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vegetatioD of the banks ; while bushy Stereuliaceous trees 

 made a greater show of coh^ur in the rich jjiiik of tlieir young 

 foliage and in the bright scarlet of their fruits than in their 

 inconspiciions flowers. Between these more ontstanding trees, 

 ^ dark-foliuged figs and slender bamboos gracefully bending over 

 the bank, filled np the ranks shonlder to shoulder. Tall Sialang 

 trees, with Hghtning-condnctor-Iike stairs up their white stems, 

 by which the wild bees' nests are reached, and the Panginma 

 bearing GOO to 700 brown velvety fmits each seveml pounds 

 in weiglit, so that one marvels that the bnincbes are able to 

 sustain the load — marked the vicinity of vilhiges. Here and 

 there a statt^ly tree which had boon left unmolested in their 

 fields exhibited the gramteur of stem and crown that an 

 Ancient of the forest can attain unto. Every lifeless stem, to 

 the very tips of its withered arms was festooned witli dark- 

 foliaged climbers, yellow and purple Fa^nlionaee/e and Con- 

 volvulaeem, like the grotesque ghrubl>ery cut out of boxwttod, 

 but with all the natural grace which is consja'cuonsly wanting 

 in Dutch gardens. No tree, however, was more abundant or 

 brighter than the La^erstmnua, whose fine red tops could be 

 seen a long way off. Every now and then a creaking sound 

 came up the water catching the ear like the subdued screech 

 of a buffalo cart, produced by the monotonous turning of a 

 large bamboo waterwhoel fixed where the banks of the river 

 were high, to lift water into the adjacent rice-fields by bamboo 

 buckets fixed at intervals in a lateral direction to their jiaddles. 

 Water birds of many species, and kingfishers in cobalt pln- 

 luagej were constantly darting about, roused from their hunting 

 grounds by our passing, many of which were honoured with 

 a place in my collection. In addition to the ever-changing 

 forms of the vegetation and the varied bird and insect life that 

 flitted from side to side, there was no lack of hujnan interest in 

 the scenes. Now it was a skiff with flashing oars with a 

 chattering load of women and girls with their baskets on their 

 way to the fields ; now a village crowd in theb many coloured 

 ■ sarongs, clustered on the rocks or under the shade of some 

 broad fig to see our llotilla pass by; here it was a patient 

 plyer of the gentle art by a rippling bend ; there a crowd of 

 women in a shingly corner in their broad sun hats and blue 

 gowns washing the sand for gold. 



