Page:The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia (IA journalindianar00loga).pdf/34

 to grow in the ordinary way, emulate the shapes and motions of serpents, enwrap their less pliant neighbours in their folds, twine their branches into one connected canopy, or hang down, here, loose and swaying in the air, or in festoons from tree to tree, and there, stiff and rooted like the shrouds which support the mast of a ship. No sooner has decay diminished the green array of a branch, than its place is supplied by epiphites, chiefly fragrant orchidaceae, of singular and beautiful forms. While the eye in vain seeks to familiarize itself with the exuberance and diversity of the forest vegetation, the ear drinks in the sounds of life which break the silence and deepen the solitude. Of these, while the interrupted notes of birds, loud or low, rapid or long-drawn, cheerful or plaintive, and ranging over a greater or less musical compass are the most pleasing; the most constant are those of insects, which sometimes rise into a shrill and deafening clangour; and the most impressive, and those which bring out all the wildness. and loneliness of the scene, are the prolonged complaining cries of the únkas, which rise, loud and more loud, till the twilight air is filled with the clear, powerful, and melancholy sounds, As we penetrate deeper into the forest, its animals, few at any one place, are soon seen to be, in reality, numerous and varied. Green and harmless snakes hang like tender branches. Others of deeper and mingled colours, but less innocuous, lie coiled up, or, disturbed by the human intruder, assume am angry and dangerous look, but glide out of sight. Insects in their shapes and hues imitate leaves, twigs and flowers. Monkeys, of many sizes and colours, spring from branch to branch, or, in long trains, rapidly steal up the trunks. Deer, and amongst them the graceful palandoh, no bigger than a hare, and celebrated in Malayan poetry, on our approach fly startled from: the pools which they and the wild hog most frequent. Lively squirrels, of different species, are everywhere met with. Amongst a great variety of other remarkable animals which range the forest, we may, according to our locality, encounter herds of elephants, the rhinoceros, tigers of several sorts, the tapir, the bábírúsa, the orangútan, the sloth; and, of the winged tribes, the gorgeously beautiful birds of paradise, the loris, the peacock, and the argus pheasant. The mangrove rivers and creeks are haunted by huge