tiite TROPICAL AGRlCT/LTURlSt. [Nov. S, l66l. 
seed direet from San Salvador and Mexico, some 
of wliich was forwarded by hitn to S uiioa in the 
South Seas, and arrived there m g )od conditiDn. 
This seed is suppo-ied to lose its vitality very 
quickly, but, with careful packing, it is possihie 
■for it to travel s ifely for three month*. In the 
present year of 1903, there is a considerable 
idetnand for this seed in Ceylon, as it is found it 
thrives on a wider range of country and cli- 
mate than the Pa,v&."— India- Rubbei^ Journal. 
A SNIPE JHIL IN THE MONSOON. 
A Jhil in the rains, a trout-stream in winter, 
or a hunting country in summer, all conjure up 
visions of sports that has been. And yet, to the 
lover of solitude and the liaunts of wildfowl, 
a quiet evening in the rains on some familiar 
stretch of water is full of interest. 
With a lingering look at my guns, lying in snug 
and oily slumber, I wended my way to a favourite 
jhil. Forgetting for the moment the sweltering 
beat, blotting out visions of flighting ducks and 
crowding snipe that came before the mind at sight 
of the wellknown spot, I untied my boat and pad- 
dled out, Many a time had the little craft crept 
out on a brisk cold morning when the ducks lay 
thick and quacking loudly at the disturber of 
their early toilets, and the r^ists hung low over 
the still dark reeds. Many a time had it re 
turned low in the water with its load of 
those same ducks, as the morning sun dis- 
persed the fog. Now alas 1 qtuantum mataius 
ab illo. Here was my familiar little jhil a 
veritfbble inland sea. In vain I tried to locate 
the old cold- weather land- marks, Gone was the 
island.; where the snipe were wont to jostle one 
another, the island that, like the jam in a child's 
tartlet, was ever kept as a final honne bouche, when 
the long-bills had been driven from the rushy mar- 
gins. Gone too the spit of mud and reeds, whence, 
when too lazy to wade, I had slain (and missed) 
many a wily pintail or gad wall as, with nervous 
outstretched neck, he hastily negotiated the 
dreaded spot. The little jliil of yore was masquer- 
ading as a full blown lake, and one felt aggrieved 
and lost, as at meeting an old friend in some pre- 
posterous disguise. 
Paddling gently out over the now wide waters, I 
moored my craft to a clump of narkul reeds in 
mid-ocean. Our arrival raised violent indignation 
among a small colony of warblers, who gave vent 
to their wrath with many twitterings and aggressive 
cocking of tails. Soon, however, our silence and 
evident desire for peace, reassured these agitated 
little warriors. Anger gave place to consuming 
curiosity, and a dozen little beedy eyes examined 
the intruders from every point of view. Finally, 
voting us harmless lunatics, the colony returned 
to its business, leaving a sentinel to watch the 
enemy.,; , , 
As tlie disturbance of our arrival subsides 
as peace and silence are restored, one by one the 
denizens of the reedy forest steal forth to greet 
the sinking sun. A stately spot- bill duck sails 
into the open, and cautiously surveys the outlook. 
In her wake comes a scuttling brood of fluffy, bust- 
ling, little ducklings babbling, splashing, and play- 
■ing hide and seek through the reedstems. The lean 
and handsome old lady eyes me suspiciously, and 
iinperceptibly edges her brood away to a safer dis- 
tance, cautious though unalarmed. A bunch of 
cottoc-teal peep carefully on to the stage, and hail 
the -setting sun with much gabbling, preeuiug, and 
suppressed conversation. Half-a-uozdu dabonicks 
follow, bobbing and diving, siiakiiig me water 
from their nervous little heads, as tiiey rttiss and 
flatter their absurd little wings in sheer joyousuess 
of life. Last ot all giants among piguiies, a pair of 
blacked-back geese sail majestically ou the oceue. 
The nukta, or knob, on lUe nose of the male, 
abnormally swollen at this time of the year, gives 
him an appearance of ferocity and distinction 
absurdly at variance with his amorous gyrations 
around the slender person of his graceful little 
spouse. Gradually my stage^ becomes crowded, 
and all down the long line of reeds a bustling, 
splashing, diving assemblage of bird life comes 
forth to stretch and breatn the open evening air 
before settling to the nightly search for food. 
Suddenly all is wild commotion. Frantic beating 
of wings, furious hissing and quacking, and a 
helter-skelter rush for cover, while all down the 
line the water is beaten high in spray. An 
ominous rush of wings from behind, a Hash of a 
dark body through the air, and, with a har4 
"smack," a peregrine strikes his prey. A poor wee 
duckling goes up in those cruel claws, quacking 
pitifully and feebly. From comedy to tragcUyand 
with the climax the scage is cieared. i'luiy a 
bolt from the blue, and a brutal end. I am lett 
with the feeling of having witnessed a horrible 
crime. But anon the players reappear (for kumet 
rules the lives of fowl as of men), and the play 
once mOiC starts in lighter vein. 
The sun has dipped, but what glory he has left* 
Creeping over the water coices a piuk glow« 
bright and concentrated as lime-light. I'he reed- 
stems grow luminous, the water suinuueis with 
opalescent tints, tne green line of rice away on 
the margin gleams wiih a vivid brilliance t.hac 
almost pains the eye, the irridesceut backs ol the 
cotton- teal, and the specnlatiou tne wings of the 
spot bills, catch the glow and transform the 
owners into birds of paradise. Slowly the vision 
melts into one of surpassing loveliness. Surely 
this is the glorious refulgence of some Divine 
Presence, the light that never was on laud 
or sea. Beautiiul it is with a heavenly 
beauty, yet is there something of awe iu ihao 
marvellous glow, something that makes one 
glance involuntarily round, as though the source 
ol the wonder were near at hand, BrigUter and 
more intense it grows, till the eye itseif cieems 
filled with pink and gold. As the cliuiax is 
reached there falls a solemn hush on the eaiCh. 
The spell lasts but a moment, the splendour 
rapidly and palpably gives way to the grey of 
coming night. Silently the spirit sighs an uncon- 
scious breath of thauktulness for the manifestations 
of its Creator. 
The play is done. As the boat glides noiselessly 
from its shelter of reeds, a. hasty scattering 
follows among the fowl. Cotton-teal flitter away, 
with reptated cries of " with- witiienck " that 
grow fainter as they pass away across the 
water in t,o the gathering gloom. vVhisiling teal 
rise in ungainly and uucertaiu flight, and wnistle 
t;heiu3elves with many aimless larns out of range 
of the dimly remembered boat, A sarus. and , his 
wife, after mpny bobs and curtseys, trumpet 
themselves into the diisk, their heavy wing-boats 
dying away in the distance as tiiey "pass to their 
beloved ploughland, where the worms now lie 
