N A TUB A LIST'S WANDERINGS 



the tapir, and liigb up the wallowing holes of tlio rhinoceros, 



and footprints of the rare mountain antelope [Anfilocm'pa smm- 

 trana) ; the intermittent ]ow booming note of the large fniit- 

 pigeons {CarpopJiafia hadia) answering each other at r4M>st, and 

 the chattering cries of flocks of Babblers (Garrtdax palliatm) 

 at play in the distant tree-tojis, tilled the wwds, bat they 

 never appruached near enougli to afford a chance of securing 

 them for specimens. 



The night ^as very disagreeable, for onr hut of branches 

 and leaves leaked freely, and the dense smoke which i^ned 

 from the wet wood fire, round which my boys crouched with 

 chattering teeth, was painful to eyes and throat, I have often 

 been snr|trised that the native, who, in the low groutnU, goes 

 about and even sleeps in all weathers nearly naked, when I 

 with my European clothing Itave felt it quite chilly, almost 

 at once snecumbs to the low temperature in the mountain 

 heights, and often actually dies before he can descend. A 

 few hours round a blazing fire after a hot jonim of coffee re- 

 invigorated them somewhat, and far int*> the night the woods 

 resounded to the weird monotonous chant of one of thi>se 

 epics to which the Lamponger is never tired of listening, and 

 ^ which his country is famed for, such as the Herculean exploits 

 of that great hero, Anak Dalom, who, miracnlunsly esc^iping 

 from the interior of a bamboo, played the part of another 

 iEneas along these shores. At length, when one by one they 

 dropped off to doze, with their chins on their knees, their 

 heads bnried in their stirongs, the inteiL«ie silence of the forest 

 reigned, which even the moaning of the trees and the shrill 

 screaming of thecicads could not disturb. 



Resuming our ascent. I found that at 5800 feet the Dipteris 

 horajieldi increased in abundance, while lichens and mosses 

 padded every stone, tree-trunk, and lower branch with a thick 

 springy cushion of moss, among which everywhere the elegant 

 flagons of the Pitcher-plants w^ere embedded or swayel grace- 

 fully from projecting twigs. Here also, among the moss and 

 on the fallen trees, a pretty CijmUdiumf an epiphytic orchid 

 with dark-green crisp foliage, carpeted in profnsion the hol- 

 lows and knolls. The whole mountain above 5800 feet seemed 

 as if intentionally laid out in a gigantic rockery, up which the 

 path wound under moss-padded arches, and over lMjuldei*s on 



