CH. vn TO SAN GIB AND TALAVT 183 



The glimpses I got of the country and the seashore 

 as we slowly toiled up the tortuous mountain path were 

 extremely beautiful ; every riew I obtained of the mountains 

 and valleys, or of the wide expanse of blue sea with its 

 little green islands, seemed more perfect than the last. At 

 one time we passed through a low bush and undergrowth, to 

 which the golden flowers and white bracts of the Mussaenda 

 frondosa gave colour and variety; at another time we 

 plunged into a wood of lofty trees, where the banks of the 

 path were covered with a profusion of moss and ferns, and 

 at another we passed by wide fields of rice and maize or 

 groves of bananas. 



At last we came to Mr. Steller's garden, where a pretty 

 little house was being built for him. A stroU among the 

 young trees in the garden in search of birds and insects, 

 and after lunch a bath in a deMciously cool brook, brought 

 my visit to this dehghtful spot to a close, and it was with 

 great reluctance that I retraced my steps down the moun- 

 tain side towards ilanganitu. The general aspect of the 

 country of Great Sangir is very similar to that of Xorth 

 Celebes. 



There is a bird in Great Sangir which the natives call 

 the ' burong mas,' or gold bkd. I was told that it only 

 occurs in this island. I tried in vain to obtain a specimen 

 during my short stay in the island, but since my return 

 home I have, through the kindness of the Eesident of 

 Manado, received a skin in a very fair state of preservation. 

 It turns out to be the Xicobar pigeon {CaLenas nicobarica). 



The only specimens of this handsome ground pigeon 

 found in Minahassa were, I believe, obtained by the late 

 Mr. van Musschenbroek, a former Eesident of ilanado. It 

 is, however, extremely rare on the main island. Several 

 specimens have been obtained by different naturalists in the 

 Sangir islands, where it is not so very rare, Mr. Wallace 



