364 WAIGIOU. [chap, xxxvi. 



and brings down the bird. Sometimes, when food is 

 abundant elsewhere, the hunter sits from morning till 

 night under his tree with the cord in his hand, and even 

 for two or three whole days in succession, without even 

 getting a bite ; while, on the other hand, if very lucky, he 

 may get two or three birds in a day. There are only eight 

 or ten men at Bessir who practise this art, which is un- 

 known anywhere else in the island. I determined, there- 

 fore, to stay as long as possible, as my only chance of 

 getting a good series of specimens ; and although I was 

 nearly stai"ved, everything eatable by civilized man being 

 scarce or altogether absent, I finally succeeded. 



The vegetables and fruit in the plantations around us 

 did not suffice for the wants of the inhabitants, and were 

 almost always dug up or gathered before they were ripe. It 

 was very rarely we could purchase a little fish ; fowls there 

 were none ; and we were reduced to live upon tough 

 pigeons and cockatoos, with our rice and sago, and some- 

 times we coidd not get these. Having been already eight 

 months on this voyage, my stock of all condiments, spices 

 and butter, was exhausted, and I found it impossible to 

 eat sufficient of my tasteless and unpalatable food to 

 support health. I got very thin and weak, and had a 

 curious disease known (I have since heard) as brow-ague. 

 Directly after breakfast every morning an intense pain set 

 in on a small spot on the right temple. It was a severe 



