The Few Days That I Spent Here,
I Wandered Through The Narrow Lanes And Collected A Few Birds And
Butterflies.
These lanes were very dusty at the time, and were hemmed
in with an uninteresting shrubby growth on each side.
The country round
Florida Blanca was for the most part covered with rice-fields, which,
at the time of my visit, were parched and covered with short stubble,
this being the dry season. I was not very successful in my collecting,
and looked forward to my visit to the mountains, which I could see
in the distance, and which appeared well covered with damp-looking
forests. I noticed quantities of white egrets, which settled on the
backs of the water buffaloes. I would often pass these water buffaloes
with their heads sticking out of a way-side pond of mud and water. They
were generally used for drawing the curious wagons of the country,
which were rather like those one sees in Mexico, with solid wooden
wheels. Generally when I met these water buffaloes out of harness,
they were horribly afraid of me and stampeded, at the same time making
the most extraordinary noises, something between a squeak and a short
blast on a penny trumpet. They are usually stupid-looking brutes,
but this showed that they were intelligent enough to distinguish
between me and a Filipino. The pigs here had three pieces of wood
round their necks fastened together to form a triangle, an excellent
idea, as it prevented them from breaking through the fences.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 60 of 217
Words from 16379 to 16634
of 59060
