-56 
lory swing from home-made perches over the doorway. The snakes are 
in tags that are hung on our clothes rack (no klambo here for clothes 
and every time you pick a dress off the hook mosquitoes fly outj . 
A lovely little gecko (tjitjak) with a yellow stripe down his 
back escaped from a bamboo cage during the night. And Bill and 
I beam at each other and say "This is like the good old days; now 
we are getting somewhere." A hornbill was brought in to us, but 
the owrr wanted Fl. 5, which seemed too much to pay in this part of 
the world, as we can get there for Fl. 2.50 in Macassar. We bargained 
and failed to get it, but will later. Satu - stengah has been 
established as the regular price for birds - one guilder and a half. 
Williams was feeling rotten this morning, and we sent for 
the doctor. He is a native from &8B Sapoeroea, but trained m 
Ambon, and the government doctor here. He seemed a bright young 
chap, and prescribed various remedies for Williams' persistent 
cough - he has been ill ever since we were in Batavia. W. got up 
in the afternoon, and although he has declared himself violently 
un- zoological on the whole trip he at last capitulated, and made 
friends with the green lory and with the young cuscus. He even 
didn't ind much when one of the Mandoer's hens laid an egg on 
top of his wardrobe. (Make a note to send Dr. Poetiray a sample 
of Urea to try on tropical sores; both frambosis and malaria 
are^i^d hisf^^^ 
April 25 - Ceram. 
We had planned to go for a collecting walk this morning, 
but were so harassed by our sheftage of cages, and by the increase 
in specimens - more turtles, a tame baby cuscus, another # green 
lory - that we stuck around camp all morning. /bout nine ? 
weary young Catholic priest came up the path. He had walked > 
for four hours out of the jungle this morning, ano^vas badly in 
need of refreshment. He ordered coffee, but seemed to enjoy the 
whisky and cigar that Bill gave him. He was accompamea by his 
bov carrying his worldly goods in tin boxes loadea on a cerry- 
ing'pSe/"Hl has been here 1Z years, and before that in New Guinea 
for ten years, without ever a vacation in Europe. 
One gecko got lost last night, escaped out of the sago 
palm cage that a native had made for it. The young pigeons, after 
being force-fed, are perking up considerably. Some of the lories 
are fighting, and some of the cuscus making friends, Buitenbos 
bicycles to a village ten kilmoeters away to tell them to collect 
for us. We fear that we have exhausted the resources of Piroe 
but say hopefully that there are still the outlying districts to 
be heard from. • Sl^y^j— , 
Piroe has no automobile, electric lj ght ^(telephone or 
cables A swell place to camp - the nearest approach to being 
in the wilds that we have had yet. 
Williams Is feeling better, and planning to take color 
photographs of some of the parrots. 
