126 BOURU. [chap. XXVI. 



and thus obtain a few silver rupees very easily. Every 

 foot of ground between the houses throughout the village 

 is crammed with fruit trees, so that the sun and air have 

 no chance of penetrating. This must be very cool and 

 pleasant in the dry season, but makes it damp and un- 

 healthy at other times of the year. Unfortunately I had 

 come two months too soon, for the rains were not yet over, 

 and mild and water were the prominent features of the 

 country. 



About a mile behind and to the east of the village the 

 hills commence, but they are very barren, being covered 

 with scanty coarse grass and scattered trees of the 

 Melaleuca cajuputi, from the leaves of which the cele- 

 brated cajeput oil is made. Such districts are absolutely 

 destitute of interest for the zoologist. A few miles further 

 on rose higher mountains, apparently well covered with 

 forest, but they were entirely uninhabited and trackless, 

 and practically inaccessible to a traveller with Limited 

 time and means. It became evident, therefore, that I 

 must leave Cajeli for some better collecting ground, and 

 finding a man who was going a few miles eastward to a 

 village on the coast where he said there were hills and 

 forest, I sent my boy Ali with him to explore and report 

 on the capabilities of the district. At the same time I 

 arranged to go myself on a little excursion up a river 

 which flows into the bay about five miles north of the 



