cEAp. in.] 



THE ARGUS PHF.ASAKT. 



33 



moiintain I ba\-e ever ascended in the tropics presents a 

 panorama equal to that fi'om Snowdon, while the views in 

 Switzerland are iinnieasurahly su])erior. "When boiling 

 our coffee I t^uk observations with a good boiling-point 

 tliermometer, as well as with the s3^mpiesoiQet<ir, and we 

 then enjoyed our evening meal and the noble prospect that 

 lay before ns, Tlie night was calm and very mild, and 

 liaving made a l>ed of twigs and branches over which we 

 laid our blankets, we passed a very comfortable night. Our 

 porters had followed us after a rest, briuging only thei: rice 

 to cook, and luckily we did not require tlie baggage ihcy 

 left behind tliera. In the morning 1 caught a lew butter- 

 flies and beetles, and my friend got a few land-shells ; and 

 we then descended, bringing with us some specimens of 

 the ferns and pitcher-plants of Padang-batu, 



The place where we had first encami>ed at the foot of the 

 mountain being very gloomy, we chose another in a kind 

 of swamp near a stream overgrown with Zingiberaceous 

 plants, in which a clearing easily made. Here our 

 men built two little huts without sides, that w^ould just 

 slielter us from the rain ; and we lived in them for a week, 

 shooting and insect-hunting, and roaming about the forests 

 at the foot of the mountain. Tliis was the comitry of the 

 great Argus pheasant, and we continually heard its cry. 

 On asking the old Malay to try and shoot one for me, he 

 told me that although he had been for twentj' years shooting 

 birds in these forests he had never yet shot one, and had 

 ne%'er even seen one except after it had been caught. The 

 bird is so exceedingly shy and wary, and runs along the 

 ground in the densest parts of the forest so quickly, that it 

 IS impossible to get near it ; and its sober colours and rich 

 e\'e-like spots, which are so oniamental when seen in u 

 museum, must harmonize well with the dead leaves among 

 which it dwells, and render it very inconspicuous. All 

 the specimens sold in Malacca are caught in snares, and 

 my informant, though he had shot none, had snared 

 plenty. 



The tiger and rhinoceros are still found here, and a few 

 years ago elephants abounded, but they have lately all 

 disappeared. We found some heaps of dung, which 

 seemed to be that of elephants, and some tracks of the 



Tl 



