into my net while beating among dead leaves for insects, and made me rather
cautious about inserting my hand until I knew what kind of game I had captured.
The fields and meadows which had been parched and sterile, now became
suddenly covered with fine long grass; the river-bed where I had so many times
walked over burning rocks, was now a deep and rapid stream; and numbers of
herbaceous plants and shrubs were everywhere springing up and bursting into
flower. I found plenty of new insects, and if I had had a good, roomy, water-and-
wind-proof house, I should perhaps have stayed during the wet season, as I feel
sure many things can then be obtained which are to be found at no other time.
With my summer hut, however, this was impossible. During the heavy rains a
fine drizzly mist penetrated into every part of it, and I began to have the greatest
difficulty in keeping my specimens dry.
Early in November I returned to Macassar, and having packed up my
collections, started in the Dutch mail steamer for Amboyna and Ternate. Leaving
this part of my journey for the present, I will in the next CHAPTER conclude my
account of Celebes, by describing the extreme northern part of the island which I
visited two years later.