In the Eastern Seas

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

  A SEARCH FOR BIRDS OF PARADISE.

  I must give a very brief account of our excursion, which we had justbefore projected. A native boat carried us across to the mainland, andlanding, we were amused with the number of sea-shells which we found onthe ground away from the beach. They were of a variety of shapes andkinds, which had been taken possession of by those curious creatures,the hermit crabs, who wander into the forest in search of food.Sometimes, however, they become food themselves to huge spiders, and wesaw one monster carry away a fair-sized shell, and devour its unhappyoccupant. We came upon several little parties of hermit crabs, whom,breaking through their custom, we found assembled round some delicatemorsel; but as soon as they heard us, away they scrambled as fast asthey could crawl. The spiders were huge spotted monsters, with bodiestwo inches long, and legs in proportion. They form thick glutinousthreads across the path, which are very unpleasant to meet, and reallycost a great deal of trouble to get rid of. Sometimes, indeed, we ranour faces directly against one of the monsters, though in most cases thecreature was as glad to get off as we were to get rid of him. We metalso numerous lizards, of various shades of green, grey, and brown,every rotten trunk being alive with them, as they ran about seeking forinsects. Our native hunters had arrows with heads as large as a smalltea-cup, for the purpose of shooting the birds of paradise.

  Among the most beautiful vegetable productions are the tree-ferns. Wewere never tired of admiring them, and Mr Hooker said they weresuperior in size and beauty to any he had before seen. There were alsobeautiful palms with slender smooth stems, perfectly straight, reachingto the height of a hundred feet, and surmounted by a crown of gracefullydrooping leaves.

  Our men carried sleeping mats for us to wrap ourselves in at night, witha small kettle for boiling our tea, and a pot for cooking our meat orsoup. When resting at night we quickly formed an impromptu hut ofboughs. I could not help wishing that my sister and Grace had been withus, to admire the beautiful forests and magnificent birds we saw.Rising in the morning, we witnessed another dance of the birds ofparadise in some trees close to us, and our native hunters shot severalof them.

  "It is strange," said Mr Hooker, "that the only inhabitants of thisregion, where the most graceful of trees and the most beautiful of birdsin the universe exist, should be inhabited by races utterly incapable ofappreciating them."

  "Perhaps, sir, it may be that God has thus arranged it, that civilisedman should be led to the spot to make His name known among thosesavages. Had it not been for these birds of paradise, perhaps thesevery islands might not have been heard of."

  "Ah, Oliver, I like that idea. I think you are right," said Mr Hooker,and he was silent for some minutes. I too was struck by it.

  "Yes, sir," said Oliver, "God has a reason for all His arrangements, andI think it is allowable for us to conjecture what that reason may be;but though we cannot find it out, we may be very sure the reasonexists."

  We had been walking on through the forest, when one of our hunters madea sign to us to stop, and he advanced cautiously. We saw him raise hisbow and let fly an arrow. Down fell a small bird rather larger than athrush, the plumage as we saw it falling being of the most intensecinnabar red with the softest and most lovely gloss. Mr Hooker ranforward in the greatest state of agitation I had ever seen him exhibit,and kneeling down, gradually lifted up the bird. Had he discovered anugget of gold of the same size, he could not have appeared moredelighted. The feathers of the head were short and velvety, and shadedinto a rich orange beneath. From the breast downwards the body was likethe softest white gloss silk, while across the breast a band of deepmetallic-green separated it from the red throat. Above each eye was around spot, also of metallic-green. The bill was yellow, and the feetand legs were of a fine cobalt-blue, forming a striking contrast withthe other parts of the body. On each side of the breast, concealedunder the wings, were tufts of grey feathers, about two inches inlength, terminated by a broad band of deep emerald-green. These plumesare raised, as in the other species we saw, into a pair of elegant fanswhen the wings are elevated. Besides these beautiful ornaments, therewere in the middle of the tail two feathers like slender wires, aboutfive inches long, diverging into a double curve. The end of these wiresare webbed on the outer side, and covered with a fine metallic-green; sothat the bird appears to have two elegant glittering circles hangingabout five inches from the body, and the same distance apart.

  It was some time before our kind friend could recover himself.

  "Is it not beautiful? is it not beautiful?" he kept exclaiming as heheld it up, still kneeling on the ground and exhibiting its variousbeauties. "Walter, I tell you that this is the most beautiful of theeight thousand different kinds of birds which our beneficent Creator hasplaced on this earth, to adorn it for the sake of us mortals. Not oneof them possesses these spiral-tipped tail wires nor these beautifulbreast fans. Then look at the colours. What art can in any wayapproach them! This is the King Bird of Paradise--the _ParadiseaRegia_, we naturalists call it. Well worthy is it of the name." Whenwe stopped for the night, our attendants quickly built some leafy sheds,into which we crept, wrapped up in our mats, after we had partaken ofour supper--consisting of a parrot pie, which we had brought with us,and also of some sago biscuit, washed down with arrack and water. Ourguides would have preferred the spirit undiluted, as they are fond ofpotent liquors as well as of strong-tasted food. At early morn, beforethe sun rose, we heard the well-known cry of "Wawk--wawk--wawk!--Wok--wok--wok!" resounding through the forest, and continually changing itsdirection. Looking up, we caught sight of nights of the great bird ofparadise, going to seek their breakfasts on the fruit-bearing trees.Lories and parroquets soon afterwards flew off from their perches,uttering shrill cries. King hunters croaked and barked; and cockatoos,black and white, screamed loudly through the woods; while numeroussmaller birds, many also of the most lovely plumage, chirruped andwhistled as they saluted the dawn. Our hunters, one with a gun, theother with a bow and arrows, started forth while we lighted our fire andmade other preparations for breakfast. One of them soon came back witha large black bird having an enormous bill. Mr Hooker jumped up,almost letting drop the saucepan which he held in his hand, in hiseagerness at the sight of the bird.

  "A superb black cockatoo!" he exclaimed. "This is indeed a prize."

  All thoughts of eating were abandoned, while he expatiated on the beautyof the bird and its peculiar mode of living. Compared to its largelydeveloped head, which was ornamented with a superb crest, its bodyappeared weak and small. It had long slender legs and large wings, itshead being armed with a sharp-pointed hooked bill of prodigious size andstrength. The plumage was quite black, and had over it the peculiarpowdery white secretion which characterises cockatoos. The cheeks werebare, and of an intense blood-red colour. We had heard its voice theevening before, which, unlike the harsh scream of the white cockatoo, isthat of a plaintive whistle. The tongue was a slender fleshy cylinderof a deep red colour, terminated by a black horny plate, furred across,and possessing prehensile power. We afterwards saw several of them,mostly one at a time, though now and then we caught sight of two orthree together. They were flying slowly and noiselessly, and our huntertold us that a very slight wound would kill them.

  "See here, Walter and Oliver; observe its powerful beak. This birdlives upon the kernel of the kanary-nut. We passed several of thoselofty trees as we came along. This bill is evidently formed for thepurpose of eating this kanary-nut, which no other bird can do.By-the-by, I picked up one. Here it is. See! it is so hard that aheavy hammer alone can crack it."

  The outside of the nut Mr Hooker showed us was quite smooth, and of asomewhat triangular shape.

  "However, the birds are hungry, and we will try and catch flight of oneof our black friends taking his breakfast, and see how he manages."

  We quickly discussed our breakfast, and immediately afterwards set offin search of a kanary-tree. On one of the l
ower branches we werefortunate enough to see a black cockatoo perched. He had just taken oneof the nuts end-ways into his bill, where he kept it firm by thepressure of the tongue. He then cut a transverse notch, so Mr Hookerdeclared, by the lateral sawing motion of the lower mandible. He nexttook hold of the nut by his foot, and biting off a piece of aneighbouring leaf, retained it in the deep notch of the upper mandible.Again seizing the nut, which was prevented from slipping by the elastictissue of the leaf, he fixed the edge of the lower mandible in thenotch, and by a powerful nip broke off a piece of the shell. Once moretaking it in his claws, he inserted the very long and sharp point of hisbill and picked out the kernel, which he seized hold of, morsel bymorsel, with his curiously formed, extensible tongue. As no other birdin existence can compete with him in eating these nuts, he has always anabundance of food. Mr Hooker called this species the _Microglossumaterrimum_.

  Soon afterwards, a native brought us a king-fisher with an enormouslylong tail, such as no other king-fisher possesses. It was theracket-tailed king-fisher. It had been caught sleeping in the hollow ofthe rocky banks of a neighbouring stream. It had a red bill, and MrHooker observed that he doubted whether it lived upon fish, for, fromthe earth clinging to its beak, he suspected rather that it preys oninsects and minute shells which it picks up in the forests. Its shapewas very graceful, the plumage being of a brilliant blue and white.

  We caught also another cuscus, which Mr Hooker showed us was of themarsupial order; that is, having a pouch in which it carries its young,as does the kangaroo. There are several other marsupial animals inthese islands, such as are found also in Australia and New Guinea, wherealone they exist, some as small as mice. Though no mice exist in thoseregions, these little animals are about as mischievous--entering intohouses, and eating their way through all sorts of materials, just in themanner that mice do. I cannot attempt to describe the numerous otherbirds which we shot or caught. Among them were many of brilliantplumage--pigeons, little parroquets, and numerous other small birds,similar to those found in Australia and New Guinea.

  We spent three or four days in a native house, at which, at a rental ofa few yards of cloth, some tobacco, and one or two other articles, weengaged rooms. It was raised on a platform seven feet high on posts;the walls were about four feet more, with a high pitched roof. Thefloor was composed of split bamboo, and a part of the sloping roof couldbe lifted and propped up, so as to admit light and air. Ourapartments--for I have dignified them by that name--were divided fromthe rest of the house by a thatched partition. At one end of it was acooking-place, with a clay floor, and shells for crockery. Severalfamilies occupied the other parts of the house, which was veryextensive. There were generally half-a-dozen or more visitors inaddition to the families. They led very easy idle lives, only workingwhen it was absolutely necessary for the sake of obtaining food; andfrom morning till night the people were laughing, shouting, and talkingwithout cessation. Such screams of laughter, such loud shouts--thewomen and children vying with the men--I have never elsewhere heard.They seemed to live very well, as the men and boys are capital archers,and never went out without their bows and arrows. With these they shotall sorts of birds, and sometimes kangaroos and pigs. Besides this,they had a variety of vegetables, although they grew no rice nor thecocoa-nut tree. They had plantains, yams, and, above all, thesugar-cane. They were continually eating it. It grows on the blackvegetable soil to a great height and thickness. At all times of the daywe found the people eating it, generally four or five together, each onewith a yard of cane in one hand, and a knife in the other, and a basketbetween their legs. There they sat paring away at it, chewing, andthrowing the refuse into the basket.

  Mr Hooker was highly pleased with the collection of birds and insectswhich he had made. Engaging the services of two more natives to carrythem, we returned to the boat, in which, in the course of a day's sail,we reached the _Dugong_.