314 Wild Life in Wales 



" The Malays told me to be sure and return to Simud 

 Putih at five o'clock, as I should then see the most wonder- 

 ful sight in all Borneo, the departure of the Bats and the 

 return to roost of the Swifts. I accordingly took a seat on 

 a block of limestone at the mouth of the cave ; the sur- 

 face of the coral of which it is composed is quite fresh- 

 looking, notwithstanding that it must have been many ages 

 in its present position, several hundred feet above sea-level. 

 Soon I heard a rushing sound, and, peering over the edge 

 of the circular opening leading into Simud Itam, I saw 

 columns of Bats wheeling round the sides in regular order. 

 Shortly after five o'clock, although the sun had not yet set, 

 the columns began to rise above the edge, still in a circular 

 flight ; they then rose, wheeling round a high tree growing 

 on the opposite side, and every few minutes a large flight 

 would break off, and, after rising high in the air, disappear 

 in the distance ; each flight contained many thousands. I 

 counted nineteen flocks go off in this way, and they con- 

 tinued to go off in a continual stream until it was too dark 

 for me to see them any longer. Among them were three 

 albinos, called by the Malays, the Rajah, his son and wife. 



"At a quarter to six, the Swifts began to come into Simud 

 Putih. A few had been flying in and out all day long ; but 

 now they began to pour in, at first in tens and then in 

 hundreds, until the sound of their wings was like a strong 

 gale of wind whistling through the rigging of a ship. They 

 continued flying in until after midnight, as 1 could still see 

 them flashing by over my head when I went to sleep. As 

 long as it remained light, I found it impossible to catch any 

 with my butterfly net ; but after dark it was only necessary 

 to wave the net in the air, to secure as many as I wanted. 

 Nevertheless, they must undoubtedly possess wonderful 

 power of sight to fly about in the dark in the deepest 

 recesses of their caves, and to return to their nests, often 

 built in places where no light ever penetrates. 



" Shortly before sundown a pair of Kites made their appear- 

 ance, and, taking their station over the Bat chasm, would 

 every now and then swoop down into the thick of the Bats, 

 generally securing a victim every time. I shot both these 



