and brings down the bird. Sometimes, when food is
abundant elsewhere, the hunter sits from morning till
night under his tree with the cord in his hand, and even
for two or three whole days in succession, without even
getting a b ite ; while, on the other hand, if very lucky, he
may get two or three birds in a day. There are only eight
or ten men at Bessir who practise this art, which is unknown
anywhere else in the island. I determined, therefore,
to stay as long as possible, as my only chance of
getting a good series of specimens; and although I was
nearly starved, everything eatable by civilized man. being
scarce or altogether absent, I finally succeeded.
The vegetables and fruit in the plantations around us
did not suffice for the wants of the inhabitants, and were
almost always dug up or gathered before they were ripe. It
was very rarely we could purchase a little fish; fowls there
were none; and we were reduced to live upon tough
pigeons and cockatoos, with our rice and sago, and sometimes
we could not get these. Having been already eight
months on this voyage, my stock of all condiments, spices
and butter, was exhausted, and I found it impossible to
eat sufficient of my tasteless and unpalatable food to
support health. I got very thin and weak, and had a
curious disease known (I have since heard) as brow-ague.
Directly after breakfast every morning an intense pain set
in on a small spot on the right temple. It was a severe
burning ache, as bad as the worst toothache, and lasted
about two hours, generally going off at noon. When this
finally ceased, I had an attack of fever, which left me so
weak and so unable to eat our regular food, that I feel
sure my life was saved by a couple of tins of soup which
I had long reserved for some such extremity. I used often
to go out searching after vegetables, and found a great
treasure in a lot of tomato plants run wild, and bearing
little fruits about the size of gooseberries. I also boiled
up the tops of pumpkin plants' and of ferns, by way of
greens, and occasionally got a few green papaws. The
natives, when hard up for food, live upon a fleshy seaweed,
which they boil till it is tender. I tried this also,
but found it too salt and bitter to be endured..
Towards the end of September it became absolutely
necessary for mo to return, in order to make our homeward
voyage before the end of the east monsoon. Most
of the men who had taken payment from me had brought
the birds they had agreed for.. One poor fellow had been
so unfortunate as not to get one, and he very honestly
brought back the axe he had received in advance;
another, who had agreed for six, brought me the fifth
two days before I was to start, and went off immediately
to the forest again to get the other. He did not return,
however, and we loaded our boat, and were just on the
point of starting, when he came running down after us