256 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



is nearly as long as the body. These birds generally 

 fly in pairs, and as they dart thi'ough the evergreen 

 foliage, and you catch a glimpse of their graceful 

 forms and brilliant plumage, it seems like the mo- 

 mentary recollection of some dream of Paradise. 

 Large flocks of red luris, Eos rubra, Gml., other spe- 

 cies of parrakeets, and many sorts of doves, frequent 

 the surrounding woods, and several species of king- 

 fishers and snipes live by the shore. For three days 

 I enjoyed this rare hunting. We then steamed out 

 of the little bay of Wahai for the island of Burn. 

 While passing Bonoa we kept near the shore, and 

 saw a large white monument which was erected by 

 the Portuguese, and is probably one of the padroes, 

 or " pillars of discovery," placed there by D'Abreu 

 when he first reached these long-sought isles. Soon 

 we passed Swangi, " Spirit Island," a lonely rock near 

 Manipa, supposed by these superstitious natives to 

 be haunted by some evil spii^it. 



Bui'u, the island to which we were bound, lies a 

 few miles west of Manipa. Its area is estimated at 

 about twenty-six hundred geographical square miles, 

 so that it is one-half larger than Bali or Lombok. 

 Its form is oval, mth the greatest axis east and west. 

 Its shores, instead of being deeply indented, like 

 those of all the larger islands in that region, are en- 

 tire, except on the northwest corner, where they recede 

 and form the great bay of Kayeli. The entrance to 

 this bay is between two high capes,-, three or four 

 miles apart, so that on the northeast it is quite open 

 to the sea. Within these capes the shores become 

 low, forming on the southwest a large morass ; and 



