house was ©pen to them day and night. If a man came to
him and saidi, “ I have no rice for my family to eat today,”
he would give him half of what he had in the house,
however little that might he. If another said, “ I have
no money to pay my debt,” he would give him half the
contents of his purse, Were it his last dollar. So, when
he was himself in want, he would send to some of the
wealthiest among his flock, and say, f I have no rice in
the house,” or “ I have given away my money, and am in
want of such and such articles.” The result was that his
flock trusted and loved him, for they felt sure that he was
their true friend, and had no ulterior designs in living
among them.
The island of Singapore consists of a multitude of small
hills, three or four hundred feet high, the summits of many
of which are still covered with virgin forest. The mission-
house at Bukit-tima wras surrounded by several of these
wood-topped hills, which were much frequented by woodcutters
and sawyers, and offered me an excellent collecting
ground for insects. Here and there, too, were tiger pits,
carefully covered over with sticks and leaves, and so well
concealed, that in several cases I had a narrow escape from
falling into them. They are shaped like an iron furnace,
wider at the bottom than the top, and are perhaps fifteen
or twenty feet deep, so that it would be almost impossible
for a person unassisted to get out of one. formerly a
sharp stake was stuck erect in the bottom; but after an
unfortunate traveller had been killed by falling on one,
its use was forbidden. There are always a few tigers
roaming about Singapore, and they kill on an average a
Chinaman every day, principally those who work in the
gambir plantations, which are always made in newly-
cleared jungle. We heard a tiger roar once or twice in
the evening, and it was rather nervous work hunting for
insects among the fallen trunks and old sawpits, when one
of these savage animals might be lurking close by, waiting
an opportunity to spring upon us.
Several hours in the middle of every fine day were
spent in these patches of forest, which were delightfully
cool and shady by contrast with the bare open country
we had to walk over to reach them. The vegetation was
most luxuriant, comprising enormous forest trees, as well
as a variety of ferns, ealadiums, and other undergrowth,
and abundance of climbing rattan palms. Insects were
exceedingly abundant and very interesting, and every day
furnished scores of new and curious forms. In about two
months I obtained no less than 700 species of beetles, a
large proportion of which were quite new, and among
them were 130 distinct kinds of the eleog ant Lonogicorns
(Cerambycidse), so much esteemed by collectors. Almost
all these were collected in one patch of jungle, not more