A little group of coco palms, in a corner of the bay, marks a spring from which we obtained good water, and adjacent stood a small leafless tree, whose branches, however, bore quantities of a brilliant red blossom (_Ixora_, sp.?). To this came birds in such numbers that I remained beneath it all the morning. Here I obtained our first specimens of the Andaman sun-bird, a tiny thing with olive back, blue throat, and yellow breast, and also one of the most beautiful of kingfishers (_Halcyon saturatior_), a glorious combination of bright chestnut, white, and vivid blues that one could never tire of admiring. Common was the little crested bulbul, clothed in black and white, with crimson ear-coverts, and equally so the brilliant-plumaged oriole, while the sleek-looking Andaman myna, soberly feathered in black and white, occurred in no small numbers. Indeed, birds came and went so quickly, that I was often hard put to it to select the proper cartridge, and frequently three or four specimens at a time lay waiting to be stowed away in the game bag. Time and place combined to make a naturalist's paradise, and I did not desist from collecting until my stock of wool, paper, and ammunition were exhausted. It must not be thought, however, that such an experience is in any way common, for it is seldom that the work is so easy or the harvest so large. Amongst the birds obtained on South Andaman was a pigeon that has since proved to be new (_Osmotreron_, sp. nov.); while, as far as mammals were concerned, rats of two species--one hitherto unrecorded, _Mus taciturnus_, sp. nov., and _M. andamanensis_--were fairly common; and we were fortunate in obtaining a palm-civet, of the species peculiar to the islands, which for several nights had been committing depredations along the line of traps; and also a single example of a new shrew (_Crocidura andamanensis_). CHAPTER IV THE CINQUES AND LITTLE ANDAMAN Position of the Cinques--Anchorage--Clear Water--The Forest--Beach Formation--Native Hut--Little Andaman--Bumila Creek--Natives-- Flies--Personal Decoration--Dress and Modesty--Coats of Mud-- _Coiffure_--Absence of Scarification--Elephantiasis--A Visit to the Village--Peculiar Huts--Canoe--Bows and Arrows--The Return Journey--A Slight _contretemps_--Andamanese Pig--We leave the Andamans. The channel that separates Rutland Island from Little Andaman is about 28 miles wide, and is everywhere less than 50 fathoms in depth. Several small wooded islets rise above its shallow waters, leaving in the centre, however, a clear stretch of sea--the Duncan Passage--which is sometimes traversed by ships passing through the Archipelago.