64 A NATUBALIST IN CELEBES ch. iv 



dying gymnastics in the ink and on the paper. I remember 

 well on one occasion I was visited by a swarm of flying 

 termites that fairly drove me out to seek another occupa- 

 tion. These horrible insects alighted on my table, dropped 

 their wings, and then chased one another . on foot over my 

 paper, up my pen, over my hands, and up my shirt-sleeves 

 in such numbers that it was almost impossible to make a 

 legible mark upon the paper. Fortunately this was quite 

 an exceptional visitation. But the pests that were not 

 exceptional were the mosquitoes. When I first landed in 

 Java I suffered severely from the bites of one or two 

 mosquitoes, but afterwards I found that they became less 

 irritating at the time, and left no lasting discomfort ; but 

 I was always cognisant of their presence, and the constant 

 humming and pricking of these little brutes were always 

 more or less distracting to me when engaged in any 

 serious work. 



When my writing was pretty well up to date I would 

 often stroll round to the opzichter's house, and spend an 

 hour or two with Mr. Cur sham. Fortunately I had on the 

 voyage out learned to speak a little Dutch, so that I could 

 converse with him in a language that was not Malay, of 

 which at the time I knew only a few sentences. But our 

 repertoire of amusements for spending a quiet evening was 

 not very extensive. He had a backgammon board — and 

 many and many a game I played with him in the verandah 

 of his house — and a fairly good musical box ; but even back- 

 gammon becomes tiresome after a time, and the dulcet 

 strains of ' Home, Sweet Home ' and the ' Blue Danube ' 

 (with a few notes missing) fail to charm. 



On moonlight nights such indoor recreations, however, 

 were hardly necessary, for a stroll on the rickety little pier 

 in the delicious cool evening breeze, listening to the rippling 

 music of the ebbing waters, was a far greater attraction, 



