138 SUMBAJVA. [chap. 



kind. The forest-trees were unfamiliar, and owing to the leafless- 

 uess of many of them, there was a remarkable absence of colour in 

 the landscape. Here and there only a Bombax caught the eye, its 

 crimson flowers conspicuous at the ends of the bare branches. 

 The prickly pear was growing everywhere, and to judge from its 

 abundance, must have been introduced into the island many years 

 ago. No rain had fallen for five months, and the heat and dust 

 were intolerable. The latter lay thick upon the trees and plants, 

 and enveloped us in a light impalpable cloud as we walked. Our 

 surroundings were indeed different to the eternal verdure of a 

 Bornean forest. 



Among the birds too there was a strong element of novelty. 

 Two species especially obtruded themselves on our notice that were 

 eminently of Australian type, — one, the Lemon-crested Cockatoo 

 (C. sulphur cci), whose snowy plumage rendered it very conspicuous, 

 the other a singularly ugly Meliphagine bird {Tropidorhynchus 

 timoriensis), of uniformly dull brown plimiage, and with a bare neck 

 and face, which, in small flocks of eight or ten, kept up a continuous 

 and most discordant chatter in almost every thicket. Several 

 specimens of a lovely golden oriole {Oriolus hroderipi) also fell to 

 our guns, the male of which is of a brilliant orange yellow. It is 

 a species peculiar to the islands eastwards of Bali. 



It was not long before we arrived at what was called the Bugis 

 kampong, a straggling village nearly a mile long, which closely 

 adjoins the town of Sumbawa. It is entirely occupied by these 

 people, and we were told that there were only three Buginese in 

 the capital itself. Every "compound" was fenced in with the 

 greatest care, as were all the fields also, and there were many 

 evidences of high cultivation. We saw a considerable quantity of 

 tobacco growing. It was topped in the same manner as it is in 

 America and other countries where it is grown for trade — from 

 eighteen to twenty leaves only being allowed to remain. 



We entered the town, which was apparently without palisades 

 or fortifications of any kind, and a large number of natives turned 



