The People Here Were All So Busy With Their Rice-Harvest,
Which Was Important For Them To Finish Owing To The Early Rains,
That I Could Get No One To Shoot For Me.
During the three weeks that I stayed at Panghu it rained nearly
everyday, either in the afternoon only, or
All day long; but
there were generally a few hours' sunshine in the morning, and I
took advantage of these to explore the roads and paths, the rocks
and ravines, in search of insects. These were not very abundant,
yet I saw enough to convince me that the locality was a good one,
had I been there at the beginning instead of at the end of the
dry season. The natives brought me daily a few insects obtained
at the Sagueir palms, including some fine Cetonias and stag-
beetles. Two little boys were very expert with the blowpipe, and
brought me a good many small birds, which they shot with pellets
of clay. Among these was a pretty little flower-pecker of a new
species (Prionochilus aureolimbatus), and several of the
loveliest honeysuckers I had yet seen. My general collection of
birds was, however, almost at a standstill; for though I at
length obtained a man to shoot for me, he was not good for much,
and seldom brought me more than one bird a day. The best thing he
shot was the large and rare fruit-pigeon peculiar to Northern
Celebes (Carpophaga forsteni), which I had long been seeking.
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