SAN GHBISTOVAL. 269 



the banks of a river, through woods for a mile and a half 

 After crossing and recrossing the river several times, I 

 stopped at what seemed a suitable spot, and went to work 

 with a good will in search of fresh-water shells. The 

 appearance of the country round was pleasing ; a line of 

 hills commanded the river, while about us were lofty trees, 

 and some of them with branches hanoina in festoons. 

 There were several varieties of pigeons living in these trees, 

 one especially handsome, which had a red lump or comb on 

 his iiead by the upper mandible, and a blue and greenish 

 tint in the back feathers. I have reason to thiuk this 

 kind pervades the Solomon Islands. At times I heard a 

 loud buzzing about my head, which was that of thousands 

 of hornets busy in building themselves a nest. Desiring to 

 be respected by these formidable insects, I showed them, on 

 my part, a most profound respect, and took care not to 

 distm'b their labours. The water, at first clear, was soon 

 made muddy by my movements, so that I was obliged to 

 trust entirely to my touch, and grope about with head and 

 arm, a great part of the time under water. I obtained 

 several kinds of shells— small and average-sized cones, a 

 large bivalve, almost round, of a yellowish red, and with a 

 large and prominent hinge muscle. I also picked up a sort 

 of fresh-water periwinkle and other shells, one of which had 

 sharp points or spikelets on a part of its circumference. 

 The water, which was pleasant at first, began after a couple 

 of hours to feel rather cold, and so I was not sorry to warm 

 myself by going to my provision bag and finding wherewith 



