162 GREAT NICOBAR— W. AND S. COASTS 



foam rippling along its summit, fell over with a thunderous 

 crash. Pulling hard all, we swept along on its top, then passed 

 through the surf, and lay a few moments later on the quiet 

 surface of the river without having shipped a drop of water. 

 When the things landed had been fetched, we reloaded and 

 pulled up-stream ; the last glimpse of the sea showing a Chinese 

 junk rounding the eastern extremity of the bay. 



" At first the river was about 30 yards wide and ran between 

 low banks covered with stretches of mangroves and forest alter- 

 nating, both fronted by a border of nipah palms. About 2 

 miles onward the shores rose a little, and the vegetation changed 

 to a tangle of jungle, with a network of climbing bamboo, rattans, 

 and various kinds of creepers. The course of the stream ran 

 through no heavy forest, and in many places the banks were 

 fairly open, covered with scrub and patches of thick grassy 

 vegetation. 



" Never was such a river for twisting and turning, and often 

 as we steered round its S-shaped bends we seemed to swing the 

 sun right round us. 



" We rowed along steadily for a couple of hours, and then 

 seeing a lime tree overhanging the stream, stopped to gather a 

 hatful of fruit. A few yards further on — the bank about 12 feet 

 high — one of the men spied a rough hut, a mere platform with 

 a shade of palm leaves ; but when we landed, although odds and 

 ends of rattan lay about the ground, it was evident that it had 

 been unoccupied for some time. 



" Now and again along the river we saw coco palms and 

 bananas, while kaladies or yams grew plentifully at the water's 

 edge. The banks were covered here with jungle and there with 

 stretches of reeds, looking not unlike clumps of Indian corn. 



" Flocks of parrots flew screaming overhead, herons flapped 

 lazily away in front, and now and then a monkey, startled by the 

 unusual sight, cursed us vigorously from a tree. Often a tiny 

 ceyx — a flash of lilac and orange — darted across the stream, and 

 oftener still the little blue bengalensis flitted away before us.* 



* Halcyon pileata^ conspicuous by its white-tipped wings, was very common 



