Several birds seem to occur somewhat locally: it was on this side of the bay only that we obtained _Spilornis minimus_, while the little forest hawk seemed confined to the northern shore.
We were unable to reach the hills in the centre of the island from the harbour, as the swamp at its head stretches out long arms to right and left, cutting off the land bordering the coast from the interior.
Kachal is the most northerly of the Nicobars in which monkeys are present, and, taking into account the scarcity of other mammalian fauna and the absence of this genus from the Andamans, it seems certain that they have been introduced. Their non-occurrence in Tilanchong--an island eminently suited to their requirements--goes to bear out this statement; for, so far as we know, it has never been permanently inhabited, and thus, unlike the other islands, offers no reason for monkeys being brought there.
The people of Ol-kolo-kwák told us these animals were very numerous in the jungle round the village, but several days passed before we met with them. On the first occasion, we each obtained a specimen from the same herd. They turned out to be macaques--one was a fine old male, weighing 21 lbs., an unusually large size--with fur so dark as to be almost black, but greyish-white on the under parts. Having regard to the colour, the species has since been named _Macacus umbrosus_.
We saw them only once again, and then I found myself within a few yards of an immense male who was on the ground. My cartridge missed fire, and, immediately the click of the falling hammer caught his ear, he bolted. This proved to be our last chance of obtaining another example from Kachal. That one always loses the best specimens, is proverbial: this monkey was the biggest macaque I had ever seen.
Such mishaps during one's earlier opportunities are always most vexatious; later we found monkeys very numerous in the other islands.
On 22nd February a Chinese junk passed northward, and the same day another arrived, and anchored in the harbour; that night there was carousal in the village and the noise of much singing.
Visitors to the _Terrapin_ were fairly continuous during our stay here, and the appearance of some of them was as ludicrous as it was striking.