most showy
flowering creeper in the world, huge bunches of large flowers of
so vivid a scarlet that Monckton and I agreed no painting could
do them justice. It is sometimes known as the _Dalbertia,_ but its
botanical name is _Mucuna bennetti._ It has been found impossible
to introduce it into cultivation. Among other flowers were some very
large sweet-scented _Crinum_ lilies and some very pretty pink flowering
_begonias,_ with their leaves beautifully mottled with silver. Here and
there we would notice a variegated _croton_ or pink-leafed _dracaena,_
but these were uncommon.

As we proceeded, I noticed that in spite of the very dry weather
we had been having, the ground each moment became more moist, which
indicated that we were approaching the swamps we had heard about. It
was a rough track over fallen trees and dry streams, but before long
we passed along the banks of a creek full of stagnant water.

We at length left the forest and found ourselves in open country,
covered with reeds and rank grass, through which we slowly wended
our way. Suddenly, however, we halted, and looking through the
tall grass, saw some of the houses of the Agai Ambu tribe close
at hand. Down we all crouched, hiding ourselves among the grass,
while two of our Baruga guides, who speak the language of the Agai
Ambu, went forward to try and parley with them and induce them to be
friendly with us. We soon heard them yelling out to the Agai Ambu,
who yelled back in reply. This went on for some minutes, when the
Baruga men called out to us to come on.

Jumping up, we rushed forward through the grass and witnessed a
remarkable scene. In front of us was a lake thickly covered with
water-lilies, most of them long-stemmed and of a very beautiful blue,
with a yellow centre, and with large leaves, the edges of which were
covered with a kind of thorn; there were also some white ones with
yellow centre.

On the other side of the lake were several curious houses built on
long poles in the water, the houses themselves being a good height
above the water. The lake presented a scene of great confusion. The
inhabitants were fleeing away from us in their curious canoes, which,
unlike most Papuan canoes, had no outrigger whatever. Their paddles
also were peculiar, the blades being very broad. Close to us were
our two Baruga guides in a canoe with one of the Agai Ambu tribe,
who directly he saw us plunged into the lake and disappeared under
the tangled masse