VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA. 79 



very small. The tree is well known by the natives here w^ho 

 call it Gkottschoh, and ase these nuts sometinaes instead of the 

 ordinary Betel nuts. 



I came to a path in a bamboo jung'le, which evidently was a 

 favourite resort of the elephants, and succeeded in climbing- down 

 ag'ain the steep shore, where I found some buds of a mon.indria 

 hitherto unknown to me, but they were was yet too young for 

 any examination. I found here the female blossoms and fruit of 

 a shrub of which I had only as yet found the male blossom. 

 It was the shrub with the three leav^es, and so I completed my 

 description thereof. I went round the island and found a kind 

 of large tree, which was frequented by several Buoceros, proba- 

 bly i^iperacious. The Siamese call this bird Nock Nang ; it only 

 lives on fruits and seldom flies low. The remarkable thing in 

 this bird is that it makes a peculiar noise with its wings at it 

 flies along. I think the chief cause of this is its having at che 

 ends of the large feathers of the wings small points, standing 

 apart from each other, with which they cut the air wben flying 

 and produce this rustling' noise. I cannot decide whether there 

 are other causes contributing to this noise, as I have only seen 

 them flying along singly or three to five at a time, or raier still, 

 sitting on very high trees, and I have observed that their feet 

 are very short and most of their plumage black, except at the 

 beak, which is surrounded by a skyblue colour, but I cannot say 

 whether they are feathers of this colour, or merely skin, and the 

 description which the people here give is too uncertain. At 

 my return I g^ot an Albuca which I described, and the blos- 

 soms of a kind of fruit resembling the Strychnos Nux-vomica. 

 I looked about for fruits of the Echites, but all blossoms had 

 dropped without leaving any ovary. The PhijlHvea however had 

 many blossoms and fruits and also the Erythroxylon, which 

 grew as a rather large tree. In the afternoon I went from the 

 harbour to the shore, sad that the fine weather was passed, and 

 that we were again threatened with storm and rain. 



22. — 1 arranged my newly collected things and my other 

 plants, which were almost decaying during the time that I had 

 not been on the ship. The Scarabei had such a disag-reeable ^mell, 

 that I got a very strong headache ; I only wished the ants had 

 eaten the delicate fat, which is in such favour with the S.am.ese 

 but however often I offered them this Siamese delicacy they 



