422 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



them to read and write, and cultivate the land. One 

 time the older chiklren bumed all the books given 

 them by the government, supposing that, of course 

 if they had no books, they would not be re<juired to 

 go to schooL Eaithquakes are frequent here, and, 

 but a short time since, seven shocks oecni'red in one 

 day. All came from the south, exactly from the di- 

 rection where the Seret Merapi is seen burning. Most 

 of them were accompanied by a noise, which pre- 

 ceded the shock long enough for the Kesident to re- 

 mark to a friend, " there comes another " before the 

 shock itself wa^ perceived. Here we saw many 

 hanging birds'-nests, most ingeniously constructed. 

 They were made of fine grass, woven into a mass 

 having the form of a pear or gomxl, from eight inches 

 to a foot long. The smaller part is attached to the 

 end of a drooping twig, and on the bottom at one 

 side is the opening of a tube about an inch and a 

 half in diameter. This rises vertically for four or 

 five inches and then curves over and descends like a 

 syphon. At the end of the short part of this s^^hon 

 the tube is enlarged to a spherical cavity, and here 

 the iugemous bii'd lays her eggs. In order to ap- 

 preciate the remarkable skill required to make the ' 

 nest, it would be necessary for one to see a series of 

 them, from those which have been just begun to thost 

 that are nearly finished, for the tube which is to lead 

 to the nest is not fonned by blades of grass wound 

 into rings or a helix, but is built up from a single dii'ec- 

 tion until the two curving sides meet. Among the 

 scmas are small artificial pools, where fish ai*e raised 

 as in China ; a custom probably introduced by the 



