New Guinea in search of Paradise-birds. 203 
and as tlie trees only grow along the coast we made the most 
of our opportunity. The missionaries whom we met during 
our first visit were away at the time, so we made arrange¬ 
ments with the native chief to use his village as a base for 
some of our supplies to be forwarded at a later date. 
Early next day we assembled our carriers to proceed to 
Epa, and having the loan of a government pony I led the 
advance, while Stalker brought up the rear. The track for 
a considerable distance was very swampy, owing to the recent 
heavy rains. Wherever a tree had fallen across our trail 
we had either to get over it in the best way we could 
or to make a semicircle around the branches. The over¬ 
hanging tangle of creepers and bushes sometimes dragged 
me out of the saddle and tore my clothes and flesh to an 
uncomfortable extent. The crossing of a small stream 
caused us much trouble, as the bridge which spanned it 
had rotted away. We could not persuade the pony to swim 
across, and the animal tried to climb into the remains of 
the structure, but slipped between the uprights and fell into 
the water. We released him by using our tomahawks, and 
he then managed to reach tbe opposite bank in a rather 
exhausted state. A partially submerged tree, over which 
1 tried to pass, gave way and I fell into the stream, but the 
natives quickly helped me out of my difficulty. 
Shortly after this adventure the path became steeper, and 
we were continually ascending and descending, sometimes 
through open grass-covered slopes thinly dotted with Euca¬ 
lyptus trees, succeeded by belts of jungle of greater or less 
density. Frequently the track led over the brow of a slope, 
so that it was possible to look down for a little distance into 
the thick scrub on either hand without the necessity of 
stepping aside. Mosquitoes became less numerous than in 
the low country. Parrots, the Crowned Pigeon (Goura 
coronata ), and other Pigeons and Paradisea raggiana could 
be heard in the higher trees as we marched along, though 
not often seen. Great masses of orchids hung from the 
branches and clustered on the trunks of the trees, but it did 
not appear to be the season for them to be in bloom. 
