CHAP, XXX H ] BURYING IN 1)0 B BO. 



female is larger tlian the male, and it is therefore interest- 

 ing, as beariug on the question of sexual selection, that in 

 thifi case, as in tke stag-beetles where the males fight 

 togetlier, they should he not only better armed, but also 

 tuuch lai;ger than the femalea. 



Just as we ^rere going away, a handsome tree, allied to 

 Krythrina, was in blossom, showing its masses of large 

 crimson flowers scattered here and there about the forest. 

 Could it have been seen from an elevation, it would have 

 had a fine effect ; from below I could only catch sight of 

 masses of gorgeous colour in clusters and festoons over- 

 head, about which flocks of blue and orange lories were 

 fluttering and screaming. 



A good many people died at Dobbo this season ; I 

 believe about twenty. They were buried in a little grove 

 of Casuarinas behind my house. Among the traders was 

 a Mahometan priest, who superintended the fuuvrals, 

 which were very simple. The bjdy was wTaiijned up in 

 new wliite cotton cloth, and was carried on a bier to the 

 gmve. AU the spectators sat down on the ground, and 

 the priest chanted some verses from the Koran. Tlie gi'aves 

 were fenced round with a slight bamboo railing, and a 

 littk carved wooden head-post was put to mark the spot. 

 There was also in the village a small mosque, where every 

 Friday the faithful went to pray. This is probably more 



