nd them. There was a creek a
little way off lined with mangrove bushes. The captain therefore
directed Mr Blyth and me to take one of the boats and pull up it with
four hands, all of us well-armed, thinking that the deserters might have
concealed themselves somewhere on its banks, hoping to get an
opportunity of making their way over to Singapore.

We had got a short distance up the creek when I saw a vast number of
dark objects hanging to the bows of the mangrove trees.

"Are those things fruit, or are they the nests of birds?" I asked,
pointing them out to Mr Blyth.

"Neither one nor the other," he answered: "those are bats, or, as they
here are called, flying foxes. As we return they will be on the move,
and you will then see what they are like."

"I will take the present opportunity," I answered, and steering the boat
closer in to the shore I observed that there were thousands and tens of
thousands of the creatures hanging by their claws to the boughs in a
most curious manner as thick as a swarm of bees. With a boat-hook we
pulled off two or three, which falling inboard were picked up. They
showed, however, no fear, nor did they make any attempt to escape, but
licked our hands and appeared perfectly at ease. The head was like that
of a miniature fox, and the skin was beautifully soft. Blyth told me
that they live upon fruit, large quantities of which they consume. On
reaching the head of the creek we found a hut, in or about which it was
supposed that the runaways might have concealed themselves, but we could
discover no traces of them, and consequently judged that it would be
useless to search further in that direction.

The dusk of evening had come over as we pulled down the creek, and the
bats had begun to stir. Presently the whole air was filled with them as
they took their flight towards the plantations where they were about to
forage. They looked, with their wings stretched out, of wonderfully
large size, so as literally to darken the sky.

The next day passed and still we could hear nothing of the two men. The
captain on this sent Blyth and me over to Singapore, where we found that
they had entered on board a homeward-bound ship and had sailed. With
the assistance of the agent we succeeded in replacing them by two other
Englishmen, and we also engaged four Lascars, fine active-looking
fellows, who were likely to prove of much use, as they could endure the
heat of the sun better than could o