280 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



Next day we went down-river and along the coast 

 for a short distance to a point on the sea-shore where 

 Cox had erected a small two-roomed hut. As our stay 

 was to extend over several days, we took provisions 

 and a large cask of water, for there was no fresh-water 

 spring within several miles of the spot. Pangeran 

 Besar and one or two of his numerous progeny accom- 

 panied us, and at the fishing village of Awat-Awat we 

 called for the furniture of the hut, which had been 

 left there ; it was very simple, consisting of a table 

 and two chairs. The hut was built right on the sands 

 and was surrounded by Casuarinas and a low scrub, 

 amongst which I found a few insects, a snake, shells, 

 and a curious Land Nemertean worm. The sand was 

 swarming with Hermit-Crabs, Clibanarius longipes, drag- 

 ging their shells about, and there were numbers of 

 little Fossorial Wasps digging their burrows in the 

 sand or clearing the entrances to their burrows when- 

 ever they returned with food for their young. These 

 Hymenoptera belong to the Bembex tribe of Solitary 

 Wasps, which do not store up food for their larvae to 

 feed on and then seal the nest up, but constantly keep 

 their larvae supplied with fresh food in this case 

 flies opening up the nest whenever they arrive with 

 their burden and closing it again when they depart 

 in search of more. Our days were spent in fishing 

 with a seine net, in shooting, and in examining the 

 contents of the fish-weirs that dotted the seascape in 

 all directions. It was a pleasant, idyllic life, spent in 

 glorious sunshine or balmy breezes, and I was sorry 

 when the time came for Cox to return to the Govern- 

 ment fort. On our way up-river we witnessed a rather 

 interesting spectacle : a flock of Egrets was flying in 



