The Bell- Bird. 
337 
liad reached a height of 10 feet, and its trunk a diameter of 14 inches. 
The average height of the sugar-cane amounted to between 1 ;> and 18 feet. 
In this respect the richness of the soil here surpassed anything 1 had 
ever seen before : the latter consisted of a mixture of humus, loam and 
sand. The occurrence of a painful death had induced the former 
proprietor to abandon his house and the rich fields surrounding it. The 
area that was not yet quite overgrown again at least afforded me some 
sort of an outlook: we found ourselves at the base of the Range which, 
after making a very hurtful passage for ourselves through the prickly 
Solaneae and Mimosae, we commenced to ascend: this, however, could 
only be accomplished by the continual help of the cutlass. The higher we 
climbed the more abundant became the Desmoncus polyacanthus and 
macroacanthos palms that proved so dangerous to my clothes and body: 
their merciless hooks often forced me to make a stop, when certainly 
many a piece of cloth, and many a bit of skin remained behind. The 
Acrocomia sclerocarpa Mart, and Iriartea ventricosa Mart, also 
presented obstacles just as frequent. Four years previously two of my 
companions had led Mr. Youd to the top, and we had hardly clambered 
many hundred feet before they drew my attention to the twigs that had 
been broken down and lopped with a knife on that very occasion, 
indications that would certainly have escaped notice by my untrained 
and bleary eyes. Twigs were now again freshly cracked at every ten to 
twelve paces. The immense granite boulders, which appeared partly as a 
rocky massif ( Massengebirge ) and partly as separate units heaped one 
on top of the other, were soon to be associated with the obstacles offered 
by the vegetation. 
921. We might have been climbing like this for about an hour when 
my strength began to fail: the enchanting chime of the Chasmar- 
liynchus, the object of my search was heard a short distance off and the 
sharp eyes of the Indians soon discovered the fairy songster on the top 
of an old dead mora. After much trouble on account of the dazzling 
sunshine, T also succeeded in distinguishing the white bird. I signified 
my companions to shoot all together so that the bird might be hit by 
perhaps one of the shots : a. negative shake of the head was the 
reply, for they recognised only too well that such an attempt from our 
present standpoint would be useless, and nothing is more 
detestable to an Indian than to shoot at random. Nevertheless, 
deficient as I was, not only in Indian common sense but also in delibera- 
tion, I attempted the shot: the satirical laughter of my friends was the 
only result when they saw the bird fly away. Annoyed, I was about to 
proceed farther when they pointed to me to remain where I was, because 
the bird would soon return to its grand Bona- Vista. I hurriedly sought 
a more favourable spot, and had hardly settled in it than the notes were 
again heard. On this occasion the satirical laughter was on my side, for 
the shot hit and the bird came down, but the white plumage was, 
unfortunately, rather besmirched with blood. The bird is somewhat 
larger than a thrush: at the root of the beak there rises a peculiar, but 
at the same time hollow, black, muscular pouch (zipfcl) that is in direct 
communication with the palate, and is decked with a few small white 
