The officers obtained no sport with big game; for although at night
the forest was full of sounds, showing the number of wild animals
that abounded, these never were met with during the daytime, and it
would have been hopeless endeavoring to penetrate the thick jungle
in search of them. There was, however, an abundance of birds, for
the most part of brilliant plumage, and the doctor was delighted
with the spoils they brought in, while the messes were kept well
supplied with jungle fowl and other edible birds. The natives,
learning from the guide of the doctor's passion for insects, brought
in large numbers for sale, and he was able to purchase a great many
specimens altogether new to science.
The two midshipmen made excursions with their guns whenever they
could get leave. Davis and two other sailors always accompanied
them, as the captain's orders were strict that no officer or man
should go outside the limits of the campong unless accompanied by
two armed seamen.
Sometimes they took a native canoe and went up the river fishing;
but as an abundance of fish could be caught by lines from the
ship's side, they only did this as a change, and often in the cool
of the evening they lay lazily in the canoe, while the fishermen
were employed rowing them up one or other of the numerous streams
which flowed into the river.
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