188 RAMBLES OP A NATUEALIST. [Ch. XH. 



ing simply island, in the Malay language. Nor is its inte- 

 rest solely connected with its abundant butterflies. It is 

 about a mile long, and contains about 600 acres. Fifteen 

 years ago, this island was covered with virgin jungle, and 

 was to a great extent cleared for the purpose of growing 

 cocoa-nut pahns, of which there are about 10,000 now 

 upon it. This is a very remunerative crop ; the cocoa-nuts 

 are allowed to sprout through the husk, untU the shoots are 

 about two feet in length, they are then placed upon the soil, 

 in which they readily take root, and grow with little trouble ; 

 but it requires a considerable period of time before an ade- 

 quate, or indeed any, return can be derived from the capital 

 invested. Daat has been planted 10 or 12 years, and as many 

 thousands of pounds have been sunk in its cultivation ; but 

 it is only just beginning to yield what will probably turn out 

 eventually to be a satisfactory profit. I have already stated 

 that the proboscis monkey (Nasalis) still exists in the small 

 jungle which remains uncleared — which is very dense, 

 abounduig in pools of fresh water, and rendered almost im- 

 penetrable by the numerous fallen stems of the Nibong Palm, 

 upon which are dangerous long spines, arranged in close 

 whorls, which tear the clothes and pierce the feet of the 

 incautious rambler. The only other large animal is the wild 

 black pig, which is pretty numerous, although very shy. 



Hovering over these freshwater pools, as well as over the 

 swampy ponds of Labuan, were always numerous very hand- 

 some dragon-flies, the most abundant of which has a bright 

 scarlet body, and is common also at Singapore. They were 

 all very strong and active flyers ; but one very large species, 

 with a light blue body, exceeded them all in strength and 

 agility. These insects are remarkably wary ; their habit is 

 to fly with great rapidity over a pool of water from end to 



