MALACCA. 
15 
if possible, a charge of shot should end his career. The tail is like a whip, and would be 
sufficient to cause a nasty wound. When I shot these monsters my Chinese boy was 
delighted ; he carefully preserved the gall-bladders for medicine. In the same stream 
numbers of Malays used to fish for a peculiar broad-headed, barbuled mud-fish, which rose 
to a small frog ; one old man lent me his rod, but I did not succeed in catching any. 
After each fish caught he spat on the bait, either to give it a flavour or for luck, I cannot 
say which. I also noticed one of those peculiar little Herons (Ardetta sinensis ), winch 
seek to evade observation by standing up with neck and beak in the air, and thus 
imitate the reeds amongst which they settle. If I had not previously flushed this bird I 
might have passed it by within a yard or two unnoticed. The rainy season seems 
to have set in, as day after day it does nothing but rain; and though I hear from 
Mr. Hervey that the house he ordered to be built for me on Mount Ophir is finished, I 
dare not venture to start. Dining my walks I found one of those peculiar insects known 
by the name of Lantern-flies, Hotinus (see drawing of a Bornean species opposite page 50). 
These insects are difficult to collect from their habit of settling out of reach on the trunks 
of trees ; when you attempt to approach they work slowly round the tree. If, however, 
you make a swoop at them with a butterfly-net, it is a hundred to one that you miss them, 
as they give a powerful jump and open their wings to settle still higher on another tree. 
On the 20th February I made several attempts at different times in the day to secure one 
of these flies; he had a gorgeous red nose and bright blue wings, and always returned to 
one particular tree. These attempts were continued day by day, at the rate of three or 
four shots a day, until the 25th of the month, on which date I left for Mount Ophir. On 
my return on the 4th of March, the first thing I did was to go and see if that fly was still 
in existence, and there sure enough he was sitting on the same tree, almost out of reach as 
usual; once I tried, but with a jump he was far away, but on returning I caught him. This 
peculiarity of frequenting one particular spot I have often noticed amongst insects: the 
large wood-boring bees will settle for weeks on the same stick in a row of palings, though 
they have no intention of making a hole in it. My Bornean natives were very clever with 
the Lantern-flies, catching them with hair nooses fastened on a thin bamboo. 
On the 25th February we left for Mount Ophir, the weather having cleared up ; the 
same evening we arrived at the campong of a Malay chief, who lent us a shed to sleep 
under. The next morning we started with twelve Malays, who carried our baggage and 
food, soon after daylight. The path led through native gardens and old forest-clearings 
until the foot of the mountain was reached; where we rested for an hour at mid-day and 
enjoyed a refreshing bath in a cool stream. After a light repast we again commenced our 
journey; the path became at once steep and slippery, swarming with leeches, so that both 
eyes were required to prevent nasty falls; on the way we passed a large wooden tiger-trap. 
It was not until 4 p.m. that we reached the spot known as the Padang-batu, or Field of 
Stone, quite done up with fatigue ; if I had believed the Malays I do not think that we 
should have reached our camping-ground that night, as they kept telling us it was ever so 
much farther on. When we saw the sheds that the Malays had built for us—which the 
chief told me took eighteen men six days to build,—we were surprised: any six natives in 
Borneo would have finished the whole job in a few hours. 
