A'dSNii

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

O cr

MAORI WOMAN

INCIDENTS

OF A

COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

IN

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND
NEW GUINEA

BY

SHERMAN F. DENTON

ARTIST TO THE U. S. FISH COMMISSION, WASHINGTON, D. C.

itt) EllustrattDns bg tfje Stotfjor

BOSTON 1889
LEE AND SIIEPARD PUBLISHERS

10 MILK STREKT NEXT "THE OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE"

NEW YORK CHAS. T. DILLIXGHAM
718 AND 720 BROADWAY

COPYRIGHT, 1889,

BY
LEE AND SHEPARD

Kl.KCTROTYPED BY

C. J. PETERS & SON, BOSTON, MASS.

PRESSWORK BY BERWICK & SMITH, BOSTON, MASS.

TO
THE MEMORY OF MY DEAR FATHER,

WHO LOST HIS LIFE IX THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE FOR

THE BENEFIT OF HIS FELLOW-MEN, THIS LITTLE

WOHK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

JVJ348655

PREFACE.

As many friends have urged my brother and myself
to publish an account of our travels, I have undertaken
the task, with the hope that what I here relate may
prove of interest to those who love to rub against
Nature. A collector's life is not always a merry one,
but is filled with a great variety of experiences.

The illustrations I have tried to make true to what
they represent. They are taken from sketches made
on the spot, from the actual specimens or good photo-
graphs, and are drawn with the pen.

To my good friends who have helped me in this
work I wish to express my gratitude, and only hope
they may enjoy seeing completed what their labors
have done so much to make possible.

S. F. DENTON.

WELLESLEY, MASS.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

From Boston to San Francisco — Professional Sharpers — The
Emigrant Train — Nicknames — The Plains — A Bad Scare —
Masquerading as a Soldier — Running Down a Freight Train
— Humboldt River and Lake — The Sierra Nevada Moun-
tains — California — Wild Fowl — San Francisco — The
Chinese — The Steamer " Zealandia " 1-32

CHAPTER II.

From San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand — Seasickness
— Sandwich Islands and Honolulu — Off Again — Warmer
Weather — New Year's — Games — Flying Fish — Sea-birds —
Small-pox Aboard — In Quarantine — New Zealand Forest and
Tree Ferns — Snapper Fishing — Wild Peaches — Birds —
Sea Life — Quilp — A Scared Irishman — An Indignant
Frenchman . 33-55

CHAPTER III.

Auckland to Dunedin — First Impressions of the English Mode
of Travel — Ejecting an Intruder — Maori King and Chiefs

— Wellington — A Happy Experience 56-62

CHAPTER IV.

South Island of New Zealand — Dunedin — Oamaru — A Danger-
ous Climb — Dogs— An Earthquake — A Naturalist's Para-
dise — Wild Pigs — Crossing a Stream — Remains of the Moa

— Journey to the West Coast — Hokitika — Gold Mines —
Edible Fungus — Nelson — A Hard Climb and a Day's Sport

— Bedstead Gully — Collingwood Caves — Caves at Takaka

and Bird Remains 63-88

vii

yiii CONTENTS

CHAPTEE Y.

PAGE

The North Island of New Zealand — A Drive on the Beach —
Beautiful Shells — A Wreck — Wanganui Fossils — Among
the Maoris — A Cool Reception at the Thames Gold Fields —
Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire 89-98

CHAPTER VI.

To Australia and a Trip to Panton Hill and the Plenty Ranges

— Giant Kingfishers — Parrots — Beautiful Beetles — Pouched
Bears — Collecting on the Yara River — The Duckbill Platypus

— Song of the Lyre-Bird — Big Trees — Our House at Pheas-
ant Creek — Shooting Lyre-Birds — Cooking Rice — Giant
Worms — A Memorable Day's Hunt — Stalking a Lyre-Bird, 99-123

CHAPTEK VII.

Remainder of Our Stay in Victoria — A Brush with the Larikins

— Melbourne, its Parks, Library, Climate, Social Life — Col-
lecting Insects, Diamond Beetles, Ants — Driven Home by
Flies — Good-by to Victoria 124-130

CHAPTER VIII.

Queensland — Lecturing in Brisbane — Tropical Fruits — Austra-
lian Natives — Throwing the Boomerang — Disappointed
Smokers — Flying Foxes — A Savage Joke — Industrious
Chinese — A Good Collecting-Ground — The Musk Duck —
Jumping Fishes — Migrating Crabs — Butterflies — Imported
Blacks — More about the Natives 131-154

CHAPTEE IX.

Townsville— White Ants— Ant-Lions— A Large Snake— Rain-
ing Bird Bodies— Thursday Island— Coral Reefs— The Pearl
Oyster and Pearls — To the Sea Bottom in a Diver's Armor
—We Narrowly Escape being Wrecked— A Black Trader, 155-181

CONTENTS IX

CHAPTER X.

PAGE

Off for New Guinea and Life among the Natives — Stormy Trip
- The Papuans Visit us — Port Moresby Natives — We start
Inland — Lapidoma and its Tree-Houses — Narinuma — The
Expedition leaves for the Interior — Making Bird Skins —
Paradise Birds — Domestic Animals — Native Games and
Music — Lohier, the Chief — Feasts — Trip to the Coast —
The Bower Bird — The Talegallus — A Goat-Sucker — The
Pane-Bird — Ants — Land-Leeches — Dragon-Flies — Butter-
flies— Kangaroo and Wild Pig Hunt — A Few Days on the
Lalloki— The Hornbill— King-Bird-of -Paradise — The Casso-
wary — A Burial Cave 182-236

CHAPTER XI.

Boundary Lines— Public Meetings — A Midnight Scene — A
Funeral — The Coyara a Secularist —He has Good Teeth —
Waboota — Roboor, and how he got a Wife — A Lovely
Savage — Lohier tries Match-making, and gives us a
Surprise 237-256

CHAPTER XII.

A Savage Battle — Shelley Narrowly Escapes — A Letter to
Father — We start for Slmgary — Dow! Dow! — A Grand
Day's Collecting — Shelley astonishes the Natives — We hear
of Father's Death and start for Home . . . 257-272

INCIDENTS OF A COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND NEW GUINEA

CHAPTER I.

From Boston to San Francisco— Professional Sharpers — The Emigrant Train —
Nicknames —The Plains — A Bad Scare — Masquerading as a Soldier — Run-
ning Down a Freight Train — Humboldt River and Lake — The Sierra Ne-
vada Mountains — California— Wild Fowl — San Francisco — The Chinese —
The Steamer " Zealandia."

THE desire to see
the world is almost
as universal as love
or hunger. To visit
countries strange
and new, in search
of knowledge and
pleasure, adds a zest
to existence that
the quiet dweller
in one locality can
know little about.
Into one year of travel is often crowded more of expe-
rience and adventure than is contained in ten years of
ordinary life ; and, as may readily be imagined, when

1

TRAVELLING COMPANIONS.

2 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

I received a letter from my father, Dec. 5, 1881, asking
me to go to Australia to help him, I was greatly elated.

Father, and my brother next in age to myself, had
gone to Australia some six months before ; and the
letter I received asked me to meet them in Dunedin,
a city in the southern part of New Zealand.

The steamer was advertised to leave San Francisco
on the 19th of the month ; and no time was to be lost,
as the delay of one day might lose me the vessel.

In the trunk with my clothing I packed my stanch
old double-barrelled shotgun ; and, with a few extras
in a satchel for immediate use on the journey, I was off
by the early morning train of the following day.

What pleasant dreams of the future filled my mind
as the fast express tore over the dreary winter land-
scape ! What might I not see and learn before I re-
turned ! Would I ever come back? Perhaps not, for
a trip half way round the world was so much in ad-
vance of anything I had tried before that I felt dazed
at the thought of it. My journey lay on the Grand
Trunk Railroad, which took me into Canada, across
the great Victoria Bridge to Montreal. The day was
so cold and disagreeable that I did not care to look
about the city, and I was very glad when the train
started for the West.

1 think the journey from Detroit to Chicago was
over the roughest track it has ever been my fortune to
travel. The way we were shaken up and thrown about

SOMETHING ABOUT CHEESE 3

was enough to give us the idea that we were running
on anything but a railroad ; and once, when we were
rolling over a few miles of smooth road, a passenger
remarked, that, for his part, he was glad the cars had
got back on the rails once more.

Two dairymen were on board, and during the even-
ing were discussing the merits of certain kinds of
cheese. They grew warm over the argument, and at
length agreed to leave it to the passengers. Each pro-
duced from his satchel a large piece of cheese, and,
to the great amusement of every one, began to divide it
up. The ends of the car were deserted, and all stood
round the two disputants in the centre, applauding
their jokes and eating their cheese. I am sure I
learned more about cheese during that discussion than
I might have gained in many days of patient study.

When we arrived at Chicago, we were taken by
omnibus across the city to the Rock Island Station,
where we were " dumped out" in front of the great,
cold, dark depot, and left to the mercy of a lot of city
thieves and sharpers (i.e., third-class hotel runners).
Several of the passengers were "taken in and done
for," but many remained ; and soon the night watch-
man came and let us into the warm waiting-room,
where we could rest in peace, and laugh at the howling
of the elements. The train left early in the morning;
and as soon as we were well out of the city we were
ushered into a beautiful, level prairie, well settled and

4 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

cultivated. As the sun rose, the brown and frosty
fields had a very inviting look ; and I felt very like
shouldering my gun, and stepping off the train for a
day's sport. Flocks of quails and prairie chickens
were often to be seen scudding through the dead grass,
or flying over the fields with the speed of the wind.

One often meets, while travelling, the professional
sharper. He is dressed in many ways, but is almost
sure to display a large quantity of cheap jewelry. He
has a flashy, hungry look; is partial to velvet vests,
checkered pants, with large square figures and gor-
geous neckties. His cheek is unbounded, and the tact
he displays in worming himself into the confidence of
unsuspecting people is worthy of note. Such an indi-
vidual boarded our train at one of the small stations,
and soon began to make himself very entertaining to
the passengers. He sang songs, told stories, and
played cards. I thought I knew his character, and
was not very much surprised when a stranger sat down
in the seat opposite me, and commenced in a very cow-
boy style to talk of cattle, horses, etc. He was a large,
round-shouldered, red-faced fellow, and with his high
boots, slouch hat, and general make-up, looked what
he professed to be, — a herder and dealer in "horse
flesh." He said he came up from Texas with a large
herd of horses a few days before, and sold them in
Kansas City. He received fifteen hundred dollars for
his share of the proceeds, but it was of little use to him,

THE PROFESSIONAL SHARPER

as he lost it all the very first night. " Yer see," he
went on, "I was a-stoppin' at a hotel thar in Kansas
City, and thar war a feller thar that war mighty handy
with the keerds, and he wanted to show me a game he
called monkey, or some such name as that. Oh, he
war a clever chap !
Talk about throwiii'
keerds, he war the
boy that could rustle
'urn. Yerha'ntapack
o' keerds with yer,
have yer? I just
thought p'r'aps you'd
like to see how it war
done. I must 'a' left
mine in my swag.
No ; here they are,"
producing a greasy
pack of cards from
his pocket, and begin-
ning to shuffle them.

" Now, this war how he done it," he said, taking out
three aces from the pack, and, putting them half an inch
apart between his middle finger and thumb, he moved
his arm from left to right, and deposited the three
cards on the car-seat in such a way that it would be
difficult to tell which went down first. " Now I'll bet
yer ten dollars, yer can't pick up the diamond." Just

;NOW, THIS WAR HOW HE DONE IT.'

6 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

at this moment the flashily dressed, bejewelled fellow
came along and asked, "What's that you said, sir?"
The other explained. " Well, deal them over again,
and let us see if you are so smart," said Mr. Slim,
handing back the three cards he had been examining,
after having turned down the corner of one, at the same
time giving me a nudge. Mr. Stout (as we will call
the other) again clumsily dealt out the cards, saying,
"Thar, I'll bet yer ten dollars yer can't pick out yer
keerd." — " Put up your X," said Mr. Slim, thrusting a
crisp ten -dollar bill into my hand.

Stout pulled out a large, greasy wallet, and handed
me ten also. Whereupon Slim laid his finger on the
last card, saying, " That's the diamond," and turned it
up, to the apparent surprise of Stout. Slim took the
stakes ; and Stout said, " Wall, stranger, I made a mis-
take that ere time, but are you betting ag'in ? " Again
Slim turned down a card, while Stout accidentally ( ?)
looked away : the same nudge, accompanied by a
knowing look, followed. Slim said, " Blockhead, you
will lose all your money : you don't know how to play
cards, and I won't bet with you again." At this Stout
became very angry, and said, " Before I'll be done by a
dude whose got more gall than a hull drove of mules,
I'll bet the last dollar I got. Yer darsn't bet, and
thar's a brace of twenties as says yer can't kiver urn."
Slim turned to me, speaking in a whisper, " I've only
got twenty dollars with me: can you lend me twenty?

TUKNING THE TABLES 7

We'll win sure, and I'll give you half of it." Jumping
up before the two, and the passengers who had gath-
ered about, I said, " Gentlemen, I am sure we are all
greatly indebted to you for this bit of entertainment.
I never saw it played so well before in my life. Don't
you think " —

Here my voice was drowned in a roar of laughter
from the passengers. Putting on a heavy scowl, Mr.
Slim said to me, " Look here, you have insulted me, sir,
and we will have a settling at the next station."

" Come, now," I said, " I think I have let you off
pretty easil}~ ; get out of this car, or I will give you
into the hands of men who take care of such as you
for a business."

By this time every one was pretty well excited, and
if the train had not stopped some one might have been
hurt. Derisive shouts and laughter followed the
sharpers, and they left the car, hurling back all the vile
invectives their vocabulary contained.

We reached Omaha early the next morning, where
we were to take the emigrant train, which did not leave
until four o'clock in the afternoon. Omaha is a good-
sized city on the western bank of the Missouri River.
I spent the day in looking about ; but when one is
travelling, and expects to lose a boat if delayed, a
day's waiting at any place will have few attractions for
him. The emigrant train is the slowest known way of
getting over the country, excepting the ox-team. It

8 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

consists of a long train of heavily laden freight cars,
with two or three worn-out, disabled passenger cars at
the tail end, with a caboose attached for the comfort of
the conductors. When first I saw it drawn up in line
it reminded me of what Artemus Ward asked of a
Southern ticket-agent: "At what time does this string
of second-hand coffins leave the station?" After
having travelled so far in elegant, clean, and well-kept
cars, it was a big come-down to think that the rest of
the journey was to be passed in such plain-looking,
rank-smelling boxes as the ones before us. There was
the usual crowd of parasites at the station who wished
to sell all sorts of articles at three times their value,
and who often frighten imprudent people into buying
much which they do not need. You will sometimes
see people buying bread enough for two weeks, expect-
ing, if they do not, they may starve to death crossing
the " Howling Wilderness," when the truth is that
every day on the route you can buy almost anything
you want as cheaply as at Omaha. The families were
put together by the agent, and the bachelors (myself
among the number) had the car next the freight train.
The train backed down on the flats near the river; and
while waiting there, an express wagon drove up, in
which were three men. Two of them were on the
seat, the other one half reclining in the body of the
wagon, his clothes muddy, his beaver knocked in, a
bump on his cheek, and a gash across the bridge of his

WESTERN NICKNAMES 9

nose. He looked a hard character, and was the
drunkenest man I ever saw. The two men got off
the wagon, and dragged No. 3 up the bank and into the
car. There was a general cry of "Take him out;" but
they put him in a seat, one of the men staying with
him, the other going off with the wagon. All the miser-
able, intoxicated wretch could say was "Purpose,"
and he went by that name the rest of the journey. It
is very amusing the way persons get nicknamed from
their peculiarities. Every one has to submit to it. A
fleshy fellow was called "Sockety;" one young man,
who was very attentive to a young schoolmistress in
the next car, went by the pet name of " Cupid;" a
large German who carried a revolver to match his size,
and was always talking of shooting buffalo, they
named after his favorite game ; there was the " Family
Man," who had a wife in California ; " Boots," a fellow
who made a great deal of noise, and could be heard
above the clatter of the moving train as he walked
about; " Grasshopper," who could out-jump any one
on the train ; " Rats," a Chinaman ; " Lily," a dark-
complexioned Spaniard, on his way to New Zealand ;
"John Bunyan," a fellow who sang hymns, played
cards, read Scripture, and swore alternately ; and
" Sphinx," an old Irishman, who never spoke but once
to my knowledge all the way to San Francisco. To
me they gave the name of " Special Artist." There
were two or three platform cars in front of us loaded

10 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

with immense iron pipes ; and three Indians, with sev-
eral huge lumps of meat for their winter rations, were
taking a ride to their camps.

Soon after leaving Omaha, a rosy light could be seen
in the western horizon, and at about midnight we were
within a short distance of a prairie fire. The effect
was grand. The car was as light as day, and the heat
was intense.

The Union Pacific road runs along the left bank of
the Platte River for many miles, and then crosses at
North Platte. The country is very flat, but the soil is
not so good as farther east. Immense herds of cattle
may be seen grazing on the dry grass, and antelope and
deer are very common. The country is almost treeless,
and the fences are built of sods, giving it a very un-
thrifty appearance. The houses are few and very poor:
a man must live about as isolated from his fellow-beings
as if he resided at the north pole. There is a sense of
loneliness and desolation about the plains in winter,
very unlike their flowery summer season. As we went
on, the bare brown plains gave place to snowy wastes,
where one might fancy himself on a frozen, snow-cov-
ered sea, many miles from land. The second night
after we left Omaha, at about two o'clock A.M., as the
train was standing at a small station, we were treated to
a scene of excitement which will ever remain vivid in
my memory. It was a clear, cold, moonlight night. I
got up from my seat where I had been trying to sleep,

A MIDNIGHT SCENE 13

doubled up like a jack-knife, and stretched myself on
the floor near the stove at one end of the car, with my
satchel for a pillow. I was just between waking and
sleeping, when I was startled by a low groan, followed
by others, louder and still louder, until there was a
succession of frightful yells. Amid these, piercing
shrieks, shouting, swearing, and soilnds resembling
heavy blows, could be heard. I sprang to my feet, to
see the whole car one confused mass of arms, legs, and
heads, and a mad, howling stampede of half-dressed
men striking blindly at each other and rushing through
the door. Some screamed " Indians " and "Murder;"
while others articulated nothing, but shrieked at the
tops of their voices; and all were fighting their way
out of the door with all possible speed. It did not
take me long to get the general scare ; and out of the
door I pressed, jumped off the standing train into the
snow, and ran. I had no idea where to run, arid after
looking around, and finding that we were not pursued,
I stopped. I could see some of the passengers on top
of the freight cars; some running for dear life in the
snow, barefooted, and only half dressed ; and some
crawling into the iron pipes on the platform car. In
the cars behind ours the lights were all extinguished,
and it was as still as the grave. I shall never forget
seeing the brawny form of " Buffalo " on one of the
cars, trembling from head to foot, with an empty pistol
in his hand, and swearing as he dropped the cartridges

14 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

with which he was trying to load it. Presently we
began to collect our scattered senses, and inquire of one
another as to the cause of the trouble. The mystery
was solved when, on going back, " Purpose " came
staggering out of the car, saying, " Whaz the matter,
gentlemen? I — I had a bad dream (hie). Can't a
feller have a bad dream ? B'God I'm a Freemason, so
who cares ! L-lets have a drink ; " and that was all the
explanation we could get from the miserable wretch,
who seemed to think it was a good joke to have
frightened a hundred able-bodied men nearly to death,
and see them breaking their shins trying to find who
could get out of the car first ; all being sound asleep
to start with.

Well, such an angry crowd of men it would be diffi-
cult to imagine. Some cried with vexation and fright;
others laughed until the tears ran down their cheeks ;
the rest warmed their half-frozen and bleeding feet,
damning the soul and body of " Purpose " the while.
Bruised shins and torn clothes were the rale, and nee-
dles, thread, and buttons were in great demand. The
whole scene was intensely ludicrous, and would pro-
duce a sensation on the stage if faithfully portrayed.

Some of the party declared they were not frightened,
and only ran because the rest did, or that they were
forced out by the others ; but their faces told a differ-
ent tale, for terror was depicted in every feature as they
fought their way toward the door: and I presume I

THE CITY OF CHEYENNE 17

looked as bad as the others. There was no more sleep
for us that night ; and for days after, when going
through a tunnel or a snow-shed, some one would
start that same yell, and a general laugh would ensue.
Long before we reached Cheyenne, we could see the
snow-clad peaks of the Rocky Mountains bristling in
the clear morning sunlight. Cheyenne is a city, or
collection of unpainted sheds and shanties, with a
scattering of hotels, banks, stores, and the like, to give
it a dignified look. It is situated in the treeless plain,
and has a cold, barren, and uninviting look, compared
to our Eastern cities. Whiskey and tobacco seem to
be the principal exports, and imports too, for that mat-
ter; and saloons and places where people may waste
their time and money are by no means rare. Three of
the boys put their money together to buy a large demi-
john of liquor for their use on the journey, putting it
under one of the seats. One day, while they were all
busy playing cards and reading, the jug was stolen by
one of the brakemen on the train : they asked every
one who came in if he had seen it, and at last they
fixed upon a stout, thick-set brakeman as the guilty
one. He made little talk, but soon gave them to un-
derstand that if any one wanted to say he took it, he
had better stand up and have it out. That set their
minds at rest in that direction ; but they soon collected
more money, and sent one of their number for another
jug at the next place. Whether he missed the train,

18

or purposely staid away, I know not ; but he did not
return, and the thirsty tipplers were " left " once more.
Beyond Cheyenne the country loses the flat monot-
ony of the plains, and we were soon in the heart of the

Rocky Mountains. We came at length to Green River
Station, which, though barren and cold, is an exceed-
ingly interesting place. Green River is the main
branch of the Colorado, that river of wonder. One
can catch a few glimpses of its gayly colored towers,

PADDY'S RUN 19

its frightful precipices, and awful grandeur, from the
train.

The Green River Station is a fair sample of the West-
ern depot, and comprises a drinking-saloon, restaurant,
and curiosity shop, all in one. In this region are found
magnificent petrified fishes and fossil wood, and agate
is abundant.

The express train overtook us here ; and as we were
many hours behind time, our cars were transferred to
that, to our great joy. What a pleasure it was to move
on at a respectable rate once more ! and how different
was the starting of the express train from that of the
freight, which nearly jerked our heads off! After going
over a high ridge, we began the descent of Paddy's Run,
so named after an Irish engineer who had an exciting
race on his engine for thirty miles ahead of a freight
train, which had broken loose and came tearing along
after, threatening death should it overtake him. The
train, however, was switched off the embankment to ut-
ter destruction, and Paddy escaped. As we descended,
with brakes on, a realizing sense of poor Pat's peril
came vividly to my mind. After our descent, we
wound our way along the Webber River for miles.
Devil's Slide on the left bank, composed of two ridges
of rock projecting from the hill, was an interesting
sight. The farther down the river we went, the grander
the scenery became, until at Echo Canyon it was sim-
ply indescribable. Here we were shut in by immense

20

COLLECTOR S RAMBLES

walls of rock, thousands of feet high. At length we
emerged into the plain near Salt Lake, and soon were
at Ogden. There were two carloads of recruits at the
station, going through to California on first-class time ;

THE DEVIL'S SLIDE.

and I conceived the plan of becoming a soldier for a
time, and trying to get through and catch my boat in
spite of circumstances. I went into one of the cars,
and made myself agreeable with my clarinet. They

MASQUERADING AS A SOLDIER 21

wanted me to stay ; but I told them I had only a third-
class ticket, and so could not remain, much as I should
like to do so. " Why," said one, " we will dress you
up, and the conductor won't know you from Adam."
They gave me one of Uncle Sam's blue coats and a hat,
and in less than half an hour the train started ; and
away we went, leaving the Mormon country and the
slow emigrant train far behind. I looked as much a
soldier as the rest ; so when the conductor came round
counting the men, he thought he had made a mistake,
because he found one too many. I gave myself no
more uneasiness, and was just enjoying a good song
that one of the jolly fellows was singing, when a lad
came running in from the next car, saying that the
conductor was coming again with an officer, who was
calling off the names as they came through.

What to do I did not know; but the boys concluded
to hide me in one of the upper bunks, which, when not
in use, are fastened up against the side of the car, with
barely room for a person inside. It took six of them
to lift the bunk with myself in it back again in place ;
and one remarked that I must have been wiser than
they, for I knew enough not to enlist until I was full-
grown and fat. They nearly squeezed the life out of
me as with a "Whoop la! lift him up, boys," they shut
me in. I felt sure I should be discovered, as the slats
were nearly two inches apart, and any one could see
me by looking up. I could see the officer as he called

22 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

the roll; and the conductor stood directly beneath me,
his lantern shining full in my face as he marked his
list. He seemed well satisfied when he got through,
and the boys let me down, to my great relief. Soon
after I took out my clarinet again, and commenced
playing, and the whole car joined in. I never remember
to have heard our popular airs sung in a more spirited
manner. We kept it up until late at night, and my trip
began to assume the aspect of a picnic rather than a
long and tedious journey. At length the singing
ceased, and we were making preparations for sleep,
when with a tremendous bang and crash we were all
hurled from our seats in great confusion about the
car. I scrambled to my feet, to find the train at a
standstill. I had a vague sense that I was badly
bruised, and that my nose was bleeding. The lights
were all out, and the car was filled with excited soldiers :
there was a mingled discord of prayers, oaths, and
groans, indescribably ludicrous even under these cir-
cumstances. Some one with a strong, clear voice
shouted, " Fifteen minutes for refreshments." I groped
my way to the end of the car, which was entirely
smashed in, jumped on the ground, and went forward.
Everything was in confusion : the passenger car just in
front of ours was lying partly on one side, and the bag-
gage and express cars were little more than shattered
frames. We had run into a freight train, and our
engine had knocked nearly every car off the track :

WRECKED 23

some of them looked as if wrestling with each other,
or like the wreck of a child's block house. Strange to
say, there was only one life lost, — that of the faithful
engineer, who was killed outright while at his post, by
the shifting of the coal in the tender, which jammed
him against the heated boiler. The accident occurred
near Terrace, and there was soon a telegram sent for
aid. Our car was so badly jammed that the cold
winter wind came whistling through, and made it very
uncomfortable. I searched a long time among the
broken glass and window-frames for my satchel, which
I at length found, but I was not so fortunate in regard
to my clarinet ; and at last, much against my will, I
was obliged to give it up. It had been a good compan-
ion to me, and many a desolate camp had been enli-
vened by its mellow tones, while the wooded banks of
many a winding river had echoed back its sweet and
cheerful notes.

But to return. We collected boards from the dis-
abled freight cars, and tried to make our home habitable.
We patched up the stovepipe, wired our broken stove
together, and with some of the " kindlings" soon had
the place comfortable. What a bruised, dejected crew
we were, as we stood about the fire in the shattered
car ! Long before morning a gang of Chinamen arrived,
and were building a track around the wreck. The
emigrant train came along about eight o'clock A.M.
How the boys laughed when they saw me ! I was

24 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

greeted with, " Hello, here's our l Special Artist ' again :
he's got enough of trying to play toney. They might
have known the train would smash with such a sinner
aboard," and much more to the same effect. " Grass-
hopper " had saved a seat for me, as he had expected I
would get kicked off somewhere. u Cupid," they told
me, had " married the schoolmarm at Ogden," and was
now in the family car. All the passengers were invited
to the wedding, which took place in the station. Poor
" Purpose," the man who frightened us nearly to
death, had been robbed at Ogden of his gold watch and
chain, five hundred dollars, and, in fact, all he had but
his ticket and clothes, and was now sober enough, and
as penitent as such men generally are. We had to wait
at Terrace until about noon, when the track was fin-
ished, and again the slow freight train was left behind,
and we were whisked along at a good speed on first-
class time. On looking over a San Francisco paper
soon after starting, I was pleased to see that the day of
sailing of the Australian steamer " Zealandia " had
been changed to December 20, and I had now plenty
of time to get there. The country through which we
subsequently passed was for miles a perfect desert,
and looked, as a great speaker once said, " Bare and
blasted as ' perdition ' with the fires out." Several hot
springs were seen from a distance near two extinct
volcanoes ; and at a small station at which we stopped,
many painted and blanketed Indians came round to

HUMBOLDT RIVER

beg of the passengers. Some were dressed in rabbit-
skin coats, or cloaks, which looked thick and warm,
but exceedingly dirty. One very pretty and chubby
half-breed Indian girl
came aboard, and sold
us fresh-boiled eggs and
milk.

The Central Pacific
Road follows Humboldt
River almost from its
source to where it
sinks in the desert
sand. It gives one a
strange, weird feeling
to watch its dark waters
as they flow on, becom-
ing less and less, until
they entirely disappear,

and nothing but its dusty bed gives one an idea that a
river ever ran there. As we passed what is known on
the maps as the Humboldt Lake, it was seen to be a
dry expanse of fine, light-colored sand, and clouds of
dust rose constantly from its surface. Next we came
to the Truckee River. It is a rough and raging moun-
tain torrent, and is the outlet to that clear and lovely
sheet of water, Lake Tahoe. It empties into Pyramid
Lake, which is salt and impure. The train stopped a
short time at Reno, from which a branch railroad runs

INDIAN WOMAN AND CHILD.

COLLECTOR S RAMBLES

south to that far-famed Virginia City which is known
the world over for its mines of silver and gold.

From Reno the ascent becomes very steep, requiring
two locomotives. We could see the forest of dark
pines and firs ahead ; the Sierra Nevada Mountains
rising abrupt and precipitous from the desert plain.
Night closed in just as we were reaching a good eleva-
tion ; and on looking out of the window afterwards, I

HUMBOLDT LAKE.

found we were in the long snow-sheds which cover by
far the most of this mountain road. As soon as it
grew light, we were all on the lookout; but the spaces
between the snow-sheds only served to make us dis-
contented, because so much beautiful scenery was cut
off by them.

The snow, in some places, came nearly to the tops
of the telegraph poles, and I should say, at a guess,
that it was ten feet deep on a level. We got clear of
the sheds at last, and began to descend on the western

CAPE HORN

27

side of the mountains. The snow grew less, the
sombre pines became scattered and intermixed with
trees of a pleasanter, brighter green. Cape Horn,

CAPE HORN.

a precipitous mountain-side, around which the train
passed, and from which we could see the green valley,
hundreds of feet beneath us, was an exceedingly in-

28 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

terestiug point. The warm sun came out from the
snow-laden clouds, and everything looked so bright
and cheerful that we could hardly suppress our de-
light. We were in California at last, that land of
wonder and wealth; and the vision we saw before us
was a bright and cheerful one. The snow finally all
disappeared : green grass and flowers carpeted the
ground. The mountains gave place to hills, and the
hills to level, fertile plains. We arrived at Sacra-
mento in the afternoon. It was as warm and pleasant
as a summer day; and as I wandered about the streets,
eating some of the most delicious apples I ever tasted.
I could hardly believe that twenty-four hours before
it was dead winter, and ten feet of snow on the level.
Here the fast express left us, and toward evening we
again started behind a freight train. The number of
wild-fowl, which in some places covered the plains
and filled the air in long lines of swiftly moving birds,
was something astonishing ; and I have never since, in
all my experience, seen their numbers excelled. Great
swarms of white geese, grazing on the tender shoots of
the newly sprouted wheat, made the fields look as if
covered with snow. Flocks of gigantic pelicans,
slowly flapping their black-tipped wings, were on their
way to their fishing-grounds ; while mallard, teal,
shoveller, and many other kinds of ducks that I was
not familiar with, rose in countless thousands from
the shallow ponds beside the track; and plover, cur-

SAN FRANCISCO 31

lews, snipe, and avosets ran about on the moist
ground. What a chance for a collector! It made
my heart ache to leave them behind without a single
shot.

We came into Oakland next morning (Dec. 18), and
from the end of a very long pier, built out into the
water, took the palatial ferry-boat across the bay to
San Francisco. I was well pleased to see some lovely
oil-paintings upon the walls of the parlor of the boat,
representing California scenery. They were true to
nature, and as interesting a collection of paintings as
one sees in the best galleries of our Eastern cities.
After a delightful sail of six or seven miles across the
smooth bay, we came to the " City of all Nations,"
and the passengers dispersed in all directions.

San Francisco is very like all other large American
cities, and contains palaces and hovels, glitter and
decay. The Chinese part of the city is a novelty, and
will well repay the time spent in studying the modes
of life of those strange people. The dishes displayed
in their shops to tempt the Celestial palate have a
decidedly foreign look. I went into one of their tem-
ples, or churches, where sat a representation of their
god, — an image superbly decked out, sitting under a
gilded canopy. Incense was burning on each side,
and throngs of the Chinese were performing their
daily devotions. " Idolaters," Christians call them ;
but I failed to see that they are any less sincere, or any

32 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

more worshippers of idols, than they who bend the
knee to an image of the Virgin Mary, or kiss the great
toe of the statue of St. Peter.

I visited Woodward's Gardens, where there is a
large collection of animals, both stuffed and alive, and
much of interest in many ways. The Cliff House is
a short drive from the city ; and many people visit it,
to see great numbers of sea-lions which congregate in
that vicinity. They are very tame, and will follow a
boat in hopes of obtaining food. I passed the time
very pleasantly looking about the city until the after-
noon of the 20th, when I bought my ticket, and
went on board of the " Zealandia." The " Zealandia "
is one of four large steamers plying between San Fran-
cisco and Sydney, Australia, and is considered the best
and fastest steamer on that line. There were many
oxen, sheep, ducks, geese, and chickens on board for
our consumption, and it was evident they did not in-
tend to starve us. I had a curious feeling as I went
aboard and deposited my satchel under the bunk, that
it might be many a long day before I again saw my
native country ; and my heart sank as I thought of the
thousands of miles of stormy ocean before me.

CHAPTER II.

From San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand — Seasickness — Sandwich
Islands and Honolulu — Off Again — Warmer Weather — New Year's — Games
— Flying Fish — Sea-birds — Srnall-pox Aboard — In Quarantine — New Zea-
land Forest and Tree Ferns — Snapper Fishing— Wild Peaches — Birds — Sea
Life — Quilp — A Scared Irishman — An Indignant Frenchman.

WE left the wharf in the afternoon, and by evening
we were past the " Golden Gate," and on the " raging
main ; " and raging it was, no mistake about that ; a
fearful storm was blowing from the north-west : and I
took pattern after the gallant captain of the "Pina-
fore," who, when the wind did blow, generally went be-
low ; and, what was more to the purpose, I staid there,
for I grew terribly sick, and could not leave. A great
deal has been written and said about seasickness, but no
amount of description can give an idea of the suffering
of a person who is really and truly seasick. Another
man was in the bunk above me ; and although I was
sick enough to die (it seemed to me), I could not but
laugh to hear him argue the pros and cons of his fool-
ishness in leaving his home. Said he, talking to him-
self, " I can't see what on earth ever put it into your
head to go away from home. You may do well enough
in Honolulu, but, oh ! you'll die before you get there.
Charlie, you fool, if you ever get home again, you stay
there!"

34 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

After lying three days in my bunk without eating a
bite, I began to feel very weak, and staggered out upon
the hurricane deck, where I sprawled out on an old
sail, hanging on to the ropes lest I should roll over-
board. The sea looked terrible as the great blue-green
waves came thundering against the ship's side. As I
lay there, caring little what became of us, or whether
we ever saw land again, "Lily," the Spaniard, came up
with a cup of hot soup. He could talk very little
English, but he gave me to understand that if I could
swallow that soup I would feel much better. It
tasted good after my three days' fast ; so good indeed,
that I drank it all. My appetite, and with it my good
spirits, returned as the sea grew calmer, and I reasoned
myself into the delusion that I was going to make a
good sailor. The next storm, however, dispelled this
pleasant fantasy.

Poor Charlie, the self-accuser, ate nothing for five
days, and when some one asked him if he was very
sick, replied, " Well, if there is a sicker man on board,
God help him ! "

We sighted the Sandwich Islands on the 27th
of December. They appear at first rocky and bar-
ren, and seem to be little more than a congrega-
tion of volcanoes and their productions ; but on a
nearer view, the tropical vegetation changes the whole
appearance of the landscape ; and before you get into
Honolulu, the view is one of the loveliest that it is pos-

SANDWICH ISLANDS 35

sible to imagine. Near the city an interesting volcano
is to be seen, which goes by the appropriate name of
the " Punch Bowl." Honolulu is situated in a valley,
and embosomed in trees. Stately palms rear their
tufted heads above the low houses, and the perfume
from myriads of flowers and sweet-smelling shrubs is
wafted to the traveller as he approaches. A line was
thrown ashore, and the vessel was slowly worked up
to the wharf. I was on the alert, and, when the bow
touched, jumped ashore. The rest of the passengers
waited until the plank was thrown out. There was
a large crowd of jolly-looking, gayly dressed natives on
the wharf, and a crew of chocolate-colored boys were
diving for pennies, which the passengers threw into
the water. The whole scene had a holiday appearance,
and the laughing, chattering, flower-laden inhabitants
seemed as happy as a group of schoolboys on a picnic.
I made my way up-town as fast as was practicable (for
the streets were very muddy), and after buying a bag-
ful of delicious oranges, and another of the finest
bananas I had ever seen, sat down on the curbstone to
enjoy them. How I did eat ! The fruit was excellent;
and after living on nothing for three days, and soup
with tough beef and hard-tack for four more, I was in
first-class condition to make good use of it. While
peeling a banana, the wreck of what I had eaten lying
about, some of the passengers came along, and the
expression of their faces was worth noting. They

36 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

laughed, called me all the names they could think of
appropriate to a gourmand, said I would kill myself,
and concluded by buying out the fruit-pedler near by,
and sitting down beside me to follow my example.
When the cravings of hunger were satisfied, we started
on a tour of inspection about the city, took a look at
the palace of the " Kanaka King," and admired the
productive gardens where all kinds of tropical fruits
were growing in the open air.

Our vessel left late in the afternoon : and as the rays
of the setting sun shone on the lovely scene, it was a
picture to be remembered. Before the stars came out,
nothing remained to view but a range of blue moun-
tains on the northern horizon.

Every day of our southern journey brought us into
warmer weather. The breezes ceased, and the glassy
water showed scarcely a perceptible swell. A dead
calm settled on everything. Tropical showers were
common, but they did not cool the air much, and we all
grew very indolent. We crossed the line New Year's
Day, and made it a day of rejoicing all round. The
steward gave each of the passengers a duck to pick for
his dinner; and rare sport we had as we sat about the
deck, each one doing his best to get ahead of his neigh-
bors. In the evening the cabin passengers gave an
entertainment in the saloon, and invited all of us in.
There were declaiming, reading, and music, which, al-
though not of the best, were very acceptable under the

GAMES ON BOARD

37

circumstances. Anything to make us forget that we
were waiting for the days to go by, was hailed with
delight. All kinds of games were played. Some,

CROSSING THE LINE

though rather rough, were exceedingly funny. One
that never failed to create a laugh was called the
cobbler, This was usually started by an old sailor ; and
any one who was foolish enough to think he could get

38 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

the better of Jack Tar, was almost sure to change his
mind before long.

Jack would seat himself on the deck, take off one of
his shoes, while on each side, stick in hand, stood a
man having one leg bare to the knee. As the sailor
acted the cobbler, keeping up a lively conversation in
regard to shoemaking, he would strike out now and
then as in the act of drawing a waxed end, hitting the
two on their bare legs with the backs of his hard, rough
hands. Down would come the sticks with all the spite
that their cunning directors could command, but the
sailor was so quick that they seldom hit his fingers.
Another game, the name of which I have forgotten,
was played by three or four men who stood in line one
behind the other. The first one held his hands over
his ears, when one of those behind gave him a box on
the side of the head. He immediately turned round,
seized the supposed guilty one by the ear, and led him
to the place he himself had occupied. Mistaking his
man, he in turn was taken by the ear, and had to try
his chance once more. Roars of laughter followed a
successful catch, as the culprit, with face awry from the
strain upon his ear, was led to the front. It required a
great deal of self-control in those joining the sport to
keep an even temper, yet there was rarely any anger
shown.

The Salvation Army was represented in our crew
by a thick-set, priestly-looking man named Tailor, who

PERSONS ON BOARD 39

used to deliver sermons every few days from the hur-
ricane deck. He talked like an auctioneer, and his
voice was as shrill as a steam whistle. He was easily
induced to begin his discourses, but it was another
matter when once wound up to get him to stop. He
would continue his harangue until the passengers
were tired of listening, and then they would yell him
down. There was a pleasant little Frenchman on
board, named Barelli, who always accented the wrong
syllables, and emphasized the wrong words. He owned
many books, often lending them to the passengers to
read. He was an Australian gold-miner on his way
home from a pleasure trip in California. We grew
fast friends, and many good times we afterward had
together.

Perhaps the most interesting person on board was a
man who every evening would assemble a knot of the
passengers about him and tell stories. We called him
by the appropriate name of Gulliver, and his supply of
"yarns" seemed to be inexhaustible. Though not a
loud talker, he knew how to point a joke or bring
a story to a climax in a scientific manner ; and I have
seen his listeners stand for hours eagerly catching every
word that fell from his lips. Sometimes he would
move his auditors almost to tears, then perhaps convulse
them with laughter, or hold them spell-bound with
expectation. The variety and style of his stories
marked him as having a knowledge of the world, besides

40 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

being a well-read, educated man. Personally, we knew
very little of him, for he seldom alluded to himself.

In going round the world from east to west, a day is
lost: in going from west to east, a day is gained. This
may seem very strange, but is easily understood when
we think that our days and nights are caused by the
revolution of the earth on its axis, and that if we could
travel at the same rate of the earth's revolution from
east to west, we would have daylight all the time.
Should we travel from west to east at the same rate,
the sun would rise and set twice in every twenty-four
hours. When crossing the 180th meridian the day is
always changed. We crossed that meridian on Satur-
day ; and the next day, instead of being Sunda}r, was
Monday, which seemed odd enough. That so few ves-
vels should be seen in mid ocean was surprising to me.
I had an idea that one would see ships every day ; but
in the two weeks passed between Honolulu and Auck-
land only one vessel came in sight, and that many miles
away. One day we passed a large quantity of wreckage
floating on the water. It was composed of brooms and
brushes, and was scattered about over several square
miles. Where it came from we never knew. Flying-
fish were seen every day, and many of them flew aboard
during the night. Although small, they were found to
be good for food, and well-flavored.

Large black petrels followed our vessel for hundreds
of miles, and tropic birds with two long red tail-

SMALL-POX ON BOARD 41

feathers were often seen. One evening a booby lit on
one of the ship's boats, and I caught it in my hand.
The sailors wanted me to release it, and were very
angry when I killed and skinned it for my cabinet. I
suppose they had some superstition regarding the bird,
but I did not propose to lose my specimen on that
account. One day a young man, one of the steerage
passengers, was suddenly taken ill ; and in a day or
two his body was covered with a fine rash. However,
it was thought there was no danger of contagious
disease, until one morning, as we were nearing the
New Zealand coast, the doctor came on deck with a
very serious face, and, taking one of the officers aside,
whispered to him.

In less than ten minutes every one on board knew
that the sick man was suffering with the small-pox. I
shall never forget the fearful apprehension the news
caused.

We steamed into Auckland Harbor a homesick and
dejected crowd. The pale yellow flag was hoisted as
a signal to those on shore that a contagious disease was
aboard; and our vessel ran up near the quarantine
island, where the mail was unloaded, and taken ashore
to be fumigated. Everything belonging to the sick
man, except his watch and money, was thrown over-
board ; and he was taken ashore in a small boat, towed
behind a larger one, by the sailors.

A poor fellow who did not have the small-pox at all,

42 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

but merely a rash on his face, was also taken with the
patient ; and both, with a nurse, were lodged in the
pest-house on the island.

We lay at anchor two days, becoming, as time wore
on, more impatient and tired of our life on board the
vessel.

At last (Jan. 11) an end came of our close impris-
onment, and we bade the vessel good-by. Several of
the passengers who were on their way to Sydney,
Australia, concluded to stop over at Auckland rather
than be confined to the ship in Sydney Harbor, as they
had good reason to believe would be the case.

The landing after a long sea voyage is always a pleas-
urable experience ; and when I found myself on shore
with the prospect of roaming about where I pleased, I
suddenly became very jubilant, in spite of the dreadful
thought of what might happen to us all. I started,
satchel in hand, for a good run up the hill to the quar-
rantine house, but found that my legs were so weak
from long leisure and lack of exercise that they would
hardly carry me half way without a rest. We were a
curious crowd as, reeling and staggering about, we
slowly wound our way up the hill to our quarters.
We must have looked more like a procession of the
" sons of the Emerald Isle," on St. Patrick's Day, than
sober voyagers. Throwing my satchel into the corner
of one of the large, empty rooms, I started out with a
merry heart on a tour of discovery about the island.

FOREST AND THEE FERNS

43

After walking along the beach for some distance, I
climbed the steep cliff that walled in that part of the
island, and found myself in a genuine New Zealand
forest, where every tree, shrub, and fern was new to

me. The branches of most of the trees were so bent
and twisted that the forest was almost an impenetrable
thicket. Here, in their native wilds, I saw for the first
time the graceful tree-ferns ; and I sat down on a pros-
trate trunk to admire them. One can form no just

44 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

conception of these plants from the small, stunted
specimens to be seen in our hothouses. It is not until
one comes upon a forest of them that their grace and
delicacy can be appreciated, One could almost fancy
himself living at the time when our coal measures
were laid down, in a carboniferous swamp such as are
represented in our geologies.

I wandered about during the morning over a large
part of the island, making sketches, and admiring
every new object that came in my way. I filled my
handkerchief with specimens of a squeaking green in-
sect about an inch and a half long, called a cicada, and
gathered a large bunch of many varieties of ferns, which
everywhere carpeted the ground. On coming back, I
met a party of my companions in quarantine, who told
me that dinner was over, and that, if I wanted anything
to eat, I must bribe the Chinaman cook. On the way
I heard for the first time the English lark, which had
been introduced into New Zealand! He is a beautiful
singer, and, when so high as to be almost invisible,,
pours forth his sweet song. In the afternoon I took a
bath in one of the tide-pools in the solid rock. Excel-
lent bathing-pools they make, for the water in them
was very warm from the sun's heat, and was quite a
contrast to our seashore bathing at home, where one
feels as if immersed in ice-water.

The amount of animal life contained in a single pool
is enormous ; for one can stand on the brink, and see

FISHING 45

hundreds of crabs, shells, sea-urchins, and star-fish
moving about. Some of the larger pools contain many
fine fish. Toward evening, as I climbed the hill to our
house, I thought the day had been one of the happiest
of my life. We all congregated about the bare wooden
table in one of the large rooms for supper.

A tick of straw and a couple of rough blankets
were distributed to each of the passengers at evening.
Barelli and I took ours into one of the upper rooms of
the building, and, with our boots for pillows, we were
soon sound asleep. Next morning we were away with
a fish-line each and a generous piece of beef for bait.
We went down on a point of rock about a mile from
the house, where I had seen some large fish the day
before. There was no mistake about their being at
home ; for a line had scarcely been thrown in before
there was a tugging at the other end, and a silvery,
pink and blue fish, of the size of a cod, lay slapping
about on the rocks. We had grand sport, and became
so tired that we had to give it up. Just as Barelli
threw out his line for the last time, an immense fish
swallowed the bait and started leisurely away. As
soon as he felt the sharp hook, however, he gave a tre-
mendous jump out of the water, nearly pulling Barelli
in, who let go just in time to save himself. We had a
great tug to get the fish up to our house, and half an
hour afterwards nearly every man on the island had
gone fishing. Our fish, we learned, were the famous

46 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

snapper, Pagrus unicolor, which are so much prized by
the New-Zealanders. They are delicately flavored, and
during the rest of our stay on the island formed one of
our principal articles of food.

The native name of the island was Matuihe, and a
more charming spot for a collector's station it would
be difficult to find. It was about three miles long, and
covered with forest and fine English grass. Both ends
were high and precipitous toward the sea, but the
middle was low, sandy, and narrow. A large flock of
sheep and countless rabbits fatted on the luxuriant
vegetation. Wild fruits were abundant; but although
I tasted of everything I came across, I seldom found
anything palatable. One day I found, incased in a
pod, a small orange-colored fruit, which was very
pleasant to the taste. It turned out to be the Cape
gooseberry, and was very like what we commonly call
strawberry tomatoes.

One of the passengers informed us one evening that
a large island, about two miles distant, was covered
with wild peach-trees, and that it was time for the
fruit to be ripe. After Barelli and I went up to our
room, we fell to discussing the flavor and digestive
qualities of peaches; and we came to the unanimous
opinion that they were "good for food, and pleasant
to the eye."

Now, there was a notice on the door of our house
that any one leaving the island without permission

WILD PEACHES 47

laid himself liable to a fine of forty pounds ; but
the desire for a midnight lark, and a little stolen
liberty, was too much for us. After the house was
still, we quietly slipped out and hurried down to the
beach. It was a lovely moonlight night, and as warm
as July in Massachusetts. The sea was as calm as one
could wish, and the glassy surface reflected the distant
islands. A small boat lay at anchor a few rods from
shore, and to swim out to it, pull up the anchor and
come back, took but a few moments. Barelli took
the oars as I was dressing, and away we sped across
the " smooth and glassy tide." A sense of buoyancy,
far from cares of all kinds, took possession, of me ;
and leaning back in the boat, looking at the moonlit
sea, I gave myself entirely up to the enjoyment of
pleasant fancies. We spoke little; and Barelli rowed
so quietly, that there was nothing to jar on the stillness
of nature. A half-hour's leisurely rowing brought us
to the shore.

Pulling our boat high up the beach, we started
up the grassy slopes. We soon found peach-trees
in plenty, and some were loaded with fruit. We
both had excellent appetites, and it would be useless
to try to make any one believe how many dozen peaches
we ate. The trees grew in scattered orchards, and
looked as if planted accidentally. We took off our
coats when we could eat no more, stuffed them with
green fruit to ripen afterwards, and started back to our

48 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

island home. It was just growing light as we mounted
the hill ; and after putting our stolen fruit carefully
away in our straw beds, we turned in for a sleep.

That Barelli's head was " screwed on the right way "
was no mistake, for he bribed the Chinaman to make
us a lot of peach-pies for dessert.

My mouth waters as I think of those pies.

Many extinct volcanoes could be seen from our
home, and one named Rangitoto, a dark-colored, conical
island, had evidently been in a state of eruption at no
very distant day. Two small rocky islets a hundred
yards from shore were a great resort for gulls and terns :
Barelli and I used to swim out to collect their eggs,
carrying them back in our hats. It was a little dan-
gerous, as sharks were plenty ; but the water was so
shallow, that the bottom could be seen for a long dis-
tance out, and when a shark was in sight, we would
postpone our swim. The birds were very bold, and
many times they struck me on the head as I rifled their
nests. I collected quite a number of their spotted eggs,
and made a good many skins of the old birds. Beauti-
ful blue kingfishers, Halcyon vagans, were plentiful
about the shore ; and many skins from Matuihe now in
my cabinet, testify to their numbers, and to my indus-
try while there. When the tide went out, we would
go down upon the sandy beaches and gather the shells
that pushed their way up to the surface, raising little
sandy lumps. Some of the shells have doors known

SEA LIFE 51

as opercula, "with which they close their houses from
their enemies. Many of them are polished, and used
as jewelry in the fashionable world. Echinoderms,
or sea-urchins, of gigantic size adhered to the rocks,

HALIOTIS.

where, by working their spines, they had worn away
cavities large enough to hold their bodies. Oysters
grew on the rocks in great masses ; and although I had
never eaten one before, I soon learned to eat and like
them. We would crack them open with stones, fill tin
cans, and cook them over a small fire on the beach.
There was a large pearly shell known by the name of

52 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

mutton-fish, or abalone, which adhered to the rocks,
but was never found above low water-mark. It was a
species QiHaliotis, and when disturbed would hug the
rock so closely that the shell would be broken to frag-
ments before it could be removed. The method of pro-
curing them was to quickly insert the blade of a knife
under the animal and pry it off before it had time to
shut down. The shell had many holes along the side
through which protruded small tentacles : the inside
shone with prismatic colors. It will easily be imagined
that a good many such shells left the island in my
company.

Barelli and I went collecting so much, and found so
many beautiful things, that soon nearly all the passen-
gers on the island were as interested as ourselves.
Every one tried to get as many kinds of specimens as
possible, and great was the rejoicing of the person who
found a new and handsome shell. Our quarters were
little more than drying-rooms for starfishes, shells,
crabs, and other marine life ; and the number of fine
specimens we gathered was very great.

One evening we were startled by the news of the
death of the small-pox patient. It seemed hard to die
so far from one's home and friends.

The nurse buried him within sight and hearing of
the restless sea, in the little graveyard on the hillside,
where several neglected mounds marked the last resting-
place of other unfortunates.

QUILP 53

The doctor came to the island to vaccinate us all; but
meeting with strong opposition, he went away without
a single dupe to practise on, swearing that we should
stay there until we changed our minds.

There was an old, humpbacked, cross-grained scoun-
drel we nicknamed Quilp, who lived a bachelor life in
a house near the wharf, and was employed by the
government to keep the houses in repair, and fumigate
the mails.

Every morning' before sun-up, when he was sober
enough, he would make his appearance with a pail of
diluted carbolic acid, and, armed with a gigantic
syringe, would proceed to deluge our rooms with the
strong-smelling liquid.

We stood this three or four mornings, and at last the
fellows downstairs concluded to stop his early morning
calls. Fixing a pail of water over the door, they pulled
it down on him as he entered. A tremendous hubbub
arose, and Barelli and I hurried downstairs to see
the sport. His ugly face flushed with rage, Quilp stood
dripping with water, plying his squirt-gun with telling
effect among the shirt-tail brigade, who showered him
with boots, slippers, sea-animals, and whatever else they
could lay hands on. A well-directed cake of soap
silenced Quilp, who hurried out, declaring he would
have every one of us " jugged " for that morning's work.
We were not again troubled by him.

We had many a laugh at an Irishman, who every

54 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

morning declared he could feel the small-pox coming
on. He seemed to care little about collecting, and
would sit on the rocks by the hour, looking towards
the mainland with longing eyes.

One day I saw him seated under a tree, evidently
much interested in a large book. Glancing at it as I
passed, I recognized it at once. " Look here, my
friend," said I, "you had better drop that book: it
belonged to the sick man, and was thrown overboard."
Horror and despair were written on his face as, spring-
ing to his feet, he shouted, " O Holy Mother ! I have it
now intirely ! " and ran up the hill toward the house,
making good speed considering his short legs. I after-
wards learned he declared at the house that he was
dying, and swallowed all the medicine he could beg or
buy.

We were supplied every day with fresh vegetables,
and other good things, from the mainland. Sometimes
visitors would come to see their friends, but were only
allowed to talk to them from a distance. We all did
so much rambling about that our clothes, and especially
our shoes, became sadly dilapidated. Worse still, we
were unable to procure new ones.

I dared not walk rapidly, lest my shoes, so many
times patched and sewed, would go to pieces.

Barelli had two pairs; and, getting them both wet,
he put them on the rocks near the precipice to dry.
One of the passengers, mistaking them for old shoes,

AN INDIGNANT FRENCHMAN

55

kicked them over the side into the sea. Barelli was
too full of indignation to articulate clearly, and gave
the fellow a mingled discourse in English and French,
winding up with, " Bless my soul ! I think you crazy.
You have so much brains as a starfish. How you think
I go back to Auckland ? Ze Devel ! I have to go
barefooted. Everybody laugh. Sacre!"

CHAPTER III.

Auckland to Dunedin — First Impressions of the English Mode of Travel —
Ejecting an Intruder— Maori King and Chiefs — Wellington— A Happy
Experience.

NONE of us showed any signs of coining down with
the disease ; and, after a probation of sixteen days, the
steamer " City of Cork " conveyed us all, bag and bag-
gage, to Auckland, where we were once more free to
go where we pleased. Auckland is a good-sized city.
The only large, handsome street runs directly through
the middle of it. The side streets and narrow alleys
have a shabby look. Most of the houses, one story
high, are evidently unacquainted with paint. Many of
the best buildings, composed of blue lava blocks, look
gloomy and prison-like, having very small windows.
The Public Library is a handsome building, however;
and a fine museum filled with New Zealand and Aus-
tralian specimens does credit to the place.

The number of drinking-saloons and drunken men I
saw the first day of my stay in Auckland could hardly
be credited by a person living in a civilized community.

The handsomest woman to " tend the bars," and the
best of music, were the requisites of a first-class den ;
and every inducement was held out for men to spend
their time and money foolishly.

56

KAILROAD TRAVELLING 57

The country round about, in many places, was so
rough and covered with lava that vegetation was very
meagre, while in others it was very luxuriant. Forests
of cowrie pine covered the distant hills ; and the Aus-
tralian gums, where introduced, seemed to flourish. The
means of subsistence of the people were a mystery to
me, as they had no manufactures, and scarcely any
farms or gardens.

Nearing a railroad, while on one of my walks, I
heard a train coming; so I sat down to compare the
Englishman's train with our own.

Picture my disgust when a little black engine, with-
out cowcatcher, bell, whistle, head-light, or cab, ap-
peared, drawing five or six square boxes, each having
two windows and a door on each side, and a spoked
wheel under each corner.

Altogether, it reminded me of the little dummy
engines that carry mud in dump-carts to fill up Boston
Back Bay. "Well, well," I asked of myself, "is this
the one-horse way of travelling in this land ? " The
train stopped at a stingy, ten-by-twelve station ; an
important-looking man going round with a large key
to unlock the doors, and let out the miserable wretches,
who looked as if they were glad to have escaped with
their lives. Then, strutting about the platform (a
raised gravel bank), this individual with the key
shouted, " Take your seats, please ! " and after the
guilty-looking passengers had entered, he relocked the

58 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

doors, rang a dinner-bell, and away went the " puffing
billy," with its string of boxes.

I pictured to myself an American locomotive, with
its graceful and harmonious appearance, all its appoint-
ments making it an object of life, beauty, and useful-
ness, as it rushes over the miles of our railroads, con-
veying in its large, clean, well-lighted and ventilated
cars hundreds of people as much at ease as in their
own parlors. I thought of our polite conductors, of
our magnificent depots, where every convenience is
provided for the passengers. I thought of all these,
and, for the first time, I wished myself back in Yankee-
land.

I hurried back to Auckland, changed my lodging, —
as I had been obliged to share my room the previous
night with numerous fleas, bugs, and mosquitoes, — and
buried myself in one of Mark Twain's books in order
to forget the many unpleasant things that haunted
my mind. Suddenly upon my peaceful repose, the
door burst violently open to admit the reeling form of
a drunken man, who demanded, in tones that admitted
of more politeness, that I purchase him a drink. This
was the climax. Seizing the gentleman by the neck,
I " fired " him from the room, further assisting his
progress with a liberal Yankee kick. This somewhat
relieved my feelings ; and after a night's rest in a clean
bed, I awoke the next morning in my usual good
spirits.

MAORI CHIEF.

MAORI KING AND CHIEFS 61

The Maori King and his tattooed retinue were
boarding next door, and " doing " the city. They were
a terrible-looking lot of men ; were very large, very
dark, very fierce. The old king was forty-five or fifty
years old, cross-eyed, and with his carved face pre-
sented a hideous appearance. The day being warm
they did not trouble to dress themselves, but, robed
only in the sheets of their beds, strutted about the
streets, reminding one of Second Adventists in their
white robes, prepared for ascension to the New Jerusa-
lem, and impatiently awaiting the final blast from
Gabriel's trumpet.

My recollections of English money are a mingled
confusion of "bobs," "tanners," and "'af croons; " and
in making change, I was always in a blissful state of
ignorance as to whether I was cheated or not.

The vessel that was to convey me to Port Chalmers,
near Dunedin, left on the second of February. Very
glad I was once more to be on the way, as every day
brought me nearer to my father and brother. Barelli
came to see me off, and I promised to visit him on
reaching Melbourne. The steamer was a small coaster,
but very clean and well appointed. We were seldom
out of sight of land, making the trip less tedious. We
stopped at Gisborn and Napier for a few hours, and
over Sunday at Wellington, where we had a chance to
go on shore. The town is situated at the foot of a high
range of hills, and overlooks a fine harbor. It is prob-

62 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

ably one of the stormiest places in the world, and
earthquakes and tidal waves are by no means rare. It
is the capital of New Zealand ; and the government
buildings occupy a large part of the town. Their
street-railway was admirable ; two cars were attached
to an engine, which ran swiftly and quietly, conveying
a large number of passengers.

CHAPTER IV.

South Island of New Zealand — Dunedin — Oamaru — A Dangerous Climb —
Dogs — An Earthquake — A Naturalist's Paradise — Wild Pigs — Crossing a
Stream — Remains of the Moa— Journey to the West Coast — Hokitika —
Gold Mines — Edible Fungus — Nelson — A Hard Climb and a Day's Sport —
Bedstead Gully — Collingwood Caves — Caves at Takaka and Bird Remains.

WE landed at Port Chalmers on the eighth of Feb-
ruary, the rain descending in torrents, and the wind
blowing a gale. All the Dunedin passengers started
for the railway station, a miserable little shed, so small
that more than half of us were compelled to stand out-
side in the drenching rain, waiting for the train. An
American railroad company treating its passengers in
that way, would be boycotted. The train came at last,
and we went on to Dunedin. To my great joy, I saw
my father standing on the platform. He looked the
handsomest man in all the world to me, and in meeting
him the discomforts of my long journey were forgotten.
We were soon at the hotel, where I met my brother
Shelley.

What a happy experience it is, when far away, to
meet friends from home ! How interested we are in
the most trivial affairs connected with their lives and
experiences ! It was a joyous party we three made
that evening at the Queen's Hotel, as we sat about the

63

64 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

glowing grate, for the night was chilly, exchanging
news and relating experiences till long past midnight.

Dunedin is a large, well-built city. The gardens and
public buildings, particularly the Museum and Libraiy,
make it evident that the people intend to have the
best. The next evening, father commenced a course
of geological lectures, which was well attended. We
had a stereopticon, and after the lecture was delivered,
illustrations were shown and explained.

We used the oxyhydrogen lime-light, and one of
Middleton's lanterns threw upon the screen a fifteen-
foot picture of startling clearness and brilliancy.

Shelley sold tickets when not employed as advance-
agent, and I manipulated the lantern. The course
once started in a place, there was little to do in the
daytime, and we used to collect and examine the
objects of interest about the country.

We made friends, and enemies too, wherever we
went. Father's lectures were only popular with the
liberal classes, the bigoted know-it-alls doing their best
to keep people from turning out; but, as usual in
such cases, they made advertising-agents of themselves,
for the more they talked, the larger our audiences
grew.

The hotel proprietors and saloon-keepers did not like
us very well, for we never drank at their bars or treated
others. We seldom tipped the porters or waiters, as
we were not far enough advanced in the civilization

OAMARU 65

of the Australasians to appreciate the necessity of
paying for gentlemanly treatment.

One fine morning, Shelley and I started out with a
party of ladies and gentlemen to visit Fern Glen, and
a very pleasant little picnic we had. We found the
English girls to be fine walkers, for at the end of the
day's ramble they showed no signs of fatigue. The
miniature waterfall at the top of the glen is completely
framed by a luxuriant growth of ferns, making an
exceedingly pretty picture.

We ate our dinner in the forest, where the little green
parrots squeaked and chattered in the tree-tops, and at
dusk, loaded with trophies, we wended our way home-
ward.

On the twentieth of February, we left Dunedin for
Oamaru, where we gave two courses of six lectures
each. One is impressed as he enters Oamaru with the
beauty and cleanliness of the town, as wooden struc-
tures are almost unknown. All the houses are built of
a handsome, cream-colored limestone which abounds in
that section. The stone is so soft when first taken
from the quarry that it can be cut with an ordinary
saw and chisel. On exposure to the air it hardens, and
enough lime is dissolved by the rain and crystallized
between the blocks to fill up the crevices, the whole
building becoming literally one piece.

Fossil or petrified shells were very common at
Oamaru, and we found large numbers of them in the

66

cliffs by the seashore. One day while out collecting,
the tide came in so rapidly as to entirely cut off my
retreat, and I undertook to climb the precipitous cliff
about one hundred feet high. When I had ascended
about two-thirds of the way, I came to a place where
I could neither go up nor down.

Calling for help was useless, for I was miles from the
nearest house. I tried to think of some way to extri-
cate myself from my perilous position, and, clinging
as best I could to a jutting prominence of the rock,
took out my pocket-knife and began cutting steps in
the limestone cliff. It was tiresome work, but a look
at the angry waves seventy feet below would make me
turn again to the cliff, resolved to conquer. How
cautiously I pulled myself up step by step ! My legs
trembled so from the strain of holding the weight of
my body in such a cramped position, that I was in
momentary peril of falling. A plant of New Zealand
flax, with its long green leaves, hung invitingly over
the edge of the cliff above my head.

At last its strong, tough blades came within my
grasp, and drawing myself up to the top I lay for half
an hour exhausted and trembling, thinking how deli-
cious is life.

We left Oamaru early in March. Father visited the
great Tasman Glacier at the foot of Mount Cook, where
he nearly lost his life in swimming the Tasman River.
In the mean time Shelley and I had gone to the city

DOGS 67

of Christchurch, where we made arrangements for
two courses of lectures, thus putting everything in
readiness for father when he came.

We occupied the Theatre Royal, and the auditorium
was nightly filled with an enthusiastic audience.

Dogs ! The Australian colonists excel in the variety,
size, and number of their dogs, and my advice to per-
sons who prefer to eat and sleep sans Canis familiaris,
is to give those countries a wide berth.

Every household supports its army of great brutes
that barrack about the houses, or, when off duty, forage
the neighboring fields and streets, making a pedestrian's
journey as dangerous as a walk in an Indian jungle.
The less property a man possesses, the more dogs he
requires to guard it, and if he has five or six half-
starved and poorly clad children there must of neces-
sity be two or three great dogs to keep them company.
On every railway train, running under the seats of the
cars was a long box, into which dogs belonging to the
passengers were forced, and conversation along the road
was enlivened by their muffled yelps. It was a laugh-
able sight to see the guard removing the curs from their
den, after they had been confined for half a day, jolting
over the rough road.

As he opened the door, which was on the outside of
the car, a terrific uproar arose, and half a dozen heads
with eyes protruding and tongues hanging out — each
ugly visage a study of intense eagerness — were thrust

68 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

out of the opening. Sometimes the performance was
varied by the canines pushing their way past the guard
and running about the track, followed by the train
hands, the train being detained to await their capture.

People often came to our lectures accompanied by
their " intelligent and sagacious " pets. My usual
question to a man as he entered was, " Do these dogs
belong to you ? " — " Yes, sir." — " Will you be so kind
as to send them home ? We do not allow dogs inside
the building." — " Right you are. 'Ere, you brutes,
'ome with you ! " and away would go the dogs, to
return again in five minutes, awaiting a chance to sneak
in. On such occasions I usually wore strong, heavy
boots, and if chance gave me a good fair kick at " man's
faithful friend," he was not likely to return.

One evening a large black brute came skulking in
behind his master. I endeavored by my usual methods
to persuade him to retire, but he evaded me, and an
English dude, with excessively thin legs, received the
full force of my argument on his shin. My copious
apologies were drowned in the groans of the " Kickee,"
who limped away, rubbing his injured member. I ex-
pected he would send the police to interview me, but
they never came, and he may have died on the way
home for aught I know to the contrary. It was too
bad.

Sometimes when the dogs escaped my vigilance, and
entered, the lecture-hall was turned into an arena for

CHRISTCHURCH 69

a dog-fight. In my exasperation I used to think that
if all dogdom were heaped together, I should like to
stand about half a mile off with the most destructive
of modern Gatling guns, and turn the crank until the
last of the race expired with a howl.

I liked the country about Christchurch very much.
The city, about four miles from the seacoast, is in a
wide, fertile plain. There are many fine buildings about
the city, and some elegant residences a short distance
into the country. The Avon River, a clear, cool stream,
well stocked with English trout, flows through the
town. The museum, one of the best I ever visited,
was a great attraction to us. Much of our time was
passed there.

Shelley and I were persuaded one evening to join
the Mutual Imps, a secret theatrical society, hold-
ing its meetings every Sunday evening. I had my
doubts as to its pretentious, but in sport concluded to
join it.

On arriving at the rooms we, with several other fools,
were blindfolded, and marched about, a drum, an organ,
and a concertina, forming the band. After inhaling
more tobacco-smoke than I hope to during the remain-
der of my life, we were each presented with a pipe and
glass, the bandages were removed, and we opened our
eyes upon a scene of carousal.

A few songs and speeches were the only redeeming
features to this midnight revel, and I left with the

70 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

deepest feelings of disgust and shame. Father escaped
all this, as he had no impish propensities.

The next morning as I lay half awake, the bed was
shaken violently. Opening my eyes, I saw that every-
thing was on the move. " Earthquake ! " shouted Shel-
ley, as he jumped from the bed. The house rocked like
a boat at sea when there is a long swell, for the earth
waves could be distinctly felt. A low, underground
rumbling like distant thunder accompanied the phenom-
enon. As earthquakes are very frequent in Christ-
church, no one paid much attention to this one, and
in half an hour it was apparently forgotten.

One morning toward the last of March, we three
started with a Mr. Hall, an Irish gentleman, for an
excursion into the country. Our destination was Mr.
Hall's country residence at Motenau. After a long
drive over a dreary country, we came to the fertile
fields and meadows around Motenau. Mr. Hall's house,
situated near the edge of the cliff, overlooked the little
island of Motenau and the broad ocean.

The country was undulating, traversed by deep
ravines, which often oblige travellers to make a circuit
of many miles to reach a place not half the distance in a
straight line. From the sea the hills rose to mountains,
and were in some places covered with forest.

It was a charming spot, and a paradise for a natural-
ist. Cormorants (Phalacrocorax novcehollandice) sat in
flocks upon the cliffs, or dived beneath the surface of

A NATURALIST'S PAKADISE 71

the water in search of their prey. Mockmocks (Anthor-
nis melanura) sang sweetly in the wooded ravines.
Wild pigeons (Corpophaga novcezealandice), as large as
half-grown domestic fowls, flew high overhead, whis-
tling with their wings, or sat upon the topmost branches
of the highest trees. Oyster-catchers (Hcematopus long-
irostris) ran along the sand, uttering their piping cry.
Paradise "ducks" (Casarca variegata), in reality a
handsome species of goose, grazed in the meadows in
pairs, and flew to meet the intruder as if a gun were
unknown. Wekas ( Ocydromus australis) or Maori hens
with wings too small for flight, skulked among the
bushes, or came running toward us as we ate our
luncheon under the trees. Little yellow-breasted robins
(Petroeca albifrons) scratched among the dead leaves
for worms, and were so astonishingly tame as some-
times to alight upon our hats or gun-barrels as we
wandered through the thick growths.

Shelley and I were in our element. We would start
off early in the morning, and after shooting all we could
carry, would return and make skins of our captures,
sitting under the trees near the house where we had
set up our boxes.

Many times while thus engaged, the Maori hens
would come out and watch for a chance to run off with
our tools. They are the cheekiest birds I have ever
seen. They would steal a man's blanket or the buttons
off his clothes while he slept, if they had the chance.

72 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

Wild pigs were very numerous, and rooted so much,
that they seriously damaged the pasturing. Men are
regularly employed to keep the numbers within bounds.
They hunt them with immense dogs, that, on finding a
pig, seize him by the ear in such a manner that he can-
not tear them with his savage tusks. The squealing
of the infuriated pig brings to the spot the hunter,
armed with a heavy spear having a cross-bar above the
blade to keep the pig at a respectable distance. This
he plunges through the tough hide of the bristling
beast, soon despatching him. Then he cuts off the tail

THE SPEAR.

or the snout, or both, and leaves the carcass to decay.
Sometimes the owner of a sheep-run pays for the tails,
and perhaps the owner of the next run pays the same
price for the snouts. Accordingly, the hunters exchange
and make double pay for every pig killed. Again, they
cut off the tails of the sow pigs, and let them go, so that
the business may not fall off by the extinction of the
animals. When both these methods fail they resort to
the trick of manufacturing the tails and snouts out of
raw hide, some being so ingeniously made as almost
to defy detection.

On one occasion, Shelley and I went to hunt birds
up a ravine. The walls on each side were steep and

CROSSING A STREAM 73

high, and when one had entered, there was no way of
getting out, until the upper end was reached.

We were often obliged to wade a small river that
swung from one side to the other of the narrow valley.
The stream was not over three feet deep, and did not
much inconvenience us. The valley broadened as we
advanced, and Shelley put on his shoes, thinking there
would be no more wading. However, soon after we
came to another ford, and he called out, —

"Say, old man, carry me across, will you? "

"All right. Jump on my back."

He climbed on. In one hand were my shoes and
gun, and in the other, a bunch of birds. Shelley's
hands also were occupied by his gun and birds.

" I am afraid you will fall off before we get half way
across. You don't seem to be on very securely," I
remarked.

But he shouted, " Go ahead ! Hurry up, or I shall
fall off before you start."

"Now you had better get " —

I was about to argue the point, but he interrupted
me with, —

"Oh, go ahead! I'm all right; and hurry up, or
I shall fall off sure enough."

At first the bed of the river was pebbly, and we
progressed very well, but Shelley began to slip down
little by little, and I again asked him if we had not
better return.

74 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

" Now, for Heaven's sake, go on I Hurry up ! You
can get across sooner than you can go back."

He was so eager, and his tone so irresistibly funny,
that I began to laugh, and, to make matters worse, he
slipped another inch or two down my back. I bent
forward to make it easier for him, but thereby only
succeeded in helping his downward progress.

" Here, what the Devil are you doing ? Straighten
up ! You are pushing me off . Go ahead ! Hurry up !
Stop laughing, and we'll get there all right."

A step or two forward brought me into mud, and to
move another foot was impossible. By this time I was
speechless, and almost breathless with laughter.

" What's the matter with you now ! Go on ! Oh,
I can't hang on any longer ! " and with a series of
groans, resembling the chromatic scale for the clarinet,
he dropped off my coat-tails into the water.

Remains of the gigantic Moa (Dinornis giganted),
an extinct bird, standing from twelve to fifteen feet
high, are sometimes found at Motenau. Several days
previous to our arrival, a bed of their bones had been
discovered on a ranch not far from Mr. Hall's house.
They were found embedded twenty feet deep in stiff
clay, and a small stream wearing away the earth on
one side had exposed them.

With the aid of a Scotchman, whom we employed,
we set to work early one morning to exhume if possible
some perfect bones. Our man dug away the earth

EXHUMING THE MOA

above, leaving us room to work ; then by means of our
knives, we carefully whittled away the clay, taking
out the fossils. I never dreamed that one could be-
come so interested in " dry bones." Hundreds of the
largest birds that ever
existed must have per-
ished and been covered
up here. Some of
the single bones were
longer than my leg,
and thick as my knee.
All parts of the ani-
mals were found ; toes,
ribs, vertebrae, skulls,
sternums, leg bones,
and even the small,
horny rings of the
windpipe, all in excel-
lent condition. To-
gether with these, we
discovered the remains
of a gigantic eagle,
which lived with the

MOA AND MAN.

Moa, and must have
been buried at the same time. We came across
numerous pieces of charcoal, plainly indicating that
fire had driven the birds to this place, where they had
perished, probably killing one another in their frantic

76 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

efforts to escape. Every evening we returned loaded
with monstrous bones, and excited with our discov-
eries.

Early in April we bade good-by to our hospitable
friends before starting for Christchurch, where we
packed up and shipped our things to Nelson, while we
went across the island to the west coast. We travelled
by rail to Springfield, where we took the stage. The
road was rough, the wind cold, while a drizzling rain
completed the wretchedness of the day. The scarcity
of trees, and the quantity of brown bunch grass, re-
minded me of the worst parts of Nevada. The summits
of the steep, rocky mountains were veiled in clouds,
and the entire view was barren and desolate.

About nine o'clock P.M., we arrived at the comfort-
able little hotel on the banks of the Bealy River.
Here we stood about the large, open fireplace warming
ourselves, like turtles in the sunshine. The supper
was excellent, the beds comfortable ; but at two o'clock
the next morning we were all aroused to continue our
journey in the jolting stage. One poor fellow declared
he would not get up if his life depended on it, so we
drove on, leaving him to his warm bed.

The road on one side sometimes hugged the moun-
tain, while the other overhung a roaring torrent hun-
dreds of feet below. We crossed and recrossed rivers,
which threatened to overturn us in their mad rush.
We climbed hills, and rattled at full speed down steep

THE BIDE TO THE PLAIN 77

descents, which made us hold our breath, almost
expecting to be dashed to pieces among the rocks.
Morning came at last, and the sun rose clear, brighten-
ing up the snow-clad peaks with dazzling splendor.

After reaching the highest point, the rocks and crags
gave place to lofty trees, bushes, shrubs, and ferns in-
numerable. Cold, sparkling streams of water dashed
in spray over the ledges ; birds sang in their leafy re-
treats ; and butterflies flitted about in the warm sun-
light. Tree-ferns were here seen in their wildest
beauty, their contiguous tops making a roof of living
green, while their trunks answered for pillars of sup-
port. At one place where the stage stopped a few
moments, I collected thirteen kinds of ferns as a me-
mento of Otara Gorge and the ride to the plain.

In the afternoon we reached Hokitika, passing the
gold diggings on the road. There had been a "rush"
just before we arrived, and many miners were living
in tents, in spite of the rainy weather. The gold had
been found about twenty feet below the surface, and
must have been very difficult to procure, as the ground
was saturated with water, and covered with a thick
growth of forest.

It is surprising what these men will endure to obtain
gold. One would think, that, after so much toil, they
would put it to a better use than they usually do. A
man makes a big haul, and away he goes with his
friends to Hokitika, where they carouse as long as their

78 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

gold lasts. Then they return to their holes in the
ground, by this time half filled with water, and set to
work, often without the comforts of life, to make
another lucky hit with the same termination.

Hokitika consists of a long row of houses on the
seashore, and looks like the mushroom towns of Cali-
fornia, which live a mad life for a few months, then are
deserted and forgotten, a wonder to the traveller who
comes across a town without an inhabitant save owls
and wolves. Such towns are numerous in the mining
districts of California, and it gives one a feeling of
intense loneliness to wander through their deserted
streets, and look on the evidences of life and industry
now left to decay.

We did not consider it wise to try a course of lectures
in Hokitika, and so left on the little steamer for the
North. The sea was very smooth, and on the way we
saw many porpoises. They frequently jumped out of
water, raced ahead of the vessel, or dived under it,
apparently in high spirits.

We stopped at Graymouth, where an exchange of
cargo was made. This was a very pretty place, on the
Gray River. California quail had been introduced,
and I could hear their well-remembered call from the
wooded hills near by.

Great quantities of dog's-ear — a species of fungus,
which grows on decayed logs — are collected at Gray-
mouth, and shipped to China for making soup. The

A HARD CLIMB 79

forests are cut down over large tracts, for the purpose
of growing the fungus, and many people support them-
selves by gathering it. During a walk, we saw a
mammoth white puff-ball. It was on a hillside, and,
if strong enough, would have made a comfortable seat.
As I sent it rolling down the hill, it looked like a
gigantic snowball. We were informed by the inhabit-
ants that they grew to that size in one night, and that
a group of them on a distant hillside is sometimes mis-
taken by a shepherd for a flock of sheep.

Starting in the evening, we arrived the next morning
at Nelson, where we soon engaged a hall. We used to
collect shells on the seashore every day, and added
many new kinds to our collection. The gigantic
Pinna zelandica, or horse-muscle, was very plentiful
here. They live in the mud, point downward, and
congregate in beds as oysters do.

One evening, after the lecture, a party of young men,
myself among the number, set out to climb the main
range of mountains, where we expected to find some
good shooting. After walking about five miles, we
reached the base of the mountains. The night was
very warm and dark. The mountains were fearfully
steep, often obliging us to cling to the grass to keep
from falling. I have climbed mountains in many of
our Western States ; ascended Mano Pass, California,
where there is one continuous climb with scarcely an
interruption for five or six thousand feet ; followed the

80 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

steep trails of Yosemite Valley, and scaled the high
granite peaks in that vicinity ; wandered over the
Nevada desert mountains, covered with loose stones
and light volcanic sand, where one sinks ankle deep at
every step ; — but with all these, I have never before
or since pulled myself up such steeps as the sides of
these New Zealand mountains. It seemed as if I should
expire of thirst before reaching the top. At half-past
one A.M., thoroughly exhausted, we arrived at the
summit. A short distance down, on the other side of
the ridge, we found a small spring. No one, unless
similarly situated, can appreciate our pleasure in
drinking.

We built a large fire, and all lay down to sleep. I
was awakened early by a shot fired by one of the party,
and, looking up, I saw a number of large, bright-colored
parrots on a neighboring tree. I soon had the satisfac-
tion of bringing down two birds in excellent plumage.
They were not very wild, and we shot most of the flock.
They turned out to be a bird I had long wanted to see
alive, the Kea {Nestor notabilis), interesting from the
fact that it is the only flesh-eating parrot known. By
some strange freak they have deserted their native
food of nuts and wild fruits for mutton. They do not
take the trouble to kill their intended victim, but
quietly perch upon his back, and with their strong,
sharp beaks, tear away the wool and skin, and devour
the flesh arid fat of the living sheep.

A FLESH-EATING PARROT 81

The war against these destructive birds has been
waged to such an extent that they are now becoming
rare, and I consider myself fortunate in securing five.
We saw several deer, two wild pigs, and a drove of
wild goats. One of the party shot an old male goat,
and carried the skin home as a trophy. We visited
the deserted copper mines where native copper had

THE KEA.

been found in large masses. The expense of mining
and packing it across the almost unscalable mountains,
however, had been too great to leave any profit.

Towards evening an exhausted crew might have been
seen slowly trudging Nelsonward. When I arrived at
the hotel I had scarcely strength enough to drag my-
self up the stairs to my room. Father was writing as
I entered, and, laughing heartily, greeted me with,
"Well, you look as if you had been on a spree." I
tried to "materialize" a smile, but the conditions were
not favorable.

82 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

In the museum at Nelson were many bones of the
Moa labelled, " Collingwood caves;" and father con-
cluded to send me there, while he and Shelley went to
Wellington.

The steamer in which I started was a regular tub,
smelling so strongty of grease that I began to feel sea-
sick the instant I stepped aboard, and was soon flat on
my back. If there is anything that makes a man dis-
gusted it is to be seasick when every one else is in high
spirits. This was my case ; and the merry clatter of
dishes, as the jovial passengers cracked their jokes at
dinner, was exasperating to me, lying in my bunk wres-
tling with a rebellious stomach, and getting very much
worsted in the struggle. It would seem by the spas-
modic contortions, and outlandish somersaults there,
that a party of devils were holding high carnival.

We anchored just outside of Collingwood in the even-
ing, and went ashore in the small boat.

Next morning I started on foot for the caves, which
were ten miles distant. The wagon road led across a
barren stretch of country, then turned off to the right,
and followed the course of a turbid stream. Dark,
rocky mountains, some of them covered with snow, rose
ahead. The sky was overcast with heavy clouds, and
distant thunder could be heard. Now and then I
passed a miner's cabin, where half a dozen red-headed
children would be seen, flattening their noses against
the window-panes to view the passing traveller.

"BEDSTEAD GULLY" 83

I stopped a few minutes at a place called the Devil's
Boots to observe the singular shapes of a number of
isolated, water-worn masses of limestone. Some ingen-
ious miner had utilized part of a cave for a kitchen,
drilling a hole through the roof for a chimney. The
people for the most part were Scotch, and I often had
considerable difficulty in understanding them.

After climbing a high limestone hill, covered with
tree-ferns and "supple jacks," or climbing vines, I came
to a little valley among the hills, where half a dozen
miners' cabins clustered like barnacles in the crevices
of the wave-worn rocks. This place was my destina-
tion, and it went by the very inappropriate name of
"Bedstead Gully;" for, as I afterward learned to my
sorrow, there was not a bedstead in the place.

Introducing myself to the good-looking Scotch
woman who answered my knock, I was soon seated
beside the comfortable fire. I was given a corner in
the low attic where two bags stretched on a couple of
poles and covered with a quilt did service for a bed.
The proprietor came home at six o'clock from the
mine, and supper was served on the bare wooden
table.

I was surprised to see how really contented and
happy these poor people seemed. Here they were
thousands of miles from their native country, shut in
among the mountains in a wild, remote corner of a
thinly populated island, far from all that makes life

84 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

dear, or even endurable to many, — yet, in spite of
poverty, appearing satisfied with their life. At last
the children were tucked away for the night in their
dark corner, and, taking my candle, I went up to my
little loft ; but very little did I sleep, for on one side
my heels, on the other my knees, protruded from the
narrow bed, and no amount of arranging could induce
the scant clothing to cover my entire body at once ;
and as the cold breeze fanned the unprotected portion,
I came to the conclusion, before morning, that I should
need considerable toughening before I could really enjoy
that mode of living.

The next morning, with pick and shovel, I started for
the caves, which were only about half a mile distant;
and after wandering about in the wet ferns and grasses,
I came to the mouth of a very large cave, where a brook
ran directly into the hill. I cautiously let myself down
the rocky opening, and, lighting my candle, began to
explore the gloomy interior. The roof of the cave be-
came higher and higher as I went on, until finally the
passage expanded into an immense hall. The ceiling
was covered with stalactites, which hung down like
great icicles, beautifully translucent, and sparkling
crystals reflected the candle's light from the sides of
the cave. In many places large pillars, white as snow,
rose from the floor, looking very ghostly in the dim
light. No sound disturbed the almost deathly stillness,
save the occasional spat of water dropping from the

COLLINGWOOD CAVES 85

ceiling. It seemed as if I had left the busy world, and
entered the fabled abode of gnomes and fairies.

That I might not lose my way in the tortuous
passages, I tore up several old letters, and scattered
the pieces as I wandered along. About half a mile
from the entrance, the stream plunged over a precipice
in a beautiful waterfall. Farther than this I could not
go, as there was no way of descending.

On the ceiling above the fall, many glow-worms had
chosen a home, and, on blowing out the candle, one
could imagine himself under a starlit sky. ' Blind
crickets were numerous, and I procured quite a num-
ber. I was loath to return, as I had become enthusiastic
over the weird scenes through which I had passed.

On reaching the mouth of the cave again, I began
digging in the soft dirt of the floor for Moa bones ; but
after working some time, and finding nothing, I gave
up, and went in search of other caves. There were
many, for the whole hill seemed to be a labyrinth of
underground excavations, and I soon discovered one in
which bones were buried.

The birds seemed to have fallen down the holes, and,
unable to get out, had perished, leaving their bones to
tell the tale. They were evidently a much smaller
species than we found at Motenau, and the bones were
not in such a good state of preservation. During the
time I remained, I dug out parts of two skeletons, but,
thinking it hardly worth while to stay longer, left

86 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

Bedstead Gully for Collingwood, where I took the
little steamer for Takaka.

On the wharf the captain introduced me to a Mr.
Lewis, who, I understood, knew of places where Moa
remains could be found. Mr. Lewis kindly invited me
to his house. He had heard of us through the papers,
besides being acquainted with the writings of my
father.

We started on foot up the valley, and, as there had
been heavy rains, the roads were very muddy ; but I
was so interested with the country through which we
passed that the walk of ten miles seemed short.

Great trees, covered from bottom to top with climb-
ing vines, grew on each side the road; and tree-
ferns, with their graceful, spreading fronds, filled the
ravines; while above and beyond all were the moun-
tains. Birds were very numerous. The Tuie, or
parson bird (Prosthemadera novcezealandice), with his
white choker, greeted us from the tree-tops ; Wekas
ran across the road ; Kakas (Nestor meridionalis) rattled
and squealed in the dense thickets ; Blue Ducks (Hy-
menolcemus malacorhynchus) flew up the river, and
wild pigeons whistled above us in their rapid flight.

We passed coal beds of good thickness on the way,
and saw fossil shells in the rocks, where a railroad
cutting had been made. At last we arrived at our
destination, and, after relieving our shoes from their
burden of mud, entered the house. Mrs. Lewis was a

COLLECTING BIRD BONES 87

pleasant and intelligent lady, and everything about
their home indicated education and refinement.

While I remained at Takaka it rained almost con-
stantly; but we managed two or three times to get out
and visit the caves. In one, into which we lowered
ourselves by a block and tackle from a beam placed
over the opening, we found almost the entire skeleton
of a Moa, together with the scattered bones of several
other birds. This discovery greatly pleased me, as the
skeleton was in a good state of preservation. We
found about a quart of small pebbles, rounded and
polished, which had evidently served to grind the food
in the bird's gizzard ; and intermixed with the pebbles
were fragments of land shells that it may have fed
upon.

There were many skeletons of small birds, and parts
of a large lizard near the Moa, which probably lived
and died at the same time. We had a hard time pull-
ing ourselves and the bones up the thirty feet to the
opening; and, as we had remained in the cave longer
than we intended, one of the neighbors had come out
in search of us.

I devoted the remainder of my time in Takaka to
collecting birds and insects. One of the most interest-
ing of these was the Weta, a very large, spiny cricket
with ferocious-looking jaws. We found them under
the bark of trees, and they always showed fight on
being disturbed.

88 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

Mr. Lewis kept cows, and his wife made the best
butter I ever tasted. New Zealand butter generally
has a fine flavor ; whether this can be attributed to the
climate, the grass, or the cows, I know not. Many a
time, when tired, hot, and thirsty, on my tramps in
Australia and New Guinea, I have wished myself back
in Mr. Lewis's dining-room, before a bowl of cool milk
and a slice of his wife's excellent bread.

CHAPTER V.

The North Island of New Zealand — A Drive on the Beach — Beautiful Shells —
A Wreck — Wanganui Fossils — Among the Maoris — A Cool Reception at
the Thames Gold Fields — Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire.

I LEFT, the latter part of May, for Nelson, and there
took the steamer for Wellington, where I met father.
The next morning, early (two A.M.), we started in
the stage for Wanganui, whither Shelley had already
gone. We arrived at the seashore on the west coast,
where a change of horses was made, and from that time
the stage journey of over thirty miles was on the
smooth, hard, sandy beach. This route can be taken
only when the tide is favorable, and that was the reason
of our starting from Wellington at such an early hour.
I was surprised to see on the beach a great many
beautiful shells washed ashore in a recent storm, and
was watching for an opportunity to gather a few when
one of the horses fell, breaking the harness in many
places. No sooner was the stage at a standstill than
I was out, speedily filling my bag. The shells were in
rows, as left by the high tide. Striped Volutes, Top-
shells, Murexes, Bullas, and thousands of brilliantly
colored Pectens and Olives followed the lines of sea-
weed ; some of them were alive and crawling back to
the water. Father, who had been busily engaged trying

89

90 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

to convert a missionary, had not noticed them, and was
now standing among the other passengers watching the
interesting operation of splicing harness ; but when I
held up a few shells, he straightway, satchel in hand,
began scooping in everything he came across.

The harness was patched all too soon, but it was not
until my carpet bag refused to close its jaws, and one
of my shirts, with arms and neck tied up, presented a
decided aldermanic appearance. The shells were most
abundant opposite Capity Island, and I have no doubt
we could have collected a wagon-load. It is only after
storms they are so plentiful, and many times, the driver
informed me, not a shell is to be seen.

The Maoris formerly must have lived largely on
mollusks ; for pippie shells in mounds, from ten to
twenty feet high, could be seen above the beach.

We passed the wreck of a great iron ship, where
several hundred Swedish emigrants narrowly escaped
losing their lives. The captain mistook a Maori camp-
fire for the government light at the southern extremity
of the north island, and after navigating thousands of
miles of stormy seas in safety, as he was endeavoring to
pass between the islands, ran his vessel ashore within
fifty miles of Wellington — his destination.

We came very near leaving father behind where we
stopped for dinner. He went out to admire the fruit-
trees, and we were nearly out of sight when he came
back. I was seated on top of the stage, and thought

FOSSILS

93

of course he was inside. Imagine my surprise when,
on looking round, I beheld him running at full speed,
and waving his hat in the most fran-
tic manner. As he came up, I could
not suppress a laugh at his chagrined
appearance.

We reached Wanganui late that
night, where we remained till the
middle of June. We used every
day to go out across the river to
some clay cliffs, and get out the fos-
sils that there abounded. When
practicable, the specimens were taken
out half enclosed in a square piece
of clay, which greatly improved their
appearance. We made a short jour-
ney to the seashore to collect, where
the cliffs were as full of the remains
of marine life as a generous pudding
of plums.

Father said it was the finest local-
ity for fossils that he had ever seen
in all his travels. There was one
stratum near the bottom of the cliff
in which we found the loveliest pearl muscles, with the
nacre as bright as the colors of the peacock. It was a
very delicate piece of work whittling round them, but
once out, they were, beyond all comparison, the most

MAORI IDOL.

94 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

beautiful fossil-shells I have ever seen. The beds
were probably of recent formation, or the nacreous
lustre would have been destroyed.

As we unearthed the specimens, we wrapped them in
newspapers, so that they might arrive at our far-away
home in safety.

We walked on up the beach, coming to new and
interesting beds, until, a short distance up a river, we
saw a small house, where we asked for supper and a
bed. The lady of the house, a Maori half-caste, after
satisfying herself we were not tramps, invited us in,
where we sat before a comfortable fire while she cooked
some eels for our supper. They were large and very
good, and had been smoked and dried before being
roasted. We slept on the floor, and the fleas were so
numerous that father declared they must be having
a rebellion in the legs of his pants, with the battle of
Bull Run in one, and Gettysburg in the other, there
was such a charging back and forth.

On the way back the next day, I tore my pants very
badly in climbing the cliff. We were destitute of pins,
needles, and thread ; consequently, I was in a quandary,
as my modesty forbade my going back to town flying
a flag of truce from the rear ; and besides, the breezes
were rather cool. At last a happy thought struck me.
I made a needle from a bit of hard wood, and, with a
strip of New Zealand flax, did my tailoring in a very
secure if not a very handsome manner.

A MAORI.

AMONG THE MAORIS 97

On our way to town we passed through the Maori
village, thus having a chance to see what the people
were like and how they lived. Many of them were
rather good-looking, especially the younger women.
The old men were so ornamented (?) with tattoo as to
present an appearance anything but prepossessing.
Some of their buildings were very homelike, and many
were decorated with carvings.

We left for Auckland the next day, and, after deliver-
ing two courses of lectures there, proceeded to the
Thames gold fields, where we remained two weeks.
During our stay here it rained most of the time, and
the houses were so cold and comfortless that we had
often to go to bed in the daytime, to get warm. My
feelings were not enviable, for I was afflicted with that
distressing disease, homesickness. Life for a time
ceased to be a pleasure, and seemed little better than
a nightmare. It is with feelings of disgust I recall the
low, dark, shabby houses ; the dirty, crooked streets ;
with the incessant downpour of rain, leaving chill
and discomfort everywhere.

After we returned to Auckland, father and Shelley
went to the Hot Lake district, a place of great interest,
known the world over for its water-made pink and
white terraces, which now no longer exist, as they were
destroyed in the recent terrible volcanic disturbances
in that neighborhood.

Although I very much desired to see the place, the

98 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

thoughts of the miles of stormy waves to be encoun-
tered in a small boat, and my past experiences of that
kind, quenched my ardor, and I concluded to remain
behind. My comfort was not much increased by this
arrangement, for one day while walking on the shore
several miles from town I was caught in the rain, and
drenched, and in attempting to take a short cut back
lost my way. Failing in the approaching darkness to
find a house, I was obliged to spend the night on the
beach in a tumbled-down shed, where I vainly strove
to keep warm under a pile of wet oyster-bags, wishing
myself a corpse in a quiet locality where it was warm.
The next morning I crawled out stiff as Rip Van
Winkle after his protracted slumber, but with this
difference between us: I had not slept a wink. Dis-
covering the right road, I " made tracks " through the
mud with all possible speed for Auckland, and on reach-
ing the hotel, immediately went to bed.

CHAPTER VI.

To Australia and a Trip to Panton Hill and the Plenty Ranges — Giant King-
fishers—Parrots—Beautiful Beetles — Pouched Bears — Collecting on the
Yara River — The Duckbill Platypus — Song of the Lyre-Bird — Big Trees —
Our House at Pheasant Creek — Shooting Lyre-Birds — Cooking Rice — Giant
Worms —A Memorable Day's Hunt — Stalking a Lyre-Bird.

WE left Auckland toward the end of July for
Australia, arriving on the last of the month in the
magnificent harbor of Sydney. I had very little
respect for American vessels after spending one week
on board the great, unwieldy "City of Sydney," and I
consider the " Zealandia," although she rolls badly, a
better boat in every way. When we landed, the sun
was shining brightly, the air was warm, and the city
clean and handsome ; so before noon I only remembered
the cold and stormy termination of our New Zealand
experience as one does a bad dream.

We visited the Park, the Museum, and the Picture
Gallery, all of which were rich in treasures. Sydney
seemed more like an American city than any place I
had seen since leaving home, and I took to it at once.

The next day we left for Melbourne by rail, for we
had had enough of the " briny mighty " for a time.
Father had an engagement with a society in Melbourne,
to lecture in the Bijou Theatre. As by this arrange-
ment Shelley and I had nothing to do, we concluded
to go on a bird-collecting expedition.

99

100 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

The Frenchman, Barelli, in one of his talks about
Panton Hill, his home, had said it would be just the
spot for collecting ; so we started in the coach for his
place, with our guns, arid a large trunk loaded with a
three weeks' outfit of ammunition and other supplies.
It was a beautiful country through which we rode, —
there had been plenty of rain, and the hedges and fields
were the brightest green. The contrast between New
Zealand and Australia is very striking. The New
Zealand forest is a tangled mass of trees, vines, and
ferns, while in Australia the trees are generally so far
apart that they give the country a very park-like
appearance. One could with ease and comfort drive
in a carriage miles through the unbroken woods.

We reached Panton Hill after dark, and procured
through Barelli a good room at the little hotel. The
proprietors were French people, and we received such
kind treatment at their hands, that, on their account, I
have liked the French ever since.

The village of Panton Hill was a collection of
about a dozen small houses, a store, a school-building,
a church, and perhaps a jail. It had at one time been
quite a mining town, but the gold had been washed out
of the creek beds, and nothing but heaps of stones and
gravel remained, while numerous pits and shafts marked
where the precious metal had been found.

The following morning I was awakened at daylight
by the most uproarious laughter proceeding from across

THE LAUGHING JACKASS

101

the way. Poking my head out of the window, I saw
on the limb of a gum-tree three laughing jackasses
indulging in a morning song. In great haste I seized
my gun, and soon reduced the trio to a duet. The
bird was not dead when I picked him up, and he bit
my fingers desperately. The laughing jackass (JDacelo
giyantea) is about the size of a crow and colored white,

THE LAUGHING JACKASS.

gray, and blue. He belongs to the kingfisher family,
and lives largely on snakes and lizards, which he
squeezes to death between his mandibles. A person
who has never tried the experiment, can form very little
idea of the interest and excitement attending the first
expedition with a gun into the forests of a new country.
Every bird one sees is game, and a careful observer
sees hundreds of things to delight his mind.

102

I shall never forget my first morning in an Australian
"bush." At home most of the sounds one hears in the
woods are as familiar as human voices ; but out here,
under the gums, all is new, and I often found myself
speculating on what the creature could be that made
some of the noises. There were whistling, shouting,
squeaking, crying, laughing, twittering, cooing, and
sounds impossible to name or describe. I soon began
to distinguish the cries of certain birds, and, before I
left Pan ton Hill, most of the songsters in that vicinity
were old friends. They were in fine plumage, and
some of the skins we made here are the brightest in
our cabinet.

We obtained wattle birds (Anthochaera) of several
kinds ; three or four kinds of robins (Petroeca), some
with red, others with yellow or pink breasts ; thick
heads (Pachycephald) ; diamond finches (Pardalotus) ;
two or three kinds of shrikes (G-ymnorhina) ; several
kinds of kingfishers (Halcyon) ; cobbler's awls (Acan-
thorhynchus) ; leather heads (Philemon) ; and several
species of parrots (Aprosmictus, Platycercus, Trichoglos-
sus), among them the gorgeous purple lories, the ele-
gant king parrots, and the noisy blue mountain and
grass paroquets.

Starting early in the morning, the greater part of the
day would be spent in shooting.

On our return, we would prepare the skins, often
spending half the night in this work. Kangaroo

PARROTS

103

ground was a place two or three miles away, where
parrots congregated in vast numbers. They were very
shy, however, and it was not until wounding one that

the rest would come about. Then all the parrots in
the neighborhood would alight in the tree-tops, and set
up a great cry, no doubt trying to drive away the

104 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

enemy At those times I usually shot all I could con-
veniently carry. There was a great difference in their
plumage, for the young were very plain, dull green and
brown colors predominating, while the old males were
gaudy in the extreme. I have frequently seen one bird
displaying scarlet, green, purple, yellow, blue, black,
and white. A large flock of parrots, feeding on a tree,
gives it the appearance of being covered with the
richest flowers; arid I cannot imagine a gayer sight
than such a flock on the wing. They feed largely on
honey, which they extract from the blossoms of the
forest trees ; and it was not uncommon, on picking up
a dead bird, to see the honey streaming from its mouth.

Certain kinds of insects were very abundant, al-
though the Australian spring was yet young. Very
large, flat spiders with hairy legs; scorpions armed with
powerful stings; green centipedes six inches long; mon-
ster cockroaches; and beetles of several kinds and colors
— were found under the bark of decayed trees, under
stones, in old stumps, and on certain plants.

One day a little boy brought us three beetles of
astonishing brilliancy. We had seen the same kind in
the Sydney museum, but had no idea that it would be
our good fortune to find any. Giving the boy a few
pennies, he led the way to a stump in a clearing on
the hillside. The stump, that of an old box gum-tree,
was very punky. As we carefully cut into it, we were
delighted to see the beetles turn out, like hickory-nuts

OPOSSUM HUNTING 105

from their shucks, and we never left the spot until
every piece of that stump large enough to contain a
beetle had been split open.

They were certainly the most lustrous insects I had
ever found. In different lights they looked green, red,
or golden. The males were the most splendid, the pre-
dominating color being gold.

The females were smaller, with more green, red, and
blue on their hard, shelly coverings. We found the
larva, a white grub, which bored holes in the punk,
and filled them up with the refuse as it went on. One
or two other stumps contained the beetles, but none
where we found more than two or three.

We went off with Barelli one bright moonlight night
after opossums (Phalangista). He, Barelli, had a
little clog, which could find the animals faster than we
could shoot them. As soon as the dog barked, we
started for the spot, and always found him sitting
under a tree, looking up into it. Getting the tree
between ourselves and the moon, we could soon see
the opossum, and bring him down. We had shot
seven or eight opossums, three native cats (Dasyurus*),
spotted pouched mammals, — so named, I should ima-
gine, from their dissimilarity, rather than their resem-
blance, to that domestic animal, — and were on our
way home, when we came to a very high tree, with a
large animal crouching near the top. I put a handful
of buckshot into each barrel, and let him have it. The

106 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

gun kicked me so badly that I judged it must have
done considerable execution at the other end ; but the
beast evidently had no intention of coming down, so
Barelli put a bullet through him, and a shower of blood
followed by the creature itself came to the ground. It
proved to be an Australian bear (Phascolarctus), a
pouched animal, weighing about fifty pounds.

One day, when returning from shooting, we came
across another bear in a tree, but, having used all our
ammunition, I armed myself with a stout club, and
started for the top of the high tree. Crawling out on
a branch near the bear, I struck him with my club,
but, instead of knocking him off, only succeeded in
angering him, and, before I could deal him another
blow, he was upon me.

My first thought was to let go my hold, but I soon
changed my mind when I thought of the distance to
drop. I took a firm grip of a limb with my left hand,
and began pounding him with my fist in the most
approved pugilistic manner, and, with a final crack 011
the nose, sent him to the ground, where Shelley soon
despatched him.

After shooting for many days in one locality, the
birds become very scarce within easy walking distance.
They seek more secluded and less noisy districts, where
they will not be molested. So it was at Pan ton Hill.
We started off one morning, well loaded down with
ammunition, food, and blankets, for a couple of days'

ON THE YARA RIVER 107

stay on the Upper Yara River. It was a walk of ten
or twelve miles, but the scenery was so fine we did
not consider the distance.

The Yara, where we struck it, is a very crooked
river, flowing through a lovely green valley, its banks
fringed with gum and wattle trees.

We saw many ducks on the shallow lagoons near the
river, and several of that strange mammal, the duck-
bill Platypus or Ornithorhynchus.

They have webbed feet, and a bill very like a duck's,
but are covered with a soft, fine fur, and look, when in
the water, something like a muskrat. They live in
holes in the bank, the entrance being under water.
They are expert swimmers, and at the flash of a gun
dive like the loon; and although we had some very
good shots, we did not bag a specimen. I much
regretted this, as they are genuine curiosities.

I shot one of the singular little emu wrens (Stipi-
turus malachurus') which are so rare and difficult to
find. He was not much larger than a humming-bird,
and was mottled-brown in color, with long, soft feath-
ers like fur, and a tail very like a sprig of dry grass.

After wandering about the river until we were well
tired out, we applied at a neighboring farmhouse for
a night's lodging. A Fury, personified, with a lower
lip like the trap-door of a tarantula's nest, informed us
that it was the Lord's Day — a fact that had not oc-
curred to us before ; further adding that she would

108 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

admit no one to her house who would desecrate the
sabbath.

I fear our estimation of religious zeal was not
heightened as we turned away to trudge back through
the woods to Panton Hill. Rain prevented us from
camping in the forest. No houses were in sight except
on the other side of the river, and we could find no
way to cross. We lost our way several times, and
became so tired that further progress seemed impossi-
ble. It was Monday morning before we arrived at our
comfortable little room in the hotel. As Shelley
crawled into bed, he grunted out, —

" By George ! wake me up next week."

The next morning, leaving our luggage to come on
in a cart, we started for a trip in the Plenty Ranges.
The journey most of the way was up hill, but the road
was good, the day fine, and we felt in harmony with
our joyous surroundings. Any one hearing our shout-
ing and singing, as we walked along, would know we
were from Yankee-land, no mistake.

We were just in the middle of " Tramp, tramp,'1
when a long, clear whistle, with a crack like a pistol-
shot at the end, stopped us short. Sitting down on
the roadside we listened, and soon the whistle began
again ; then followed the most exquisite mimicry of
many of the songsters of the wood, varied by sounds
resembling the clear tones of a distant bell, the rattle
of a rickety wagon, raspings and gratings that made the

SONG OF THE LYRE-BIRD 109

cold chills run down one's back, whispers, moans, cries,
and laughter. I clearly distinguished the coarse laugh
of the giant kingfisher, the cooing of the dove, the
call of the black and white shrike, the song of the rusty-
backed thrush, the scream of the hawk, and the hoarse
screeching of the cockatoo. Sometimes the song, with
a volume like a large organ, was loud and sweet, and
it seemed as if the musician must be within a stone's-
throw ; then, again, it died away to the faintest whis-
per.

There was a mellow richness in parts that reminded
me of the liquid notes of the clarinet. We sat spell-
bound till the song ceased. I have heard most of our
American songsters, and some of them are very fine,
with voices rich and mellow ; but the mocking-bird
himself cannot compare with this prince of songsters,
the Australian lyre-bird (Menura Victoria^.

This one was just below us in a gully thick with
tree-ferns and scrub, and we did not get sight of him.
As we walked on, the trees grew larger, the lower
growths more dense, and by the time we reached
Pheasant Creek, our destination, we were in a forest of
the finest trees I have ever seen, — some of them tow-
ering to a height of three or four hundred feet, and
twenty feet in diameter at the base. They are not so
disappointing as the " California big trees," which
start from the ground enormous, and before they reach
fifty feet have dwindled to one-third their former size ;

110 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

but these carry their bulk well up, and their circumfer-
ence is not much less at one hundred feet than at the
ground.

Some had fallen down, and it was difficult to climb
to the top of a fallen trunk ; and when there one felt
as if looking from the top of a shed, or L of a house.
The giants are all gums or Eucalypti, and it makes one
feel insignificant enough to walk among them and look
up at their massive trunks. The wood is very soft,
and can be easily split into thin boards, called shakes,
with which the miners clapboard their cabins.

Pheasant Creek is a collection of half a dozen small
cabins almost hidden among the tree-ferns and bushes,
and so shut in with giant trees that sunlight seldom
visits there. We heard that about a quarter of a mile
from the others was a little cabin, whose proprietor had
gone to Melbourne, so we moved down at once and set
up housekeeping. The furniture consisted of a large,
shallow box on four legs, half filled with dry ferns for
a bed, and two home-made chairs. There was one
window, and the floor was the bare ground. The
wooden fireplace was a curious part of the " she-
bang," as it occupied nearly one-third of the entire
house.

Shelley said it reminded him of the picture of Robin-
son Crusoe's house, and after our things were arranged,
the floor covered with ferns, and the fire lighted, it did
seem very homelike and cosey. A few extracts from

HUNTING THE BEAUTIFUL SONGSTER 111

my diary may give a better idea of the place and its
surroundings than anything I can now write.

MONDAY, Aug. 21, 1882. — When we awoke this
morning, we could hear, coming from the scrub near
the creek, the liquid notes of a lyre-bird, and after
swallowing a hasty breakfast, we started in pursuit.
I concealed myself in the scrub, while Shelley went
down stream and returned, keeping up a low whistle
as he came toward me, to prevent my shooting in his
direction, as he drove the bird past. I had not waited
long when I saw a bird running on a fallen tree, and
with a snap shot I secured the prize. It was a female
in very good plumage, and I was very much de-
lighted.

Then we went farther down stream, seeing and hear-
ing several more, but they were so shy and so quick,
that we shot only one. They are about the size of a
common fowl, slate-colored, with soft, fluffy feathers,
and seem to depend for escape, on their legs rather
than their wings. They have stout claws for scratching,
and their eyes are placed on the sides of their heads, in
such a manner that they can see in all directions. I
saw one male bird only, and his tail gave him a very
peacock-like appearance, as he flashed past me in the
thick scrub.

We saw several small kangaroos about the size of a
black-and-tan dog, but did not get any. We found the
lyre-birds very hard to skin, as their heads are so large

112

in proportion to their necks, that the skin has to be cut
to get it over.

TUESDAY, Aug. 22. — We tried lyre-bird for break-
fast this morning, but found it very tough, and not
especially well flavored.

Not a stone's-throw from our cabin, we shot three of
the beautiful king-parrots (Aprosmictus scapulatus) ;
and as I went to the spring for water, I saw a kangaroo
feeding on the tender grass. Unfortunately I did not
have my gun, so he got away as fast as his great hind-
legs would carry him, jumping over the bushes as he
went.

Wombats {Phascolomys), large mammals, the size of
half-grown pigs, are very common here, but so far we
have seen nothing but their holes, which are large
enough for a man to crawl into. While out we saw
several trees stripped of their bark from top to bottom,
and a miner informed us that it was done by the black
cockatoo, but we did not see any of the birds.

As we were coming home, we shot a large bear,
which was all we could carry ; and in turning over a
piece of bark for beetles we found a very fierce-looking
lizard (Trachydosaurus), which bit at everything within
its reach. This reptile, about a foot and a half long, is
covered with large, hard scales, and has a good set of
sharp teeth and a bright blue tongue. A miner to
whom we showed the animal called him a " sleeping
Dick." He certainly was not very sleepy when we

COOKING RICE

113

caught him, for he looked perfectly ready to amputate
a finger.

This evening a large flock of white cockatoos
(Plictolophu* galeritus) flew over, screeching fearfully.

\ \\

Tr

OUR HOUSE.

We have been so busy,
since we came, with our
birds and mammals, that
we have paid little atten-
tion to our cooking ; and
the consequence was,
that when we came back this afternoon, tired and hun-
gry, there was no cooked food in the house. We had
some rice, and some condensed milk, and I proposed

114 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

that we bake a loaf of bread, boil some rice, and have
a good supper.

Shelley took charge of the bread, and I thought I
was equal to the rice. I had never cooked any before,
but supposed that any one however inexperienced could
cook such a simple thing as rice. I put a few handfuls
into a large iron pail, and, covering it with water, set it
on the fire to boil. In a little while the water seemed
to have evaporated, so I added more. I repeated this
several times, until the pail became quite full of rice as
soft and watery as pea soup. It did not appear just
like the boiled rice I had seen on our table at home, but
it smelled good, and was surely cooked enough ; so I
added some salt, gave it a good stirring with the wooden
ladle, and prepared a small pailful of condensed milk.

We were both desperately hungry, and ate a great
deal of the rice and milk, but I noticed the more rice I
put into the milk, the more milk I seemed to have ;
and after repeatedly filling my cup with rice, and eating
therefrom till I was tired, I was surprised to see it still
more than half full of milk. This suggested the mira-
cle of the loaves and fishes, but without saying a word
each kept on eating, hoping some time to see the bot-
tom of his cup. At last Shelley stopped, put down his
cup of milk, and drawing a long breath said, " Well,
I am filled up, very well filled up, in fact, damn well
filled up, with slops. By George ! I wish I had my fill
of decent grub for once, to see how it would seem."

LOST IN THE FOG 115

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 23. — On getting up this morn-
ing, we found it very foggy : nevertheless we went out
as usual after birds, but saw very few. In trying to
return to our cabin, we lost all idea of the points of
the compass, and, although we were not a quarter of a
mile away, we were entirely ignorant of where we
were, or of the direction in which we were going.
There was no danger of our being permanently lost, as
we could not walk far in any direction without coming
to roads and inhabited country ; but it gave us consid-
erable uneasiness to find ourselves in such a predica-
ment.

We wandered about for some time, over fallen trees,
through thick underbrush and ferns, but could find no
path, or anything we had ever seen before. At last I
sat down on the ground, and, taking a pencil and paper,
tried to recall the direction in which we had been wan-
dering. I had come to the conclusion that our course
lay in the opposite direction to that we were pursuing,
when Shelley called out that he could see a cabin, which
must be inhabited, as smoke was coming out of the
chimney. We started for it in a bee-line, over the
fallen trees, until almost near enough to knock at
the door, when, to our surprise and joy, we discovered
that it was our own cosey abode. The fire was blazing
briskly in the great fireplace, and we concluded to
remain at home till the fog should clear away.

About noon the sun came out, and we started again,

116 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

each going in a different direction. As I was wading
through the rank grass near a stream, a number of
kangaroo rats [Hypsiprymnus] ran out in all direc-
tions. I shot one, about the size of a cat, but to my
surprise, the fur came out in handfuls : in fact, I could
have picked him clean on the spot. I have since
learned that, if I had carried him by the tail until he
was cold, the fur would have remained on the skin.

Farther down the mountain side was a gully, near
the head of which I saw a lyre-bird on a fallen tree :
I let go one barrel, and dropped her. Going on, I saw
at some distance a fine cock bird, running on a log. I
let him have the barrel of coarse shot, but he was
altogether too far off, and, with a piercing scream, he
dived into the thick brush, and I never saw him again.
Then I saw a flock of purple lories, and shot three. I
might have had more, but had carelessly forgotten to
fill my shot-pouch, which was now empty. On the
way back I saw two more lyre-birds, and it vexed me
considerably to see them run past, within easy range,
as if they knew I was harmless.

THURSDAY, August 24. — This morning, early, we
saw one of the strangest sights imaginable : as we
were walking along the hillside, we saw, stretched upon
the soil, what looked for all the world like an animated
bicycle tire. It was about four feet long and one inch
in diameter, and, on inspection, proved to be a gigantic
earthworm. His length depended much on the state

A MEMORABLE DAY'S HUNT 117

of his mind, for the moment we alarmed him, he short-
ened up into a stumpy sausage, bristling with minute
spines. I regretted that we had no way of preserving
such a curiosity, as he certainly would have made a
sensation in America. We have since learned that
they are quite common, and have been found six feet
in length. It is a wonder some enterprising Yankee
does not .start a factory among the Plenty Ranges, and
ship these worms to America as first-class bologna
sausages.

We shot another lyre-bird, a female, as usual. The
male bird seems much more shy than the female, and
of quicker sight. He has a way of flashing an instant
before one, then disappearing as if by magic, leaving
one gazing stupidly about.

I have had some bad tumbles since coming here ; to-
day I fell off one of the great logs, landing in a heap
among the ferns, which greatly amused Shelley.

FRIDAY, August 25. — This morning, walking sev-
eral miles toward the other side of the range, we
reached the head of a gully, where the lyre-birds
seemed to be holding a jubilee. The morning was fair
and warm, but everything was covered with dew.
Shelley walked cautiously through the scrub, while I
went ahead on the outside and entered some distance
below, where I sat very quietly watching for the birds.
Our first trial was unsuccessful, although there were
several birds between us. The next time I saw a fine

118 COLLECTOR'S K AMBLES

male, but the gun missed fire in both barrels, on
account of the very poor quality of caps, which were
not waterproof. I was disgusted ; as nothing so exas-
perates a hunter as to have his gun miss fire. At the
next trial we did not see a bird, but one commenced
singing right across the creek from me, and I began
the difficult task of crawling upon him. The leaves
and ferns were still wet, and I must have made very
little noise, as he kept on singing without an interrup-
tion. I had to smile several times at his odd noises,
and once came very near exploding with laughter at
his version of a concert between laughing jackasses.

Part of the way I was obliged to crawl on my hands
and knees, trembling so with excitement, I doubted
my being able to shoot when I had the chance. I
approached till within a few yards of him ; but, as I
rose from the ground, the music suddenly ceased, and
with a whistle and a crack he was off like a meteor.
I sent a dose of shot after him, as he flashed for an
instant among the ferns, but on reaching the spot the
tip of one of his long tail-feathers gave evidence of my
failure. It began to look as if we were not to have a
male bird, with all our hard work, but we tried once
more ; and this time a female flew across the creek and
ran along the opposite bank. A charge of shot put a
stop to her career ; and, just as I was about to pick up
the fluttering bird, a fine male came out of the bushes
to investigate matters, and as I had left my gun behind,

BAGGING A PRIZE 121

of course I did not get him. The very fates seemed
to be against us, for every time I had seen a male bird
"fair and square," there was some hitch about the
rest of the programme, and when I did get a good shot,
it was always a female.

We began to feel discouraged, but concluded to try
just once more. So, going a long way down, I seated
myself in good position on the hillside, where I could
command a view of the fern below and the bank
beyond. "Now," I said to myself, " let one come, and
if I do not shoot him, I will pitch the gun into the
brook and start for Melbourne."

I had not waited long, when bang went Shelley's
gun, the shot dropping all about me, but " nary " a
bird came my way. I began to think I was sold again,
when, just as I was getting up to go, I saw a bird run
out of the scrub and make for the fern on my left.
Taking deliberate aim, I fired. The smoke came back
into my face, so that I could not see the effect of my
shot. I ran down the bank, jumped the brook, and
there on his back lay a fine male lyre-bird, in the
best of plumage. His tail was more than a yard long,
and beautifully banded with dark brown, rusty red,
and white. I felt happy enough as I started up the
bank, carrying my prize, his beautiful tail half spread,
and nearly touching the ground. Shelley had shot a
female lyre-bird, and fired at a large wombat, which
was asleep in its hole, with its head half out. The

122 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

creature had life enough left to crawl back, where it
was impossible to get him.

We had a long trudge through the woods back to
our little cabin, reaching here, tired and hungry, after
dark. To-morrow we leave for Panton Hill, and for
Melbourne on Monday.

SATURDAY, August 26. — Having left all our things
to be brought on by the cart, we started on foot down
the range, but at Bald Hill — where there was a lovely
view of the lower hills and the Yara River Valley —
we stopped to wait for the cart. While there I heard
a lyre-bird, and followed the whistling about a quarter
of a mile, at last coming quite near, but after all failed
to see him in the ferns. A dry stick snapped under
my foot, and the song instantly stopped. Sitting down
on a log, I waited a long time ; finally the singing
began at some distance, gradually drawing nearer.
Raising myself cautiously, I saw him hop up on a fallen
tree and run toward me. He was too far away for a
shot, so I stood still watching him.

He jumped from the tree to the ground, where he
had collected a circular heap of earth about a foot high,
and perhaps four feet in diameter. Here he strutted
about, spreading his magnificent tail, and making the
woods echo with his wonderful song. Like a fox stalk-
ing a hare, I crawled through the ferns toward him,
and when near enough, sprang up and instantly fired.
When I came to the spot he lay stretched upon the

PURPLE LORTES 123

mound, his tail still spread, and every feather as per-
fect as when alive. With a shout of joy at my success,
I went back to the road, where the cart was waiting
for me. As we rattled along, a flock of purple lories
flew past. We both fired, dropping three of the beau-
ties. The horse, however, did not know what to make
of the noise, and for a few minutes kept us employed
picking up our boxes and blankets, which littered the
road.

To-night we are going to sleep in a real bed, which
will be a treat.

CHAPTER VII.

Remainder of Our Stay in Victoria — A Brush with the Larikins — Melbourne,
its Parks, Library, Climate, Social Life — Collecting Insects, Diamond
Beetles, Ants — Driven Home by Flies — Good-by to Victoria.

WE left for Melbourne August 27, and from there
went to Stowell, Hamilton, and Clunes, — gold-mining
towns, — where father delivered several courses of lec-
tures. At Climes we had a new experience. Sometimes,
to insure a good house, we gave away a number of
complimentary tickets to first lecture ; so one evening
the " Larikins " (hoodlums), in hopes of getting in,
collected in large numbers about the hall door. One
or two of them came up, and asked for admission,
which I refused, whereupon, gathering in the hall-way,
they began to make remarks on our entertainment in
general, and myself in particular.

I paid no attention to them, till one, larger than the
rest, demanded whether or not I intended to let them
in. I coolly informed him that I had no such intention
whatever, whereupon he left, saying ominously, " Then
you must take the consequences." No sooner had he
departed than an egg smashed against the door at which
I was standing, and a roar of laughter followed from
the crowd.

124

MELBOURNE 125

Calling Shelley to attend the door, I addressed myself
to the mob in these words : " Now, you English roughs,
get out of this. The Yankees whipped you once, and
they are able to do it again ! " and with this emphatic
statement, I proceeded to illustrate my point, by dash-
ing madly at them, and delivering a round of impartial
and indiscriminate kicks, at the same time not neglect-
ing to use my fists. One or two of the enemy tried to
face me, but the attack had been so sudden and unex-
pected, that they ran without further parley. I had
the satisfaction of kicking the last one off the steps,
and bolting the outside door. That was the last we
saw of the "Larikins."

After the lecture, father wanted to know what on
earth had been going on outside to make such a noise.
"Why," said he, uat one time I could hardly hear
myself speak."

After finishing at Clunes, we went back to Mel-
bourne, where father lectured many times to large
audiences.

I went to a lithographer's, and for our next start,
made some illustrated lecture bills.

Melbourne is a fine, large city. Its parks and gar-
dens are magnificent, and the Library is the grandest I
have ever seen ; moreover, one can enter it, and without
signing name or residence, can take down and read any
book one wishes. Surely, a person who remains igno-
rant in Melbourne is alone to blame.

126 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

Connected with the Library is a rich and elegant
Art Museum, where works of the best artists of France,
Germany, and England are to be seen.

The climate of Melbourne is temperate. In winter*
which comes in June, July, and August, it is seldom
cold enough to snow, arid the summers are warm and
dry. The dust is sometimes almost intolerable. Every
breeze hurls clouds of blinding particles into the air,
and people may frequently be observed, standing on the
street corners, trying to clear their sight, that they may
see to go on. Often on entering my room at the hotel,
the furniture and especially the bedclothes were so
covered with dust, as to defy any one to tell their
original colors.

Truly here " it never rains, but it pours ; " at such
times some of the streets are filled with turbid torrents,
where a man has small chance of saving his life, should
he happen to fall in ; even during our stay, there was
an instance of a man drowning in this way, in one of
the principal streets of the city.

Melbourne is a very social city, and while there we
met many agreeable people, and had many a good time.
My engagements were so numerous, in fact, that it
became necessary to keep a list of them for daily con-
sultation. Frequently I did not get to bed till it was
growing light, and I sometimes found myself speculat-
ing on what day it was when I awoke. At last, one
morning, after having been out until the small hours, -

A GEOLOGICAL PICNIC

12T

and they were not so very small either, — I came to-
the conclusion that the sooner I returned to a natural
and rational manner of living the better.

Perhaps, for the sake of my appearance, it was well
I came to this decision, for I had begun to grow thin
from loss of sleep, and the sun had seen me so seldom,
that I looked as pale as a stalk of celery. I have
"roughed" it by the week, lived on all kinds of food,

FOSSIL WHALE.

camped in the snow, waded icy streams on the moun-
tains, and been without dry clothing for days together,
but I never felt so thoroughly worn out as after those
few weeks of dissipation. In order to live through
such a season one would need the constitution of a
mustang, and the digestion of an ostrich.

Father had interested the people so much in geology,
that one fine day over two hundred went down with
him to Cheltenham to look at a fossil whale, which he
had discovered.

128 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

They chartered a train, and went prepared to spend
the day. There was very little of the whale left when
they started for home.

As Shelley had gone away to spend the Christmas
holidays, a young man named Terry and myself went
insect-collecting up the Yara River. I bought a net
to put on my straw hat, to keep the flies, which were
very numerous, away from my face. We started one
afternoon late in the week, and walked to Heidelberg,
where we camped during a rainy night, in a straw-
stack. The next day we were up early, and after the
winged denizens of the field and forest. Beetles and
butterflies were quite numerous, and we were busy all
day, catching, killing, and putting them up in papers.

We found many of the beautiful diamond beetles,
which were the first I had seen. They are a bright
metallic green, and when placed in the sunshine, the
scales with which their hard wing cases are sprinkled,
sparkle like so many minute diamonds.

Cicadas of large kinds and several colors kept up such
a squeaking in the tree-tops that talking intelligibly
was out of the question.

Ants swarmed in many places, and we frequently
came across troops of them marching for long distances
in well-worn paths, and carrying green leaves, like so
many banners. We lay down on the ground to watch
a number of them drag a large cicada to their nest.
The creature was alive, although there were dozens of

FLIES 129

ants tugging on every side. How they captured him,
and how they ever moved him any nearer home, was a
wonder to us, as there seemed to be no captain to the
troops of little workers, and every one appeared to be
pulling away without the slightest regard to the others,
and often in the opposite direction in which they
wished to go ; but the bulky load moved onward,
just as if the whole was under the guidance of
one.

We were fortunate enough to find several gigantic
walking-sticks, with bodies seven or eight inches long,
and covered with spines.

I still regard a riest of the little metallic blue butter-
flies, containing scores of chrysalids, which I after-
wards hatched out, as one of my best finds in Australia.
It was situated in the top of a small bush near the
Yara River, and was composed of fine, silken threads,
enclosing the chrysalids, which could be easily seen
from the outside.

We walked many miles up the winding river, past
fine farms and orchards, where we often stopped to get
delicious plums and peaches, and then turned off to the
right through the forests and pastures.

The flies were so numerous that if we had not had
our nets, I verily believe we should have gone mad.
They followed us in swarms, alighting on our backs,
until the original color of the cloth was indistinguish-
able.

130 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

Although we killed thousands, it did not seem to
make the slightest difference in their numbers. They
were not like our common house-fly, but smaller and
darker.

How the people who live in the country near Mel-
bourne stand this terrible pest is beyond my compre-
hension.

I remember our going to a farmhouse to inquire the
way, and there we saw, running about, several children
whom the flies seemed to be fairly eating alive. Prob-
ably, disgusted with fighting them, they had given up,
and their individuality was lost in a cloud of flies.

Terry and I had intended staying at least a week,
but with the mosquitoes at night and the flies by day,
we had very little chance for rest, so at the end of the
fourth day we gave it up in utter disgust, and started
for the nearest railway station, whence we took a train
for the city. That was the only time I was ever com
pletely vanquished and driven home by insects, having
gone ojit for the express purpose of capturing them.

Bidding good-by to our many friends in Melbourne,
we left early in February for Sydney, where we ran
lectures with excellent success.

While here Shelley and I spent many happy hours,
admiring the treasures contained in the city's magnifi-
cent art gallery and museum.

CHAPTER VIII.

Queensland— Lecturing in Brisbane — Tropical Fruits — Australian Natives —
Throwing the Boomerang — Disappointed Smokers — Flying Foxes — A
Savage Joke — Industrious Chinese — A Good Collecting-Ground— The Musk
Duck — Jumping Fishes — Migrating Crabs — Butterflies — Imported Blacks
— More about the Natives.

BRISBANE, the capital of Queensland, was our next
stopping-place, and we remained there several weeks.

This lively, go-ahead little city is a handsome place,
situated a few miles up the Brisbane River in a fruit-
ful land. On entering the country, everything has a
rich, green, tropical look, and the air is laden with the
perfumes from orange groves and banana and pineapple
plantations.

Our lectures at this place drew immense audiences,
and excitement ran so high that crowds sometimes
remained about the hall for hours after a lecture was
over to discuss the various subjects.

I think father imbibed part of the excitement, for
never before in my remembrance had he spoken so well.

Several of the ministers felt called upon to answer
father. Some of them were gentlemen, and spoke and
acted as such, while others were carried away by their
anger and religious zeal.

Occasionally, during a lecture, some religious zealot
would shout, if he fancied himself particularly hard
hit, " No, no ! that isn't so ! " or, " That's a lie ! "

131

132 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

Pausing, father would pleasantly remark, " If the gen-
tleman will wait until the lecture is over, we will hear
what he has to say." If he stopped, all went well
with him ; if he persisted in disturbing the meeting,
he would soon find himself taking a compulsory obser-
vation of Brisbane by starlight.

The janitor of the hall used to make me laugh at his
remarks. He sold oysters, fruits, and ice-cream in a
little store next the hall, but was seldom patronized,
and felt rather blue over the situation. One evening he
gave vent to his .feelings in some such words as these, —

" There was Pepper and his ghost, he did pretty
well, but he never 'ad no such crowds as you 'as.
People goes past 'ere every hevening, — people as
howes me money, — and slings down their 'bob' [shil-
ling], or two ' bob,' as if they 'ad thousands, w'en I
knows they howes for the clothes they wears and the
food they heats. What wi' the ministers, and what wi'
Denton, there'll be nothink left for hoysters. Come,
Polly [to his pet parrot, a good talker], cry hup the
hoysters to um as they goes past, or we'll 'ave to go to
bed ?ungry. I 'ant seen a cbob' for so long that I'm
blowed if I 'aven't forgotten 'ow one looks."

Pineapples were nearly as cheap in Brisbane as tur-
nips in New England, and I concluded that instead of
buying one or two at a time, we had better have a
crate from which we could help ourselves when we
liked. Accordingly, I employed the janitor to bring

SALVATION ARMY 133

a good boxful, together with a bunch of bananas, to
the hotel, where he was to put them under the bed in
my room for safe keeping, while I went out to attend
to some matters of business, intending on my return to
bring them triumphantly forth for the delectation of
father and Shelley. But when I came back, there in
the middle of the room was the box, the bunch of
bananas beside it, while near at hand sat father and
Shelley, each devouring, with evident relish, a pine-
apple. Pretending not to notice me as I entered,
father remarked, —

" Sherman never does things by halves ; he knew we
would be hungry when we came in, so he put the box
under the bed that we might be sure to find it. Have
another pineapple, Shelley ; they are pretty good. Oh,
here is Sherman now ! Look here, we have found
a box of pineapples and a bunch of bananas. They
are tiptop. Help yourself, there are plenty ; so pitch
in, and eat as many of them as you like."

One very hot Sunday, about noon, when the ther-
mometer must have stood at one hundred degrees in
the shade, an odd-looking procession came marching
down the street, headed by three women ; the perspi-
ration running down their faces, and their clothes
covered with dust. They were singing at the top of
their voices, " Will you go to mansions above ? " while
from the heat, one would conclude that he was doomed
to dungeons below.

134 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

It proved to be a branch of the Salvation Army,
drumming up recruits.

A class of people, who find ready dupes almost all
over the world, are the so-called spiritual mediums,
and Brisbane seemed to be well supplied with them.
One old fellow, who looked as if he had been blown
up with gunpowder, thus losing part of himself, used
to come to the hotel quite often to see us. Knowing
that father was a spiritualist, he naturally supposed
Shelley and I were. He would tell us about the visions
he had seen, and the wonderful things the spirits had
done through him. I thought, in this case, the spirits
were rather unfortunate in their choice of an interpre-
ter ; perhaps his very ugliness served as an attraction
to them, but it had the opposite effect on us. We
became so tired of him, that one day, when he came
in and wanted to shake hands all round, Shelley ran
round to the other side of the table, saying, —

" No, I'll be damned if I'll shake hands with you ! "

It was some time before it dawned upon our friend
that this was not some huge American joke ; then he
bolted for the door, leaving me in such a paroxysm of
laughter that I was unable to bid him good-by.

It was a relief to get out into the fields and woods
once more ; to hear the birds singing, and breathe the
perfumes from the flowers. I used to wonder how any
one could be dissatisfied with this wonderful world,so
full of all that is beautiful and interesting.

TOWOMBA 135

In my rambles I, one day, came across the home of
an early settler. The house and surroundings were
so picturesque, I made a painting of them to take
home. The proprietor took a great interest in the
work, and wanted to buy the picture when it was fin-
ished. His daughter stood in the doorway while I
sketched her in ; and she seemed to consider it a com-
pliment to her beauty, that I should wish to put her
on canvas.

We made a stop of a few days at Towomba, — a
small town on a low plateau, several miles inland
from Brisbane, — and spent the time in a most enjoy-
able manner at Mr. Hartman's residence. He had
a splendid garden and fruit orchard, and we almost
lived on fruit while there. It was here we tasted for
the first time the jack-fruit, — a large fruit, the size of
a child's head, with a rough skin, a peculiar smell, and
a deliciously flavored pulp. One is sufficient for
several persons. The strawberry guava, also very
delicious, we first ate there.

Mr. Hartman was much interested in geology,
and had collected some fine remains of extinct mam-
malia. He found on one of his expeditions almost
the entire skull of a Thilico leo, a gigantic pouched
lion, which once roamed over Australia. Miss Hart-
man, a bright, intelligent girl of sixteen, learned to
skin and stuff birds under Shelley's instruction, and
by the time we left was getting on very well.

136 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

While out one day with my net, I saw two almost
naked savages coming toward me ; one carried a spear
and a nulla-nulla, and the other was armed with a
boomerang. They were both very dark, almost black,
and their heads were covered with long, tangled hair,
while the lower parts of their faces were hidden under
thick, bushy beards.

Their flat, spreading noses, and small, glittering eyes,
partly hidden beneath their protruding brows, gave
them a savage, almost terrible, look ; and if I had been
in a wild, unsettled country, I should probably have
done a mile or two of good " go as you please." They
came straight up to me, and, in very good English,
asked for tobacco. I told them that I did not use the
article, and I considered it bad both for white and
black man; whereupon they both laughed, and one
said, —

" Ah, buncumb, gammon, English man all same
liar."

They repeated their request for tobacco several
times, but as I each time made the same reply, they
came to the conclusion that I was telling the truth, or
that I was lying and intended to stick to it. As I was
mentally comparing their ugliness, a large, handsome
papilio came sailing past, and away I ran after it. A
roar of wild laughter followed me, as I caught and put
the insect into my bottle of cyanide ; then up they
came again, grinning and showing their teeth, — no

THROWING THE BOOMERANG 137

doubt thinking me the simplest " crank " that ever
walked the earth.

I had heard many stories of the native Australian
throwing the boomerang, and it occurred to me that
this would be a grand opportunity to see how it was
done. So I bargained with them, for a shilling, to give
a performance. They led the way through the forest

NULLA-NULLA AND BOOMERANG.

to a grassy opening of an acre or more in extent, where
they gave me a grand exhibition of their skill in
throwing that wonderful weapon. I noticed they
always threw it point first instead of elbow first, as
I had expected. The black would run a step or two,
and, standing well up on tiptoe, hurl the whistling
weapon into the air. It would go one hundred feet
almost in a straight line, then make a sudden turn ;
and after going nearly as far, at right angles to the
first direction, would turn again, arid finally come down
as light as a feather, almost at the feet of the thrower.
They could hurl it just over the grass-tops to a great

138 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

distance, when it would suddenly shoot up into the air,
and come scaling down toward the place whence it
started. There seemed to be no limit to the number
of curious antics this thin, bent piece of hard wood
could be made to perform. I gave them the promised
shilling, and then purchased the nulla-nulla and boom-
erang. On the way back to the house, I tried my
hand at throwing the latter weapon. It seemed rather
perverse, for when I wanted it to go up, it dived into
the ground ; and when I tried to hurl it at a tree, it
astonished me by shooting up into the air. It was
well there was no one with me, or he might have been
scalped.

While at Towomba, I at one time barely escaped
being bitten by a poisonous snake. Just as I was
about to climb over a fence, a black snake, " quick as
thought," sprang at my hand from his place of conceal-
ment on the top rail. I drew back, but not before the
disgusting reptile had fastened his fangs in my coat-
sleeve. He dropped off in the grass, and glided off
before I had sufficiently recovered from my fright to
use my gun.

The Australians are great smokers ; and this is true
not only of the natives, but of the European popula-
tion also. In this matter they utterly disregard the
feelings of others, and one cannot ride in car or stage-
coach, or sit in a hotel reading-room or parlor, without
having to literally fight for one's right to breathe pure

DISAPPOINTED SMOKERS 139

air. To be sure, there are laws against smoking in the
stations and cars, but they are looked upon as obsolete,
and, consequently, do not secure to the non-smoker
exemption from this annoyance. In order that we
might travel sans tobacco fumes, father, Shelley, and I
resorted to a little stratagem which was usually success-
ful in frustrating the hopes of the smokers. We seldom
sat together, so, when a passenger was observed about
to apply the match to his carefully filled pipe, father
would politely request him not to smoke, as it was
very offensive to him. If this had no effect, Shelley
would remark, in language more forcible than elegant,
" Put out that pipe," or " What business have you to
poison the air, which others have to breathe ? " where-
upon I would chime in with, "It will be wiser for you
to stop, sir. You have no right to smoke here, when
these gentlemen object."

It was ludicrous to see the expression on the puffer's
face, as, one by one, these objections confronted him ;
and sometimes I could hardly suppress a laugh to see
him look about, fearing others were about to attack
him. Under these circumstances, he was generally
very glad to put his pipe away, making profuse apolo-
gies meanwhile for not having done so before.

From Brisbane we went to Maryborough, where we
remained a short time. The town was composed
mostly of low, unpainted, wooden houses.

We did fairly well with our lectures, and made some

140 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

interesting collections. There was a dark, tangled
wood, or scrub, not more than a mile from the town, in
which I daily spent several hours in collecting speci-
mens. Father and I would start out in the morning,
he with a bag and small pick, and I with gun, net, and
collecting-box. We sometimes took all the specimens
we could carry back.

One day I came across a large number of flying
foxes (Pteropus, as the large, fruit-eating bats are
called), which were hanging in hundreds on the
branches of the trees. They are of a reddish color,
and their heads have a very foxy look. They were
very tenacious of life, and I fired several shots among
them before I brought down a specimen. Great quan-
tities of fruit are destroyed by them, therefore they
are much persecuted by the inhabitants, who, when
they find a colony, knock them down with long poles,
and destroy them by thousands.

At this place I found the pitta (Pitta strepitans), a
beautifully colored ground-thrush. He runs about on
the ground, stopping frequently, as our robin does, and
picks up a living of insects and small snails. The
regent-bird {Sericulus melinus) is found in the forest
near Maryborough. I never saw but one alive, and he
was a long distance off, in the top of a high tree.
Even at that distance his shiny black and golden-
yellow plumage glistened distinctly in the sunlight.
Blue mountain parrots, ablaze with color ; glossy green

BIRDS AND INSECTS

141

fruit-pigeons, with pink tops to their heads ; wide-
mouthed goat-suckers and honey-eaters, without num-
ber, abounded in the woods. Great lizards ran along
the paths, and climbed the trees ; small kangaroos
nibbled the tender shoots in the darkest parts of the for-
est; and large, hand-
some snails crawled
about on the damp
moss, or congre-
gated in hundreds
under decayed logs.
Butterflies were
scarce, but ants were
particularly abun-
dant, and it gave
us much trouble to

PITTA.

keep our collections

from being devoured by them. They came into our
rooms, and ran in countless thousands over our floors.
It was useless to try to kill them, for as soon as one
army was destroyed, another took its place. The only
way we could preserve our things was to place them
on cups standing in pans of water.

From Maryborough we went to Rockhampton. On
the boat there was a handsome, stylish, colored waiter,
who had lately come from America. His mother
was once a slave on a plantation in Carolina, and
he told many stories of the style and elegance

142 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

of his early home, where he was brought up with
the planter's own children, and treated as one of the
family.

As we came to the wharf at Rockhampton there
were a number of Australian blacks on the pier.
Some were clad in shirts, showing their black, leathery
skins through the gaping rents, while others sported
government blankets, well-begrimed with dirt and
grease. Their heads were mops; their chins were
covered with bushy beards, and their entire appearance
was disgusting and repulsive. When they saw the
dude darky they exchanged grunts, their ugly faces
lighting up with gradually broadening grins, until the
whole band was in roars of laughter ; then one of them
called out, "Hello, Charlie, where you been? Who
give you the clothes ? Goin' to treat your old friends ? "
By this time the passengers began to see the joke, and
the waiter straightening himself up, his eyes flashing
with pride and anger, demanded of the bystanders,
" Do you think I am any relation to them ? Do I look
as if I were any relation to them ? I never see them
before in my life. The dirty black beggars ! They
don't wash themselves or comb their hair once a month.
No ! Thank God, I was born more than seventeen
thousand miles from them. I know more than to sell
Australia to the queen for a blanket ! "

Rockhampton was a place, if possible, more lacking
in paint and repairs than Maryborough, and reminded

A PROFUSION OF BIRD LIFE

me of the deserted mining town of Copperopolis in
California, as it looked when I saw it last.

The country will produce anything, yet the people
round about this town are so lazy, that no one within a
mile has a private fruit or vegetable garden.

The government levies a heavy tax on the Chinese
who emigrate to this country in hopes of improving
their fortunes. Every one holds them in contempt :
nevertheless, if it were not for their industry, the dis-
solute English and Scotch would have nothing to sus-
tain life but roast beef and whiskey.

In my walks about the country I used often to wan-
der through the well-tilled grounds of the Chinese.
Not a weed grew among their well-kept plants, and
nature coaxed into good humor yielded them an
abundant harvest. If I wanted a good meal of the
choicest fruits, I always knew where to find it. Pine-
apples, that make your mouth water; yellow-skinned
bananas, waiting to be eaten ; guavas, oranges, and
melons ; all could be had for a few pennies from the
pleasant, painstaking Chinamen, the most polite men in
the community.

A mile or two from the town were a number of
lagoons, where I used to go shooting. They were alive
with birds, which at the report of a gun rose, in clouds,
from the water and muddy margins of the pools, and
the noise of their wings was like distant thunder.

Lovely slate-colored herons, the perfection of grace

144 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

and daintiness, perched upon the dead branches of gum-
trees overhanging the water ; snow-white egrets, their
plumage contrasting strikingly with the landscape,
waded among the water-plants ; cormorants with their
bodies submerged so that their necks and heads alone
were visible above the water, kept a sharp eye on the
intruder, holding themselves in readiness to dive at the
slightest sign of danger ; pelicans sat in long rows
upon the muddy flats ; ducks and geese covered the
larger pools ; jacanas ran about on the lily-pads, looking
as if walking on the water ; spur-winged plovers dis-
puted with the larks the privilege of the meadow ;
great cranes stalked about the grassy fields ; while high
overhead flow the eagles, on the lookout for a dinner.
Amid this variety and profusion, I made the most of
every moment, and obtained a good choice of the birds
found there.

One day while wandering round the lagoons, I saw
for the first time that strange bird, the musk duck
(Eiziura lobata). I had often heard of him, and seen
stuffed specimens, but never before a live one. There
were two of them, a male and a female. They were
very shy, keeping well out in the water. As there
were no trees or bushes to conceal me, I hid behind
some reeds and sat down to wait, hoping the birds
would come my way, but they seemed to be very well
aware that there was danger, and kept the other side of
the pond. A farmer passed by my hiding-place, and

THE MUSK DUCK

145

laughed at me, saying, " You will never get them, as
there have been two men after them for several days,
and they did not even get a shot."

I kept my eyes on the birds, however, and at last saw
the male go directly across the pond and dive for food
among the weeds. I jumped up, ran back far enough
to be out of sight; then started round the pond.
When I came opposite where the duck was, I crawled

MUSK DUCK.

down till I could see him, and the next time he dived,
ran to the edge of the water. I had my gun all ready,
and before he had time to take alarm after corning up,
I gave him one barrel of coarse shot, which stretched
him out on the water. He was a fine bird, mottled
with brown and black, and had under his lower mandi-
ble a dewlap which hung down two inches. There
Avas a strong smell of musk about him, and he was
certainly the largest duck I had ever seen. His wings

146 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

were very small in proportion to his size, and I some-
what doubted his being able to fly. I did not get the
female.

The spur-winged plover (Lobivanellus miles), which
I have mentioned, is a pugilist among birds. His
wings are provided with a stout, sharp spur, and he
must, when in good fighting trim, be able to deal death
with certainty to his enemies. He is ornamented about
the eyes with a tough yellow skin, which gives him a
most remarkable expression.

All along the northeastern coast of Australia,
extending for over one thousand miles, is the largest
and most magnificent coral reef in the world. The
distance between it and the mainland is sometimes only
a mile or two, and at others ten times as far. It is
now and then broken by deep channels, which may be
used by the largest vessels, and is a great protection to
all kinds of navigation. Our journey from Rockhamp-
ton was inside this reef. It gave me a chance to enjoy
an ocean trip, and eat my meals with the rest for a
change. On the 10th. of May, we arrived at Mackay,
in a tropical downpour which lasted three days. It
cleared off the evening of our first lecture, and con-
tinued fine during the rest of our stay.

My first walk at Mackay was along a road which
crossed the mangrove flats, and came out upon the
beach.

Mangroves are low trees, growing where their roots

JUMPING FISHES 147

are covered at every tide with salt water. Their trunks
are supported some distance above the mud by their
tangled roots, which are frequently so thick and strong
that one can walk on them dryshod for great distances.
What I at first took to be frogs, leaping about on the
wet mud and crossing the road from one pool to
another, turned out to my surprise, on catching one, to

JUMPING FISH.

be fish (Periophthalmus), with gills and fins like other
fishes. Their eyes are placed high upon the head, and
give them a frog-like look. They frequently leaped
upon stones, and even mangrove roots, where they
seemed to hang on by means of their pectoral fins. In
jumping, they double the tail up, and then suddenly
straighten it out, thus propelling themselves one or two
feet each time.

They are so very quick, that if I had not taken my
insect net I probably could not have caught one.
When they come to a pool of water they do not swim

148 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

like other fishes, but jump along on the surface till they
reach the mud at the other side, when they alight, and
curl themselves for another jump.

A very strange thing is to see the fiddler-crabs at the
mouths of their holes, waiting for the return of the tide.
Each crab is armed with one monstrous claw, out of all
proportion to his bod}r, and one very small, delicate,
left-hand claw, with which he feeds himself after the
food has been procured with his stout right claw. This
large member is red at the tip and yellow at the base,
and as the crabs lie in the mouths of their holes — this
big, brightly colored appendage outside — it gives the
muddy flats the appearance of being covered with gor-
geous flowers. I noticed the larger crabs often tried
to catch the jumping fish, generally meeting with very
poor success ; but the larger fish often snapped up small
crabs, that were imprudent enough to walk about on
the mud at such times.

After gathering some large conical shells in the
mangrove swamps, I reached the beach. A stretch of
white sand lay before me ; in the distance was an
island on which the white tower of a lighthouse shone
out against the blue sky ; the water was low, and two
schooners lay stuck in the sand of the river waiting for
the tide. As I looked on the lovely scene, a dark gray.
moving patch on the sand caught my attention, and a
distinct rattling came to my ears.

I shall never forget the start it gave me, when, on

MIGRATING CKABS 149

approaching the moving mass, I discovered that this
noise was made by a colony of crabs (tens of thousands
apparently) marching inland. All were about the
same size, and they kept together in a compact company
like an army of soldiers. When I approached, they
started off on a run all together, each keeping one claw
raised, with pinchers open in a threatening manner.
Had a man fallen among them, he would have been
pinched black and blue, I have no doubt, before he
could escape. The rattling they made could be heard
at a distance of several rods, and the sand after they
had passed looked like a dusty road after a flock of
sheep has been driven over it. I attempted to head
them off, but they seemed very determined ; and if I
had not moved out of their way, I truly believe they
would have run over me. I was afterwards told by
some persons that they were emigrating inland for
food, by others that they were land crabs, returning
home after laying their eggs in the sand of the beach
at low tide. I have no means of knowing which of
these statements was correct, as I did not see the crabs
again.

MacKay was the finest place I ever saw for butter-
flies, and I secured more of these winged beauties,
during our short stay there, than in any other place
we visited while away from home. My favorite col-
lecting-ground was a sunny opening in the forest: a
place where low shrubs, weeds, grass, wild banana

150 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

plants, and briers abounded. It was near a lovely,
quiet river, and the dark reflections of the trees in the
water made it look cool on the warmest day. Oh, the
butterflies in that place ! They swarmed in hundreds.
On every bush they spread their brilliant wings, and
the variety seemed almost endless. I usually arrived
at this spot about ten o'clock, and by that time the
place would be literally alive with them; and, although
I kept constantly at work, their numbers were appar-
ently undiminished. The opening was about an acre
in extent, and I made the circuit of it many times, —
jumping bushes, and tearing through briers, in the
eagerness of my pursuit.

Some persons will smile at my enthusiasm; but,
after all, those were some of the happiest days of
my life.

The man who cannot get enthusiastic over some
subject — be it a gorgeous butterfly, a sparkling jewel,
a magnificent waterfall, a frightful storm, an eloquent
lecture, a dimpled child, a lovely woman — must lead
an exceedingly dull and uninteresting life.

If I have a hobby (and I hope I have many), it is
collecting butterflies ; and I am always filled with
intense excitement when that which I delight in is
all about me. I have run a mile before now, at a
break-neck speed, over bushes and fences, through
swamps and forests, — and all for one butterfly; and
I would gladly do it again to experience the same

BUTTERFLIES 151

pleasure that I did while panting on the ground, and
holding that insect between my fingers.

There was a climbing-plant in bloom at one end of
my hunting-ground; and once while passing it, I saw a
very large butterfly near the top : I waited some time
for him to come down, and at last was rewarded by his
coming near enough for my net. It was an ornithop-
tera (0. priamus) considered by naturalists one of the
finest insects in the world. It was indeed magnificent ;
its colors were deep, velvety black and golden green,
and the expanse of its wings was seven inches. The
females are even larger than the males; but their colors
are not nearly so lustrous, being mostly brown.

Another exquisite butterfly found at MacKay was
the large black and blue papilio. The whole of the
upper surface is deep, velvety black and rich, shining
blue. When flying, the bright, metallic blue reflects
the sunlight at every stroke, giving out a flash which
can be readily seen half a mile away, making them the
most striking objects on the wing. They are strong
fliers, and frequently give one a long chase; but to
catch such an insect is worth something of a run.

When I became too tired to run any longer, I would
either lie down on the grass in a shady place, to watch
the insects flit about, or go down to the river, and
bathe in the cool water ; then, at sundown, gathering
up my well -filled boxes, I would start for the town.

A great deal of sugar-cane is raised in Northern

152 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

Queensland ; and, as white labor is scarce and expen-
sive, the planters import blacks from the numerous
islands north of Australia. These blacks are quite
industrious, and must well repay the trouble and
expense of their transportation. Each native has a
trunk or large, hinged box, with a lock, in which he
stores all the treasures he buys with his earnings.
The poor fellows have to work a long time for a very
little money, and often get sadly cheated in their pur-
chases; but when they carry home a large box well
filled with knives, hatchets, guns, ammunition, hand-
some calicoes, beads, rings, tobacco, and like articles,
dear to the savage heart, the}7 must be looked upon by
their brothers as wealthy men, possessing all the luxu-
ries one could desire.

The Australian natives are rather averse to work,
preferring to beg about the towns than to earn a living
by labor. They seldom wear any clothing when at
home in the woods ; but, as they are not allowed to
come into town in this costume, each native has a
shirt, which is carefully kept for all great occasions.

Often on starting out in the morning on a collecting
tour, I would meet a band of naked natives on their
way to town, each carrying under his arm his shirt,
carefully rolled up in a banana leaf. On nearing the
first straggling houses, they would don this apparel,
and march into town with the air of well-dressed men.
Returning, in the evening, I would sometimes meet

MORE ABOUT THE NATIVES

153

the same band coming back ; and, as soon as the houses
were left behind, off would come the shirts again, just
as the tight boots and high collar of the farmer boy are
taken off, 011 his return from a visit to his city cousins.

(%/E:- -
THE AUSTRALIAN.

The huts of the natives are probably the poorest
dwellings made by human beings ; they are inferior to
the homes of many wild beasts, and our musk-rats and
squirrels could teach them lessons in architecture.
They are generally nothing more than a few bushes

154

put up to keep off the wind, a space in front serving
for a fireplace. For the rainy season, they sometimes
make huts of bark, which are, perhaps, five feet high,
and six or seven feet across at the ground. Near the
towns, they cover their dwellings with old carpets,
sheet-iron, or anything they can find to keep out the
wet. A village of such huts looks, at a short distance,
something like the winter quarters of a colony of
beavers; and it gives one an idea of the progress we
have made since our forefathers in England, France,
and Germany, lived in caves and huts, little, if any,
better housed than the wild beasts about them.

When we left MacKay, we made a short stay at
Bomen ; and some of the natives came out to the
steamer in a canoe, to dive for money, which the pas-
sengers threw into the water. They were a motley-
looking crowd of men and women, and as ugly as
imagination could possibly picture. Their boat was
made of bark; and, in order that it might keep
afloat, they were obliged to bail it out continually
with a large shell.

CHAPTER IX.

Townsville — White Ants — Ant-Lions — A Large Snake — Raining Bird Bodies
— Thursday Island — Coral Reefs — The Pearl Oyster and Pearls — To the
Sea Bottom in a Diver's Armor — We Narrowly Escape being Wrecked —
A Black Trader.

WE arrived at Townsville early in the morning ; and
as we stood on the small steamer, which was to take us
to the wharf, an enormous shark came alongside, giv-
ing us a fine view. He looked lazy and sleepy enough,
till one of the men stabbed him with a pike, which
sent him off in a great hurry. Sharks are very
numerous in all the Australian waters, so that sea-
bathing is very dangerous. While in Sydney Har-
bor, a friend of mine, sitting in the stern of a
small boat, his coat-tails hanging temptingly over
the side, had the lower half of that garment torn
away by a shark. In most of the salt-water creeks,
sharks may be seen at high water, waiting for a chance
to make a meal of some unfortunate being. One often
sees ladies, while out in a small boat, put their hands
over the side into the water. If they were only aware
what a tempting bait they were thus offering to the
marine inhabitants, they would give up this graceful
little habit. Even in fresh water, there are many

155

156 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

fishes, turtles, and snakes, ready to seize moving
objects. I once saw a large pike come within a
few inches of a boat, attracted thither by a lily,
which a lady was drawing by the stem through the
water.

Townsville is a small city, much in advance of some
of the other places we had visited, and seemed to be in
a flourishing condition. At one side of the town rises
a steep, rocky hill, and back a few miles is a range of
low mountains. We were very successful at this place,
and had crowded houses as long as we remained.
Shelley and I spent most of our time a mile or two
from town, near the river and the shallow lagoons,
where birds were abundant. One day I shot several
ducks on a lagoon, and tried to hire an Australian
black to go in after them ; but he was not to be
tempted with the promise of silver, and answered,
" No, fear. Too much afraid crocodile, to go longa
water." Laughing at him, I went in after them my-
self; but as I was dressing, I saw in the mud the
track of one of the large reptiles, and concluded that
it would take more than a few ducks to tempt me to
again make myself bait for a crocodile.

Some of the lagoons were covered with large purple
water-lilies ; a beautiful sight when all in bloom in the
morning. Large Norton Bay fig and gum trees over-
hung the water, and the grass on the banks was a deep
green. I made a painting of one pretty spot I used to

AUSTRALIAN WOMAN

THE ANT-LION 159

visit ; the mosquitoes, however, were so numerous that
I was obliged to build a fire, and work while sitting in
the smoke.

At this place, the white ants, or termites, are a great
annoyance to the people, as they destroy everything
made of wood that they can reach. Houses, if unpro-
tected, become in a year or two little more than hollow
shells, ready to be blown down by the first strong
wind. The ants are very small, not larger than some
of our species, but they swarm in countless millions.
They bore into the wood from below, and in such a
way that the outside looks as sound as ever. The
houses are generally placed on posts, surmounted
with tin pans; but these have to be constantly ex-
amined, and the posts replaced by new ones as soon
as hollowed out. In order to make railway bridges
secure from the devastations of this insect, the timbers
are bored through from end to end with large augers ;
and the holes, having been filled with molasses and
arsenic, are then plugged at the ends, after which the
timbers are painted with Paris green. This is a sure
safeguard.

I often used to see along the paths, the hollow sand-
cones of the ant-lion (Myrmeleori) ; and I made quite a
study of them while at Townsville, as they were very
numerous there. The ant-lions are little fat worms,
with enormous jaws, well adapted to their mode of
living at the bottom of the little hollows in the sand,

160 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

which form their homes. Here they lie in wait for
whatever in the insect line is unfortunate enough to
fall into their trap. By walking cautiously up to one
of their holes, and dropping an ant near it, an interest-
ing scene will take place. In trying to escape, the ant
sends a few grains of sand rolling down the steep sides
of the trap, and then up comes a shower of sand from
the bottom, which confuses the ant, causing him to lose
his footing and roll to the bottom, where the powerful
jaws seize him in a deadly grip, and pull him under the
sand. When the ant-lion has finished his meal, he
snaps, with a jerk of his head, the dry skin of the ant
out of the hole ; and, settling himself in the sand once
more, is ready for the next victim. I took several of
these little fellows, in a box of sand, to the hotel, and
they proved very interesting pets. They soon began
making their cones, throwing out the sand with their
heads. If I did not feed them often, they became
discontented, and, deserting their old places, would
move to other parts of the box; thinking, no
doubt, that the game was all destroyed in their
old quarters.

While walking, one afternoon, on the bank of the
river, I saw for the first time that giant among birds,
the jabiru, wading in the shallow water. I watched
him with great interest. He stood four or five feet
high, and kept a sharp eye on all that looked suspi-
cious. He had a very large black beak, a dark brown

SNAKES 161

and white neck and body, and red legs. I crawled a
long distance in the grass, on my hands and knees,
and then lay down and waited two or three hours,
hoping he would come my way and give me a shot ;
but he did not, and so finally I had to give him
up. I saw several after this, but did not get a
specimen, and regret very much that I have not
a skin of this fine bird in my collection. I consider
the jabiru as shy a bird as I have ever seen ; for
I have spent many hours, if not days, trying in vain to
get a shot.

Snakes were rather numerous at Townsville, and I
often saw them hanging on bushes and the branches of
trees. One day, while walking in the thick scrub,
searching for land-snails, I came across a very large
light-brown snake {Morelia variegata, a species of
python) coiled upon the ground. He was by far the
finest specimen I had ever seen at large, and was,
probably, ten or twelve feet long, and as thick as a
man's leg at the knee. He looked savage enough to
devour me, and at the first sight I felt half inclined to
run away. A great naturalist has said that we get our
intense dislike of snakes from our great-great-grand-
fathers, the apes, who bear them a cordial hatred.
I have so accustomed myself to the various animals
I have seen, that I have little if any fear of them ; so
that when hunting specimens, I often catch snakes with
my hands ; but notwithstanding this, on coming upon

162

one suddenly, an indescribable fear seizes me for an
instant, and I instinctively jump back. Once, while at
home, I had, in a box in my room, some snakes which
were of the most harmless kinds, and so tame that I
could carry them about in my pockets. Often, while
sitting at my drawing, I would let them run about
the room, and, when the day's work was over, would
gather them up and deposit them in their box, much
as a lady, when she has finished sewing, picks up her
stray spools of thread. One day, after the snakes had
wriggled about on the carpet for some time, I put
them back as usual, and went out for a walk. I got
wet at the pond, and, coming home in the evening,
took off my shoes in the kitchen, and without a light
went barefooted upstairs, after dry clothing: just as
I entered my room, I stepped upon something that
thrilled me through and through, causing me to jump
three feet into the air before I had time to reason away
my fears. Then I felt about the floor, and found, to
my chagrin, that what I had taken for a snake was
nothing but a fold in the carpet.

But to return to the big snake. I had my gun with
me, and thought at first I would shoot him in the head
with a light charge of dust shot, and carry home his
skin. Then I considered, that, if taken alive, he
would be worth five times as much. Feeling about in
my pockets and game-bag, I at last found a leather strap
with a buckle. I drew the strap through the buckle,

A BIG SNAKE 163

making a slip-noose, and, thus armed, started cau-
tiously toward his snakeship, intending to put the
noose over his head. As soon as I came near, he
partly uncoiled, opened his mouth very wide, thereby
disclosing his sharp teeth, and, hissing spitefully, struck
at me. I dodged behind a small tree, and, leaning out
as far as I dared, tried several times to noose him. He
was very savage, and looked powerful enough to crush
me in his folds. At this juncture my courage was at
rather low ebb. After I had teased him for some time,
he suddenly decided to leave my company, so he started
off at full speed. I caught up my gun and went after
him, and, by hard running through the thick scrub,
managed to head him off. He stopped, coiled up
again, and again I tried the noose. He was equal
to the occasion, putting his head under his coils in a
very sulky manner ; but as soon as I reached out and
caught him by the tail, he pulled away with great
force, and started off once more, his scales shining
like polished silver as he glided across a sunny patch
of ground. This time he took refuge under a fallen
tree ; and, before I could head him off, he was gliding
down the hole of some wild beast, which was partly
concealed by the dead branches. I reached the spot
just as the last two or three feet were going down, and,
seizing his tail with both hands, I hung on desper-
ately. With my feet braced against a limb of the
tree, I pulled till the tail cracked and snapped as if

164

it would break asunder. Sometimes he pulled me to
within a few inches of the hole; and then I would
brace up on the limb, and drag him half-way out.
At last I grew so tired, I had to let go my hold, and
with many regrets I saw the last few inches of the tail
disappear beneath the earth ; and thus ended my first
and only experience with a large snake.

One morning, at the hotel, I began to skin several
ducks and herons, and looked out of the window to
find a place to throw the bodies. There was a livery
stable almost directly underneath, with a small yard at
the back. I thought I could with safety throw the
bodies of my birds into this yard, and then, when I
had finished them all, go down and remove them. So,
wrapping a newspaper about the first one, I dropped it
into the yard. The distance was so great that the
paper split, and exposed the skinned and partly dis-
sected body : a puzzling study for any one not a
naturalist. Fearing some one might see it, and
make me an object of curiosity, as I sat at work at
the open window, I closed the blinds, leaving the
slats partly open. Presently, one of the stable hands
— a muscular Englishman — came out into the yard,
whistling. He stopped short on seeing the wreck of
the heron , turned it over with his foot, shook his head,
and going back into the stable brought back a fork,
with which he threw the body over the fence. By this
time, number two was skinned, and, cautiously opening

A DISGUSTED ENGLISHMAN 165

the blind, I threw it down. The man was not far
away, for he came out almost immediately ; looked at
the many windows on the side of the hotel ; remarked
something about its being the work of that " blasted
doctor," who had lately come ; then threw the body
over the fence, with the first one. When number
three was finished, there was 110 one in the yard
when I dropped it ; but scarcely had it left my hand,
when the man rushed out with a fork, and, catching it
on the fly, turned and looked up at the windows. He
was so quick, he very nearly caught me, but I could
see that he was still in doubt, as he shouted, —

" Look 'ere, you hup there, who hever you har !
This is gettin' too bloomin' rich. 'Ow many 'ave
you got of um ? Why can't you toss urn all down
at once, instead of throwin' 'em out one at a time ;
and wat, in the name o' the Queen, do you call the
bloomin' hanimals, anyway ? I never see such hugly-
lookin' corpses before in my life."

With this, in great disgust, he threw the body over
the fence; and, going into the stable, brought out a
harness, which he commenced to wash. Every now
and then he would apostrophize the side of the hotel
thus : —

" Ain't it about time to give us another one? Come,
I'm gettin' lonesome down 'ere. Its 'andsome work
you must be doin' hup there. Don't you want to 'ire
a hable-bodied man to 'elp you ? "

166

COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

The next bird was larger than the others, and it
took me so long that my talkative friend below must
have fancied I had finished; or, perhaps, he had for-
gotten all about it. He was still washing harness, his
back turned toward me, when, at last, the body landed
with a thump, in the yard. He jumped as if electrified,
looked at the bundle of flesh and paper, and groaned, —

BIRD BODY.

" O Lord, that's a disgustin' sight ! Look a 'ere,
I ain't paid to 'eave bloody corpses all my time. I
wouldn't take the job if you'd give it to me, and I'll
be 'anged if I'll touch that till you get through; so,
put um all down in a pile, and let me know when
you've got 'im all cut hup."

Soon after this an older man came out of the stable,
pushing a cab ahead of him, upon which the two set to
work with water and sponges. By this time I had
finished my last bird, and watching my chance, when

RAINING BIKD BODIES 167

they were both looking the other way, I threw it high
up in the air. As it descended, the papers, streaming
out behind, caught the eye of the older man, and he
exclaimed, —

" Oh, look there ! What can it be ? Did you ever
see the likes of that ? "

Upon which the other burst into a roar of laughter ;
and, dropping his sponge, rolled about on the ground in
a paroxysm of mirth, while the old man stood staring
alternately at him and the paper. At last he shook
him, demanding, —

" Wat's the matter ? Wat is it ? "

"It's nothing," replied the other, hardly able to
gasp. "Come out of the sky. Been rainin' 'ere all
the mornin'. Got a factory hup above, where they
makes 'em."

After father finished his lectures in Townsville, a
party of gentlemen engaged him to report on a mine
some distance in the country; and Shelley and I, after
packing our things, and sending a couple of boxes of
specimens home, started by boat for Thursday Island.
Our plan was to remain there, collecting specimens,
until father arrived, when we were to leave for New
Guinea, where we intended to remain three months;
after which we were going to Java, thence to India,
and at last through Europe, home.

The steamer was large and wide, and almost as
steady as a rock. There was a very jolly crowd of

168 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

passengers on board, besides a hundred or more
Chinese on their way home.

I was much interested in the curious kinds of food
the Chinese cooked for themselves. Rice seemed to
be the principal article ; but soups made of dried
hens' eggs, dried celery, dried oysters, dried fish,
and dried shrimps, sometimes all together, were eaten
with the rice, which made it very palatable. I liked
some of the dishes very much, and often had a bowlful
of their rice and soup for my dinner.

Some of the passengers contrived a very ingenious
way of stealing a good dinner from the cook-room,
now and then. The only cannon on board had a rod
with a large steel worm attached to one end, for the
purpose of cleaning out the gun ; by passing this rod
down the skylight, just above the cook's table, and
twisting it into a fowl or a pudding, the whole
could be lifted out, and no one be the wiser.
What the cook thought became of the fine things
he left on his table when he went out, I have no
way of knowing. How we used to enjoy those
stolen tid-bits ! If any one wants to know how
good anything can taste, let him be hungry enough
to steal it.

For entertainment, evenings, we had reading, speak-
ing, singing, and story-telling. I happened to have
several of Mr. Robert Ingersoll's lectures with me,
which the passengers greatly enjoyed, — his wit and

FRIDAY ISLAND 169

humor serving to amuse those who could not swallow
his materialistic ideas.

Our steamer anchored every evening, as the coast is
very dangerous. Several shipwrecked sailors came on
board from their vessel, which they had abandoned on
a coral reef.

We arrived, one afternoon, at Somerset, a pearl-
shelling station ; and here the passage between two
islands was so narrow that one could toss a stone to
the shore on each side.

Somerset was once the principal pearl-shell station
on the coast, but most of the traders had moved to
Thursday Island, where we arrived shortly after pass-
ing Somerset. We went on shore as soon as possible,
and took a walk about the island (which was hilly and
very stony) to pick out a good camping-ground, and
at last found one to our liking under some trees near
the shore. Then we went to the store, and had just
given the order for our groceries, when a gentleman
stepped up, and asked us if we were not Mr. Denton's
sons.

It proved to be Captain Clark, the owner of a pearl-
shell station on Friday Island, and he invited us to-
accompany him home. Putting our things on board
his sail-boat, in half an hour we were at his house,
which was perched upon the sand-hills near the sea.

On going out over the island, the first things to attract
our attention were the monstrous hills of the white

170

COLLECTOR S KAMBLES

ants. These were composed of dried mud, arid were
sometimes ten or twelve feet high, and almost as hard
as stone. They ran up into points like church-spires,
and, on breaking off one of these, the busy workers

NKST OF TERMITES, OB WHITE ANTS.

could be seen inside in countless numbers. There is
seldom more than one female ant to a nest — she being
little more than an animated egg-bag, four or five
inches long and one inch in diameter, looking like a

THE CORAL REEFS 171

raw sausage ; while the males and workers are little,
if any, larger than our common black ants. They are
not true ants, however, having been misnamed.

Sometimes a tube of mud will extend from a large
nest up into a tree, and a small opposition nest or side-
show will be started, which gives the tree the appear-
ance of supporting large burls or warts.

The coral-reefs came in for a fair share of our atten-
tion, and we spent hours wandering over them at low
tide. They extended partly round the island, and
were a constant pleasure and delight to us. It
seemed a shame to walk over the reefs, breaking at
every step lovely corals, which would be the pride
of our museums. Some of the branching corals, radi-
ating from a centre, and as large over as a round table,
were very graceful. The different kinds were of sev-
eral colors, being red, green, brown, blue, and black.
None were white. It is not until they are bleached
that they lose all color. In places, the reef was cov-
ered for rods with soft corals — or "sea-flesh," as it
is called — resembling thick, wet leather, and very
smooth and slippery to walk upon.

We sometimes came across a giant clam (Tridacna
gigas), three or four feet long (the largest of all shells),
buried in the reef. The two valves shut together with
terrible force, probably enough to break a man's leg
should he, by any accident, step into the open shell.
They look innocent enough when open, as their soft

172 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

and variously colored mantle fills up the zigzag space
between the valves ; but the instant one puts a stick
iii, the jaws shut together with a snap.

Under the large masses of coral, we found many
cowries. They look like lumps of jelly when alive,

GIANT CLAM.

for they cover their shells with parts of their own
bodies. Brightly colored fishes of many kinds, decked
in black, blue, red, and gold, — as gay as tropical but-
terflies, — darted among the weeds and corals.

Red cuttle-fishes, looking like immense spiders,
crawled about in the shallow tide-pools, or reached
out after us with their slimy arms from a crevice in

THE PEARL OYSTER 173

the rocks, as we stopped to pick up some attractive shell.
Marine animals, as long as one's arm — looking very
like gigantic worms — covered with warts and bunches,
and known by the name of beche de mer or trepang, and
of which the Chinese make rich and delicious soups,
were very abundant. These animals are smoked and
dried before they are ready to export, and shrivelled
up into small lumps of stony hardness.

We found large cream-colored volutes, crawling
over the sand in the shallow water, as the tide re-
turned ; sometimes, away up above the highest tides,
with the dried animal still occupying the outer cham-
ber, we picked up that little-known sailor of the trop-
ical seas, the pearly nautilus. But it is for the pearl
oyster (Meleagrina margaritifera) that these shallow
seas are best known, and for them men risk their lives
and hazard their fortunes.

They are large, flat, pearly shells, in places an inch
thick ; and are generally known, the world over, by
the name of mother-of-pearl.

There are several varieties, and three or four grades
in the quality of shell. They all bring good prices,
and large fortunes have been made at the business.
The owner of a pearl-shell station has several boats,
for each one of which he hires a diver and crew ;
these are generally South Sea Islanders. The boats
are equipped with the best of modern diving armor,
air-pumps, and provisions, and bedding for the men.

174

COLLECTOR S RAMBLES

Thus they start out for the shell banks, which are
often out of sight of land, covered with from fifty to
seventy-five feet of water. When the boat arrives at
the banks, the sail is lowered, the diver descends in his

PEARL OYSTER AND PEARLS.

water-tight armor, and, provided with a bag for the
oysters, he walks along on the sea bottom gathering
what may come in his way, as the boat slowly drifts
along on the surface. He has a signal communication
with the boat by means of a line, and as fast as he fills

PEAKL-FISHING 175

a bag, they pull it up, returning an empty one. In
good weather, he remains down all day, and frequently
walks fifteen or twenty miles in that time.

When the day's work is over, the shells gathered are
all opened and cleaned, and the pearls found are distri-
buted among the men, few, if any of them, ever reach-
ing the owner of the boat. The owners are generally
very well satisfied with the shells, for the pearls are
very scarce, and not often of good color or shape. Mr.
Clark informed me that he once went out with his
boats, and opened seven hundred shells without finding
a pearl worth a shilling. They do, however, sometimes
find lovely ones. I once saw a diver with a small bot-
tle full, each one a perfect gem in itself, and as round
as a marble. They were not larger than peas, but
were of several colors and shades, — some of a decided
green, others pink, and now and then a blue one shone
out among the rest, which were mostly yellow and
white. A handful of perfect pearls, of several colors,
is one of the richest sights imaginable, and makes one
feel covetous. The perfect pearls are always found in
the flesh of the animal, and the irregular ones are often
stuck to the shell. Sometimes one will be beautifully
round, and yet of a dull brown or brick-red color, and
not worth a cent. Everything has to be very favor-
able for the growth of a perfect pearl, and that is prob-
ably why they are so scarce. These morbid growths
are of the same material as the shell ; they probably

176 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

originate in grains of sand which work into the flesh
of the animal, and there become covered with many
layers of the pearly secretion, as the animal grows;
the older and thicker the shells, the more liable they
are to contain pearls.

The boats came in while we were at Mr. Clark's,
and one of the divers — an intelligent young English-
man— gave me some very interesting accounts of the
business, and asked me if I did not want to go down in
the armor. I had long wished for such a chance, but
when it came, I felt somewhat afraid to make the trial ;
but Charlie allayed my fears by tickling my fancy with
descriptions of the sea bottom, and at last I went on
board his boat, preparatory to going down. The boat
was anchored a short distance from the land, in
only thirty feet of water ; but still I had some misgiv-
ings, and felt as if I were about to have a decidedly
strange experience.

Taking off my clothing, I put on a thick woollen
shirt, with long stockings of the same material; then
I donned the rubber suit, which was in one piece,
opening at the neck. My hands were soaped, and
pushed out of the rubber wristbands. Great leather
shoes, a foot and a quarter long, with leaden soles fully
an inch thick, were buckled on my feet. A heavy
copper helmet, with three round glass windows in the
headpiece, was placed over my shoulders. And to cap
all, two immense lead weights, each weighing fifty

DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 177

pounds, were strapped and buckled — one on my chest,
the other on my back. I felt when my dress was com-
plete as if I weighed a ton, and I could scarcely lift
my feet from the deck. Being thus equipped, with a
rope in my hand, and a few ideas about signals in my
head, I let go the ladder over the boat's side, and
lowered myself by means of the rope. As I descended
I began to feel a very painful sensation in my head, as
if it were being squeezed in a vice ; at the same time,
it seemed as if some sharp instruments were being
jammed into my ears, which rang with a horrible din.
This increased the deeper I went, and, on reaching the
bottom, it was almost unendurable. I kept hold of the
line by which I had gone down for some time ; but as
soon as I began to walk, they pulled it up. I then
fancied that the only connection I had with the boat
was the rubber tube through which the air came. How
in the world was I to get back again, or give signals ta
them above ? Looking up through the water, I could
see the boat, like a dark shadow, directly overhead.
My wrists were so much smaller than Charlie's, that
the water was leaking in a stream under the wrist-
bands. I tried to calm my fears, and keep cool. I felt
all round on my hands and knees, trying to find out
whether or not the life-line had become untied acci-
dentally, and fallen on the ground. I stirred up so
much mud, by this proceeding, that the water became
roily ; and, scarcely able to see anything, I pulled des-

178 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

perately on the rubber tubing : no response. I waited
a time, and then shook again. By this time, I was
pretty well frightened, thinking that if something on
which to get up was not sent down, I should soon
be drowned, as the leaking water was rapidly rising ;
but just at this moment, to my intense relief, I
felt myself pulled swiftly up through the water.
Several strong hands grasped me, and began taking
off the armor. As I lay perfectly still on the deck,
my mind at rest as regarded my safety, Charlie
thought me dead, and told the men I was gone up.
His words made me laugh, and when he took off the
helmet, instead of meeting a face ghastly in death, he
was greeted with a broad grin. He looked as badly
frightened as I had been. I told him it served him
right, for putting me in such a leaky suit. The line I
had been so frantically looking for was securely tied
about my waist, passing up over the shoulder.

We did some shooting at Friday Island, finding sun-
birds, bee-birds, shrikes, cockatoos, pigeons of several
kinds, and goat-suckers. We also found several bats,
and saw native companions — a large species of crane
— and jabirus ; but never had a shot at these. Large
lizards abounded ; sometimes their eggs were seen in
the sand. Once, while" Shelley and I were crossing
in a small row-boat to Prince of Wales Island, we saw
a large crocodile in the shallow water. We started for
him, but he settled himself in the mud, and was soon
out of sight.

A WET ADVENTURE 179

A handsome tree grew on the island, called the
Wongeye or wild date, which bore profusely ; and
many a good time we had, eating the sweet fruit.

The day the steamer arrived from Townsville, we
went over to -Thursday Island.

We found father in the hotel parlor, reading a news-
paper. The breeze through an open window behind
him blew his curly white locks back and forth over his
fine face, and it seemed to me that he never looked so
handsome before. Ah ! how little I then dreamed
that we were so soon to see that face, and hear that
pleasant voice, no more !

We all went, in Mr. Clark's boat, back to Friday
Island, where we spent several days more in collect-
ing. A strange phenomenon of this part of the world
is the trade wind, which blows half the year in one
direction, and the other half in another. It only blows
hard in the daytime ; the nights are generally clear
and still. Father spent most of his time in collecting
shells, over which he was very enthusiastic.

The day we left Mr. Clark's, the sea was very rough,
and before we reached Thursday Island we were in
danger, almost every moment, of being swamped, as the
waves broke right over us. We tried to round a point
to enter the quiet water, but we could not reach it, on
account of the strong tide running ; so Mr. Clark ran
the boat on the coral reef, and one of his men and
myself leaped out into the water, to lighten it, and

180

COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

pull it up on the beach. The water was up to our
necks, and every wave took us off our feet. Father,
Mr. Clark, and Shelley pulled hard at the oars, and
gradually the boat was worked into shallow water.
My feet were so badly cut on the sharp corals and
shells, and pierced by the spines of sea-urchins, that
for more than two weeks I could not step without
great pain.

When we came to shore, the boat was unloaded
and a camp made, where we spread out our birds and
blankets to dry in the sun. As my clothes were wet
through, I was obliged to take them off and hang them
upon the bushes ; while they were drying, I retired
into the shade and attended to my wounded feet.
There was a deep gash in my heel to be sewed up,
after which I dug out the sea-urchins' spines with my
penknife.

Father and Shelley had gone over to the village,
where they procured some groceries ; together with a
few cooking utensils, and some canvas for a tent. We
learned shortly that a man — employed by the Mel-
bourne Argus, as correspondent — was going to New
Guinea, as soon as he could charter a boat ; and, as he
asked us to join him, we concluded, rather than wait
longer, to accept. Our tent was soon finished and
put up. Father and Shelley gathered so many shells
and corals about here, that we made up a good-sized
box to send home.

A BLACK TRADER 181

One evening, just as we had finished supper, and
were sitting in front of our tent, a South-Sea Islander
appeared in his little canoe, and after pulling it up on
the beach, he came up to see us. His skin was very
dark, his hair very " kinky," and the muscles stood
out on his well-shaped naked body like twisted ropes.
Taking a frying-pan and some provisions from his
canoe, he soon began cooking his supper.

We found that this dark-skinned visitor could talk
English pretty well ; and, moreover, in his way, was
quite a philosopher. He informed us that he went
from island to island, trading with the natives for tor-
toise shells and paradise-bird skins ; then selling them
to the English at Thursday Island. I asked him if he
ever worked for the white men, to earn money; his
answer was a pretty good one : " No ! Black man, him
work for he self. Belly good ! Him sabby [under-
stand] — him no work for white man ; him no sabby
— him work; all same, bloody fool!" By the time
supper was ready, our friend was joined by his partner
in the business, and a lively conversation ensued. The
new-comer had an impediment in his speech, and stut-
tered in a very ludicrous manner.

Shelley inquired of the first one what was the mat-
ter with his friend, and if he could talk no better than
that ; whereupon he answered, " Him belly good boy.
Sabby plenty English. Talk belly bad : froat belong-
ing to him no good ; all same played out."

CHAPTER X.

Off for New Guinea and Life Among the Natives — Stormy Trip — The Papuans
Visit Us — Port Moresby Natives — We start Inland — Lapidoma and Its
Tree-Houses. — Narinuma — The Expedition Leaves for the Interior —
Making Bird Skins — Paradise Birds — Domestic Animals — Native Games
and Music — Lohier, the Chief — Feasts — Trip to the Coast — The Bovver
Bird — The Talegallus — A Goat-Sucker — The Rifle Bird — Ants — Land
Leaches — Dragon Flies — Butterflies — Kangaroo and Wild Pig Hunt — A
Few Days on the Lalloki — The Hornbill — King-Bird-of-Paradise — The
Cassowary — A Burial Cave.

BY the 3d of July, the schooner " C. Walker" was
ready for its passengers, and at two o'clock we set sail
for Port Moresby, New Guinea.

Mr. Armit, the correspondent for the Melbourne
Argus, was a thin, wiry man, sanguine as to hair and
mustache. He was a smart man, but altogether too
fond of intoxicating liquor ; and, when half drunk,
would do and say many things unbecoming a gentleman.

Irving, his friend and assistant, was a slim English
dude, possessing to perfection the art of bragging:
this might be said to be his only accomplishment.

Hunter, the third on our list of passengers, was a
pretty good fellow when sober.

Then there was Belford, a big, brawny half-caste ;
and a Dutch missionary, whose name I have forgotten ;
besides the captain, who was a fine fellow, and the crew.

The trade winds, which were very strong, blew
almost directly opposite to the direction we wished to

182

NEW GUINEA 183

take ; and our journey, on that account, was a long and
rough one, considering the distance we had to travel.

We passed many small coral islands, a few of which
were inhabited. A part of New Guinea, or Papua, a
high rocky promontory, was sighted about noon of the
6th, and we ran within a mile of the shore. The first
discoverers of America never looked with more long-
ing toward the new land than did we toward this as
yet little-known part of the world. We were to
explore parts of this country where white man had
never before placed his foot, and perhaps we should
find animals and plants before unknown. And then
the strange inhabitants of that new land — what an
opportunity for the student of ethnology !

As we were ninety miles north of Port Moresby, and
the wind was dead ahead, we turned about, and put
out to sea again, to make a long tack down the coast.
A sudden squall struck us just after ; and, part of the
rigging giving way, we were carried by the wind many
miles to leeward before it could be mended.

The next day, about noon, we ran in again, and
found ourselves — after battling with the wind and
raging sea for twenty-four hours — in almost the same
place we had left the day before, owing to distance
lost by the accident.

Hunter, who came on board drunk, was feeling
pretty frisky for a day or two ; and, after he became
somewhat sobered, he had a terrible headache, and lay

184 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

in the hold groaning with pain. The captain, hearing
the groans, looked down, and the following conversa-
tion ensued : " Hello, Hunter, how are you feeling this
fine morning?" — "Oh, good-morning, captain. My
head is pretty bad, and I am so shaky I can hardly
sit up." — "Glad of it! glad of it! You will find that
the way of the transgressor is hard — very hard — very
hard indeed ! Hope you'll get well all the same ! "
And with these last consoling words as an appendix
to his other harsh, though wise, remarks, the captain
left Hunter to his own reflections.

We ran out to sea, and back again, and on the 8th
reached Ule Island. This was a beautiful place ; the
surface was hilly, and covered with grass and forest,
with here and there a native plantation of bananas ;
the shore was lined with a belt of cocoa-nut trees,
and nestling under them was a village of considerable
extent, composed of brown huts. Crowds of natives
were running about on the sandy beach. On the hill-
sides, fires were lighted, as a signal that the inhabitants
wished to trade.

As we put about to make another tack, a boat with
a mat sail left the shore, and the captain hove to, and
waited for its arrival. It contained several natives.
The moment they came on board, we were struck with
their remarkable resemblance to American Indians.
They were by far the finest-looking savages I had
ever seen. Tall, straight, and proud, they seemed

THE NATIVES

185

more like the Indians of poetry and fiction — the
Indians of early American history — than the feeble

PAPUAN'S COMB, EAR-RING, AMULET, AND NOSE ORNAMENT.

and degraded representatives of that race to-day.
They were entirely naked, and their rich reddish-

186 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

/

brown skins, fine muscular development, and frizzy
hair (unlike the Indian), which stood up on their
heads six or eight inches, gave them an imposing
appearance. For ornaments, they wore tortoise-shell
ear-rings, white shell rings on their arms and ankles,
dogs'-tooth necklaces, and round pieces of boar's tusk
through the septum of their noses.

They brought cocoa-nuts, bananas, sugar-cane, and
paradise-bird skins ; all of which they threw upon the
deck, without asking what would be given in return.
Armit gave them flour, sugar, and tobacco ; the latter
pleasing them immensely. They were very inquisitive,
and wanted to see everything, and know its use. They
could not speak English; but Belford, who had been to
New Guinea before, acted as interpreter, and we man-
aged very well. They staid with us about an hour ;
then, with shouts and laughter, clambered over the
ship's side into their small boat, and were shortly out
of sight.

The deck was soon littered with banana skins, cocoa-
nut husks, and sugar-cane refuse, as the fruit was a
great treat after our rough journey.

The next day we passed Red-Scar Head, a promon-
tory jutting into the sea; and the following day, by
beating up inside the reef, we arrived toward evening
at Port Moresby. The harbor was alrnost enclosed by
high hills, covered with long, dry grass, with here and
there a garden. In the ravines between the hills grew

MOKE ABOUT THE NATIVES 189

patches of forest, and a belt of cocoa-nut trees encir-
cled the shore. On two small hills near the beach
were the houses of the missionary, the church, and a
few other small buildings. To the right, stretching for
a quarter of a mile, the native town of Bura-Bura was
supported on piles, in some places extending into the

PAPUAN DRESSES.

water ; another part of the same town extended along
the left shore to a small rocky island.

The morning after our arrival, a boat-load went
ashore, but I remained behind on account of .my lame
foot. They came back with such glowing accounts of
the land and the natives, that I could no longer resist
the temptation to go ashore. When I reached the
shore, I hobbled up the beach and sat down under
the cocoa-nut trees, in front of the native village.

Groups of the natives (the men and children abso-
lutely nude, the women wearing a short grass petti-
coat) were engaged in different pursuits. The children

190 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

ran about on the smooth, well-trodden ground, or
played with their toy boats in the shallow water. The
young men, bedecked with shell and bone ornaments,
their faces painted, and their hair as soft and fluffy as
carded wool, worked on their spears or fish-nets, and
chatted with the girls coming with water from the
springs. The older men, looking less foppish, their
hair more neglected, repaired their boats or thatched
houses, while the women made pots of clay, baking
them in the fire ; or they brought yams and bananas in
net bags, from the field.

As I sat beneath the trees, making a sketch of the
village, a group of little girls, returning from Sun-
day school, with their hymn-books under their arms,
stopped to watch me a while, and then sat down on the
grass, and began smoking their bamboo pipes. Alas !
was that all Christianity could do for these naked
savages? It could fill their heads with meaningless
prayers and hymns; it could build a church and a
fine house for its missionary in this out-of-the-way
place ; but it did not teach the natives to wear shirts,
or to improve their methods of cultivating the soil.
Money could be given to convert and save the soul of
the heathen, but his body could take care of itself.

The weapons of the people were mostly long
spears, made of some dark-brown, heavy wood, and
barbed near the point. They did not have guns,
or fire-arms of any kind ; but were well supplied with

THE PAPUAN WOMEN

191

knives and hatchets, which they had gained by barter.
Their boats were made of single logs, carefully dug out
and shaped; many of them had outriggers to steady
them when in rough water.

While I sat there, a boy came up with three green
cocoa-nuts, which he gave me for a few red beads.
When the nut is green, it is filled with a sweet, refresh-
ing milk (very
unlike the ran-
cid fluid that
goes by that
name in the
dried nut), and
the little meat
it contains is
soft and custard-
like. I know of nothing so nice, on a warm day, as
a drink of this milk.

The Papuan women are some of them fine-featured,
and many of the little children are really handsome.
When they get old, they are plain enough ; and some
of the old crones — who sit in the sun, kneading clay,
or beating balls of it into shapely pots or dishes, their
heads shaven with fragments of bottle glass, and every
bone of their emaciated bodies showing through their
wrinkled skins — are pictures of ugliness.

They seemed to be a merry, laughter-loving people,
fond of games and jokes, very talkative, neat, and

MAKING POTS.

192 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

cleanly, and always anxious to trade and exchange.
Taking them as a people, I liked them from the first.

As soon as possible, we took our things ashore ;
Armit hiring the natives to carry them all to the top
of a small hill, where he had leased a patch of ground.
The natives took hold with determination. There was
an immense quantity of goods to carry up from the
beach ; but with so many it was a short piece of work.
With their help the big tent was put up, and the place
began to look like a white man's camp.

There seemed little chance for collecting just about
the port ; and as Armit was not ready to start, father,
Shelley, and I, each took all he could carry, and set
out for Lapidoma, a native town about fifteen miles
inland. We did not start till late in the afternoon.
The steep range of hills near the port gave us a hard
climb, but the view from the summit was lovely.

Below us lay the bay and the town of Bura-Bura ;
to the right were barren rocky mountains ; on the
left, a low range of hills, and beyond them coral
reefs, and the wide-spreading ocean. On the other
side, the view was equally fine. Below, a wide plain,
extending to the base of the forest-covered Astralabe
Mountains ; and beyond and above them, towering
into the clouds, was the mighty mount, Owen Stanley.

Descending the well-trodden path, we emerged into
the plain ; and, after a walk of five or six miles, put
down our packs, erected our tent, and soon had supper

JOURNEY INLAND

195

cooking. As there was no water where we camped,
Shelley and I went back to a spring in a grove. It
was just beneath three graceful sago-palms, and the
water was clear and cool. The evening was fine, the
full moon rose over the hills; and we were in such

MOUNT OWEN STANLEY.

good spirits, that we had a camp-fire song, and a chat
over the prospects of the trip. We cut a lot of the
long grass, with our knives, for a bed ; and had a
refreshing night's sleep.

Early the next morning we started out, and kept
on steadily until noon ; when we took a bath in a clear
stream, and lay down for a short nap under the trees.
We were awakened by some one shouting, and found
that the natives had discovered us. Shelley went to
meet them ; but they ran away at first, and it was not

196 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

until he made friendly signs, that they stood their
ground. There were three of them, two men and a
boy, of the Coyara tribe ; and they were all trembling
from fear or excitement.

After some persuasion, they came back to where
father and I were. They seemed pleasant and friendly,
and asked us many questions, and made motions ; but
we could not understand them, although they seemed
to have no trouble in comprehending every motion we
made.

We gave them to understand that we wished to go
to Lapidoma, and they picked up our heavy packs and
started off with them, seemingly pleased to help us.
It was all we could do to keep up, and the perspiration
was running down our faces before they halted for a
rest. They took us directly to Lapidoma, where we
arrived about four o'clock. This was a strange vil-
lage, composed of fifteen or twenty houses, and sur-
rounded by banana and sugar-cane plantations, situated
at the base of the Astralabe Mountains.

What interested and surprised us most, however,
was a number of houses in the trees ; some of them at
a height of sixty feet. They were well built, and rat-
tan or bamboo ladders extended from the ground to
just below the platform of the house. Father thought
they were used to defend themselves from their ene-
mies, in case of an attack ; and we afterwards found
that to be a correct idea. In the houses are often

PAPUAN HOUSE.

FRIENDLINESS OF THE NATIVES 199

stored yams and tarus, wood and water, with a ton or
two of stones to throw down at their enemies ; and
spears, in bundles, for the same purpose. The plat-
form of sticks, below the house, is used to stand upon
when throwing stones and spears ; and with their
primitive methods of cutting down trees, these houses
must be almost impregnable to an enemy.

We put up our tent near the village, and concluded to
wait for Armit and his men, rather than go any farther.
Shelley started for the port with several native men,
to bring up food and ammunition for our use ; and
came back with a good supply, late on the evening of
the same day.

We were well pleased with the natives; for they
were so honest that we never lost anything, although
we frequently left our things in the tent while off col-
lecting about the country.

They had a curious way of slapping themselves on
the hip, when at all excited; and one old fellow, who
rather prided himself on this accomplishment, could
make a crack like the report of a pistol in this manner.

The first thing they do on seeing a stranger is to ask
his name, and if he is hungry.

We shot several kangaroos for them, with which
they were greatly pleased, and they kept us well
supplied with sweet potatoes and sugar-cane.

They called father Mr. Dennis ; Shelley's name they
managed very well; but mine they worked industri-

200 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

ously over without ever getting right, and I went by
the name of Shema, and Tehoty.

The men were not the lazy savages generally pic-
tured to us. They worked in the gardens, carried
heavy packs, and hunted the kangaroo and wild boar.
The best of feeling seemed to prevail among them ; and
their village was the scene of dancing, merrymaking,
and laughter.

When we hired the packers, we made them under-
stand, by motions, what we would pay ; and when the
"carry" was over, the goods were placed on the ground,
in order, and we put that which we had promised at
each bundle. There was no scramble for the trade
we gave, which consisted of sugar, salt, knives, and
hatchets; and not until we informed them that all
was settled, did they take what belonged to them.

Each person owned the property thus earned; and
I well remember a little girl, not over ten years old,
who carried a twenty -five -pound bag of shot, all
day over the mountains, for the trade she obtained
for it.

Armit arrived with his party, and we started for
Narinuma, with a long train of packers. Irving had
been left at the port to build a house ; and our party
consisted of Armit, Belford, Hunter, father, Shelley,
and myself, besides about thirty packers, and several
other natives, who accompanied us for the sport of
it. Many of the women who took heavy loads had

AN INTERESTING JOURNEY 201

babies, who sat on the top of the packs, clinging to
their mothers' hair.

The morning was fine, but the paths led up very
steep and rocky hillsides, and we had a hard day's
climb. We did not carry any packs ourselves ; and,
had we started with any, we must surely have left
them by the way. The view was, at many places,
very fine. Sometimes we walked along a narrow spur
or ridge only a few feet wide at the top, and so steep
on each side that it made one feel dizzy to look
down.

The canyons were filled with dark forests, and many
birds that were unfamiliar to us were flying among the
trees.

I shot a large kangaroo about noon ; and, when the
packers came up, they called a halt, and made a meal
of him. They did not skin the animal, but singed the
hair off, and then cut up the flesh and cooked it. They
were not especially particular about what parts they
ate, and the entrails were roasted and eagerly devoured,

We climbed higher and higher as the day advanced,
and finally came to a steep and most difficult place to
scale. It was little less than a precipice two or three
hundred feet high, composed of broken and ragged
lava rocks, with here and there a shrub or bunch of
grass striving to grow in the crevices and chinks.

In places the rocks were covered with mud, which
made them very slippery ; and we had to advance with

202

great caution. How in the world the poor natives
ever got up that place, many of them carrying one
hundred pounds' weight on their backs, is a mystery.
Father and I were very nearly exhausted when we
reached the top. We took a good rest, and then
started on over a nearly level country, covered with
large trees. We noticed a great change in the vegeta-
tion from that which we had left in the morning. We
saw oaks very like our own trees at home, and the
grasses and mosses looked like those of a temperate
climate. The air was much cooler; and the day, now
far advanced, was like one of our early autumn days,
when the heat of summer has passed.

We passed a thriving little village near a small creek,
where we obtained a drink of cool water ; and, after a
two or three mile walk down a gentle slope, we arrived
at Narinuma. It was a village of sixteen houses, besides
five tree-houses, fifty or sixty feet from the ground.
The village looked clean, and the houses tasty and
very comfortable. One house, larger and stronger
than the rest, was the visitors' house, or hotel, where
strangers have a roof to cover them, and a comfortable
place to sleep, free of charge. This we afterwards
found to be the custom in all the villages. The lar-
gest and best house is for the stranger.

Narinuma is near the Lalloki River, on a rocky
mountain overlooking the deep valley. This almost
perpendicular rock, more than one thousand feet high,

NAKINUMA

203

is nearly flat on the top, where the town is located.
Great bowlders, larger than the largest house, have
fallen from the mountains above into the valley, and
make it almost impassable.

The densest scrub, the steepest hillsides, the darkest

NARINUMA.

caves, and the clearest and coolest streams, are all
within five minutes' walk of this wonderful place ; so
we concluded to make it our abode, for a time, at any
rate.

Good paths lead in several directions, but woe betide
him who leaves one ; for he will get into a maze of wild
vines and creepers, lose his way among giant bowlders,

204 COLLECTOR'S EAMBLES

or become entangled in a bamboo thicket, where he-
may work for an hour to regain the path. There are
open, grassy fields within half a mile, and an almost
level plain a short distance up the valley. Oh ! such
mountains as shut you in on all sides ! They tower
one above the other, extending back for miles, until
you can scarcely say where the earth leaves off and
cloudland begins. The roughest, most disturbed
country I have ever seen, covered with tropical vege-
tation, and abounding with animals new and strange.
The native gardens were in the valley of a tributary of
the Lalloki River, and they grew many tropical fruits
and vegetables.

I noticed the tobacco plant growing in the village*
and wondered where they obtained the seed, for the
plant originally came from America.

We put all our goods into one end of the large
house, and made a bed by stretching cord across
a rough wooden frame, and covering it with our
blankets. Then we rigged up a table under the
house, where we could skin birds.

The natives brought us bunches of bananas, and
plenty of yams and sweet potatoes. We purchased
two neta or melon trees, which grew at the back of
the house, so that we might enjoy the fruit as it
ripened, for the natives always pick the green fruit
for cooking.

Mr. Armit and his party left a few days after we

FKUTT-PIGEONS 205

reached Narinuma, and started inland on an exploring
expedition. Father accompanied them ; but little did
we think, when he bade us good-by, that that was the
last time we should ever see him. He looked well,
and seemed in first-rate spirits ; and was as enthusiastic
over the expedition as any one. He wanted to see
more of the natives, and learn all concerning the coun-
try he could, as he intended to make use, in his lec-
tures, of what he learned. Had he ever returned, what
a store of interesting information he could have given
to the world !

Shelley and I went to work with a will, for we were
bound to make the most of our time while in the country.

The bird skins began to accumulate, and we had a
fair representation of what was found at the place, in
& short time.

The forests were alive with birds of many kinds, and
some of them the richest and most beautiful specimens
the world contains.

Just below the village were many trees loaded with
purple fruits, resembling plums, and there we used to
go, to get the pigeons and parrots attracted to the place.
Some of the fruit-pigeons were as large as ducks, and
-came down out of the trees and struck the ground with
a thump. They were of many kinds and colors : some,
green, with pink spots on their wings; some, slate-
blue ; others, brown and coppery-green ; and one kind
had a green back and purple breast. Many were good

206

COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

eating, and we often preserved the skin and ate the

body of the same bird.

The parrots were largely gregarious, and whole

flocks of the gayest-colored birds could often be seen
on a single tree.

In the thickest forest we found
the red and blue racket-tailed king-
fishers (Tanysiptera), the hand-
somest of the tribe ; and, near the
grassy plains, other species scarcely
less beautiful. I secured several
of a very small species (Melidora)9
hardly longer than a chickadee,
with a shining blue back and a,
reddish breast. They were little
gems.

We were at the place some
time before we obtained the full-
pi umaged bird-of-paradise (Para-
disea raggiana). The young males
and females were quite common ;
but the old males, with the green
RED AND BLUE RACKET- throat and the long red plumes

TAILED KINGFISHER.

growing from the sides, under the
wings, were rare. We finally learned where and how to
get them. They congregate in numbers, in certain trees,
early in the morning and late in the afternoon, where
they play about, spreading their plumes and displaying

THE BIKD-OF-PARADISE

207

all their charms, to the admiration of the females who sit
by, watching the performance. They are not very wild
at such times, and we had no trouble in approaching the
"play trees." Even when shot at they soon return,
and we sometimes got half there were in a tree. It is

BIRD-O F-P AR A DISE .

a rare sight to watch these superb birds flutter about
in the trees. Their plumes almost hide them, when
spread, and the body only of the bird can be seen in
the centre of a red halo, which is constantly in motion.
They are very noisy ; and their voice is harsh and dis-
cordant, resembling our common crow, only not so
loud.

To enumerate and describe all the birds we obtained

208 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

would be tiresome, and I will only mention a few of
the more interesting, as I go on with my narrative.

Our daily life at Narinuma was simple, and was reg-
ulated somewhat in this manner. We got up very
early in the morning, cooked and ate our breakfast,
and started out with our nets or guns. We returned
usually about one or two o'clock, and after a good
dinner went to work on our insects or birds, which
generally kept us busy till near evening, when we had
a ]ight supper of fruit, retiring soon after dark. Sun-
day we did our washing, and cooked bread enough for
the week. Very early in the morning, the ground
about the houses was swept by the women, and was
almost as hard and clean as a table. All the refuse
went into heaps behind the houses, and some of them,
composed mostly of sugar-cane "chankins," were as
high as a man's head.

Many tame pigs, with snouts half as long as their
bodies, and covered with long brown bristles, roamed
at will about the village ; and a small species of dun-
colored dog, which neither barked nor bit, but only
howled, was the occupant, with the owner, of nearly
every house. They looked half starved ; but I believe
the natives when they are in need of food do not hesi-
tate to eat them.

They had one only cat at Narinuma, which Lohier
(the chief) had obtained in trade from some of the
coast tribes, who probably got the original stock from

PAPUAN WEAPONS.

SPEAK THROWING 211

some vessel. This cat was a great pet, and they called
him buss, probably meaning puss.

We had a great time learning their language ; and,
at first, had to write every word on a piece of paper,
and turn to it frequently. The common names of
objects were the first words we learned, and then
verbs and adverbs. We found the language very
simple : one word often standing for several things ;
and, as in English, a good many words that sound
much alike mean very different things.

They have only two names for numbers, "egow"
and " abooty," meaning one and two ; and, if they wish
to count several, they use their fingers and toes, or
make notches on a stick.

After our work for the day was done, we would sit
in front of our house and watch the games of the vil-
lagers. They had wrestling, sham battles, spear throw-
ing, and games played with round nuts, which they
rolled on the ground.

The spear throwing was very interesting ; and the
chiefs brother was a good marksman, besides being
expert at defending himself with a spear-proof shield.
He would stand with the shield on his arm, and, no
matter how thick and fast the spears came, he would
stop or dodge them all. In the sham battles, they used
harmless reeds instead of spears ; and the shouting and
laughter, at such times, were almost deafening. Each
side pretended to be in sober earnest, and charged and

212 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

retreated very much as in actual combat. In all these
games, the chief played a prominent part.

I remember one game in particular, that showed a
great deal of skill. The space in front of our house

was almost as level as
a billiard table, and a
party of young men, each
armed with a spear seven
or eight feet long, would
stand at one end of this
space. One of the party
would roll a pumpkin
the size of a man's head
along the ground with
all the force he could
command ; a shower of
spears would follow it,
and the one who pinned
it to the ground had the
rolling of the pumpkin

PAPUAN DRILL.

the next time. Some-
times every spear hit the pumpkin, and it would be
split into fragments.

We instructed the inhabitants in the game called
"leap-frog," and it became a favorite with them. In
this sport, the women were as enthusiastic as the men.
Some would stoop to the very ground, while others
only slightly bent their backs, and the frog conse-

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

213

quently came to grief. They acted like a party of
school-children on a romp ; and I have laughed at
their queer antics until the tears ran down my cheeks.

We tried to teach them base-ball, but it was rather
too complicated for them.

An old English game called "jolly stag" suited
them much better. They enjoyed seeing Shelley and
me box, but never
learned to use their
hands as we did.

They had made some
advancement in music,
and had drums made
of hollow, hourglass-
shaped pieces of wood,
with a head at each
end made of the skin
of a large lizard. They
also had a small wooden
instrument, very much
like a Jew's-harp, only
that the necessary vi-
bration was given to
the tongue by pulling
a string instead of striking it with the finger. On
pleasant evenings, two men and two women would
stand on a large rock overlooking the valley, and
sing for half an hour or more. Their songs were,

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

214 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

many of them, to the sun, in praise of the fair day they
had enjoyed, and their voices were clear and sweet.

The old chief, Lohier Macola, was, perhaps, the most
interesting man in the village. He was fifty years old,
I should judge, stout and broad-shouldered; and his
body was so well covered with scars from the numer-
ous battles in which he had taken part that, by placing
my hand on him in the darkest night, I was sure of his
identity. His face was dark, but he had an intelligent
look; and he was a natural gentleman, modest and
unassuming.

There were few things he enjoyed more than to
question us about the white men and their country ;
and, while we were busy skinning birds, he would sit
on the ground in front of us, asking questions by the
hour. He would follow a subject into the details, and
never leave it until it was exhausted of all interest. A
single illustration will give a good idea of his method.

Question. What is the name of the food you eat,
made into a large cake, out of a fine white powder ?

Answer. Bread.

Question. What is the name of the powder ?

Answer. Flour.

Question. Does it come from America?

Answer. From many parts of the world. Wherever
white men live, they have flour.

Question. Does it grow, or do they dig it out of the
ground?

LOHIER DESIRES KNOWLEDGE 215

Answer. It grows.

Question. Does it grow on a tree, on a bush, or on
a vine ?

Answer. It grows on a short stalk, which looks
something like grass.

Question. How do they gather it ? it is so fine, I
should think it would get lost, or be blown away by
the wind.

Answer. It is not so fine when they gather it, but
is like little seeds.

Question. How do they make it so fine ?

Answer. Crush it between two large stones.

Question. Does each man crush his own seeds ?

Answer. No ; some men make a business of doing
that for a large number of persons.

Question. Do they give them trade for crushing the
seeds ?

Answer. Yes.

Question. Before the seeds are crushed, do they call
them flour ?

Answer. No ; they call them wheat.

Question. Have you any of the seeds with you ?

Answer. No. I wish I had ; and you should have
some. — And so on, ad infinitum.

Lohier was very fond of bread, and seemed to think,
if he could only get some wheat and grow it in his gar-
den, he would be a happy man. Whenever we had
some crusts that were hard and dry, we would give

216 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

them to Lohier, and he would call all the children in
the village, and, making them stand in a line, would
give each a small portion. If there was any left after
all were served, he would take a piece the size of a
thimble, and nibble it slowly so as to enjoy it all.

When two adjoining tribes are friendly toward each
other, they give frequent feasts. Several were given
at Narinuma while we were there. For days they
bring in bananas, yams, tarus, pumpkins, and sweet
potatoes by the hundredweight ; and on the morning
set for the feast, several pigs are killed, singed, and
the entrails taken out. They then build a large fire in
a hole in the ground, which is stoned up and looks
like a shallow well ; and wrhen the wood is reduced to
a glowing mass of coals at the bottom, and the stones
on the sides are red-hot, the pigs, wrapped in many
thicknesses of banana leaves, are put upon the coals
and covered with hot stones from another fire. The
whole is then covered with earth, and when taken out,
they are cooked through in the nicest possible manner,
and nothing is lost. The vegetables are cooked in
much the same manner, and by the time the guests
arrive, a small mountain of nicely cooked food looms
up in the centre of the village.

There is little done that day except to eat, play,
sing, laugh, and dance ; and toward night the visitors
return home with merry hearts, and stomachs well
distended. If I should state the amount I have

AFRAID OF THE GUN 217

seen one man consume, there are few who could
credit it.

At one of their feasts, a tribe from the north, many
of whom had never seen white men, were invited : and,
as may be supposed, we were the centre of attraction.

In the afternoon, while they were throwing spears
at a shield, to see if any could put a hole through it,
Lohier came along and wanted us to give them an
exhibition of what a gun could do. I dropped a half-
dozen pistol-balls into my shot-gun, and telling them
to place the shield against a tree and all to get out of
the way, I took deliberate aim, and fired. At the
report of the gun many of the new-comers fell flat
upon the ground, screaming and saying they were all
killed. Others went to the shield, and seeing the
holes through it and into the tree, never stopped to
say good-by, but left for home on the double-quick.

One evening, just at sunset, we were surprised to
hear several shots fired, on a hill just across the valley ;
and half an hour afterward, George Belford appeared,
with a large number of natives from the interior. He
had left the party at Shugary, and was on his way to
the coast, with a number of packers, to get provisions
and ammunition for the expedition.

Father had written us a letter, and was in good
health, and doing very nicely. He said he had col-
lected a large number of insects, and that the birds
were very plentiful at Shugary.

218 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

Shelley and I concluded to go to the coast and bring
back many things we needed.

We hired two natives to pack our things, and started
away with George the next morning, bright and early.
The day was fine, and we had a delightful walk to the
coast, where we arrived about dark.

A good many of the natives had never before seen
the ocean, except from a distance, — the coast tribes
not allowing them to go down, — and, as they are very
fond of salt — probably from eating so much fresh food
— the first thing they did on reaching the shore was to
wade in, and drink their fill of salt water. We remon-
strated with them ; but it was of no use, and some half-
dozen were very sick in consequence. One would
think they had had enough of it by that time ; but
when they came to go back, they filled large hollow
bamboos with the salt water, and carried them home
for future use. We remained one night at the shore ;
and the natives slept on the bare ground, back of the
tent.

In the middle of the night, I was awakened by a
noise, resembling the whining of dogs ; and, on going'
out, found that it came from the natives. They were
all curled up on the ground in a mass, which in the
moonlight looked not unlike a knot of earth-worms ;
and when I asked them what the matter was, they
answered they were cold. It was no wonder they
were cold, lying on the damp ground without a par-

PHEASANT PIGEON 219

ticle of clothing. I went to the storehouse, and
opening a bale of blankets distributed some among
them.

Loading ourselves, and the natives we had hired,
with provisions and ammunition, we returned to
Narinuma, arriving there at evening, very tired.

As we remained at Narinuma a long time, and were
collecting every day while there, we procured some
splendid specimens of both birds and insects in the
adjacent fields and forests, and I will briefly mention
a few of the more interesting.

In the densest forest lives the pheasant pigeon (Chal-
copliaps), a bird the size of a bantam cock, and richly
colored. His wings are rusty brown ; rump and tail,
blue and black, with metallic reflections ; head, black ;
under parts, brown ; and back, rusty brown, pink, or
purple, according to the light in which he is seen. He
is very shy, and lives mostly on the ground. We
secured two only of this species.

A very plain, but, nevertheless, exceedingly interest-
ing, species is the New Guinea bower-bird (Chlamydo-
dera). The male sings sweetly, though it is not for his
voice that this bird is noted, but for the bower or play-
house that he constructs. It is composed of short
sticks, placed on the ground in such a way that their
tops meet, making a covered arch. At each end, the
ground is littered for several feet with all the bright
and gaudy things which the birds can find : such as

220 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

shells, pretty pebbles, small bones, nuts, fungi, fruits,
parrots' feathers, beetles' wing-cases, etc. I once found
one on which the birds had hung green and red fruits
at both ends of the bower, making a wonderfully
pretty display. This bower is by no means a nest, but
merely a try sting-place or love-arbor. The birds run
through this arch, chasing each other ; the male chatter-
ing and singing, frequently stopping to pick up a shell
or feather to show the female what pretty things he
has gathered for her sake. Those who imagine animals
cannot think or feel as humans do, should see this love-
shrine made without hands, and watch the birds play
and dance about the home of their affections. This
bower-bird (there are several species) is about the size
of a robin, and of a dull brown color.

The talegallus, or bush-turkey, is quite common in
the eastern peninsula, where we were ; and one fre-
quently meets with the mounds they construct. The
birds are about the size of a common fowl, of a dull
black color, and are gregarious. They raise immense
mounds of earth, leaves, and decayed wood in which to
deposit their eggs ; and a number of females lay in one
mound. These mounds, usually placed in a very thick
and gloomy part of the forest, are frequently twenty
to thirty feet across, and as high as a man's head. It
hardly seems possible that such a mass of materials
could have been accumulated by a few birds not larger
than hens; but a large mound has probably taken

A GOAT-SUCKER 221

years for its construction, a little being added each
season. The eggs are deposited in holes dug several
feet into the mass, where the warmth of the decompos-
ing materials hatches them. The birds are generally to
be seen about their mounds, but are shy and difficult
to approach. They keep up an almost incessant cackle,
both night and day, which is anything but musical, and
is well calculated to make one bad-tempered when try-
ing to get to sleep in their neighborhood. They have
one redeeming quality. Their flesh and eggs are excel-
lent eating.

A little bird that cost us many sleepless hours was
a small goat-sucker that used to sit on a rock near the
house in which we staid, and keep up an almost
unceasing racket from dark until daylight. His only
song might be expressed by the word "katup." He
would say it once, twice, and then three times in
succession ; beginning again at one, with a regularity
and monotony that would weary one. Many a night
have I lain awake by the hour, wishing that his katup
would choke him the next time he said it. I used to
get up with the gun, creep cautiously to the door, and
blaze away 'at the little fellow as he flew off ; but it
was so dark, and he was so shy and so very quick,
that I missed him every time. Scarcely was I dozing
again, than he would begin as regular as a clock. At
last, I became desperate, and declared I would not
stand it another night.

222 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

I stood at the corner of the house with the gun, and,
at about the time the village became quiet, a fluttering
object appeared over the rock. I pulled the gun to my
shoulder, but he caught sight of the motion, and was
off. In a few minutes he was back again , and now
his skin adorns my cabinet. I afterwards discovered
that he belonged to a new species which had never
been described.

While out in the forest on one of my bird-hunting
expeditions, near Gidiaruma, I heard a very soft and
long-continued whistle. It sounded very like a steam-
boat whistle at a great distance, and it was with diffi-
culty that I could tell from whence it came. It did not
seem possible that any bird could make such a sound,
and continue it for so long a time without an interrup-
tion. I became very curious to learn the origin of this
sound, and set out to investigate.

I had not gone very far when I came in sight of two
brown birds (Rectes) with black heads, and discovered
that they were the whistlers. They sat so close on a
branch as to touch, and they whistled together. The
only time that the whistle completely died out was when
they both stopped at the same time, which was not often.

On my way back that same day, another most
remarkable sound attracted my attention. This was
loud and coarse, and was not unlike the noise made
by what is popularly known as the "devil's fiddle."
As near as I can express it in words, it was "wow

THE MAGNIFICENT RIFLE-BIRD

wough," was uttered at intervals of a minute or so,
and was enough to give one a fright. I thought it
might, perhaps, be made by a large frog of some sort,

RIFLE-BIRD.

but concluded to know of a certainty ; and set off
down the mountain-side toward a thick scrub, half a
mile away, from which the sound emanated. Arriving

224 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

at the spot, I found that the croaking came from a
tree ; and, cautiously pushing my way through the
bushes, saw a black bird sitting on a branch a hun-
dred yards away. As he turned his head, a gorgeous
scaly shield of a metallic blue color, on his throat and
breast, was revealed, making it evident that he was
nothing less than the magnificent rifle-bird (Ptiloris
magnified), one of the loveliest and richest creatures in
creation. He did not give me long to admire his plu-
mage ; for, with a guttural croak, he started off, every
stroke of his wings squeaking as if two pieces of crisp
silk had been rubbed together.

The ground was very rough, and the creepers and
small vines made walking all but impossible ; but I
had been stimulated by that sight, and felt as though I
must not fail to secure him. He did not fly far at a
time, and seemed to have a certain district, beyond
which he would not go. He was very wary, and I
seldom obtained a glimpse of him, except just as he
started from a tree, in the distance. It began to grow
dusk, and I feared I should have to give up the chase.
As I was debating whether to remain any longer, he
alighted in a tree not far off, and I blazed away. I
did not see him drop ; but when I went to the spot, he
lay stretched upon the ground, every feather in place.
As I lifted him by his long beak, his breast and head
sparkling with blue, purple, and gold, the rest of his
plumage being like the richest black silk velvet, touched

PESTS 225

here and there with purple gleams of light, I gave a
wild shout of joy, that made the woods ring.

The greatest pests in tropical countries are usually
flies of different kinds ; but where we were they were
not common, and mosquitoes were almost unknown.
Perhaps the worst pests in the island are the fleas : the
houses swarm with them, and it is almost impossible to
keep them out of one's blankets. We tried smoking
our blankets over a fire, putting camphor between
them, and sprinkling with red pepper and kerosene.
The latter method, although somewhat unpleasant for
us, proved the most effectual.

While walking through the bushes, one frequently
comes across nests made of green leaves, and spun
together by webs. These are the homes of the green
ants, and if any of them get upon the neck or hands,
one will not soon forget them. They do not wait for
an introduction, but introduce themselves, with a sharp
nip. The bites do not hurt very badly at the time ;
but in a day or two they swell into lumps, remaining
very tender arid painful for several days.

The land-leaches, too, are a great nuisance ; and if
wandering in the woods after rainy weather (a time
when they are most active), one is obliged to stop
every few minutes to remove them.

They climb weeds and bushes beside the paths; and,
at the sound of an approaching footstep, they reach
out as far as their elastic bodies will permit, and attach

226 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

themselves to the victim. The bite is not at all pain-
ful, but one loses a good deal of blood from the wound.

Some of the handsomest and largest dragon-flies I
have ever seen are found along the banks of the
Lalloki River. Many of them are brilliantly colored,
and even rival the butterflies in splendor. Butterflies
were not numerous near Narinuma, while we were
there, except perhaps half a- dozen kinds. One species,
which we called the ghost-butterfly (closely allied to
our wood-nymphs), was creamy white, with an eyelike
spot on each of the forward wings. It usually ap-
peared at or near the mouths of caves, where its
light color contrasted strangely with its sombre sur-
roundings. The flight of this species is very slow, for
I have often caught them in my hands while on the
wing.

As Shelley and I were returning from one of our
rambles, well loaded down with blankets, birds, and
guns, we lay down on the grass, in an opening in the
forest, to rest a few minutes.

A sudden exclamation from Shelley startled me
from my comfortable doze, and, looking up, I saw a
large butterfly flitting past. Alighting on a half-
decomposed log, he opened and closed his gorgeous
wings, which were a shining purplish pink for about
two-thirds of their surface, the rest being a broad
border of green, edged with black.

We had no means of catching him, and although we

BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES 227

tried the schoolboy trick of using our hats, he took
alarm ; and after circling once or twice around our
heads, apparently just to show us how lovely he was,
sailed away over the tree-tops. From the shape of his
wings we concluded he belonged to the ornithoptera,
but was probably a new species ; and it remains for
some future naturalist to catch and describe him. I
really thought him the handsomest butterfly I ever
saw; but one is apt to think a thing he loses better
than that he gains. There is one more insect I wish
to mention, before proceeding with my narrative.

Opposite our house was a flowering tree, some thirty
feet high. One day, as we were eating our dinner, we
saw two remarkable-looking butterflies, chasing each
other about this tree. The under sides of their wings
were jet black ; while the upper were a bright yellow,
and gleamed in the sunlight like polished metal. We
both took our nets, and waited for them to come down ;
but as they kept near the top of the tree, we were
finally obliged to climb up among the branches. We
did not have long to wait there, for I scooped one in
with my net, and the other left soon after. On open-
ing the wings of my captive, I was almost dazed with
the beauty of its coloring, as I had never before seen
any living thing at all like it. The wings looked as
if gold-leaf had been spread upon them. The insect
measured about three inches across the expanded wing.

It was during the dry season that we were in Papua,

228 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

and, although occasionally there were terrific thunder-
showers in the mountains, the valleys and plains near
the coast were very dry.

It is at this time that the natives set fire to the grass
(which will readily burn), in order to better get at the
kangaroos and wild pigs that are so abundant. We
were present at one of their hunts, and a description of
it may prove interesting.

The grass had been burned over a large tract of
country ; but patches, of several acres in extent, had
purposely been left, in which the game was very
plentiful, it being their only hiding-place and feeding-
ground.

Early one morning, Shelley and I started off to the
Lalloki River for birds. As the natives were hunting,
we stopped on the way to watch the performance.
Some two hundred men surrounded one of these un-
burned patches, and commenced beating the grass with
their spears, throwing stones, and shouting, to frighten
the animals toward the centre of the patch ; gradually
closing in on the game, till all the animals, which had
originally occupied hundreds of acres, were confined
in a space of one or two ; a line of men, armed with
spears, surrounding them. The pigs were the first to
make a break for liberty, rushing at their foes, who
everywhere walled them in.

The men did not throw their spears as usual, but
waited until the animals were near enough to run

AN EXCITING SCENE 229

through the body ; then they left the carcases lying
where they fell, until the hunt was over.

Some of the pigs were very desperate, especially
one old boar, which, with a spear sticking through
his sides, made a rush at the men, one of whom he

KANGAROO.

knocked down, tearing his throat open with his tusks.
He wounded another in the leg, and tore, in a ter-
rible manner, the arm of a third.

The native first attacked, afterward died from his
injuries ; but the other two recovered.

Some of the larger kangaroos showed fight, and

230

several of the men were severely scratched by their
long claws. Sometimes a kangaroo would leap en-
tirely over the line of men, and escape uninjured ;
but many of them, by far the larger proportion, met
their death by the spear.

Taken altogether, it was a very exciting scene ; and,
at a little distance, looked not unlike a desperate battle.

After the hunt was over, the animals were dressed,
cut up into convenient pieces, and smoked, on a plat-
form built of sticks, over a fire. Afterwards, this
dried, smoked meat was stored in their houses until
needed for food.

We left the natives at their meat-drying, and went
on our way across the level plain until we came to the
river, which we followed up some distance. A good
camping-ground was found, where we arranged our
things for a several days' hunt. On each side of the
river was the plain ; but a belt of forest bordered the
stream, where we found many birds and insects un-
familiar to us. This territory belonged to a strange
tribe, and toward evening one of their number made
his appearance on a little knoll, not far away. We
tried to persuade him to come down and see us, but he
appeared frightened, and soon went away. In a short
time he returned, bringing some sweet potatoes and
sugar-cane, which he held up to show us, then dropped
upon the ground, and ran away.

We accepted his present, leaving in return a few

A CROCODILE 233

beads and a spoonful of salt, tied up in a paper. In
this way he brought us fruits and vegetables as long as
we remained there. He would sit on the knoll by the
hour, watching us skin birds, occasionally coming near
enough to pick up things we threw to him, but never
coming to the camp.

Early one morning, I went to the river for a drink.
As I dipped my cup into the water, I was startled by a
slight movement at my right ; and, looking in that
direction, I beheld a large crocodile, not more than
ten feet away. He had lain so quietly that I had
mistaken him for a log; but, as may be imagined, I
did not remain to determine his species. Our bath,
the previous evening, at that place, would not have
been so enjoyable had we known the proximity of this
scaly monster.

We came across delicious nuts at this place, which
grew quite abundantly in the forest. They looked like
large reddish-purple plums, the size of a swan's egg ;
and under each of the trees where they were to be
found were stones on which the natives had cracked
them. We concluded they must be eatable, and found
the kernel sweet and well flavored.

One day when we were both out shooting, we heard
a most remarkable noise, that for a long time puzzled
us. It sounded exactly like the puffing of a locomo-
tive half a mile away, and we came to the conclusion
that a party must be coming up the river in a steam-

234

boat, exploring the country, as we could account for
the puffing in no other manner.

Imagine our astonishment when we learned that this
"elm chu " was made by the flapping of the wings of a
large bird, the hornbill, as he flew lazily from tree to
tree. There are many birds that make sounds with
their wings when flying. Some ducks, pigeons, and
plovers whistle so that they may be heard several rods ;
but I never dreamed there was a bird that could be
heard in this manner at the distance of half a mile.
It is enough to frighten one to hear this sound in
the depth of the forest.

The hornbill is as large as a turkey, and lives among
the tall trees. It is said that the female excavates a
nest in a tree-trunk, and that the male walls her in
with mud ; where she remains until her eggs are
hatched, and the young are able to fly, the male sup-
plying her and the young with food. One writer says
that the female leaves the nest in a very rusty condi-
tion, and I don't wonder at it.

We saw the little king-bird-of-paradise (OtVmnurui
regius) here, and shot several specimens. They are
the smallest of the tribe, but no less lovely than
others. The color of the back and head is a deep
orange-red ; the abdomen is white ; plumes banded
with shining green spring from the sides ; and the
tail is adorned with two wire-like feathers, on the
ends of which are two circular button-shaped webs of

KING-BIKD-OF-PARADISE

235

green. The feathers of the head and neck are short
and thick, and look like plush. We saw them most
commonly in the low growth of the forest ; and that is,
doubtless, their habitat. The female is quite plain in
comparison with her mate, as is the case with all the
paradise birds with which I am acquainted.

On one occasion, as I was looking for a bird that
was whistling from the top of a high tree, I heard

KING-BIKD-OF-PARADISE.

something trampling among the dry twigs on the
ground. At first I thought it was a native ; and,
wishing to see what he was about, I kept very quiet,
when to my surprise I saw a large cassowary coming
directly toward me. Having nothing but small shot
in my gun, I waited until he was within eight or ten
feet, and then fired directly into his neck. There was
a terrible jumping and thrashing around for a minute
or two, and then the giant bird started up the hill, on

236 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

the other side of a creek. I started in pursuit, in great
haste, and had no difficulty in tracking him by the
blood spattered on the leaves. He gave me a long
chase, but I finally came across him in a gully, and
brought him down with a charge of big shot. I had
to skin him on the spot, and the skin alone was a
heavy load. He was nearly or quite as large as a man,
and his body would probably have weighed one hundred
pounds. They are said to be good eating, but we found
him very tough, and not so good as the pigeons.

We came upon a burial-cave on one of our excur-
sions into the woods, and it was a weird place, enough
to startle even the bravest.

This cave was a natural one in the side of a hill, and
had been used by the people as a burial-place for many
years, judging by the accumulation of skeletons in and
about it. There were hundreds of them, and skulls
with their empty sockets stared at us from every side.
Many of the bodies were in sacks or nets, and some
were quite fresh, and could not have been placed there
many days before our arrival. One skeleton, the dried
flesh still clinging to the bones, sat at the mouth of the
cave keeping guard over the ghastly place ; while a
dead baby in a net hung by a branch of a tree near by.
I left, feeling sick and heavy of heart.

We started for Narinuma that very afternoon ; and
were glad to get back among our friends, and into our
house, which almost seemed like a home to us.

CHAPTER XI.

Boundary Lines— Public Meetings — A Midnight Scene — A Funeral — The
Coyara a Secularist — He has Good Teeth — Waboota — Roboor, and how he
got a Wife — A Lovely Savage — Lohier Tries Match-making, and gives us
a Surprise.

THERE are distinct and well-marked boundary lines
between the lands owned by different tribes ; and,
when one tribe wishes to communicate with another,
they go to the line, where they call, or blow a shell
horn, to bring their neighbors within speaking distance.
Should a man of one tribe be found on the land belong-
ing to another, he is regarded as an enemy, and imme-
diately taken prisoner. Permission is often given by a
tribe for their neighbors to go through their territory,
but always with an escort. When I went out shooting,
with a native to carry my birds, I could never get him
beyond certain limits : he would tell me that his land
went no farther, and that he dared riot go beyond.

On one occasion, when Shelley and I were out, we
decided to go to the town of Boyeruma ; and went
across the little river, that divides the two territories,
without calling to let the natives know we were com-
ing. We walked into town just as the inhabitants
were at dinner ; and I should judge there were about
one hundred of them sitting on the ground, each with

237

238 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

a large leaf for a plate, on which was mashed pumpkin
and yam. They were having a very jolly time ; but
the moment they saw us, they scrambled to their feet,
with piercing yells; jumped the fence, back of the
houses; and waded the river, in a perfect stampede.
We called to them that we were friends; but that
only seemed to frighten them the more, so we laid
our things down, and had a hearty laugh at their
expense. At last a brown head peeped out from
behind a tree, and the owner asked us what we
wanted, and why we did not tell them we were com-
ing. They finally all came back, but some were
covered with mud and others badly scratched in their
scramble over the fence.

The Papuan is a curious mixture of mirth and
seriousness. When he is jolly, his laugh rings out
joyous and hearty ; but when there is anything weigh-
ing on his mind, he is sober and seldom speaks.

The people hold meetings in the woods, where they
discuss various things of importance ; and we some-
times came across a group of them seated on the
ground, with the chief in the centre, holding what
appeared to be a political meeting. These meetings
were generally held some distance from the villages, in
small clearings in the woods, where the trees had been
cut down for that purpose. The women took part as
well as the men, and seemed to have just as much to
say as to what was to be done. The chief heard all the

A MIDNIGHT SCENE 239

suggestions, and then gave his ideas on the subject ;
after which a vote was taken, and the question settled
accordingly.

Sometimes, when we were skinning birds under our
house, we would suddenly notice that the village was
very quiet; and, on looking about, find that every
living being had left. Not only were all the people
gone, but the dogs and pigs had marched off with
them, as if by instinct ; leaving the place as deserted as
a graveyard at midnight. Why they left, or where
they went, was a mystery ; for they would not be gone
very long, sometimes returning the same day.

They went off in this manner one afternoon, and did
not return at evening, so we thought they were going
to make a night of it ; but it rained heavily soon after
dark, and about midnight we were awakened by a great
noise; and, on looking out, saw the party returning,
Lohier at the head with a torch. The children were
crying, the women scolding, the dogs howling, and the
pigs grunting and squealing. As they slowly groped
their way along the wet and slippery path, with the
dark forest on each side, the only light coming from
Lohier's torch, they presented a strange, weird appear-
ance, equal to the scene in Macbeth where the witches
dance about the caldron.

The Coyara is very kind to his wife and children ;
and, all the time we remained among them, we never
saw a child punished, or a woman ill-treated. The

240 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

children were very quiet, and seldom cried ; but there
was one noted exception to this rule : nearly every
night the inhabitants of the whole village were awak-
ened by the shrieks of a child. Her mother was very
patient, and I used to hear her say, "Bidica, bidica !
Coyara aria yargima, lass. De avier kikini de yaba
yaba momonarty. Negato de ellegim vany momo. Ne-
gato de aneane momo. Yaba yaba lass" In other
words, " Goodness gracious ! Coyara men cannot
sleep. You are a small child, but you cry very loud.
To-morrow, you will see the sun. To-morrow, you
will have plenty to eat. Don't cry."

There was one death in the village while we were
there, and we had a chance to witness their funeral
ceremony. The corpse, that of a little girl, was laid
upon a leaf mat on the ground ; and the mother, her
body smeared with a mixture of charcoal and grease,
making her as black as a well-polished stove, sat upon
the ground in front of it, and sang and wept a great
part of the day. At evening, a small group of men
and women gathered about the place, and sang several
songs, in which the child was spoken of as a good little
girl who helped her mother, and was kind to her play-
mates. After darkness had gathered about the village,
the procession started ; and, with torches to light the
way, carried the body to the burial-ground on the oppo-
site side of the valley.

When they returned, I questioned Lohier about his

THE COYARA A SECULARIST 241

ideas of a future life, and asked him what became of
people after they died. He caused me to understand
that the}7 went into the ground, where their bodies
soon decomposed, to make fruits and flowers for the
enjoyment of those who were to come after. I could
not find out that he had any idea of a soul, or land of
bliss in which it was to reside. This surprised me very
much, as I had been led to think that the belief in a
future state of existence is universal ; and that the most
uncivilized races of mankind believe in the soul and a
place of rest. The Coyara is a secularist : he has no
priest to pay, no hell to torment his imagination ; and
takes his heaven with his wife and children as he goes
along.

A dentist would never make a living in New Guinea,
as the people have such strong and handsome teeth that
they seldom need one. We eat so much soft food, and
give our jaws and teeth so little exercise, that it is no
wonder we are, many of us, edentates before we are
thirty.

Nature never gives an animal tools unless there is
work to be done with them ; and if an animal is well
provided with good tools, and ceases to use them, they
become smaller and smaller in each succeeding genera-
tion, and finally disappear.

The natives chew sugar-cane every day of their lives,
and if there is anything that requires strength of jaws
and teeth, that is the article. It always gave me a

242 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

pain in the jaw, after a time. I had one thing in my
favor, however. I could peel off the woody outside
bark with a strong knife, leaving only the inside fibre
to chew. But the natives had no knives except those
we gave them, and they were regarded as too precious
to be used in peeling sugar-cane.

Seated in the door of his house, with a stick of cane,
six or eight feet long, the native would commence at
the large end and rip off the bark with his teeth, using
force enough to pull or break the teeth of a Caucasian.
No wonder their teeth were good. If we could grow
a well-flavored sugar-cane here, and get people into
the habit of chewing it for a few generations, store
teeth would become unpopular. But if we got the
cane to suit in every way, some enterprising Yankee
would invent some machine to do the chewing for us,
and we should soon be as badly off as ever.

The Papuan utilizes the great strength of his jaws
and teeth in another way. The forests are often thick
with vines and creepers, and one frequently becomes
so entangled that it is a work of several minutes to get
free. I carried a strong knife to cut the vines ; but the
native uses his teeth, and clips them off much as a
seamstress bites thread while at her sewing.

They will bite through a tough creeper, or rattan,
the size of a pencil, at one snap, leaving the two ends
dangling from the trees. I once tried to see what I
could do in that line on a rattan about the size of a

WABOOTA 243

telegraph wire, and it might as well have been wire, for
all the impression I made upon it.

The drinking-vessels of the people were interesting.
They were made of the largest bamboo, and were six
to eight feet long. The partition at each joint had
been knocked out, and a wad of leaves answered for a
stopple. They held a great deal of water, but to ^b tain
a drink from one required skill. If one tipped the end
a trifle too high, he received quite a deluge of water.

There was a little boy at Narinuma named Waboota,
who was a born naturalist. He was, perhaps, ten
years old ; but he knew where various insects could be
found, and, moreover, had an eye to trade. He was
often about where we were, skinning birds or killing
and drying insects ; and his mother could scarcely
persuade him to go to his meals. The moment he was
in possession of his roasted yam and leaf of mashed
pumpkin, or " moushna," back he would come, to
watch us while he ate.

One day he brought us a monstrous black beetle,
two inches and a half long, for which we gave him a
few beads. He asked if we wanted more, and upon
our telling him we would take all he could get, he
started off on the run. We did not see him again till
evening, when he came in, bringing three more of the
same kind. He said he obtained them in bamboo ; but
that it was hard work, as he had no knife to split the
reed open. The next morning, we let him take a

244 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

strong knife, and a quart can to put his beetles in;
and, before night, we were surprised to see him return-
ing with the can completely full of these enormous
insects. He had found a nest of them and taken all
there were. We gave him a small knife for the lot,
and he departed, happy. Sometimes we let him take

BAMHOO BEETLE.

our nets and bottles to catch butterflies, and he gener-
ally did as well as, or better than, we could have done
ourselves, so that we owe many of our finest speci-
mens to Waboota.

I had a favorite young fellow named Roboor, who
often used to go shooting with me, and I became quite
attached to him. He was quite dark, almost black ; but
had a pleasant face, and was always ready for a tramp.
His hair was a perfect bush of kinky fuzz, and stood
up on his head in a mass as large as a half-bushel meas-
ure. He wore no clothing, and his well-shaped body
reminded me of some Roman statue. He possessed a

A LOVERS' FEAST 245

keen eye and a quick ear, and many were the birds he
helped me get.

One day, when we were out together, I shot several
birds, which were spoiled , so I gave them to Roboor,
thinking he would like them for his dinner. We were
sitting under a large wild fig-tree, where pigeons and
other birds came in numbers, to fill their crops. Ro-
boor seemed much pleased with the birds ; and, after
carefully picking and cleaning, wrapped them up in
leaves, and tying them round with vines, in lieu of
string, put the whole into his bush of hair, which was
his only pocket. I was curious to see what he did with
his birds, after taking so much pains with them ; so
after we arrived home, I observed that he went to a
house, at one end of the village, and called to a young
woman, who was talking with her mother. The young
girl laughingly received him, and they strolled away,
just outside the town, where they built a fire. Then
Roboor took the birds in their leaf-wrappers out of his
bushy hair and placed them on the fire ; and when they
were done, the lovers, for such they were, sat laughing
and talking together while they ate their birds. The
next day, when we went shooting, I asked Roboor if
he loved the girl. He bashfully admitted that he did ;
but drew a heavy sigh, as if his case was well-nigh
hopeless, saying that he was too poor to marry
her.

" You are young and strong," said I. " Why do you

246 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

not go to work and earn enough to support yourself
and your sweetheart?"

"You do not understand," said he. "I have a good
garden that would supply what food we wanted ; be-
sides, I can throw the spear farther and truer to the
mark than any other man in Narinurna, so I can get
plenty of kangaroos and pigs ; but they will not buy
the girl. Her mother wants an axe for her. and that I
cannot grow in my garden, or hunt in the forest with
my spear." Here the poor fellow groaned, made sev-
eral disparaging remarks on his prospective mother-in-
law, and finally said that, if he did not love the girl so
dearly, he would go away to another part of the coun-
try, and never come back again. He wanted to know
if I had ever heard of such a case as his in my coun-
try, and seemed to forget half his troubles when I told
him it was quite a common occurrence there ; and that
the man with the greatest wealth had the advantage
over a poorer man, be he ever so skilful.

"But, my good fellow," said I, "you need not
despair. I have an axe or two left, and, if the pos-
session of one is the only obstacle to your happiness,
you shall have it. Now, I want many paradise birds ;
for, in my country, people think more of them than of
axes; and, if you will help me get as many birds
with the long plumes as you have fingers on both hands,
you shall have the axe the day we get the last one."
He started to his feet, eagerly urging me to go some

ROBOOR MARRIED 247

fifteen miles with him, to a place where he assured me
we could find the birds. I told him I was too tired
that day, but the next morning he was waiting outside
the door before sunrise. He raced me up and down
the mountain-sides at such a rate that I heartily wished
he were not quite so ardent. Hearing a bird a mile
away, he would start through the forest on a run,
shouting for me to follow. He would point out birds
where I could only see green leaves, and make me
jump with his sudden exclamations as they flew over-
head. As each new one was added to the number, he
would hold up his hands, calculating how many were
still wanting, and never wishing to go home until we
bagged one more. He seemed afraid something might
happen to spoil the bright prospect before him, so was
eager to perform his part of the contract promptly. At
last, the ten good birds were procured (and they were
good ones), and the axe earned.

I was present when Roboor bought his wife. The
mother asked a great many questions, and did not seem
to favor the match ; but, in the end, was obliged to
relinquish her daughter. They were married the fol-
lowing morning. I intended to be present ; but, my
attention being called to other things, I did not arrive
till rather late, when the ceremony was being concluded
with a wild dance, and singing by a chorus of girls.

Roboor never forgot what he thought was a great
generosity on my part, and often brought me a bunch

248 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

of bananas from his garden, or a piece of meat from a
freshly killed pig or kangaroo. He built a house at
the end of the village, and I often saw him and his
wife love-making as they sat together on their veranda.

Specimens of feminine loveliness are not numerous
in Papua ; but, on rare occasions, even there may be
seen a face and figure which combine many of the
finer qualities of beauty. The Papuan girl has no art
to add to her beauty, and must stand the test almost, if
not quite, as nature made her : she has no crimps or
puffs, few ornaments, and her form is only slightly hid-
den by the short grass petticoat, so that any make-up
is impossible.

Once, when out shooting a long distance from our
house, near a village on the side of a mountain, I was
surprised to meet a strikingly handsome girl returning
from the gardens. There was a startled look about
her, such as I have seen in a surprised deer; and,
"quick as thought," she turned, with a little scream,
to run away. I spoke pleasantly, telling her I intended
no harm ; that I was tired and hungry, and wanted to
know the way to the village. At the same time, I held
out a small string of beads, some of which I always
carried about with me. Her fear gradually vanished ;
and, at the sight of the beads, she began to smile, and
timidly held out her hand, holding herself in readiness
to fly down the path at the slightest warning. I
should judge she was sixteen or seventeen years old.

A BEAUTY 249

rather tall, but of a fine form, and as supple and grace-
ful as a swan. She was very light, and the warm
blood glowed through the slight brown color of her
skin, giving her a clear and remarkably rich complex-
ion. Her hair was brown and curly, and clustered
about her face in the prettiest possible manner.

Her eyes were dark, with a mischievous twinkle;
her nose was straight; and her mouth, handsome
enough for a Venus, had a dimple at each corner
when she laughed, which I have no doubt had sadly
disturbed the heart of more than one Papuan youth.
Altogether, she was a beauty, and I wondered at the
circumstance that produced such a face and figure in
such a place.

She took the beads, laughing, and half afraid, and
agreed to take me to the village. As we became bet-
ter acquainted, I found her very talkative ; and she
went on at such a rate, that I could scarcely under-
stand her. Everything I said seemed to amuse her,
keeping her laughing most of the way to the village.
She said her mother had a house, and that they had
plenty of good food, and invited me to supper. She
offered to carry part of my load, which was not light
by any means ; and we walked up the path together,
chatting like old friends.

Her father was dead, and she and her mother lived
by cultivating a small garden, in the valley, where
they raised bananas and sweet potatoes.

250 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

We reached the village at last, where I met the girl's
mother; and, tired and hungry, I was very glad to
partake of their hospitality. Our supper consisted of
pumpkins, bananas, and kangaroo. I staid till quite
late in the day, and then my handsome hostess started
out with me, to show me the right path for Narinuma.
She was very pleasant, full of fun and laughter, and the
loveliest savage I have ever seen. She came over to
Narinuma once or twice, carrying large bunches of
bananas, to trade with us. The old chief said she
was a pretty little girl, and that her mother was very
fortunate in having such a handsome daughter, as she
would get a large quantity of trade for her when she
sold her for a wife.

One day, after we had been in Narinuma a good
while, and had learned enough of the language to be
able to talk freely, Lohier came to us, and by his
actions we judged he had something very important to
say. We were skinning birds under the house, and he
sat on the ground in front of us, as usual, evidently
not knowing just how to arrive at what seemed to be
uppermost in his mind. He began by asking if we
liked the Coyara men and their country, and when we
told him they had treated us very kindly, and that
their country was as beautiful and fertile as any we
had seen, he seemed pleased, and looked as if he had
gained a point.

"Is it as warm and comfortable in America as at
Narinuma ? " he asked.

LOHIER'S QUESTIONS 251

" Not always. Sometimes it is very cold," said I.

" Are the birds, trees, and flowers as nice where you
live?"

"No."

"Are white people any happier than Coyaries?"

" Perhaps not so happy. Their land is not so pro-
ductive, and they have to work very hard."

" Are white men very numerous ? "

"Yes."

" Are white women as handsome as white men ? "

" Some of them."

" Do they wear the same kind of clothes ? "

" No : they wear petticoats."

"Do white men have one wife, or many?"

"Some have one wife; others, several."

" Have you wives in America ? "

"No."

" Have you sweethearts ? "

" No : we have had, but they are all married."

" How do you like the Coyara girls ? "

" Some of them are very handsome and pleasing."

" Would you like to get married in New Guinea? "

" Well, that depends on circumstances."

" Have you seen any Coyara girls as handsome as the
girls in America?"

" Yes : some fully as handsome."

" How much do you pay for a wife in America ? "

" Some are very expensive, and others very cheap.

252 COLLECTOR'S KAMBLES

Generally the expense comes after they are married.
The parents of some girls are so anxious to dispose of
their daughters that they buy husbands for them."

Lohier laughed, and rolled on the ground, evidently
thinking that a great joke.

"How do the girls of Narmuma please you?"

" They are very sociable."

" Would you marry any you have seen here ? "

" Hardly. You see, Lohier, we came a long, long
distance to get to Narinuma; and, as we are rich and.
very good-looking (?), we ought to have the best your
country affords."

Up started Lohier, with a whoop and a yell that
echoed through the town, and was off.

We had a laugh at his curious questions, and at the
way he left us, and went on with our work, thinking no
more about the whole affair.

We did not see him for several days, and were told
by those whom we asked, that he had gone away, but
would soon be back.

As we were preparing our dinner, one afternoon, a
titter and giggle were wafted to our ears ; and, looking
round, we beheld Lohier in the midst of a group of
girls, some fifteen or twenty in number. A broad
smile lit up the dusky face of the chief, and the girls,
many of thesm of superior beauty, were laughing and
peering at us over each other's shoulders. In their hair,
they all wore flowers, and bands of green leaves adorned

LOHIER TRIES MATCH-MAKING 253

their arms and ankles. Each maiden had on her best
striped petticoat, and some wore necklaces of dogs'
teeth, and feather ribbons. It was a beautiful sight,
and much we wondered what it was all about.

At length the chief, stepping forward, said he had
been a long way ; had visited the largest towns of his
country; and had brought back with him the most
beautiful women belonging to the tribe. He hoped we
would each select one that pleased us, marry her, and
settle down among the Coyaries. We were rich, and
could easily buy a nice garden ; and all the men in
Narinuma would help us build a house, where we and
our children could live and be happy.

We then saw that what we had considered a joke,
Lohier had taken in earnest. I did not see just how
we were going to get out of it ; but, as they were all
so good-natured, we anticipated no trouble.

The parents of some of the girls had come too, and
were standing in the background.

Lohier explained that the prices were high, as they
were the finest women in the country.

He arranged them all in line, — a row of giggling
girls, — that we might see them to advantage. Begin-
ning with the first, he told their names and gave their
different accomplishments.

"This young lady's name is Mime. Her home is in
Gidiaruma. She can sing, dance, work in the garden,
cook kangaroo, and is good-tempered and tidy. She is

254 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

a very nice girl, not so good-looking as some of the
others, but will make an excellent wife. The price for
her is a knife and a looking-glass. What do you say
to her?"

"What about the next?" we asked.

"This one's name is Bimeua. She is handsome.
Her father is- rich, and she has not had to work hard.
She is very shapely, and has nice hair and eyes. She
can make earthen pots and fish-nets. She has no
mother, brothers, or sisters to make trouble between
you. Her father, that nice-looking old man there, is
the chief man in his village, and has plenty of land.
He wants two axes for his daughter; but, if you will
live in Rapitora, he will give 'you part of his large
house and a good garden."

" There's a bargain for you," said Shelley.

" Here is a nice little girl, just right for Shelley : her
name is Kioto. She is very affectionate, is kind to her
aged mother, and keeps her home very tidy ; she can
make brooms, knows how to cook a pig without burn-
ing it, and is economical. Her garden has no weeds in
it, and she raises the best bananas in Sana Sauagi. She
wants to get married, and her mother will let her go
for a piece of calico large enough to make a petticoat."

I glanced at Shelley, and asked, "How does that
suit you, old boy ? Who would be a bachelor in New
Guinea?"

I noticed the beautiful' girl I have before spoken of

VALUE OF A BEAUTY 255

among the number, and was anxious to hear what the
chief would say of her. She still wore the string of
beads I had given her, and looked as pretty and modest
as a violet. When he came to her, he said, —

"Here is Lucena : is she not lovely ? Her arms are
round as bamboo ; her form is supple as the climbing
vine ; her skin is smooth as a young banana leaf ; her
hair is soft as spider's webs ; her eyes are bright as dew
in the morning. She can sing like a bird, and run fast
as a kangaroo; she is a good housekeeper, an affec-
tionate daughter, and comes from a good family, for
her father was a great warrior, who was killed in a
fight with an adjoining tribe."

The value set on this fair piece of humanity was an
axe, a knife, a piece of calico, arid a string of beads.

We both stood admiring her, and the old chief
thought he had made a bargain. The girls evidently
thought the same ; and I could see them casting envi-
ous glances at their fair companion.

Speaking to the chief and the whole company, I said:
" My brother and I have homes a long way off, which
will take us many, many days to reach, and we are only
making a short stay among you, to shoot birds and learn
all we can about you, to tell our countrymen how you
live. The description of this scene will please them.
We will tell them about your lovely country; your
rich and productive gardens; and, above all, about
your handsome women, so many of whom we have

256 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

seen to-day. We thank you all for so good an enter-
tainment, and now we will make you a few presents,
to remember us when we are far away in America."

So saying we went into the house, brought out some
gayly-colored handkerchiefs; put five or six pins, a
brass ring, and a brass button in each, and distributed
among them. Shelley gave Lucena a looking-glass,
and she laughed heartily when I pushed a small rubber
comb into her hair as I passed. We invited Lohier to
dine with us ; and a merrier termination of what at one
time looked like a serious affair, it would be hard to
conceive.

The girls danced for our amusement while we ate
our dinner, and sang a song, composing it as they went
along, describing the whole scene, and complimenting
us on our generosity. The village was the scene of
much merrymaking and laughter that afternoon, and
toward evening they bade us good-by, and started for
their homes.

CHAPTER XII.

A Savage Battle — Shelley Narrowly Escapes — A Letter to Father — We Start
for Shugary— Dow ! Dow • —A Grand Day's Collecting— Shelley Astonishes
the Natives — We Hear of Father's Death and Start for Home.

TRIBAL wars are common among the Papuans. They
are of short duration, but often very fierce while they
last.

Shelley was an unwilling witness to one of their
battles, and narrowly escaped with his life. I had
gone off collecting birds in the morning, and he re-
mained at home. Toward noon the chief's brother,
Yorie, came to Shelley, who was skinning birds under
the house, telling him there was to be a fight, and that
he had better go away. Every one left the town ; but
Shelley thought there must be some mistake, or that
the fight was to take place some day in the future, so
he kept on with his work.

Presently, a strange man came running up the path
to the village, panting as if from a hard race. Shelley
had no sooner reached the space behind the house than
the stranger made a rush at him. Shelley shook him
off; and as he again came up, dealt him a stunning
blow with his fist, which threw him to the ground.
Shelley then started for the house, to get his gun ; but
just at this moment, a body of men, armed with spears,

257

258 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

their faces disfigured with war-paint, and their bodies
glistening with sweat, ran up the hill to the town.
Shelley waited to see no more, but hatless and shoe-
less, ran for dear life up the path, the savages pursuing.

When some distance from the town, he turned
directly off the path, and ran down the mountain-
side, where he hid in one of the numerous caves. He
could see a part of the path up which he had come,
and presently observed a large body of men, well
armed with spears, going down the path to attack the
invading party. A desperate fight ensued, in which
two of -the houses were wrecked, several of the enemy
wounded, and one of their number killed.

One of the houses was set on fire, but was speedily
extinguished by the Coyaries, who drove the enemy
back towards Boyeruma, from whence they came.
Strangely enough, only one of the Narinuma men
was seriously injured, and he finally recovered.

When I returned towards evening, I found the vil-
lagers greatly excited by what had taken place ; and
they all left at evening, for the caves, fearing an attack
in the night. We prepared to remain in one of their
tree-houses that night; for in such a place we felt
secure against any surprise, as we could pour down a
deadly volley upon any one who tried to do us harm.
The night passed very quietly, the swaying of the
little house in the tree-tops being very conducive to
sleep.

WE START FOR SHUGARY 259

We had concluded by this time, that the country
was not very safe, and that as soon as father joined us,
we would return to the sea-coast and leave the island
on the next boat. At first, we thought of going in-
land, to procure tidings of the party ; but on account
of a very sore ankle, I was rendered almost helpless for
several days. Hence we were obliged to give up this
idea, and Shelley wrote a letter to father, telling him
about the fight, and urging him to return, as we con-
sidered it unsafe to remain any longer. This letter he
despatched by a native, telling him if he got it to the
party, and returned with an answer, we would give him
an axe. Of course we did not expect this man to go
all the way with the letter, but knew he could deliver
it to other tribes, who would carry it as far as their
territory extended, and so on, until it reached its
destination.

After we had waited several days for a letter, being
able to learn nothing from the people as to where the
party were, and my ankle being somewhat better by this
time, we concluded to go on to Shugary, arid find out
for ourselves how matters stood. We were obliged to
go directly through Boyeruma, the home of the natives
who had attacked our village, so the people at Nari-
numa tried ;to persuade us not to go at all. After they
found their persuasions were useless, they sent several
of their men with us to direct us round the country of
the enemy. We took a good supply of ammunition

260 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

and food, with tools for skinning birds, and blankets
to sleep in. When we came near to Boyeruma, our
friends wanted us to take a path to the left, and avoid
the town, but we had loaded our guns with pistol-
balls, and told the natives we were going through the
town , and if a man interfered with us, we would riddle
him with bullets. Our friends went no farther than
the river , and we, with hammers cocked and fingers
on triggers, crossed on the fallen tree placed in lieu of
a bridge, and were in the Boyeruma country.

When we reached the town, not a native was to be
seen. They had quietly stolen away. I do not think
we looked as if we would be trifled with ; and, if a man
had made his appearance in other than a friendly man-
ner, he would not have lived long enough to tell his
friends what had happened.

Cooking on a small fire were some yams, to which
we helped ourselves. One or two houses in the course
of construction showed that the inhabitants had left
only a few moments before. We each sent a charge of
bullets through one of their houses, to intimidate them,
then bent our steps toward Shugary. The forest was
dense and gloomy, scarcely admitting a ray of sunlight
for a long distance, and we were glad when we came
out upon an open meadow surrounded by flowering
trees and shrubs. Through this grassy expanse, a little
creek flowed : the clear water with the pebbly bottom
reminding us of some of our New England streams.

A LOVELY SPOT 261

Beyond this, we again struck into the woods, and were
brought to a sudden stop by a noise resembling the
low bellowing of a bull not far away.

Advancing cautiously, we soon discovered that the
bellowing was made by the goura or crown-pigeon
(G-oura albertisi). Several of these fine birds (the
largest pigeons known) flew from the ground into a
tree. They were not very wild, and we were fortu-
nate enough to procure three. They were, indeed,
magnificent : in size being nearly as large as turkeys,
and of a bluish-slate color. Their heads were adorned
with a crown several inches high, each feather in it
having a fan-shaped tip. They were so large and
heavy that we were obliged to skin them on the spot.
Cutting off a few slices of their white breasts for our
suppers, we went on and soon came out on the natural
meadow near the base of the mountains.

A lovelier spot I have seldom seen. The course of
the Lalloki River could be traced in the distance by
the line of graceful palms that bordered it. Here and
there stood isolated trees, one mass of scarlet bloom ;
and the luxuriant grass, in places higher than our
heads, bent in the breeze like a field of ripened grain.
The mountains, clothed about their sides with heavy
forests, their bare and rocky crests piercing the clouds,
formed the background to this charming picture.

We sat down on a fallen tree-trunk to rest, for our
packs were heavy and the day was warm. In the

262 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

distance, we saw two kangaroo-hunters, to whom we
called. They started to run away, as usual, but seeing
we did not follow, and only laughed at them, they took
courage and advanced to meet us.

They spoke a somewhat different language from that
we understood . and as we did not comprehend, they
began to shout, as if we were deaf. We inquired the
way to Shugary, whereupon they led us directly to a
new and thriving town at the base of the mountains,
where, amid shouts and a great hubbub from the peo-
ple, we were ushered into the presence of their chief,
Beiora. He was stout, thick-set, and looked — what he
doubtless was — the hero of many battles. He received
us pleasantly, told us we were welcome, and could stay
among his people, who were honest and would treat us
well, as long as we liked.

To our inquiries where the party had gone, he made
a wry face, and shouted "Dow dow," meaning a long
way off.

He asked us where we lived . and, when we told him
America, he wanted to know how far away it was.
Twisting my face as much out of shape as possible,
turning my eyes in opposite directions, and opening
my mouth to its widest capacity, I caught him by his
long hair, and shouted "Dow dow" in his ear. A sat-
isfied smile lit up his dark face, and putting his fingers
in his ears, he shook his head slowly from side to side,
remarking that that must be a long way off indeed. I

OFF FOR A DAY'S SPORT 263

thought the natives would never stop laughing at that
joke, and they wanted me to repeat the performance ,
but, fearing I might dislocate my jaw, or become cross-
eyed for life, I declined.

Finding that we could learn nothing of the party,
we concluded to remain a day or two to collect speci-
mens ; and, as the visitors' house was not completed,
the chief kindly invited us to stay with him. His
house was roomy and clean, and the bamboo floor was
as smooth as polished ivory. We were so tired that
sleep overtook us almost as soon as we were in our
blankets, but the natives kept the place so hot that it
was like a steam-bath. They had a small fire in the
centre of the floor, and they all slept with their feet
turned toward it. I remember waking in the night, to
be met with the view of several pairs of feet of dif-
ferent sizes clustered indiscriminately about the fire.

Bright and early the next morning, we started off in
different directions, for a day's sport, each with a couple
of natives. One of the young men who accompanied
me was the son of Beiora; and, I should judge, was
about eighteen years old. They were both very pleas-
ant, and helped me get one of the finest bags of birds I
obtained while in the island.

First, we started up a wooded spur of the hills, to a
place where the red kingfishers with the long blue tails
were to be found. I secured eight of these birds. My
companions were so used to the forest that they knew

264 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

just where to find the birds, and they took me to some
good places.

Farther up the hill, we shot several fruit-pigeons ;
then hearing a rifle-bird in the distance, I left all the
others and started in pursuit. Up and down the steep
hillsides we went, until we descried him flying about
from top to top of the tall trees, his breast of bril-
liant scales glistening in the sun. He was so restless,
remaining such a short time in one place, that we had
a long chase ; but, fortunately, he at last came down
into the lower growths, and I shot him while clinging
to a creeper. Scarcely was he stowed away in the bag
which one of the boys was carrying, when I heard
another, and away we went, bagging him in less than
ten minutes. Oh, they were beauties ! certainly the
finest birds I have ever seen alive, for they glistened
and sparkled as if sprinkled with precious gems. A
stuffed specimen gives a very poor idea of the grace
and beauty of the living bird, with his velvet coat
trimmed and adorned with scales of shining blue,
purple, green, and gold.

As we were going up the next hill, one of the boys
stopped me suddenly, pointing up into a tree where all
I could see was a patch of red among the leaves. I
had no idea what it could be, but before the smoke of
my gun had cleared away, down tumbled a very large
parrot, richly colored in scarlet and gold. His head,
which looked very much like that of a hawk or buz-

WILD FEUITS 265

zard, was almost bald, making him an odd-looking spe-
cimen. Another one flew out of the tree when I fired,
but I did not get him. The natives danced with
delight at this capture, for red is their favorite color,
and they thought the bird a great prize, as it really
was.

On we went, up the steep hillsides, till we finally
stopped on the summit of a ridge where the ground
was covered for many rods with purple mushrooms, as
large over as the crown of my hat. Here a fire was
made, and a number of the mushrooms gathered and
laid upon it ; these, with a brace of large fruit-pigeons,
made a comfortable meal. I felt a little reluctant to
taste the mushrooms, but the boys seemed to know
what they were about, and I found that with a little
salt they were very good. There was a slight musky
flavor about them, which would perhaps be distasteful
to some, but it only added to their worth in my case.
And we were not without dessert; for one of the
natives climbed a tree, and shook down a quantity of
nuts, like none I had ever seen.

Many strange fruits lay scattered on the ground,
some good to eat, but others poisonous, or worthless
for food. Some of them were exact representations of
fruits I had seen at home, and I was tempted to taste
the peaches, oranges, apples, plums, cherries, blueber-
ries, grapes, and chestnuts that covered the ground in
the greatest profusion. Red peppers and cucumbers,

266 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

too, grew on small bushes, and could easily be mistaken
for the genuine. But how different were the insides
of these fruits, both in appearance and flavor : the
cucumber was full of little nuts , the red pepper, look-
ing ready to blister one's tongue, was a pleasant, juicy
fruit, mild enough for a baby; the chestnut was as
hard as a stone ; the grapes, poisonous ; the blueberries,
sour as limes ; the cherries, tough, fibrous, bitter, and
full of small seeds ; the plums were plums of some
kind, I think, but not very good ; the apples, which
closely resembled our baldwins, had a large nut for a
core ; the oranges had skins an inch thick ; and the
peaches, though looking ripe and juicy, were nearly as
hard as billiard-balls.

After dinner, we went farther up the mountain, and
at length came to a grove of banyan-trees. Here,
under the spreading branches, among the columns
they send down to take root, to send up more life-
giving sap to increase the size of the already gigantic
tree, the light was so completely shut out that I could
not tell the time by my watch, until my eyes had be-
come accustomed to the darkness. A sharp exclama-
tion from one of my companions caused me to listen, and
a long clear whistle, followed by a short one, could be
distinctly heard. " Wad a bin?" (what is it?) asked I.
" Oogoo" (bird), replied he. " Namo oogoo?" (good
bird?) "Namo coole coole oogoo" (very good bird).

Away we went, up and down the steep ravines,

SPLENDID BIRDS 267

over bowlders, and through tangled growths; and on
arriving at the summit of a ridge, we saw in a tree on
a neighboring hilltop, a black bird, with a long tail.
He was pluming his feathers ; and, as he turned, a
gleam like that from a mirror was reflected from the
plumes on each side his breast, and he uttered again
his long and short whistle. It was the long-tailed bird-
of-paradise (Epimaclms), one of the forest gems of
New Guinea. The plumage is a velvety-purple and
black ; the tail is two feet long ; and the side plumes
have a bar of the most exquisite green and gold, ex-
tending across the tips. I did not get him, however ;
for as we were climbing the hillside, he flew away, and
we saw no more of him.

The next bird that attracted our attention was the
magnificent bird-of-paradise {Diphyllodes speciosa).
He was in a low tree, and was making a noise
somewhat resembling the chatter of our red squirrel.
It was some time before I got sight of him, as he
seemed to be shy. We concealed ourselves in the
bushes, one of the boys imitating his song so per-
fectly that he soon came out of the tree, and began
peering about for his supposed rival. He looked
like a little turkey cock, and carried himself with
great dignity. I had little time to admire him, how-
ever, for I was afraid he would discover the cheat,
and suddenly depart, so I ended his career with a
charge of dust shot. It would be almost impossible

268

for me to give any adequate idea of this splendid bird
in words.

After this, I shot several kingfishers, of various
kinds ; one new and beautiful ground-pigeon ; and a
little fluffy goat-sucker, no larger than a sparrow.
Altogether, it was a grand bag of birds, and all I
could attend to that afternoon and the next morning.
Shelley was equally fortunate, obtaining several full-
plumaged birds-of-paradise, of two kinds.

In the evening, many of the natives came to the
house where we were staying. Some of them came
from neighboring towns, and had never seen white
men before. They watched every motion, and lis-
tened to every word we uttered, with the greatest
attention. They thought us vastly handsome, and
wanted to know if there was a whole tribe of people
like ourselves. They also wished to know if our
entire bodies were the same color, and, if so, why
we clothed them. We told them it was sometimes
very cold in our country, and that we had become
so used to clothing it would seem strange to go
without. They next asked us to undress ; but not
liking the idea of posing nude before a hundred or
two men, women, and children, we compromised by
pulling off our shirts, when we received the most
extravagant compliments ; then we tried a few tricks,
but they were too sharp for us, being able to see
through nearly every one we performed. They had

THICKS AND GAMES 269

many tricks and games of their own. One white-
haired old fellow, who was evidently regarded as the
genius of the town, performed a trick with ashes on
his fingers, making them go away and return at
will. This quite puzzled us, and they had a laugh at
our expense. Cat's cradle they were quite familiar
with, and performed many combinations new to us.
They played it on their fingers and toes, in a very
expert manner.

But the climax was reached when Shelley told them
he could take his teeth out and put them back again.
"No," they said; "you cannot do that, for that is
impossible." Shelley persisted, and said he would
show them that he told the truth. They threw more
fuel on to the fire, lighting up the small room in which
we were assembled, in order to see the great perform-
ance of the evening. Each face was a study of expec-
tation, as they leaned forward, eager to catch all there
was to be seen. Shelley hit his teeth with his nail, to
show them they were real (?) teeth ; and then, extract-
ing the plate, on which he had two or three false ones,
he opened his mouth, showing the gap where they had
been. They waited to see no more, but all started for
the small door at once. In their haste to get out, they
stuck, and I feared for a few moments, they would
tear the house down. Those who were unable to get
out at once, howled in their fright, creating a great
uproar ; and, in spite of our telling them that we were

270 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

only in fun, they could not be persuaded to come back
again for a long time, and then only under the promise
that we would never do that again. Even after they
came back, I could see them casting side glances at
Shelley, as if they were fearful he would do something,
they knew not what, to scare them out of their wits.

The next day, after packing up our birds, and thank-
ing the natives for their kind treatment, we started
back for Narinuma. Several of the people (the chief
among the number) accompanied us a mile or so on
our way, entreating us to come back and live with
them. They said that food was plenty at Shugary,
and if we would only come back, the boys would get
us birds and insects, and they would help us to build a
house. They were very hospitable, and did their best
to make it pleasant for us. We had enjoyed ourselves
so well that the trouble at Boyeruma had nearly been
forgotten. We passed directly through their fields,
and came upon several of them cultivating their
sugar-canes. They were much frightened, but when
we asked for food they dared not refuse ; and sent
an old man, who trembled with fright, to get us some
yams and sugar-cane. He soon returned with some
cooked yams, for which we paid him ; and we went
along a little farther, where we sat down to eat our
dinner.

No sooner had we commenced, than a handsome
unarmed savage made his appearance, and entreated

FATHER'S DEATH 271

us to go the other side of the river, as he feared there
would be trouble if we remained where we were. He
helped us across with our luggage, saying, as he did
so, —

"Now, we are friends. Eat your dinner in peace,
and no one will disturb you."

We were much struck by his gentlemanly manner
and handsome face. He desired no trouble, and
avoided it by getting us beyond his domain. We
never learned who he was, but by his bearing we
supposed him to be one of their leading men.

We arrived at Narinuma late in the day, and found
quiet reigning in the village, and all our possessions
just as we left them. We intended to go back to
Shugary, and remain there until the party returned.

Shelley went to Port Moresby with some men, car-
rying all our birds; and returned with ammunition
enough to last us many days. I was out shooting when
he reached the village, but I heard him fire several
shots with his pistol, and hurried back to meet him.
Before I reached the town, I met several women : they
looked frightened, and, upon my asking them what
was the matter, they ran into the woods. Presently,
I heard Shelley shout, but his voice sounded wild and
strange, and I ran on as fast as possible. When I
came near enough to see him, he was weeping; and
before I could speak, he cried, —

44 O Sherman, father is dead ! "

272 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES

The news almost stunned me. My heart seemed to
stop beating, everything grew dark about me, and I
nearly fell to the ground. It was some moments before
I could speak. Shelley told me, between his sobs, how
it happened.

The party had gone a long way inland, where father
had contracted the fever ; and after they started back,
two more were also taken sick, the natives carrying
them many miles on stretchers. They finally reached
a small town named Berrigabadi, where father died at
seven o'clock in the evening, Sunday, August 26, 1883.
The very day he died, we were at Shugary, only fif-
teen miles away, and could have seen him alive had we
known where he was.

Almost heart-broken, we went up to the town, where
Armit, reduced nearly to a skeleton, told us the sad
story.

Father was buried on the mountain-side by Hunter,
with a few of the natives to help ; and the earth was
heaped above the remains to make a mound.

Shelley and I never saw his grave ; but we have
heard from a recent traveller that the place is still
well remembered by the natives, and that they have
built a fence about it. We reached the sea-coast the
day after hearing the sad news, and left the country by
the first boat we could take to reach Australia, from
which place we started 011 our long and tedious jour-
ney home.