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word had been sent some days ago that we would buy animals or birds from the natives. As we stepped out of our car, the cry went out "Binatang!" and we were pleasantly surprised to see how many specimens had come in. There were many birds, including some beautiful parrots - one particularly handsome with a long tail; a loris, a baby Felis minuta, and half a dozen monkeys, some of them on chains, some tied to the trees. We did not buy the little cat, because it was not in good condition and the man refused to sell it at the price we offered, nor did we buy the monkeys, as they were all [[strikethrough]] Java macaques [[/strikethrough]] common macaques, but it was encouraging to see that news of the object of our expedition was spreading. 

We spent the afternoon shopping for camp supplies - blankets and cots, and tinned foods. 

March 16 - Dolok Silau

We were up at 5.30, before daylight, and hastily finished packing for our first camping trip. At six a bus which we had hired drew up to our door, and Dr. and Mrs. Coenraad, Williams, Bill and I and Gaddi piled in, with all our gear taking up the rear half of the bus and part of the roof. We drove through the cool early morning out to the Soeriboe Dolok, 66 Km. to the southwest. We were soon out of the rubber country. Along the roadside [[strikethrough]] the  [[/strikethrough]] were walls of spider webs, making a shimmering curtain as high as a man's head. We drove past the largest tea factory in the world, and saw literally miles of tea bushes. Many of them had just been pruned, and in a curious manner: All the branches but one were cut off to within a foot of the ground; one branch was left sticking up in the air, and upon this the insects are suppose to congregate. When this last branch is cut off and burned the pests that attack tea are done for in one swoop. 

As we wound on and on, up into the hills, we passed rice fields nearly ready to harvest. One could write a monograph on the different species of scarecrow that inhabit the fields. Some of them looked like the familiar tramp of our own grain fields. One was a clever representation of a hawk, enough to frighten any small bird away. Some of them were little windmills that turned in the breeze. There were many pieces of palm leaf, or banana leaf, hung on strings and revolving in the wind. One of the most ingenious devices was a network of strings stretching out over the field. On each string were one or many pieces of banana leaves, and all the strings led to a central platform, where a small boy sat all day and pulled the strings to keep the leaves in motion. 

Seriboe Dolok is about 4,000 feet high, and was downright chilly when we got there at eight o'clock. We went to the rest-house, where we were to meet Mr. Tichelman, the Assistant Resident, who had planned to go with us to Dolok Silau. He had changed his mind about accompanying us all the way, but offered us hot coffee and hot chocolate, which we drank gratefully. Then he went with us as far as the station of Dolok Silau. This was the end of the automobile road, and here were supposed to be porters to carry our gear into the kampong, ten kilometers through the jungle. 

Mrs. Coenraad and I rode that last 20 Km. with Mr. Tichelman, who commented on the remarkable influence the Dutch government had on the country. Only thirty years ago it would