or awful, according to the mood of the
listener. Some, in such circumstances, instead of receiving
impressions of awe, like the Hindoo convict, would exclaim:

Where should this music be--i' the air, or the earth?
It sounds no more: and sure it waits upon
Some god of the island.

And again:

----The isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices,
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again.

One would think Shakspeare had actually been in some tropical forest
when the daylight began to fade, and the myriads of insects to take up
their evening-song! One of these extraordinary musicians is
distinguished as the trumpeter; another produces a tinkle like a bell;
and a third gives forth a sound which the imagination may ascribe to
any instrument, or band of instruments, it pleases. This species of
cricket buries himself in a centre, to which converge seven holes,
which he has drilled in a circle; and from these seven tubes a sound
rushes forth, which almost stuns the passer-by. It may be conceived,
therefore, that a forest peopled with myriads upon myriads of such
'executants,' must have a strain for every ear, every mood, and every
conscience.

The tree which welled forth milk when struck by the axe was the _Ficus
elastica_--a sort of gigantic vine, as thick as a man's arm, which
creeps along the ground, sending forth new roots from the joint, and,
climbing at length some lofty tree, expands in branches. This is the
chief caoutchouc-plant, and its sap has not only the colour, but many
of the chemical properties of animal milk, and is frequently drunk as
food. The blood came from one of the _eucalypta_, popularly called the
blue gum-tree. The governor did die soon after his arrival on the
island, and no doubt _immediately_ after he had disturbed, in the
manner related, the _genius loci_.

Pinang contains about 160 square miles of surface, nearly the whole of
which is laid out in hills and dales, the loftiest of the former
reaching a height of 2500 feet above the sea-level. On the slopes of
this hill are built the governor's rural residence, and a bungalow,
where invalids resort for country air. It is possible that great
changes may have taken place here of late years, when efforts have
been made to dot the island wi