CHAP. XXTl.] 



LODQimS AT WANUMSAL 



455 



a clay floor and sheh^es? for crockery. At the opposite tnnJ 

 I luul my iiiosqiiito curtaiu luing, and round the wsills wo 

 armnged my boxes and other stores, fitted up a table and 

 seat, and with a little cleaning and dustii^:: made the plar-.c 

 look quite coinfortable. M.j boat wag tlien hauled up on 

 shore, and covered witli palm-leaves, the sails and oars 

 brought indooi's, a hanging-stige for drying my specimens 

 erected outside the home and another inside, and my 

 boys were set to clean their gims and get all ready for 

 begintting work. 



The next day I occupied myself in exploring the paths 

 in the immediate neighbourhood. The small river np 

 which we had ascended ceases to be navigable at this 

 point, above which it is a little rocky brook, which quite 

 dries up in the hot season. There was now, howevnr. a 

 fair stream of water in it; and a path which was partly 

 in and partly by the side of the water, promised well 

 for insects, as I here saw the magnilicerit blue but- 

 terfly, Papilio iilysses, as well as several other fine species, 

 flopping lazily along, sometimes resting high up on tlie 

 foliage which drooped over the water, at others settling 

 down on the damp rock or on the edges of muddy pools. 

 A little way on several paths branched ofT through patches 

 of second-growth forest to caue-fields, gardens, and scat- 

 tered houses, beyond %vhich again the dark wall of verdure 

 striped with tiTee-tmnks, marked out the limits of the 

 primeval forests. The voices of many birds promised 

 good shooting, and on ray return I found tliat my boys 

 had already obtained two or three kinds I had not seen 

 before ; and in the evening a native brought me a rare and 

 beautiful species of ground-thrush (Pitta novis-guineie) 

 hitherto only known from New Guinesi. 



As I improved my acquaintance with them I became 

 much interested in these people, who are a fair sample of 

 the true savage inhabitants of the Aru Islands, tolembly 

 free from foreign admixture. The house I lived in con- 

 tained four or five families, and there were generally fn^ni 

 six to a dozen visitors besides. They kept up a continu:il 

 row from morning till night— talking, laughing, shouting, 

 without intermission — not verv'' pleasant, but interesting 

 aa a study of national character. My boy Ali said to me, 



