In Costume These Several Peoples Are As Varied As In Their
Speech.
The English preserve the tight-fitting coat, waistcoat,
and trousers, and the abominable hat and cravat; the Portuguese
patronise
A light jacket, or, more frequently, shirt and trousers
only; the Malays wear their national jacket and sarong (a kind of
kilt), with loose drawers; while the Chinese never depart in the
least from their national dress, which, indeed, it is impossible
to improve for a tropical climate, whether as regards comfort or
appearance. The loosely-hanging trousers, and neat white half-
shirt half jacket, are exactly what a dress should be in this low
latitude.
I engaged two Portuguese to accompany me into the interior; one
as a cook, the other to shoot and skin birds, which is quite a
trade in Malacca. I first stayed a fortnight at a village called
Gading, where I was accommodated in the house of some Chinese
converts, to whom I was recommended by the Jesuit missionaries.
The house was a mere shed, but it was kept clean, and I made
myself sufficiently comfortable. My hosts were forming a pepper
and gambir plantation, and in the immediate neighbourhood were
extensive tin-washings, employing over a thousand Chinese. The
tin is obtained in the form of black grains from beds of
quartzose sand, and is melted into ingots in rude clay furnaces.
The soil seemed poor, and the forest was very dense with
undergrowth, and not at all productive of insects; but, on the
other hand, birds were abundant, and I was at once introduced to
the rich ornithological treasures of the Malayan region.
The very first time I fired my gun I brought down one of the most
curious and beautiful of the Malacca birds, the blue-billed gaper
(Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus), called by the Malays the
"Rainbird." It is about the size of a starling, black and rich
claret colour with white shoulder stripes, and a very large and
broad bill of the most pure cobalt blue above and orange below,
while the iris is emerald green. As the skins dry the bill turns
dull black, but even then the bird is handsome. When fresh
killed, the contrast of the vivid blue with the rich colours of
the plumage is remarkably striking and beautiful. The lovely
Eastern trogons, with their rich-brown backs, beautifully
pencilled wings, and crimson breasts, were also soon obtained, as
well as the large green barbets (Megalaema versicolor) - fruit-
eating birds, something like small toucans, with a short,
straight bristly bill, and whose head and neck are variegated
with patches of the most vivid blue and crimson. A day or two
after, my hunter brought me a specimen of the green gaper
(Calyptomena viridis), which is like a small cock-of-the-rock,
but entirely of the most vivid green, delicately marked on the
wings with black bars. Handsome woodpeckers and gay kingfishers,
green and brown cuckoos with velvety red faces and green beaks,
red-breasted doves and metallic honeysuckers, were brought in day
after day, and kept me in a continual state of pleasurable
excitement. After a fortnight one of my servants was seized with
fever, and on returning to Malacca, the same disease, attacked
the other as well as myself. By a liberal use of quinine, I soon
recovered, and obtaining other men, went to stay at the
Government bungalow of Ayer-panas, accompanied by a young
gentleman, a native of the place, who had a taste for natural
history.
At Ayer-panas we had a comfortable house to stay in, and plenty
of room to dry and preserve our specimens; but, owing to there
being no industrious Chinese to cut down timber, insects were
comparatively scarce, with the exception of butterflies, of which
I formed a very fine collection. The manner in which I obtained
one fine insect was curious, and indicates bow fragmentary and
imperfect a traveller's collection must necessarily be. I was one
afternoon walking along a favourite road through the forest, with
my gun, when I saw a butterfly on the ground. It was large,
handsome, and quite new to me, and I got close to it before it
flew away. I then observed that it had been settling on the dung
of some carnivorous animal. Thinking it might return to the same
spot, I next day after breakfast took my net, and as I approached
the place was delighted to see the same butterfly sitting on the
same piece of dung, and succeeded in capturing it. It was an
entirely new species of great beauty, and has been named by Mr.
Hewitson - Nymphalis calydona. I never saw another specimen of it,
and it was only after twelve years had elapsed that a second
individual reached this country from the northwestern part of
Borneo.
Having determined to visit Mount Ophir, which is situated in the
middle of the peninsula about fifty miles east of Malacca, we
engaged six Malays to accompany us and carry our baggage. As we
meant to stay at least a week at the mountain, we took with us a
good supply of rice, a little biscuit, butter and coffee, some
dried fish and a little brandy, with blankets, a change of
clothes, insect and bird boxes, nets, guns and ammunition. The
distance from Ayer-panas was supposed to be about thirty miles.
Our first day's march lay through patches of forest, clearings,
and Malay villages, and was pleasant enough. At night we slept at
the house of a Malay chief, who lent us a verandah, and gave us a
fowl and some eggs. The next day the country got wilder and more
dilly. We passed through extensive forests, along paths often up
to our knees in mud, and were much annoyed by the leeches for
which this district is famous. These little creatures infest the
leaves and herbage by the side of the paths, and when a passenger
comes along they stretch themselves out at full length, and if
they touch any part of his dress or body, quit their leaf and
adhere to it.
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