350 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



houses of the Moros at this place have ah'eady been referred 

 to ; the town was mostly in process of construction by families 

 of Bisayans moved from Zamboanga, and much of it was 

 being built on causeways and made ground constructed with 

 coral rock on tidal mud flats ; some families newly arrived 

 were camped on the sites of the houses they were building. 



Separated from Basilan Island by a narrow strait is the very 

 small island of Malamaui. This island is mostly covered by 

 a dense forest of lofty trees, many of which have the curious 

 vertically projecting plank-like roots which are so fully de- 

 scribed by Mr. Wallace in "Tropical Nature."* The natives 

 cut solid wheels for their Buffalo carts directly out of these 

 natural living planks ; and the large circular window-like holes 

 left in the roots at the bases of the trees are curious features 

 in the forest. 



I was constantly put on the alert by the rustling of what 

 sounded like some large animal amongst the dead leaves, and 

 expected every minute to get a shot at a deer, but at last 

 found that the animal disturbing the silence of the forest was 

 a huge Lizard (I believe Hydrosaiirus /nar/iioratus), which 

 bolted up the trees when approached and sat in a fork. The 

 forest was full of these reptiles. 



I wished much to see the well-known aberrant flying In- 

 sectivorous mammal, Gakopitheciis philippensis, which, like a 

 Flying Squirrel, has membranes of skin stretched between 

 its legs and out on to its tail ; so that, supported on this as by 

 a parachute, it skims through the air in its leaps from tree to 

 tree with a partial flight. I had no interpreter, but found a 

 Bisayan native who knew Spanish. I knew what " to-morrow 

 morning early " was in Spanish, and also what " I want to go 

 and shoot Gakopitheciis " was in Malay. And to my great 

 amusement I combined these two so widely different languages 

 in a sentence with perfect success, " Manana por la mahana saia 

 mau purgi passam kaguan." The man appeared accordingly 

 next morning at daybreak, and I went with him and shot the 

 animal. 



The guide led me through the forest to some clearings 

 belonging to Moros here living inland. Their houses were 

 raised on poles at least twelve feet above the ground. We 

 went to one where the wife of the owner, a very handsome 

 young woman, was sitting on the ladder with her child in her 

 arms. Some few trees were standing isolated, not having 

 been as yet felled in the clearing. On one of these, after 

 much search, a Kaguan {Galopithecus) was seen hanging to 



* A. R. Wallace, "Tropical Nature and other Essays," p. 31. London 

 Macmillan, 1878. 



