K ' 3 
i ! t. 
The fish were lined up like so many soldiers, and jumped in unison 
at perfectly regular intervals. The sound of their bodies all 
hitting the water at the same time, end repeated six or eight times, 
sounded like gunfire across the water. 
April 18 - Ambon 
Early in the morning we loaded our gear, heavier now by the 
cuscus cage into the rowboat, and started back for .Ambon. It was 
cloudy and threatening when we left, and raining hard by the time 
we got across the bay. I huddled in my raincoat, and Bill proudly 
held a paper umbrella over his head as the boys rowed as hard as 
they could. 
In the morning we supervised the making of a cage for our 
new animals, and did a few errands in town. Passing a church we 
heard what sounded like a country organ - this is Sunday morning - 
but B. told us it was an orchestra of bamboo flutes. About ten 
men play on flutes of different sizes, and of course the simple 
reeds, played in unison, sound exactly like an old-fashioned 
organ. It was very pretty, and the soft Malay voices joined in 
in translations of Dutch hymns. 
In the evening we went for a drive with Mr. Smits, whom we 
met on the Van Imhoff and who is staying here until the next boat. 
He is an amateur orchid collector, and drove us out to Pas so, a 
village about twelve kilometers away, where the principal industry 
seems to be selling orchids. They are hung on small posts along the 
side of the road, and sell for fifty Dutch cents a plant. 
April 19 - Ambon -ip- t:M}0fWi '.c!'M 
In the morning we went for a walk up the mountain side in 
back of the town. We had intended going only a short way, but the 
path was good, though very steep, and Bill found collecting interest- 
ing. In a kayo putih (eucalyptus) grove he found a huge display 
of Myrmecodia, and had one of the plants cut down., and then dissect ea 
so that we could all see how the ants utilize the chambers in the 
parasitic plant as a nest. Iridomyrmex myrmecodiae was the ant in 
this particular case; the plant is na ed after the ant and the 
ant after the plant. When we had climbed for an hour or more we 
came to a nice little village, where we bought some coconuts to 
drink, and here we learned that the government rest house was only 
a little farther on. So we climbed up to the top of the mountain, 
so e 450 meters altogether, and sat on the verandah and admired 
the view of the jungle below us, Ambon in the distance, and the 
sea beyond that. We had been there only a few moments when a 
heavy rain began. It seemed doubtful that we could get back before 
lunch, and in scouting around the neighborhood B. found for us 
three linds of bananas, delicious ripe mango steens, a can of Califor- 
nia sardines, sore sweet biscuits, and native cigarettes. We could 
have spent the day quite comfortably, but about twelve o'clock the 
tain stopped and we came down the path, which was much more slippery 
than the ascent had been when it was fairly dry. The little village 
near the rest house is inhabited by soldiers who have retired on a • 
pension, and is most attractive - solid little houses of bamboo 
covered with plaster (an earthquake-proof construction), and 
surrounded with gardens - roses and orchids both were plentiful. 
