186 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



berberis bushes, while the ground was strewn 

 with the rotting remains of fallen trees, which, 

 from their appearance, had probably lain there 

 for many years. Without having experienced it, 

 I should not have realized how difficult it was to 

 walk — even a few yards — through the undergrowth. 

 I was considerably surprised when, as I stepped 

 on an apparently sound tree which had fallen across 

 the path, the whole tree-trunk, as well as the ground 

 beneath it, crumbled away. The next minute I 

 was buried up to the waist in decaying wood. 

 This happened very frequently, so that great care 

 had to be taken to avoid a serious accident. 



While extricating myself from one of these 

 rotten tree-trunks, I suddenly saw in front of me 

 a bird* which I had not hitherto met with. In 

 appearance it somewhat resembled a wren with an 

 enormously long tail. It was too close to shoot 

 with a large-bore gun, such as I was armed with, 

 and, in spite of all that I could do to frighten it 

 away to a reasonable distance, it refused to move. 

 All my attempts to secure it were unsuccessful, and 

 I was obliged to leave the place without obtaining 

 it. I was very anxious to get a specimen, as the 

 bird is rare in collections, so I went back to the 

 ship for a small-bore gun, and was successful 

 in finding and shooting another of these birds, 

 only to see it fall amongst dense bushes and 

 decayed wood, in which it was utterly lost. 



* Sylviorthorhynchtis desmursi. 



