430 A NATURALIST'S WANDERINGS 



Next morning at sunrise, after I had taken a round of 

 bearings, we started in a south-easterly direction, continually 

 climbing as on the previous day, along hog's-back ridges and 

 round precipitous gorges. On the bare red clay of Mount 

 Tehula, at 4200 feet, I gathered, with great delight, a new 

 species of Epacridaceas a heath-like plant, which formed inter- 

 rupted shrubberies all over its summit. From Tehula by a 

 shallow saddle, we reached Kelehoko, 4600 feet, where un- 

 horsing to rest for an hour, I made a most interesting collec- 

 tion of plants, many of them belonging to European families 

 and geneva, violets (F. patrinii), geraniums, bright azure 

 Camjpanulacem on the bare red soil, oxalis, and a new species 

 of Orchids, Diuris fryana of Ridley ; and near it, among the 

 grass, a new bright species of the ScropTiulariacem, belonging 

 to the genus Buchnera. Hence winding down the valley of 

 the Komai, on foot, as the path was very steep and unsafe, we 

 reached about half-way the house-cluster of a native known 

 to my guide, who had been over all this country during 

 various revolts. 



As it was beginning to rain, we decided to camp here for 

 the night, and asked to occupy a part of the man's house. 

 To this he replied that his dwelling was at our disposal, but 

 for our own sakes he had rather we did not go inside, as a 

 child of his had been buried only the day before, and he was 

 ashamed of the smell left by the dead body ; but we might, if 

 we liked, occupy the platform below the eaves. We accord- 

 ingly spent the night in this rather cramped situation, com- 

 pletely protected from rain, and in the morning discovered 

 that the whole story of the child's death was a myth ; but I 

 have no doubt that we were more comfortable outside, if the 

 wreaths of smoke that oozed through the wicker-work sides of 

 the house gave us any idea of the purity of the atmosphere 

 within. 



The Timorese, differing from the peoples of the Indo- 

 Malayan region or of the Tenimber Islands, do not live in 

 villages, but more like the Buruese, in a cluster of family 

 residences, or in isolated habitations often far distant from 

 any other dwelling. This Fatete homestead, a single family 

 abode of one or two houses, was placed in the centre of an 

 enclosure strongly fenced in by high palings made of longi- 



