to improve for a tropical climate, whether as regards comfort or
appearance. The loosely-hanging trousers, and neat white half-
shirt half jacket, are exactly what a dress should be in this low
latitude.

I engaged two Portuguese to accompany me into the interior; one
as a cook, the other to shoot and skin birds, which is quite a
trade in Malacca. I first stayed a fortnight at a village called
Gading, where I was accommodated in the house of some Chinese
converts, to whom I was recommended by the Jesuit missionaries.
The house was a mere shed, but it was kept clean, and I made
myself sufficiently comfortable. My hosts were forming a pepper
and gambir plantation, and in the immediate neighbourhood were
extensive tin-washings, employing over a thousand Chinese. The
tin is obtained in the form of black grains from beds of
quartzose sand, and is melted into ingots in rude clay furnaces.
The soil seemed poor, and the forest was very dense with
undergrowth, and not at all productive of insects; but, on the
other hand, birds were abundant, and I was at once introduced to
the rich ornithological treasures of the Malayan region.

The very first time I fired my gun I brought down one of the most
curious and beautiful of the Malacca birds, the blue-billed gaper
(Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus), called by the Malays the
"Rainbird." It is about the size of a starling, black and rich
claret colour with white shoulder stripes, and a very large and
broad bill of the most pure cobalt blue above and orange below,
while the iris is emerald green. As the skins dry the bill turns
dull black, but even then the bird is handsome. When fresh
killed, the contrast of the vivid blue with the rich colours of