RARE BIRDS 241 



On the following day we retreated hastily down- 

 hill by the way we had come, and by forced marches, 

 perhaps a little accelerated by our lack of food, in two 

 da3^s we arrived at the Iwaka camp. In the meantime 

 Grant had been camped with the two Dayak collectors 

 on a hill about three thousand feet high above the Iwaka, 

 where they had made a very fine collection of birds. 

 Among them was a new dwarf species of Cassowary 

 (Casuarius claudi) and specimens of the rare Six- 

 plumed Bird of Paradise (Parotia meeki). Another 

 bird very characteristic of the Iwaka and neighbouring 

 valleys is the Moustached Swift (Macropteryx mystacea), 

 which measures more than two feet across the wings, 

 and is remarkable for its long pointed tail and its 

 tapering white moustache. This bird seldom appears 

 until late in the afternoon, when it is seen sailing 

 majestically with outstretched wings at a height over 

 the river. 



Near the Iwaka on a hillside laid bare by a land- 

 slip we found two seams of coal a few inches in thick- 

 ness ; it was poor stuff and only burnt with difficulty 

 when put into a fire. Mr. Lorentz found combustible 

 coal in the hihs near Mount Wilhelmina, and it is 

 probable that a careful search would reveal the existence 

 of better coal in this region too. Near the same place, 

 as well as in one or two other localities, we found indica- 

 tions of petroleum, but all our searches for gold and 

 other precious metals resulted in nothing except 

 occasional traces of copper. 



During the following days, while we were stumbling 

 back to Parimau along the now familiar track, we 



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