CH. IV TALI8SE ISLAND 59 



hundred yards of my house a little stream of water emerged 

 from the hillside, and close by its source a long wooden 

 gutter had been arranged to make a spout, or ' panchuran,' 

 as the natives called it. The 'panchuran' had been 

 surrounded by a palisade of split bamboos, and thus a 

 primitive bathing retreat was formed, free from the gaze of 

 the inquisitive natives, who seemed to be always pleased to 

 get a glimpse of the white skin of the ' tuan puti,' or white 

 gentleman, as I was sometimes called. 



The ' panchuran ' was overshadowed by lofty forest trees 

 and the great leaves of some young sago weer palms, and these 

 were the favourite resort in the dry season of many of the 

 most beautiful birds of the island. There I often saw that 

 extremely handsome red kingfisher, called by the natives 

 the ' rajah udan,' or ' king of the forest ; ' the beautiful 

 parrot {Tanygnathus Miilleri), with its dark green wings 

 and bright Cambridge blue back, and many other familiar 

 friends of my rambles in the forest. How delicious it was 

 to allow the cool fresh water to trickle over me, or to order 

 Manuel to pour bucketfuls down my back ! After my bath 

 I went back to my house to breakfast, which usually con- 

 sisted of boiled rice and chicken. From breakfast until 

 lunch I employed myself in microscope work, in skinning 

 birds, or otherwise attending to my collections ; but when 

 there were spring tides I had to prepare in the mornings for 

 my expeditions to the coral reefs. Low water at spring tides 

 is at Talisse in the middle of the day, and I found that I 

 could work upon the reef for an hour or two, two days 

 before and after the lowest spring tide. On these days 

 (five every fortnight), Manuel and I would start off a little 

 after eleven o'clock, armed with two or three iron buckets, 

 a small case of collecting bottles, a crowbar, and other 

 implements that were useful or necessary for our work. 



I protected my feet and legs with a pair of water-tight 



