TERRAPIN BAY

67

patches of luxuriant forest. We passed three small beaches, above which grew a few coco palms, and then came to Novara Bay, about 3 miles from the north end of the island, where the Austrian frigate anchored in 1858. It was, however, on account of the steepness of the land, an impracticable place for collecting. South of this point the island is everywhere covered with dense jungle, and for the next 4 miles expands to a breadth of more than a mile, attaining in the centre its greatest elevation in Maharani Peak, a little over 1000 feet in height. A short distance further on, and opposite two rocky islets, each about 80 feet high, we found a good anchorage, which, being unnamed on the chart, was promptly christened "Terrapin Bay." It affords fair protection in the north-east monsoon, and shoals gradually from 12 fathoms to the beach. The latter is about three-quarters of a mile long, and is divided by a huge mass of rocks covered with casuarina trees, behind which is a small stream of brackish water. Numerous coco palms shade the beach, and beyond them is a stretch of flat, jungle-covered land. Good water may be obtained at a little sandy spot beyond the rocks forming the northern point of the bay. There is also an anchorage on the other side of

the island in Castle Bay.

Tilanchong is 9 miles long and 1 miles broad at its widest point, and has an area of about 7 square miles. It is rocky, and everywhere covered with jungle, except in the north, and in shape resembles a flying bird with the north and south extremities as wings, and the broader part in the centre, head, and body.

Our landing at midday was a pleasant contrast to the experiences of Kar Nicobar; the sea was fairly calm, and damage to guns and ammunition was no longer to be feared. On entering the jungle, which at first was somewhat thin, we were immediately struck by the extreme fearlessness of the birds, and the immense number of lizards, of a species peculiar to this island (Gonyocephalus humeii), which abounded everywhere. Every tree-trunk in the forest was the resting-place of two or

three of the latter, and as one moved along it was to an accompaniment of scurrying reptiles that dropped from the adjacent branches and darted off to a less immediate neighbourhood. Especially did they swarm in the jungle growing on the dry coral sand above the beach. Besides this small species we found a Varanus lizard, 5 to 6 feet long-very common. We frequently saw them, or heard their noisy rush through the bushes, as, disturbed by our approach, they galloped out of danger. Of the birds, the splendid fruit-pigeons (Carpophaga insularis), generally so wary and unapproachable, denizens of the highest tree-tops, were so unsuspicious that time after time we knocked them over with a pinch of dust shot, and parrots and Nicobar pigeons were obtained with almost equal ease. The latter, whose range extends from these islands eastward to the Solomons, are extremely beautiful birds. The feet are plum-coloured, and the stumpy tail, which is almost hidden by the wings, is snow-white. The head and neck are a delicate grey, while the long, flowing hackles and the rest of the plumage are of a glorious metallic green, iridescent in the sunlight, with shining tints of gold, purple, and blue.

We had not long separated before I caught sight of two megapodes scuttling through the bushes - dull - brown birds about the size of a six-months'-old chicken. They disappeared before I could shoot, but, close by to where they had been, I found one of their laying-places, a mound of fresh earth about 4 feet high and 12 feet in diameter, disturbed by recent working.

For a few hundred yards beyond the beach the soil is very light and friable, a mixture of vegetable loam and disintegrated coral; but behind this it becomes swampy, supporting a denselymatted growth, and while collecting amongst this, I lost my bearings and spent a warm half-hour cutting a way back to the more open forest in the vicinity of the boat.

"January 30.- This morning got my first megapode. Soon after landing, I saw a Nicobar pigeon on the ground, and while stalking it to get a close shot, noticed near by three birds, of

much the same size, dancing about amongst some bushes. They were out of sight most of the time, but I 'browned' the place with a heavy charge, and running up found a cock megapode lying dead. In appearance the bird is not unlike a partridge, though larger, and it has the same drooping tail; the feet, however, are out of all proportion, and are remarkable for their extraordinary strength and size; the plumage is olivebrown in colour, except on the head, which is thinly covered with pale greyish feathers, while the cheeks are naked and of a bright vermilion.

Going further south than yesterday, I found beyond the rock, in the middle of the beach, what was probably once a fair-sized lagoon, but is now an open swamp nearly overgrown with grass and nipah palms. Several small water-birds and a couple of herons were flying about, and of the latter I obtained a white variety.

"We spent about an hour on shore in the afternoon and saw some more megapodes, but failed to get a shot at them: they frequent the open jungle directly bordering the shore, where the soil is so light that they can build their mounds with ease."

"January 31.—On leaving the jheel this morning, as I walked over the rise of ground that separates it from the sea, I saw a crocodile lying half-in and half-out of the water, but before I could get near enough for a shot-cartridge to take effect he turned and swam off; as he rose and fell with the waves, he looked like a log of wood, but all the while made steadily seaward; he was about 10 feet long, and brilliantly marked with yellow.

"In the afternoon I took the camera ashore to get photos of a nest-mound. Just as I was entering the jungle by the mound, I noticed that earth was being thrown in a continuous shower from the top. Soon a bird ran out from a depression there; I shot it, and at the noise another jumped out for a moment and then went on digging, but appearing again a few seconds later, I got it also. It was about to lay, but the shot had unfortunately broken the egg: there is no external