My Tropic Isle

My Tropic Isle

The Project Gutenberg EBook of My Tropic Isle, by E J Banfield #2 in our series by E J Banfield
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Title: My Tropic Isle
Author: E J Banfield
Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7177] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on March 22, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
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MY TROPIC ISLE
BY
E. J. BANFIELD
AUTHOR OF "THE CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER"
T. FISHER UNWIN
LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE LEIPSIC: INSELSTRASSE 20
1911
TO
MY WIFE

"What dost thou in this World? The Wilderness For thee is fittest place."
MILTON.
"Taught to live The easiest way, nor with perplexing thoughts To interrupt sweet life."
MILTON.

PREFACE
Much of the contents of this book was published in the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER, under the title of "Rural Homilies." Grateful acknowledgments are due to the Editor for his frank goodwill in the abandonment of his rights.
Also am I indebted to the Curator and Officers of the Australian Museum, Sydney, and specially to Mr. Charles Hedley, F.L.S., for assistance in the identification of specimens. Similarly I am thankful to Mr. J. Douglas Ogilby, of Brisbane, and to Mr. A. J. Jukes-Browne, F.R.S., F.G.S., of Torquay (England).
THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER.
I. IN THE BEGINNING II. A PLAIN MAN'S PHILOSOPHY III. MUCH RICHES IN A LITTLE ROOM IV. SILENCES V. FRUITS AND SCENTS VI. HIS MAJESTY THE SUN VII. A TROPIC NIGHT VIII. READING TO MUSIC IX. BIRTH AND BREAKING OF CHRISTMAS X. THE SPORT OF FATE XI. FIGHT TO A FINISH XII. SEA WORMS AND SEA CUCUMBERS XIII. SOME MARINE NOVELTIES XIV. SOME CURIOUS BIVALVES XV. BARRIER REEF CRABS XVI. THE BLOCKADE OF THE MULLET XVII. WET SEASON DAYS XVIII. INSECT WAYS XIX. INTELLIGENT BIRDS XX SWIFTS AND EAGLES XXI. SOCIALISTIC BIRDS XXII. SHARKS AND RAYS XXIII. THE RECLUSE OF RATTLESNAKE XXIV. HAMED OF JEDDAH XXV. YOUNG BARBARIANS AT PLAY XXVI. TOM AND HIS CONCERNS XXVII. DEBILS-DEBILS XXVIII. TO PARADISE AND BACK XXIX. THE DEATH BONE

ILLUSTRATIONS (Not included in this eBook)
"AT ONE STRIDE COMES THE DARK" Photo by Caroline Hordern COCONUT AVENUE Photo by Caroline Hordern THE BUNGALOW FERN OF GOD PARASITIC FERN THE COVE, PURTABOI BRAMMO BAY, FROM GARDEN PANDANUS PALM PECTINARIAN TUBES CLAM SHELL (Tridaena gigas) EMBEDDED IN CORAL FIRE FISH (Pterois lunulata). TRIGGER FISH (Balistapus aculeatus) CORALS EGG CAPSULES OF BAILER SHELL DEVELOPMENT OF BAILER SHELL EGG CAPSULES OF MOLLOSC, ATTACHED TO FAN CORAL HARLEQUIN PIGFISH (Kiphocheilus fasciatus) "FAERY LANDS FORLORN," TIMANA. NEST OF GREEN TREE ANT MATCH-BOX BEANS PALL-KOO-LOO WHERE SWIFTLETS BUILD SWIFTLETS' NESTS H. Barnes, Jun., Photo. Australian Museum UMBRELLA TREE (Brassaia actinophylla) Photo by Caroline Hordern HAMED OF JEDDAH BLACKS' TOYS--1. PIAR-PIAR; 2. BIRRA-BIRRA-GOO; 3. PAR-GIR-AH TURTLE ROCK, PURTABOI DISGUISES OF CRABS WYLO DEFIANT THE DEATH BONE YANCOO'S LAST RITE

MY TROPIC ISLE

CHAPTER I
IN THE BEGINNING
Had I a plantation of this Isle, my lord--
* * * * *
I' the Commonwealth I would by contraries Execute all things; for no kind of traffic Would I admit . . . riches, poverty And use of service, none.
SHAKESPEARE
How quaint seems the demand for details of life on this Isle of Scent and Silence! Lolling in shade and quietude, was I guilty of indiscretion when I babbled of my serene affairs, and is the penalty so soon enforced? Can the record of such a narrow, compressed existence be anything but dull? Can one who is indifferent to the decrees of constituted society; who is aloof from popular prejudices; who cares not for the gaieties of the crowd or the vagaries of fashion; who does not dance or sing, or drink to toasts, or habitually make any loud noise, or play cards or billiards, or attend garden parties; who has no political ambitions; who is not a painter, or a musician, or a man of science; whose palate is as averse from ardent spirits as from