338 A NATURALIST'S WANDERINGS 



copies a Philemon ; in Ceram and in Timor also, and now in 

 Timor-laut yet another — the model and the copy — both of 

 them distinct in each of the islands. When my collection was 

 laid out for description by Dr. Sclater, the Oriole and the 

 Honey-eater's dress were so strikingly similar, that the sharp 

 eye of that distinguished Ornithologist was deceived, and the 

 two birds were described by him as the same species. Besides 

 these, another lovely new species of the same family (sec 

 Frontispiece) of the Honey-eaters, belonging to the genus 

 Myzomela, which has been named after the devoted companion 

 of my travels {Myzomela annahellm) was obtained ; but though 

 it iiitted about at the flowers of the coooanut palms, and of 

 an Apocynaceous shrub just at our door, I could not succeed 

 in shooting a single individual, till on the mainland I at last 

 secured the one specimen that graced my collection. 



On the 20th of September the steamer was due to return ; 

 but for a week we had been anxiously counting the days, for 

 we had been obliged, in order to eke out our supplies, to fall 

 back on roasted heads of Indian corn, which sorely tried our 

 teeth. We could purchase fowls on rare occasions only, as our 

 barter articles suiting the tastes of the natives were all gone — 

 it is a characteristic of the race, as I have said, to give away 

 nothing, and to part with their possessions only for what they 

 want at the moment, no matter if something of many times 

 the value be offered them. Our stock of febrifuges, so often in 

 demand, and of tea' and coffee, was exhausted, and above all 

 we were sadly reduced by the pernicious fever which was diffi- 

 cult to combat without luxuries we could not command. 

 Boats from Vordate brought in the news that the threatened 

 ., Kaleobar attack was really about to be made, tidings which to 

 our villagers seemed confirmed by the simultaneous recogni- 

 tion of the great comet of 1882 in our northern sky. Extra 

 guards were placed, who danced, as is their custom on such 

 like occasions, round the village god night and day with a 

 hideous howling chant accompanied by beating of drums 

 which was equally incessant, and to our fever-strained nerves 

 execrable and unbearable during the day, but perfectly 

 maddeninp: in the nisrht. How we longed and looked for the 

 steamer ! 



On the 28th, when our larder was absolutely empty, the 



