CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



THE BIRDS OF PAEADISE. 



A S many of my journeys were made with the express 

 object of obtaining specimens of the Birds of Para- 

 dise, and learning something of their habits and distri- 

 bution ; and being (as far as I am aware) the only 

 Englishman who has seen tliese wonderful birds in their 

 native forests, and obtained specimens of many of them, 

 I propose to give here, in a connected form, the result 

 of my observations and inquiries. 



When the earliest European voyagers reached the Mo- 

 luccas in search of cloves and nutmegs, which were then 

 rare and precious spices, they were presented with the 

 dried skins of birds so strange and beautiful as to excite 

 the admiration even of those wealth- seeking rovers. The 

 Malay traders gave them the name of " Manuk dewata," 

 or God's birds ; and the Portuguese, finding that they had 

 no feet or wings, and not being able to learn anything 

 authentic about them, called them " Passaros de Sol," or 



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