254 XEJF GUINEA. [chaf. 



Our first ramble ou shore was attended with but little success. 

 We searched in vain in one of the lesser bays for a patch of beach 

 on which to disembark, but the mangroves, which in these regions 

 obliterate utterly all boundary between sea and land, met us at 

 every turn, and ultimately, scrambling over their slimy roots and 

 struggling up to our knees in the liquid ooze, we had to reach terra 

 f/TTna as best we could. The land rose steeply from the sea, and 

 the jungle, dripping wet from the heavy rain which we had almost 

 constantly experienced since our arrival in New Guinea, rendered 

 our progress anything but comfortable. Forest rambles such as 

 these, it must be confessed, are somewhat trying to the temper. 

 "Wet through with perspiration, each yard makes the already 

 streaming traveller, if possible, still wetter, for every leaf en- 

 countered pours a little bucket of water upon him as he struggles 

 through the mass of creepers that bar his path. Shootmg and 

 walking cannot be combined under such conditions, and almost the 

 only method for the naturalist to obtain specimens is to post him- 

 self under some tree in fruit, and to wait patiently until the iDirds 

 that are feeding upon its summit happen to come within range of 

 his gun. 



We returned rather disappointed to the yacht, and found that 

 some of the hunters had already got back. They had shot nothing 

 of any particular interest. Presently, however, Usman and his 

 coiiipagnon dc chassc appeared, triumphant, carefully carrying a 

 prize that we had hoped, but hardly expected to obtain — the 

 curious and exquisitely lovely little Diphyllodcs vAlsoni, smallest 

 of all the Bu'ds of Paradise. Behind the head a ruff of canary- 

 coloured feathers stands erect above the scarlet back and wings. 

 The breast is covered by a shield of glossy gTcen plumes, which 

 towards the throat are marked with metallic green and violet spots 

 of extraordinary brilliancj'. The two centre feathers of the tail, 

 prolonged for five or six inches beyond the others, cross one another, 

 and are curved into a complete circle of bright steely purple. But 

 the chief peculiarity of the bird is in the head, which is bald from 



