d, and
have admired the bird-mounters' skill, but they never get anywhere near
nature and the soft and downy beauty of a bird in its native state.

The wonder to me was that they could keep themselves so prim, and with
every feather in such perfect order. The paroquets, for instance, had
the central feathers of their tail so long and thin and delicate, that
it seemed that, flitting and climbing about the trees so much, they must
get them broken, but they apparently never did, except when they were
damaged by our shot.

It was the same with the lovely racket-tailed kingfishers and the
fly-catchers, some of which had tails double the length of their own
bodies, and of a delicacy that was beautiful in the extreme.

But I must go back to the rest of our adventures that day, for as soon
as we had dined and had a rest, Uncle Dick signed to Ebo that he should
make a rough hut beneath this tree, ready for our sleeping that night,
and leaving him industriously at work, we started off together to try
and explore a little more of the island.

Going as straight as we could, we were not very long before, from a bit
of a hill, we could see the blue waters of the ocean spreading far and
wide, and soon after we made out the great rollers falling over upon the
sands, which spread right and left, of a dazzling whiteness, being
composed entirely of powdered-up coral and madrepore.

There was no need, my uncle said, to go farther that day, for we had
found out that it was no great distance across the island; the thing now
was to discover its length.

"It seems a foolish thing to do, perhaps, Nat," said my uncle, "but I
should very much like to try a little more exploration to-day. I don't
think we will shoot any more birds, but examine the land instead, so as
to be a little at home with its shape, ready for making a trip here and
there in the future. We shall be able to mark down good spots, too, for
finding specimens in the future."

"But shall you stay here long, uncle?" I asked.

"That I cannot answer, Nat," he replied, as we shouldered our guns and
trudged on. "It all depends upon the number of specimens we find, and
so far it seems to me that we might travel far before we hit again upon
such a wild paradise."

"I wonder how Uncle Joe would like to live here!" I said laughing.
"What a garden he might have, and how things would grow! Oh, how I
should like to help him build the house and get the garden in order!"

"You