a little brush and trees along the beach, and hills inland
covered with high grass and cajuputi trees—my dread and
abhorrence. On inquiring who could give me trustworthy
information, I was referred to the. Lieutenant of the
Burghers, who had travelled all round the island, and was a
very intelligent fellow. I asked him to tell me if he knew
of any part of Bouru where there was no “ kusu-kusu,” as
the coarse grass of the country is called. He assured me
that a good deal of the south coast was forest land, while
along the north was almost entirely swamp and grassy hills
After minute inquiries, I found that the forest country commenced
at a place called Waypoti, only a few miles beyond
Pelah,but that, as the coast beyond that place was exposed
to the east monsoon and dangerous for praus, it was necessary
to walk. I immediately went to the Opzeiner, and
he called the Bajah. We had a consultation, and arranged
for a boat to take .me the next eveninOg but one,* to
Pelah, whence I was to proceed on foot, the Orang-kaya
going the day before to call the Alfuros to carry nay
baggage.
The journey was made as arranged, and on May 19th
we arrived at Waypoti, having walked about ten miles
along the beach, and through stony forest bordering th e
sea, with occasional plunges of a mile or two into th e
interior. We found no village, but scattered houses ami
plantations, with hilly country pretty well covered with
L i . x w - 1 WAYPOTI. 1 3 1
f o r e s t , and looking rather promising. A low hut with a
[very rotten roof, showing the sky through in several places,
L a s the only one I could obtain. Luckily it did not ram
L a t night, and the next day we pulled down some of
[he walls to repair the roof, which was of immediate
importance, especially over, our beds and table.
About half a mile from the house was a fine mountain
[stream, running swiftly over a bed of rocks and pebbles,
and beyond this was a hill covered with fine forest. By
[carefully picking my way I could wade across this river
without getting much above my knees, although I would
[sometimes slip off a rock and go into a hole up to my
waist, and about twice a week I went across it in order to
explore the forest. Unfortunately there were no paths
here of any extent, and it did not prove very productive
either in insects or birds. To add to my difficulties I had
stupidly left my only pair of strong boots on board the
[steamer, and my others were by this time all dropping to
[pieces, so that I was obliged to walk about barefooted, and
in constant fear of hurting my feet, and causing a wound
which might lay me up for weeks, as had happened in
Borneo, Aru, and Dorey. Although there were numerous
plantations of maize and plantains, there were no new
clearings; and as without these it is almost impossible
to find many of the best kinds of insects, I determined
to make one; myself, and with much difficulty engaged two
li 2