I Discovered A Diurnal Moth That Possessed A Most Powerful And
Delicious Scent.
Vic, who had never noticed it before, was delighted,
and proposed my catching them in quantities and turning them into
scent.
Whilst on the subject of scent, I might mention that in
these forests I would often come across a good-sized tree which was
called Ilang-ilang. It was covered with plain-looking green flowers,
which possessed a wonderful fragrance. I learnt that the Filipinos
collected the flowers, which were sent to Manila and made into scent,
but that they generally cut down the tree in order to get the flowers.
I saw here for the first time the curious flying lizards. Their
partly transparent wings were generally of very bright colours; they
fly fully twenty yards from one tree to another, and quickly run up
the trees out of reach. Another quaint lizard, was what is generally
known as the gecko. It is said to be poisonous in the Philippines,
and is generally found on trees or bamboos and often in houses. In
comparison to the size of this lizard the volume of its voice was
enormous. I generally heard it at night. First would come a preliminary
gurgling chuckle; then a pause (between the chuckle and what follows
it). Then comes loud and clear, "Tuck-oo-o," then a slight pause, then
"Tuck-oo-o" again repeated six or seven times at regular intervals;
at other times it sounds like "Chuck it." When it was calling inside
a hollow bamboo, the noise made was extraordinary.
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