TALISSE ISLAND 



day that the record is uninteresting and monotonous. 'My 

 aneroid registered 29-9 inches of mercury pretty constantly 

 at nine o'clock in the morning, and 30-0 inches in the middle 

 of the day during the dry season, and rose to 30-1 inches 

 in the middle of the day during the rainy season. The 

 adreut of the rainy season was not marked by any dis- 

 turbance of the barometer. So regular, in fact, is the rise 

 and fall of the barometer in these parts, that it is almost 

 possible to tell the time of day by a good aneroid. 



After my afternoon slumber I would call my boy and 

 start off for a walk in the forest. There were three paths 

 open to me — one running northwards for about a couple of 

 miles, one running southwards, and one across the hill to 

 the other side of the island. 



Along one of these paths I would start, and plunge into 

 the forest or the mangrove swamp in search of bnds and 

 insects. Sometimes I came back quite empty-handed, but 

 I generally had a few new butterflies or some birds either 

 for my larder or my collection. I had practically to do 

 all the collecting myself. I found that Manuel, although 

 a fair shot and expert with the butterfly-net, was not in- 

 dependent enough to do any work for himself. If I had 

 the gun and he the net, he would be much more anxious 

 to find birds for me to shoot than to lookout for butterflies 

 himself ; and vice versa, if he had the gun and I the net, 

 he seemed desperately desirous of catching butterflies. 



On my return from these shooting excursions I would 

 indulge in another bath at the panchuran, and then settle 

 down to write my letters and the notes and observations 

 for the day. 



Writing is not in these coast places an unmixed pleasure 

 after the sun has set, for the scribe is pestered by all 

 kinds of winged abominations, which, attracted by the 

 light and half-killed by the heat of the lamp, perform their 



