The Most Characteristic Feature Of The Jungle Was Its Thorniness.
The Shrubs Were Thorny; The Creepers Were Thorny; The Bamboos
Even Were Thorny.
Everything grew zigzag and jagged, and in an
inextricable tangle, so that to get through the bush with gun or
net or even spectacles, was generally not to be done, and insect-
catching in such localities was out of the question.
It was in
such places that the Pittas often lurked, and when shot it became
a matter of some difficulty to secure the bird, and seldom
without a heavy payment of pricks and scratches and torn clothes
could the prize be won. The dry volcanic soil and arid climate
seem favourable to the production of such stunted and thorny
vegetation, for the natives assured me that this was nothing to
the thorns and prickles of Sumbawa whose surface still bears the
covering of volcanic ashes thrown out forty years ago by the
terrible eruption of Tomboro.
Among the shrubs and trees that are not prickly the Apocynaceae
were most abundant, their bilobed fruits of varied form and colour
and often of most tempting appearance, hanging everywhere by the
waysides as if to invite to destruction the weary traveller who may
be unaware of their poisonous properties. One in particular with a
smooth shining skin of a golden orange colour rivals in appearance
the golden apples of the Hesperides, and has great attractions for
many birds, from the white cockatoos to the little yellow Zosterops,
who feast on the crimson seeds which are displayed when the fruit
bursts open. The great palm called "Gubbong" by the natives, a
species of Corypha, is the most striking feature of the plains,
where it grows by thousands and appears in three different
states - in leaf, in flower and fruit, or dead. It has a lofty
cylindrical stem about a hundred feet high and two to three feet
in diameter; the leaves are large and fan-shaped, and fall off
when the tree flowers, which it does only once in its life in a
huge terminal spike, upon which are produced masses of a smooth
round fruit of a green colour rind about an inch in diameter.
When those ripen and fall the tree dies, and remains standing a
year or two before it falls. Trees in leaf only are by far the
most numerous, then those in flower and fruit, while dead trees
are scattered here and there among them. The trees in fruit are
the resort of the great green fruit pigeons, which have been
already mentioned. Troops of monkeys (Macacus cynoraolgus) may
often be seen occupying a tree, showering down the fruit in great
profusion, chattering when disturbed and making an enormous
rustling as they scamper off among the dead palm leaves; while
the pigeons have a loud booming voice more like the roar of a
wild beast than the note of a bird.
My collecting operations here were carried on under more than
usual difficulties. One small room had to serve for eating,
sleeping and working,and one for storehouse and dissecting-room;
in it were no shelves, cupboards, chairs or tables; ants swarmed in
every part of it, and dogs, cats and fowls entered it at pleasure.
Besides this it was the parlour and reception-room of my host, and
I was obliged to consult his convenience and that of the numerous
guests who visited us. My principal piece of furniture was a box,
which served me as a dining table, a seat while skinning birds,
and as the receptacle of the birds when skinned and dried.
To keep them free from ants we borrowed, with somedifficulty, an old
bench, the four legs of which being placed in cocoa-nut shells filled
with water kept us tolerably free from these pests. The box and the
bench were, however, literally the only places where anything could
be put away, and they were generally well occupied by two insect boxes
and about a hundred birds' skins in process of drying. It may therefore
be easily conceived that when anything bulky or out of the common way was
collected, the question "Where is it to be put?" was rather a
difficult one to answer. All animal substances moreover require
some time to dry thoroughly, emit a very disagreeable odour while
doing so, and are particularly attractive to ants, flies, dogs,
rats, cats, and other vermin, calling for special cautions and
constant supervision, which under the circumstances above
described were impossible.
My readers may now partially understand why a travelling
naturalist of limited means, like myself, does so much less than
is expected or than he would himself wish to do. It would be
interesting to preserve skeletons of many birds and animals,
reptiles and fishes in spirits, skins of the larger animals,
remarkable fruits and woods and the most curious articles of
manufacture and commerce; but it will be seen that under the
circumstances I have just described, it would have been impossible
to add these to the collections which were my own more especial
favourites. When travelling by boat the difficulties are as great
or greater, and they are not diminished when the journey is by
land. It was absolutely necessary therefore to limit my
collections to certain groups to which I could devote constant
personal attention, and thus secure from destruction or decay
what had been often obtained by much labour and pains.
While Manuel sat skinning his birds of an afternoon, generally
surrounded by a little crowd of Malays and Sassaks (as the
indigenes of Lombock are termed), he often held forth to them
with the air of a teacher, and was listened to with profound
attention. He was very fond of discoursing on the "special
providences" of which he believed he was daily the subject.
"Allah has been merciful today," he would say - for although a
Christian he adopted the Mahometan mode of speech- "and has given
us some very fine birds; we can do nothing without him." Then one
of the Malays would reply, "To be sure, birds are like mankind;
they have their appointed time to die; when that time comes
nothing can save them, and if it has not come you cannot kill
them." A murmur of assent follow, until sentiments and cries of
"Butul!
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