250 LOMBOCK. [chap. x. 



My readers may now partially understand why a travel- 

 ling naturalist of limited means, like myself, does so much 

 less than is expected or than he would himself wish to 

 do. It would be interesting to preserve skeletons of many 

 birds and animals, reptiles and fishes in spirits, skins of 

 the larger animals, remarkable fruits and woods and the 

 most curious articles of manufacture and commerce ; 

 but it will be seen that under the circumstances I have 

 just described it would have been impossible to add 

 these to the collections which were my own more especial 

 favourites. When travelling by boat the difficulties are as 

 great or greater, and they are not diminished when the 

 journey is by land. It was absolutely necessary therefore 

 to limit my collections to certain groups to which I could 

 devote constant personal attention, and thus secure from 

 destruction or decay what had been often obtained by 

 much labour and pains. 



While Manuel sat skinning his birds of an afternoon, 

 generally surrounded by a little crowd of Malays and 

 Sassaks (as the indigenes of Lombock are termed), he often 

 held forth to them with the air of a teacher, and was 

 listened to with profound attention. He was very fond of 

 discoursing on the " special providences " of which he be- 

 lieved he was daily the subject. " Allah has been merciful 

 to-day," he would say— for although a Christian he adopted 

 the Mahometan mode of speech — " and has given us some 



