Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
remarkable and more beautiful. The head, back, and shoulders are clothed with a richer yel-
low, the deep metallic green colour of the throat extends further over the head, and the feath-
ers are elongated on the forehead into two little erectile crests. The side plumes are shorter,
but are of a rich red colour, terminating in delicate white points, and the middle tail-feathers
are represented by two long rigid glossy ribands, which are black, thin, and semi-cylindrical,
and droop gracefully in a spiral curve. Several other interesting birds were obtained, and
about half-a-dozen quite new ones; but none of any remarkable beauty, except the lovely
little dove, Ptilonopus pulchellus, which with several other pigeons I shot on the same fig-
tree close to my house. It is of a beautiful green colour above, with a forehead of the richest
crimson, while beneath it is ashy white and rich yellow, banded with violet red.
On the evening of our arrival at Muka I observed what appeared like a display of Aurora
Borealis, though I could hardly believe that this was possible at a point a little south of the
equator. The night was clear and calm, and the northern sky presented a diffused light, with
a constant succession of faint vertical flashings or flickerings, exactly similar to an ordinary
aurora in England. The next day was fine, but after that the weather was unprecedentedly
bad, considering that it ought to have been the dry monsoon. For near a month we had wet
weather; the sun either not appearing at all, or only for an hour or two about noon. Morning
and evening, as well as nearly all night, it rained or drizzled, and boisterous winds, with
dark clouds, formed the daily programme. With the exception that it was never cold, it was
just such weather as a very bad English November or February.
