Rambles of a Naturalist on the Shores and Waters of the China Sea: being observations in natural history during a voyage to China, Formosa, Borneo, Singapore, etc, made in Her Majesty's vessels in 1866 and 1867

Front matter

Frontispiece. Sandstone Pillars, South Side of Ke-lung Harbour, Formosa RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST ox THE SHORES AND WATERS OF THE CHINA SEA: BEING OBSERVATIONS IN NATURAL HISTORY DURING A VOYAGE TO CHINA, FORMOSA, BORNEO, SINGAPORE, Etc, MADE IN HER MAJESTY'S VESSELS IN 1866 AND 1867. B1 CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD, M.A, M.B, Oxon, F.L.S., ETC. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1868. [Tlie Right of Translation is reserved.] gtbitatioit. TO JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, D.C.L, M.D., F.R.S, &c. DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW. Dear Dr. Hooker : I know that it is to you that I am mainly indebted for the opportunity of making the observations contained in the following pages, as well as for the pleasure I have derived from the increased scope of my Natural History studies which my voyage has aiforded me.

And although the tenor of those observations and studies has been in the main zoological rather than botanical, I will not permit that circumstance to deprive me of the gratification of dedicating the results to one who so kindly and readily aided me with his influence and advice. I am, clear Dr. Hooker, Sincerely yours, CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD. Greenwich, March, 1868, PKEFACE. The circumstances under which the voyage here recorded was undertaken need not be fully entered into. Suffice it to say, that, actuated solely by a desire of in creasing my own information, and the hope of, in some measure, advancing science, I was induced to seize an opportunity which seemed to present itself of fulfilling what had always been an object of my ambition. The pleasure I have myself derived from it has entirely ob scured the vexations and drawbacks to which I have been subjected in its fulfilment.

That I have met with dis appointment and discouragement from those to whom I had most right to look for support and co-operation, is a circumstance which, although it greatly limited and cur tailed my operations, is entirely forgotten in the delight of having visited Nature in her deepest recesses, and viewed her in her grandest aspects. Whatever slight value the following pages may jiossess, will be due to the circumstance that the facts they record are derived from observation, and not from books ; and that I have not endeavoured to adjust my own ob servations to the experience of others, but have rather corrected my previous knowledge by the aid of jiersonal research. I feel bound in this place to tender my thanks to certain gentlemen who have kindly aided me in my plans and movements : — To Captain Richards, Hydrographer of the Navy, to whose recommendation I am indebted for i

Preface

. IV the primary opportunity of making the voyage ; to Com mander Bullock, of H.M.S. " Serpent," and Captain Courtenay, late of H.M.S. " Scylla," from both of whom I received uniform courtesy and kindness ; to Lieutenant Richards, and Mr. Sutton (Chief Engineer) of the " Ser pent," and Lieutenant D. Stewart, of the " Sc3'Ha," to each of whom I am indebted for steady and valuable assistance ; to Mr. Jose d 'Almeida, of Singapore, Messrs. Hugh Low, C. C. De Crespigny, J. Tyndall Woods, and Howard, of Labuan ; to Mr. Alfred Houghton, Mr. Mar tin, and the Tuan Muda of Sarawak; to Dr. Maxwell, of Ta-kau, and Mr. Gregory, Vice-Consul of Tam-suy, For mosa ; to the Venerable Archdeacon Gray, Consular Chap lain, and Dr. J. G. Kerr, of Canton ; and last, though not least, to Mr. F. D. Lalcaca, and (the late) Captain Jameson, of Hong Kong ; — all of whom showed me various acts of kindness, which will not soon be forgotten.

My thanks are also due to Drs. Baird and Giinther ; to Messrs. G. R. Gray, F. Walker, Frederick Smith, A. G. Butler, and Waterhouse, Junior, of the British Museum ; as well as to Messrs. Albany Hancock, C. Spence Bate, and Professor Oliver ; — all of whom have kindly assisted me in the identification of spiecies. It should be mentioned, that the account of the Pratas Island, and the chapter on the Luminosity of the Sea, were published in the " Quarterly Journal of Science" for 1867, and are reprinted with the permission of the Editors, having had the advantage of subsequent revision and en largement. Other papers have been incorporated from the Proceedings of the Linnæan, Geological, Ethnological, and Royal Geographical Societies, as well as from the Annals of Natural History, &c, in order to give unity to the narrative, and completeness to the Natural History observations. Greenwich, March, 1868. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. The Voyage To China

OVERLAND— IMPRESSIONS OF HONG KONG. PAGE Dissolving Views — Marseilles — The Bear Rock — Flocks of Cranes — Alexandria — The Delta — Grand Cairo — The Desert — Red Sea — Aden — First Shore Hunt — Point de GaUe — Tropical Calm — Lightning — Tropic Birds — Singapore — Traveller's Tree — Caricature Plant — Approach to Hong Kong— Appearance from the Sea— Boats and their occupants 1

Chapter II. Hong Kong To Pratas Island

Anglified appearance of Hong Kong— Physical Character — The Chinese Quarter— Leave Hong Kong— Arrive at Pratas Reef— Description of the Island — We Visit the Island— Its Vegetation — Insect Fauna- Marine Animals— Sea-Weeds — Fishermen's Temple — Lagoon- Birds of the Island— The Gannets' Settlement— The Seine— Towing Net— Rollers— We quit the Reef — Birds observed upon the Ship between Pratas and Formosa 20

Chapter III. Formosa

TA-KAU-CON, AND THE PESCADORES ISLAND. Character of Native Race— Dutch Occupation— Treaty Ports— East Coast— Arrive at Ta-kau— Lagoon— Apes' Hill — Land-Crabs— Leaping Fishes— Walk in the Country— Water Buffaloes— Padi Birds— Village of Pi-hi-kun— Chinese Ladies— The Pescadoressi CONTENTS. PAGE Ponghou — Makung — Cheap Provisions — Cuttle Fish — Absence of Trees and Birds — The Rocks — Visit the Mandarin —Photography — Wreckers 35

Chapter IV. Formosa

(continued)— TAM-SUY. Towing Net in Formosa Channel — Pterosoma — Firola— Sagitta — Atlanta — Glaucus — Alima — PhyUosoma, or glass-crab — Cerapus — Hyalæa — West Coast of Formosa— Fort Zeelandia — Notonectæ — Arrive at Tam-suy — The Harbour —Boulder Clay — Chinese Graves— Rice-paper Plant — Bamboo — The Town — People — Rice Embargo — -Visit to Mbang-ka — Camphor Monopoly — Visit the Chief Mandarin — Return Visit — Queen's Birthday 54

Chapter V. Formosa

(continued)— FROM TAM-SUY TO KE-LUNG. The Sulphur Springs near Tam-suy — approach to them — their present condition — effects on Animal Life — Preparations for River Voyage —Village of Pah-chie-nah — Arrive at Sik-kow — Bivouac at Chuy-teng-cha — Birds on the Route — Rapids — Population — Domestic Animals — Arrive at Liang-kha — Descent to Ke-lung — Character of the People 70

Chapter VI. Formosa

(continued)— KE-LUNG. Prevalence of Sandstone — Formation of the Harbour — Caverns — Village Population — Modes of Fishing — Sandstone Peaks and Images — Rising of the Coast — The Coal Mines— Mode of Working — Value of the Coal — Geological position of the Beds — Burning Properties — Petroleum — Marine Animals of the Shore — Peronia — Aplysia — Nudibranchs — Creseis— Singular shoal of Stephanomias ... 85

Chapter VII. Formosa

(continued)- SAU-O BAY. East Coast — Steep Island— Reefs at Sau-o — Chinese Village of Sau-o — Village of Tame Aborigines— Their Huts— Physical Characters- Dress— Native Cloth— Search after the Wild Aborigines — Charac- CONTENTS. IX PAGE teristics of the Villagers — Their Occupations — An Alarm— They visit the Ship — Native Politeness— Language — Religious Ideas — Diseases — Distinctions from Chinese Race 101

Chapter VIII. The Islands North-east Of Formosa

Visit of a Chinese Admiral — Ke-lung Island — The Harbour from the Sea — Pinnacle Island— Craig Island — The Wideawakes — Their Breeding Place — Geological Structure of Craig Island — Hunt on the Rocks — Grapsi — Agincourt Island — Pinnacle Rocks— Hoa-pin-san and Tia-usu — The Raleigh Rock — The Dredge — Chromodoris — ■ Gigantic Foraminifera — Further Search — Return to Ke-lung . . 116

Chapter IX. Haitan Straits And Coast Of China

Red Discoloration of the Sea — Haitan Island and Straits — Middle Island — New Anemone— Black Islet — Its Fauna and Flora — Chinese Pirates — Rumbling Fish — Slut Island — New Nudibranchs — Iridescent Seaweed — Trigger-Shrimp — Comatula — The River Min — Pagoda Anchorage — Chinese Pagodas — Shwin-gan Passage — Luminous Sea— Plague of Flies — Insects at Sea — Wosung River — Shanghai 129

Chapter X. Hong Kong To Labuan

Atmospheric Phenomena — Fiery-Cross Reef— Corals and Coral Fish — A Wade on the Reef — Marine Animals — Gigantic Anemones — Anemone-inhabiting Fish— Stormy Weather— Waterspout— Aspect of Labuan — Vegetation— The Jungle— Camphor Trees— The Coal Mines— Workings— Quality of the Coal- Geological Considerations — Petroleum 1*5

Chapter XI. Labuan

Bruni, the Capital of Borneo— Piracy— Establishment of the Colony of Labuan— Its Objects— Natural Productions — Pigs— Monkeys— X CONTENTS. PAGE Kahau, or Proboscis Monkey— Birds— Megapode— Chick-chack— Barking Lizard— Iguanas — Cobra— Pythons— Electric Snake- Scorpions—Centipedes—Cicadas—Beetles—Hemiptera—Desecra tion of European Graves— Isolated Position of the Residents of Labuan 1^2

Chapter XII. Labuan

(continued). Butterflies of Labuan— Mode of Flight— Number of Species— Dominant Species — Butterflies of Pulo Daat— Hermit Crabs — Cocoa-nut Planting — Dragon-Flies — Water Beetles — Jungle Spiders— Carpenter-Bee and Mason- Wasp — Eulima and Stilifer — Alligators — Mollusca — Feather-Stars— Nudibranchs — Mantle-cutting Doris — Land Shells— Reef at Pulo Pappan— Dendractinia— Weather at Labuan — Luminous Fungi 181

Chapter XIII. Sarawak

Entrance to River — Antimony Anchorage — Tarnuh-puti — Drift-wood — Town of Kuching — Former Condition of Sarawak — Sir James Brooke — Prospects of the Settlement — The Tuan Muda — The Dyaks — Their Superstitions — Miss Burdett Coutts' Estate — Gambier planting — Flying Squirrel — Flying Lizard — Flying Foxes — Vegetable Productions — Rain — Italian Naturalists — Quadrupeds — Domestic Animals— Dyed Fowls — Reef at Pulo Marundum . . 201

Chapter XIV. The Sarawak River

Eclipse ofthe Moon— Boats and Rowers— First Halt — Reach the Rapids — The Datu and Chief Hadji — Diamond-washing— Gold — The Last Rapid— Dress of the Dyaks — The Council— Scenery of the River — Mode of Producing Fire — Journey Continued — Incidents — Change Prahu for Canoes— Return Down Rapids in the Dark — Bivouac Malay Boat-songs — Limestone Cavern — Berlidah — Ascent of Peninjau — Dyak Village of Seramho — Rajah's Summer Residence Bombok — Return to Sarawak 2 .0 CONTENTS. XI PAGE

Chapter XV. Singapore

Variety of Life in Singapore — The Malays — Their Villages — The Klings — Kling Women — Their Occupations — Religious Ceremonies — Mosque — The Chinese — The Bugis — Residences— Native Streets — Tigers, not numerous — Fire-Flies — Botanic Gardens — Sensitive Plants — Kling Bird-Catchers — Climate of Singapore — Productions of the Sea Shore— Sharks 242

Chapter XVI. Cultivation In Singapore

Climate of Singapore — Soil — Nutmeg Planting — Appearance of the Tree — Over-Manuring — The Nutmeg Disease— Its Causes — Ruin of the Planters — Occasional Spontaneous Recovery — Cotton — Coffee — Cinnamon — Sugar-Cane — Gutta-percha — Gamboge — Gambier and Pepper — Fruit Trees — Cocoa-nut — The Cocoa-nut Beetles — Sago Plantations 260

Chapter XVII. Johore And The Straits

Excursion to Tanjong Putri— Chinese Carnival — The Tumonggong — Sing-songs — Chinese Thespians — Gambling Parties — The Game of "Poh" — Gambling in Singapore and Hong Kong — Mountebank Dentistry— Opium Smoking— Statistics of Consumption — Value of Imports — Chinese Opium — Considerations — Saw Mills — Horsburgh Lighthouse — Coast of Johore — Habits ofthe Pill-Crab — Ubiquity of Ants 275

Chapter XVIII. Manilla

Appearance of the City- Manilla Bay— The Town— Chinese Shops- Aspect of the Mestizas — Dilapidated Condition of City— The Great Earthquake of 1863— Features ofthe Shocks— Their Effects— Moral Effect on the People— Game-Cocks— The River Pasig— Tobacco Manufacture — Taxes on Commerce — Sea Snakes— Tropical Skies compared with Northern— The Southern Cross— Effects of Clear Atmosphere — Moon-blindness — Case CONTENTS. PAGE

Chapter XIX. Hong

KONG— CHINESE NEW YEAR, ETC. Chinese Pyrotechny — Salutations by Crackers— Religious Ceremonies — Holiday-making— Family Groups — Children — Visits of Ceremony — Boats — Toy-makers — Mandarin Processions in Canton — Irruption of Beggars— Chinese Tame Birds — Shantung Lark — Tumblers — Canaries — Mina — Street Robbery in Hong Kong — Insecurity of the Person — Police Regulations— Contrast with Canton — Character of the Chinese— Facility of Escape to Canton 311

Chapter XX. Canton

Strangeness of Canton — Bogue Forts — Whampoa— Pagodas — Approach to City — Boat Population - Pic-nic Boats — Streets of Canton — Chops — Puntinqua's Garden — Fa-tee Nurseries — Gold-Fish— Deformities — Diet of Chinese — Dog-eating — Salt Monopoly — Unity of Chinese People — Its Causes — Insurrectionary Movements — Influence of Western Civilization — Benefits of Western Trade — Pekin Memorial on Western Education — Proposed Introduction of Railways — Language the Great Barrier — Prospects of Christianity . . 330

Chapter XXI. The Surface Population Of The Ocean

Floating Animals — Capriciousness of their Appearance — Calms — The Towing Net — Medusa?— Noctural Animals — Formosa Channel — Hydrozoa- — Yellow Fly — Blue Animals in Deep Sea — Abundance of Animals in Bad Weather — Lucernarian Jelly-fishes — Their Vast Numbers — Peculiarities — Portuguese Man-of-War — Stinging Powers — Fish Sheltering in their Threads — Sargasso Sea— Its Inhabitants —Atlantic Calms — Compound Salpæ — Three Forms — Chains of Salpæ 352

Chapter XXII. Observations At Sea

Flying-fish— Their Range— Object of their Flight — Always away from the Ship — Mode of Flight — Absence of Vibration of Wings— Nature of Impulse — A Flying-fish Hunt— Albicores — Abundance of Flying-fish— Trichodesmium, or Sea Dust — Red Sea Conferva— Abundance CONTENTS. XIII PAGE of Conferva in the China Sea — Its Range— Cases of Red Discolora tion — Microscopic Characters of Sea Dust — -Oscillatoria — Observa tions of Former Voyagers — Horizontal Rainbow — Development and Peculiarities — Changing Aspect of the Sea— Natural Colour of the Deep Sea — Changes in Shallow Water — By Rough Weather — Father Secchi's Spectroscopic Observations 373

Chapter XXIII. The Luminosity Of The Sea

Nature of the Phenomenon — Phosphorescence a Misnomer — Classification of Luminous Phenomena— Sparks always visible — Their Cause- Luminous Sheath to Ship — Singapore Harbour — Simon's Bay — Noctilucæ — Scene on the Chinese Coast — Moon-shaped Patches of Light — -Not caused by Medusæ — Often spontaneous — Probably Pyrosomas — Recurrent Flashes — Colour and Appearance spontaneous — Depth of the Animals — Examples of Recurrence — Milky Sea — Its Rarity — Conditions of Luminosity— Non-luminous Animals — Rationale of Luminosity — A Correlative of some other Force — Contractility — Luminous Envelopes — Range of Luminosity among Animals 391

Chapter XXIV. The Voyage Home

Storm at Hong Kong — Loss of the "Osprey" — Sea-birds at the Cape- Simon's Bay — Cormorants — Botany of the Cape — Physical Features of False Bay — Cape Town — Marine Animals of Simon's Bay — Coast of St. Helena — James' Town — Napoleon's Tomb — Ascension — General Features — Craters — Vegetation — Insects — " Wide-awake Fair " — Boldness of the Birds — Turtle Ponds — Varieties of Turtle — Western Isles— Pico — Fayal — Villa de Horta — Character of Vegetation — Spithead — Conclusion 410

Appendix

. Sau-o Vocabulary— Dialect of Ke-lung LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE SANDSTONE PILLARS, SOUTH SIDE KE-LUNG HARBOUR, FORMOSA Frontispiece ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOUR OF TA-KAU 35 THE SULPHUR SPRINGS NEAR TAM-SUY 70 COMATULA . . 137 THE WATERSPOUT 145 GROUP OF NUDIBRANCHIATE MOLLUSOA .... To Face 195 MALAY HOUSES AT THE ANCHORAGE, SARAWAK 201 THE PANGAH, OR HEAD-HOUSE, BOMBOK 220 chains of salpæ To Face 372 BEROCilD CILIOGRADE, FROM THE ATLANTIC BAMBLES OF A NATURALIST.

Chapter I. The Voyage To China

OVERLAND— IMPRESSIONS OF HONG KONG. Dissolving Views — Marseilles — The Bear Rock — Flocks of Cranes— Alexandria — The Delta — Grand Cairo— The Desert — Red Sea— Aden — First Shore Hunt — Point de Galle — Tropical Calm— Lightning — Tropic Birds —Singapore — Traveller's Tree — Caricature Plant — Approach to Hong Kong — Appearance from the Sea — Boats and their occupants. When a man leaves his home and country for the purpose of making a closer acquaintance with Nature and natural phenomena in distant lands, he naturally does not wait to begin Iris observations until he shall have travelled a certain number of thousands of miles. And thus, although my destination was China, I found much that was striking and interesting, from the point of view which I had chosen, on the road. The overland route to India and China is indeed so generally known, and so experimentally familiar to a large number of persons, that it would serve no purpose to dwell upon its details ; but nevertheless a work, whose plan mainly seeks to recount the aspects of Nature in foreign countries, would scarcely be complete were no reference made to so large a portion of travel as is passed over by the steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company between Marseilles and Hong Kong.

B The great drawback of this route, to a person not travelling on business which requires despatch, is the restless rapidity of movement which allows of no quiet, except on the calm days at sea. When at length, after an interval of a few such days, land is reached, he catches a glimpse of a country, it maybe the most interesting he has ever visited ; but in a few hours, almost before he can realize that it is not a pleasant dream, inexorable necessity attracts him once more to the ship, and he turns his back upon the new country, it may be for ever — its people, its vegetation, its scenery, leaving the impression of an unreal vision upon his memory, which will endure as such as long as he lives. I can only compare the passage overland to the picture patterns seen in a kaleidoscope, changing with such rapidity that the impression of one is still vivid when it is succeeded by another, while yet each picture is complete in itself, and has features which distinguish it no less from its predecessors than from its successors.

Or I might liken it to a series of dissolving views, in which the eye still dwelling upon the last and recently formed picture, finds it replaced by some other and contrasting one, when another port is reached, which gradually, by the force of its present reality, drives out of the mind (for the time) the one which has for some days occupied all its thoughts. Thus we change the verdu rous Delta for the arid desert plain — and this again for the piled-up, barren rocks of Arabia — which in turn give place to the green and smiling fertility of the palm groves of Ceylon, and the scarcely less luxuriant islands of Penang and Singa pore. The vine-clad hills and olive groves of the south of France, and the tall flower stems of the great thick-leaved aloes about Marseilles, were hailed as some foretaste of that luxuriance Cn.

I.] FLOCKS OF CRANES. 3 of vegetation which we were soon to witness in the tropics, of wliich, however, we were destined to see but little until we had reached its perfection in the rich garden of Ceylon. The rocky islands of Corsica and Sardinia, the picturesque Maritimo, and the white fortifications of Malta, present nowhere a tree or a bush to relieve their barrenness, and the only thing remotely interesting to a zoologist is the sem blance of a gigantic bear which may be seen walking down a shelving crag in the straits of Bonifacio, and appropriately called the Bear Rock. At Malta, some hours of moonlight and dawn were all that were allowed us, which thus prevented landing. Steaming down the placid waters of the Mediterranean at this time of year (the beginning of March) is perhaps the perfection of pleasant travelling.

The air is more soft and balmy than it can be at any season in our own climate, and without being oppressively warm, all thought of cold is abandoned, and a sensation of agreeable exhilaration mingles with one of ideal comfort. Once or twice a flj'ing fish broke the quiet surface of the water, but the Mediterranean species did not make their appearance in any numbers. South of Candia my attention was arrested by four successive flocks of cranes flying northward, whose screams could be heard distinctly as they passed close over the ship — a circumstance which was stated to be unusual, the captain of the ship never having observed it before in his frequent passages up and down the Mediterranean. There were about 50 birds in each flock. The first assumed a long irregular line, but the other three were more or less wedge-shaped, particularly one, in which the figure was remarkably symmetrical.

Buffon's idea of the cause of this peculiar arrangement, viz. that the strongest naturally keeps first, while the rest are B necessitated to follow behind, would hardly, I think, account for the regularity of the figure, which is maintained until it faints into the tenuity of a spider's thread in the distance. His theory is, indeed, no improvement upon that of Cicero,* who, being an augur, studied the flight of birds, and sup posed that when migrating in large bodies, they assumed the t> form from an intuitive knowledge that it offers less resistance to their rapid flight — while one, probably a strong pinioned bird, is selected by them as their leader ; though it is probable that this one, in turn, gives place to others during their progress. The first sight of the shores of the Nile Delta is by no means striking, though just what a consideration of its nature would lead one to expect.

A long low coast, terminating in sand-hills, is presented to view, whose monotony is only broken by distant and somewhat formal rows of date-palms, interspersed with windmills. But here, as we land at Alexandria, ouifirst dissolving view fairly gives place to a totally new picture, in which the colours of the kaleidoscope play a conspicuous part. Weseem at once plunged into the embodiment of the dreams of those days when we read of Aladdin, The Three Calenders, and Haroun-al-Raschid. Streets narrow and winding — shops open to the street, and Avithout windows of any kind — merchandise piled up around the owner, who sat cross-legged upon the counter, smoking his pipe and awaiting custom — barbers shaving their cus tomers in public — divans, where Arabs were sipping coffee meditatively — bakers and provision-merchants with wares anything but tempting to a European — and Nubians, as black as jet, carrying water-skins, of which the outsides were sufficiently disgusting objects.

Passing to and fro through * Cicero, de NatuWt Deorum, lib. ii. cap. 49. Cn. I.] ALEXANDRIA AND THE DELTA. 5 the streets, which were impregnated with a penetrating and far from agreeable odour, and under a sun more powerful than we had ever felt in England, were crowds of Arabs, Turks, Negroes, and Egyptians, in every variety of costume and of every shade of colour ; — some in gaudy dresses, and flowing robes, turbans, and fezzes — others with bare legs and arms, or wearing only a kind of smock, and variously contrived head-coverings— women veiled, with a long strip of black hanging down from their eyes to their feet ; others in dazzling white, veil included, or with httle ones astride upon their shoulders — children of all ages and degrees of dirtiness, crying for backsheesh — lean mules and donkeys, with turbaned and portly Turks upon then backs, or with bundles of merchandize hanging on either side — strings of camels laden with various goods — warlike gentlemen with long curved scymitars at their sides, and pistols two or three feet in length stuck in their belts — all these together formed a combination often described, perhaps, but not to be for gotten when once seen.

A land journey is always a pleasant interlude in a long sea voyage, though the small carriages of the Pasha's rail way, generally filled with their full complement, are not the most delightful of conveyances under an Egyptian sun. Across the fertile Delta agricultural operations were every where going on. Groups of date-palms (Phœnix dactylifera) and groves of olive trees constantly met the eye ; numerous camels, herds of buffaloes, mingled with the coloured do mestic cattle, goats of a small size, and broad-tailed sheep, were in plenty throughout the route. The fields were often separated by hedges of mimosa (M. Nilotica), and frequent villages occurred, mere collections of mud huts, squalid and desolate (and sometimes deserted and in rums), about which were Arabs equally squalid and wTetched-looking, the children cased in dirt, wearing a single scanty and dirty garment, with eyes more or less affected with ophthalmia, and holding out then hands for backsheesh as we passed.

Villainous-looking dogs, like gaunt jackals, lurked about the huts, and luxuriant cacti flourished in some of the gardens. Large kingfishers hovered over the ponds, and handsome black and white stork like birds stood motionless like sentinels by the side of canals — buzzard-like hawks flew familiarly about, and occa sionally swooped down almost among the people collected at a station — crows, and plovers, and sparrows, were not uncommon, particularly the last, probably, however, not om1 domestic species, but the tree sparrow (Passer montanus). As the sun went down, the zodiacal light appeared very distinctly ; and for several nights I remarked it as we passed down the Red Sea, much more clearly than I had ever observed it in England. Conspicuously upon ouiright hand shone out the Egyptian star, Canopus, never visible in this latitude ; but whose first sight roused associations in unison with the classic locality we were traversing, — for at sunset we had crossed a branch of the Nile.

The glimpse afforded by a ride through Cairo did not differ essentially from that described at Alexandria ; but the city is far more interesting and remarkable ; the streets more narrow and mazy, ornamented with arabesques and frescos ; minarets and domes meet one at every turn, while the people seemed even more essentially Eastern than in the commercial town of Alexandria. Giving my ass his reins I diverged from my party, and let the beast take me where he would, trusting to his instinct to lead me finally aright; and thus unencumbered, I could gaze at my ease Ch. I.] THE DESERT. 7 upon the motley crowd of well-conditioned Turks and white veiled ladies, running Arabs and sooty Nubians, — mules, donkeys, and camels, which threatened to overturn the crowds of active, half-naked, and dusky children which ran hither and thither across the streets.

Having thus paid a visit to the Mosque of Mehemet Ali, and seen its marble pavement and pillars of alabaster, and having gained a distant view of the Pyramids, another scene succeeded the vanishing picture of Grand Cairo. This time it was the desert ; barren sands and low stony hills of an uniform and monotonous brownish-yellow tint, broken here and there by a stimted vegetation — these small green oases behig, however, few and far between. But httle life is visible here. A few black crows flew about the out skirts of Cairo and Suez, but did not penetrate far into the desert, although some mud -villages of the Arabs made their appearance even here ; and we more than once passed a group of Arabs, accompanied by thenjackal-looking dogs, apparently walking through the desert along the hue of rail road.

Now and then the skeleton of a camel lay bleaching on the ground, more particularly in the neighbourhood of Suez, and at the central station of Awebed a small lady-bird (Coccinella) flew into the carriage. It was a true desert species, of the characteristic pale brown isabelline colour, admirably matching the prevailing tint of the sands on which its lot was cast. The passage down the Red Sea was cool and pleasant, but uneventful. An agreeable breeze followed us, and favourable contrasts were drawn by many with previous experiences. Passing Mocha, we were near enough to see its white houses, over wliich the unusual phenomenon of rain was falling abundantly, and it was also raining further to the [Cn. I. 8 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. south, over the land. Barren rocks accompanied us the whole way, beginning with the distant mountains of Sinai and Horeb ; and having left behind the volcanic islands of Zebayer and the peaks of Babel-Mandeb, to both of which we were quite sufficiently near to discern their evidently crateriform character, another picture was for a few hours presented to our bodily eyes.

This time it was the barren, craggy, extinct volcano which is now Aden, where the scene was as wholly new and distinct as any previous one. The black Somali from the opposite African coast, their heads either plastered with chenam, or their light-yellowish hah-, dyed from its native hue by this treatment, and woven into long ringlets all over the face, here mingled with Arabs, and formed fitting denizens of a country that was httle better than an arid desert. Long strings of camels toiled in pro cession up the hills, laden with water-skins, fire-wood, and bars of iron, — and here and there a half-naked negro met us, seated upon a dromedary's hump, and passing us at a long swinging trot, such as only a camel could accomplish. Vegetation was here scarcely less rare than in the desert itself — small patches of green, however, were here and there risible, produced by a Resedaceous plant (allied to mignonette), which struggled to maintain existence — and it was not until we arrived at the neighbourhood of the great water tanks that we observed how the industry of man had converted a wilderness into a garden, and at infinite labour and expense had not only conveyed thither flowers and plants from distant regions, but even the very soil in wliich they were growing.