PREFACE. 



As a matter of simple justice to myself, I must inform the reader 

 that the journey of which this book is a record was one of action 

 rather than observation, and opportunities for study were few and 

 far between. Owing to the circumstances under which the trip 

 was carried out, all my waking houi's were occupied in a ceaseless 

 warfare for specimens, and my only regret comes when I think 

 what " it might have been," for me at least, had I not been obliged 

 to shoot, preserve, care for and pack up nearly every specimen with 

 my own hands. From first to last I had no other assistance than 

 such as could be rendered by ignorant and maladroit native ser- 

 vants. Even in the preparation of these pages the demon of "Work 

 has still pursued me, and the task has been accomplished only by 

 the aid of " midnight oil," when wearied by the labors of the day. 



What follows is offered merely as a faithful pen-picture of what 

 may be seen and done by almost any healthy young man in two 

 years of ups and downs in the East Indies. 



He, at least, who loves the green woods and rippling waters, and 

 has felt the mystic spell of life in " a vast wilderness," will appre- 

 ciate the record of my experiences. I love nature and all her works, 

 but one day in an East Indian jungle, among strange men and 

 beasts, is worth more to me than a year among dry and musty 

 " study specimens." The green forest, the airy mountain, the plain, 

 the river, and the sea-shore are to me a perpetual delight, and the 

 pursuit, for a good purpose, of the living creatures that inhabit them 

 adds an element of buoyant excitement to the enjoyment of natural 

 scenery, which at best can be but feebly portrayed in words. 



