So it was determined that both should be reserved till the following morning, when no doubt all hands would be again hungry enough for the toughest of fowls.
This point settled, the old cock was staked upon a bamboo spit, and set over the fire, where he soon began to sputter, sending out a savoury odour that was charmingly appetising.
The hen was at the same time chopped into small pieces, which were thrown into one of the great shells, along with some seasoning herbs Saloo had discovered in the neighbouring woods; and as they could now give the stew plenty of time to simmer, it was expected that before next day the toughness would be taken out of the meat, and after all it might prove a palatable dish to people distressed as they had been, and not caring much for mere dainties.
As they had nothing else to do but watch the spit, now and then turn it, and wait till the roast should be done, they fell into conversation, which naturally turned upon hornbills and their habits, Saloo furnishing most of the information concerning these curious birds.
Captain Redwood had not only seen them before, in the course of his voyages among the Malayan Archipelago, but he had read about their habits, and knew that they were found in various parts of the African continent.
They are there called _Korwe (Tockus erythrorhynchus_), and Dr Livingstone gives an interesting account of them.
He says,--"We passed the nest of a korwe, just ready for the female to enter; the orifice was plastered on both sides, but a space left of a heart shape, and exactly the size of the bird's body.

The hole in the tree was in every case found to be prolonged some distance above the opening, and thither the korwe always fled to escape being caught." The first time that Dr Livingstone himself saw the bird, it was caught by a native, who informed him that when the female hornbill enters her nest, she submits to a positive confinement.

The male plasters up the entrance, leaving only a narrow slit by which to feed his mate, and which exactly suits the form of his beak.

The female makes a nest of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with the young till they are fully fledged.

During all this time, which is stated to be two or three months, the male continues to feed her and her young family.
Strange to say, the prisoner generally becomes fat, and is esteemed a very dainty morsel by the natives, while the poor slave of a husband gets so lean that, on the sudden lowering of the temperature, which sometimes happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and dies.
It is somewhat unusual, as Captain Redwood remarked, for the prisoner to fatten, while the keeper pines! The toucan of South America also forms her nest in the cavity of a tree, and, like the hornbill, plasters up the aperture with mud.
The hornbill's beak, added Captain Redwood, is slightly curved, sharp-pointed, and about two inches long.
While the body of the rooster was sputtering away in the bright blaze, Saloo entertained the party by telling them what _he_ knew about the habits of the hornbills; and this was a good deal, for he had often caught them in the forests of Sumatra.