28 



MAIACG4. 



[chap. in. 



night ai a village caUed Gadiiig, where I was accom- 

 modated in the house of some Chinese converts, to whom 

 I was recommended by the Jesuit missionaries. The 

 house was a mere sbed, but it was kept clean, aiid I made 

 myself sufficiently comfortable, ^ly hosts were forming 

 a pepper and gamltir plantation, and in the immediate 

 neighbourhood were extensive tin-wasbinga, employing 

 over a thousand Cliinesa The tin is obtained in tlie 

 form of black gi-ains from beds of quartzose sand, and is 

 limited into ingots in rude clay furnaces. The soil seemed 

 ]M)or, and the forest was very dense with undei"growtb, and 

 not at all productive of insects \ but, on the other band, 

 birds were abundant, and I %vas at once introduced to the 

 rich ornitlioloyical treasures of the Malayan region. 



The very iirst time I fired my gun I brought down one 

 of the most curious and beautiful of the Malacca biids, 

 the blue-billed gaper (CjTnbirhynchus macrorhj^chus), 

 called by the Malays the "lUin-bird," It is about the 

 size of a starling, black and rich claret colour with white 

 shoulder stiipea, and ft very iai'ge and broad bill of the 

 most pure cobalt blue above and orange below, while the 

 iris is emerald green. As the skins dry the bill turns 

 dull black, but even then the bird is handsome. Wlieii 

 fresh killed, the contrast of the vi\id blue with the rich 

 colours of the plumage ia remarkably striking and beau- 

 tiful Tiie lovely Eastern trogons, with their rich browTi 

 backs, beautifully pencilled wings, and crimson breasts, 

 were also soon obtained, as well tis the large green barbets 

 (MegaJaema versicolor) — fniit-eating birds, something like 

 small toucans, with a short, straight bristly bill, and whose 

 hL-ad and neck are variegated with patches of the most vivid 

 blue and crimson, A day or two alter, my liimt«r brought 

 me a si>ecimen of the green gaper (Calyptomena viridis;, 

 which is like a small cock-of-tlie-rock, but entirely of the 

 most vivid green, delicately marked on the wings with 

 black bars. Handsome woodpeckei-s and gay kingfishers, 

 green and b^ow^l cuckoos with velvety red faces and green 

 lieaks, red-breasted doves and metallic honeysuckei's, were 

 brought in day after day, and kept me in a contunial state 

 of pleasurable excitement After a fortnight one of my 

 seiTanta was seized with fever, and on returning to 



