I usually shot the birds, and my hunter always
skinned them, noting the locality of each, its sex, and
as nearly as possible the color of its eyes. The greatest
annoyance that troubles the collector of birds in
the tropics is caused by the swarms of small ants that
fill every conceivable place. If a bird is shot and
laid down on the ground for half an hour, it will almost
surely be injured so much by these insects that
it will not be worth skinning. There is no certain
means of keeping them away altogether, except by
completely isolating a place "with water, which is
usuallv done by putting small basins under each leg
of a table, but before one is aware of it, something
is sure to be placed so as to touch the table, and thus
form a bridge for these omnivorous pests to cross
over and continue their work of destruction. As
soon as the birds are brought in they are hung up
by a thread or piece of small twine. After the
skin s are taken off, they are thoroughly poisoned
with arsenic and camphor, mixed with water to the
consistency of cream. Each is then filled with the
cotton from the cotton-wood tree, until it has exactly
the size of the b ird They are then spread in the
sun on a bamboo frame, which is suspended by
twines fastened at its comers. After they have become
thoroughly dried, they are kept in a tight tin
box with large pieces of gum-camphor, and even then
they must be looked after every day or two, for they
are still liable to be injured by the ants, which are
particularly fond of gnawing at the base of the bill
and around the eyes. During the rainy season it is
extremely difficult to dry the skins properly, there is
so little sunshine. No one who has not lived in
the tropics can have any idea what a source of constant
vexation the ants are. Bread, sugar, and
every thing eatable, they are sure to devour, unless
it is kept in glass-stoppered bottles ; and this is the
greater annoyance, because, when a quantity of provisions
is lost, as is constantly happening, it is so
difficult to procure another supply in every part of
the archipelago, except in the immediate vicinity of
the few chief cities. They are sure, in some way or
other, to find their way into every little nook or
corner; and though a table be set with the greatest
care, in nine cases out of ten some will be seen running
on the white cloth before dinner is over. The
floors of the houses occupied by Europeans are
usually made of large, square pieces of earthen-ware,
and through the cracks that chance to occur in the
cement between them ants are sure to appear. I t is
this, probably, that has given rise to the saying, that
“ the ants will eat through a brick in a single night.”
In all parts of the archipelago it is an established
custom either to whitewash the walls inside and outside,
or else paint them white, except a narrow strip
along the floor, which is covered with a black paint
chiefly composed of tar, the only common substance
to which these pests show any aversion. All these
troubles are caused by the u black ants, but their
ravages do not compare with those caused by the
I white ants,” which actually eat up solid wood. The
frames of many of the smaller buildings and outhouses
in the East are not mortised, but are fastened
together with pieces of coir rope, and, of course, when