BIRDS OF PAEADISE. 



245 



of a thnisli. All the feathers except those of the 

 wings are of a dark color. It never flies except 

 when the wind blows. We were informed these 

 bii'ds came from the terrestrial Paradise, and they 

 called them holoTidinaia* that is, * birds of God.^** 

 This word the Portuguese translated into their lan- 

 guage as "ave deparaiso," and hence om* name "birds 

 of paradise," a name well chosen, for in some species 

 the feathers have all the appearance of the most 

 brilliant jewels. Southwest of the Ki Islands lies 

 Timur-lant, and passing on toward Timur we come to 

 the " Southwestern Islands," composed of the Baba, 

 Sermatta, Letti, Roma^ Wetta, and Larama groups, 

 which we noticed as we steamed away from Billi 



Returning northward from Wetta, we come to 

 Gunong Api, an uninhabited volcano, rising between 

 six and seven thousand feet above the sea It is a 

 well-known landmark for the ships bound to China 

 that have passed np the Ombay Passage, or those 

 coming down the Floris Sea, intending to pass out 

 through that strait into the Indian Ocean. Northeast 

 of Gunong Api are the Lucipara and Turtle (in 

 Butch Scliilpad) Islands, which praus from Amboina 

 frequently visit for toi'toise-shell. East of Gunong 

 Api is Nila, an active volcano, about seventeen hun- 

 dred feet in height, and north of it is Serua, which 

 is merely a volcanic cone rising abruptly from the 

 sea. In 1694 a great eruption took place in this 

 volcano. A part of the crater wall fell in, and the 

 lava ovei'flowed until the whole island is repre- 



* Mr. Crawford tliink^ tliis is a con-iiption of Mmngdmata, wHcli 

 in Malay means " birds of God." 



