time they accumulate to sucli 

 an cxtcnt, that it is a constant puzzle and difficulty to 

 find places to jnit them in, so as to keep them free 



