186 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



with the rotting remains of fallen trees, which, 

 from their appearance, had probably lain there 

 for many years. Without having experienced it, 

 I should not have realized how difficult it was to 

 walk even a few yards through the undergrowth. 

 I was considerably surprised when, as I stepped 

 on an apparently sound tree which had fallen across 

 the path, the whole tree-trunk as well as the ground 

 beneath it, crumbled away. The next minute I 

 was buried up to the waist in decaying wood. 

 This happened very frequently, so that great 

 care had to be taken to avoid a serious 

 accident. 



While extricating myself from one of these 

 rotten tree-trunks, I suddenly saw in front of me 

 a bird* which I had not hitherto met with. In 

 appearance it somewhat resembled a wren with an 

 enormously long tail. It was too close to shoot 

 with a large-bore gun, such as I was armed with, 

 and, in spite of all that I could do to frighten it 

 away to a reasonable distance, it refused to move. 

 All my attempts to secure it were unsuccessful, and 

 I was obliged to leave the place without obtaining 

 it. I was very anxious to get a specimen, as the 

 bird is rare in collections, so I went back to the 

 ship for a small-bore gun, and was successful 

 in finding and shooting another of these birds, 

 only to see it fall amongst dense bushes and 

 decayed wood, in which it was utterly lost. 



Early the next morning we sailed from Gray's 



* Sylviorthorhynchus desmursi. 



