One afternoon while Bill was having a busy time transferring 
snakes end frilled lizards to something more substantial then a 
wicker casket, the cry went up that a big snake had been seen 
right in baS of the Roemah Sobat. Everybody dashed wildly out, 
£ntre las much screaming for a time, but nobody could capture the 
reptile, which quietly vanished. 
Camo pets up to now consist of Miltiades, a sweet little 
green lory with a row head, who sits on your finger and says 
KaXa in thlgentlest little'voice; Henry the hornbill, who spends 
the day on the back of a chair in the corner of the verandah. His 
W*e* Saily supply of banana is cut up and the pieces ^ in « 
row on a nearby ledge. He can reach over, P}<* * £2*? III 
plan worked, too, - al most perfectly. 
April 29 - Piroe 
Word of our expedition has spread to Lajpewen, the next 
village beyond Eti. Men come stridely briskly up the P?th, 
with bundles and baskets slung over their shoulders " /^sh as 
though they hed just started on their ten ;kil° me ^ r n ^- The ? 
bring us snakes, cuscus, maleos, and quantities of orchids. 
The orchids are the long sprays of white blossoms, first 
discovered by Rumphius in Ambon, and known as Phalaenopsis 
amabile. lie native name is Anggrek boelan (moon orchia) and 
the Dutch name Vlindert jes (butterflies). \<e have « great bun cn 
of them on the table, as casual as dogwood at home this time of 
year. 
The men from Lajoewen are a good natured lot. Bare from the 
waist up and the knees down, they grin as they offerus the 
animals they have caught, and are always che J r ^ m ^^^fP 1 ^ 1 ^^ 
they receive - which the local town people sometimes si e not. Une 
wSman brought us a small, moth-eaten fruit pigeon, for which she 
asked two guilders. It was worth about ten cents, if ™rt..nd 
Bill refused it. Later she sent a small girl with it, "king 
one guilder. Bill offered 25 cents, but she held out for fifty. 
?ne lame pigeon kept coming back to us, until there was practically 
nothing left of the poor little thing. 
We bought to-day a beautiful big white cockatoo very tame, 
and with an rmlzing vocabulary. He mutters very fast what are 
probably Malay swear words; he barks like a dog, howls like a 
whipped puppy, whistles snatches of song; sits and ruffles up 
his white feathers until he seems about to explode, and all in all 
provides a large percentage of the amusement around camp. His 
name is Jacob, and Bill threatens^ present him to the N. G. ». 
when we get home. He would certainly enliven that aignifiea 
lobby on Sixteenth Street. 
This is a pretty place. The rest house is close to the 
sea shore, and all day the native praus rock gently in our front 
yard. Occasionally we hear the weird notes of ^^sblowing on 
conch shells to call the wind so that they can sail home again. 
We are having full moon, and the nights are almost as bright 
as day. When the moon comes up over the coconut palms ^e ail 
walk aown the road to watch it. Williams says: "It's just one 
