JUNGLE LIFE AT AREMU. 297 



them. Far from giving all the observations made here on 

 birds and other creatures, I have included only those of 

 greatest interest, which will convey an idea of the conditions 

 of life here as compared to those in our northern woods and 

 forests. 



MARCH 28th. Leaving the house before noon I crossed 

 the Little Aremu by a foot bridge, at the western edge of the 

 clearing. The stream here flows gently and smoothly; it is 

 from one to four feet deep, and ten to fifteen feet wide. 

 Following it upstream, one is stopped within a few yards by 

 a perfect tangle and maze of interlocked vines and trunks 

 showing what it was like lower down before the hand of 

 man hewed and blasted a free channel. The forest about 

 the mine clearing is probably near the extreme, even of 

 tropical growth. One feels absolutely dwarfed as one gazes 

 up far up, at the lofty branches, where birds like tiny 

 insects are flying about, in a world by themselves. The 

 trunks are clean, hard and straight as marble columns and 

 the undergrowth is thin, giving access in almost any direc- 

 tion, yet dense enough to harbor many species of birds and 

 animals. 



Turning south along a wood road, I started on my first 

 tramp into the jungle. It was the hottest part of the day, 

 but there was all the difference in the world between sun and 

 shade, and here in the recesses of the forest it was pleasantly 

 cool, and birds and insects were abundant. 



One of the first sounds which came to my cars was a loud, 

 intermittent rustling among the dried leaves, marked now 

 and then by a low grunt. Crawling up quietly behind a 

 great mossy log, I peered over and was surprised to find 

 that I had been stalking a huge tortoise. I certainly might 

 reasonably have expected to see a mammal instead of a rep- 

 tile, as our tortoises of the north are not in the habit of 

 attracting our attention by their vocal efforts. This was a 



