78 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ORNITHOLOGY 01? INDIA. 



and a dozen of rum), he replied in the most cheerful manner, 

 ic al rite, you please, you go, I come sometime." 



Then the Philosopher was wrath, he frowned terribly, seized 

 the unfortunate and bewildered Captain by the scruff of the 

 neck, carried him to the door of the hut, (the floor of which was 

 about eight feet from the ground) and gently dropped him ; then 

 glaring terribly at him, cocked both barrels of his gun, and 

 gave the offender to understand that his only choice now lay 

 between a sudden and cruel death and going on board at once. 



Captain Long was quite equal to the emergency, he laughed 

 from ear to ear, and ran down in the most perfect good humour 

 to the beach, launched the canoe, took us in, and then with half 

 a dozen quick dexterous strokes of his paddle, wafted us 

 safely through the heavy surf in which any English boat would 

 have been instantly swamped, and laying to, as these fellows can 

 when they chose, had us alongside the Scotia in no time. 



Then the Doctor's great heart relented, he presented the 

 Captain with two long cigars, had a glass of rum provided for him, 

 and allowed him to depart in search of Captain Short. I may 

 add that the two came on board with the rest of the party per- 

 fectly able to paddle and take their canoe through any surf that 

 ever was seen, but drunk to a degree, unable to walk or stand, 

 and hilarious beyond description, laughing, talking, cutting unin- 

 telligible semi-English jokes, till our patience was fairly exhaust- 

 ed and we had them driven forward. 



The night promised to be stormy, the anchorage was not 

 over good, and the roar of the surf on the leeshore grew louder 

 and louder, so about whist time we ran out (making the Philo- 

 sopher trump his partners best cards and otherwise misconduct 

 himself) and laid off and on, well out in the open, all night. 



As soon as it was fairly light on the loth, aud long before 

 the snowy white, but, as is too certain, deadly malarious clouds 

 had lifted themselves out of the deep-wooded vallies and dells, 

 each one of which they filled to the brim, we started again, 

 steaming up the western coast of the Great Nicobar, as close in 

 shore as, in the absence of any charts worthy of the name, we 

 dared. 



This side of the island consists almost entirely of low undula- 

 ting densely-wooded ground, rising in a succession of swells to the 

 high hills that run down close, and parallel, to the eastern coast. 

 The whole forenoon, the little dense white clouds, for all the 

 world like masses of cotton wool, still filled up every hollow 

 in the interior, and even at noon they had not wholly disappeared, 

 though the sun, as might have been expected at this season, so 



