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June 1 - Whenever a native brings us in a specimen in camp, he is sure to explain that the animal, no  atter what it is, eats either rice or banana "makan nasi" or "makan pisang". This applies to tiger cubs, otters, birds - anything at all. What was my delight this morning to have the mandoer of the pasanggrahan show me a crocodile this morning which he wanted to sell us, and have him explain "maken orang" ("it eats men").

It is a beautiful country between Kota Nopan and Fort de Kock. We stopped frequently for collecting, and found more  P olyrachus and Meranoplus. We saw three troops of monkeys, squirrels, a big monitor lizard that marched slowly across the road in front of us, and in the late afternoon one enormous pig-tailed macaque. Bill said it was the biggest one he had ever seen, and we wondered if it could be the origin of the story that there is still an unknown ape in the forests of Sumatra. Just before we reached Loeboek Sikaping, while we were in a forest reserve, we saw big sign pointing to a trail into the woods. We hopped out of the car, and went in to see what was there. Here was another sign, near a warm spring that steamed up through the thick jungle, warning us that the fumes of the water were poisonous and it was forbidden to approach them. Near the road were some dead butterflies, mute evidence of the lethal quality of the air. A huge banyan tree nearby added to the weird effect of this deadly jungle spot.

We had lunch at Loeboek Sikaping, where the Pasanggrahan has a fine outlook over the river to the mountains beyond. The afternoon's drive was through a great  any miles of jungle, with tall trees, pandanus palms, tree ferns, deep gorges where rocky streams roared below us. Sixty kilometers before Fort de Kock the road crosses the Equator, and of course we had to stop and take pictures of the monument, and of each other posed in front of it. It was Beirne's first crossing, and we tried to give her a shower, sparing some of our precious ayer minum from the canteens, but she dodged both the water and the picture I was trying to get of her. Bill and I walked back and forth in the road, so that now if anyone asks me if I have crossed the Equator /I shall have to say "Oh, yes, so many times I've lost count."

Fort de Kock has two great mountain guardians, Singgallang and Merapi, and they were beautiful in the sunset as we came into town. Merapi is an active volcano,  but is almost always capped with clouds, so that the crater is not visible.
Stayed at Hotel Centrum - excellent food.
[[underlined]] June 2 [[/underlined]]- 

Up early, and out to the Zoo, which is a small one, but very fine. They have a good collection of Su atran animals, and a number of exotic species, such as South American and African monkeys, zebras, camels, European bear, polar bear, and lions. Of East Indian species they have serows, anoas, five orangs, and two baby elephants, as well as an excellent bird collection.

In the Zoo grounds is a fine example of a Meningkabau house, with every inch of the walls carved and painted, and a high-pitched, six-gabled thatched roof, with the ridges and the high points bound with silver. The building is used as a Museum of ethnographic material - costumes, tools, baskets, jewelry