58 BATCHIAK [chap. xxiv. 



in iimch greater abundance where the light is admitted, 

 are so many attractions to the insects for miles around, and 

 canse a wonderful accumulation of species and individuals. 

 When the entomologist can discover such a spot, he does 

 more in a month than he could possibly do by a year's 

 search in the depths of the undisturbed forest. 



The next morning we left early, and reached the mouth 

 of the little river in about an hour. It flows through a 

 perfectly flat alluvial plain, but there are hills which 

 approach it near the mouth. Towards the lower part, in 

 a swamp where the salt-water must enter at high tides, 

 were a number of elegant tree-ferns from eight to fifteen 

 feet high. These are generally considered to be mountain 

 plants, and rarely to occur on the equator at an elevation 

 of less than one or two thousand feet. In Borneo, in the 

 Aru Islands, and on the banks of the Amazon, I have 

 observed them at the level of the sea, and think it pro- 

 bable that the altitude supposed to be requisite for them 

 may have been deduced from facts observed in countries 

 where the plains and lowlands are largely cultivated, and 

 most of the indigenous vegetation destroyed. Such is the 

 case in most parts of Java, India, Jamaica, and Brazil, 

 where the vegetation of the tropics has been most fully 

 explored. 



Coming out to sea we turned northwards, and in about 

 two hours' sail reached a few huts, called Lancrundi, where 



