» ~ - “ rs, a . ” rls ¢ ote 191 €& un . y =s +2 ~ Nts z F =~ : es “ : . ‘ x x 3 . ~ s x : = S - * — S - : . ~ . 2 Gy a To . - Veal 4 ie “2 iit ates ‘sy a a re yey ahi ‘ ’ fi 4 a 1 oO é Le THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. * an “a | * U © bs A = . Sone < . : z s E 4 a 5 . ‘ q . ’ - a si sf J = Py « . aA 1 F t ' : . : a — cr 7 . * ( sh - . ’ y 4 J = as 1 . - *. dn, , + . a \ ~ — ; = ‘ n \ - C - a = 7 ‘ . i \ , £ “ 4 " a a . pe = oy 4 — | “ ‘ : zy . 7. q + . . « mm, ‘ AS ‘ - : ay \* 4 ‘ | a in . " 5 ~ 3 a f c Ly . f fr | cae | ae = » . ri ’ ’ ' ‘ ’ . \ mys [- 2 be bat \ ‘ ~ " ; | i , ' ' ¥ § \ - ° e ‘ ~ ; « < } od nai ; ; seit = ony } { ‘ 9 oe te + r . . 5 — .. 4 3 rd A ’ = * Pr b 8 a nd j ‘ . } rn > ee as * oy ‘> : 7 4 i oes if ‘ \ : ‘7 z : f eat + F y é =| . Sra ieee P Pee. 1 i i h y va e Ly - et 6 ee i Ae { ii 0 i { \ Be < a] A bo FQ A . “ UTAN ATTACKE al a uy) THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO: THE LAND OF THE ORANG-UTAN AND THE BIRD OF PARADISE A NARRATIVE OF TRAVEL, WITH STUDIES OF MAN AND NATURE. Py, ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, AUTHOR OF “ TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON AND RIO NEGRO,”’ ‘‘PALM TREES OF THE AMAZON,” ETC, Wondon : MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK, 1886. The Right of Translativn and Reproduction is Reserved. ae a Sep © BREAD STREET HILL, LONI Bungay, 8 , . oO . 14 41 abies he 4 Aa & ry Me Pera 34 4 cal 7A fa; ara TO CHARLES DARWIN, AUTHOR OF “THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES,” {i Dedicate this IBook, NOT ONLY AS A TOKEN OF PERSONAL ESTEEM AND FRIENDSHIP, BUT ALSO TO EXPRESS MY. DEEP ADMIRATION FOR Wis Genius anv his Corks, A a yr ff AK e. 4 PREFACE. Y readers will naturally ask why I have delayed writing this book for six years alter my return ; and I feel bound to give them full satisfaction on this point. When I reached England in the spring of 1862, I found myself surrounded by a room full of packing-cases, con- taining the collections that I had from time to time sent home for my private use.| These comprised nearly three thousand bird-skins, of about a thousand species ; and at least twenty thousand beetles and butterflies, of about seven thousand species; besides some quadrupeds and land-shells. A large proportion of these I had not seen for years; and in my then weak state of health, the unpacking, sorting, and arranging of such a mass of specimens occupied a long time. ») I very soon decided, that until I had done something towards naming and describing the most important groups in my collection, and had worked out some of the more interesting problems of variation and geographical distri- bution, of which I had had elimpses while collecting them, I would not attempt to publish my travels. I could, indeed, at once have printed my notes and journals, leaving all reference to questions of natural history for a future work; but I felt that this would be as unsatis- factory to myself, as it would be disappointing to my friends, and uninstructive to the public. Since my return, up to this date, I have published eighteen papers, in the Transactions or Proceedings of the Vili PREFACE. Linnean Zoologicai and Entomological Societies, describing or cataloguing portions of my collections ; besides twelve others in various scientific periodicals, on more -_ subjects connected with them. Nearly two thousand of my Coleoptera, and many hundreds of my butterflies, have been already described by various eminent chbuvalictay aaaoe and foreign ; but a much larger number remains undescribed. Among those to whom science is most indebted for this laborious work, I must name Mr. F. P. Pascoe, late President of the Ento- mological Society of London, who has almost completed - the classification and description of my large collection of Longicorn beetles (now in his possession), comprising more than a thousand species, of which at least nine hundred were previously undescribed, and new to European cabinets. The remaining orders of insects, comprising probably more than two thousand species, are in the collection of Mr. William Wilson Saunders, who has caused the larger portion of them to be described by good entomologists. The Hymenoptera alone amounted to more than nine hundred species, among which were two hundred and eighty different kinds of ants, of which two hundred were new. The six years’ delay in publishing my travels thus enables me to give, what I hope may be an interesting and instructive sketch of the main results yet arrived at by the study of my collections; and as the countries I have to describe are not much visited or written about, and their social and physical conditions are not liable to rapid change, I believe and hope that my readers will gain much more than they will lose, by not having read my book six years ago, and by this time “M6. 0 forgotten all about it. I must now say a few words on the ties of my work. = PREFACE. ix My journeys to the various islands were regulated by the seasons and the means of conveyance. I visited some islands two or three times at distant intervals, and in some cases had to make the same voyage four times over. A chronological arrangement would have puzzled my readers. They would never have known where they were ; and my frequent references to the groups of islands, classed in accordance with the peculiarities of their animal productions and of their human inhabitants, would have been hardly intelligible. I have adopted, therefore, a geographical, zoological, and ethnological arrangement, passing from island to island in what seems the most natural succession, while I transgress the order in which I myself visited them as little as possible. — I divide the Archipelago into five groups of islands, as follow :— I Tue Inpo-Matay Isnanps: comprising the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, Borneo, Java, and Sumatra. — IL Taz Timor Group: comprising the islands of Timor, Flores, Sumbawa, and Lombkock, with several smaller ones. | IIL. CeLepes: comprising also the Sula Islands an Bouton. IV. Tue Monvuccan Grove: comprising Bouru, Ceram, Batchian, Gilolo, and Morty; with the smaller islands of Ternate, Tidore, Makian, Kaioa, Am- boyna, Banda, Goram, and Matabello. V. Tue Papuan Group: comprising the great island of New Guinea, with the Aru Islands, Mysol, Salwatty, Waigiou, and several others. The Ke Islands are described with this group on account of their ethnology, though zoologically and geo- graphically they belong to the Moluccas. x PREFACE. ‘The chapters relating to the separate islands of each of these groups are followed by one on the Natural His- tory of that group; and the work may thus be divided into five parts, each treating of one of the natural divisions of the Archipelago.) ' The first chapter is an introductory one, on the Physical Geography of the whole region; and the last is a general sketch of the Races of Man in the Archipelago and the surrounding countries. / With this explanation, and a reference to the Maps which illustrate the work, I trust that my readers will always know where they are, and in what direction they are going. I am well aware that my book is far too small for the extent of the subjects it touches upon. It is a mere sketch; but so far as it goes I have endeavoured to make it an accurate one. Almost the whole of the narrative and descriptive portions were written on the spot, and hayp had little more than verbal alterations. The chapters on Natural History, as well as many passages in other parts of the work. have been written in the hope of exciting an interest in the various questions connected with the origin of species and their geographical distribution. In some cases I have been able to explain my views in detail; while in others, owing to the greater complexity of the subject, I have thought it better to confine myself to a statement of the more interesting facts of the problem, whose solution is to be found in the principles developed by Mr, Darwin in his various works. The numerous Tllus- trations will, it is believed, add much to the interest and value of the book. They have been made from my own sketches, from photographs, or from specimens ; and such subjects only have been chosen as would really illustrate the narrative or the descriptions. : I have to thank Messrs. Walter and Henry Woodbury, PREFACE. xi whose acquaintance I had the pleasure of making in Java, for a number of photographs of scenery and of natives, which have been of the greatest assistance to me. Mr. William Wilson Saunders has kindly allowed me to figure the curious horned flies; and to Mr. Pascoe I am indebted for a loan of two of the very rare Longicorns which appear in the plate of Bornean beetles. All the other specimens figured are in my own collection. se - |As the main object of all my journeys was to obtain specimens of natural history, both for my private collec- tion and to supply duplicates to museums and amateurs) I will give a general statement of the number of specimens I collected, and which reached home in good condition. | I. must premise that I generally employed one or two, and sometimes three Malay servants to assist me; and for three years had the services of a young Englishman, Mr. Charles Allen. pyres just eight years away from England, but as I travelled about fourteen thousand miles within the Archipelago, and made sixty or seventy separate journeys, each involving some preparation and loss of time, I do not think that more than six years were really occupied in collecting. I find that my Eastern collections amounted to: 310 specimens of Mammalia. 100 — Reptiles. 8,050 a Birds. i 7,500 oan Shells. N 13,100 —- Lepidoptera. &3,200 — Coleoptera. 13,400 —_ other Insects. 125,660 specimens of natural history. It now only remains for me to thank all those friends _to whom I am indebted for assistance or information. My thanks are more especially due to the Council of the Royal xil PREFACE. Geographical Society, through whose valuable recommen- dations I obtained important aid from our own Govern- ment and from that of Holland; and to Mr. William Wilson Saunders, whose kind and liberal encouragement in the early portion of my journey was of great service to me. Iam also greatly indebted to Mr. Samuel Stevens (who acted as my agent), both for the care he took of my collections, and for the untiring assiduity with which he kept me supplied, both with useful information, and with whatever necessaries I required. | I trust that these, and all other friends who have been in any way interested in my travels aud collections, may derive from the perusal of my book, some faint reflexion of the pleasures I myself enjoyed amid the scenes and objects it describes. , Con TE N Ts: CHAP, ‘ : PAGE Deeeewteatr (sWOCHAPHY . « « « « «@ 2» © © © + 1 INDO-MALAY ISLANDS. I 8 ke tive ed Se ee aie y 20 Pee Oommen MOUNT OPHIR... 9) «fece) ene of & «625 Pee epoes eo fae OBANG-UTAN .. eg ecies se) @ oe a ery 84 V. BornEO—JOURNEY IN THE INTERIOR . ..... 64 Re am DVAKS og neces 'e fete ernst’ ol tv 2 88 er eee end cred or net «lie Ot Villy SUMATRA... , a ae ae ee | 1X. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS. . 1388 THE TIMOR GROUP. MME BUCK 5 (4 «6 se tye es ow LOO ‘ XJ. LompocK—MANNERS AND CusTOMS. ..... .- 163 XII. Lompock—How THE RAJAH TOOK THE CENSUS .. 177 ESM cn gS lg et tw ge aw LBS XIV. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TIMOR GROUP .... 202 THE CELEBES GROUP. EE es 7 i | Pope = MAOASSAR, 1 5 kt 8 tlw ot tw lk lw ARS op bOeRere=—PIeWADO, 2. kk lk wt wl ltl wl lw! BAL XVilI. Naturat History oF CELEBES . . . « « « « « 290 THE MOLUCCAS. aes 4. gy 4 ee ee 8 ee XX. AMBOYNA SE ee Biel og Mea eS eg) ig. SOE CHAP, XT. KX; XXIII. Ly. XXV. XXVI. XXVIL. XXXII. SX AAI: XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVI. RA VALI, XXXIX. XL. CONTENTS. © THE MOLUCCAS. TRENATE. « .. 0 8 © © 8 8 6 GILOLO ; bids VOYAGE TO THE KAtoa hacen AND Basen BATCHIAN Lk IU”, t) aa CERAM, GORAM, AND THE ee ISLANDS Bouru ‘ ee oo. =e Tag NATURAL History oF THE MOLUCCAS . THE PAPUAN GROUP. _ Macassar To THE Aru IsLANDS IN A NATIVE PRAU . THe K&é ISLANDS . Sa ieee : . Tue Aru IsLANDS—RESIDENCE IN iden _ Tur Aru IsLANDS—JOURNEY AND shine IN THE INTERIOR fA ane — ; THz Aru ISLANDS—SECOND phaetbantk IN Dopso Tre Aru ISLANDS—PHYSICAL GEOGRAPITY AND ASPECTS or NATURE New GuineEA—DOREY : VoYAGE FROM CERAM TO Wasators WAIGIOU. 2 ) teriat y VOYAGE FROM Wace TO ee ATE. THE BirpDS OF PARADISE . aes : NATURAL History OF THE PAFUAN ISLANDS Tue Races oF MAN IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO APPENDIX on CRANIA AND LANGUAGFS . + INDEX . 635 tpt —_ © bet pk had Hm Co bo pk famed frm ped pel DO CONT MD OX bo i) bo b Doe mnvowby bs “IO? Ore CO wes. owo oo pears . Portrait of a Dyak Youth. . Vanda Lowii. . Remarkable Forest-trees. OC STD NRW . Ancient Bas-relief. . Portrait of a Javanese Chief. . Gun-boring in Lombock. . Timor Men. . Native Plough and Yoke, Macassar. . Sugar Palms. ‘ Skull of the Babirusa . . . Peculiar form of Wings of Celebes Butterflies . Ejecting an Intruder. , : Racquet- tailed Kingfisher . 28. ; Sago Oven. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. DRAWN ON WOOD BY Orang-Utan attacked by Dyaks. : Rare Ferns on Mount Ophir. (From specimens) . Remarkable Bornean Beetles. . . Flying Frog. (From a drawing by the Author) ils emmale Orang-utan. (From a photograph by Woodbury) . etna Segoe Me te (From sketch and photographs). . . Dyak Suspension-bridge. the Author) . (From specimens) pike a sketch by (From a sketch by the Author) . . (From. a “specimen in possession of the Author) ee ee (From a photo- graph) . The Calliper Butterfly ( Characes Kadenii) . Primula imperialis. . Chief’s House and Rice-shed in a Sumatran . ROBINSON . (From specvmens) Village. (From a pistograph) . Females ci Papilio memnon . > kapilio Coon’. °. , . Leaf-butterfly in flight and repose . Female Hornbill and young bird - Grammatophyllum, a gigantic Orchid. ‘(From a sketch by the Author) . . (From a sketch bby the Author). : (From a photograph) . (From a sketch by the A uthor) . : (From a sketch by the A uthor) ** Wallace’s Standard iaameds a new I Bird of Mamadise. . . . ° . Sago Club. E Saco- washing in Cian (From a sketch by the Author) . (From a sketch by the Author) . WoLF . FiTron*: ROBINSON . KEULEMAKS . WoLF BAINES. Firen FITcu FITcH BAINES. BAINES. T. W. Woop . PLTCH . ROBINSON . ROBINSON . T. W. Woop . T. W. Woon. FitcH . BAINES BAINES BAINES , FircH . ROBINSON . WALLACE , BAINES ROBINSON . KEULEMANS BAINES . BAINES. BAINES . Tags Prountisprece 3 37 38 4] 66 78 82 83 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. DRAWN ON WOOD BY 39. (uscus Ornatus, a Moluccan Marsupial . . ROBINSON . 89 Moluccan Beetles . . + +) 5 + © 1s ® ROBINSON . 84. Natives shooting the Great Bird of Paradise. T. W. Woop. 85. Great Black Cockatoo. . - + © + «+ + T. W. Woop . 36. Dobbo in the Trading Season (From a sketch by the Author)...» ,20enes #1. VEX BAINES. « « 87. Male Brenthide fighting . . - + + + > ROBINSON. .« 38. Papuan, New Guinea. . - + - +e BAINES, 5 >» 39, Papuan Pipe. (Hrom a sketch by the Author) BAINES. 40, Horned Flies . rr 41, Clay-beater, used in New Guinea . . . . ROBINSON. 42. The Red Bird of Paradise. . - + + + + T. W. Woop. 43, My house at Bessir, Waigiou. (From a sketch — by the AUROT) « o4ioee 20 eis BAINES. 44, Malay Anchor. (from a sketch by the Author) BAINES. 45, The “'Twelve-wired” and the “ King” Birds of Paradise. 9.) «40s 40 eo? nn 46, The Magnificent Bird of Paradise . . . . KEULEMANS . 47, The Superb Bird of Paradise. . + + - . KSULEMANS . 48. The Six-shafted Bird of Paradise . . + + KEULEMANS . 49. The Long-tailed Bird of Paradise . . + - KEULEMANS . 50. The Great Shielded Grasshopper . + «+ + RoBINSON .« bi, Papuan, Charm..<; - + +, 2) > 2am ROBINSON . MAPS. Map showing Mr. Wallace’s Route (tinted) . . « © ~« + Preface ote) Tne British Isles and Borneo on the same SCaIC..
» 2: 9 aes ;
Amboyna, with parts of Bouru and Ceram .
The Islands between Ceram and Ké
Map of the Aru Islands
Voyage from Ceram to Waigiou.
Voyage from Waigiou to Ternate
INSTRUCTIONS TO THE BINDER.
9
. 246
. 292
. 350
. 364
. 442
. 514
. 538
Route Map (tinted blue) . . - - + + «© = at beginning of Preface.
Physical Map quskiys ~« « = + pe ee at page 9.
Orang-Utan attacked by Dyaks. . - +. + + Frontispiece.
Remarkable Beetles, Borneo. . . -.~- - «+ bo face page 37.
Bjecting an Intruder... . - - © + 5 9 = @ DOLALOT,
Wallace's Standard Wing, male and female . . to face page 329.
Molucean Beetles: en «, +s +s oe 0s 2) 08 » 401.
Natives shooting the Great Bird of Paradise. . — ,, » 443.
Dobbo in the Trading Season . .« |
» NOG T kp ote fot aren,
The “'Twelve-wired” and the “King” Birds of to face first page of Chap.
Paradise. «vx«ihet «. Groote, 38 oe XXXVI1LL
THE
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.
CHAPTER 1.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
‘id we look at a globe or a map of the Eastern hemi-
sphere, we shall perceive between Asia and Australia
a number of large and small islands, forming a connected
eroup distinct from those great masses of land, and having
little connexion with either of them. Situated upon the
Equator, and bathed by the tepid water of the great tropical
oceans, this region enjoys a climate more uniformly hot and
moist than almost any other part of the globe, and teems
with natural productions which are elsewhere unknown.
The richest of fruits and the most precious of spices are
here indigenous. It produces the giant flowers of the
Rafflesia, the great green-winged Ornithoptera (princes
among the butterfly tribes), the man-like Orang-Utan, and
the gorgeous Birds of Paradise. It is inhabited by a
peculiar and interesting race of mankind—the Malay,
found nowhere beyond the limits of this insular tract,
which has hence been named the Malay Archipelago.
To the ordinary Englishman this is perhaps the least —
known part of the globe. Our possessions in it are few-\/
and scanty ; scarcely any of our travellers go to explore it;
and in many collections of maps it is almost ignored,
being divided between Asia and the Pacific Islands. It
thus happens that few persons realize that, as a whole, it
is comparable with the primary divisions of the globe, and
‘ ) B
x
2 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [conmap. L
that some of its separate islands are larger than France
or the Austrian empire. The traveller, however, soon
acquires different ideas. He sails for days, or even for
weeks, along the shores of one of these great islands, often
so great that its inhabitants believe it to be a vast con-
tinent. He finds that voyages among these islands are
commonly reckoned by weeks and months, and that their
several inhabitants are often as little known to each other
as are the native races of the northern to those of the
southern continent of America. He soon comes to look
upon this region as one apart from the rest of the world
with its own races of men and its own aspects of nature ;
with its own ideas, feelings, customs, and modes of speech.
and with a climate, vegetation, and animated life altogether
peculiar to itself.
From many points of view these islands form one
compact geographical whole, and as such they have always
been treated by travellers and men of science ; but a more
careful and detailed study of them under various aspects, —
reveals the unexpected fact that they are divisible into
two portions nearly equal in extent, which widely differ
in their natural products, and really form parts of two
of the primary divisions of the earth. I have been able
to prove this in considerable detail by my observations on
the natural history of the various parts of the Archipelago ; \
and as in the description of my travels and residence 1n
the several islands I shall have to refer continually to this
view, and adduce facts in support of 2, I have thought it
advisable to commence with a general sketch of such of
the main features of the Malayan region as will render
the facts hereafter brought forward more interesting, and
their bearing on the general question more easily under- ~
stood. | I proceed, therefore, to sketch the limits and
extent of the Archipelago, and to point out the more
striking features of its geology, physical geography,
vegetation, and animal life.
Definition and Boundarves. For reasons which depend
“mainly on the distribution of animal life, I consider the
Malay Archipelago to include the Malay Peninsula as far
as Tenasserim, and the Nicobar Islands on the west, the
Philippines on the north, and the Sélomon Islands beyond
CHAP. I.] PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 3
New Guinea, on the east. All the great islands included
within these limits are connected together by innumerable
smaller ones, so that no one of them seems to be dis-
tinctly separated from the rest. With but few exceptions,
all enjoy an uniform and very similar climate, and are
covered with a luxuriant forest vegetation. Whether we
study their form and distribution on maps, or actually
travel from island to island, our first impression will be
Atlantic oceans. It includes three islands larger than
Great Britain; and in one of them, Borneo, the whole of
the British Isles might be set down, and would be sur-
rounded by a sea of forests. New Guinea, though less
compact in shape, is probably larger than Borneo. Sumatra
is about equal in extent to Great Britain; Java, Luzon,
and Celebes are each about the size of Ireland. Eighteen
more islands are, on the average, as large as Jamaica;
more than a hundred are as large as the Isle of Wight;
while the isles and islets of smaller size are innumerable.
The absolute extent of land in the Archipelago is not
greater than that contained by Western Europe from
Hungary to Spain; but, owing to the manner in which the
land is broken up and divided, the variety of its produc-
tions is rather in proportion to the immense surface over
which the islands are spread, than to the quantity of land
which they contain.
Geological Contrasts—One of the chief volcanic belts
upon the globe passes through the Archipelago, and pro-
duces a striking contrast in the scenery of the volcanic
and non-volcanic islands. A curving line, marked out
by scores of active and hundreds of extinct volcanoes,
may be traced through the whole length of Sumatra and
Java, and thence by the islands of Bali, Lombock, Sum-
B2
A. THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. _ [CHAP. 1.
bawa, Flores, the Serwatty Islands, Banda, Amboyna,
Batchian, Makian, Tidore, Ternate, and Gilolo, to Morty
Island. Here there is a slight but well-marked break, or
shift, of about 200 miles to the westward, where the
volcanic belt again begins, in North Celebes, and passes
5 HE TLAND
aa _ 4s,
THE BRITISH ISLES AND BORNEO ON THE SAME SCALE.
by Siau and Sanguir to the Philippine Islands, along the
eastern side of which it continues, In a curving line, to
their northern extremity. From the extreme eastern bend
of this belt at Banda, we pass onwards for 1,000 miles
over a non-voleanic district to the voleanoes observed by
Dampier, in 1699, on the north-eastern coast of New
CHAP. 1] PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 5
Guinea, and can there trace another volcanic belt, through
New Britain, New Ireland, and the Solomon Islands, to
the eastern limits of the Archipelago.
In the whole region occupied by this vast line of volca-
noes, and for a considerable breadth on each side of it,
earthquakes are of continual recurrence, slight shocks being
felt at intervals of every few weeks or months, while more
severe ones, shaking down whole villages, and doing more
or less injury to life and property, are sure to happen, in
one part or another of this district, almost every year. In
many of the islands the years of the great earthquakes form
the chronological epochs of the native inhabitants, by the
aid of which the ages of their children are remembered,
_and the dates of many important events are determined.
<> I can only briefly allude to the many fearful eruptions
that have taken place in this region. In the amount of
injury to life and property, and in the magnitude of their
effects, they have not been surpassed by any upon record.
Forty villages were destroyed by the eruption of Papanda-
yang in Java, in 1772, when the whole mountain was blown
up by repeated explosions, and a large lake left in its place.
By the great eruption of Tomboro in Sumbawa, in 1815,
12,000 people were destroyed, and the ashes darkened the
air and fell thickly upon the earth and sea for 300 miles
round. Even quite recently, since I quitted the country,
a mountain which had been quiescent for more than 200
years suddenly burst into activity. The island of Makian,
one of the Moluccas, was rent open in 1646 by a violent
eruption, which left a huge chasm on one side, extending
into the heart of the mountain. It was, when I last
visited it, in 1860, clothed with vegetation to the summit,
and contained twelve populous Malay villages. On the
29th of December, 1862, after 215 years of perfect in-
action, it again suddenly burst forth, blowing up and com-
pletely altering the appearance of the mountain, destroying
the greater part of the inhabitants, and sending forth such
volumes of ashes as to darken the air at Ternate, forty
miles off, and to almost entirely destroy the growing crops
on that and the surrounding islands.
The island of Java contains more volcanoes, active and
extinct, than any other known district of equal extent.
6 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. | CHAP. 1.
They are about forty-five in number, and many of them
exhibit most beautiful examples of the volcanic cone on a
large scale, single or double, with entire or truncated |
summits, and averaging 10,000 feet high.
It is now well ascertained that almost all volcanoes
have been slowly built up by the accumulation of matter
—mud, ashes, and lava—ejected by themselves. The
openings or craters, however, frequently shift their posi-
tion; so that a country may be covered with a more or
less irregular series of hills in chains and masses, only
here and there rising into lofty cones, and yet the whole
may be produced by true volcanic action. In this manner
the greater part of Java has been formed. There has been
some elevation, especially on the south coast, where ex-
tensive cliffs of coral limestone are found; and there may
be a substratum of older stratified rocks; but still essentially
Java is volcanic; and that noble and fertile island—the
very garden of the East, and perhaps upon the whole the
richest, the best cultivated, and the best governed tropical
island in the world —owes its very existence to the same
intense volcanic activity which still occasionally devastates
its surface.
The great island of Sumatra exhibits in proportion to
its extent a much smaller number of volcanoes, and a
considerable portion of it has probably a non-volcanic
origin.
To the eastward, the long string of islands from Java,
passing by the north of Timor and away to Banda, are
probably all due to volcanic action. Timor itself consists
of ancient stratified rocks, but is said to have one volcano
near its centre.
Going northward, Amboyna, a part of Bouru, and the
west end of Ueram, the north part of Gilolo, and all the
small islands around it, the northern extremity of Celebes,
and the islands of Siau and Sanguir, are wholly volcanic.
The Philippine Archipelago contains many active and
extinct volcanoes, and has probably been reduced to its
present fragmentary condition by subsidences attending ©
on volcanic action.
All along this great line of volcanoes are to be found
more or less palpable signs of upheaval and depres-
CHAP. I.] PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. vi
sion of land. The range of islands south of Sumatra, a
part of the south coast of Java and of the islands east of
it, the west and east end of Timor, portions of all the
Moluccas, the Ké and Aru Islands, Waigiou, and the
whole south and east of Gilolo, consist in a great measure
of upraised coral-rock, exactly corresponding to that now
forming in the adjacent seas. \In many places I have
observed the unaltered surfaces of the elevated reefs, with
- great masses of coral standing up in their natural position,
and hundreds of shells so fresh-looking that it was hard
to believe that they had been more than a few years out
of the water; and, in fact, it 1s very probable that such
_ changes have ‘occurred within a few centuries. —
Ss The united lengths of these volcanic belts is about
ninety degrees, or one-fourth of the entire circumference of
the globe. Their width is about fifty miles; but, for a
space of two hundred on each side of them, evidences of
subterranean action are to be found in recently elevated
coral-rock, or in barrier coral-reefs, indicating recent sub-
mergence. In the very centre or focus of the great curve
of volcanoes is placed the large island of Borneo, in which
no sign of recent volcanic action has yet been observed,
and where earthquakes, so characteristic of the surround-
ing regions, are entirely unknown. The equally large
island of New Guinea occupies another quiescent area, on
which no sign of volcanic action has yet been discovered.
With the exception of the eastern end of its northern
peninsula, the large and curiously-shaped island of Celebes
is also entirely free from volcanoes; and there is some
reason to believe that the volcanic portion has once formed
a separate island. The Malay Peninsula is also non-
volcanic.
The first and most obvious division of the Archipelago
would therefore be into quiescent and volcanic regions,
and it might, perhaps, be expected that such a division
would correspond to some differences in the character of
the vegetation and the forms of life. This is the case,
however, to a very limited extent; and we shall presently
see that, althuugh this development of subterranean fires
is on so vast a ‘scale, —has piled up chains of mountains
ten or twelve thousand feet high—has broken up conti-
—
8 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.
nents and raised up islands from the ocean,—yet it has
all the character of a recent action, which has not yet
succeeded in obliterating the traces of a more ancient
distribution of land and water.
Contrasts of Vegetation—Placed immediately upon the
Equator and surrounded by extensive oceans, it is not
surprising that the various islands of the Archipelago
should be almost always clothed with a forest vegetation
from the level of the sea to the summits of the loftiest
mountains. This is the general rule. Sumatra, New
Guinea, Borneo, the Philippines and the Moluccas, and
the uncultivated parts of Java and Celebes, are all forest
countries, except a few small and unimportant tracts, due
perhaps, in some cases, to ancient cultivation or accidental
tires. To this, however, there is one important exception
in the island of Timor and all the smaller islands around
it, in which there is absolutely no forest such as exists in
the other islands, and this character extends in a lesser
degree to Flores, Sumbawa, Lombock, and Balie
In Timor the most common trees are Eucalypti of
several species, so characteristic of Australia, with sandal-
wood, acacia, and other sorts in less abundance. ‘These
are scattered over the country more or less thickly, but
never so as to deserve the name of a forest. Coarse and
scanty grasses grow beneath them on the more barren
hills, and a luxuriant herbage in the moister localities.
In the islands between Timor and Java there is often a
more thickly wooded country, abounding in thorny and
prickly trees. These seldom reach any great height, and
during the force of the dry season they almost completely
lose their leaves, allowing the ground beneath them to
be parched up, and contrasting strongly with the damp,
gloomy, ever-verdant forests of the other islands. This
peculiar character, which extends in a less degree to the
southern peninsula of Celebes and the east end of Java,
is most probably owing to the proximity of Australia.
The south-east monsoon, which lasts for about two-thirds
of the year (from March to November), blowing over the
northern parts of that country, produces a degree of heat
and dryness which assimilates the vegetation and physical
aspect of the adjacent islands to its own. A little further
S Bruitt
(Barneo}
ram
PHYSICAL MAP
of the
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO
bv
Alfred Russel Wallace.
1868.
|
mn
100 E. Gr.
Starterds Geog” Estab? 56, Charing Cross London
The Shallow Sea is lightly tinted The active Woleanoes are shewn thus ° The Yante belts are colored Red
Z|
yO
London. Macmillan & C°
cua. 1.] PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 9
eastward in Timor-laut and the Ké Islands, a moister
ciumate prevails, the south-east winds blowing from the
Pacific through Torres Straits and over the damp forests
ef New Guinea, and as a consequence every rocky islet is
clothed with verdure to its very summit. Further west
again, as the same dry winds blow over a wider and
wider extent of ocean, they have time to absorb fresh
moisture, and we accordingly find the island of Java
possessing a less and less arid climate, till in the extreme
west near Batavia rain occurs more or less all the year
nected the great islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo
with the Asiatic continent, with which their natural pro-
ductions generally agreed; while a similar shallow sea
connected New Guinea and some of the adjacent islands
to Australia, all being characterised bv the presence of
marsupials. Pg
~ We have here a clue to the most radical contrast in the |
Archipelago, and by following it out in detail I have |
arrived at the conclusion that we can draw a line among
—————————
———
the islands, which shall so divide them that one-half shali
truly belong to Asia, while the other shall no less certainly
be allied to Australia. I term these respectively the ©
Indo-Malayan, and the Austro-Malayan divisions of the |
Archipelago. (See Physical Map.) si:
On referring to pages 12, 13, and 36 of Mr. Earl’s
pamphlet, it will be seen that he maintains the former
connexion of Asia and Australia as an important part of
his view, whereas I dwell mainly on their long continued
separation. Notwithstanding this and other important
differences between us, to him undoubtedly belongs the
merit of first indicating the division of the Archipelago
into an Australian and an Asiatic region, which it has
been my good fortune to establish by more detailed
observations. :
SS
~world. me? |
10 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. | CHAP. 1.
~ Contrasts in Natural Productions—To understand the
importance of this class of facts, and its bearing upon
the former distribution of land and sea, it 1s necessary to
consider the results arrived at by geologists and naturalists
in other parts of the world.
(It is now generally admitted that the present distribu-
tion of living things on the surface of the earth is mainly
the result of the last series of changes that it has under-
gone. Geology teaches us that the surface of the land
and the distribution of land and water is everywhere
slowly changing. It further teaches us that the forms
of life which inhabit that surface have, during every
period of which we possess any record, been also slowly
changing.
It is not now necessary to say anything about how
either of those changes took place jas to that, opinions
may differ; but as to the fact that the-changes themselves
have occurred, from the earliest geological ages down to
\the present day, and are still going on, there is no dif-
ference of opinion. | Every successive stratum of sedi-+
- mentary rock, sand,-or gravel, is a proof that changes of |
level have taken place ; and the different species of animals,
and plants, whose remains are found in these deposits,
prove that corresponding changes did occur in the organi
J
iy
14
Taking, therefore, these two series of changes for granted,
most of the present peculiarities and anomalies in the
distribution of species may be directly traced to them. In
our own islands, with a very few trifling exceptions, every
quadruped, bird, reptile, insect, and plant, is found also
on the adjacent continent. In the small islands of Sar-
dinia and Corsica, there are some quadrupeds and insects,
and many plants, quite peculiar. In Ceylon, more closely
connected to India than Britain is to Europe, many
animals and plants are different from those found in India,
and peculiar to the island. In the Galapagos Islands,
almost every indigenous living thing is peculiar to them,
though closely resembling other kinds found in the nearest
parts of the American continent.
Most naturalists now admit that these facts can only
be explained by the greater or less lapse of time since
cHAP. I.] PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. ll
the islands were upraised from beneath the ocean, or were
separated from the nearest land; and this will be generally
(though not always) indicated by the depth of the inter-
vening sea. The enormous thickness of many marine
deposits through wide areas shows that subsidence has
often continued (with intermitting periods of repose)
during epochs of immense duration. | The depth of sea
produced by such subsidence will therefore generally be
a measure of time; and in like manner the change beat
organic forms have undergone is a measure of time. |
When we make proper allowance for the continued in-~
troduction of new animals and plants from surrounding
countries, by those natural means of dispersal which have
been so well explained by Sir Charles Lyell and Mr.
Darwin, it is remarkable how closely these two measures
correspond. Britain is separated from the continent by
a very shallow sea, and only in a very few cases have our
animals or plants begun to show a difference from the
corresponding continental species. Corsica and Sardinia,
divided from Italy by a much deeper sea, present a much
greater difference in their organic forms. Cuba, separated
from Yucatan by a wider and deeper strait, differs more
markedly, so that most of its productions are of distinct
and peculiar species; while Madagascar, divided from
Africa by a deep channel three hundred miles wide, pos-
sesses so many peculiar features as to indicate separation
at a very remote antiquity, or even to render it doubtful
whether the two countries have ever been pipe ce
united.
>> Returning now to the Malay Archipelago, we find that:
all the wide expanse of sea which divides Java, Sumatra,
and Borneo from each other, and from Malacca and Siam,
is so Shallow that ships can anchor in any part of it, since
it rarely exceeds forty fathoms in depth; and if we go as
far as the line of a hundred fathoms, we shall include the
Philippine Islands and Bali, east of Java. | If, therefore,
these islands have been separated from each other and
the continent by subsidence of the intervening tracts of
land, we should conclude that the separation has been
comparatively recent, since the depth to which the land
has subsided is so small. | It is also to be remarked, that
12 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [CHAP. fT.) |
the great chain of active volcanoes in Sumatra and Java
furnishes us with a sufficient cause for such subsidence,
since the enormous masses of matter they have thrown
out would take away the foundations of the surrounding
district; and this may be the true explanation of the
often-noticed fact, that volcanoes and volcanic chains are
always near the sea. The subsidence they produce around
them will, in time, make a sea, if one does not already
exist.
But it is when we examine the zoology of these countries
that we find what we most require—evidence of a very
striking character that these great islands must have once
formed a part of the continent, and could only have been
separated at a very recent geological epoch. \The elephant -
and tapir of Sumatra and Borneo, the rhinoceros of
Sumatra and the allied species of Java, the wild cattle
of Borneo and the kind long supposed to be peculiar to
Java, are now all known to inhabit some part or other
of Southern Asia. None of these large animals could
possibly have passed over the arms of the sea which now
separate these countries, and their presence plainly indi-
cates that a land communication must have existed since
the origin of the species. Among the smaller mammals
a considerable portion are common to each island and the
continent; but the vast physical changes that must have
occurred during the breaking up and subsidence of such
extensive regions have led to the extinction of some in
one or more of the islands, and in some cases there seems
also to have been time for a change of species to have
taken place. ( Birds and insects illustrate the same view,
for every family, and almost every genus of these
groups found in any of the islands, occurs also on the
Asiatic continent, and in a great number of cases the
species are exactly identical. Birds offer us one of the
best means of determining the law of distribution ; for
though at first sight it would appear that the watery
boundaries which keep out the land quadrupeds could be
~ easily passed over by birds, yet practically it 1s not so;
for if we leave out the aquatic tribes which are pre-
eminently wanderers, it is found that the others (and
especially the Passeres, or true perching-birds, which form
_ CHAP. I.] PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 13°
the vast majority) are generally as strictly limited by
straits and arms of the sea as are quadrupeds themselves.
As an instance, among the islands of which I am now
speaking, \it is a remarkable fact that Jaya possesses
numerous birds which never pass over to Sumatra, though
they are separated by a strait only fifteen miles wide, and
with islands in mid-channel. Java, in fact, possesses more
birds and insects peculiar to itself than either Sumatra
or Borneo, and this would indicate that it was earliest
separated from the continent; next in organic indivi
duality is Borneo, while Sumatra is so nearly identical
in all its animal forms with the peninsula of Malacca,
that<~we may safely conclude it to have been the most
recently dismembered island. on
— The general result therefore at which we arrive is, that |
the great islands of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo resemble
in their natural productions the adjacent parts of the
continent, almost as much as such widely-separated
districts could_be expected to do even if they still formed
a part of Asia; jand this close resemblance, joined with -
the fact of the wide extent of sea which separates them
being so uniformly and remarkably shallow, and lastly,
the existence of the extensive range of volcanoes in
Sumatra and Java, which have poured out vast quantities
of subterranean matter and have built up extensive
plateaux and lofty mountain ranges, thus furnishing a
vera causa for a parallel line of subsidence—all lead irre-
sistibly to the conclusion that at a very recent geological
epoch the continent of Asia extended far beyond. its
present limits in a south-easterly direction, including the
islands of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, and probably reach-
ing as far as the present 100-fathom line of soundings.
The Philippine Islands agree in many respects with
Asia and the other islands, but present some—anomatlies,
which seem to indicate that they were separated at an
earlier period, and have since been subject to many
revolutions in their physical geography. ~> Tn order to illustrate more clearly the means by which
I suppose this great contrast has been brought about, let
us consider what would occur if two strongly contrasted
divisions of the earth were, by natural means, brought —
into proximity. No two parts of the world differ so
radically in their productions as Asia and Australia, but
the difference between Africa and South America is also
very great, and these two regions will well serve to illus-
trate the question we are considering. On the one side
we have baboons, lions, elephants, buffaloes, and giraffes ;
on the other spider-monkeys, pumas, tapirs, ant-eaters,
and sloths; while among birds, the hornbills, turacos,
orioles, and honeysuckers of Africa contrast strongly with
CHAP. I.] PHYSICAL GHOGRAPHY. +7
the toucans, macaws, chatterers, and humming-birds of
America.
Now let us endeavour to imagine (what it is very
probable may occur in future ages) that a slow upheaval
of the bed of the Atlantic should take place, while at the
same time earthquake-shocks and volcanic action on the
land should cause increased volumes of sediment to be
poured down by the rivers, so that the two continents
should gradually spread out by the addition of newly-
formed lands, and thus reduce the Atlantic which now
separates them to an arm of the sea a few hundred miles
wide. At the same time we may suppose islands to be
upheaved in mid-channel; and, as the subterranean forces
varied in intensity, and shifted their points of greatest
_ action, these islands would sometimes become connected
with the land on one side or other of the strait, and at
other times again be separated from itx Several islands
would at one time be joined together, at another would be
broken up again, till at last, after many long ages of such
intermittent action, we might have an irregular archipelago
of islands filling up the ocean channel of the Atlantic, in
whose appearance and arrangement we could discover
nothing to tell us which had been connected with Africa
and which with America. The animals and plants in-
habiting these islands would, however, certainly reveal
this portion of their former history. On those islands
which had ever formed a part of the South American
continent we should be sure to find such common birds
as chatterers and toucans and humming-birds, and some
of the peculiar American quadrupeds; while on those
which had been separated from Africa, hornbills, orioles,
and honeysuckers would as certainly be found. Some
portion of the upraised land might at different times have
had a temporary connexion with both continents, and
would then contain a certain amount of mixture in its
living inhabitants. [Such seems to have been the case
with the islands of Celebes and the Philippines. Other
islands, again, though in such close proximity as Bali and
Lombock, might each exhibit an almost unmixed sample
of the productions of the continents of which they haa
directly or indirectly once formed a part.
v
18 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [ CHAP. I.
In the Malay Archipelago we have, I believe, a case
exactly parallel to that which I have here supposed. We
have indications of a vast continent, with a peculiar fauna
and flora, having been eradually and irregularly broken
up; the island of Celebes probably marking its furthest
westwaid extension, beyond which was a wide ocean. At
the same time Asia appears to have been extending its
‘limits in a south-east direction, first in an unbroken mass,
then separated into islands as we now See it, and almost
coming into actual contact with the scattered fragments of
the great southern land.
From this outline of the subject, it will be evident how
important an adjunct Natural History is to Geology ; not
only in interpreting the fragments of extinct animals
found in the earth’s crust, but in determining past changes
in the surface which have left no geological record. It is”
certainly a wonderful and unexpected fact, that an accurate
knowledge of the distribution of birds and insects should
enable us to map out lands and continents which dis-
appeared beneath the ocean long before the earliest tra-
ditions of the human race. \ Wherever the geologist can
explore the earth's surface, he can read much of its past
history, and can determine approximately its latest move-
ments above and below the sea-level; but wherever oceans
and seas now extend, he can do nothing but speculate or
the very limited data afforded by the depth of the waters
Here the naturalist steps in, and enables him to fill up this
great gap in the past history of the earth.) |
One of the- chief objects of my tonsa was to obtain ~
evidence of this nature ; and my search after such evidence
has been rewarded by great SUCCESS, SO that I have been
enabled to trace out with some probability the past
| changes which one of the most interesting parts of the
| earth has undergone. It may be thought that the facts and
| generalizations here given, would have been more appro-
| priately placed at the end rather than at the beginning
of a narrative of the travels which supplied the facts. In
some cases this might be so, but I have found it impos-
‘sible to give such an account as I desire of the natural
history of the numerous islands and groups of islands im
“the Archipelago, without constant reference to these gene
rd
CHAP. 1.] PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 19
animals which inhabit them both more interesting and
more instructive than if treated as mere isolated facts.
~) Contrasts of Races.—Before I had arrived at the conviction
that the eastern and western halves of the Archipelago
belonged to distinct primary regions of the earth, I had
been led to group the natives of the Archipelago under
_ two radically distinct races. In this I differed from most
ethnologists who had before written on the subject ; for
it had been the almost universal custom to follow William \/
von Humboldt and Pritchard, in classing all the Oceanic
Taces as modifications of one type. Observation soon
showed me, however, that Malays and Papuans differed
radically in every physical, mental, and moral character ;
and more detailed research, continued for eight years,
satisfied me that under these two forms, as types, the whole
of the peoples of the Malay Archipelago and Polynesia
could be classified. | On drawing the line which separates
these races, it is found to come near to that which divides
the zoological regions, but somewhat eastward of lte*@
circumstance which appears to me very significant of
the same causes having influenced the distribution of
mankind that have determined the range of other animal
_forms.
The reason why exactly the same line does not limit
both is sufficiently intelligible. Man has means of tra-
versing the sea which animals do not possess; and a
superior race has power to press out or assimilate an
inferior one. The maritime enterprise and higher civili-
zation of the Malay races have enabled them to overrun
a portion of the adjacent region, in which they have
entirely supplanted the indigenous inhabitants if ‘it ever
possessed any; and to spread much of their language,
their domestic animals, and their customs far-over the
Pacific, into islands where they have but slightly, or not
at all, modified the physical or moral characteristics of
the people.
C2
20 SINGAPORE. (cHAP. II.
2
| I believe, therefore, that all the peoples of the various
-JJands can be grouped either with -the Malays or the
Papuans; and that these two have no traceable affinity
to each other. I believe, further, that all the races east of
the line I have drawn have more affinity for each other
than they have for any of the races west of that line ;—
that, in fact, the Asiatic races include the Malays, and all
have a continental origin, while the Pacific races, including
all to the east of the former (except perhaps some in the
Northern Pacific), are derived, not from any existing con-
tinent, but from lands which now exist or have recently
existed in the Pacific Ocean. These preliminary obser-
vations will enable the reader better to apprehend the
importance I attach to the details of physical form or
moral character, which I shall give in describing the
inhabitants of many of the islands.
CHAPTER IL
SINGAPORE.
(A SKETCH OF THE TOWN AND ISLAND AS SEEN DURING SEVERAL VISITS
FROM 1854 To 1862.)
ar places are more interesting to a traveller from
Europe than the town and island of Singapore, fur-_
nishing, as it does, examples of a variety of Eastern races,
and of many different religions and modes of life. The
government, the garrison, and the chief merchants are
English; but the great mass of the population is Chinese,
including some of the wealthiest merchants, the agricul-
turists of the interior, and most of the mechanics and
labourers. The native Malays are usually fishermen and
poatmen, and they form the main body of the police. The
Portuguese of Malacca supply a large number of the clerks
and smaller merchants. The Klings of Western India are
a numerous body of Mahometans, and, with many Arabs,
are petty merchants and shopkeepers. The grooms and
washermen are all Bengaieces, and there is a small but
CHAP, 1i.] THE CHINA BAZAAR. Y1
highly respectable class of Parsee merchants. Besides
these, there are numbers of Javanese sailors and domestic
servants, as well as traders from Celebes, Bali, and many
other islands of the Archipelago. The harbour is crowded
with men-of-war and trading vessels of many European
nations, and hundreds of Malay praus and Chinese junks,
from vessels of several hundred tons burthen down to little
fishing boats and passenger sampans; and the town com-
prises handsome’ public buildings and churches, Mahome-
tan mosques, Hindoo temples, Chinese joss-houses, good
European houses, massive warehouses, queer old Kling
and China-bazaars, and long suburbs of Chinese and
Malay cottages.
By far the most conspicuous of the various kinds of
people in Singapore, and those which most attract the
stranger’s attention, are the Chinese, whose numbers and
incessant activity give the place very much the appearance
of a town in China. The Chinese merchant is generally
a fat round-faced man with an important and business-like
look. He wears the same style of clothing (loose white
smock, and blue or black trousers) as the meanest coolie,
but of finer materials, and is always clean and neat; and
his long tail tipped with red silk hangs down to his heels.
He has a handsome warehouse or shop in town and a good
house in the country. He keeps a fine horse and gig, and
every evening may be seen taking a drive bareheaded to
enjoy the cool breeze. He is rich, he owns several retail
shops and trading schooners, he lends money at high
interest and on good security, he makes hard bargains and
gets fatter and richer every year. |
In the Chinese bazaar are hundreds of small shops in
which a miscellaneous collection of hardware and dry
goods are to be found, and where many things are sold
wonderfully cheap. You may buy gimlets at a penny
each, white cotton thread at four balls for a halfpenny,
and penknives, corkscrews, gunpowder, writing-paper, and
many other articles as cheap or cheaper than. you can
purchase them in England. The shopkeeper is very good-
natured ; he will show you everything he has, and does
not seem to mind if you buy nothing. He bates a little,
but not so much as the Klings, who almost always ask
yp SINGAPORE. [CHAP. IL.
twice what they are willing to take. If you buy a few
things of him, he will speak to you afterwards every time
you pass his shop, asking you to walk in and sit down, or
take a cup of tea, and you wonder how he can get a living
where so many sell the same trifling articles. The tailors
sit at a table, not on one; and both they and the shoe-
makers work well and cheaply. The barbers have plenty
to do, shaving heads and cleaning ears; for which latter
operation they have a great array of little tweezers, picks,
and brushes. In the outskirts of the town are scores of
carpenters and blacksmiths. The former seem chiefly to
make coffins and highly painted and decorated clothes-
boxes. The latter are mostly gun-makers, and bore the
barrels of guns by hand, out of solid bars of iron. At
this tedious operation they may be seen every day, and
they manage to finish off a gun with a flint lock very
handsomely. All about the streets are sellers of water,
vegetables, fruit, soup, and agar-agar (a jelly made of sea-
weed), who have many cries as unintelligible as those of
London. Others carry a portable cooking-apparatus on a
pole balanced by a table at the other end, and serve up
a meal of shell-fish, rice, and vegetables for two or three
halfpence ; while coolies and boatmen waiting to be hired
are everywhere to be met with.
= In the interior of the island the Chinese cut down forest
trees in the jungle, and saw them up into planks; they
cultivate vegetables, which they bring to market; and
they grow pepper and gambir, which form important —
articles of export. The French Jesuits have established
missions among these inland Chinese, which seem very
successful. I lived for several weeks at a time with the
missionary at Bukit-tima, about the centre of the island,
where a pretty church has been built and there are about
300 converts. While there, I met a missionary who had just
arrived from Tonquin, where he had been living for many
years. The Jesuits still do their work thoroughly as of old.
In Cochin China, Tonquin, and China, where all Christian
teachers are obliged to live in secret, and are liable to
persecution, expulsion, and sometimes death, every pro-
vince, even those farthest in the interior, has a permanent
Jesuit mission establishment, constantly kept up by fresh
CHAP. 11.] JESUIT MISSIONARIES. 23
aspirants, who are taught the languages of the countries
they are going to at Penang or Singapore. In China
there are said to be near a million converts ; in Tonquin
and Cochin China, more than half a million. One secret
of the success of these missions is the rigid economy
practised in the expenditure of the funds. A missionary
is allowed about 30/. a year, on which he lives in whatever
country he may be. This renders it possible to support a
large number of missionaries with very limited means ;
and the natives, seeing their teachers living in poverty
and with none of the luxuries of life, are convinced that
they are sincere in what they teach, and have really given
up home and friends and ease and safety, for the good of
others. No wonder they make converts, for it must be
a great blessing to the poor people among whom they
labour to have a man among them to whom they can go
in any trouble or distress, who will comfort and advise
them, who visits them in sickness, who relieves them in
want, and who they see living from day to day in danger
of persecution and death entirely for their sakes.
My friend at Bukit-tima was truly a father to his flock.
He preached to them in Chinese every Sunday, and had
evenings for discussion and conversation on religion during
the week. He hada school to teach their children. His
house was open to them day and night. Ifa man came to
him and said, “I have no rice for my family to eat to-
day,” he would give him half of what he had in the house,
however little that might be. If another said, “I have
no money to pay my debt,” he would give him half the
contents of his purse, were it his Jast dollar. So, when
he was himself in want, he would send to some of the
wealthiest among his flock, and say, “I have no rice in
the house,” or “ I have given away my money, and am in
want of such and such articles.” The result was that his
flock trusted and loved him, for they felt sure that he was
their true friend, and had no ulterior designs in living
among them.
The isiand of Singapore consists of a multitude of small
hills, three or four hundred feet high, the summits of many
of which are still covered with virgin forest. The mission-
24 SINGAPORE. (CHAP. IL.
house at Bukit-tima was surrounded by several of these
wood-topped hills, which were much frequented by wood-
cutters and sawyers, and offered me an excellent collecting
eround for insects. Here and there, too, were tiger pits,
carefully covered over with sticks and leaves, and so well
concealed, that in several cases I had a narrow escape from
falling into them. They are shaped like an iron furnace,
wider at the bottom than the top, and are perhaps fifteen
or twenty feet deep, so that it would be almost impossible
for a person unassisted to get out of one. Formerly a
sharp stake was stuck erect in the bottom; but after an
unfortunate traveller had been killed by falling on one,
its use was forbidden. There are always a few tigers
roaming about Singapore, and they kill on an average a
Chinaman every day, principally those who work in the
gvambir plantations, which are always made in newly-
cleared jungle. We heard a tiger roar once or twice in
the evening, and it was rather nervous work hunting for
insects among the fallen trunks and old sawpits, when one
of these savage animals might be lurking close by, waiting
an opportunity to spring upon us.
Several hours in the middle of every fine day were
spent in these patches of forest, which were delightfully
cool and shady by contrast with the bare open country
we had to walk over to reach them. \ The vegetation was
most luxuriant, comprising enormous forest trees, as well
as a variety of ferns, caladiums, and other undergrowth,
and abundance of climbing rattan palms. Insects were |
exceedingly abundant and very interesting, and every day
furnished scores of new and curious forms. In about two
months I obtained no less than 700 species of beetles, a
large proportion of which were quite new, and among
them were 130 distinct kinds of the elegant Longicorns
(Cerambycidee), so much esteemed by collectors. Almost
all these were coilected in one patch of jungle, not more
than a square mile in extent, and in all my subsequent |
travels in the East I rarely if ever met with so productive
a spot. | This exceeding productiveness was due in part-no
doubt to some favourable conditions in the soil, climate,
and vegetation, and to the season being very bright and
sunny, with sufficient showers to keep everything fresh.
CHAP. I.) INSECT HARVEST. 25
But it was also in a great measure dependent, I feel sure,
on the labours of the Chinese wood-cutters. They had
been at work here for several years, and during all that
time had furnished a continual supply of dry and dead and
decaying leaves and bark, together with abundance of
wood and sawdust, for the nourishment of insects and
their larvee. This had led to the assemblage of a great
variety of species in a limited space, and I was the first
naturalist who had come to reap the harvest they had
prepared. In the same place, and during my walks in
other directions, I obtained a fair collection of butter-
flies and of other orders of insects, so that on the whole
I was quite satisfied with these my first attempts ‘to
gain a knowledge of the Natural History of the Malay
Archipelago.
CHAPTER IIL.
MALACCA AND MOUNT OPHIR.
(JULY TO SEPTEMBER, 1854.)
IRDS and most other kinds of animals being scarce at
Singapore, I left it in July for Malacca, where I spent
more than two months in the interior, and made an ex-
cursion to Mount Ophir. The old and picturesque town
of Malacca is crowded along the banks of the small river,
and consists of narrow streets of shops and dwelling-
houses, occupied by the descendants of the Portuguese,
and by Chinamen. In the suburbs are the houses of the
English officials and of a few Portuguese merchants,
embedded in groves of palms and fruit-trees, whose varied
and beautiful foliage furnishes a pleasing relief to the eye,
as well as most grateful shade.
The old fort, the large Government House, and the ruins
of a cathedral, attest the former wealth and importance
of this place, which was once as much the centre of
Eastern trade as Singapore is now. The following de-
26 MALACCA. _ | CHAP, 111.
scription of it by Linschott, who wrote two hundred and
seventy years ago, strikingly exhibits the change it has —
undergone :—
— Malacca is inhabited by the Portuguese and by natives
of the country, called Malays. The Portuguese have here
a fortress, as at Mozambique, and there is no fortress in
all the Indies, after those of Mozambique and Ormuz,
where the captains perform their duty better than in this
one. This place is the market of all India, of China, of
the Moluccas, and of other islands round about, from all
which places, as well as from Banda, Java, Sumatra, Siam,
Pegu, Bengal, Coromandel, and India, arrive ships, which
come and go incessantly, charged with an infinity of
merchandises. There would be in this place a much
oreater number of Portuguese if it were not for the in-
convenience, and unhealthiness of the air, which is hurtful
not only to strangers, but also to natives of the country.
Thence it is that all who live in the country pay tribute
of their health, suffering from a certain disease, which
makes them lose either their skin or their hair. And
those who escape consider it a miracle, which occasions.
many to leave the country, while the ardent desire of gain
induces others to risk their health, and endeavour to
endure such an atmosphere. The origin of this town, as
the natives say, was very small, only having at the be-
ginning, by reason of the unhealthiness of the air, but
six or seven fishermen who inhabited it. But the number
was increased by the meeting of fishermen from Siam,
Pegu, and Bengal, who came and built a city, and esta-
blished a peculiar language, drawn from the most elegant
modes of speaking of other nations, so that in fact the
language ot the Malays is at present the most refined,
exact, and celebrated of all the East. The name of
Malacca was given to this town, which, by the conve-
nience of its situation, in a short time grew to such
wealth, that it does not yield to the most powerful tewns
and regions round about. The natives, both men and
women, are very courteous, and are reckoned the most
skilful in the world in compliments, and study much to
compose and repeat verses and love-songs. Their language
is in vogue through the Indies, as the French is here.”
cHaP. ul] THE TOWN AND ITS INHABITANTS. DF:
At present, a vessel over a hundred tons hardly ever
enters its port, and the trade is entirely confined to a few
petty products of the forests, and to the fruit, which the
trees planted by the old Portuguese now produce for the
enjoyment of the inhabitants of Singapore. Although
rather subject to fevers, it is not at present considered
very unhealthy. et
The population of Malacca consists of several races. —
The ubiquitous Chinese are perhaps the most numerous,
keeping up their manners, customs, and language; the
indigenous Malays are next in point of numbers, and
their language.is the Lingua-franca of the place. Next
come the descendants of the Portuguese—a mixed, de-
eraded, and degenerate race, but who still keep up the
use of their mother tongue, though ruefully mutilated in
grammar; and then there are the English rulers, and the
descendants of the Dutch, who all speak English? \ The
Portuguese spoken at Malacca is a useful philological
phenomenon. The verbs have mostly lost their inflections,
and one form does for all moods, tenses, numbers, and
persons. Huw vai, serves for “I go,’ “I went,” or, “I
will go.” Adjectives, too, have been deprived of their
feminine and plural terminations, so that the language is
reduced to a marvellous simplicity, and, with the admixture
of a few Malay words, becomes rather puzzling to one
who has heard only the pure Lusitanian.
In costume these several peoples are as varied as in
their speech. The English preserve the tight-fitting coat,
waistcoat, and trousers, and the abominable hat and
cravat ; the Portuguese patronise a light jacket, or, more
frequently, shirt and trousers only; the Malays wear
their national jacket and sarong (a kind of kilt), with
loose drawers; while the Chinese never depart in the
least from their national dress, which, indeed, it is im-
possible to improve for a tropical climate, whether as
regards comfort or appearance. The loosely-hanging
trousers, and neat white half-shirt half-jacket, are exactly
what a dress should be in this low latitude.
I engaged two Portuguese to accompany me into the
interior ; one as a cook, the other to shoot and skin birds,
which is quite a trade in Malacca. I first stayed a fort-
|
28 MALACCG4. (CHAP, III.
night at a village called Gading, where I was accom-
modated in the house of some Chinese converts, to whom
I was recommended by the Jesuit missionaries. The
house was a mere shed, but it was kept clean, and I made
myself sufficiently comfortable. My hosts were forming
a pepper and gambir plantation, and in the immediate
neighbourhood were extensive tin-washings, employing
over a thousand Chinese. The tin 1s obtained in the
form of black grains from beds of quartzose sand, and is
melted into ingots in rude clay furnaces. The soil seemed
poor, and the forest was very dense with undergrowth, and
not at all productive of insects; but, on the other hand,
birds were abundant, and I was at once introduced to the
rich ornithological treasures of the Malayan region.
_ The very first time I fired my gun I brought down one
of the most curious and beautiful of the Malacca birds,
the blue-billed gaper (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus),
called by the Malays the “ Rain-bird.” It is about the
size of a starling, black and rich claret colour with white
shoulder stripes, and a very large and broad bill of the
most pure cobalt blue above and orange below, while the
iris is emerald green. As the skins dry the bill turns
dull black, but even then the bird is handsome. When
fresh killed, the contrast of the vivid blue with the rich
colours of the plumage is remarkably striking and beau-
tiful, The lovely Eastern trogons, with their rich brown
backs, beautifully pencilled wings, and crimson breasts,
were also soon obtained, as well as the large green barbets
(Megaleema versicolor) —fruit-eating birds, something like ©
small toucans, with a short, straight bristly bill, and whose
head and neck are variegated with patches of the most vivid
blue and crimson. A day or two after, my hunter brought
me a specimen of the green gaper (Calyptomena viridis),
which is like a small cock-of-the-rock, but entirely of the
most vivid green, delicately marked on the wings with
black bars. Handsome woodpeckers and gay kinefishers,
green and brown cuckoos with velvety red faces and green
beaks, red-breasted doves and metallic honeysuckers, were
brought in day after day, and kept me in a continual state
of pleasurable excitement. After a fortnight one of my
servants was seized with fever, and on returning to
a
CHAP. III. | NEW BUTTERFLY. 99
Malacca, the same disease attacked the other as well as
myself. By a liberal use of quinine, I soon recovered, and
obtaining other men, went to stay at the Government bun-
galow of Ayer-panas, accompanied by a young gentleman,
a native of the place, who had a taste for natural history.
At Ayer-panas we had a comfortable house to stay in,
and plenty of room to dry and preserve our specimens ;
but, owing to there being no industrious Chinese to cut
down timber, insects were comparatively scarce, with the
exception of butterflies, of which I formed a very fine
collection. The manner in which I obtained one fine
insect was curious, and indicates how fragmentary and
imperfect a traveller's coilection must necessarily be. I
was one afternoon walking along a favourite road through
the forest, with my gun, when I saw a butterfly on the
oround, It was large, handsome, and quite new to me,
and I got close to it before it flew away. I then ob-
served that it had been settling on the dung of some
carnivorous animal. Thinking it might return to the
same spot, I next day after breakfast took my net,
and as I approached the place was delighted to see the
same butterfly sitting on the same piece of dung, and
succeeded in capturing it. It was an entirely new species
of great beauty, and has been named by Mr. Hewitson
Nymphalis calydonia. I never saw another specimen of
it, and it was only after twelve years had elapsed that
a second individual reached this country from the north-
western part of Borneo.
---Having determined to visit Mount Ophir, which is
situated in the middle of the peninsula about fifty miles
east of Malacca, we engaged six Malays to accompany us
and carry our baggage. As we meant to stay at least a
week at the mountain, we took with us a good supply of
rice, a little biscuit butter and coffee, some dried fish and
a little brandy, with blankets, a change of clothes, insect
and bird boxes, nets guns and ammunition.{ The dis-
tance from Ayer-panas was supposed to be about thirty
miles. Our first day’s march lay through patches of
forest, clearings, and Malay villages, and was pleasant
enough. At night we slept at the house of a Malay chief,
who lent us a verandah, and gave us a fowl] and come
30 MALACCA. [CHAP. IIL.
eggs, The next day the country got wilder and more
hilly. We passed through extensive forests, along paths
often up to our knees in mud, and were much annoyed
by the leeches for which this district is famous. These ~
little creatures infest the leaves and herbage by the side of —
the paths, and when a passenger comes along they stretch —
themselves out at full length, and if they touch any part of ©
his dress or body, quit their leaf and adhere to it. They
then creep on to his feet, legs, or other part of his body
and suck their fill, the first puncture being rarely felt
during the excitement of walking. On bathing in the
evening we generally found half.a dozen or a dozen on
each of us, most-frequently on our legs, but sometimes on
our bodies, and I had one who sucked his fill from the side
of my neck, but who luckily missed the jugular vein.
There are many species of these forest leeches. All are
small, but some are beautifully marked with stripes of
bright yellow. They probably attach themselves to deer or
other animals which frequent the forest paths, and have
thus acquired the singular habit of stretching themselves
out at the sound of a footstep or of rustling foliage. arly
in the afternoon we reached the foot of the mountain, and
encamped by the side of a fine stream, whose rocky banks
were overgrown with ferns. Our oldest Malay had been
accustomed to shoot birds in this neighbourhood for the
Malacca dealers, and had been to the top of the mountain,
and while we amused ourselves shooting and insect hunt-
ing, he went with two others to clear the path for our .
ascent the next day.
Early next morning we started after breakfast, carrylng
blankets and provisions, as we intended to sleep upon the
mountain. After passing a little tangled jungle and
swampy thickets through which our men had cleared a
path, we emerged into a fine lofty forest pretty clear of
undergrowth, and in which we could walk freely. We
ascended steadily up a moderate slope for several miles,
having a deep ravine on our left. We then had a level
plateau or shoulder to cross, after which the ascent was
steeper and the forest denser till we came out upon the
“ Padang-batu,” or stone field, a place of which we had
heard much, but could never get any one to describe intel- |
CHAP. Ti1.] RARE FERNS. a1
ligibly. We found it to be a steep slope of even rock, ex-
tending along the mountain side farther than we could see.
Parts of it
were quite
bare, kut
where it was
-eracked and
fissured there
grew a most
luxuriant ve-
getation, a-
mong which
the pitcher
plants were
the most remarkable. L These
wonderful plants never seem
to succeed well in our hot-
houses, and are there seen to
little advantage. Here they
grew up into half climbing
shrubs, their curious pitchers
of various sizes and forms
hanging abundantly from their
leaves, and continually excit-
ing our admiration by their
size and beauty.
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110 JAVA. [cHAP. VII.
I accumulated ninety-eight species of birds, but a most
miserable lot of insects. I then determined to leave East
Java and try the more moist and luxuriant districts at the
western extremity of the island. I returned to Sourabaya
by water, in a roomy boat which brought myself, servants,
and baggage at one-fifth the expense it had cost me to
come to Modjo-kerto. The river has been rendered
navigable by being carefully banked up, but with the usual
effect of rendering the adjacent country lable occasionally
to severe floods. An immense traffic passes down this
river; and at a lock we passed through, a mile of laden
boats were waiting two or three deep, which pass through
in their turn six at a time.
A few days afterwards I went by steamer to Batavia,
where I stayed about a week at the chief hotel, while
I made arrangements for a trip into the interior. The
business part of the city is near the harbour, but the
hotels and all the residences of the officials and European
merchants are in a suburb two miles off, laid out in wide
streets and squares so as to cover a great extent of ground.
This is very inconvenient for visitors, as the only public
conveyances are handsome two-horse carriages, whose
lowest charge is five guilders (8s. 4d.) for half a day, so
that an hour’s business in the morning and a visit in
the evening costs 16s, 8d. a day for carriage hire alone.
Batavia agrees very well with Mr. Money’s graphic ac-
count of it, except that his “clear canals” were all muddy,
and his “ smooth gravel drives” up to the houses were one
and all formed of coarse pebbles, very painful to walk upon,
and hardly explained by the fact that in Batavia every-
body drives, as it can hardly be supposed that people
never walk in their gardens. The Hotel des Indes was
very comfortable, each visitor having a sitting-room and
bedroom opening on a verandah, where he can take his
morning coffee and afternoon tea. In the centre of the
quadrangle is a building containing a number of marble
baths always ready for use; and there is an excellent
table dhote breakfast at ten, and dinner at six, for all
which there is a moderate charge per day.
I went by coach to Buitenzorg, forty miles inland and
about a thousand feet above the sea, celebrated for its
CHAP. VII] TERRACED HILLS. aD |
delicious climate and iis Botanical Gardens. With the
latter [ was somewhat disappointed. The walks were all
of loose pebbles, making any lengthened wanderings about
them very tiring and painful under a tropical sun. The
gardens are no doubt wonderfully rich in tropical and
especially in Malayan plants, but there is a great absence
of skilful laying-out; there are not enough men to keep
the place thoroughly in order, and the plants themselves
are seldom to be compared for luxuriance and beauty to
the same species grown in our hothouses. This can easily
be explained. The plants can rarely be placed in natural
or very favourable conditions. The climate is either too
hot or too cool, too moist or too dry, for a large proportion
of them, and they seldom get the exact quantity of shade
or the right quality of soil to suit them. In our stoves
these varied conditions can be supplied to each individual
plant far better than in a large garden, where the fact that
the plants are most of them growing in or near their
native country is supposed to preclude the necessity of
giving them much individual attention. Still, however,
there is much to admire here. There are avenues of
stately palms, and clumps of bamboos of perhaps fifty
different kinds; and an endless variety of tropical shrubs
and trees with strange and beautiful foliage. As a change
from the excessive heats of Batavia, Buitenzorg is a
delightful abode. It is just elevated enough to have
deliciously cool evenings and nights, but not so much as
to require any change of clothing; and to a person long
resident in the hotter climate of the plains, the air is
always fresh and pleasant, and admits of walking at
almost any hour of the day. The vicinity is most pic-
turesque and luxuriant, and the great volcano of Gunung-
Salak, with its truncated and jagged summit, forms a
characteristic background to many of the landscapes.
9.000 and 5,000 feet that the forests and ravines exhibit
the utmost development of tropical luxuriance and beauty.
The abundance of noble Tree-ferns, sometimes fifty feet
high, contributes greatly to the general effect, since of all
the forms of tropical vegetation they are certainly the most
striking and beautiful, Some of the deep ravines which
have been cleared of large timber are full of them from
top to bottom ; and where the road crosses one of these
valleys, the view of their feathery crowns, in varied
positions above and below the eye, offers a spectacle of
picturesque beauty never to be forgotten. The splendid
foliage of the broad-leaved Musacee and Zingiberacee,
with their curious and brilliant flowers ; and the elegant and
CHAP. VII. ] MOUNTAIN PLANTS. 117
varied forms of plants allied to Begonia and Melastoma,
continually attract the attention in this region. Filling
up the spaces between the trees and larger plants, on
every trunk and stump and branch, are hosts of Orchids,
Ferns and Lycopods, which wave and hang and inter-
twine in ever-varying complexity. At about 5,000 feet
1 first saw horsetails (Equisetum), very like our own
species. At 6,000
feet, Raspberries
abound, and thence
to the summit of the
mountain there are
three species of eat-
able Rubus. At 7,000
feet Cypresses ap-
pear, and the forest
trees become reduced
in size, and more
covered with mosses
and lichens. From
this point upward
these rapidly in-
crease, so that the
blocks of rock and «<
scoria that form the
mountain slope are
completely hidden in
a& mossy vegetation.
At about 8,000 feet
European forms of &
plants become abun-
dant. Several species
of Honey-suckle, St.
John’s-wort, and
Guelder-rose abound,
and at about 9,000 |
feet we first meet PRIMULA IMPERIALIS,
with the rare and
beautiful Royal Cowslip (Primula imperialis), which is
said to be found nowhere else in the world but on this
solitary mountain summit. It has a tall, stout stem, some-
118 JAVA. [cHAP. VL.
times more than three feet high, the root leaves are eighteen
inches long, and it bears several whorls of cowslip-like
flowers, instead of a terminal cluster only. The forest trees,
gnarled and dwarfed to the dimensions of bushes, reach
up to the very rim of the old crater, but do not extend
over the hollow on its summit. Here we find.a good
deal of open ground, with thickets of shrubby Artemisias
and Gnaphaliums, like our southernwood and cudweed, but
six or eight feet high ; while Buttercups, Violets, Whortle-
berries, Sow-thistles, Chickweed, white and yellow Cru-
ciferee, Plantain, and annual grasses everywhere abound.
Where there are bushes and shrubs, the St. John’s-wort
and Honeysuckle grow abundantly, while the Imperial
Cowslip only exhibits its elegant blossoms under the
damp shade of the thickets.
Mr. Motley, who visited the mountain in the dry season,
and paid much attention to botany, gives the following
list of genera characteristic of distant and more temperate
regions :—Iwo species of Violet, three of Ranunculus,
three of Impatiens, eight or ten of Rubus, and species
of Primula, Hypericum, Swertia, Convallaria (Lily of the
Valley), Vaccinium (Cranberry), Rhododendron, Gnapha-
lium, Polygonum, Digitalis (Foxglove), Lonicera (Honey-
suckle), Plantago (Rib-grass), Artemisia (Wormwood),
Lobelia, Oxalis (Wood-sorrel), Quercus (Oak), and Taxus
(Yew). A few of the smaller plants (Plantago major and
lanceolata, Sonchus oleraceus, and Artemisia vulgaris) are
identical with European species.
The fact of a vegetation so closely allied to that of
Europe occurring on isolated mountain peaks, in an island
south of the Equator, while all the lowlands for thousands
of miles around are occupied by a flora of a totally
different character, is very extraordinary ; and has only
recently received an intelligible explanation. The Peak
of Teneriffe, which rises to a greater height and is much
nearer to Europe, contains no such Alpine flora; neither
do the mountains of Bourbon and Mauritius. The case
of the volcanic peaks of Java 1s therefore somewhat
exceptional, but there are several analogous, if not exactly
parallel cases, that will enable us better to understand
:
:
in what way the phenomena may possibly have been
CHAP. VIL. | THE GLACIAL EPOCH. 119
brought about. The higher peaks of the Alps and even
of the Pyrenees, contain a number of plants absolutely
identical with those of Lapland, but nowhere found in
the intervening plains. On the summit of the White
Mountains, in the United States, every plant is identical
with species growing in Labrador. In these cases all
ordinary means of transport fail. Most of the plants
have heavy seeds, which could not possibly be carried
such immense distances by the wind; and the agency of
birds in so effectually stocking these Alpine heights is
equally out of the question, The difficulty was so great,
that some naturalists were driven to believe that these
species were all separately created twice over on these ,
distant peaks. The determination of a recent glacial epoch, <
however, soon offered a much more satisfactory solution,
and one that is now universally accepted by men of science.
At this period, when the mountains of Wales were full
of glaciers, and the mountainous parts of Central Europe,
and much of America north of the great lakes, were
covered with snow and ice, and had a climate resembling
that of Labrador and Greenland at the present day, an
Arctic flora covered all these regions. As this epoch of
cold passed away, and the snowy mantle of the country,
with the glaciers that descended from every mountain
summit, receded up their slopes and towards the north
pole, the plants receded also, always clinging as now to
the margins of the perpetual snow line. Thus it is that
the same species are now found on the summits of the
mountains of temperate Europe and America, and in the
barren north-polar regions. 7
But there is another set of facts, which help us on
another step towards the case of the Javanese mountain
flora. On the higher slopes of the Himalaya, on the tops
of the mountains of Central India and of Abyssinia, a
number of plants occur which, though not identical with
those of European mountains, belong to the same genera,
and are said by botanists to represent them; and most
of these could not exist in the warm intervening plains.
Mr. Darwin believes that this class of facts can be
explained in the same way; for, during the greatest severity
of the glacial epoch, temperate forms of plants will have
120 JAVA. (CHAP. VII.
extended to the confines of the tropics, and on its de-
parture, will have retreated up these southern mountains,
as well as northward to the plains and hills of Europe.
But in this case, the time elapsed, and the great change
of conditions, have allowed many of these plants to become
so modified that we now consider them to be distinct
species. A variety of other facts of a similar nature, have
led him to believe that the depression of temperature was
at one time sufficient to allow a few north-temperate
plants to cross the Equator (by the most elevated routes)
and to reach the Antarctic regions, where they are now
found. The evidence on which this belief rests, will be
found in the latter part of Chapter II. of the “ Origin
of Species;” and, accepting it for the present aS an
hypothesis, it enables us to account for the presence ot
a flora of European type on the volcanoes of Java.
It will, however, naturally be objected that there 1s
a wide expanse of sea between Java and the continent,
which would have effectually prevented the immigration
of temperate forms of plants during the glacial epoch.
This would undoubtedly be a fatal objection, were there
not abundant evidence to show that Java has been
formerly connected with Asia, and that the union must
have occurred at about the epoch required. The most
striking proof of such a junction 1s, that the great Mam-
malia of Java, the rhinoceros, the tiger, and the Banteng
or wild ox, occur also in Siam and Burmah, and these
would certainly not have been introduced by man. The —
Javanese peacock and several other birds are also common
to these two countries; but, in the majority of cases, the
species are distinct, though closely allied, indicating that
a considerable time (required for such modification) has
elapsed since the separation, while it has not been so long
as to cause an entire change. Now this exactly cor-
responds with the time we should require since the
temperate forms of plants entered Java. These are
almost all now distinct species ; but the changed conditions
under which they are now forced to exist, and the proba-
bility of some of them having since died out on the con-
tinent of India, sufficiently accounts for the Javanese
species being different. |
CHAP. VIII. ] MOUNTAIN BIRDS. 121
In my more special pursuits, I had very little success
upon the mountain; owing, perhaps, to the excessively
unpropitious weather and the shortness of my stay. At
from 7,000 to 8,000 feet elevation, I obtained one of the
most lovely of the small fruit pigeons (Ptilonopus rosei-
collis), whose entire head and neck are of an exquisite
rosy pink colour, contrasting finely with its otherwise
green plumage; and on the very summit, feeding on the
ground among the strawberries that have been planted
there, I obtained a dull-coloured thrush, with the form
and habits of.a starling (Turdus fumidus). Insects were
almost entirely absent, owing no doubt to the extreme
dampness, and I did not get a single butterfly the whole |
trip ; yet I feel sure that, during the dry season, a week’s
residence on this mountain would well repay the collector
in every department of natural history.
After my return to Toego, I endeavoured to find another
locality to collect in, and removed to a coffee-plantation
some miles to the north, and tried in succession higher
and lower stations on the mountain; but I never suc-
ceeded in obtaining insects’ in any abundance, and birds
were far less plentiful than on the Megamendong Moun-
tain. The weather now became more rainy than ever,
and as the wet season seemed to have set in in earnest,
I returned to Batavia, packed up and sent off my col-
lections, and left by steamer on November 1st for Banca
and Sumatra.
CHAPTER VIII.
SUMATRA.
(NOVEMBER 1861 TO JANUARY 1862.)
HE mail steamer from Batavia to Singapore took me to
Muntok (or as on English maps, “ Minto”), the chief
town and port of Banca. Here I stayed a day or two, till I
could obtain a boat to take me across the straits, and up
the river to Palembang. A few walks into the country
122 SUMATRA. [CHAP. VIII.
showed me that it was very hilly, and full of granitic and
laterite rocks, with a dry and stunted forest vegetation ;
and I could find very few insects. A good-sized open
sailing-boat took me across to the mouth of the Palembang
river, where at a fishing village, a rowing-boat was hired
to take me up to Palembang, a distance of nearly a hundred
miles by water. Except when the wind was strong and
favouruble we could only proceed with the tide, and the
banks of the river were generally flooded Nipa-swamps, so
that the hours we were obliged to lay at anchor passed
very heavily. Reaching Palembang on the 8th of Novem-
ber, I was lodged by the Dector, to whom I had brought
a letter of introduction, and endeavoured to ascertain
where I could find a good locality for collecting. Every
one assured me that I should have to go a very long way
further to find any dry forest, for at this season the whole
country for many miles inland was flooded. I therefore —
had to stay a week at Palembang before I could determine
on my future movements.
The city is a large one, extending for three or four miles
along a fine curve of the river, which is as wide as the
Thames at Greenwich. The stream is, however, much
narrowed by the houses which project into it upon piles,
and within these, again, there is a row of houses built upon
great bamboo rafts, which are moored by rattan cables.
to the shore or to piles, and rise and fall with the tide.
The whole river-front on both sides is chiefly formed of
such houses, and they are mostly shops open to the water,
and only raised a foot above it, so that by taking a small
boat it is easy to go to market and purchase anything that
is to be had in Palembang. The natives are true Malays,
never building a house on dry land if they can find water
to set it in, and never going anywhere on foot if they can
reach the place in a boat. A considerable portion of the
population are Chinese and Arabs, who carry on all the —
trade ; while the only Europeans are the civil and military
officials of the Dutch Government. The town is situated
at the head of the delta of the river, and between it and
the sea there is very little ground elevated above high-
water mark; while for many miles further inland, the
banks of the main stream and its numerous tributaries are
CHAP. VIII] TAME SQUIRRELS. 123
swampy, and in the wet season flooded for a considerable
distance. Palembang is built on a patch of elevated
ground, a few miles in extent, on the north bank of the
river. At a spot about three miles from the town this
rises into a little hill, the top of which is held sacred by
the natives, and is shaded by some fine trees, inhabited by
a colony of squirrels, which have become half tame. On
holding out a few crumbs of bread or any fruit, they come
running down the trunk, take the morsel out of your
fingers, and dart away instantly. Their tails are carried
erect, and the hair, which is ringed with grey, yellow, and
brown, radiates uniformly around them, and looks exceed-
ingly pretty. They have somewhat of the motions of
mice, coming on with little starts, and gazing intently
with their large black eyes, before venturing to advance
further. The manner in which Malays often obtain the
confidence of wild animals is a very pleasing trait in their
character, and is due in some degree to the quiet delibera-
tion of their manners, and their love of repose rather than
of action. The young are obedient to the wishes of their
elders, and seem to feel none of that propensity to mischief
which European boys exhibit. How long would tame
squirrels continue to inhabit trees in the Vicinity of an
English village, even if close to the church? They would
soon be pelted and driven away, or snared and confined in
a whirling cage. I have never heard of these pretty
animals being tamed in this way in England, but I should
think it might be easily done in any gentleman’s park,
and they would certainly be as pleasing and attractive as
they would be uncommon.
After many inquiries, I found that a day’s journey a
water above Palembang there commenced a military road,
which extended up to the mountains and even across to
Bencoolen, and I determined to take this route and travel
on till I found some tolerable collecting ground. By this
means I should secure dry land and a good road, and avoid
the rivers, which at this season are very tedious to ascend
owing to the powerful currents, and very unproductive to
the collector owing to most of the lands in their vicinity
being under water. Leaving early in the morning we did
not reach Lorok, the village where the road begins, till
124 SUMATRA. (CHAP. VII:
late at night. I stayed there a few days, but found that
almost all the ground in the vicinity not under water was
cultivated, and that the only forest was in swamps which
were now inaccessible. The only bird new to me which I
obtained at Lorok was the fine long-tailed parroquet
(Paleornis longicauda). The people here assured me that
the country was just the same as this for a very long way
-—more than a week’s journey, and they seemed hardly to
have any conception of an elevated forest-clad country, so
that I began to think it would be useless going on, as the
time at my disposal was too short to make it worth my
while to spend much more of it in moving about. At
length, however, 1 found a man who knew the country,
and was more intelligent; and he at once told me that
if I wanted forest I must go to the district of Rembang,
which I found on inquiry was about twenty-five or thirty
miles off. :
The road is divided into regular stages, of ten or twelve
miles each, and, without sending on in advance to have
coolies ready, only this distance can be travelled in a day.
At each station there are houses for the accommodation
of passengers, with cooking-house and stables, and six or
eight men always on guard. There is an established
system for coolies at fixed rates, the inhabitants of the
surrounding villages all taking their turn to be subject to
coolie service, as well as that of guards at the station
for five days at a time. This arrangement makes travel-
ling very easy, and was a great convenience forme. I had
a pleasant walk of ten or twelve miles in the morning,
and the rest of the day could stroll about and explore
the village and neighbourhood, having a house ready to
occupy without any formalities whatever. In three days
I reached Moera-dua, the first village in Rembang, and
finding the country dry and undulating, with a good
sprinkling of forest, I determined to remain a short time
and try the neighbourhood. Just opposite the station’
was a small but deep river, and a good bathing-place ;
and beyond the village was a fine patch of forest, through
which the road passed, overshadowed by magnificent trees,
which partly tempted me to stay; but after a fortnight
I could find no good place for insects, and very few birds
CHAP, VIII.) MALAY HOUSES. 125
different from the common species of Malacca. I there-
fore moved on another stage to Lobo Raman, where the
guard-house is situated quite by itself in the forest, nearly
a mile from each of three villages. This was very agree-
able to me, as I could move about without having every
motion watched by crowds of men women and children,
and I had also a much greater variety of walks to each
of the villages and the plantations around them.
The villages of the Sumatran Malays are somewhat
peculiar and very picturesque. A space of some acres is
surrounded with a high fence, and over this area the houses
are thickly strewn without the least attempt at regularity.
Tall cocoa-nut trees grow abundantly between them, and
STAINS
y ‘ LNs
CHIEF’S HOUSE AND RICK SHZD IN A SUMATRAN VILLAGE.
the ground is bare and smooth with the trampling of many
feet. he houses are raised about six feet on posts, the
best being entirely built of planks, others of bamboo. The
former are always more or less ornamented with carving,
and have high-pitched roofs and overhanging eaves. The
gable ends and all the chief posts and beams are some-
times covered with exceedingly tasteful carved work, and
this is still more the case in the district of Menangkabo,
further west. The floor is made of split bamboo, and is
126 SUMATRA. | (CHAP. VIII. |
rather shaky, and there is no sign of anything we should
call furniture. There are no benches or chairs or stools,
but merely the level floor covered with mats, on which the
inmates sit or lie. ‘The aspect of the village itself is very
neat, the ground being often swept before the chief houses ;
but very bad odours abound, owing to there being under
every house a stinking mud-hole, formed by all waste
liquids and refuse matter, poured down through the floor
above. In most other things Malays are tolerably clean—
in some scrupulously so; and this peculiar and nasty
custom, which is almost universal, arises, I have little
doubt, from their having been originally a maritime and
water-loving people, who built their houses on posts in the
water, and only migrated gradually inland, first up the
rivers and streams, and then into the dry interior. Habits
which were at once so convenient and so cleanly, and
which had been so long practised as to become a portion
of the domestic life of the nation, were of course continued
when the first settlers built their houses inland; and with-
out a regular system of drainage, the arrangement of the
villages is such, that any other system would be very
inconvenient.
In all these Sumatran villages I found considerable
difficulty in getting anything to eat. It was not the
season for vegetables, and when, after much trouble, |
managed to procure some yams ‘of a curious variety, I
found them hard and scarcely eatable. Fowls were very
scarce ; and fruit was reduced to one of the poorest kinds
of banana. The natives (during the wet season at least)
live exclusively on rice, as the poorer Irish do on potatoes.
A pot of rice cooked very dry and eaten with salt and
red peppers, twice a day, forms their entire food during a
large part of the year. This is no sign of poverty, but is
simply custom; for their wives and children are loaded
with silver armlets from wrist to elbow, and carry dozens
of silver coins strung round their necks or suspended from
their ears.
As I had moved away from Palembang, I had found the
Malay spoken by the common people less and less pure,
till at length it became quite unintelligible, although the
continual recurrence of many well-known words assured
CHAP. VIII. ] THE INTERIOR. 127
me it was a form of Malay, and enabled me to guess at
the main subject of conversation. This district had a
very bad reputation a few years ago, and travellers were
frequently robbed and murdered. Fights between village
and village were also of frequent occurrence, and many
lives were lost, owing to disputes about boundaries or
intrigues with women. Now, however, since the country
has been divided into districts under “Controlleurs,” who
visit every village in turn to hear complaints and settle
disputes, such things are no more heard of. This is one of
the numerous examples I have met with of the good effects
of the Dutch Government. It exercises a strict surveil-
lance over its most distant possessions, establishes a form
of government well adapted to the character of the people,
reforms abuses, punishes crimes, and makes itself every-
where respected by the native population.
Lobo Raman is a central point of the east end of
Sumatra, being about a hundred and twenty miles from
the sea to the east, north, and west. The surface is
undulating, with no mountains or even hills, and there is
no rock, the soil being generally a red friable clay.
Numbers of small streams and rivers intersect the country,
and it is pretty equally divided between open clearings
and patches of forest, both virgin and second growth, with
abundance of fruit trees; and there is no lack of paths to
get about in any direction. Altogether it is the very
country that would promise most for a naturalist, and
[ feel sure that at a more favourable time of year it would
prove exceedingly rich; but it was now the rainy season,
when, in the very best of localities, insects are always
scarce, and there being no fruit on the trees there was
also a scarcity of birds. During a month’s collecting, I
added only three or four new species to my list of birds,
although I obtained very fine specimens of many
which were rare and interesting. In butterflies I was
rather more successful, obtaining several fine species
quite new to me, and a considerable number of very
rare and beautiful insects. I will give here some account
of two species of butterflies, which, though very common
in collections, present us with peculiarities of the highest
interest,
128 SUMATRA. [cHAP. Vill.
The first is the handsome Papilio memnon, a splendid
butterfly of a deep black colour, dotted over with lines and
croups of scales. of a clear ashy blue. Its wings are five
inches in expanse, and the hind wings are rounded, with
scalloped edges. This applies to the males ; but the females
are very different, and vary so much that they were once
supposed to form several distinct species. | They may be
divided into two groups—those which resemble the male
in shape, and those which differ entirely from him in the
DIFFERENS FEMALES OF PAPILIO MEMNON.
outline of the wings. The first vary much in colour,
being often nearly white with dusky yellow and red
markings, but such differences often occur in butterflies.
The second group are much more extraordinary, and would
never be supposed to be the same insect, since the hind
wings are lengthened out into large spoon-shaped tails, no
CHAP. Vill. | CURIOUS BUTTERFLIES. 129
rudiment of which is ever to be perceived in the males or
in the ordinary form of females. These tailed females are
never of the dark and blue-glossed tints which prevail in
the male and often occur in the females of the same form,
but are invariably ornamented with stripes and patches of
white or buff, occupying the larger part of the surface of
the hind wings. This peculiarity of colouring led me to
discover that this extraordinary female closely resembles
(when flying) another butterfly of the same genus but of a
different group (Papilio codn); and that we have here a
PAPILIO COGN.
case of mimicry similar to those so well illustrated and
explained by Mr. Bates.1 That the resemblance is not
accidental is sufficiently proved by the fact, that in the
North of India, where Papilio coon is replaced by an
allied form (Papilio Doubledayi) having red spots in place
of yellow, a closely-allied species or variety of Papilio
memnon (P. androgeus), has the tailed female alsu red
spotted, The use and reason of this resemblance appears
to be, that the butterflies imitated belong to a section of
the genus Papilio which from some cause or other are not
attacked by birds, and by so closely resembling these in
form and colour the female of Memnon and its ally, also
1 Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xviii. p. 495; “Naturalist on the Amazous,”
vol. i. p. 290
K
130 SUMATRA, [CHAP. VITL
escape persecution. Two other species of this same section
(Papilio antiphus and Papilio polyphontes) are so closely
imitated by two female forms of Papilio theseus (which
comes in the same section with Memnon), that they com-
pletely deceived the Dutch entomologist De Haan, and he
accordingly classed them as the same species !
But the most curious fact connected with these distinct
forms is, that they are both the offspring of either form.
A single brood of larvee were bred in Java by a Dutch
entomologist, and produced males as well as tailed and
tailless females, and there is every reason to believe that
this is always the case, and that forms intermediate in
character never occur. To illustrate these phenomena, let
us suppose a roaming Englishman in some remote island
to have two wives—one a bDlack-haired red-skinned
Indian, the other a woolly-headed sooty-skinned negress ;
and that instead of the children being mulattoes of brown
or dusky tints, mingling the characteristics of each parent
in varying degrees, all the boys should be as fair-skinned
and blue-eyed as their father, while the girls should
altogether resemble their mothers. This would be thought
strange enough, but the case of these butterflies 1s yet
more extraordinary, for each mother is capable not only of —
producing male offspring like the father, and female like
herself, but also other females like her fellow wife, and
altogether differing from herself!
The other species to which I have to direct attention is
the Kallima paralekta, a butterfly of the same family
group as our Purple Emperor, and of about the same size
or larger. Its upper surface is of a rich purple, variously
tinged with ash colour, and across the fore wings there is
a broad bar of deep orange, so that when on the wing it 1s
very conspicuous. This species was not uncommon in dry»
woods and thickets, and I often endeavoured to capture it
without success, for after flying a short distance it would
enter a bush among dry or dead leaves, and however care-
fully I crept up to the spot I could never discover it till
it would suddenly start out again and then disappear in a
similar place. At length I was fortunate enough to see
the exact spot where the butterfly settled, and though I
lost sight of it for some time, I at length discovered that it
CHAP. VIII. ] LEAF-LIKE BUTTERILY. ra)
was close before my eyes, but that in its position of repose
it so closely resembled a dead leaf attached to a twig as
almost certainly to deceive the eye even when gazing full
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eg er, =
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WW
LEAF BUTTERFLY IN FLIGHT AND REPOSE,
upon it. I captured several specimens on the wing, and
was able fully to understand the way in which this
wonderful resemblance is produced.
K 2
132 SUMATRA. (CHAP. VIIL
The end of the upper wings terminates in a fine
point, just as the leaves of many tropical shrubs
and trees are pointed, while the lower wings are some-
what more obtuse, and are lengthened out into a short
thick tail. Between these two points there runs a dark
curved line exactly representing the midrib of a leaf, and
from this radiate on each side a few oblique marks which
well imitate the lateral veins. These marks are more
clearly seen on the outer portion of the base of the wings, |
and on the inner side towards the middle and apex, and
they are produced by strie and markings which are very
common in allied species, but which are here modified and
strengthened so as to imitate more exactly the venation of
a leaf. The tint of the under surface varies much, but
it is always some ashy brown or reddish colour, which
matches with those of dead leaves. The habit of the
species is always to rest on a twig and among dead or
dry leaves, and in this position with the wings closely
pressed together, their outline is exactly that of a mode-
rately-sized leaf, slightly curved or shrivelled. The tail
of the hind wings forms a perfect stalk, and touches the
stick while the insect is supported by the middle pair of
legs, which are not noticed among the twigs and fibres
that surround it. The head and antenne are drawn back
between the wings so as to be quite concealed, and there
‘3 a little notch hollowed out at the very base of the
wings, which allows the head to be retracted sufficiently.
4
All these varied details combine to produce a disguise —
that is so complete and marvellous as to astonish every
one who observes it; and the habits of the imsects are
such as to utilize all these peculiarities, and render them
available in such a manner as to remove all doubt of
the purpose of this singular case of mimicry, which is
undoubtedly a protection to the insect. Its strong and
swift flight is sufficient to save it from its enemies when
on the wing, but if it were equally conspicuous when at
rest it could not long escape extinction, owing to the’
attacks of the insectivorous birds and reptiles that abound
in the tropical forests. A very closely allied species,
Kallima inachis, inhabits India, where it 1s very common,
and specimens are sent in every collection from the
CHAP, VIIL.] PROTECTIVE RFSEMBLANCES. 133
Himalayas. On examining a number of these, it will be
seen that no two are alike, but all the variations correspond
to those of dead leaves. livery tint of yellow, ash, brown,
and red is found here, and in many specimens there occur
patches and spots formed of small black dots, so ciosely
resembling the way in which minute fungi grow on ‘leaves
that. it is almost impossible at first not to believe that
fungi have grown on the butterflies themselves!
If such an extraordinary adaptation as this stood alone,
it would be very difficult to offer any explanation of it ; but
although it is perhaps the most perfect case of protective
imitation known, there are hundreds of similar ‘ezem-
blances in nature, and from these it 1s possible to deakee
a general theory of the manner in which they have ben
slowly brought about. The principle of variation and that
of “natural selection,” or survival of the fittest, as elabo-
rated by Mr. Darwin in his celebrated “ Origin of Species,”
offers the foundation for such a theory; and I have myself
endeavoured to apply it to all the chief cases of imitatior
‘in an article published in the Westminster Review for 1867,
entitled “ Mimicry, and other Protective Resemblances
among Animals,’ to which auy reader is referred who
wishes to know more about this subject.
In Sumatra, monkeys are very abundant, and at Lobo
Raman they used to frequent the trees which overhang
the guard-house, and give me a fine opportunity of
observing their gambols. Two species of Semnopithecus
were most plentiful—monkeys of a slender form, with very
long tails. Not being much shot at they are rather bold,
and remain quite unconcerned when natives alone are
present; but when I came out to look at them, they would
stare for a minute or two and then make off. They take
tremendous leaps from the branches of one tree to those of
another a little lower, and it is very amusing when one
strong leader takes a bold jump, to see the others following
with more or less trepidation; and it often happens that
one or two of the last seem quite unable to make up their
minds to leap till the rest are disappearing, when, as if in
desperation at being lett alone, they throw themselves
frantically into the air, and often go crashing through the
slender branches and fall to the ground.
134 SUMATRA. [CHAP. VIIL
A very curious ape, the Siamang, was also rather abundant,
but it is much less bold than the monkeys, keeping to the
virgin forests and avoiding villages. This species is allied to
the little long-armed apes of the genus Hylobates, but 1S —
considerably larger, and differs from them by having the two —
first fingers of the feet united together, nearly to the end,
whence its Latin name, Siamanga syndactyla. It moves
much more slowly than the active Hylobates, keeping
lower down in trees, and not indulging in such tremendous |
leaps ; but it is still very active, and by means of its im-
mense long arms, five feet six inches across In an adult
abo'it“three feet high, can swing itself along among the
tre at a great rate. I purchased a small one, which had
been caught by the natives and tied up so tightly as to
hurt it. It was rather savage at first, and tried to bite; but
when we had released it and given it two poles under the
verandah to hang upon, securing it by a short cord,
running along the pole with a ring, so that it could move
easily, it became more contented, and would swing itself
about with great rapidity. It ate almost any kind of fruit
and rice, and I was in hopes to have brought it to England,
but it died just before I started. It took a dislike to me
at first, which I tried to get over by feeding it constantly
myself. One day, however, it bit me so sharply while giving
it food, that I lost patience and gave it rather a severe
beating, which I regretted afterwards, as from that time it
disliked me more than ever. It would allow my Malay
boys to play with it, and for hours together would swing
by its arms from pole to pole and on to the rafters of the |
verandah, with so much ease and rapidity, that it was a
constant source of amusement to us. When I returned to
Singapore it attracted great attention, as no one had seen
a Siamang alive before, although it is not uncommon in
some parts of the Malay peninsula.
As the Orang-utan is known to inhabit Sumatra, and
was in fact first discovered there, I made many inquiries
about it; but none of the natives had ever heard of such an
animal, nor could I find any of the Dutch officials who
knew anything about it. We may conclude, therefore, that
it does not inhabit the great forest plains in the east of
Sumatra where one would naturally expect to find it, but
CHAP. VIil. | THR FLYING LEMUR. 135
is probably confined to a limited region in the north-west—
a part of the island entirely in the hands of native rulers.
The other great Mammalia of Sumatra, the elephant and
the rhinoceros, are more widely distributed ; but the former
is much more scarce than it was a few years ago, and
seems to retire rapidly before the spread of cultivation.
About Lobo Raman tusks and bones are occasionally found
in the forest, but the living animal is now never seen.
The rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sumatranus) still abounds, and
I continually saw its tracks and its dung, and once dis-
turbed one feeding, which went crashing away through the
jungle, only permitting me a momentary glimpse of, it
through the dense underwood. I obtained a tolerably
perfect cranium, and a number of teeth, which were picked
up by the natives.
/ Another curious animal, which I had met with in Singa-
pore and in Borneo, but which was more abundant here, is
the Galeopithecus, or flying lemur. \This creature has a
broad membrane extending all round its body to the
extremities of the toes, and to the point of the rather long
tail, This enables it to pass obliquely through the air
from one tree to another. It is sluggish in its motions, at
least by day, going up a tree by short runs of a few feet,
and then stopping a moment as if the action was difficult.
It rests during the day clinging to the trunks of trees, where
its olive or brown fur, mottled with irregular whitish spots
and blotches, resembles closely the colour of mottled bark,
and no doubt helps to protect it. Once, in a bright
twilight, I saw one of these animals run up a trunk in
a rather open place, and then glide obliquely through the
air to another tree, on which it alighted near its base, and
immediately began to ascend. I paced the distance from
the one tree to the other, and found it to be seventy yards ;
and the amount of descent I estimated at not more than
thirty-five or forty feet, or less than one in five. This I
think proves that the animal must have some power of
cuiding itself through the air, otherwise in so long a dis-
tance it would have little chance of alighting exactly upon
the trunk. Eek the Cuscus of the Moluccas, the Galeo-
pithecus feeds chiefly on leaves, and possesses a very
voluminous stomach and long convoluted intestines. The
—S
«
156 SUMATRA. (CHAP. VIiL
brain is very small, and the animal possesses such remark-
able tenacity of life, that it is exceedingly difficult to kill
it by any ordinary means. The tail is prehensile, and 1s
FEMALE HURNBILL, AND YOUNG BIRD.
probably made use of as an additional support while feed-
ing. / It is said to have only a single young one at a time,
and my own observation confirms this statement, for ]
CHAP, VIII] HORNBILLS. 137
once shot a female, with a very small blind and naked
little creature clinging closely to its breast, which was
quite bare and much wrinkled, reminding me of the young
of Marsupials, to which it seemed to form a transition.
On the back, and extending over the limbs and membrane,
the fur of these animals is short, but exquisitely soft,
resembling in its texture that of: the Chinchilla. _,
I returned to Palembang by water, and while Staying a
day at a village while a boat was being made watertight,
I had the good fortune to obtain a male, female, and young
bird of one of the large hornbills. I had sent my hunters
to shoot, and while “I was at breakfast they returned,
bringing me a fine large male, of the Buceros bicornis,
which one of them assured me he had shot while feeding
the female, which was shut up ina hole ina tree. I had
often read of this curious habit, and immediately returned
to the place, accompanied by several of the natives. After
crossing a stream and a bog, we found a large tree lean-
ing over some water, and on its lower side, at a height of
about twenty feet, appeared a small hole, and what looked
like a quantity of mud, which I was assured had been
used in stopping up the large hole. After a while we
heard the harsh cry of a bird inside, and could see the
white extremity of its beak put out. I offered a rupee to
any one who would go up and get out the bird, with the
ege or young one; but they all declared it was too difficult,
and they were afraid to try. I therefore very reluctantly
came away. In about an hour afterwards, much to my
surprise, a tremendous loud hoarse screaming was heard,
and the bird was brought me, together with a young one
which had been found in the hole. This was a most
curious object, as large as a pigeon, but without a particle
of plumage on any part of it. It was exceedingly plump
and soft, and with a semi-transparent skin, so that it
looked more like a bag of jelly, with head and feet stuck
on, than like a real bird.
The extraordinary habit of the male, in plastering up the
female with her egg, and feeding her during the whole time
of incubation, and till the young one is fledged, is common
to several of the large hornbills, and is one of those strange
facts in natural history which are “ stranger than fiction.”
138 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE [CBAP. LE
CHAPTER IX.
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS. »
{2 the first chapter of this work I have stated generally
the reasons which lead us to conclude that the large
;slands in the western portion of the Archipelago—Java, —
Sumatra, and Borneo—as well as the Malay peninsula and
the Philippine islands, have been recently separated from
the continent of Asia. ) I now propose to give a sketch ol
the Natural History of these, which I term the Indo-Malay
islands, and to show how far it supports this view, and
how mucb. information it is able to give us of the antiquity
and origin of the separate islands.
The flora of the Archipelago is at present so imperfectly
known, and I have myself paid so little attention to it,
that I cannot draw from it many facts of importance. The
Malayan type of vegetation is however a very important
one; and Dr. Hooker informs us, in his “ Flora Indica,”
that it spreads over all the moister and more equable parts
of India, and that many plants found in Ceylon, the Hima-
layas, the Nilghiri, and Khasia mountains are identical with
those of Java and the Malay peninsula. Among the more
characteristic forms of this flora are the rattans—climbing
palms of the genus Calamus, and a great variety of tall,
as well as stemless palms. Orchids, Aracez, Zingiberacee,
and ferns are especially abundant, and the genus Gramma-
tophyllum—a gigantic epiphytal orchid, whose clusters of
leaves and flower-stems are ten or twelve feet long—is —
peculiar to it. Here, too, is the domain of the wonderful
pitcher plants (Nepenthacee), which are only represented
elsewhere by solitary species in Ceylon, Madagascar, the
Seychelles, Celebes, and the Moluccas. Those celebrated
fruits, the Mangosteen and the Durian, are natives of this
region, and will hardly grow out of the Archipelago. The
mountain plants of Java have already been alluded to as
showing a former connexicn with the continent of Asia ;
and a still more extraordinary and more ancient connexion }
CHAP. 1X.] INDO-MALAY ISLANDS. 139
with Australia has been indicated by Mr. Low’s collections
from the summit of Kini-balou, the loftiest mountain in
Borneo
Plants have much greater facilities for passing across
arms of the sea than animals. The lighter seeds are easily
earried by the winds, and many of them are specially
adapted to be so carried. Others can float a long time
SS
————_ _*
= =|
Po Ani
EES = din ——— orl
=i
GRAMMATOPHYLLUM, A GIGANTIC ORCHID.
unhurt in the water, and are drifted by winds and. currents
to distant shores. Pigeons, and other fruit-eating birds, are
also the means of distributing plants, since the seeds
readily germinate after passing through their bodies. It
thus happens that plants which grow on shores and low-
lands have a wide distribution, and it requires an extensive
knowledge of the species of each island to determine the
relations of their floras with any approach to accuracy. At
present we have no such complete knowledge of the botany
140 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ([CULAP. 1X
of the several islands of the Archipelago ; and it is only by
such striking phenomena as the occurrence of northern and
even European genera on the summits of the Javanese
mountains that we can prove the former connexion of that
island with the Asiatic continent. With land animals, how-
ever, the case is very different. Their means of passing a
wide expanse of sea are far more restricted. Their distri-
‘bution has been more accurately studied, and we possess
a much more complete knowledge of such groups as
mammals and birds in most of the islands, than we do of
the plants. It is these two classes which will supply us
with most of our facts as to the geographical distribution
of organized beings in this region.
The number of Mammalia known to inhabit the Indo-
Malay region is very considerable, exceeding 170 species.
With the exception of the bats, none of these have any
regular means of passing arms of the sea many miles in
extent, and a consideration of their distribution must
therefore greatly assist us in determining, whether these
islands have ever been connected with each other or with
the continent since the epoch of existing species.
The Quadrumana or monkey tribe form one of the most
characteristic features of this region. Twenty-four dis-
tinct species are known to inhabit it, and these are distri-
buted with tolerable uniformity over the islands, nine
being found in Java, ten in the Malay peninsula, eleven in
Sumatra, and thirteen in Borneo. The great man-like
Orang-utans are found only in Sumatra and Borneo; the
curious Siamang (next tu them in size) in Sumatra and
Malacca; the long-nosed monkey only in Borneo; while
every island has representatives of the Gibbons or long-
armed apes, and of munkeys. ‘The lemur-like animals,
Nycticebus, Tarsius, and Galeopithecus, are found in all
the islands.
Seven species found on the Malay peninsula extend
also into Sumatra, four into Borneo, and three into Java;
while two range into Siam and Burmah, and one into
North India. With the exception of the Orang-utan,
the Siamang, the Tarsius spectrum, and the Galeopi-
thecus, all the Malayan genera of Quadrumana are re-
presented in India by closely allied species, although,
.
CHAP. 15.] INDO-MALAY ISLANDS. 14]
owing to the limited ‘range of most of these animals, so
few are absolutely identical.
Of Carnivora, thirty-three species are known from the
Indo-Malay region, of which about eight are found also
in Burmah and India. Among these are the tiger, leopard,
a tiger-cat, civet, and otter; while out of the twenty
genera of Malayan Carnivora, thirteen are represented in
India by more or less closely allied species. As an ex-
ample, the curious Malayan glutton (Helictis orientalis) is
represented in Northern India by a closely allied species
Helictis nipalensis.
The hoofed animals are twenty-two in number, of which
abcut seven extend into Burmah and India. All the deer
are of peculiar species, except two, which range from
Malacca into India. Of the cattle, one Indian species
reaches Malacca, while the Bos sondaicus of Java and
Borneo is also found in Siam and Burmah. A goat-like
animal is found in Sumatra which has its representative
in India; while the two-horned rhinoceros of Sumatra
and the single-horned species of Java, long supposed to be
peculiar to these islands, are now both ascertained to
exist in Burmah, Pegu, and Moulmein. The elephant of
Sumatra, Borneo, and Malacca is now considered to be
identical with that of Ceylon and India.
In all other groups of Mammalia the same general
phenomena recur.
it could be cheaply transported to the coast. Under such
a system the natives would soon perceive that European
government was advantageous to them. They would begin
to save money, and property being rendered secure they
would rapidly acquire new wants and new tastes, and
198 TIMOR. (CHAP. XIII.
become large consumers of European goods. This would
be a far surer source of profit to their rulers than im-
posts and extortion, and would be at the same time more
likely to produce peace and obedience, than the mock-
military rule which has hitherto proved most ineffective.
To inaugurate such a system would however require an
‘immediate outlay of capital, which neither Dutch nor
Portuguese seem inclined to make-—and a number of
honest and energetic officials, which the latter nation at
least seems unable to produce; so that it is much to be
feared that Timor will for many years to come remain
in its present state of chronic insurrection and mis-~
government,
Morality at Delli is at as low an ebb as in the far interior
of Brazil, and crimes are connived at which would entail
infamy and criminal prosecution in Europe. While I was
there it was generally asserted and believed in the place,
that two officers had poisoned the husbands of women
with whom they were carrying on intrigues, and with
whom they immediately cohabited on the death of their
rivals. Yet no one ever thought for a moment of showing
disapprobation of the crime, or even of considering it a
crime at all, the husbands in question being low half-
castes, who of course ought to make way for the pleasures
of their superiors.
Judging from what I saw myself and by the descriptions
of Mr. Geach, the indigenous vegetation of Timor is poor —
and monotonous. The lower ranges of the hills are every-
where covered with scrubby Eucalypti, which only occa-
sionally grow into lofty forest trees. Mingled with these
in smaller quantities are acacias and the fragrant sandal-
wood, while the higher mountains, which rise to about six
or seven thousand feet, are either covered ‘with coarse grass
or are altogether barren. In the lower grounds are a
variety of weedy bushes, and open waste places are covered
everywhere with a nettle-like wild mint. Here is found
the beautiful crown lily, Gloriosa superba, winding among
the bushes, and displaying its magnificent blossoms in
ereat profusion. A wild vine also occurs, bearing great
irregular bunches of hairy grapes of a coarse but very
luscious flavour. In some of the valleys where the
CHAP, XIII. | SOIL AND VEGETATION. 199
vegetation is richer, thorny shrubs and climbers are so
abundant as to make the thickets quite impenetrable.
The soil seems very poor, consisting chiefly of decom-
posing clayey shales; and the bare earth and rock is almost
everywhere visible. The drought. of the hot season is so
severe that most of the streams dry up in the plains before
they reach the sea; everything becomes burnt up, and the
leaves of the larger trees fall as completely as in our winter.
On the mountains from two to four thousand feet elevation
there is a much moister atmosphere, so that potatoes and
other European products can be grown all the year round.
Besides ponies, almost the only exports of Timor are
sandal-wood and bees-wax. The sandal-wood (Santalum
sp.) is the produce of a small tree, which grows sparingly
in the mountains of Timor and many of the other islands
in the far East. The wood is of a fine yellow colour, and
possesses a well-known delightful fragrance which is won-
derfully permanent. It is brought down to Delli in small
logs, and is chiefly exported to China, where it is largely
used to burn in the temples, and in the houses of the
wealthy. —
The bees’-wax is a still more important and valuable
product, formed by the wild bees (Apis dorsata), which
build huge honeycombs, suspended in the open air from
the under-side of the lofty branches of the highest trees.
These are of a semicircular form, and often three or
four feet in diameter. I once saw the natives take a
bees’ nest, and a very interesting sight it was. In the
valley where I used to collect insects, I one day saw three
or four Timorese men and boys under a high tree, and,
looking up, saw on a very lofty horizontal branch three
large bees’ combs. The tree was straight and smooth-
barked and without a branch, till at seventy or eighty
feet from the ground it gave out the limb which the bees
had chosen for their home. As the men were evidently
looking after the bees, I waited to watch their operations.
One of them first produced along piece of wood apparently
the stem of a small tree or creeper, which he had brought
with him, and began splitting it through in several direc-
tions, which showed that it was very tough and stringy.
He then wrapped it in palm-leaves, which were secured
200 TIMOR. (CHAP. XI11.
by twisting a slender creeper round them. He then
fastened his cloth tightly round his loins, and producing
another cloth wrapped it round his head, neck, and body,
and tied it firmly round his neck, leaving his face, arms,
and legs completely bare. Slung to his girdle he carried a
long thin coil of cord; and while he had been making
these preparations one of his companions had cut a strong
creeper or bush-rope eight or ten yards long, to one end
of which the wood-torch was fastened, and lighted at the
bottom, emitting a steady stream of smoke. Just above
the torch a chopping-knife was fastened by a short cord.
The bee-hunter now took hold of the bush-rope just
above the torch and passed the other end round the trunk
of the tree, holding one end in each hand. Jerking it up
the tree a little above his head he set his foot against the
trunk, and leaning back began walking up it. It was
wonderful to see the skill with which he took advantage of
the slightest irregularities of the bark or obliquity of the
stem to aid his ascent, jerking the stiff creeper a few feet
higher when he had found a firm hold for his bare foot.
It almost made me giddy to look at him as he rapidly got
up—thirty, forty, fifty feet above the ground; and I kept
wondering how he could possibly mount the next few feet
of straight smooth trunk. Still, however, he kept on with
as much coolness and apparent certainty as if he were
going up a ladder, till he got within ten or fifteen feet of
the bees. Then he stopped a moment, and took care to
swing the torch (which hung just at his feet) a little —
towards these dangerous insects, so as to send up the
stream of smoke between him and them. Still going on,
in a minute more he brought himself under the limb, and,
in a manner quite unintelligible to me, seeing that both
hands were occupied in supporting himself by the creeper,
managed to get upon it.
By this time the bees began to be alarmed, and formed
a dense buzzing swarm just over him, but he brought
the torch up closer to him, and coolly brushed away
those that settled on his arms or legs. Then stretching
himself along the limb, he crept towards the nearest
comb and swung the torch just under it. The moment
the smoke touched it, its colour changed in a most curious |
CHAP, XIII. ] BEE-HUNTERS. 201
manner from black to white, the myriads of bees that had
covered it flying off and forming a dense cloud above and
around, The man then lay at full length along the limb,
and brushed off the remaining bees with his hand, and then
drawing his knife cut off the comb at one slice close to the
tree, and attaching the thin cord to it, let it down to his
companions below. He was all this time enveloped in a
crowd of angry bees, and how he bore their stings so coolly,
and went on with his work at that giddy height so de-
liberately, was more than I could understand. The bees
were evidently not stupified by the smoke or driven away
far by it, and it was impossible that the small stream from
the torch could protect his whole body when at work.
There were three other combs on the same tree, and all
were successively taken, and furnished the whole party
with a luscious feast of honey and young bees, as well as
a valuable lot of wax.
After two of the combs had been let down, the bees
became rather numerous below, flying about wildly and
stinging viciously. Several got about me, and I was
soon stung, and had to run away, beating them off with
my net and capturing them for specimens. Several of
them followed me for at least half a mile, getting into
my hair and persecuting me most pertinaciously, so that
I was more astonished than ever at the immunity of the
natives. J am inclined to think that slow and deliberate
motion, and no attempt at escape, are perhaps the best
safeguards. A bee settling on a passive native probably
behaves as it would on a tree or other inanimate substance,
which it does not attempt to sting. Still they must often
suffer, but they are used to the pain and learn to bear it
impassively, as without doing so no man could be a bee-
hunter.
202 NATURAL HISTORY [cuap. x1Vv.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TIMOR GROUP.
F we look at a map of the Archipelago, nothing seems
more unlikely than that the closely connected chain of
islands from Java to Timor should differ materially in their
natural productions. ‘There are, it is true, certain differ-
ences of climate and of physical geography, but these do
not correspond with the division the naturalist is obliged to
make. Between the two ends of the chain there is a great
contrast of climate, the west being exceedingly moist and
having only a short and irregular dry season, the east being
as dry and parched up, and having but a short wet season.
This change, however, occurs about the middle of Java, the
eastern portion of that island having as strongly marked
seasons as Lombock and Timor. There is also a difference
in physical geography ; but this occurs at the eastern ter-
mination of the chain, where the volcanoes which are the
marked feature of Java, Bali, Lombock, Sumbawa, and
Flores, turn northwards through Gunong Api to Banda,
leaving Timor with only one volcanic peak near its centre ;
while the main portion of the island consists of old sedi-
mentary rocks. Neither of these physical differences cor-
responds with the remarkable change in natural produc-
tions which occurs at the Straits of Lombock, separating
the island of that name from Bali; and which is at once
so large in amount and of so fundamental a character, as
to form an important feature in the zoological geography —
of our globe.
The Dutch naturalist Zollinger, who resided a long time
in the island of Bal, informs us that its productions com-
pletely assimilate with those of Java, and that he is not »
aware of a single animal found in it which does not in-
habit the larger island. During the few days which I
stayed on the north coast of Bali oun my way to Lombock,
[ saw several birds highly characteristic of Javan orni-
thology. Among these were the yellow-headed weaver
OHAP. XIV. ] OF THE TIMOR GROUP. 203
(Ploceus hypoxanthus), the black grasshopper thrush
(Copsychus amcenus), the rosy barbet (Megalema rosea),
the Malay oriole (Oriolus horsfieldi), the Java ground
starling (Sturnopastor jalla), and the Javanese three-toed
woodpecker (Chrysonotus tiga). On crossing over to
Lombock, separated from Bali by a strait less than twenty
miles wide, I naturally expected to meet with some of
these birds again ; but during a stay there of three months
I never saw one of them, but found a totally different set
of species, most of which were utterly unknown not only in
Java, but also in Borneo, Sumatra, and Malacca. For ex-
ample, among the commonest birds in Lombock were white
cockatoos and three species of Meliphagidse or honey-
suckers, belonging to family groups which are entirely
absent from the western or Indo-Malayan region of the
Archipelago. On passing to Flores and Timor the dis-
tinctness from the Javanese productions increases, and we
find that these islands form a natural group, whose birds
are related to those of Java and Australia, but are quite
distinct from either. Besides my own collections in Lom-
bock and Timor, my assistant Mr. Allen made a good
collection in Flores; and these, with a few species obtained
by the Dutch naturalists, enable us to form a very good idea
of the natural history of this group of islands, and to
derive therefrom some very interesting results.
The number of birds known from these islands up to
this date, is,—63 from Lombock, 86 from Flores, and 118
from Timor; and from the whole group 188 species. With
the exception of two or three species which appear to have
been derived from the Moluccas, all these birds can be
traced, either directly or by close allies, to Java on the one
side or to Australia on the other ; although no less than 82
of them are found nowhere out of this small group of
islands. There is not, however, a single genus peculiar to
the group, or even one which is largely represented in it by
peculiar species ; and this is a fact which indicates that the
fauna is strictly derivative, and that its origin does not go
a beyond one of the most recent geological epochs. Of
urse there are a large number of species (such as most of
the waders, many of the raptorial birds, some of the king-
fishers, swallows, and a few others), which range so widely
204 NATURAL HISTORY. (CHAP. XIV.
over a large part of the Archipelago, that it is impossible
to trace them as having come from any one part rather
than from another. There are fifty-seven such species in
my list, and besides these there are thirty-five more which,
though peculiar to the Timor group, are yet allied to wide-
ranging forms. Deducting these ninety-two species, we
have nearly a hundred birds left whose relations with
those of other countries we will now consider.
If we first take those species which, as far as we yet
know, are absolutely confined to each island, we find, in—
Lombock 4, belonging to 2 genera, of which 1is Australian, 1 Indian.
Flores .12 ae . 5 are ,, 2
Timor 5 42 9 20 ” 16 ” 4 ”
The actual number of peculiar species in each island I do
not suppose to be at all accurately determined, since the
rapidly increasing numbers evidently depend upon the
more extensive collections made in Timor than in Flores,
and in Flores than in Lombock; but what we can depend
more upon, and what is of more especial interest, is the
greatly increased proportion of Australian forms and de-
creased proportion of Indian forms, as we go from west to
east. We shall show this in a yet more striking manner
by counting the number of species identical with those of
Java and Australia respectively in each island, thus:
In Lombock. In Flores. In Timor.
Javan birds 3 23 11
Australian birds . . 4 5 10
Here we see plainly the course of the migration which
has been going on for hundreds or thousands of years, and
is still going on at the present day. Birds entering from
Java are most numerous in the island nearest Java ; each
strait of the sea to be crossed to reach another island offers
an obstacle, and thus a smaller number get over to the
next island! It will be observed that the number of
birds that appear to have entered from Australia is much
less than those which have come from Java; and we may
at first sight suppose that this is due to the wide sea that
1 The names of all the birds inhabiting these islands are to be oan
in the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London” for the year
1863, ~
~
CHAP. XIV.] OF THE TIMOR GROUP. 205
separates Australia from Timor. But this would be a hasty
and, as we shall soon see, an unwarranted supposition.
Besides these birds identical with species inhabiting Java
and Australia, there are a considerable number of others
very closely allied to species peculiar to those countries,
and we must take these also into account before we form
any conclusion on the matter. It will be as well to com-
bine these with the former table thus:
In Lombock. In Flores. In Timor.
Wavanepae gy eT gg 23 11
Closely allied to Javan birds 1 5 6
Total 34 28 17
MUsteare eras Og 5 10
Closely allied to Australian birds . 38 9 26
Total ij 14 36
We now see that the total number of birds which seem
to have been derived from Java and Australia is very
nearly equal, but there is this remarkable difference be-
tween the two series: that whereas the larger proportion
by far of the Java set are identical with those still inhabit-
ing that country, an almost equally large proportion of the
Australian set are distinct, though often very closely allied
species. It is to be observed also, that these representative
or allied species diminish in number as they recede from
Australia, while they increase in number as they recede
from Java. There are two reasons for this, one being that
the islands decrease rapidly in size from Timor to Lom-
bock, and can therefore support a decreasing number of
species ; the other and the more important is, that the dis-
tance of Australia from Timor cuts off the supply of fresh
immigrants, and has thus allowed variation to have full
play; while the vicinity of Lombock to Bali and Java
has allowed a continual influx of fresh individuals which,
by crossing with the earlier immigrants, has checked
variation.
To simplify our view of the derivative origin of the
birds of these islands let us treat them as a whole, and
thus perhaps render more intelligible their respective rela-
tions to Java and Australia.
206 NATURAL HISTORY (CHAP, XIV.
The Timor group of islands contains :—
Javan birds . - - - + 9386 | Australian birds Uo, 9 Sele
Closely allied species _ . 11 | Closely allied species . . 36
Derived from Java . . 47 Derived from Australia . 48
—— ——_
We have here a wonderful agreement in the number of
birds belonging to Australian and Javanése groups, but
they are divided in exactly a reverse manner, three-fourths
of the Javan birds being identical species and one-fourth
representatives, while only one-fourth of the Australian
forms are identical and three-fourths representatives. This
is the most important fact which we can elicit from a
study of the birds of these islands, since it gives us a very
complete clue to much of their past history.
Change of species is a slow process. On that we are all
agreed, though we may differ about how it has taken place.
The fact that the Australian species im these islands have
mostly changed, while the Javan species have almost all
remained unchanged, would therefore indicate that the
district was first peopled from Australia. But, for this to
have been the case, the physical conditions must have been
very different from what they are now. Nearly three
hundred miles of open sea now separate Australia from
Timor, which island 1s connected with Java by a chain of
broken land divided by straits which are nowhere more
than about twenty miles wide. Evidently there are now
great facilities for the natural productions of Java to
spread over and occupy the whole of these islands, while
those of Australia would find very great difficulty in
getting across. To account for the present state of things,
we should naturally suppose that Australia was once much
more closely connected with Timor than it is at present; —
and that this was the case is rendered highly probable by
the fact of a submarine bank extending along all the north
and west coast of Australia, and at one place approaching
within twenty miles of the coast of Timor. ‘This indicates
a recent subsidence of North Australia, which probably
once extended as far as the edge of this bank, between
which and Timor there is an unfathomed depth of ocean.
I do not think that Timor was ever actually connected
CHAP. XIV. | OF THE TIMOR GROVE. DOF
with Australia, because such a large number of very abun-
‘dant and characteristic groups of Australian birds are
quite absent, and not a single Australian mammal has
entered Timor ; which would certainly not have been the
case had the lands been actually united. Such groups as
the bower birds (Ptilonorhyuchus), the black and red
cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus), the blue wrens (Malurus), the
crowshrikes (Cracticus), the Australian shrikes (Falcun-
culus and Colluricincla), and many others, which abound
all over Australia, would certainly have spread into Timor
if it had been united to that country, or even if for any
long time it had approached nearer to it than twenty
miles. Neither do any of the most characteristic groups
of Australian insects occur in Timor; so that everything
combines to indicate that a strait of the sea has always
separated it from Australia, but that at one period this
strait was reduced to a width of about twenty miles.
But at the time when this narrowing of the sea took
place in one direction, there must have been a greater
separation at the other end of the chain, or we should find
more equality in the numbers of identical and representa-
tive species derived from each extremity. It is true that
the widening of the strait at the Australian end by sub-
sidence, would, by putting a stop to immigration and inter-
crossing of individuals from the mother country, have
allowed full scope to the causes which have led to the
’ modification of the species; while the continued stream of
immigrants from Java, would, by continual intercrossing,
check such modification. This view will not, however,
explain all the facts; for the character of the fauna of the
Timorese group is indicated as well by the forms which
are absent from it as by those which it contains, and is by
this kind of evidence shown to be much more Australian
than Indian. No less than twenty-nine genera, all more
or less abundant in Java, and most of which range over a
wide area, are altogether absent; while of the equally
diffused Australian genera only about fourteen are want-_
ing. This would clearly indicate that there has been, till
recently, a wide separation from Java; and the fact that
the islands of Bali and Lombock are small, and are almost
wholly volcanic, and contain a smaller number of modified
208 NATURAL HISTORY | CHAP, X1V.
forms than the other islands, would point them out as of
comparatively recent origin. A wide arm of the sea pro-
bably occupied their place at the time when Timor was in
the closest proximity to Australia ; and as the subterranean
fires were slowly piling up the now fertile islands of Bali
and Lombock, the northern shores of Australia would be
sinking beneath the ocean. Some such changes as have
been here indicated, enable us to understand how it
happens, that though the birds of this group are on the
whole almost as much Indian as Australian, yet the species
which are peculiar to the group are mostly Australian in
character; and also why such a large number of common
Indian forms which extend through Java to Bali, should
not have transmitted a single representative to the islands
further east.
The Mammalia of Timor as well as those of the other
islands of the group are exceedingly scanty, with the
exception of bats. These last are tolerably abundant, and
no doubt many more remain to be discovered. Out of
fifteen species known from ‘Timor, nine are found also in
Java, or the islands west of it; three are Moluccan spe-
cies, most of which are also found in Australia, and the
rest are peculiar to Timor.
The land mammals are only seven in number, as follows:
1. The common monkey, Macacus cynomolgus, which is
found in all the Indo-Malayan islands, and has spread
from Java through Bali and Lombock to Timor. This’
species is very frequent on the banks of rivers, and may
have been conveyed from island to island on trees carried
down by floods. 2. Paradoxurus fasciatus; @ civet cat,
very common over a large part of the Archipelago.
3. Felis megalotis; a tiger cat, said to be peculiar to Timor,
where it exists only in the interior, and is very rare. Its
nearest allies are in Java. +4. Cervus timoriensis; a deer,
closely allied to the Javan and Moluccan species, if dis-
tinct. 5. A wild pig, Sus timoriensis; perhaps the. same
as some of the Moluccan species. 6. A shrew mouse, Sorex
tenuis ; supposed to be peculiar to Timor. 7. An Eastern
opossum, Cuscus orientalis; found also in the Moluccas,
if not a distinct species.
The fact that not one of these species is Australian, or
CHAP, XIV.] OF THE TIMOR GROUP. 209
_ nearly allied to any Australian form, is strongly corrobora-
tive of the opinion that Timor has never formed a part of
that country; as in that case some kangaroo or other
marsupial animal would almost certainly be found there.
Tt is no doubt very difficult to account for the presence of
some of the few mammals that do exist in Timor, especially
the tiger cat and the deer. We must consider, however,
that during thousands, and perhaps hundreds of thou-
sands of years, these islands and the seas between them
have been subjected to volcanic action. The land has
been raised and has sunk again; the straits have been
narrowed or widened ; many of the islands may have been
joined and dissevered again; violent floods have again
and again devastated the mountains and plains, carrying
out to sea hundreds of forest trees, as has often happened
during volcanic eruptions in Java; and it does not seem
improbable that once in a thousand, or ten thousand years,
there should have occurred such a favourable combination
of circumstances as would lead to the migration of two or
three land animals from one island to another. This is all
that we need ask to account for the very scanty and frag-
mentary group of Mammalia which now inhabit the large
island of Timor. The deer may very probably have been
introduced by man, for the Malays often keep tame fawns ;
and it may not require a thousand, or even five hundred
years, to establish new characters in an animal removed to
a country so different in climate and vegetation as is
Timor from the Moluccas. I have not mentioned horses,
which are often thought to be wild in Timor, because
there are no grounds whatever for such a belief. The Timor
ponies have every one an owner, and are quite as much
domesticated animals as the cattle on a South American
hacienda.
I have dwelt at some length on the origin of the
Timorese fauna, because it appears to me a most interest-
ing and instructive problem. It is very seldom that we
can trace the animals of a district so clearly as we can
in this case, to two definite sources; and still more rarely
that they furnish such decisive evidence, of the time, and
the manner, and the proportions of their introduction.
We have here a group of Oceanic Islands in miniature—
P
210 NATURAL HISTORY [CHAP. XIV
islands which have never formed part of the adjacent
lands, although so closely approaching them; and their
productions have the characteristics of true Oceanic Islands
slightly modified. These characteristics are, the absence
of all Mammalia except bats, and the occurrence of
peculiar species of birds, insects, and land shells, which,
though found nowhere else, are plainly related to those
of the nearest land. Thus, we have an entire absence of
Australian mammals, and the presence of only a few strag-
glers from the west, which can be accounted for in the
manner already indicated. Bats are tolerably abundant.
Birds have many peculiar species, with a decided relation-
ship to those of the two nearest masses of land. The
insects have similar relations with the birds. As an ex-
ample, four species of the Papilionide are peculiar to
Timor, three others are also found in Java, and one in
Australia. Of the four peculiar species two are decided
modifications of Javanese forms, while the others seem
allied to those of the Moluccas and Celebes. The very few
jand shells known are all, curiously enough, allied to or
identical with Moluccan or Celebes forms. The Pieridee
(white and yellow butterflies) which wander more, and
from frequenting open grounds are more liable to be blown.
out to sea, seem about equally related to those of Java,
Australia, and the Moluccas.
It has been objected to Mr. Darwin's theory,—of Oceanic
Islands having never been connected with the mainland,—
that this would imply that their animal population was a
matter of chance; it has been termed the “ flotsam an
jetsam theory,” and it has been maintained that nature
does not work by the “chapter of accidents.” But in the
case which I have here described, we have the most posi-
sive evidence that such has been the mode of peopling the
islands. Their productions are of that miscellaneous cha-
racter which we should expect from such an origin ; and
to suppose that they have been portions of Australia or of
Java will introduce perfectly gratuitous difficulties, and
render it quite impossible to explaim those curious rela-
tions which the best known group of animals (the birds) —
have been shown to exhibit. On the other hand, the
depth of the surrounding seas, the form of the submerged
|
‘CHAP. XiV.| OF THE TIMOR GROUP. ag Be
banks, and the volcanic character of most of the islands,
all point tc an independent origin.
Before concluding, I must make one remark to avoid
misapprehension. When I say that Timor has never
formed part of Australia, I refer only to recent geological
epochs. In Secondary or even Eocene or Miocene times,
Timor and Australia may have been connected; but if so,
all record of such a union has been lost by subsequent
submergence; and in accounting for the present Jand-
inhabitants of any country we have only to consider these
changes which have occurred since its last elevation above
the waters. Since such last elevation, I feel confident that
Timor has not formed part of. Australia.
CHAPTER XV.
CELEBES.
(MACASSAR. SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1856.)
| LEFT Lombock on the 30th of August, and reached
Macassar in three days. It was with great satisfaction
that I stepped on a shore which I had been vainly trying
to reach since February, and where I expected to meet
with so much that was new and interesting.
The coast of this part of Celebes is low and flat, lined
with trees and villages so as to conceal the interior, except
at occasional openings which show a wide extent of bare
and marshy rice-fields. A few hills, of no great height,
were visible in the background; but owing to the per-
petual haze over the land at this time of: the year, I could
nowhere discern the high central range of the peninsula,
or the celebrated peak of Bontyne at its southern ex-
tremity. In the roadstead of Macassar there was a fine
42-cun frigate, the guardship of the place, as well as a
small war steamer and three or four little cutters used for
cruising after the pirates which infest these seas. There
7 Pa
212 . CELEBES. [cHAP. Xv.
were also a few square-rigged trading-vessels, and twenty
or thirty native praus of various sizes. I brought letters of
introduction to a Dutch gentleman, Mr. Mesman, and also
to a Danish shopkeeper, who could both speak English,
and who promised to assist me in finding a place to
stay at, suitable for my pursuits. In the meantime, I
went to a kind of club-house, in default of any hotel
in the place. :
Macassar was the first Dutch town I had visited, and L
found it prettier and cleaner than any I had yet seen in
the East. The Dutch have some admirable local regula-
tions. All European houses must be kept well white-
washed, and every person must, at four in the afternoon,
water the road in front of his house. The streets are kept
clear of refuse, and covered drains carry away all impurities
into large open sewers, into which the tide is admitted at
high-water and allowed to flow out when it has ebbed, —
carrying all the sewage with it, into the sea. The town
consists chiefly of one long narrow street, along the sea-
side, devoted to business, and principally occupied by the
Dutch and Chinese merchants’ offices and warehouses, and
the native shops or bazaars. This extends northwards for
more than a mile, gradually merging into native houses,
often of a most miserable description, but made to have a
neat appearance by being all built up exactly to the straight
ine of the street, and being generally backed by fruit
trees. This street is usually thronged with a native popu-
lation of Bugis and Macassar men, who wear cotton
trousers about.twelve inches long, covering only from the
hip to half-way down the thigh, and the universal Malay
sarong, of gay checked colours, worn round the waist or
across the shoulders in a variety of ways. Parallel to this —
street run two short ones, which form the old Dutch town,
and are enclosed by gates. These consist of private houses,
and at their southern end is the fort, the church, and a
road at right angles to the beach, containing the houses
of the Governor and of the principal officials. Beyond
the fort again, along the beach, is another long street of
native huts and many country houses of the tradesmen
and merchants. All around extend the flat rice-fields,
now bare and dry and forbidding, covered with dusty
CHAP. XV.] TOWN OF MACASSAR. 213
stubble and weeds. A few months back these were a
mass of verdure, and their barren appearance at this
season offered a striking contrast to the perpetual crops
on the same kind of country in Lombock and Bali, where
the seasons are exactly similar, but where an elaborate
system of irrigation produces the effect of a perpetual
spring.
The day after my arrival I paid a visit of ceremony to
the Governor, accompanied by my friend the Danish
merchant, who spoke excellent English. His Excellency
was very polite, and offered me every facility for travelling
about the country and prosecuting my researches in
natural history. We conversed in French, which all Dutch
officials speak very well.
Finding it very inconvenient and expensive to stay in
the town, I removed at the end of a week to a little
bamboo house, kindly offered me by Mr. Mesman. It was
situated about two miles away, on a small coffee plantation
and farm, and about a mile beyond Mr. M.’s own country-
house. It consisted of two rooms raised about seven feet
above the ground, the lower part being partly open (and
serving excellently to skin birds in) and partly used as
a granary for rice. There was a kitchen and other out-
houses, and several cottages near were occupied by men in
Mr. M.’s employ.
After being settled a few days in my new house, I found
that no collections could be made without going much
further into the country. The rice-fields for some miles
round resembled English stubbles late in autumn, and were
almost as unproductive of bird or insect life. . There were
several native villages scattered about, so embosomed in
fruit trees that at a distance they looked like clumps or
patches of forest. These were my only collecting places,
but they produced a very limited number of species, and
were soon exhausted. Before I could move to any more
promising district it was necessary to obtain permission
from the Rajah of Goa, whose territories approach to within
two miles of the town of Macassar. I therefore presented
myself at the Governor’s office and requested a letter to
the Rajah, to claim his protection, and permission to travel
in his territories whenever I might wish to do so This
214 CELEBES. |CHAP. XV.
was immediately granted, and a special messenger was
sent with me to carry the letter.
My friend Mr. Mesman kindly lent me a horse, and
accompanied me on my visit to the Rajah, with whom he
was great friends. We found his Majesty seated out of
doors, watching the erection of a new house. He was naked
from the waist up, wearing only the usual short trousers
and sarong. Two chairs were brought out for us, but all
the chiefs and other natives were seated on the ground.
The messenger, squatting down at the Rajah’s feet, pro-
duced the letter, which was sewn up in .a covering of
yellow silk. It was handed to one of the chief officers,
who ripped it open and returned it to the Rajah, who read
it, and then showed it to Mr. M., who both speaks and
reads the Macassar language fluently, and who explained
fully what I required. Permission was immediately
oranted me to go where I liked in the territories of Goa,
but the Rajah desired, that should I wish to stay any time
at a place | would first give him notice, in order that he
might send some one to see that no injury was done me.
Some wine was then brought us, and afterwards some
detestable coffee and wretched sweetmeats, for it 1s a fact
that I have never tasted good coffee where people grow it
themselves.
Although this was the height of the dry season, and
there was a fine wind all day, it was by no means a
healthy time of year. My boy Ali had hardly been a
day on shore when he was attacked by fever, which put
me to great inconvenience, as at the house where I was
staying nothing could be obtained but at meal-times.
After having cured Ali, and with much difficulty got
another servant to cook for me, I was no sooner settled
at my country abode than the latter was attacked with
the same disease; and, having a wife in the town, left me.
Hardly was he gone than I fell ill myself, with strong
intermittent fever every other day. In about a week I
got over it, by a liberal use of quinine, when scarcely was
I on my legs than Ali again became worse than ever. His
fover attacked him daily, but early im the morning he was
pretty well, and then managed to cook me enough for the
day. In a week I cured him and also succeeded in
'
i
?
OHAP. X¥.] BIRDS NEAR MACASSAR. 215
getting another boy who could cook and shoot, and had no
objection to go into the interior. His name was Baderoon,
and as he was unmarried and had been used to a roving
life, having been several voyages to North Australia to
catch trepang or “béche de mer,” I was in hopes of being
able to keep him. I also got hold of a little impudent rascal
of twelve or fourteen, who could speak some Malay, to
carry my gun or insect-net and make himself generally
useful. Ali had by this time become a pretty good bird-
skinner, so that I was fairly supplied with servants.
I made many excursions into the country, in search of a
good station for collecting birds and insects. Some of the
villages a few miles inland are scattered about in woody
ground which has once been virgin forest, but of which
the constituent trees have been for the most part replaced
by fruit trees, and particularly by the large palm, Arenga
saccharifera, from which wine and sugar are made, and
which also produces a coarse black fibre used. for cordage.
That necessary of life, the bamboo, has also been abun-
dantly planted. In such places I found a good many
birds, among which were the fine cream-coloured pigeon,
Carpophaga luctuosa, and the rare blue-headed roller,
Coracias temmincki, which has a most discordant voice,
and generally goes in pairs, flying from tree to tree, and
exhibiting while at rest that all-in-a-heap appearance and
jerking motion of the head and tail which are so charac-
teristic of the great Fissirostral group to which it belongs.
From this habit alone, the kinefishers, bee-eaters, rollers,
trogons, and South American puff-birds, might be grouped
together by a person who had observed them in a state of
aature, but who had never had an opportunity of examin-
ing their form and structure in detail. Thousands of
crows, rather smaller than our rook, keep up a constant
cawing in these plantations; the curious wood-swallows
(Artami), which closely resemble swallows in their habits
and flight but differ much in form and structure, twitter
from the tree-tops; while a lyre-tailed drongo-shrike, with
briliant black plumage and milk-white eyes, continually
deceives the naturalist by the variety of its unmelodious
notes.
In the more shady parts butterflies were tolerably
216 CELEBES. [oHar. xv.
abundant; the most common being species of Eupleea and
Danais, which frequent gardens and shrubberies, and
owing to their weak flight are easily captured. A beautiful
pale blue and black butterfly, which flutters along near
‘the ground among the thickets, and settles occasionally
upon flowers, was one of the most striking; and scarcely
less so, was one with a rich orange band on a blackish
eround: these both belong to the Pieride, the group that
contains our common white butterflies, although differing
so much from them in appearance. Both were quite new
to European naturalists. Now and then I extended. my
walks some miles further, to the only patch of true forest
I could find, accompanied by my two boys with guns and
insect-net. We used to start early, taking our breakfast
with us, and eating it wherever we could find shade and
water. At such times my Macassar boys would put a
minute fragment of rice and meat or fish on a leaf, and lay
‘t on a stone or stump as an offering to the deity of the
spot; for though nominal Mahometans the Macassar people
retain many pagan superstitions, and are but lax in their
religious observances. Pork,. it is true, they hold in
abhorrence, but will not refuse wine when offered them,
and consume immense quantities of “sagueir,” or palm-
wine, which is about as intoxicating as ordinary beer or
cider. When well made it is a very refreshing drink, and
we often took a draught at some of the little sheds digni-
fied by the name of bazaars, which are scattered about
the country wherever there 1s any traffic.
One day Mr. Mesman told me of a larger piece of forest
where he sometimes went to shoct deer, but he assured me
it was much further off, and that there were no birds.
However, I resolved to explore it, and the next morning
at five o’clock we started, carrying our breakfast and some
other provisions with us, and intending to stay the night
at a house on the borders of the wood. To my surprise
two hours’ hard walking brought us to this house, where we
obtained permission to pass the night. We then walked
on, Ali and Baderoon with a gun each, Baso carrying our
provisions and my insect-box, while I took only my net
and collecting-bottle and determined to devote myself
1 The former has been named Eronia tritea ; the latter Tachyris ithome.
on OS
cuar. xv.} PH@NICOPHAUS CALIIRHY NCHUS. 217
wholly to the insects. Scarcely had I entered the forest
when I found some beautiful little green and gold speckled
weevils allied to the genus Pachyrhynchus, a group which
is almost confined to the Philippine Islands, and is
quite unknown in Borneo, Java, or Malacca. The road
was shady and apparently much trodden by horses and
cattle, and I quickly obtained some butterflies I had not
before met with. Soon a couple of reports were heard, and
coming up to my boys I found they had shot two speci-
mens of one of the finest of known cuckoos, Phcenicophaus
callirhynchus. This bird derives its name from its large
bill being coloured of a brilliant yellow, red, and black,
in about equal proportions. The tail is exceedingly long,
and of a fine metallic purple, while the plumage of the
body is light coffee brown. It is one of the characteristic
birds of the island of Celebes, to which it is confined.
After sauntering along for a couple of hours we reached
a small river, so deep that horses could only cross it by
swimming, so we had to turn tack ; but as we were getting
hungry, and the water of the almost stagnant river was
too muddy to drink, we went towards a house a few
hundred yards off. In the plantation we saw a small
raised hut, which we thought would do well for us to
breakfast in, so I entered, and found inside a young woman
with an infant. She handed me a jug of water, but looked
very much frightened. However, I sat down on the door-
step, and asked for the provisions. In handing them up,
Baderoon saw the infant, and started back as if he had
seen a serpent. It then immediately struck me that this
was a hut in which, as among the Dyaks of Borneo and
many other savage tribes, the women are secluded for some
time after the birth of their child, and that we did very
wrong to enter it; so we walked off and asked permission
to eat our breakfast in the family mansion close at hand,
which was of coursegranted. While I ate, three men,
two women, and four children watched every motion, and
never took eyes off me till I had finished.
On our way back in the heat of the day I had the good
fortune to capture three specimens of a fine Ornithoptera,
the largest, the most perfect, and the most beautiful of
butterflies. I trembled with excitement as I took the first
218 CLELEBES. | CHAP. XV.
out of my net and found it to be in perfect condition, The
ground colour of this superb insect was a rich shining
bronzy black, the lower wings delicately grained with
white, and bordered by a row of large spots of the most
brilliant satiny yellow. The body was marked with shaded
spots of white, yellow, and fiery orange, while the head and
thorax were intense black. On the under-side the lower
wings were satiny white, with the marginal spots half black
and half yellow. I gazed upon my prize with extreme
interest, as I at first thought it was quite a new species.
It proved however to be a variety of Ornithoptera remus,
one of the rarest and most remarkable species of this
highly esteemed group. I also obtained several other new
and pretty butterflies. When we arrived at our lodging-
house, being particularly anxious about my insect treasures,
I suspended the box from a bamboo on which I could
detect no sign of ants, and then began skinning some ot
my birds. During my work I often glanced at my precious
box to see that no intruders had arrived, till after a longer
spell of work than usual I looked again, and saw to my
horror that a column of small red ants were descending the
string and entering the box. They were already busy at
work at the bodies of my treasures, and another half-hour
would have seen my whole day’s collection destroyed.
As it was, I had to take every insect out, clean them
thoroughly as well as the box, and then seek for a place
of safety for them. As the only effectual one I begged a
plate and a basin from my host, filled the former with
water, and standing the latter in 1 placed my box on the
top, and then felt secure for the night; a few inches ot
clean water or oil being the only barrier these terrible pests
are not able to pass.
On returning home to Mamdjam (as my house was
called) I had a slight return of intermittent fever, which
kept me some days indoors. As soon as I was well, I again
went to Goa, accompanied by Mr. Mesman, to beg the
Rajah’s assistance in getting a small house built for me
near the forest. We found him at a cock-fight in a shed
near his palace, which however he immediately left to
receive us, and walked with us up an inclined plane of
boards which serves for stairs to his house. This was large,
¢HAP. Xv.! THE RaJAH’S DAUGHTERS. O1y
well built, and lofty, with bamboo floor and glass windows.
The greater part of it seemed to be one large hall divided
by the supporting posts. Near a window sat the Queen
squatting on a rough wooden arm-chair, chewing th
everlasting sirih and betel-nut, while a brass spittoon by
her side and a sirih-box in front were ready to administe:
to her wants. The Rajah seated himself opposite to hex
in a similar chair, and a similar spittoon and sirih-box
were held by a little boy squatting at his side. Two other
chairs were brought for us. Several young women, some
the Rajah’s daughters, others slaves, were standing about; a
few were working at frames making sarongs, but most of
them were idle.
And here I might (if I followed the example of most
travellers) launch out into a glowing description of the
charms of these damsels, the elegant costumes they wore,
and the gold and silver ornaments with which they were
adorned. The jacket or body of purple gauze would
figure well in such a description, allowing the heaving
bosom to be seen beneath it, while “sparkling eyes,” and
“jetty tresses,” and “tiny feet” might be thrown in pro-
fusely. But, alas! regard for truth will not permit me
to expatiate too admiringly on such topics, determined as
I am to give as far as I can a true picture of the people
and places I visit. The princesses were, it is true, suffi-
ciently good-looking, yet neither their persons nor their
garments had that appearance of freshness and cleanli-
ness without which no other charms can be contemplated
with pleasure. Everything had a dingy and faded ap-
pearance, very disagreeable and unroyal to a European
eye. The only thing that excited some degree of admi-
ration was the quiet and dignified manner of the Rajah,
and the great respect always paid to him. None can
stand erect in his presence, and when he sits on a chair,
all present (Europeans of course excepted) squat upon
the ground. The highest seat is literally, with these people,
the place of honour and the sign of rank. So unbending
are the rules in this respect, that when an English carriage
which the Rajah of Lombock had sent for arrived, it was
found impossible to use it because the driver’s seat was
the highest, and it had to be kept as a show in its coach-
22.0 CELEBES. [CHAP. XV.
house. On being told the object of my visit, the Rajah at
once said that he would order a house to be emptied for
me, which would be much better than building one, as
that would take a good deal of time. Bad coffee and
sweetmeats were given us as before.
Two days afterwards I called on the Rajah, to ask him
to send a guide with me to show me the house I was to
occupy. He immediately ordered a man to be sent for,
cave him instructions, and in a few minutes we were on
our way. My conductor could speak no Malay, so we
walked on in silence for an hour, when we turned into a
pretty good house and I was asked to sit down. The head
man of the district lived here, and in about half an hour
we started again, and another hour's walk brought us to
the village where I was to be lodged. We went to the
residence of the village chief, who conversed with my cop-
ductor for some time. Getting tired, I asked to be shown
the house that was prepared for me, but the only reply I
could get was, “ Wait a little,” and the parties went on
talking as before. So I told them I could not wait, as I
wanted to see the house and then to go shooting in the
forest. This seemed to puzzle them, and at length, in
answer to questions, very poorly explained by one or two
bystanders who knew a little Malay, it came out that no
house was ready, and no one seemed to have the least idea
where to get one. As I did not want to trouble the Rajah
any more, [ thought it best to try to frighten them a little ;
so I told them that if they did not immediately find me a
house as the Rajah had ordered, I should go back and
complain to him, but that if a house was found me I
would pay for the use of it. This had the desired effect,
and one of the head men of the village asked me to go —
with him and look for a house. He showed me one or
two of the most miserable and ruinous description, which
I at once rejected, saying, “I must have a good one, and
near to the forest.” The next he showed me suited very
well, so I told him to see that it was emptied the next
day, for that the day after I should come and occupy it.
On the day mentioned, as I was not quite ready to go, I
sent my two Macassar boys with brooms to sweep out the
house thoroughly. They returned in the evening and told
v
CHAP. XV. | A “ BITCHAKA.” 421
me, that when they got there the house was inhabited, and
not a single article removed. However, on hearing they
had come to clean and take possession, the occupants
made a move, but with a good deal of grumbling, which
made me feel rather uneasy as to how the people generally
might take my intrusion into their village. The next
morning we took our baggage on three pack-horses, and,
after a few break-downs, arrived about noon at our des-
tination.
After getting all my things set straight, and having made
a hasty meal, I determined if possible to make friends with
the people. I therefore sent for the owner of the house
and as many of his acquaintances as liked to come, to have
a “bitchara,” or talk. When they were all seated, I gave
them a little tobacco all round, and having my boy Baderoon
for interpreter, tried to explain to them why I came there ;
that I was very sorry to turn them out ofthe house, but
that the Rajah had ordered it rather than build a new one,
which was what I had asked for, and then placed five
silver rupees in the owner’s hand as one month’s rent. I
then assured them that my being there would be a benefit
to them, as I should buy their eggs and fowls and fruit :
and if their children would bring me shells and insects, of
which I showed them specimens, they also might earn a
good many coppers. After all this had been fully ex-
plained to them, with a long talk and discussion between
every sentence, I could see that I had made a favourable
impression; and that very afternoon, as if to test my
promise to buy even miserable little snaili-shells, a dozen
children came one after another, bringing me‘a few speci-
mens each of a small Helix,-for which they duly received
“ coppers,’ and went away amazed but rejoicing.
A few days’ exploration made me well acquainted with
the surrounding country. I was a long way from the road
in the forest which I had first visited, and for some distance
round my house were old clearings and cottages. I found
a few good butterflies, but beetles were very scarce, and
even rotten timber and newly-felled trees (generally so
productive) here produced scarcely anything. This con-
vinced me that there was not a sufficient extent of forest
in the neighbourhood to make the place worth staying at
222 CELEBES. |CHAP. Xv.
long, but it was too late now to think of going further, as
in about a ionth the wet season would begin; so I resolved
to stay here and get what was to be had. Unfortunately,
after a few days I became ill with a low fever which pro-
duced excessive lassitude and disinclination to all exertion.
Tn vain I endeavoured to shake it off; all I could do was
to stroll quietly each day for an hour about the gardens
near, and to the well, where some good insects were occa-
sionally to be found; and the rest of the day to wait
quietly at home, and receive what beetles and shells my
little corps of collectors brought me daily. I imputed my
illness chiefly to the water, which was procured from
shallow wells, around which there was almost always a
stagnant puddle in which the bufialoes wallowed. Close
to my house was an inclosed mudhole where three buf-
faloes were shut up every night, and the effluvia from
which freely entered through the open bamboo floor. My
Malay boy Ali was affected with the same illness, and as
he was my chief bird-skinner I got on but slowly with
my collections.
The occupations and mode of life of the villagers differed
but little from those of all other Malay races. The time
of the women was almost wholly occupied in pounding
and cleaning rice for daily use, in bringing home firewood
and water, and in cleaning, dyeing, spinning, and weaving
the native cotton into sarongs. The weaving is done in
the simplest kind of frame stretched on the floor, and is a
very slow and tedious process. To form the checked
attern in common use, each patch of coloured threads has
to be pulled up separately by hand and the shuttle passed
between them; so that about an inch a day is the usual
progress in stuff a yard and a half wide. The men culti-
vate a little sirih (the pungent pepper leaf used for chewing
with betel-nut) and a few vegetables; and once a year
rudely plough a small patch of ground with their buffaloes
and plant rice, which then requires little attention till
harvest time. Now and then they have to see to the
repairs of their houses, and make mats, baskets, or other
domestic utensils, but a large part of their time is passed
in idleness.
Not a single person in the village could speak more
| cIAP. Xv.! FEAR OF MYSELF. 223
than a few words of Malay, and hardly any of the people
appeared to have seen a European before. One most
disagreeable result of this was, that I excited terror alike
in man and beast. Wherever I went, dogs barked, children
screamed, women ran away, and men stared as though
I were some strange and terrible cannibal monster. Even
the pack-horses on the roads and paths would start aside
when I appeared and rush into the jungle; and as to
those horrid, ugly brutes, the buffaloes, they could never
be approached by me; not for fear of my own but of others’
safety. They would first stick out their necks and stare
at me, and then on a nearer view break loose from their
halters or tethers, and rush away helter-skelter as if a
demon were after them, without any regard for what might
be in their way. Whenever I met buffaloes carrying
packs along a pathway, or being driven home to the village,
{ had to turn aside into the jungle and hide myself till
they had passed, to avoid a catastrophe which would increase
the dislike with which I was already regarded. Every
day about noon the buffaloes were brought into the village
and were tethered in the shade around the houses; and
then I had to creep about like a thief by back ways, for
no one could tell what mischief they might do to children
and houses were I to walk among them. If I came sud-
denly upon a well where women were drawing water or
children bathing, a sudden flight was the certain result:
which things occurring day after day, were very unpleasant
to a person who does not like to be disliked, and who had
never been accustomed to be treated as an ogre. |
About the middle of November, finding my health no
better, and insects, birds, and shells all very scarce, I deter-
mined to return to Mamajam, and pack up my collections
‘before the heavy rains commenced. The wind had already
begun to blow from the west, and many signs indicated
that the rainy season might set in earlier than usual; and
then everything becomes very damp, and it is almost
impossible to dry collections properly. My kind friend
Mr. Mesman again lent me his pack-horses, and with the
assistance of a few men to carry my birds and insects,
which I did not like to trust on horses’ backs, we got
everything home safe. Few can imagine the luxury it was
274 CELEBES. [ CHAP. Xv.
to stretch myself on a sofa, and to take my supper com-
fortably at table seated in my easy bamboo chair, after
having for five weeks taken all my meals uncomfortably
on the floor. Such things are trifles in health, but when
the body is weakened by disease the habits of a lifetime
cannot be so easily set aside.
My house, like all bamboo structures in this country,
was a leaning one, the strong westerly winds of the wet
season having set all its posts out of the perpendicular to
such a degree, as to make me think it might some day
possibly go over altogether. It is a remarkable thing that
the natives of Celebes have not discovered the use of
diagonal struts in strengthening buildings. I doubt if
there is a native house in the country two years old and
at all exposed to the wind, which stands upright; and no
wonder, as they merely consist of posts and joists all
placed upright or horizontal, and fastened rudely together
with rattans. They may be seen in every stage of the
process of tumbling down, from the first slight inclination,
to such a dangerous slope that it becomes a notice to quit
to the occupiers.
The mechanical geniuses of the country have only dis-
covered two ways of remedying the evil. One is, after it
has commenced, to tie the house to a post in the ground
on the windward side by a rattan or bamboo cable. The
other is a preventive, but how they ever found it out and
did not discover the true way is a mystery. This plan is,
to build the house in the usual way, but instead of having
all the principal supports of straight posts, to have two or
three of them chosen as crooked as possible. I had often
noticed these crooked posts in houses, but imputed it to
the scarcity of good straight timber, till one day I met
some men carrying home a post shaped something like a
dog’s hind leg, and inquired of my native boy what they
were going to do with such a piece of wood. “To make a
post for a house,” said he. “But why don’t they get a
straight one, there are plenty here?” said 1. “Oh,” re-
plied he, “they prefer some like that in a house, because
then it won't fall,” evidently imputing the effect to some
occult property of crooked timber. A little consideration
and a diagram will, however, show, that the effect imputed.
CHAP. Xv.] PLOUGHING. 225
to the crooked post may be really produced by it. A true
square changes its figure readily into a rhomboid or oblique
figure, but when one or two of the uprights are bent or
sloping, and placed so as to oppose each other, the effect of
a strut is produced, though in a rude and clumsy manner.
Just before I had left Mamdjam the people had sown a
considerable quantity of maize, which appears above
ground in two or three days, and in favourable seasons
ripens in less than two months. Owing to a week’s pre-
mature rains the ground was all flooded when I returned,
and the plants just coming into ear were yellow and dead.
Not a grain would be obtained by the whole village, but
luckily it is only a luxury, not a necessary of life. The
NATIVE WOODEN PLOUGH.
rain was the signal for ploughing to begin, in order to sow
rice on all the flat lands between us and the town. The
plough used is a rude wooden instrument with a very
short single handle, a tolerably well-shaped coulter, and
the point formed of a piece of hard palm-wood fastened
in with wedges. One or two buffaloes draw it at a
very slow pace. The seed is sown broadcast, and a rude
wooden harrow is used to smooth the surface.
By the beginning of December the regular wet season
had set in. Westerly winds and driving rains sometimes
continued for days together; the fields for miles around
were under water, and the ducks and buffaloes enjoyed
themselves amazingly, All along the road to Macassar,
Q
226 CELEBES. [CHAP. XV.
ploughing was daily going on in the mud and water,
through which the wooden plough easily makes its way,
the ploughman holding the plough-handle with one hand
while a long bamboo in the other serves to guide the
buffaloes. These animals require an immense deal of
driving to get them on at all; a continual shower of
exclamations is kept up at them, and “Oh! ah! gee!
ugh!” are to be heard in various keys and in an uninter-
rupted succession all day long. At night we were favoured
with a different kind of concert. The dry ground around
my house had become a marsh tenanted by frogs, who
kept up a most incredible noise from dusk to dawn. They
were somewhat musical too, having a deep vibrating note
which at times closely resembles the tuning of two or
three bass-viols in an orchestra. In Malacca and Borneo
I had heard no such sounds as these, which indicates that
the frogs, like most of the animals of Celebes, are of
species peculiar to it.
My kind friend and landlord, Mr. Mesman, was a good
specimen of the Macassar-born Dutchman. He was about
thirty-five years of age, had a large family, and lived in a
spacious house near the town, situated in the midst of a
erove of fruit trees, and surrounded by a perfect labyrinth
of offices, stables, and native cottages occupied by his
numerous servants, slaves, or dependants. He usually
rose before the sun, and after a cup of coffee looked after
his servants, horses, and dogs, till seven, when a sub-
stantial breakfast of rice and meat was ready in a cool
verandah. Putting on a cleam white linen suit, he then
drove to town in his buggy, where he had an office, with
two or three Chinese clerks who looked after his affairs.
His business was that of a coffee and opium merchant. —
He had a coffee estate at Bontyne, and a small prau which
traded to the Eastern islands near New Guinea, for mother-
of-pearl and tortoiseshell, About one he would return home,
have coffee and cake or fried plantain, first changing his
dress for a coloured cotton shirt and trousers and bare
feet, and then take a siesta with a book. About four, after
a cup of tea, he would walk round his premises, and
senerally stroll down to Mamajam, to pay me a visit and
look after his farm.
CHAP. XV.] MR. MESMAN’S FARM. J27
This consisted of a coffee plantation and an orchard
of fruit trees, a dozen horses and a score of cattle, with
a small village of Timorese slaves and Macassar servants.
One family looked after the cattle and supplied the house
with milk, bringing me also a large glassful every morn-
ing, one of my greatest luxuries. Others had charge of
the horses, which were brought in every afternoon and fed
with cut grass. Others had to cut grass for their master’s
horses at Macassar—not a very easy task in the dry
season, when all the country looks like baked mud; or
in the rainy season, when miles in every direction are
flooded. How they managed it was a mystery to me, .
but they know grass must be had, and they get it. One
lame woman had charge of a flock of ducks. Twice a day
she took them out to feed in the marshy places, let them
waddle and gobble for an hour or two, and then drove
them back and shut them up in a small dark shed to
digest their meal, whence they gave forth occasionally a
melancholy quack. Every night a watch was set, principally
for the sake of the horses, the people of Goa, only two
miles off, being notorious thieves, and horses offering the
easiest and most valuable spoil. This enabled me to sleep
in security, although many people in Macassar thought I
was running a great risk, living alone in such a solitary
place and with such bad neighbours.
My house was surrounded by a kind of straggling hedge
of roses, jessamines, and other flowers, and every morning
one of the women gathered a basketful of the blossoms for
Mr. Mesman’s family. I generally took a couple for my
_ own breakfast table, and the supply never failed during
my stay, and I suppose never does. Almost every Sunday
Mr. M. made a shooting excursion with his eldest son, a
lad of fifteen, and I generally accompanied him; for
though the Dutch are Protestants, they do not observe
Sunday in the rigid manner practised in England and
English colonies. The Governor of the place has his.
public reception every Sunday evening, when card-playing
is the regular amusement.
Ou December 13th I went on board a prau bound for
the Aru Islands, a journey which will be described in the
latter part of this work.
Q2
q
228 CELEBES. [OHAP. XVI
On my return, after a seven months’ absence, I visited
another district to the north of Macassar, which will form
the subject of the next chapter.
CHAPTER XVL.
CELEBES.
(MACASSAR. JULY TO NOVEMBER, 1857.)
iT REACHED Macassar again on the 11th of July, and
established myself in my old quarters at Mamajam, to
sort, arrange, clean, and pack up my Aru collections. This
occupied me a month ; and having shipped them off for
Singapore, had my guns repaired, and received a new one
from England, together with a stock of pins, arsenic, and
other collecting requisites, 1 began to feel eager for work
again, and had to consider where I should spend my time
till the end of the year. I had left Macassar, seven
months before, a flooded marsh being ploughed up for the
rice-sowing. The rains had continued for five months, yet
now all the rice was cut, and dry and dusty stubbles
covered the country just as when I had first arrived there.
After much inquiry I determined to visit the district of —
Maros, about thirty miles north of Macassar, where Mr.
Jacob Mesman, a brother of my friend, resided, who had
kindly offered to find me house-room and give me assist-
ance should I feel inclined to visit him. I accordingly
obtained a pass from the Resident, and having hired a
boat set off one evening for Maros. My boy Ali was so
1 with fever that I was obliged to leave him in the
hospital, under the care of my friend the German doctor,
‘and I had to make shift with two new servants utterly
ignorant of everything. We coasted along during the
night, and at daybreak entered the Maros river, and by
three in the afternoon reached the village. I immediately
visited the Assistant Resident, and applied for ten men to
CHAP. XVI.] MAROS. 999
carry my baggage, and a horse for myself. These were
promised to be ready that night, so that I could start as
soon as I liked in the morning. After having taken a cup
of tea I took my leave, and slept in the boat. Some of the
men came at night as promised, but others did not arrive
till the next morning. It took some time to divide my
baggage fairly among them, as they all wanted to shirk
the heavy boxes, and would seize hold of some light
article and march off with it, till made to come back and
wait till the whole had been fairly apportioned. At length
about eight o’clock all was arranged, and we started for
our walk to Mr. M.’s farm.
The country was at first a uniform plain of burnt-up
rice-grounds, but at a few miles’ distance precipitous hills
appeared, backed by the lofty central range of the penin-
sula. Towards these our path lay, and after having
gone six or eight miles the hills began to advance into
the plain right and left of us, and the ground became
pierced here and there with blocks and pillars of lime-
stone rock, while a few abrupt conical hills and peaks rose
like islands. Passing over an elevated tract forming the
shoulder of one of the hills, a picturesque scene lay before
us. We looked down into a little valley almost entirely
surrounded by mountains, rising abruptly in huge preci-
pices, and forming a succession of knolls and peaks and
domes of the most varied and fantastic shapes. In the
very centre of the valley was a large bamboo house,
while scattered around were a dozen cottages of the same
material. |
I was kindly received by Mr. Jacob Mesman in an airy
saloon detached from the house, and entirely built of
bamboo and thatched with grass. After breakfast he took
me to his foreman’s house, about a hundred yards off,
half of which was given up to me till I should decide
where to have a cottage built for my own use. I soon
found that this spot was too much exposed to the wind
and dust, which rendered it very difficult to work with
papers or insects. It was also dreadfully hot in the after-
noon, and after a few days I got a sharp attack of fever,
which determined me to move. I accordingly fixed on a
vlace about a mile off, at the foot of a forest-covered hill,
230 CELEBES. (CHAP. XVL
where in a few days Mr. M. built for me a nice little
house, consisting of a good-sized enclosed verandah o1 open
room, and a small inner sleeping-room, with a little cook-
house outside. As soon as it was finished I moved into it.
and found the change most agreeable.
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SUGAR PALM. (Arenga saccharifera. )
The forest which surrounded me was open and free
from underwood, consisting of large trees, widely scattered
with a great quantity of palm-trees (Arenga saccharifera),
from which palm wine and sugar are made. ‘There were
also great numbers of a wild Jack-fruit tree (Artocarpus),
ea
CHAP. XVI. ] COUNTRY LIFE. 231
which bore abundance of large reticulated fruit, serving
as an excellent vegetable. The ground was as thickly
covered with dry leaves as it is in an English wood in
November; the little rocky streams were all dry, and
scarcely a drop of water or even a damp place was any-
where to be seen. About fifty yards below my house, at
the foot of the hill, was a deep hole in a watercourse
where good water was to be had, and where I went daily
to bathe, by having buckets of water taken out and pour-
ing it over my body.
My host Mr. M. enjoyed a thoroughly country life, de-
pending almost entirely on his gun and dogs to supply
his table. Wild pigs of large size were very plentiful
and he generally got one or two a week, besides deer
occasionally, and abundance of jungle-fowl, hornbills, and
great fruit pigeons. His buffaloes supplied plenty of milk,
trom which he made his own butter; he grew his own
rice and coffee, and had ducks, fowls, and their eggs in pro-
fusion. His palm-trees supplied him all the year round
with “sagueir,” which takes the place of beer; and the
sugar made from them is an excellent sweetmeat. All
the fine tropical vegetables and fruits were abundant in
their season, and his cigars were made from tobacco of his
own raising. He kindly sent me a bamboo of butffalo-
milk every morning; it was as thick as cream, and re-
quired diluting with water to keep it fluid during tie day.
It mixes very well with tea and cofiee, although it has
a slight peculiar flavour, which after a time is not dis-
agreeable. I also got as much sweet “sagueir” as I liked
to drink, and Mr. M. always sent me a piece of each pig
he killed, which with fowls, eggs, and the birds we shot
ourselves, and buffalo beef about once a fortnight, kept
my larder sufficiently well supplied.
Every bit of flat land was cleared and used as rice-
fields, and on the lower slopes of many of the hills tobacco
and vegetables were grown. Most of the slopes are
covered with huge blocks of rock, very fatiguing to
scramble over, while a number of the hills are so pre-
cipitous as to be quite inaccessible. ‘These circumstances,
combined with the excessive drought, were very unfavour-
able for my pursuits. Birds were scarce, and I got but
239 CELEBES. [CHAP. XVI. .
few new to me. Insects were tolerably plentiful, but
unequal. Beetles, usually so numerous and interesting,
were exceedingly scarce, some of the families being quite
absent and others only represented by very minute species.
The Flies and Bees, on the other hand, were abundant, and
of these I daily obtained new and interesting species.
The rare and beautiful Butterflies of Celebes were the
chief object of my search, and I found many species
altogether new to me, but they were generally so active
and shy as to render their capture a matter of great
difficulty. Almost the only good place for them was in
the dry beds of the streams in the forest, where, at damp
places, muddy pools, or even on the dry rocks, all sorts of
insects could be found. In these rocky forests dwell some
of the finest butterflies in the world. Three species of
Ornithoptera, measuring seven or eight inches across the
wings, and beautifully marked with spots or masses of
satiny yellow on a black ground, wheel through the
thickets with a strong sailing flight. About the damp
places are swarms of the beautiful blue-banded Papilios,
miletus and telephus, the superb golden green P. macedon,
and the rare little swallow-tail Papilio rhesus, of all of
which, though very active, I succeeded in capturing fine
series of specimens.
I have rarely enjoyed myself more than during my
residence here. As I sat taking my coffee at six in the
morning, rare birds would often be seen on some tree close
by, when I would hastily sally out in my slippers, and
perhaps secure a prize I had been seeking after for weeks.
The great hornbills of Celebes (Buceros cassidix) would
often come with loud-flapping wings, and perch upon a
lofty tree just in front of me; and the black baboon-
monkeys, Cynopithecus nigrescens, often stared down in
astonishment at such an intrusion into their domains ;
while at night herds of wild pigs roamed about the house,
devouring refuse, and obliging us to put away everything
eatab.e or breakable from our little cooking-house. A few
minutes’ search on the fallen trees around my house at
sunrise and sunset, would often produce me more beetles
than I would meet with in a day’s collecting, and odd
moments could be made valuable which when living in
omar. xvt.] ABUNDANCE OF INSECTS. 933
villages or at a distance from the forest are inevitably
wasted. Where the sugar-palms were dripping with sap,
flies congregated in immense numbers, and it was by
spending half an hour at these when*I had the time to
Spare, that I obtained the finest and most remarkable
collection of this group of insects that I have ever made.
Then what delightful hours I passed wandering up and
down the dry river-courses, full of water-holes and rocks
and fallen trees, and overshadowed by magnificent vege-
tation! I soon got to know every hole and rock and
stump, and came up to each with cautious step and bated
breath to see what treasures it would produce. At one
place I would find a little crowd of the rare butterfly
Tachyris zarinda, which would rise up at my approach,
and display their vivid orange and cinnabar-red wings,
while among them would flutter a few of the fine bluc-
banded Papilios. Where leafy branches hung over the
gully, I might expect to find a grand Ornithoptera at rest
and an easy prey. At certain rotten trunks I was sure to
get the curious little tiger beetle, Therates flavilabris.
In the denser thickets I would capture the small metal-
lic blue butterflies (Amblypodia) sitting on the leaves,
as well as some rare and beautiful leaf-beetles of the
families Hispidee and Chrysomelide.
I found that the rotten jack-fruits were very attractive
to many beetles, and used to split them partly open and lay
them about in the forest near my house to rot, A morn-
ing’s search at these often produced me a score of species,
—Staphylinide, Nitidulids, Onthophagi, and minute Cara-
bide being the most abundant. Now and then the
“sagueir ” makers brought me a fine rosechafer (Sternoplus
schaumii) which they found licking up the sweet sap.
Almost the only new birds I met with for some time
were a handsome ground thrush (Pitta celebensis), and
a beautiful violet-crowned dove (Ptilonopus celebensis),
both very similar to birds I had recently obtained at
Aru, but of distinct species.
About the latter part of September a heavy shower of
rain fell, admonishing us that we might soon expect wet
weather, much to the advantage of the baked-up country.
I therefore determined to pay a visit to the falls of the
234 CELEBES. [CHAP. XVL
Maros river, situated at the point where it issues from the
mountains—a spot often visited by travellers and con-
sidered very beautiful. Mr. M. lent me a horse, and I
obtained a guide ftom a neighbouring village ; and taking
one of my men with me, we started at six in the morning,
and after a ride of two hours over the flat rice-fields
skirting the mountains which rose in grand precipices on
our left, we reached the river about half-way between
Maros and the falls, and thence had a good bridle-road_ to
our destination, which we reached in another hour. The
hills had closed in round us as we advanced ; and when
we reached a ruinous shed which had been erected for the
accommodation of visitors, we found ourselves in a flat-
bottomed valley about a quarter of a mile wide, bounded
by precipitous and often overhanging limestone rocks. So
far the ground had been cultivated, but it now became
covered with bushes and large scattered trees. |
As soon as my scanty baggage had arrived and was
duly deposited in the shed, I started off alone for the fall,
which was about a quarter of a mile further on. The
river is here about twenty yards wide, and issues from a
chasm between two vertical walls of limestone, over a
rounded mass of basaltic rock about forty feet high, form-
ing two curves separated by a slight ledge. ‘The water
spreads beautifully over this surface in a thin sheet of
foam, which curls and eddies in a succession of concen-
trie cones till it falls into a fine deep pool below. Close
to the very edge. of the fall a narrow and very rugged —
path leads to the river above, and thence continues close
under the precipice along the water's edge, or sometimes
in the water, for a few hundred yards, aiter which the
rocks recede a little, and leave a wooded bank on one
side, along which the path is continued, till in about
half a mile a second and smaller fall is reached. Here
the river seems to issue from a cavern, the rocks having
fallen from above so as to block up the channel and bar
further progress. The fall itself can only be reached by
a path which ascends behind a huge slice of rock which
has partly fallen away from the mountain, leaving a space
two or three feet wide, but disclosing a dark chasm de-
scending into the bowels of the mountain, and which,
‘CHAP. XVI.] MOUNTAIN PATHS. 235
having visited several such, I had no great curiosity to
explore.
Crossing the stream a little below the upper fall, the
path ascends a steep slope for about five hundred feet,
and passing through a gap enters a narrow valley, shut
in by walls of rock absolutely perpendicular and of great
height. Half a mile further this valley turns abruptly to
the right, and becomes a mere rift in the mountain. This
extends another half mile, the walls gradually approaching
till they are only two feet apart, and the bottom rising
steeply to a pass which leads probably into another valley,
but which I had no time to explore. Returning to where
this rift had begun, the main path turns up to the left
in a sort of gully, and reaches a summit over which a
fine natural arch of rock passes at a height of about fifty
feet. Thence was a steep descent through thick jungle
with glimpses of precipices and distant rocky mountains,
probably leading into the main river valley again. This
was a most tempting region to explore, but there were
several reasons why I could go no further. I had no
guide, and no permission to enter the Bugis territories,
and as the.rains might at any time set in, I might be
prevented from returning by the flooding of the river.
I therefore devoted myself during the short time of my
visit to obtaining what knowledge I could of the natural
productions of the place.
The narrow chasms produced several fine insects quite
new to me, and one new bird, the curious Phleegenas
tristigmata, a large ground pigeon with vellow breast and
‘crown, and purple neck. This rugged path is the highway
from Maros to the Bugis country beyond the mountains.
During the rainy season it is quite impassable, the river
filling its bed and rushing between perpendicular cliffs
many hundred feet high. Even at the time of my visit
it was most precipitous and fatiguing yet women and
children came over it daily, and men carrying heavy
loads of palm sugar of very little value. If was along
the path between the lower and the upper falls, and about
the margin of the upper pool, that I found most insects.
The large Semi-transparent butterfly, Idea tondana, flew
lazily along by dozens, and it was here that I at length
236 CELEB ES. _CHAP, XVI.
obtained an insect which I had hoped but hardly ex-
pected to meet with—the magnificent Papilio androcles,
one of the largest and rarest known swallow-tailed
butterflies. During my four days’ stay at the falls I was
so fortunate as to obtain six good specimens. As this
beautiful creature flies, the long white tails flicker like
streamers, and when settled on the beach it carries them
raised upwards, as if to preserve them from injury. Itis
scarce even here, as I did not see more than a dozen
specimens in all, and had to follow many of them up and
down the river’s bank repeatedly before I succeeded in
their capture. When the sun shone hottest about noon,
the moist beach of the pool below the upper fall presented
a beautiful sight, being dotted with groups of gay butter-
flies—orange, yellow, white, blue, and green,—which on
being disturbed rose into the air by hundreds, forming
clouds of variegated colours.
Such gorges, chasms, and precipices as here abound, I
have nowhere seen in the Archipelago. A sloping surface
is scarcely anywhere to be found, huge walls and rugged
masses of rock terminating all the mountains and inclosing
the valleys. In many parts there are vertical or even
overhanging precipices five or six hundred feet high, yet
completely clothed with a tapestry of vegetation. Ferns,
Pandanacee, shrubs, creepers, and even forest trees, are
mingled in an evergreen network, through the interstices
of which appears the white limestone rock or the dark
holes and chasms with which it abounds. These precipices
are enabled to sustain such an amount of vegetation by
their peculiar structure. Their surfaces are very irregular,
broken into holes and fissures, with ledges overhanging
the mouths of gloomy caverns; but from each projecting
part have descended stalactites, often forming a wild gothic
tracery over the caves and receding hollows, and affording
an admirable support to the roots of the shrubs, trees, and
creepers, which luxuriate in the warm pure atmosphere
and the gentle moisture which constantly exudes from the
rocks. In places where the precipice offers smooth sur-
faces of solid rock, it remains quite bare, or only stained
with lichens and dotted with clumps of ferns that grow
on the small ledges and in the minutest crevices.
:
CHAP, XVI.] RARENESS OF FLOWERS. 237
The reader who is familiar with tropical nature only
through the medium of books and botanical gardens, will
picture to himself in such a spot many other natural
beauties. He will think that I have unaccountably for-
gotten to mention the brilliant flowers, which, in gorgeous
masses of crimson gold or azure, must spangle these
verdant precipices, hang over the cascade, and adorn the
margin of the mountain stream. But what is the reality ?
_ In vain did I gaze over these vast walls of verdure, among
the pendant creepers and bushy shrubs, all around the
cascade, on the river’s bank, or in the deep caverns and
gloomy fissures,—not one single spot of bright colour
could be seen, not one single tree or bush or creeper
bore a flower sufficiently conspicuous to form an object
in the landscape. In every direction the eye rested on
green foliage and mottled rock. There was infinite variety
in the colour and aspect of the foliage, there was erandeur
in the rocky masses and in the exuberant luxuriance of
the vegetation, but there was no brilliancy of colour, none
of those bright flowers and gorgeous masses of blossom,
so generally considered to be everywhere present in the
tropics. I have here given an accurate sketch of a luxu-
riant tropical scene as noted down on the spot, and its
general characteristics as regards colour have been so often
repeated, both in South America and over many thousand
miles in the Eastern tropics, that I am driven to conclude
that it represents the general aspect of nature in the
equatorial (that is, the most-tropical) parts of the tropical
regions. How is it then, that the descriptions of travellers
generally give a very different idea? and where, it may be
asked, are the glorious flowers that we know do exist in
the tropics? These questions can be easily answered.
The fine tropical flowering-plants cultivated in our hot-
houses, have been culled from the most varied regions,
and therefore give a most erroneous idea of their abun-
dance in any one region. Many of them are very rare,
others extremely local, while a considerable number
inhabit the more arid regions of Africa and India, in which
tropical vegetation does not exhibit itself in its usual
luxuriahce. Fine and varied foliage, rather than gay
flowers, is more characteristic of those parts where tropical
238 /ELEB ES. (CHAP. XVI.
vegetation attains its highest development, and in such
districts each kind of flower seldom lasts in perfection
more than a few weeks, or sometimes a few days. In
every locality a lengthened residence will show an abun-
dance of magnificent and gaily-blossomed plants, but they
have to be sought for, and are rarely at any one time or
place so abundant as to form a perceptible feature in the
landscape. But it has been the custom of travellers to
describe and group together all the fine plants they have
met with during a long journey, and thus produce the
effect of a gay and flower-painted landscape. They have
rarely studied and described individual scenes where vege-
tation was most luxuriant and beautiful, and fairly stated
what effect was produced in them by flowers. I have
done so frequently, and the result of these examinations
has convinced me, that the bright colours of flowers
have a much greater influence on the general aspect of
nature in temperate than in tropical climates. During
twelve years spent amid the grandest tropical vegetation,
I have seen nothing comparabie to the effect produced on
our landscapes by gorse, broom, heather, wild hyacinths,
hawthorn, purple orchises, and buttercups.
The geological structure of this part of Celebes is
interesting. The limestone mountains, though of great
extent, seem to be entirely superficial, resting on a basis
of basalt which in some places forms low rounded hills
between the more precipitous mountains. In the rocky beds
of the streams basalt is almost always found, and it isa
step in this rock which forms the cascade already described.
From it the limestone precipices rise abruptly ; and in as-
cending the little stairway along the side of the fall, you
step two or three times from the one rock on to the other,
the limestone dry and rough, being worn by the water
and rains into sharp ridges and honeycombed holes,—the
basalt moist, even, and worn smooth and slippery by the
passage of bare-footed pedestrians. The solubility of the
limestone by rain-water is well seen in the little blocks
and peaks which rise thickly through the soil of the
alluvial plains as you approach the mountains. They are
all skittle-shaped, larger in the middle than ab the base,
the greatest diameter occurring at the height to which the
CHAP. XVI. | EXCESSIVE DROUGHT, 239
country is flooded in the wet season, and thence decreasing
regularly to the ground. Many of them overhang consider-
ably, and some of the slenderer pillars appear to stand upon
a pout. When the rock is less solid it becomes curiously
honeycombed by the rains of successive winters, and [
noticed some masses reduced to a complete network of
stone, through which light could be seen in every direction.
From these mountains to the sea extends a perfectly flat
alluvial plain, with no indication that water would accu-
mulate at a great depth beneath it, yet the authorities at
Macassar have spent much money in boring a well a
thousand feet deep in hope of getting a supply of water
like that obtained by the Artesian wells in the London and
Paris basins. It is not to be wondered at that the attempt
was unsuccessful.
Returning to my forest hut, I continued my daily search
after birds and insects, The weather however became
dreadfully hot and dry, every drop of water disappearing
from the pools and rock-holes, and with it the insects
which frequented them. Only one group remained un-
affected by the intense drought ; the Diptera, or two-winged
flies, continued as plentiful as ever, and on these I was
almost compelled to concentrate my attention for a week
or two, by which means I increased my collection of that
Order to about two hundred species. I also continued to
obtain a few new birds, among which were two or three
kinds of small hawks and falcons, a beautiful brush-
tongued paroquet, Trichoglossus ornatus, and a rare black
and white crow, Corvus advena.
At length about the middle of October, after several
gloomy days, down came a deluge of rain, which continued
to fall almost every afternoon, showing that the early part
of the wet season had commenced. I hoped now to get a
good harvest of insects, and in some respects I was not
disappointed. Beetles became much more numerous, and
under a thick bed of leaves that had accumulated on some
rocks by the side of a forest stream, I found abundance of
Carabide, a family generally scarce in the tropics. The
butterflies however disappeared. Two of my servants
were attacked with fever, dysentery, and swelled feet, just
at the time that the third had left me, and for some days
240 CELEBES, [CHAP. XVI.
they both lay groaning in the house. When they got a
little better I was attacked myself, and as my stores were
nearly finished and everything was getting very damp, I
was obliged to prepare for my return to Macassar, especi-
ally as the strong westerly winds would render the passage
in a small open boat disagreeable if not dangerous.
Since the rains began, numbers of huge millipedes, as
thick as one’s finger and eight or ten inches long, crawled
about everywhere, in the paths, on trees, about the house,
_and one morning when I got up I even found one in my
bed! They were generally of a dull lead colour or of a
deep brick red, and were very nasty-looking things to be
coming everywhere in one’s way, although quite harmless.
Snakes too began to show themselves. I killed two of
a very abundant species, big-headed and of a bright green
colour, which lie coiled up on leaves and shrubs and can
scarcely be seen till one is close upon them. ‘Brown
snakes got into my net while beating among dead leaves
for insects, and made me rather cautious about inserting
my hand till I knew what kind of game I had captured.
The fields and meadows which had been parched and
sterile, now became suddenly covered with fine long grass ;
the river-bed where I had so many times walked over
burning rocks, was now a deep and rapid stream; and
numbers of herbaceous plants and shrubs were everywhere
springing up and bursting into flower. I found plenty
of new insects, and if I had had a good, roomy, water-and-
wind-proof house, I should perhaps have stayed during the
wet season, as I feel sure many things can then be
obtained which are to be found at no other time. With
my summer hut, however, this was impossible. During
the heavy rains a fine drizzly mist penetrated into every
part of it, and I began to have the greatest difficulty in
keeping my specimens dry.
Early in November I returned to Macassar, and having
packed up my collections, started in the Dutch mail
steamer for Amboyna and Ternate. Leaving this part of
my journey for the present, I will in the next chapter
conclude my account of Celebes, by describing the extreme
northern part of the island which I visited two years »
later.
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CHAP, XV1I.] MENADD. 2Al
CHAPTER XVII.
CELEBES.
(MENADO. JUNE TO SEPTEMBER, 1859.)
ip was after my residence at Timor-Coupang that I
visited the north-eastern extremity of Celebes, touching
on my way at Banda, Amboyna, and Ternate. I reached
Menado on the 10th of June, 1859, and was very kindly
received by Mr. Tower, an Englishman, but a very old
resident in Menado, where he carries on a general business.
He introduced me to Mr. L. Duivenboden (whose father
had been my friend at Ternate), who had much taste for
natural history; and to Mr. Neys, a native of Menado,
but who was educated at Calcutta, and to whom Dutch,
English, and Malay were equally mother-tongues. Ail
these gentlemen showed me the greatest kindness, accom-
panied me in my earliest walks about the country, and
assisted me by every means in their power. I spent a
week in the town very pleasantly, making explorations
and inquiries after a good collecting station, which I had
much difficulty in finding, owing to the wide cultivation
of coffee and cacao, which has led to the clearing away of
the forests for many miles round the town, and over
extensive districts far into the interior.
The little town of Menado is one of the prettiest
in the Hast. It has the appearance of a large garden
containing rows of rustic villas, with broad paths between,
forming streets generally at right angles with each other.
Good roads branch off in several directions towards the
interior, with a succession of pretty cottages, neat gardens,
and thriving plantations, interspersed with wildernesses
of fruit trees. To the west and south the country is
mountainous, with groups of fine volcanic peaks 6,000 or
7,000 feet high, forming grand and picturesque back-
grounds to the landscape.
The inhabitants of Minahasa (as this part of Cclebes is
called) differ much from those of all the rest of the island,
' R
D492, CELEBES. [CHAP, xvhL.
and in fact from any other people in the Archipelago.
They are of a light-brown or yellow tint, often approach-
ing the fairness of a European; of a rather short stature,
stout and well-made; of an open and pleasing counte-
nance, more or less disfigured as age increases by projecting
cheek-bones ; and with the usual long, straight, jet-black
hair of the Malayan races. In some of the inland villages
where they may be supposed to be of the purest race, both
men and women are remarkably handsome ; while nearer
the coasts where the purity of their blood -has been de-
‘stroyed by the intermixture of other races, they approach
to the ordinary types of the wild inhabitants of the sur-
rounding countries.
In mental and moral characteristics they are also highly
peculiar. They are remarkably quiet and gentle in dispo-
sition, submissive to the authority of those they consider
their superiors, and easily induced to learn and adopt the
habits of civilized people. They are clever mechanics, and
seem capable of acquiring a considerable amount of intel-
lectual education. |
__- Up to a very recent period these people were thorough
savages, and there are persons now living in Menado who
vemember a state of things identical with that described by
the writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The inhabitants of the several villages were distinct tribes,
each under its own chief, speaking languages unintelli-
gible to each other, and almost always at war. They built
their houses elevated upon lofty posts to defend themselves
from the attacks of theix enemies. They were head ~
hunters like the Dyaks of Borneo, and were said to be
sometimes cannibals. When a chief died, his tomb was
adorned with two fresh human heads; and if those of —
enemies could not be obtained, slaves were killed for the
occasion. Human skulls were the great ornaments of the
chiefs’ houses. Strips of bark were their only dress. The
country was a pathless wilderness, with small cultivated
patches of rice and vegetables, or clumps of fruit-trees,
diversifying the otherwise unbroken forest. Their religion
was that naturally engendered in the undeveloped human
mind by the contemplation of grand natural phenomena
and the luxuriance of tropical nature. The burning
CHAP. XviD. 1 NATIVES OF MINAHASA. 243
mountain, the torrent and the lake, were the abode of their
deities; and certain trees and birds were supposed to have
especial influence over men’s actions and destiny. They
held wild and exciting festivals to propitiate these deities
or demons; and believed that men could be changed by
them into animals, either during life or after death.
Here we have a picture of true savage life; of small
isolated communities at war with all around them, subject
to the wants and miseries of such a condition, drawing a
precarious existence from the luxuriant soil, and living on
from generation to generation, with no desire for physical
amelioration, and no prospect of moral advancement.
Such was their condition down to the year 1822, when
the coffee-plant was first introduced, and experiments were
made as to its cultivation. It was found to succeed ad-
mirably at from fifteen hundred up to four thousand feet
above the sea. The chiefs of villages were induced to
undertake its cultivation. Seed and native instructors
were sent from Java ; food was supplied to the labourers
engaged in clearing and planting; a fixed price was esta-
blished at which all coffee brought to the government col-
lectors was to be paid for, and the village chiefs who now
received the titles of “ Majors” were to receive five per cent.
of the produce. After atime, roads were made from the port
of Menado up to the plateau, and smaller paths were cleared
from village to village; missionaries settled in the more
populous districts and opened schools, and Chinese traders
penetrated to the interior and supplied clothing and other
luxuries in exchange for the money which the sale of the
coffee had produced. At the same time, the country was
divided into districts, and the system of “ Controlleurs,”
which had worked so well in J ava, was introduced. The
“ Controlleur” was a European, or a native of European
blood, who was the general superintendent of the cultiva-
tion of the district, the adviser of the chiefs, the protector
of’ the people, and the means of communication between
both and the European Government. His duties obliged
him to visit every village in succession once a month, and
to send in a report on their condition to the Resident.
As disputes between adjacent villages were now settled by
appeal to a superior authority, the old and inconvenient
| R2
244 CELEBES. [CHAP. XVIT.
semi-fortified houses were disused, and under the direction
of the “Controlleurs” most of the houses were rebuilt
onaneat and uniform plan. It was this interesting district
which I was now about to visit.
Having decided on my route, I started at 8 AM. on the
22d of June. Mr. Tower drove me the first three miles
in his chaise, and Mr. Neys accompanied me on horseback
three miles further to the village of Lotta. Here we met
the Controlleur of the district of Tondano, who was return-
ing home from one of his monthly tours, and who had
agreed to act as my guide and companion on the journey.
From Lotta we had an almost continual ascent for six
miles, which brought us on to the plateau of Tondano at
an elevation of about 2,400 feet. We passed through three
villages whose neatness and beauty quite astonished me.
The main road, along which all the coffee is brought down
from the interior in carts drawn by buffaloes, is always
turned aside at the entrance of a village, so as to pass
behind it, and thus allow the village street itself to be kept
neat and clean. This is bordered by neat hedges often
formed entirely of rose-trees, which are perpetually in
blossom. There is a broad central path and a border of fine
turf, which is kept well swept and neatly cut. The houses
ave all of wood, raised about six feet on substantial posts
neatly painted blue, while the walis are whitewashed. They
all have a verandah enclosed with a neat balustrade, and are
cenerally surrounded by orange-trees and flowering shrubs.
The surrounding scenery is verdant and picturesque.
Coffee plantations of extreme luxuriance, noble palms and
tree ferns, wooded hills and volcanic peaks, everywhere
meet the eye. I had heard much of the beauty of this
country, but the reality far surpassed my expectations.
About one o’clock we reached Tomohdn, the chief place
of a district, having a native chief now called the “ Major,”
at whose house we were to dine. Here was a fresh surprise
for me. The house was large, airy and very substantially —
built of hard native timber, squared and put together in a
most workmanlike manner. It was furnished in European
style, with handsome chandelier lamps, and the chairs and
tables all well made by native workmen. As soon as we-
entered, madeira and bitters were offered us. Then two
CHAP. xvi] |§ |§ 4 MALAY DINNER. PAS
handsome boys neatly dressed in white and with smoothly
brushed jet-black hair, handed us each a basin of water
and a clean napkin on a salver. The dinner was excel-
lent. Fowls cooked in various ways, wild pig roasted
stewed and fried, a fricassee of bats, potatoes rice and
other vegetables, all served on good china, with finger
glasses and fine napkins, and abundance of good claret and
beer, seemed to me rather curious at the table of a native
chief on the mountains of Celebes. Our host was dressed
in a suit of black with patent-leather shoes, and really
looked comfortable and almost gentlemanly in them. He
sat at the head of the table and did the honours well,
though he did not talk much. Our conversation was en-
tirely in Malay, as that is the official language here, and in
fact the mother-tongue and only language of the control-
leur, who is a native-born half-breed. The Major’s father,
who was chief before him, wore, I was informed, a strip of
bark as his sole costume, and lived in a rude hut raised on
lofty poles, and abundantly decorated with human heads.
Of course we were expected, and our dinner was prepared
in the best style, but I was assured that the’ chiefs all
take a pride in adopting European customs, and in being
able to receive their visitors in a handsome manner.
After dinner and coffee, the Controlleur went on to
Tondano, and I strolled about the village waiting for my
baggage, which was coming in a bullock-cart and did not
arrive till after midnight. Supper was very similar to
dinner, and on retiring I found an elegant little room
with a comfortable bed, gauze curtains with blue and red
hangings, and every convenience. Next morning at sun-
rise the thermometer in the verandah stood at 69°, which
I was told is about the usual lowest temperature at this
place, 2,500 feet above the sea. I had a good breakfast
of coffee, eggs, and fresh bread and butter, which I took in
the spacious verandah, amid the odour of roses, jessamine,
and other sweet-scented flowers, which filled the garden
in front; and about eight o'clock left Tomohén with a
dozen men carrying my baggage.
Our road lay over a mountain ridge about 4,000 feet
above the sea, and then descended about 500 feet to the
litle village of Rurikan, the highest in the district of
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CHAP. XVII.] COFFER PLANTATIONS. 247
Minahasa, and probably in all Celebes. Here .I had de-
termined to stay for some time to see whether this eleva-
tion would produce any change in the zoology. The
village had only been formed about ten years, and was
quite as neat as those I had passed through and much
more picturesque. It is placed on a small level spot, from
which there is an abrupt wooded descent down to the
_ beautiful lake of Tondano, with volcanic mountains be-
yond. On one side is a ravine, and beyond it a fine
mountainous and wooded country.
Near the village are the coffee plantations. The trees
are planted in rows, and are kept topped to about seven
feet high. This causes the lateral branches to grow very
strong, so that some of the trees become perfect hemi-
spheres, loaded with fruit from top to bottom, and pro-
ducing from ten to twenty pounds each of cleaned coffee
annually. These plantations were all formed by the
Government, and are cultivated by the villagers under
the direction of their chief. Certain days are appointed
for weeding or gathering, and the whole working popu-
lation are summoned by .sound of gong. An account is
kept of the number of hours’ work done by each family,
and at the year’s end the produce of the sale is divided
among them proportionately. The coffee is taken to
Government stores established at central places over the
whole country, and is paid for at a low fixed price.
Out of this a certain percentage goes to the chiefs and
majors, and the remainder is divided among the inha-
bitants. This system works very well, and I believe is
at present far better for the people than free-trade would
be. There are also large rice-fields, and in this little
village of seventy houses I was informed that a hundred
pounds’ worth of rice was sold annually.
I had a smali house at the very end of the village, almost
hanging over the precipitous slope down to the stream,
and with a splendid view from the verandah. The thermo-
meter in the morning often stood at 62° and never rose
so high as 80°, so that with the thin clothing used in
the tropical plains we were always cool and sometimes
positively cold, while the spout of water where I went
daily for my bath had quite an icy feel. Although I
¢
248 CELEB &S. [CHAP. XVII.
enjoyed myself very much among these fine mountains
and forests, I was somewhat disappointed as to my collec-
tions. There was hardly any perceptible difference between
the animal life in this temperate region and in the torrid Fe
plains below, and what difference did exist was in most
respects disadvantageous to me. There seemed to be
nothing absolutely peculiar to this elevation. Birds and.
quadrupeds were less plentiful, but of the same species.
In insects there seemed to be more difference. The
curious beetles of the family Cleride, which are found
chiefly on bark and rotten wood, were finer than I have
seen them elsewhere. The beautiful Longicorns were scarcer
than usual, and the few butterflies were all of tropical
species. One of these, Papilio blumei, of which I obtained
a few specimens only, is among the most magnificent I
have ever seen. It is a green and gold swallow-taul,
with azure-blue spoon-shaped tails, and was often seen
tlying about the village when the sun shone, but in a very
shattered condition. The great amount of wet and cloudy
weather, was a great drawback all the time | was at
Jiurukan.
Even in the vegetation there is very little to indicate
elevation. ‘The trees are more covered with lichens and
mosses, and the ferns and tree-ferns are finer and more
luxuriant than I had been accustomed to see them on the |
low grounds, both probably attributable to the almost —
perpetual moisture that here prevails. Abundance of a
tasteless raspberry, with blue and yellow Composite, have
somewhat of a temperate aspect; and minute ferns and
Orchidex, with dwarf Begonias on the rocks, roake some
approach to a sub-alpine vegetation. The forest however ~
is most luxuriant. Noble palms, Pandani, and tree-ferns —
are abundant in it, while the forest trees are completely
festooned with Orchidez, Bromeliz, Aracese, Lycopodiums,
and mosses. The ordinary stemless ferns abound; some
with gigantic fronds ten or twelve feet long, others barely
an inch high; some with entire and massive leaves,
others elegantly waving their finely-cut foliage, and adding
eadless variety and interest to the forest paths. The
cocoa-nut palm still produces fruit abundantly, but 1S
said to be deficient in oil. Oranges thrive better than
pall
CHAP. XVII. | AN FARTHQUAKE. 9AY
below, producing abundance of delicious fruit; but the
shaddock or pumplemous (Citrus decumana) requires the
full force of a tropical sun, for it will not thrive even at
Tondano a thousand feet lower. On the hilly slopes
rice is cultivated largely, and ripens well, although the
temperature rarely or never rises to 80°, so that one
would think it might be grown ever in England in fine
summers, especially if the young plants were raised under
glass.
~ The mountains have an unusual quantity of earth or
vegetable mould spread over them. Even on the steepest
slopes there is everywhere a covering of clays and sands,
and generally a good thickness of vegetable soil. It is
this which perhaps contributes to the uniform luxuriance
of the forest, and delays the appearance of that sub-alpine
vegetation which depends almost as much on the abun-
dance of rocky and exposed surfaces as on difference of
climate. Ata much lower elevation on Mount Ophir in
Malacca, Dacrydiums and Rhododendrons with abundance
of Nepenthes, ferns, and terrestrial orchids suddenly took
the place of the lofty forest; but this was plainly due to
the occurrence of an extensive slope of bare granitic rock
at an elevation of less than 3,000 feet. The quantity of
vegetable soil, and also of loose sands and clays, resting
on steep slopes, hill-tops and the sides of ravines, is a
curious and important phenomenon. It may be due in
part to constant slight earthquake shocks, facilitating the
disintegration of rock; but would also seem to indicate
that the country has been long exposed to gentle atmo-
spheric action, and that its elevation has been exceedingly
slow and continuous.
During my stay at Rurikan my curiosity was satisfied
by experiencing a pretty sharp earthquake-shock. On the
evening of June 29th, at a quarter after eight, as I was
sitting reading, the house began shaking with a very gentle,
but rapidly increasing motion. I sat still enjoying the
novel sensation for some seconds; but in less than half a
minute it became strong enough to shake me in my chair,
and to make the house visibly rock about, and creak and
erack as if it would fall to pieces. Then began a crv
throughout the village of “Tana goyang! tana goyang !”
250 CELEBES. [cuap. KVL,
(Earthquake! earthquake!) Everybody rushed out of their
houses--women screamed and children cried—and I
thought it prudent to go out too. On getting up, I found
my head giddy and my steps unsteady, and could hardly
walk without falling. The shock continued about a minute,.
during which time I felt as if I had been turned round
and round, and was almost sea-sick. Going into the house
again, I found a lamp and a bottle of arrack upset. The
tumbler which formed the lamp had been thrown out of
the saucer in which it had stood. The shock appeared to
be nearly vertical, rapid, vibratory, and jerking. It was.
sufficient, I have no doubt, to have thrown down brick
chimneys and walls and church towers ; but as the houses.
here are all low, and strongly framed of timber, it is impos-
sible for them to be much injured, except by a shock that
would utterly destroy a European city. The people told me
it was ten years since they had had a stronger shock than.
this, at which time many houses were thrown down and.
some people killed.
At intervals cf ten minutes to half an hour, slight
shocks and tremors were felt, sometimes strong enough to.
send us all out again. There was a strange mixture of
the terrible and the ludicrous in our situation. We might
at any moment have a much stronger shock, which would.
bring down the house over us, or—what I feared more—
cause a landslip, and send us down into the deep ravine
on the very edge of which the village is built; yet I
could not help laughing each time we ran out at a slight
shock, and then in a few moments ran in again. The
sublime and the ridiculous were here literally but a step
apart. On the one hand, the most terrible and destructive
of natural phenomena was in action around us—the rocks,
the mountains, the solid earth were trembling and con-
vulsed, and we were utterly impotent to cuard against the
danger that might at any moment overwhelm us. On the:
other hand was the spectacle of a number of men, women,
and children running in and out of their houses, on what:
each time proved a very unnecessary alarm, as each shock.
ceased just as it became strong enough to frighten us. It.
seemed really very much like “ playing at earthquakes,”
and made many of the people join me in a hearty laugh,.
:
CHAP. XVII. ] AN HARTHQUAKE. 251
even while reminding each other that it really might be ne
laughing matter.
At length the evening got very cold, and I became very
sleepy, and determined to turn in; leaving orders to my
boys, who slept nearer the door, to wake me in case the
house was in danger of falling. But I miscalculated
my apathy, for I could not sleep much. The ghocks
continued at intervals of half an hour or an hour all
night, just strong enough to wake me theroughly each
time and keep me on the alert ready to jump up in case
of danger. I was therefore very glad when morning came.
Most of the inhabitants had not been to bed at all, and
some had stayed out of doors all night. For the next
two days and nights shocks still continued at short in-
tervals, and several times a day for a week, showing that
there. was some very extensive disturbance beneath our
portion of the earth’s crust. How vast the forces at work
really are can only be properly appreciated when, after
feeling their effects, we look abroad over the wide expanse
of hill and valley, plain and mountain, and thus realize in
a slight degree the immense mass of matter heaved and
shaken. The sensation produced by an earthquake is
never to be forgotten. We feel ourselves in the grasp of a
power to which the wildest fury of the winds and waves
are as nothing; yet the effect is more a thrill of awe than
the terror which the more boisterous war of the elements
produces. There is a mystery and an uncertainty as
to the amount of danger we incur, which gives greater
play to the imagination, and to the influences of hope
and fear. These remarks apply only to a moderate earth-
quake. A severe one is the most destructive and the
most horrible catastrophe to which human beings can be
exposed.
A few days after the earthquake I took a walk to Ton-
dino, a large village of about 7,000 inhabitants, situated at
the lower end of the lake of the same name. I dined with
the Controlleur, Mr. Bensneider, who had been my guide
to Tomohén. He had a fine large house, in which he often
received visitors ; and his garden was the best for flowers
which I had seen in the tropics, although there was no
great variety. It was he who introduced the rose hedges
252 CELEBES. [cuaP. XVII. ;
which give such a charming appearance to the villages ;
and to him is chiefly due the general neatness and good
order that everywhere prevail. I consulted him about a
fresh locality, as I found Rurikan too much in the clouds,
dreadfully damp and gloomy, and with a general stagnation
of bird and insect life. He recommended me a village
some distance beyond the lake, near which was a large
forest, where he thought I should find plenty of birds. AS
he was going himself in a few days I decided to accompany
him.
After dinner I asked him for a guide to the celebrated
waterfall on the outlet stream of the lake. It is situated
about a mile and half below the village, where a slight
rising ground closes in the basin, and evidently once
formed the shore of the lake. Here the river enters a
gorge, very narrow and tortuous, along which it rushes
furiously for a short distance and then plunges into a
oreat chasm, forming the head of a large valley. Just
above the fall the channel is not more than ten feet wide,
and here a few planks are thrown across, whence, half hid
by luxuriant vegetation, the mad waters may be seen
rushing beneath, and a few feet farther plunge into the
abyss. Both sight and sound are grand and impressive.
It was here that, four years before my visit, the Governor-
General of the Netherland Indies committed suicide, by
leaping into the torrent. This at least is the general
opinion, as he suffered from a painful disease which was
supposed to have made him weary of his life. His body
was found next day in the stream below.
Unfortunately, no good view of the fall could now be
obtained, owing to the quantity of wood and high grass
that lined the margins of the precipices. There are two
falls, the lower being the most lofty ; and it is possible, by
a long circuit, to descend into the valley and see them
from below. Were the best points of view searched for
and rendered accessible, these falls would probably be
found to be the finest in the Archipelago. The chasm
seems to be of great depth, probably 500 or 600 feet.
Unfortunately I had no time to explore this valley, as I
was anxious to devote every fine day to increasing my
hitherto scanty collections.
—~
etn eres
}
CHAP. XVII.] MISSION ARIES. 253
Just opposite my abode in Rurtikan was the school-
house. The schoolmaster was a native, educated by the
Missionary at Tomohon. School was held every morning
for about three hours, and twice a week in the evening
there was catechising and preaching. There was also a
service on Sunday morning. The children were all taught
in Malay, and I often heard them repeating the multi-
plication-table up to twenty times twenty very glibly.
They always wound up with singing, and if' was very
pleasing to hear many of our old psalm-tunes in these
remote mountains, sung with Malay words. Singing is
one of the real blessings which Missionaries introduce
among savage nations, whose native chants are almost
always monotonous and melancholy.
On catechising evenings the schoolmaster was a great
man, preaching and teaching for three hours at a stretch
much in the style of an English ranter. This was pretty
cold work for his auditors, however warming to himself;
and I am inclined to think that these native teachers,
having acquired facility of speaking and an endless supply
of religious platitudes to talk about, ride their hobby
rather hard, without much consideration for their flock.
The Missionaries, however, have much to be proud of in
this country. They have assisted the Government in
changing a savage into a civilized community in a wonder-
fully short space of time. Forty years ago the country
was a wilderness, the people naked savages, garnishing
their rude houses with human heads. Now it is a garden,
worthy of its sweet native name of “Minahasa.” Good
roads and paths traverse it in every direction; some of the
finest coffee plantations in the world surround the villages,
interspersed with extensive rice-fields more than sufficient
for the support of the population.
The people are now the most industrious, peaceable,
and civilized in the whole Archipelago. They are the
best clothed, the best housed, the best fed, and the best
educated ; and they have made some progress towards a
higher social state. I believe there is no example else-
where of such striking results being produced in so short
a time—results which are entirely due to the system of
government now adopted by the Dutch in their Eastern
254 CELEBES. (cHap. XVII.
possessions. The system is one which may be called a
“yaternal despotism.” Now we Englishmen do not like
despotism—we hate the name and the thing, and we would
rather see people ignorant, lazy, and vicious, than use any
but moral force to make them wise, industrious, and good.
And we are right when we are dealing with men of our own
race, and of similar ideas and equal capacities with our-
selves. Example and precept, the force of public opinion,
and the slow, but sure spread of education, will do every-
thing in time; without engendering any of those bitter
feelings, or producing any of that servility, hypocrisy, and
dependence, which are the sure results of despotic govern-
ment. But what should we think of a man who should
advocate these principles of perfect freedom in a family or
a school? We should say that he was applying a good
general principle to a case in which the conditions ren-
dered it inapplicable—the case in which the governed are
in an admitted state of mental inferiority to those who
govern them, and are unable to decide what is best for their
permanent welfare. Children must be subjected to some
degree of authority, and guidance ; and if properly managed
they will cheerfully submit to it, because they know their
own inferiority, and believe their elders are acting solely —
for their good. They learn many things the use of which
they cannot comprehend, and which they would never
learn without some moral and social if not physical
pressure. Habits of order, of industry, of cleanliness, cf.
respect and obedience, are inculcated by similar means.
Children would never grow up into well-behaved and
well-educated men, if the same absolute freedom of action
that is allowed to men were allowed to them. Under the
best aspect of education, children are subjected to a mild —
despotism for the good of themselves and of society ; and
their confidence in the wisdom and goodness of those
who ordain and apply this despotism, neutralizes the bad
passions and degrading feelings, which under less favour-
able conditions are its general results.
Now, there is not merely an analogy,—there is in many
respects an identity of relation, between master and pupil
or parent and child on the one hand, and an uncivilized
race and its civilized rulers on the other. We know (or
CHAD, XVII] A PATERNAL DESPOTISM. 255
think we know) that the education and industry, and the
common usages of civilized man, are superior to those of
savage life; and, as he becomes acquainted with them, the
savage himself admits this. He admires the superior
acquirements of the civilized man, and it is with pride
that he will adopt such usages as do not interfere too much
with his sloth, his passions, or his prejudices. But as the
wilful child or the idle schoolboy, who was never taught
obedience, and never made to do anything which of his
own free will he was not inclined to do, would in most
cases obtain neither education nor manners ; so it is much.
more unlikely that the savage, with all the confirmed
habits of manhood and the traditional prejudices of race,
should ever do more than copy a few of the least bene-
ficial customs of civilization, without some stronger
stimulus than precept, very imperfectly backed by
example.
If we are satisfied that we are right in assuming the
government over a savage race, and occupying their country ;
and if we further consider it our duty to do what we can
to improve our rude subjects and raise them up towards
our own level, we must not be too much afraid of the cry
of “despotism” and “slavery,” but must use the authority
we possess, to induce them to do work which they may not
altogether like, but which we know to be an indispensable
step in their moral and physical advancement. The Dutch
_ have shown much good policy in the means by which they
have done this. They have in most cases upheld and
strengthened the authority of the native chiefs, to whom
the people have been accustomed to render a voluntary
obedience; and by acting on the intelligence and _ self-
interest. of these chiefs, have brought about changes in the
manners and customs of the people, which would have
excited ill-feeling and perhaps revolt, had they been directly
enforced by foreigners.
Tn carrying out such a system, much depends upon the
character of the people; and the system which succeeds
admirably in one place could only be very partially worked
out in another. In Minahasa the natural docility and
intelligence of the race have made their progress rapid; and
how important this is, is well illustrated by the fact, that in
256 CELEBLES. 'CHAP, XVII.
the immediate vicinity of the town of Menado are a tribe
called Banteks, of a much less tractable disposition, who
have hitherto resisted all efforts of the Dutch Government
to induce them to adopt any systematic cultivation. These
remain in a ruder condition, but engage themselves will-
ingly as occasional porters and labourers, for which their
greater strength and activity well adapt them.
No doubt the system here sketched, seems open to serious
objection. It is to a certain extent despotic, and interferes
with free trade, free labour, and free communication. A
native cannot leave his village without a pass, and cannot
engage himself to any merchant or captain without a
Government permit. The coffee has all to be sold to
Government, at less than half the price that the local
merchant would give for it, and he consequently cries out
loudly against “ monopoly” and “oppression.” He forgets,
however, that the coffee plantations were established by
the Government at great outlay of capital and skill; that
it gives free education to the people, and that the monopoly
is in lieu of taxation. He forgets that the product he
wants to purchase and make a profit by, is the creation of
_ the Government, without whom the people would still be
savages. He knows very well that free trade would, as
its first result, lead to the importation of whole cargoes of
arrack, which would be carried over the country and
exchanged for coffee. That drunkenness and poverty
would spread over the land; that the public coffee plan-
tations would not be kept up; that the quality and quan-
tity of the coffee would soon deteriorate ; that traders and
merchants would get rich, but that the people would re-
lapse into poverty and barbarism. That such is invariably
the result of free trade with any savage tribes who pos- —
sess a valuable product, native or cultivated, is well known
to those who have visited such people; but we might even
anticipate from general principles that evil results weuld
happen. If there is one thing rather than another to
which the grand law of continuity or development will
apply, it is to human progress. There are certain stages
through which society must pass in its onward march
from barbarism to civilization. Now one of these stages —
has always been some form or other of despotism, such as
‘OMAP. XVII] FEMALK# LABOUR. Wa
feudalism or servitude, or a despotic paternal government ;
and we have every reason to believe that it is not possible
for humanity to leap over this transition epoch, and pass
at once from pure savagery to free civilization. The Dutch
system attempts to supply this missing link, and to bring
the people on by gradual steps to that higher civilization,
which we (the English) try to force upon them at once.
Our system has always failed. We demoralize and we
extirpate, but we never really civilize. Whether the Dutch
system can permanently succeed is but doubtful, since it
may not be possible to compress the work of ten centuries
into one; but at all events it takes nature as a cuide, and
is therefore more deserving of success, and more likely to
succeed, than ours.
There is one point connected with this question which I
think the Missionaries might take up with great physical
and moral results. In this beautiful and healthy country,
and with abundance of food and necessaries, the population
does not increase as it ought to do. I can only impute
this to one cause. Infant mortality, produced by neglect
while the mothers are working in the plantations, and by
general ignorance of the conditions of health in infants.
Women all work, as they have always been accustomed to
do. It is no hardship to them, but I believe is often a
pleasure and relaxation. They either take their infants
with them, in which case they leave them in some shady
spot on the ground, going at intervals to give thei
nourishment, or they leave them at home in the care of
other children too young to work. Under neither of these
circumstances can infants be properly attended to, and
great mortality is the result, keeping down the increase of
population far below the rate which the general prosperity
of the country and the universality of marriage would lead
us to expect. This is a matter in which the: Government
Is directly interested, since it is by the increase of the
population alone that there can be any large and per-
manent increase in the produce of coffee. The Missionaries
should take up the question, because, by inducing married
women to confine themselves to domestic duties, they will
decidedly promote a higher civilization, and directly in-
crease the health and happiness of the whole community.
| S
258 CELEBES. \CHAP, XVII.
The people are so docile, and so willing to adopt the
manners and customs of Europeans, that the change might
be easily effected, by merely showing them that it was a
question of morality and civilization, and an essential
step in their progress towards au equality with their white
rulers. :
After a fortnight’s stay at Rurukan, I left that pretty
and interesting village in search of a locality and climate
more productive of birds and insects. I passed the evening
with the Controlleur of Tonddno, and the next morning at
nine, left in a small boat for the head of the lake, a dis-
tance of about ten miles. The lower end of the lake is
bordered by swamps and marshes of considerable extent,
but a little further on the hills come down to the water's
edge and give it very much the appearance of a great
river, the width being about two miles. At the upper end
is the village of Kakas, where | dined with the head man
in a good house like those I have already described ; and
then went on to Langéwan, four miles distant over a level
plain. This was the place where I had been recommended
to stay, and I accordingly unpacked my baggage and made
myself comfortable in the large house devoted to visitors.
I obtained a man to shoot for me, and another to accom-
pany me the next day to the forest, where I was in hopes
of finding a good collecting ground.
In the morning after breakfast I started off, but found
I had four miles to walk over a wearisome straight road
through coffee plantations before I could get to the forest, ©
and as soon as I did so it came on to rain heavily, and
did not cease till night. This distance to walk every day
was too far for any profitable work, especially when the
weather was so uncertain. I therefore decided at once
that I must go further on, till I found some place close
to or in a forest country. In the afternoon my friend
Mr. Bensneider arrived, together with the Controlleur of
the next district, called Belang, from whom I learnt that |
six miles further on there was a village called Panghu,
which had been recently formed and had a good deal of
forest close to it; and he promised me the use of a small
house if I liked to go there. |
The next morning I went to see the hot-springs and
CHAP. XVII. MUD VOLCANOES. 29
mud volcanoes, for which this place is celebrated. A
picturesque path among plantations and ravines, brought
us to a beautiful circular basin about forty feet diameter,
bordered by a calcareous ledge, so uniform and truly
curved that it looked like a work of art. It was filled
with clear water very near the boiling point, and emitting
clouds of steam with a strong sulphureous odour. It
overflows at one point and forms a little stream of hot
water, which at a hundred yards’ distance is still too
hot to hold the hand in. A little further on, in a piece
of rough wood, were two other springs not so regular
in outline, but appearing to be much hotter, as they were
in a continual state of active ebullition. At intervals of
a few minutes a great escape of steam or gas took place,
throwing up a column of water three or four feet high.
We then went. to the mud-springs, which are about a
mile off, and are still more curious. Ona sloping tract of
ground in a slight hollow is a small lake of liquid mud, in
patches of blue, red, or white, and in many places boiling
and bubbling most furiously. All around on the indu.
rated clay, are small wells and craters full of boiling mud.
These seem to be forming continually, a small hole appear-
ing first, which emits jets of steam and boiling mud, which
on hardening, forms a little cone with a crater in the
middle. The ground for some distance is very unsafe, as it
is evidently liquid at a small depth, and bends with pres-
sure like thin ice. At one of the smaller marginal jets
which I managed to approach, I held my hand to see if it
was really as hot as it looked, when a little drop of mud
that spurted on to my finger scalded like boiling water.
A short distance off there was a flat bare surface of rock,
as smooth and hot as an oven floor, which was evidently
an old mud-pool dried up and hardened. For hundreds of
yards round where there were banks of reddish and white
clay used for whitewash, it was still so hot close to the
surface that the hand could hardly bear to be held in
cracks a few inches deep, and from which arose a strong
sulphureous vapour. I was informed that some years
back a French gentleman who visited these springs ven-
tured too near the liquid mud, when the crust gave way
and he was engulfed in the horrible caldron.
$2
260 CELEBES. [CHAP. XVII.
This evidence of intense heat so near the surface over
a large tract of country, was very impressive, and I could
hardly divest myself of the notion that some terrible
catastrophe might at any moment devastate the country.
Yet it is probable that all these apertures are really
safety-valves, and that the inequalities of the resistance
of various parts of the earth’s crust, will always prevent
such an accumulation of force as would be required to
upheave and overwhelm any extensive area. About seven
miles west of this is a voleano which was in eruption
about thirty years before my visit, presenting a mag-
nificent appearance and covering the surrounding country
with showers of ashes. The plains around the lake formed
by the intermingling and decomposition of volcanic pro-
ducts are of amazing fertility, and with a little manage-
ment in the rotation of crops might be kept in continual
cultivation. Rice is now grown on them for three or
four years in succession, when they are left fallow for
the same period, after which rice or maize can be again
grown. Good rice produces thirty-fold, and coffee trees
continue bearing abundantly for ten or fifteen years, with-
out any manure and with scarcely any cultivation.
I was delayed a day by incessant rain, and then pro-
ceeded to Panghu, which I reached just before the daily
rain began at 11 a.m. After leaving’ the summit level of
the lake basin, the road is carried along the slope of a fine
forest ravine. The descent is a long one, so that 1 estimated
the village to be not more than 1,500 feet above the sea, yet —
I found the morning temperature often 69°, the same as”
at Tondano at least 600 or 700 feet higher. I was pleased
with the appearance of the place, which had a good deal
of forest and wild country around it; and found prepared —
for me a little house consisting only of a verandah and a
back room. This was only intended for visitors to rest in,
or to pass.a night, but it suited me very well. I was so
unfortunate, however, as to lose both my hunters just at
this time. One had been left at Tondano with fever
and diarrhcea, and the other was attacked at Langowan
with inflammation of the chest, and as his case looked
rather bad I had him sent back to Menado. The people
here were all so busy with their rice-harvest, which it was
CHAF Xvl1.] BIRDS AND INSECTS. 261
important for them to finish owing to the early rains, that
I could get no one to shoot for me,
During the three weeks that I stayed at Panghu it
rained nearly every day, either in the afternoon only, or
all day long; but there were generally a few hours’ sun-
shine in the morning, and I took advantage of these to
explore the roads and paths, the rocks and ravines, in
search of insects. These were not very abundant, yet I
saw enough to convince me that the Locality was a good
one, had I been there at the beginning instead of at the
end of the dry season. The natives brought me daily a
few insects obtained at the Sagueir palms, including some
fine Cetonias and stag-beetles. Two little boys were very
expert with the blowpipe, and brought me a good many
small birds, which they shot with pellets of clay. Among
these was a pretty little flower-pecker of a new species
(Prionochilus aureolimbatus), and several of the loveliest
honeysuckers I had yet seen. My general collection of
birds was, however, almost at-a standstill ; for though I at
length obtained a man to shoot for me, he was not good
for much, and seldom brought me more than one bird a
day. The best thing he shot was the large and rare fruit-
pigeon peculiar to Northern Celebes (Carpophaga forsteni),
which I had long been seeking after.
I was myself very successful in one beautiful group
of insects, the tiger-beetles, which seem more abundant
and varied here than anywhere else in the Archipelago.
I first met with them on a cutting in the road, where
a hard clayey bank was partially overgrown with mosses
and small ferns. Here, I found running about, a small
olive-green species which never took flight; and more
rarely a fine purplish black wingless insect, which was
always found motionless in crevices, and was therefore
probably nocturnal. It appeared to me to form a new
genus. About the roads in the forest, I found the large
and handsome Cicindela heros, which I had before obtained
sparingly at Macassar; but it was in the mountain torrent
of the ravine itself that I got my finest things. On dead
trunks overhanging the water and on the banks and foliage,
I obtained three very pretty species of Cicindela, quite
distinct in size, form, and colour, but having an almost
262 CELEBES. [CHAP. XViL
identical pattern of pale spots. I also found a single
specimen of a most curious species with very long antenne.
But my finest discovery here was the Cicindela gloriosa,
which I found on mossy stones just rising above the water.
After obtaining my first specimen of this elegant insect, I
used to walk up the stream, watching carefully every
moss-covered rock and stone. It was rather shy, and
would often lead me a long chase from stone to stone,
becoming invisible every time it settled on the damp
moss, owing to its rich velvety green colour. On some
days I could only catch a few glimpses of it, on others I
got a single specimen, and on a few occasions two, but
never without a more or less active pursuit.. This and
several other species I never saw but in this one ravine.
Among the people here I saw specimens of several types,
which, with the peculiarities of the languages, gives me
some notion of their probable origin. A striking illustra-
tion of the low state of civilization of these people till
quite recently, is to be found in the great diversity of their
languages. Villages three or four miles apart have sepa-
rate dialects, and each group of three or four such villages
has a distinct language quite unintelligible to all the rest ;
so that, till the recent introduction of Malay by the Mis-
sionaries, there must have been a bar to all free communi-
cation. These languages offer many peculiarities. They
contain a Celebes-Malay element and a Papuan element,
along with some radical peculiarities found also in the
languages of the Siau and Sanguir islands further north,
and therefore probably derived from the Philippine Islands.
Physical characters correspond. There are some of the less
civilized tribes which have semi-Papuan features and hair,
while in some villages the true Celebes or Bugis phy-
sioonomy prevails. The plateau of Tondano is chiefly
inhabited by people nearly as white as the Chinese, ana
with very pleasing semi-European features. The people
of Siau and Sanguir much resemble these, and I believe
them to be perhaps immigrants from some of the islands
of North Polynesia. The Papuan type will represent the
remnant of the aborigines, while those of the Bugis
character show the extension northward of the superior —
Malay races.
CHAP. XVIt.] THE BABIRUSA. 263
As I was wasting valuable time at Panghu owing to the
bad weather and the illness of my hunters, I returned to
Menado after a stay of three weeks. Here I had a little
touch of fever, and what with drying and packing away
my collections and getting fresh servants, it was a fortnight
before I was again ready to start. I now went eastward
over an undulating country skirting the great volcano
of Klabat, to a village called Lempfas, situated close
to the extensive forest that covers the lower slopes of
that mountain. My baggage was carried from village
to village by relays of men, and as each change involved:
some delay, I did not reach my destination (a distance
of eighteen miles) till sunset. I was wet through, and
had to wait for an hour in an uncomfortable state till
the first instalment of my baggage arrived, which luckily
contained my clothes, while the rest did not come in till
midnight.
This being the district inhabited by that singular animal
the Babirusa (Hog-deer) I inquired about skulls, and soon
obtained several in tolerable condition, as well as a fine one
of the rare and curious “Sapi-utan” (Anoa depressicornis),
Of this animal I had seen two living specimens at Menado,
and was surprised at their great resemblance to small
cattle, or still more to the Eland of South Africa. Their
Malay name signifies “forest ox,” and they differ from very
small high-bred oxen principally by the low-hanging dew-
lap, and straight pointed horns which slope back over the
neck. I did not find the forest here so rich in insects as
I had expected, and my.hunters got me very few birds,
but what they did obtain were very interesting. Among
_ these were the rare forest Kingfisher (Cittura cyanotis),
_ a small new species of Megapodius, and one specimen of
the large and interesting Maleo (Megacephalon rubripes),
to obtain which was one of my chief reasons for visiting
this district. Getting no more, however, after ten days’
search I removed to Licoupang, at the extremity of the
peninsula, a place celebrated for these birds, as well as for
the Babirisa and Sapi-utan. I found here Mr. Goldmann,
the eldest son of the Governor of the Moluccas, who was
superintending the establishment of some Government salt-
works. This was a better locality, and I obtained some
964 - CELEBES. [cHAP, XVII.
fne butterflies and very good birds, among which was
one more specimen of tie vere ground dove (Phlegeenas:
tristigmata), which I had fits: ebtained near the Maros
waterfall in South Celebes. |
Hearing what I was particularly in search of, Mr.
(‘oldmann kindly offered to make a hunting-party to the
place where the “ Maleos » ore most abundant, a remote
and uniphabited sea-beach about twenty miles distant.
The climate here was quite different to that on the
mountains, not a drop of rain having fallen for four
months; so I made arrangements to stay on the beach a
week, in order to secure a good number of specimens.
We went partly by boat and partly through the forest,
accompanied by the Major or head-man of Licoupang, with
a dozen natives and about twenty dogs. On the way they
caught a young Sapi-utan and five wild pigs. Of the
former I preserved the head. This animal is entirely
confined to the remote mountain forests of Celebes and
one or two adjacent islands which form part of the same
eroup. In the adults the head is black, with a white mark
over each eye, one on each cheek and another on the
throat. The horns are very smooth and sharp when
young, but become thicker and ridged at the bottom with
age. Most naturalists consider this curious animal to be
a small ox, but from the character of the horns, the fine
coat of hair and the descending dewlap, it seemed closely
to approach the antelopes.
Arrived at our destination we built a hut and prepared
for a stay of some days, I to shoot and skin “ Maleos,”
Mr. Goldmann and the Major to hunt wild pigs, Babirusa,
and Sapi-utan. The place is situated in the large bay
between the islands of Limbé and Banca, and consists of a
steep beach more than a mile in length, of deep loose anc
coarse black volcanic sand or rather oravel, very fatiguing
to walk over. It is bounded at each extremity by a small
river, with hilly ground beyond ; while the forest behind
the beach itself:is tolerably level and its growth stunted.
We have here probably an ancient lava stream from the
Klabat volcano, which has flowed down a valley into the —
sea, and the decomposition of which has formed the loose
black sand. In confirmation of this view it may be mep
CHAP. XVII.] MALEOS’ BREEDING PLACE. 965
tioned, that the beaches beyond the small rivers in both
directions are of white sand.
It is in this loose hot black sand, that those singular
birds the “Maleos” deposit their eggs. In the months of
August and September, when there is little or no rain,
they come down in pairs from the interior to this or to one
or two other favourite spots, and scratch holes three or
four feet deep, just above high-water mark, where the
female deposits a single large egg, which she covers over
with about a foot of sand, and then returns to the forest.
. At the end of ten or twelve days she comes again to the
same spot to lay another egg, and each female bird is sup-
posed to lay six or eight eggs during the season. The male
assists the female in making the hole, coming down and
returning with her. The appearance of the bird when
walking on the beach is very handsome. The glossy
black and rosy white of the plumage, the helmeted head
and elevated tail, like that of the common fowl, give a
striking character, which their stately and somewhat sedate
walk renders still more remarkable. There is hardly any
difference between the sexes, except that the casque or
bonnet at the back of the head and the tubercles at the
nostrils are a little larger, and the beautiful rosy salmon
colour a little deeper in the male bird, but the difference
is so slight that it is not always possible to tell a male
from a female without dissection. They run quickly, but
when shot at or suddenly disturbed take wing with a
heavy noisy flight to some neighbouring tree, whexe they
settle on a low branch; and they probably roost at night
in a similar situation. Many birds lay in the same hole,
for a dozen eggs are often found together; and these are so
large that it is not possible for the body of the bird to
contain more than one fully-developed egg at the same
time. In all the female birds which I shot, none of the
eggs besides the one large one exceeded the size of peas,
and there were only eight or nine of these, which is pro-
bably the extreme number a bird can lay in one season.
Every year the natives come for fifty miles round to
obtain these eggs, which are esteemed a great delicacy,
and when quite fresh are indeed delicious. They are
richer than hens’ eggs and of a finer flavour, and each one
266 Au CELEBES. (CHAP. XVile
completely fills an ordinary teacup, and forms with bread
or rice a very good meal. The colour of the shell is a pale
brick red, or very rarely pure white. They are elongate
and very slightly smaller at one end, from four to four
and a half inches long by two and a quarter or two and
a half wide.
After the eggs are deposited in the sand they are no
further cared for by the mother. The young birds on
breaking the shell, work their way up through the sand
and run off at once to the forest; and I was assured by
Mr. Duivenboden of Ternate, that they can fly the very
day they are hatched. He had taken some eggs on board
his schooner which hatched during the night, and in the
morning the little birds flew readily across the cabin.
Considering the great distances the birds come to deposit
the eggs in a proper situation (often ten or fifteen miles) it
seems extraordinary that they should take no further care
of them. It is, however, quite certain that they neither do-
nor can watch them. The eggs being deposited by a
number of hens in succession in the same hole, would
render it impossible for each to distinguish its own; and
the food necessary for such large birds (consisting entirely
of fallen fruits) can only be obtained by roaming over an
extensive district, so that if the numbers of birds which
come down to this single beach in the breeding season,
amounting to many hundreds, were obliged to remain in
the vicinity, many would perish of hunger.
In the structure of the feet of this bird, we may detect
a cause for its departing from the habits of its nearest
allies, the Megapodii and Talegalli, which heap up earth,
leaves, stones, and sticks into a huge mound, in which they
bury their eggs. The feet of the Maleo are not nearly so
large or strong in proportion as in these birds, while its
claws are short and straight instead of being long and
much curved. The toes are, however, strongly webbed at
the base, forming a broad powerful foot, which, with the
rather long leg, is well adapted to scratch away the loose
sand (which flies up in a perfect shower when the birds are
at work), but which could not without much labour accumu-
late the heaps of miscellaneous rubbish, which the large
grasping feet of the Megapodius bring together with ease.
ay
CHAP. XVII.] HABITS AND INSTINCTS. 267
We may also, I think, see in the peculiar organization of
the entire family of the Megapodide or Brush Turkeys, a
reason why they depart so widely from the usual habits of
the Class of birds. Each egg being so large as entirely to
fill up the abdominal cavity and with difficulty pass the
walls of the pelvis, a considerable interval is required
before the successive eggs can be matured (the natives say
about thirteen days). ach bird lays six or eight eges or
even more each season, so that between the first and last
there-may be an interval of two or three months, N ow, if
these eggs were hatched in the ordinary way, either the
parents must keep sitting continually for this long period,
or if they only began to sit after the last egg was deposited,
the first would be exposed to injury by the climate, or to
destruction by the large lizards, snakes, or other animals
which abound in the district; because such large birds
must roam about.a good deal in search of food. Here then
we seem to have a case, in which the habits of a bird may
be directly traced to its exceptional organization ; for it
will hardly be maintained that this abnormal structure
and, peculiar food were given to the Megapodide, in order
that they might not exhibit that parental affection, or
possess those domestic instincts so general in the Class
of birds, and which so much excite our admiration.
It has generally been the custom of writers on Natural
History, to take the habits and instincts of animals as fixed
points, and to consider their structure and organization as
specially adapted to be in accordance with these. This
assumption is however an arbitrary one, and has the bad
effect of stifling inquiry into the nature and causes of
“Instincts and habits,” treating them as directly due to a
“first cause,’ and therefore incomprehensible to us, I
believe that a careful consideration of the structure of a
species, and of the peculiar physical and organic conditions
by which it is surrounded, or has been surrounded in past
ages, will often, as in this case, throw much light on the
origin of its- habits and instincts. These again, combined
with changes in external conditions, react upon structure,
and by means of “ variation” and “ natural selection” both
are kept in harmony.
My friends remained three days, and got plenty of wild
2968 CELEBES, [cuAP. XVIT.
pigs and two Andas, but the latter were much injured by
the dogs, and I could only preserve the heads. A grand
hunt which we attempted on the third day failed, owing to
bad management in driving in the game, and we waited
for five hours perched on platforms in trees without getting
a shot, although we had been assured that pigs, Babirusas,
and Andas would rush past us in dozens. I myself, with
two men, stayed three days longer to get more specimens of
the Maleos, and succeeded in preserving twenty-six very
fine ones; the flesh and eggs of which supplied us with
abundance of good food.
The Major sent a boat, as he had promised, to take home
my baggage, while I walked through the forest with my
two boys and a guide, about fourteen miles. For the
first half of the distance there was no path, and we had
often to cut our way through tangled rattans or thickets of
bamboo. In some of our turnings to find the most prac-
ticable route I expressed my fear that we were losing our
way, as the sun being vertical I could see no possible clue
to the right direction. My conductors, however, laughed
at the idea, which they seemed to consider quite Judicrous ;
and sure enough, about half way, we suddenly encountered
a little hut where people from Licoupang came to hunt
and smoke wild pigs. My guide told me he had never
before traversed the forest between these two points; and
this is what is considered by some travellers as one of the.
savage “instincts,” whereas it 1s merely the result of wide
general knowledge. ‘The man knew the topography of
the whole district; the slope of the land, the direction
of the streams, the belts of bamboo or rattan, and many
other indications of locality and direction ; and he was thus
enabled to hit straight upon the hut, in the vicinity of
which he had often hunted. In a forest of which he knew
nothing, he would be quite as much at a loss as a European.
Thus it is, I am convinced, with all the wonderful accounts
of Indians finding their way through trackless forests to
definite points. They may never have passed straight
between the two particular points before, but they are well
acquainted with the vicinity of both, and have such a
ceneral knowledge of the whole country, its water system,
its soil and its vegetation, that as they approach the point
an ee eee
HAP Xv} RATTAN PALMS. 269
they are to reach, many easily-recognised indicaticns
enable them to hit upon it with certainty.
The chief feature of this forest was the abundance of
rattan palms, hanging from the trees, and turning and
twisting about on the ground, often in inextricable con-
fusion. One wonders at first how they can get into such
queer shapes; but it is evidently caused by the decay and
fall of the trees up which they have first climbed, after
which they grow along the ground till they meet with
another trunk up which to ascend. A tangled mass of
twisted living rattan, is therefore a sign that at some former
period a large tree has fallen there, though there may be not
the slightest vestige of it left. The rattan seems to have
unlimited powers of growth, and a single plant may mount
up several trees in succession, and thus reach the enormoug
length they are said sometimes to attain. They much
improve the appearance of a forest as seen from the
coast; for they vary the otherwise monotonous tree-tops
with feathery crowns of leaves rising clear above them,
and each terminated by an erect leafy spike like a light-
ning-conductor.
The other most interesting object in the forest was a
beautiful palm, whose perfectly smooth and cylindrical
stem rises erect to more than a hundred feet high, with
a thickness of only eight or ten inches; while the fan-
shaped leaves which compose its crown, are almost com-
plete circles of six or eight feet diameter, borne aloft on
long and slender petioles, and beautifully toothed round
the edge by the extremities of the leaflets, which are
separated only for a few inches from the circumference. It
is probably the Livistona rotundifolia of botanists, and is
the most complete and beautiful fan-leaf I have ever seen,
serving admirably for folding into water-buckets and
impromptu baskets, as well as for thatching and other
purposes.
A few days afterwards I returned to Menado on horse-
back, sending my baggage round by sea; and had just time
to pack up all my collections to go by the next mail steamer
to Amboyna. I will now devote a few pages to an account
of the chief peculiarities of the Zoology of Celebes, and its
relation to that of the surrounding countries.
270 NATURAL HISTORY. (CHAP, XVII.
CHAPTER XVIII
NATURAL HISTORY OF CELEBES.
Aedes position of Celebes is the most central in the
Archipelago. Immediately to the north are the Philip-
pine islands; on the west is Borneo; on the east are the
Molucca islands; and on the south is the Timor group:
and it is on all sides so connected with these islands by
its own satellites, by small islets, and by coral reefs, that
neither by inspection on the map nor by actual observa-
tion around its coast, is it possible to determine accurately
which should be grouped with it, and which with the
surrounding districts. Such being the case, we should.
naturally expect to find, that the productions of this central
island in some degree represented the richness and variety
of the whole Archipelago, while we should not expect
- much individuality in a country, so situated, that it would
seem as if it were pre-eminently fitted to receive stragglers
and immigrants from all around.
As so often happens in nature, however, the fact turns
out to be just the reverse of what we should have ex-
pected; and an examination of its animal productions,
shows Celebes to be at once the poorest in the number of
its species, and the most isolated in the character of its
productions, of all the great islands in the Archipelago. —
With its attendant islets it spreads over an extent of sea
hardly inferior in length and breadth to that occupied by
Borneo, while its actual land area is nearly double that —
of Java; yet its Mammalia and terrestrial birds number
scarcely more than half the species found in the last-
named island. Its position is such that it could receive
immigrants from every side more readily than Java, yet
in proportion to the species which inhabit it far fewer
seem derived from other islands, while far more are
altogether peculiar to it; and a considerable number of its
animal forms are so remarkable, as to find no close allies in
any other part of the world. 1 now propose to examine
CHAP. XVIIL. | OF CELEBES, O79
the best known groups of Celebesian animals in some
detail, to study their relations to those of other islands,
and to call attention to the many points of interest which
they suggest.
We know far more of the birds of Celebes than we do
of any other group of animals. No less than 191 species
have been discovered, and though no doubt many more
wading and swimming birds have to be added, yet the list
of land birds, 144 in number, and which for our present
purpose are much the most important, must be very nearly
complete. I myself assiduously collected birds in Celebes
for nearly ten months, and my assistant, Mr. Allen, spent
two months in the Sula islands. The Dutch naturalist
Forsten spent two years in Northern Celebes (twenty
years before my visit), and collections of birds had also
been sent to Holland from Macassar. The French ship
of discovery, L’ Astrolabe, also touched at Menado and
procured collections. Since my return home, the Dutch
naturalists Rosenberg and Bernstein have made extensive
collections both in North Celebes and in the Sula islands ;
yet all their researches combined, have only added eight
species of land birds to those forming part of my own
collection—a fact which renders it almost certain that
there are very few more to discover.
Besides Salayer and Boutong on the south, with Peling
and Bungay on the east, the three islands of the Sula
(or Zula) Archipelago also belong zoologically to Celebes,
although their position is such, that it would seem more
natural to group them with the Moluccas. About 48 land
birds are now known from the Sula group, and if we reject
from these, five species which have a wide range over the
Archipelago, the remainder are much more characteristic
of Celebes than of the Moluccas. Thirty-one species are
identical with those of the former island, and four are
representatives of Celebes forms, while only eleven are
Molucean species, and two more representatives.
But although the Sula islands belong to Celebes, they are
so close to Bouru and the southern islands of the Gilolo
group, that several purely Moluccan forms have migrated
there, which are quite unknown to the island of Celebes
itself; the whole thirteen Moluccan species being in this
972 NATURAL HISTORY (CHAP. XVIIL,
category, thus adding to the productions of Celebes a
foreign element which does not really belong to it. In
studying the peculiarities of the Celebesian fauna, it will
therefore be well to consider only the productions of the
main island.
The number of land birds in the island of Celebes is
128, and from these we may, as before, strike out a small
number of species which roam over the whole Archipelago
(often from India to the Pacific), and which therefore only
serve to disguise the peculiarities of individual islands.
These are 20 in number, and leave 108 species which
we may consider as more especially characteristic of the
island. On accurately comparing these with the birds of
all the surrounding countries, we find that enly nine extend
into the islands westward, and nineteen into the islands
eastward, while no less than 80 are entirely confined to
the Celebesian fauna—a degree of individuality, which,
considering the situation of the island, is hardly to be
equalled in any other part of the world. If we still more
closely examine these 80 species, we shall be struck by
the many peculiarities of structure they present, and by
the curious affinities with distant parts of the world which
many of them seem to indicate. These points are of so
much interest and importance that it will be necessary to
pass in review all those species which are peculiar to the
island, and to call attention to whatever is most worthy of
remark.
Six species of the Hawk tribe are peculiar to Celebes ;
three of these are very distinct from allied birds which
range over all India to Java and Borneo, and which thus
seem to be suddenly changed on entering Celebes. Another,
(Accipiter trinotatus) is a beautiful hawk, with elegant
rows of large round white spots on the tail, rendering it
very conspicuous and quite different from any other known
bird of the family. Three owls are also peculiar ; and one,
a barn owl (Strix rosenbergil), 1s very much larger and
stronger than its ally Strix javanica, which ranges from
India through all the islands as far as Lombock.
Of the ten Parrots found in Celebes, eight are peculiar.
Among them are two species of the singular raquet-tailed
parrots forming the genus Prioniturua and which are
+1
CHAP. XVIII. | OF CELEBES. 273
characterised by possessing two long spoon-shaped feathers
in the tail. ‘T'wo allied species are found in the adjacent
island of Mindanao, one of the Philippines, and this form
of tail is found in no other parrots in the whole world.
A small species of Lorikeet (Trichoglossus flavoviridis)
seems to have its nearest ally in Australia,
The three Woodpeckers which inhabit the island are all
peculiar, and are allied to species found in Java and
Borneo, although very different from them all.
Among the three peculiar Cuckoos two are very re-
-markable. Phcenicophaus callirhynchus is the largest and
handsomest species of its genus, and is distinguished by
the three colours of its beak, bright yellow, red, and black.
Kudynamis melanorynckus differs from all its allies in
having a jet-black bill, whereas the other species of the
genus always have it green, yellow, or reddish.
The Celebes Roller (Coracias temmincki) is an interest-
ing example of one species of a genus being cut off from the
' rest. There are species of Coracias in Europe, Asia, and
| Africa, but none in the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java, or
Borneo, The present species seems therefore quite out of
place ; and what is still more curious is the fact, that it is
_ not at all like any of the Asiatic species, but seems more
_ to resemble those of Africa.
' In the next family, the Bee-eaters, is another equally
_ isolated bird, Meropogon forsteni, which combines the
' characters of African and Indian Bee-eaters, and whose
| only near ally, Meropogon breweri, was discovered by
|. M. Du Chaillu in West Africa!
| The two Celebes Hornbills have no close allies in those
' which abound in the surrounding countries. The only
_ Thrush, Geocichla erythronota, is most nearly allied to a
species peculiar to Timor. Two of the Flycatchers are
_ closely allied to Indian species which are not found in the
_ Malay islands. Two genera somewhat allied to the Mag-
' pies (Streptocitta and Charitornis), but whose affinities are
so doubtful that Professor Schlegel places them among
the Starlings, are entirely confined to Celebes. They are
_ beautiful long-tailed birds, with black and white plumage,
and with the feathers of the head somewhat rigid and
_ scale-like.
T
274 NATURAL HISTORY (CHAP. XVIII.
Doubtfully allied to the Starlings are two other very
‘solated and beautiful birds. One, Enodes erythrophrys,
has ashy and yellow plumage, but is ornamented with
broad stripes of orange-red above the eyes. The other,
Basilornis celebensis, 1s a blue-black bird with a white
patch on each side of the breast, and the head ornamented
with a beautiful compressed scaly crest of feathers, resem-
bling in form that of the well-known Cock-of-the-rock of
South America. The only ally to this bird is found in
Ceram, and has the feathers of the crest elongated uf-
wards into quite a different form.
A still more curious bird is the Scissirostrum pagel,
which although it is at present classed. in the Starling
family, differs from all other species in the form of the
bill and nostrils, and seems most nearly allied in its
general structure to the Ox-peckers (Buphaga) of tropical
‘Africa, next to which the celebrated ornithologist Prince
Bonaparte finally placed it. It is almost entirely of a slaty
colour, with yellow bill and feet, but the feathers of the
rump and upper tail-coverts each terminate in a rigid
glossy pencil or tuft of a vivid crimson. These pretty
little birds take the place of the metallic-green starlings of
the genus Calornis, which are found in most other islands
of the Archipelago, but which are absent from. Celebes.
They go in flocks, feeding upon erain and fruits, often
frequenting dead trees, in holes of which they build their
nests; and they cling to the trunks as easily as wood-
peckers or creepers. |
Out of eighteen Pigeons found in Celebes eleven are
peculiar to it. Two of them, Ptilonopus gularis and
Turacseena menadensis, have their nearest allies in Timor.
Two others, Carpophaga forsteni and Phlegenas tristig-
mata, most resemble Philippine island species ; and Car-
pophaga radiata belongs to a New Guinea group. Lastly, |
in the Gallinaceous tribe, the curious helmeted Maleo |
(Megacephalon rubripes) is quite isolated, having its |
nearest (but still distant) allies in the Brush-turkeys of
Australia and New Guinea. |
Judging, therefore, by the opinions of the eminent |
naturalists who have described and classified its birds, we |
find that many of the species have no near allies whatever |
CHAP, XVIII. ] OF CELEBES. 275
in the countries which surround Celehes, but are either
quite isolated, or indicate relations with such distant
regions as New Guinea, Australia, India, or Africa. Other
cases of similar remote affinities between the productions
of distant countries no doubt exist, but in no spot upon
the globe that I am yet acquainted with, do so many of
them occur together, or do they form so decided a feature
in the natural history of the country.
The Mammalia of Celebes are very few in number, con-
sisting of fourteen terrestrial species and seven bats. Of
the former no less than eleven are peculiar, including two
which there is reason to believe may have been recently
carried into other islands by man. Three species which
have a tolerably wide range in the Archipelago, are—
1, The curious Lemur, Tarsius spectrum, which is found in
all the islands as far westward as Malacca; 2, the common
Malay Civet, Viverra tangalunga, which has a still wider
range; and 3, a Deer, which seems to be the same as the
Rusa hippelaphus of Java, and was probably introduced
by man at an early period.
The more characteristic species are as follow :—
Cynopithecus nigrescens, a curious baboon-like monkey
if not a true baboon, which abounds all over Celebes, and is
found nowhere else but in the one small island of Batchian,
into which it has probably been introduced accidentally.
An allied species is found in the Philippines, but in no
other island of the Archipelago is there anything resem-
bling them. These creatures are about the size of a
spaniel, of a jet-black colour, and have the projecting
dog-like muzzle and overhanging brows of the baboons.
They have large red callosities and a short fleshy tail,
scarcely an inch long and hardly visible. They go in
large bands, living chiefly in the trees, but often descend-
ing on the ground and robbing gardens and orchards.
Anoa depressicornis, the Sapi-utan, or wild cow of the
Malays, is an animal which has been the cause of much
controversy, as to whether it should be classed as ox,
buffalo, or antelope. It is smaller than any other wild
vattle, and in many respects seems to approach some of
the ox-like antelopes of Africa. It is found only in the
‘mountains, and is said never to inhabit places where there
T2
976 NATURAL HISTORY | CHAP. XVUI,
are deer. It is somewhat smaller than a small Highland
cow, and has long straight horns, which are ringed at the
base and slope backwards over the neck.
The wild pig seems to be of a species peculiar to the
island; but a much more curious animal of this family is
the Babirusa or Pig-deer, so named by the Malays from
its long and slender legs, aud curved tusks resembling
horns. This extraordinary creature resembles a pig in
eeneral appearance, but it does not dig with its snout, as
SKULL OF BABIRUSA.
+t feeds on fallen fruits. The tusks of the lower jaw are
very long and sharp, but the upper ones instead of grow-
ing downwards in the usual way are completely reversed,
crowing upwards out of bony sockets through the skin on
each side of the snout, curving backwards to near the
eyes, and in old animals often reaching eight or ten inches
in length. It is difficult to understand what can be the
CHAP. xvIIt.] OF CELEBES. OFF
use of these extraordinary horn-like teeth. Some of the
old writers supposed that they served as hooks, by which
the creature could rest its head on a branch. But the way
in which they usually diverge just over and in front of
the eye has suggested the more probable idea, that they
serve to guard these organs from thorns and spines, while
hunting for fallen fruits among the tangled thickets of
rattans and other spiny plants. Even this, however, is not
satisfactory, for the female, who must seek her food in the
same way, does not possess them. I should be inclined tc
believe rather, that these tusks were once useful, and were
then worn down as fast as they grew; but that changed
conditions of life have rendered them unnecessary, and
they now develop into a monstrous form, just as the
incisors of the Beaver or Rabbit will go on growing, if the
opposite teeth do not wear them away. In old animals
they reach an enormous size, and are generally broken
off as if by fighting.
Here again we have a resemblance to the Wart-hogs
of Africa, whose upper canines grow outwards and curve
up so as to form a transition trom the usual mode of
growth to that of the Babirusa. In other respects there
seems no affinity between these animals, and the Babirusa
stands completely isolated, having no: resemblance to the
pigs of any other part of the world. ‘It is found all over
Celebes and in the Sula islands, and also in Bouru, the
only spot beyond the Celebes group to which it extends ;
and which island also shows some affinity to the Sula
islands in its birds, indicating perhaps, a closer connexion
between them at some former period than now exists.
The other terrestrial mammals of Celebes are, five species
of squirrels, which are all distinct from those of Java and
Borneo, and mark the furthest eastward range of the genus
in the tropics; and two of Eastern opossums (Cuscus),
which are different from those of the Moluccas, and mark
the furthest westward extension of this genus and of the
Marsupial order. Thus we see that the Mammalia of
Celebes are no less individual and remarkable than the
birds, since three of the largest and most interesting
species have no near allies in surrounding countries, but
seem vaguely to indicate a relation to the African continent,
978 NATURAL HISTORY [CHaP, XVII,
Many groups of insects appear to be especially subject
to local influences, their forms and colours changing with
each change of conditions, or even with a change of locality
where the conditions seem almost identical. We should
therefore anticipate that the individuality manifested in
the higher animals would be still more prominent in these
creatures with less stable organisms. On the other hand,
however, we have to consider that the dispersion and
migration of insects 1s much more easily effected than
that of mammals or even of birds. They are much more
likely to be carried away by violent winds; their eggs
may be carried on leaves either by storms of wind or by
floating trees, and their larve and pup, often buried in
trunks of trees or enclosed in waterproof cocoons, may be
floated for days or weeks uninjured over the ocean. ‘These
facilities of distribution tend to assimilate the productions
of adjacent lands in two ways: first, by direct mutual
interchange of species; and secondly by repeated imm1-
erations of fresh individuals of a species common to other
islands, which by intercrossing, tend to obliterate the
changes of form and colour, which differences of condi-
tions might otherwise produce. Bearing these facts in
mind, we shall find that the individuality of the insects of
Celebes is even greater than we have any reason to expect.
For the purpose of insuring accuracy in comparisons
with other islands, I shall confine myself to those groups
which are best known, or which I have myself carefully
studied. Beginning with the Papilionide or Swallow-
tailed butterflies, Celebes possesses 24 species, of which the
large number of 18 are not found in any other island. If
we compare this with Borneo, which out of 29 species has
only two not found elsewhere, the difference is as striking
as anything can be. In the family of the Pieride, or white
butterflies, the difference is not quite so great, owing
perhaps to the more wandering habits of the group ; but.
it is still very remarkable. Out of 30 species inhabiting
Celebes, 19 are peculiar, while Java (from which more
species are known than from Sumatra or Borneo), out of
37 species has only 13 peculiar. The Panaide are large,
but weak-flying butterflies, which frequent forests and
gardens, and are plainly but often very richly coloured.
CHAP. XVIII. | OF CELEBES. 279
Of these my own collection contains 16 species from
Celebes and 15 from Borneo; but whereas no less than
14 are confined to the former island, only two are peculiar
to the latter. The Nymphalide are a very extensive
group, of generally strong-winged and very bright-coloured
butterflies, very abundant in the tropics, and represented
in our own country by our Fritillaries, our Vanessas, and
our Purple-emperor. Some months ago I drew up a list of
the Eastern species of this group, including all the new
ones discovered by myself, and arrived at the following
comparative results :—
Species of Nymphalidae, eee end of poet ies
Waee- VilGPILS 7 Po, ‘ os one '3S8
Bomeemiananiog Glia «vii isoTlSs.65! £5 oro 29
Ce a, OR pel a
The Coleoptera are so extensive that few of the groups
have yet been carefully worked out. I will therefore refer
to one only, which I have myself recently studied—the
Cetoniade or Rose-chafers—a group of beetles which,
owing to their extreme beauty, have been much sought
after. From Java 37 species of these insects are known,
and from Celebes only 30; yet only 13, or 35 per cent., are
peculiar to the former island, and 19, or 63 per cent., to the
latter.
The result of these comparisons is, that although Ce-
lebes is a single large island with only a few smaller ones
closely grouped around it, we must really consider it as
forming one of the great divisions of the Archipelago, equal
in rank and importance to the whole of the Moluccan or
Philippine groups, to the Papuan islands, or to the Indo-
Malay islands (Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Malay
peninsula). Taking those families of insects and birds
which are best known, the following table shows the com-
parison of Celebes with the other groups of islands :—
PAPILIONIDZ AND HAWKS, PARROTS, AND
PIERIDA, PIGEONS.
Per cent. of peculiar Per cent. of peculiar
| Species. Species.
Searememerern: . OO Se a wt 4
byt ae |: Sea cb
Celebes . Meier iOGD POCUD 2G BQ. ep
IEE os gh ern >. Ue wrest aicrreice) 6/1 OF
A li IB I ia 8) al ra f
eeumeper eel Ge Yel eee ag
280 NATURAL HISTORY [cHAP. XVIII
These large and well-known families well represent the
general character of the zoology of Celebes; and they
show that this island is really one of the most isolated
portions of the Archipelago, although situated in its very
centre.
But the insects of Celebes present us with other pheno-
mena more curious and more difficult to explain than their
striking individuality. The butterflies of that island are
in many cases characterised by a peculiarity of outline,
which distinguishes them at a glance from those of any
other part. of the world. It is most strongly manifested in
the Papilios and the Pieride, and consists in the fore-
wings being either strongly curved or abruptly bent near
the base, or in the extremity being elongated and often
somewhat hooked. Out of the 14 species of Papilio in
Celebes, 13 exhibit this peculiarity in a greater or less
degree, when compared with the most nearly allied species
of the surrounding islands. Ten species of Pieride have
the same character, and in four or five of the Nymphalide
it is also very distinctly marked. In almost every case
the species found in Celebes are much larger than those of
the islands westward, and at least equal to those of the
Moluccas, or even larger. The difference of form is how-
ever the most remarkable feature, as it is altogether a new
thing for a whole set of species in one country, to differ in
exactly the same way from the corresponding sets in all
the surrounding countries ; and it is so well marked, that
without looking at the details of colouring, most Celebes
Papilios and many Pieride, can be at once distinguished
from those of other islands by their form alone.
The outside figure of each pair here given, shows the
exact size and form of the fore-wing in a butterfly of
Yelebes, while the inner one represents the most closely
allied species from one of the adjacent islands. Figure 1
shows the strongly curved margin of the Celebes species,
Papilio gigon, compared with the much straighter margin
of Papilio demolion from Singapore and Java. Figure 2
shows the abrupt bend over the base of the wing in
Papilio miletus of Celebes compared with the slight curva-
ture in the common Papilio sarpedon, which has almost
exactly the same form from India to New Guinea and
CHAP. XVIII.] OF CELEBES. 281
Australia. Figure 3 shows the elongated wing of Tachyris
zarinda, a native of Celebes, compared with the much
shorter wing of Tachyris nero, a very closely allied species
found in all the western islands. The difference of form
is in each case sufficiently obvious, but when the insccts
eee
sS
]
themselves are compared it is much more striking than
in these partial outlines.
From the analogy of birds, we should suppose that the
pointed wing gave increased rapidity of flight, since it is a
character of terns, swallows, falcons, and of the swift-
flying pigeons, A short and rounded wing, on the other
hand. alwavs accompanies a more feeble or more laborious
282 NATURAL HISTORY [cHAP. XVIII.
flight, and one much less under command. We might
suppose, therefore, that the butterflies which possess this
peculiar form were better able to escape pursuit. But
there seems no unusual abundance of insectivorous birds to
render this necessary ; and as we cannot believe that such
a curious peculiarity is without meaning, it seems probable
that it is the result of a former condition of things, when
the island possessed a much richer fauna, the relics of
which we see in the isolated birds and Mammalia now
inhabiting it; and when the abundance of insectivorous
creatures, rendered some unusual means of escape a
necessity for the large-winged and showy butterflies. It
ig some confirmation of this view, that neither the very
small nor the very obscurely coloured groups of butterflies
have elongated wings, nor is any modification perceptible
in those strong-winged groups which already possess great
strength and rapidity of flight. ‘These were already suffi-
ciently protected from their enemies, and did not require
increased power of escaping from them. It is not at all
clear, what effect the peculiar curvature of the wings has,
in modifying flight.
Another curious feature in the zoology of Celebes is
also worthy of attention. I allude to the absence of
several groups which are found on both sides of it, in the
Indo-Malay islands as well as in the Moluccas ; and which
thus seem to be unable, from some unknown cause, to
obtain a footing in the intervening island. In Birds we
have the two families of Podargide and Laniade, which
range over the whole Archipelago and into Australia, and
which yet have no representative in Celebes. The genera
Ceyx among Kingfishers, Criniger among Thrushes, Rhipi-
dura among Flycatchers, Calornis among Starlings, and —
Erythrura among Finches, are all found in the Moluccas
as well as in Borneo and Java,—but not a single species
belonging to any one of them is found in Celebes. Among
insects, the large genus of Rose-chafers, Lomaptera, is found
in every country and island between India and New Guinea,
except Celebes. This unexpected absence of many groups,
from one limited district in the very centre of their area of
distribution, is a phenomenon not altogether unique, but,
I believe, nowhere so well marked as im this case; and it
CHAP. XVIII. ] OF CELEBBS. 283
certainly adds considerably to the strange character of
this remarkable island.
The anomalies and eccentricities in the natural history
of Celebes which I have endeavoured to sketch in this
chapter, all point to an origin in a remote antiquity. The
history of extinct animals teaches us, that their distribu-
tion in time and in space are strikingly similar. The rule
is, that just as the productions of adjacent areas usually
resemble each other closely, so do the productions of
successive periods in the same area; and as the produc-
tions of remote areas generally differ widely, so do the
productions of the same area at remote epochs. We are
therefore led irresistibly to the conclusion, that change of
species, still more of generic and of family form, is a
matter of time. But time may have led to a change of
species in one country, while in another the forms have
been more permanent, or the change may have gone on at
an equal rate but in a different manner in both. In
either case the amount of individuality in the productions
of a district, will be to some extent a measure of the time
that district has been isolated from those that surround it.
Judged by this standard, Celebes must be one of the oldest
parts of the Archipelago. It probably dates from a period
not only anterior to that when Borneo, Java, and Sumatra
were separated from the continent, but from that still
more remote epoch when the land that now constitutes
these islands had not risen above the ocean. Such an
antiquity is necessary, to account for the number of
animal forms it possesses, which show no relation to those
of India or Australia, but rather with those of Africa; and
we are led to speculate on the possibility of there having
once existed a continent in the Indian Ocean which might
serve as a bridge to connect these distant countries. Now
it is a curious fact, that the existence of such a land has
been already thought necessary, to account for the distri-
bution of the curious Quadrumana forming the family of
the Lemurs. These have their metropolis in Madagascar,
but are found also in Africa, in Ceylon, in the penin-
sula of India, and in the Malay Archipelago as far as
Celebes, which is its furthest eastern limit. Dr. Sclater
-has proposed for the hypothetical continent connecting
‘these distant points, and whose former existence is
284 NATURAL HISTORY. [CHAP XVIII,
indicated by the Mascarene islands and the Maldive coral
group, the name of Lemuria. Whether or no we believe in
its existence in the exact form here indicated, the student
of geographical distribution must see in the extraordinary
and isolated productions of Celebes, proofs of the former
existence of some continent from whence the ancestors of
these creatures, and of many other intermediate forms,
could have been derived. |
In this short sketch of the most striking peculiarities of
the Natural History of Celebes, I have been obliged to enter
much into details that I fear will have been uninteresting to
the general reader, but unless I had done so my exposition
would have lost much of its force and value. It 1s by
these details alone, that I have been able to prove the
unusual features that Celebes presents to us. Situated in
the very midst of an Archipelago, and closely hemmed in
on every side by islands teeming with varied forms of life,
its productions have yet a surprising amount of indi-
viduality. While it is poor in the actual number of its
species, it is yet wonderfully rich in peculiar forms ; many
of which are singular or beautiful, and are in some cases
absolutely unique upon the globe. We behold here the
curious phenomenon, of groups of insects changing their
outline in a similar manner when compared with those of
surrounding islands, suggesting some common cause which
never seems to have acted elsewhere in exactly the same
way. Celebes, therefore, presents us with a most striking
example of the interest that attaches to the study of the
geographical distribution of animals. We can see that
their present distribution upon the globe is the result of
all the more recent changes the earth’s surface has under-
gone; and by a careful study of the phenomena we are
sometimes able to deduce approximately what those past
changes must have been, in order to produce the distri-
bution we find to exist. In the comparatively simple case
of the Timor group, we were able to deduce these changes
with some approach to certainty. In the much more
complicated case of Celebes we can only indicate their
general nature, since we now see the result, not of any
single or recent change only, but of a whole series of
the later revolutions which have resulted in the present
distribution of land in the Eastern Hemisphere.
|
i>
CHAP. XIX.) 4 DUTCH MAIL STEAMER, 28
CHAPTER XIX.
BANDA.
(DECEMBER 1857, MAY 1859, APRIL 1861.)
| ers Dutch mail steamer in which I travelled from
Macassar to Banda and Amboyna was a roomy and com-
fortable vessel, although it would only go six miles an hour
in the finest weather. As there were but three passengers
besides myself, we had abundance of room, and I was able
to enjoy a voyage more than I had ever done before. The
arrangements are somewhat different from those on board
English or Indian steamers. There are no cabin servants,
as every cabin passenger invariably brings his own, and
the ship’s stewards attend only to the saloon and the
eating department. At six A.M. a cup of tea or coffee is
provided for those who like it. At seven to eight there is
a light breakfast of tea, eggs, sardines, &c. At ten, Madeira
gin and bitters are brought on deck as a whet for the
substantial eleven o’clock breakfast, which differs from
a dinner only in the absence of soup. Cups of tea and
coffee are brought round at three p.m. ; bitters, &c. again
at five, a good dinner with beer and claret at half-past six,
concluded by tea and coffee at eight. Between whiles
beer and sodawater are supplied when called for, so there
is no lack of little gastronomical excitements to while
away the tedium of a sea voyage. |
Our first stopping place was Coupang, at the west end
of the large island of Timor. “We then coasted along that
island for several hundred miles, having always a view
of hilly ranges covered with scanty vegetation, rising ridge
behind ridge to the height of six or seven thousand feet,
Turning off towards Banda we passed Pulo-Cambing,
Wetter, and Roma, all of which are desolate and barren
volcanic islands, almost as uninviting as Aden, and offer-
ing a strange contrast to the usual verdure and luxuriance
of the Archipelago. In two days more we reached the
volcanic group of Banda, covered with an unusually dense
286 BANDA. (CHAP. XIX.
and brilliant green vegetation, indicating that we had
passed beyond the range of the hot dry winds from the
plains of Central Australia. Banda is a lovely little spot,
‘ts three islands enclosing a secure harbour from whence
no outlet is visible, and with water so transparent, that
living corals and even the minutest objects are plainly
seen on the volcanic sand at a depth of seven or elght
fathoms. The ever smoking volcano rears its bare cone
on one side, while the two larger islands are clothed with
vegetation to the summit of the hills.
Going on shore, I walked up a pretty path which leads
to the highest point of the island on which the town is |
situated, where there is a telegraph station and a magni-
ficent view. Below lies the little town, with its neat red-
tiled white houses and the thatched cottages of the natives,
bounded on one side by the old Portuguese fort. Beyond,
about half a mile distant, lies the larger island in the
shape of .a horseshoe, formed of a range of abrupt hills
covered with fine forest and nutmeg gardens; while close
opposite the town is the volcano, forming a nearly perfect
cone, the lower part only covered with a light green bushy
vegetation. On its north side the outline is more uneven,
and there is a slight hollow or chasm about one-fifth of the
way down, from which constantly issue two columns of
smoke, as well as a good deal from the rugged surface
around and from some spots nearer the summit. A white
efflorescence, probably sulphur, is thickly spread over the
upper part of the mountain, marked by the narrow black
vertical lines of water gullies. The smoke unites as it
rises, and forms a dense cloud, which in calm damp weather
spreads out into a wide canopy hiding the top of the
mountain. At night and early morning it often rises up
straight and leaves the whole outline clear. |
It is only when actually gazing on an active volcano
that one can fully realize its awfulness and grandeur.
Whence comes that inexhaustible fire whose dense and
sulphureous smoke for ever issues from this bare and deso-
late peak? Whence the mighty forces that produced that
peak, and still from time to time exhibit themselves in the
earthquakes that always occur in the vicinity of volcanic
vents? The knowledge from childhood, of the fact that
CHAP. XIX.| THE VOLCANO. 287
voleanoes and earthquakes exist, has taken away somewhat
of the strange and exceptional character that really belongs
to them. The inhabitant of most parts of northern Europe,
sees in the earth the emblem of stability and repose. His
whole life-experience, and that of all his age and genera-
tion, teaches him that the earth is solid and firm, that its
massive rocks may contain water in abundance but never
fire; and these essential characteristics of the earth are
manifest in every mountain his country contains.
a ee ee.
CHAP. XXI.] MY HEAD-QUARTERS. ? 305
feet high—Ternate being very nearly the same height, ‘but
with a more rounded and irregular summit. The town
of Ternate is concealed from view till we enter between
the two islands, when it is discovered stretching along
the shore at the very base of the mountain. Its
situation is fine, and there are grand views on every
side. Close opposite is the rugged promontory and beau-.
tiful volcanic cone of Tidore; to the east is the long
mountainous coast of Gilolo, terminated towards the north
by a group of three lofty volcanic peaks, while imme-
diately behind the town rises the huge mountain, sloping
easily at first and covered with thick groves of fruit trees,
but soon becoming steeper, and furrowed with deep gullies.
Almost to the summit, whence issue perpetually faint
wreaths of smoke, it is clothed with vegetation, and looks
calm and beautiful, although beneath are hidden fires
which occasionally burst forth in lava-streams, but more
frequently make their existence known by the earthquakes
which have many times devastated the town.
I brought letters of introduction to Mr. Duivenboden, a
native of Ternate, of an ancient Dutch family, but who
was, educated in England, and speaks our language per-
fectly. He was a very rich man, owned half the town,
possessed many ships, and above a hundred slaves. He
was moreover, well educated, and fond of literature and
sclence—a phenomenon in these regions. He was gene-
rally known as the king of Ternate, from his large pro-
perty and great influence with the native Rajahs and their
subjects. Through his assistance I obtained a house,
rather ruinous, but well adapted to my purpose, being
close to the town, yet with a free outlet to the country and
the mountain. A few needful repairs were soon made,
some bamboo furniture and other necessaries obtained, and
after a visit to the Resident and Police Magistrate I found
myself an inhabitant of the earthquake-tortured island of
Ternate, and able to look about me and lay down the plan
of my campaign for the ensuing year. I retained this
house for three years, as I found it very convenient to have
a place to return to after my voyages to the various islands
of the Moluccas and New Guinea, where I could pack
my collections, recruit my health, and make preparations
7 x
306: TERNATE. [cHap. XXI.
for future journeys. To avoid repetitions, I will in this
chapter combine what notes I have about Ternate.
A description of my house (the plan of which is here
shown) will enable the reader to understand a very
common mode of building in these islands. There is of
course only one floor. The walls are of stone up to three
feet high; on this are strong squared posts supporting the
roof, everywhere except in the verandah filled in with the
GARDEN.
GARDEN.
NaCUYy).
RoaD.
leaf-stems of the sago-palm, fitted neatly in wooden
framing. The floor is of stucco, and the ceilings are like
the walls. The house is forty feet square, consists of four
rooms, a hall, and two verandahs, and is surrounded by a
wilderness of fruit trees. A deep well supplied me with
pure cold water, a greab luxury in this climate. Five
minutes’ walk down the road brought me to the market
and the beach, while in the opposite direction there were
no more European houses between me and the mountain.
In this house I spent many happy days. Returning to it
after a three or four months’ absence 1n some uncivilized
|
CHAP. XXt.] THE MOUNTAIN. 307
region, I enjoyed the unwonted luxuries of milk and fresh
bread, and regular supplies of fish and eggs, meat and
vegetables, which were often sorely needed to restore my
health and energy. I had ample space and convenience
for unpacking, sorting, and arranging my treasures, and 1
had delightful walks in the suburbs of the town, or up the
lower slopes of the mountain, when I desired a little
exercise, or had time for collecting.
The lower part of the mountain, behind the town of
Ternate, is almost entirely covered with a forest of fruit
trees, and during the season hundreds of men and women,
boys and girls, go up every day to bring down the ripe
fruit. Durians and Mangoes, two of the very finest tropical
fruits, are in greater abundance at Ternate than I have ever
seen them, and some of the latter are of a quality not
inferior to any in the world. Lansats and Mangistans are
also abundant, but these do not ripen till a little later.
Above the fruit trees there is a belt of clearings and cul-
tivated grounds, which creep up the mountain to a height
of between two and three thousand feet, above which is
virgin forest, reaching nearly to the summit, which on the
side next the town is covered with a high reedy grass. On
the further side it is more elevated, of a bare and desolate
aspect, with a slight depression marking the position of the
crater. From this part descends a black scoriaceous tract,
very rugged, and covered with a scanty vegetation of scat-
tered bushes as far down as the sea. This is the lava of
the great eruption near a century ago, and is called by the
natives “ batu-angas ” (burnt rock).
Just below my house is the fort, built by the Portu-
guese, below which is an open space to the beach, and
beyond this the native town extends for about a mile to
the north-east. About the centre of it is the palace of
the Sultan, now a large untidy, half-ruinous building of
stone. This chief is pensioned by the Dutch Government, -
but retains the sovereignty over the native population of
the island, and of the northern part of Gilolo. The sultans
of Ternate and Tidore were once celebrated through the
East for their power and regal magnificence. When Drake
visited Ternate in 1579, the Portuguese had been driven
out of the island, although they still had a settlement at
x?
308 TERNATE. (CHAP. XXI.
Tidore. He gives a glowing account of the Sultan: “ The
King had a very rich canopy with embossings of gold
borne over him, and was guarded with twelve lances.
From the waist to the ground was all cloth of gold, and
that very rich; in the attire of his head were finely
wreathed in, diverse rings of plaited gold, of an inch or
more in breadth, which made a fair and princely show,
somewhat resembling a crown in form; about his neck
he had a chain of perfect gold, the links very ereat and
one fold double; on his left hand was a diamond, an
emerald, a ruby, and a turky; on his right hand in one
ring a big and perfect turky, and in another ring many
diamonds of a smaller size.”
All this glitter of barbaric gold was the produce of the
spice trade, of which the Sultans kept the monopoly, and
by which they became wealthy. Ternate, with the small
;slands in a line south of it, as far as Batchian, constitute
the ancient Moluccas, the native country of the clove, as
well as the only part in which it was cultivated. Nut-
megs and mace were procured from the natives of New
Guinea and the adjacent islands, where they grew wild ;
and the profits on spice cargoes were So enormous, that
the European traders were glad to give gold and jewels,
and the finest manufactures of Europe or of India, in
exchange. When the Dutch established their influence
sn these seas, and relieved the native princes from their
Portuguese oppressors, they saw that the easiest way to
repay themselves would be to get this spice trade into
their own hands. For this purpose they adopted the wise
principle of concentrating the culture of these valuable
products in those spots only of which they could have
complete control. To do this effectually it was necessary
to abolish the culture and trade in all other places, which |
they succeeded in doing by treaty with the native rulers.
These agreed to have all the spice trees in their posses-
sions destroyed. They gave up large though fluctuating
revenues, but they gained in return a fixed subsidy, free-
dom from the constant attacks and harsh oppressions of the
Portuguese, and a continuance of their regal power and
exclusive authority over their own subjects, which is main-
tained in all the islands except Ternate to this day.
cHAaP. xx1.]| DESTRUCTION OF SPICE TREES. 309
It is no doubt supposed by most Englishmen, who have
been accustomed to look upon this act of the Dutch with
vague horror, as something utterly unprincipled and bar-
barous, that the native population sutfered grievously by
this destruction of such valuable property. But it is
certain that this was not the case. The Sultans kept this
lucrative trade entirely in their own hands as a rigid
monopoly, and they would take care not to give their sub-
jects more than would amount to their usual wages, while
they would surely exact as large a quantity of spice as they
could possibly obtain. Drake and other early voyagers
always seem to have purchased their spice-cargoes from the
Sultans and Rajahs, and not from the cultivators. Now
the absorption of so much labour in the cultivation of this
one product must necessarily have raised the price of food
and other necessaries; and when it was abolished, more
rice would be grown, more sago made, more fish caught,
and more tortoise-shell, rattan, gum-dammer, and other
valuable products of the seas and the forests would be ob-
tained. I believe, therefore, that this abolition of the spice
trade in the Moluccas was actually beneficial to the inha-
bitants, and that it was an act both wise in itself and
morally and politically justifiable.
_ In the selection of the places in which to carry on the
cultivation, the Dutch were not altogether fortunate or
wise. Banda was chosen for nutmegs, and was eminently
successiul, since it continues to this day to produce a large
supply of this spice, and to yield a considerable revenue,
Amboyna was fixed upon for establishing the clove culti-
vation ; but the soil and climate, although apparently very
similar to that of its native islands, is not favourable, and
for some years the Government have actually been paying
to the cultivators a higher rate than they could purchase
cloves elsewhere, owing to a great fall in the price since the
rate of payment was fixed for a term of years by the Dutch
Government, and which rate is still most honourably paid.
In walking about the suburbs of: Ternate, we find
everywhere the ruins of massive stone and brick build-
ings, gateways and arches, showing at once the superior
wealth of the ancient town and the destructive effects of
310— TERNATE. (CHAP. XX1.
earthquakes. It was during my second stay in the town,
after my return from New Guinea, that I first felt an
earthquake. It was a very slight one, scarcely more than
has been felt in this country, but occurring in a place that
had been many times destroyed by them it was rather
more exciting. I had just awoke at gun-fire (5 A.M.),
when suddenly the thatch began to rustle and shake as if
an army of cats were galloping over it, and immediately
afterwards my bed shook too, so that for an instant I
imagined myself back in New Guinea, in my fragile house,
which shook when an old cock went to roost on the ridge ;
but remembering that I was now on a solid earthen
floor, I said to myself, “ Why, it’s an earthquake,” and lay
still in the pleasing expectation of another shock; but
none came, and this was the only earthquake 1 ever felt
in Ternate.
The last great one was in February 1840, when almost
every house in the place was destroyed. It began about
midnight on the Chinese New Year's festival, at which
time every one stays up nearly all night feasting at the
Chinamen’s houses and seeing the processions. ‘This pre-
vented any lives being lost, as every one ran out of
doors at the first shock, which was not very severe. The
‘second, a few minutes afterwards, threw down a great
many houses, and others, which continued all night and
part of the next day, completed the devastation. The line
of disturbance was very narrow, so that the native town a
mile to the east scarcely suffered at all. The wave passed
from north to south, through the islands of Tidore and
Makian, and terminated in Batchian, where it was not felt
till four the following afternoon, thus taking no less than
sixteen hours to travel a hundred miles, or about six miles —
an hour. It is singular that on this occasion there was no
rushing up of the tide, or other commotion of the sea, as 1s
usually the case during great earthquakes.
The people of Ternate are of three well-marked races:
the Ternate Malays, the Orang Sirani, and the Dutch.
‘The first are an intrusive Malay race somewhat allied to
the Macassar people, who settled in the country at a very
‘early epoch, drove out the indigenes, who were no doubt
the same as those of the adjacent mainland of Gilolo, and
an
|
CHAP. XXI.J THE INHABITANTS. abl
established a monarchy. They perhaps obtained many of
their wives from the natives, which will account for the
extraordinary language they speak—in some respects closely
allied to that of the natives of Gilolo, while it contains
much that points to a Malayan origin. To most of these
people the Malay language is quite ‘unintelligible, although
such as are engaged in trade are obliged to acquire it.
“Orang Sirani,” or Nazarenes, is the name given, by the
Malays to the Christian descendants of thé Portuguese,
who: resemble those of Amboyna, and, like them, speak
only Malay. There are also a number of Chinese mer-
chants, many of them natives of the place, a few Arabs,
and a number of half-breeds between all these races and
native women. Besides these there are some Papuan
slaves, and a few natives of-other islands settled here,
making up a motley and very puzzling population, till
inquiry and observation have shown the distinct origin of
its component parts.
Soon after my first arrival in Ternate I went to the
island of Gilolo, accompanied by two sons of Mr. Duiven-
boden, and by a young Chinaman, a brother of my land-
lord, who lent us the boat and crew. These latter were
all slaves, mostly Papuans, and at starting I saw something
of the relation of master and slave in this part of the
world. The crew had been ordered to be ready at three
in the morning, instead of which none appeared till five,
we having all been kept waiting in the dark and cold
for two hours. When at-length they came they were
scolded: by their master, but only in a bantering manner,
and laughed and joked with him in reply. Then, just as we
were starting, one of the strongest men refused to go at all,
and his master had to beg and persuade him to. g0, and
only succeeded by assuring him that I would give him
something; so with this promise, and knowing that there
would be plenty to eat and drink and little to do, the black
gentleman was induced to favour us with his company and
assistance. In three hours’ rowing and sailing we reached
our destination, Sedingole, where there is a house belong-
ing to the Sultan of Tidore, who sometimes goes there
hunting. It was a dirty ruinous shed, with no furniture
but a few bamboo bedsteads. On taking a walk into the
312 TERNATE. [CHAP. XXI.
country, I saw at once that it was no place for me. For
many miles extends a plain covered with coarse high grass,
thickly dotted here and there with trees, the forest country
cnly commencing at the hills a good way in the interior.
Such a place would produce few birds and no insects, and
we therefore arranged to stay only two days, and then go
on to Dodinga, at the narrow central isthmus of Gilolo,
whence my friends would return to Ternate. We amused
ourselves shooting parrots, lories, and pigeons, and trying to
shoot deer, of which we saw plenty, but could not get one;
and our crew went out fishing with a net, so we did not
want for provisions. When the time came for us to con-
tinue our journey, a fresh difficulty presented itself, for our
gentlemen slaves refused in a body to go with us, saying
very determinedly that they would return to Ternate. So
their masters were obliged to submit, and I was left
behind to get to Dodinga as I could. Luckily I succeeded
in hiring a small boat, which took me there the same night,
with my two men and my baggage.
Two or three years after this, and about the same length
of time before I left the East, the Dutch emancipated all
their slaves, paying their owners a small compensation.
No ill results followed. Owing to the amicable relations
which had always existed between them and their
masters, due no doubt in part to the Government having
long accorded them legal rights and protection against
cruelty and ill-usage, many continued in the same service,
and after a little temporary difficulty in some cases, almost
all returned to work either for their old or for new
masters. The Government took the very proper step of
placing every emancipated slave under the surveillance of
the police-magistrate. They were obliged to show that
they were working for a living, and had some honestly-
acquired means of existence. All who could not do so
were placed upon public works at low wages, and thus
were kept from the temptation to peculation or other
crimes, which the excitement of newly-acquired freedom,
and disinclination to labour, might have led them into.
[
|
CHAP. XEIL] DODING A, | 313
CHAPTER XXII.
GILOLO.
(MARCH AND SEPTEMBER 1858.)
MADE but few and comparatively short visits to this
large and little known island, but obtained a consider-
able knowledge of its natural history by sending first my
boy Ali, and then my assistant, Charles Allen, who stayed
two or three months each in the northern peninsula, and
brought me back large collections of birds and insects. In
this chapter I propose to give a sketch of the parts which
I myself visited. My first stay was at Dodinga, situated
at the head of a deep bay exactly opposite Ternate, and a
short distance up a little stream which penetrates a few
miles inland. The village is a small one, and is com-
pletely shut in by low hills.
As soon as I arrived, [ applied to the head man of the
village for a house to live in, but all were occupied, and
there was much difficulty in finding one. In the mean-
time I unloaded my baggage on the beach and made some
tea, and afterwards discovered a small hut which the
owner was willing to vacate if I would pay him five
guilders for a month’s rent. As this was something less
than the fee-simple value of the dwelling, I agreed to
give it him for the privilege of immediate occupation, only
stipulating that he was to make the roof water-tight.
This he agreed to do, and came every day to talk and
look at me; and when I each time insisted upon his
immediately mending the roof according to contract, all
the answer I could get was, “ Ea nanti,” (Yes, wait a little).
However, when I threatened to deduct a quarter guilder
from the rent for every day it was not done, and a guilder
extra if any of my things were wetted, he condescended to
work for half an hour, which did all that was absolutely
necessary.
On the top of a bank, of about a hundred feet ascent from
the water, stands the very small but substantial fort erected
314 GILOLO. (cHAP. XXII
by the Portuguese. Its battlements and turrets have long
since been overthrown by earthquakes, by which its mas-
sive structure has also been rent; but it cannot well be
thrown down, being a solid mass of stonework, forming a
platform about ten feet high, and perhaps forty feet square. |
It is approached by narrow steps under an archway, and
is now surmounted by a row of thatched hovels, in which
live the small garrison, consisting of a Dutch corporal and
four Javanese soldiers, the sole yepresentatives of the
Netherlands Government in the island. The village 1s
occupied entirely by Ternate men. The true indigenes of
Gilolo, “ Alfuros” as they are here called, live on the
eastern coast, or in the interior of the northern peninsula.
The distance across the isthmus at this place is only two
miles, and there is a good path, along which rice and sago
are brought from the eastern villages.. The whole isthmus
is very rugged, though not high, being a succession of little
abrupt hills and valleys, with angular masses of limestone
rock everywhere projecting, and often almost blocking up
the pathway. Most of it is virgin forest, very luxuriant
and picturesque, and at this time having abundance of
large scarlet [xoras in flower, which made it exceptionally
cay. I got some very nice insects here, though, owing to
‘lIness most of the time, my collection was a small one ;
and my boy Ali shot me a pair of one of the most beautiful
birds of the East, Pitta gigas, a large ground-thrush, whose
plumage of velvety black above is relieved by a breast
of pure white, shoulders of azure blue, and belly of vivid
crimson. It has very long and strong legs, and hops about
with such activity in the dense tangled forest, bristling
with rocks, as to make it very difficult to shoot.
In September 1858, after my return from New Guinea,
I went to stay some time at the village of Djilolo, situated —
in a bay on the northern peninsula. Here I obtained a
house through the kindness of the Resident of Ternate,
who sent orders to prepare one for me. The first walk into
the unexplored forests of a new locality is a moment of
intense interest to the naturalist, as it is almost sure to
furnish him with something curious or hitherto unknown.
‘of which I shot a pair, and was pleased to find a most
»
1
,
-
The first thing I saw here was a flock of small parroquets, ©
;
CHAP. XXII.] DJILOLO AND SAHGE. 315
beautiful little long-tailed bird, ornamented with ereen,
red, and blue colours, and quite new to me. It was a
variety of the Charmosyna placentis, one of the smallest
and most elegant of the brush-tongued lories, My hunters
soon shot me several other fine birds, and I myself found
a specimen of the rare and beautiful day-flying moth,
Cocytia d’Urvillei.
The village of Djilolo was formerly the chief residence
of the Sultans of Ternate, till about eighty years ago, when
at the request of the Dutch they removed to their present
abode. The place was then no doubt much more popu-
lous as is indicated by the wide extent of cleared land in
the neighbourhood, now covered with coarse high grass,
very disagreeable to walk through, and utterly barren to
the naturalist. A few days’ exploring showed me that
only some small patches of forest remained for miles
round, and the result was a scarcity of insects and a very
limited variety of birds, which obliged me to change my
locality. There was another village called Sahoe, to which
there was a road of about twelve miles overland, and this
had been recommended to me as a good place for birds,
and as possessing a large population both of Mahometans
and Alfuros, which latter race I much wished to see. I
set off one morning to examine this place myself, expect-
ing to pass through some extent of forest on my way. In
this however I was much disappointed, as the whole road
hes through grass and scrubby thickets, and it was only
after reaching the village of Sahoe that some high forest
land was perceived stretching towards the mountains to
the north of it. About half-way we had to pass a deep
river on a bamboo raft, which almost sunk beneath us.
This stream was said to rise a long way off to the
northward.
Although Sahoe did not at all appear what I expected,
I determined to give it a trial, and a few days afterwards
obtained a boat to carry my things by sea while I walked
overland.
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WALLACE’S STANDARD WING, MALE AND FEMALE,
cHaP. XxIV.} 4 NEW BIRD OF PARADISE. 329
bring down a sufficient quantity for a fair trial on the
Dutch steamers. The quality, however, was not thought
sufficiently good, and the mines were abandoned. Quite
recently, works had been commenced in another spot, in
hopes of finding a better yein. There were about eighty
men employed, chiefly convicts; but this was far too
small a number for mining operations in such a country,
where the mere keeping a few miles of road in repair
requires the constant work of several men. If coal of
sufficiently good quality should be found, a tramroad
would be made, and would be very easily worked, owing
to the regular descent of the valley.
Just as I got home I overtook Ali returning from
shooting with some birds hanging from his belt. He
seemed much pleased, and said, “ Look here, sir, what a
curious bird,” holding out what at first completely puzzled
me. I saw a bird with a mass of splendid green feathers
on its breast, elongated into two glittering tufts ; but, what
I could not understand was a pair of long white feathers,
which stuck straight out from each shoulder. Ali assured
me that the bird stuck them out this way itself, when
fluttering its wings, and that they had remained so without
his touching them. I now saw that I had got a great prize,
no less than a completely new form of the Bird of Para-
dise, differing most remarkably from every other known
bird. The general plumage is very sober, being a pure
ashy olive, with a purplish tinge on the back; the crown
of the head is beautifully glossed with pale metallic violet,
and the feathers of the front extend as much over the beak
as in most of the family. The neck and breast are scaled
with fine metallic green, and the feathers on the lower part
are elongated on each side, so as to form a two-pointed
gorget, which can be folded beneath the wings, or partially
erected and spread out in the same way as the side plumes
of most of the birds of paradise. The four long white
plumes which give the bird its altogether unique character,
spring from little tubercles close to the upper edge of the
Shoulder or bend of the wing; they are narrow, gently
curved, and equally webbed on both sides, of a pure
creamy white colour. They are about six inches long,
equalling the wing, and can be raised at right angles to it,
\ 2
300 BATCHIAN. (CHAP. XXIV.
or laid along the body at the pleasure of the bird. The
pill is horn colour, the legs yellow, and the iris pale olive.
This striking novelty has been named by Mr. G. R. Gray
of the British Museum, Semioptera Wallacei, or “ Wallace’s
Standard wing.”
A few days later I obtained an exceedingly beautiful
new butterfly, allied to the fine blue Papilio Ulysses, but
differing from it in the colour being of a more intense tint,
and in having a row of blue stripes around the margin
of the lower wings. This good beginning was, however,
rather deceptive, and I soon found that imsects, and
especially butterflies, were somewhat scarce, and birds in
far less variety than I had anticipated. Several of the
fine Moluccan species were however obtained. The hand-
some red lory with green wings and a yellow spot in the
back (Lorius garrulus), was not uncommon. When the
Jambu, or rose apple (Eugenia sp.), was in flower in the
village, flocks of the little lorikeet (Charmosyna placentis),
already met with in Gilolo, came to feed upon the nectar,
and I obtained as many specimens as I desired. Another
beautiful bird of the parrot tribe was the Geoffroyus
cyanicollis, a green parrot with a red bill and head, which
colour shaded on the crown into azure blue, and thence
into verditer blue and the green of the back. Two large
:
and handsome fruit pigeons, with metallic green, ashy, and
rufous plumage, were not uncommon; and | was rewarded
by finding a splendid deep blue roller (Hurystomus aZUTeUS),
a lovely golden-capped sunbird (Nectarinea auriceps), and
a fine racquet-tailed kingfisher (Tamysiptera isis), all of
which were entirely new to ornithologists. Of insects I
obtained a considerable number of interesting beetles,
including many fine longicorns, among which was the —
largest and handsomest species of the genus Glenea yet
discovered. Among butterflies the beautiful little Danis
sebee was abundant, making the forests gay with its deli-
cate wings of white and the richest metallic blue; while
showy Papilios, and pretty Pieridee, and dark, rich Eupleas,
many of them new, furnished a constant source of interest
and pleasing occupation. :
The island of Batchian possesses no really indigenous”
inhabitants, the interior being altogether unmhabited, and
;
CHAP, XXIvi] DISTINCT RACES. dol
there are only a few small villages on various parts of the
coast; yet I found here four distinct races, which would
wofully mislead an ethnological traveller unable to obtain
‘information as to their origin. First there are the Batchian
Malays, probably the earliest colonists, differing very little
from those of Ternate. Their language, however, seems to
have more of the Papuan element, with a mixture of pure
Malay, showing that the settlement is one of stragglers
of various races, although now sufficiently homogeneous.
Then there are the “Orang Sirani,’ as at Ternate and
Amboyna. Many of these have the Portuguese physiog-
nomy strikingly preserved, but combined with a skin gene-
rally darker than the Malays. Some national customs, are
retained, and the Malay, which is their only language,
contains a large number of Portuguese words and idioms.
The third race consists of the Galela men from the north
of Gilolo, a singular people, whom I have already deseribed ;
and the fourth is a colony from Tomoré, in the eastern
peninsula of Celebes. These people were brought here at
their own request a few years ago, to avoid extermination
by another tribe. They have a very light complexion, open
Tartar physiognomy, low stature, and a language of the
Bugis type. They are an industrious agricultural people,
and supply the town with vegetables. They make a good
‘deal of bark cloth, similar to the tapa of the Polynesians,
by cutting down the proper trees and taking off large
cylinders of bark, which is beaten with mallets till it
separates from the wood. It is then soaked, and so con-
tinuously and regularly beaten out that it becomes as thin
and as tough as patchment. In this form it is much used
for wrappers for clothes ; and they also make jackets of it,
sewn neatly together-and stained with the juice of another
kind of bark, which gives it a dark red colour and renders
it nearly waterproof.
Here are four very distinct kinds of people who may all
be seen any day in and about the town of Batchian. Now.
if we suppose a traveller ignorant of Malay, picking up a
word or two here and there of the “ Batchian language,”
and noting down the “physical and moral peculiarities,
manners, and customs of the Batchian people’”-——(for there
are travellers who do all this in four-and-twenty hours) —
332: BATCHIAN. (CHAP. XXIV.
what an accurate and instructive chapter we should have!
what transitions would be pointed out, what theories of
the origin of races would be developed! while the next
traveller might flatly contradict every statement and arrive
at exactly opposite conclusions.
Soon after I arrived here the Dutch Government intro-
duced a new copper coinage of cents instead of dovts (the
100th instead of the 120th part of a guilder), and all the
old coins were ordered to be sent to Ternate to be changed.
I sent a bag containing 6,000 doits, and duly received the
new money by return of the boat. When Ali went to
bring it, however, the captain required a written order; so
I waited to send- again the next day, and it was lucky
I did so, for that night my house was entered, all my boxes
carried out and ransacked, and the various articles left on
the road about twenty yards off, where we found them
at five in the morning, when, on getting up and finding the
house empty, we rushed out to discover tracks of the thieves.
Not being able to find the copper money which they
thought I had just received, they decamped, taking nothing
co)
but a few yards of cotton cloth and a black coat and
trousers, which latter were picked up a few days afterwards
hidden in the grass. There was no doubt whatever who —
were the thieves. Convicts are employed to guard the
Government stores when the boat arrives from Ternate.
Two of them watch all night, and often take the oppor-
tunity to roam about and commit robberies.
The next day I received my money, and secured it well in —
a strong box fastened under my bed. 1 took out five or six
hundred cents for daily expenses, and put them in a small
japanned box, which always stood upon my table. In the ©
afternoon I went for a short. walk, and on my return —
this box and my keys, which I had carelessly left on the
table, were gone. Two of my boys were in the house, but
had heard nothing.. I immediately gave information of the
two robberies to the Director at the mines and to the Com-
mandant at the fort, and got for answer, that if I caught
the thief in the act I might shoot him. By inquiry in the
village, we afterwards found that one of the convicts who
was on duty at the Government rice-store in the village
had quitted his guard, was seen to pass over the bridge
CHAP. XXIV. ] REMOVE TO THE VILLAGE. 333
towards my house, was seen again within two hundred
yards of my house, and on returning over the bridge into
the village carried something under his arm, carefully
covered with his sarong. My box was stolen between the
hours he was seen going and returning, and it was so
small as to be easily carried in the way described. This
seemed pretty clear circumstantial evidence. I accused
the man and brought the witnesses to the Commandant.
The man was examined, and confessed having gone to the
river close to my house to bathe; but said he had gone no
further, having climbed up a cocoa-nut tree and brought
home two nuts, which he had covered over, because he was
ashamed to be seen carrying them! This explanation was
thought satisfactory, and he was acquitted. I lost my
cash and my box, a seal I much valued, with other small
articles, and all my keys—the severest loss by far. Luckily
my large cash-box was left locked, but so were others
which I required to open immediately. There was, how-
ever, a very clever blacksmith employed to do ironwork
for the mines, and he picked my locks for me when I
required them, and in a few days made me new keys, which
I used all the time I was abroad.
Towards the end of November the wet season set in, and
we had daily and almost incessant rains, with only about
one or two hours’ sunshine in the morning. ‘The flat parts
of the forest became flooded, the roads filled with mud,
and insects and birds were scarcer than ever. On
December 13th, in the afternoon, we had a sharp earth-
quake shock, which made the house and furniture shake
and rattle for five minutes, and the trees and shrubs wave
as if a gust of wind had passed over them. About the
middle of December I removed to the village, in order
more easily to explore the district to the west of it, and to
be near the sea when I wished to return to Ternate. I
obtained the use of a good-sized house in the Campong
Sirani (or Christian village), and at Christmas and the
New Year had to endure the incessant gun-firing, drum-
beating, and fiddling of the inhabitants.
These people are very fond of music and dancing, and it
would astonish a,European to visit one of their assemblies.
We enter a gloomy palm-leaf hut in which two or three
334 BATCHIAN., [CHAP. XXIV.
very dim lamps barely render darkness visible. The floor
is of black sandy earth, the roof hid in a smoky impene-
trable blackness; two or three benches stand against the
walls, and the orchestra consists of a fiddle, a fife, a drum,
and a triangle. There is plenty of company, consisting of
young menand women, all very neatly dressed in white and
black —a true Portuguese habit. Quadrilles, waltzes, polkas,
‘and mazurkas are danced with great vigour and much
skill. The refreshments are muddy coffee and a few sweet-
meats. Dancing is kept up for hours, and all is conducted
with much decorum and propriety. A party of this kind
meets about once a week, the principal inhabitants taking
it by turns, and -all who please come in without much
ceremony.
It is astonishing how little these people have altered
in three hundred years, although in that time they
have changed their language and lost all knowledge of
their own nationality. They are still in manners and
appearance almost pure Portuguese, very similar to those
with whom I had become acquainted on the banks of the
Amazon. They live very poorly as regards their house
and furniture, but preserve a semi-European dress, and
have almost all full suits of black for Sundays. They are
nominally Protestants, but Sunday evening is their grand
day for music and dancing. The men are often good
hunters ; and two or three times a week, deer or wild pigs
are brought to the village, which, with fish and fowls,
enables them to live well. They are almost the only
people in the Archipelago who eat the great fruit-eating
pats called by us “ flying foxes.” These ugly creatures are
considered a great delicacy, and are much sought after.
At about the beginning of the year they come in large —
flocks to eat fruit, and congregate during the day on some
small islands in the bay, hanging by thousands on the
trees, especially on dead ones. They can then be easily
caught or knocked down with sticks, and are brought
home. by baskets-full, They require to be carefully pre-
pared, as the skin and fur has a rank and powerful foxy
odour; but they are generally cooked with abundance of
spices and condiments, and are really very good eating, |
something like hare. The Orang Sirani are good cooks,
cuar.xxiv.] | THE CRG@SUS BUTTERFLY. 335,
having a much greater variety of savoury dishes than the
Malays. Here, they live chiefly on sago as bread, with
a little rice occasionally, and abundance of vegetables and
fruit.
It is a curious fact that everywhere in the East where
the Portuguese have mixed with the native races they
have become darker in colour than either of the parent
stocks. This is the case almost always with these “ Orang
Sirani” in the Moluccas, and with the Portuguese of
Malacca. The reverse is the case in South America, where
the mixture of the Portuguese or Brazilian with the Indian
produces the “ Mameluco,” who is not unfrequently lighter
than either parent, and always lighter than the Indian.
The women at Batchian, although generally fairer than
the men, are coarse in features, and very far inferior in
beauty to the mixed Dutch-Malay girls, or even to many
pure Malays.
The part of the village in which I resided was a grove of
cocoa-nut trees, and at night, when the dead leaves were
sometimes collected together and burnt, the effect was most
magnificent—the tall stems, the fine crowns of foliage, and
the immense fruit-clusters, being brilliantly illuminated
against a dark sky, and appearing like a fairy palace sup-
ported on a hundred columns, and groined over with leafy
arches. The cocoa-nut tree, when well grown, is certainly
the prince of palms both for beauty and utility.
During my very first walk into the forest at Batchian, I
had seen sitting on a leaf out of reach, an immense butter-
fly of a dark colour marked with white and yellow spots.
I could not capture it as it flew away high up into the
forest, but I at once saw that it was a female of a new
species of Ornithoptera or “bird-winged butterfly,” the
pride of the Eastern tropics. I was very anxious to get.
it and to find the male, which in this genus is always of
extreme beauty. During the two succeeding months I
only saw it once again, and shortly afterwards I saw the
male flying high in the air at the mining village. I had
begun to despair of ever getting a specimen, as it seemed
so rare and wild; till one day, about the beginning of
January, I found a beautiful shrub with large white leafy
bracts and yellow flowers, a species of Musszenda, and saw
336 BATCHIAN. (CHAP. XXIV.
one of these noble insects hovering over it, but it was too
quick for me, and flew away. The next day I went again
to the same shrub and succeeded in catching a female, and
the day after a fine male. I found it to be as I had expected,
a perfectly new and most magnificent species, and one of
the most gorgeously coloured butterflies in the world.
Fine specimens of the male are more than seven inches
‘across the wings, which are velvety black and fiery orange,
the latter colour replacing the green of the allied species.
The beauty and brilliancy of this insect are indescribable,
and none but a naturalist can understand the intense
excitement I experienced when I at length captured it.
On taking it out of my net and opening the glorious wings,
my heart began to beat violently, the blood rushed to my
head, and I felt much more like fainting than I have done
when in apprehension of immediate death. I had a head-
ache the rest of the day, so great was the excitement
produced by what will appear to most people a very
inadequate cause.
I had decided to return to Ternate in a week or two
more, but this grand capture determined me to stay on till
I obtained a good series of the new butterfly, which I have
since named Ornithoptera creesus. The Musseenda bush
was an admirable place, which I could visit every. day on
my way to the forest; and as it was situated in a dense
thicket of shrubs and creepers, I set my man Lahi to clear
a space all round it, so that I could easily get at any insect
that might visit it. Afterwards, finding that it was often
necessary to wait some time there, I had a little seat put
up under a tree by the side of it, where I came every day
to eat my lunch, and thus had half an hour’s watching
about noon, besides a chance as I passed it in the morning.
In this way I obtained on an average one specimen a
day for a long time, but more than half of these were
femules, and more than half the remainder worn or broken
specimens, so that I should not have obtained many
perfect males had I not found another station for them.
As soon as I had seen them come to flowers, 1 sent my
man Lahi with a net on purpose to search for them, as
they had also been seen at some flowering trees on the.
beach, and I promised him half a day's wages extra for
CHAP. XXIv.] INSECT HUNTING. 337
every good specimen he could catch. After a day or
two he brought me two very fair specimens, and told me
he had caught them in the bed of a large rocky stream
that clescends from the mountains to the sea about a mile
below the village. They flew down this river, settling
occasionally on stones and rocks in the water, and he was
obliged to wade up it or jump from rock to rock to get at
them. I went with him one day, but found that the
stream was far too rapid and the stones too slippery for
me to do anything, so I left it entirely to him, and all the
rest of the time we stayed in Batchian he used to be out
all day, generally bringing me one, and on good days two
or three specimens. I was thus able to bring away with
me more than a hundred of both sexes, including perhaps
twenty very fine males, though not more than five or six
that were absolutely perfect.
My daily walk now led me, first about half a mile along
the sandy beach, then through a Sago Swamp over a cause-
way of very shaky poles to the village of the Tomoré
people. Beyond this was the forest with patches of new
clearing, shady paths, and a considerable quantity of
felled timber. I found this a very fair collecting ground,
especially for beetles. The fallen trunks in the clearings
abounded with golden Buprestide and curious Brenthidse
and longicorns, while in the forest I found abundance of
_the smaller Curculionide, many longicorns, and some fine
green Carabide.
Butterflies were not abundant, but I obtained a few
more of the fine blue Papilio, and a number of beautiful
little Lyceenide, as well as a Single specimen of the very
rare Papilio Wallacei, of which I had taken the hitherto
unique specimen in the Aru Islands.
The most interesting birds I obtained here, were the
beautiful blue kingfisher, Todiramphus diops; the fine
green and purple doves, Ptilonopus superbus and P.
logaster, and several new birds of small size. My shooters
still brought me in specimens of the Semioptera Wallacei,
and I was greatly excited by the positive statements of
several of the native hunters that another species of this
bird existed, much handsomer and more remarkable. They
declared that the plumage was glossy black, with metallic
Z
338 BATCHIAN. (CHAP. XXIV. |
green breast as In my species, but that the white shoulder
plumes were twice as long, and hung down far below the
body of the bird. They declared that when hunting pigs
or deer far in the forest they occasionally saw this bird,
but that it was rare. I immediately offered twelve guilders
(a pound) for a specimen ; put allin vain, and I am to this
day uncertain whether such a bird exists. Since I left,
the German naturalist, Dr. Bernstein, stayed many months
‘n the island with a large staff of hunters collecting for
the Leyden Museum ; and as he was not more successful
than myself, we must consider either that the bird is very
rare, or is altogether a myth. |
Batchian is rentarkable as being the most eastern point
on the globe inhabited by any of the Quadrumana. A
large black baboon-monkey (Cynopithecus nigrescens) 1s
abundant in some parts of the forest. This animal has
bare red callosities, and a rudimentary tail about an inch
long—a mere fleshy tubercle, which may be very easily
overlooked. It is the same species that is found all
over the forests of Celebes, and as none of the other
Mammalia of that island extend into Batchian I am
inclined to suppose that this species has been accidentally
introduced by the roaming Malays, who often carry about
with them tame monkeys and other animals. ‘This is
rendered more probable by the fact that the animal is
not found in Gilolo, which is only separated from Bat-
chian by a very narrow strait. The introduction may
have been very recent, as in a fertile and unoccupied
island such an animal would multiply rapidly. The only
other mammals obtained were an EHastern opossum, which
Dr. Gray has described as Cuscus ornatus; the little
flying opossum, Belideus ariel; a Civet cat, Viverra —
zebetha: and nine species of bats, most of the smaller
ones being caught in the dusk with my butterfly net as
they flew about before the house.
After much delay, owing to bad weather and the illness
of one of my men, I determined to visit Kasserota (for-
merly the chief village), situated up a small stream, on
an island close to the north coast of Batchian ; where
I was told that many rare birds were found. After my
boat was loaded and everything ready, three days of
CHAP. XX1V.] POOR COLLECTING GROUND. 909
heavy squalls prevented our starting, and it was not till
the 21st of March that we got away. arly next morning
we entered the little river, and in about an hour we
reached the Sultan’s house, which I had obtained per-
mission to use. It was situated on the bank of the river,
and surrounded by a forest of fruit trees, among which
were some of the very loftiest and most graceful cocoa-nut
palms I have ever seen. It rained nearly all that day,
and I could do little but unload and unpack. Towards
the afternoon it cleared up, and I attempted to explore in
various directions, but found to my disgust that the only
path was a perfect mud Swamp, along which it was almost
impossible to walk, and the surrounding forest so damp
and dark as to promise little in the way of insects. [
found too on inquiry that the people here made no clear-
ings, living entirely on sago, fruit, fish, and game ; and the
path only led to a steep rocky mountain equally imprac-
ticable and unproductive. The next day I sent my men
to this hill, hoping it might produce some good birds; but
they returned with only two common species, and I myself
had been able to get nothing, every little track I had
attempted to follow leading to.a dense Sago swamp. I
saw that I should waste time by staying here, and deter-
mined to leave the following day.
This is one of those spots so hard for the European
naturalist to conceive, where with all the riches of a
tropical vegetation, and partly, perhaps from the very
luxuriance of that vegetation, insects are as scarce as in
the most barren parts of Europe, and hardly more con-
spicuous. In temperate climates there is a tolerable
uniformity in the distribution of insects over those parts
of a country in which there ig a similarity in the vege-
tation, any deficiency being easily accounted for by the
absence of wood or uniformity of surface. The traveller
hastily passing through such a country can at once pick
out a collecting ground which will afford him a fair
notion of its entomology. Here the case is different.
There are certain requisites of a good collecting ground
which can only be ascertained to exist by some days’
search in the vicinity of each village. In some places
‘there is no virgin forest, as at Djilolo and Sahoe; iz
| Z 2
340 BATCHIAN. [CHAP. XXIV.
others there are no open pathways or clearings, as here.
At Batchian there are only two tolerable collecting places,
_the road to the coal mines, and the new clearings made
by the Tomoré people, the latter being by far the most
productive. I believe the fact to be that insects are pretty
uniformly distributed over these countries (where the
forests have not been cleared away), and are so scarce in
any one spot that searching for them is almost useless.
If the forest is all cleared away, almost all the insects
disappear with it ; but when small clearings and paths are
made, the fallen trees in various stages of drying and
decay, the rotting leaves, the loosening bark and the fun-
goid growths upon it, together with the flowers that appear
in much greater abundance where the light is admitted,
are so many attractions to the insects for miles around, and
cause a wonderful accumulation of species and individuals.
When the entomologist can discover such a spot, he does
more in a month than he could possibly do by a year's
search in the depths of the undisturbed forest.
The next morning we left early, and reached the mouth ©
of the little river in about an hour. It flows through a —
perfectly flat alluvial plain, but there are hills which ©
approach it near the mouth. Towards the lower part, in |
a swamp where the salt-water must enter at high tides,
were a number of elegant tree-ferns from eight to fifteen
feet high. These are generally considered to be mountain
plants, and rarely to occur on the equater at an elevation
of less than one or two thousand feet. In Borneo, in the ©
Aru Islands, and on the banks of the Amazon, I have
observed them at the level of the sea, and think it pro-
pable that the altitude supposed to be requisite for them
may have been deduced trom facts observed in countries”
where the plains and lowlands are largely cultivated, and
most of the indigenous vegetation destroyed. Such is the
case in most parts of J ava,-India, Jamaica, and Brazil, where
the vegetation of the tropics has been most fully explored. —
Soming out vo sea we turned northwards, and in about
two hours’ sail reached a few huts, called Langundi, where
some Galela men had established themselves as collectors
of gum-dammar, with which they made torches for the
supply of the Ternate market. About a hundred yards
cHar. xxIv.] THE MAGINDANO PIRATES. 34]
back rises a rather steep hill, and a short walk having
shown me that there was a tolerable path up it, I deter-
mined to stay here for a few days. Opposite us, and all
along this coast of Batchian, stretches a row of fine islands
completely uninhabited. Whenever I asked the reason why
no one goes to live in them, the answer always was, “ For
fear of the Magindano pirates.” Every year these scourges
of the Archipelago wander in one direction or another,
making their rendezvous on some uninhabited island, and
carrying devastation to all the small settlements around ;
robbing, destroying, killing, or taking captive all they meet
with. Their long well-manned praus escape from the
pursuit of any sailing vessel by pulling away right in the
wind’s eye, and the warning smoke of a steamer generally
enables them to hide in some shallow bay, or narrow river,
or forest-covered inlet, till the danger is passed. The only
effectual way to put a stop to their depredations would be
to attack them in their strongholds and villages, and
compel them to give up piracy, and submit to strict
surveillance. Sir James Brooke did this with the pirates
of the north-west coast of Borneo, and deserves the thanks
of the whole population of the Archipelago for having rid
them of half their enemies.
All along the beach here, and in the adjacent strip of
sandy lowland, is a remarkable display of Pandanacez or
Screw-pines. Some are like huge branching candelabra,
forty or fifty feet high, and bearing at the end of each
branch a tuft of immense sword-shaped leaves, six or eight
inches wide, and as many feet long. Others have a single
unbranched stem, six or seven feet high, the upper part
clothed with the spirally arranged leaves, and bearing a
single terminal fruit as large as a swan’s egg. Others of
intermediate size have irregular clusters of rough red
fruits, and all have more or less spiny-edged leaves and
ringed stems. The young plants of the larger species
have smooth glossy thick leaves, sometimes ten feet
long and eight inches wide, which are used all over
the Moluccas and New Guinea, to make “cocoyas”
or sleeping mats, which are often very prettily orna-
mented with coloured patterns. Higher up on the hill is
a forest of immense trees, among which those producing
42 BATCHIAN. (CHAP. XXIV.
the resin called dammar (Dammara sp.) are abundant.
The inhabitants of several small villages in Batchian are
entirely engaged in searching for this product, and making
it into torches by pounding it and filling it into tubes of
palm leaves about a yard long, which are the only lights
used. by many of the natives. Sometimes the dammar
accumulates in large masses of ten or twenty pounds
weight, either attached to the trunk, or found buried in the
eround at the foot of the trees. The most extraordinary
trees of the forest are, however, a kind of fig, the aérial
roots of which form a pyramid near a hundred feet high,
terminating just where the tree branches out above, so that.
there is no real trunk. This pyramid or cone is formed of
roots of every size, mostly descending in straight lines, but
more or less obliquely—and so crossing each other, and
connected by cross branches, which grow from one to
another; as to form a dense and complicated network, to
which nothing but a photograph could do justice (see illus-
tration at page 83). The Kanary is also abundant in
this forest, the nut of which has a very agreeable flavour,
and produces an excellent oil. The fleshy outer covering
of the nut is the favourite food of the great green pigeons:
of these islands (Carpophaga perspicillata), and their
hoarse cooings and heavy flutterings among the branches
can be almost continually heard.
After ten days at Langundi, finding it impossible to get
the bird I was particularly in search of (the Nicobar
pigeon, or a new species allied to it), and finding no new
birds, and very few insects, I left early on the morning of
April 1st, and in the evening entered a river on the main
island of Batchian (Langundi, like Kasserota, beimg on a
distinct island), where some Malays and Galela men have a.
small village, and have made extensive rice-fields and plan-
tain grounds. Here we found a good house near the river
bank, where the water was fresh and clear, and the owner,
a respectable Batchian Malay, offered me sleeping room.
and the use of the verandah if I liked to stay. Seeing.
forest all round within a short distance, I accepted his:
offer, and the next morning before breakfast walked out to.
explore, and on the skirts of the forest captured a few: —
interesting insects. ) |
cHAP. xx1v.} 4 GOOD BOTANICAL LOCALITY. 349
Afterwards, I found a path which led. for a mile or
more through a very fine forest, richer in palms than
any | had seen in the Moluccas. One of these especially
attracted my attention from its elegance. The stem was
not thicker than my wrist, yet it was very lofty, and
bore clusters of bright red fruit. It was apparently a
species of Areca. Another of immense height closely
resembled in appearance the Euterpes of South America.
Here also grew the fan-leafed palm, whose small, nearly
entire leaves are used to make the dammar torches, and to
form the water-buckets in universal use. During this
walk I saw near a dozen species of palms, as well as two
or three Pandani different from those of Langundi. There
were also some very fine climbing ferns and true wild
Plantains (Musa), bearing an edible fruit not so large as
one’s thumb, and consisting of a mass of seeds just covered
with pulp and skin. The people assured me they had
tried the experiment of sowing and cultivating this
species, but could not improve it. They probably did not
grow it in sufficient quantity, and did not persevere suffi-
ciently long.
Batchian is an island that would perhaps repay the
researches of a botanist better than any other in the
whole Archipelago. It contains a great variety of sur-
face and of soil, abundance of large and small streams,
many of which are navigable for some distance, and there
being no savage inhabitants, every part of it can be visited
with perfect safety. It possesses gold, copper, and coal,
hot springs and geysers, sedimentary and volcanic rocks
and coralline limestone, alluvial plains, abrupt hills and
lofty mountains, a moist climate, and a grand and luxuriant
forest vegetation.
The few days I stayed here produced me several new
insects, but scarcely any birds. Butterflies and birds are
in fact remarkably scarce in these forests. One may walk
a whole day and not see more than two or three species of
either. In everything but beetles, these eastern islands
are very deficient compared with the .western (Java,
Borneo, &c.), and much more so if compared with the
forests of South America, where twenty or thirty species
of butterflies may be caught every day, and on very good
344 BATCHIAN. [CHAP. XXIV.
days a hundred, 2 number we can hardly reach here in
months of unremitting search. In birds there is the same
difference. In most parts of tropical America we may
always find some species of woodpecker tanager, bush-
shrike, chatterer, trogon, toucan, cuckoo, and tyrant-Sly-
catcher ; and a few days’ active search will produce more
variety than can be here met with in as many monshs.
Yet, along with this poverty of individuals and of species,
there are in almost every class and order, some one or two
species of such extreme beauty or singularity, as to vie
with, or even surpass, anything that even South America
can produce.
One afternoon when I was arranging my insects, and
surrounded by a crowd of wondering spectators, I showed
one of them bow to look at a small insect with a hand-
lens, which caused such evident wonder that all the rest
wanted to see it too. I therefore fixed the glass firmly to
a piece of soft wood at the proper focus, and put under it
a little spiny beetle of the genus Hispa, and then passed
it round for examination. The excitement was immense.
Some declared it was a yard long; others were frightened,
and instantly dropped it, and all were as much astonished,
and made as much shouting and gesticulation, as children
at a pantomime, or at a Christmas exhibition of the oxy-
hydrogen microscope. And all this excitement was pro-
duced by a little pocket lens, an inch and a half focus, and
therefore magnifying only four or five times, but which to
their unaccustomed eyes appeared to enlarge a hundred-
fold.
On the last day of my stay here, one of my hunters
succeeded in finding and shooting the beautiful Nicobar
pigeon, of which I had been so long in search. None —
of the residents had ever seen it, which shows that it is
rare and shy. My specimen was a female in beautiful
condition, and the glossy coppery and green of its plumage,
the snow-white tail and beautiful pendent feathers of the
neck, were greatly admired. I subsequently obtained a
specimen in New Guinea, and once saw it in the Kaida
islands. It is found also in some small islands near
Macassar, in others near Borneo, and in the Nicobar
islands, whence it receives its name. It is a ground
\
r
CILAP. XXIV. ] THE NICOBAR PIGEON. 8445
feeder, only going upon trees to roost, and is a very
heavy fleshy bird. This may account for the fact of its
being found chiefly on very small islands, while in the
western half of the Archipelago, it seems entirely absent
from the larger ones. Being a ground feeder it is subject
to the attacks of carnivorous quadrupeds, which are not
found in the very small islands. Its wide distribution over ©
the whole length of the Archipelago, from extreme west to
east, is however very extraordinary, since, with the excep-
tion of a few of the birds of prey, not a single land bird
has so wide a range. Ground-feeding birds are generally
deficient in power of extended flight, and this species is so
bulky and heavy that it appears at first sight quite unable
to fly a mile. A closer examination shows, however, that
its wings are remarkably large, perhaps in proportion to
its size larger than those of any other pigeon, and its
pectoral muscles are immense.
portions of the crews of many of the early discovery
ships were murdered, and scarcely a year now passes
but some lives are lost. The Goram and Ceram traders
are themselves generally inoffensive ; they are well ac-
quainted with the character of these natives, and are
not likely to provoke an attack by any insults or open
attempt at robbery or imposition. They are accustomed
to visit the same places every year, and the natives can
have no fear of them, as may be alleged in excuse for
their attacks on Europeans. In other extensive districts -
inhabited by the same Papuan races, such as Mysol,
Salwatty, Waigiou, and some parts of the adjacent coast,
the people have taken the first step in civilization, owing
probably to the settlement of traders of mixed breed
among them, and for many years no such attacks have
taken place. On the south-west coast, and in the large
island of Jobie, however, the natives are in a very bar- ;
barous condition, and take every opportunity of robbery —
and murder,—a habit which is confirmed by the impunity ©
CHAP. XXV.] KILWARU. 375
they experience, owing to the vast extent of wild mountain
and forest country forbidding all pursuit or attempt at
punishment. In the very same village, four years before,
more than fifty Goram men were murdered ; and as
these savages obtain an immense booty in the praus
and all their appurtenances, it is to be feared that such
attacks will continue to be made at intervals as long as
traders visit the same spots and attempt no retaliation.
Punishment could only be inflicted on these people by
very arbitrary measures, such as by obtaining possession
of some of the chiefs by stratagem, and rendering them
responsible for the capture of the murderers at the peril of
their own heads. But anything of this kind would be
quite contrary to the system adopted by the Dutch
Government in its dealings with natives.
GORAM TO WAHAI IN CERAM.
When my boat was at length launched and loaded, I got
my men together, and actually set sail the next day (May
27th), much to the astonishment of the Goram people, to
whom such punctuality was a novelty. I had a crew of
three men and a boy, besides my two Amboyna lads;
which was sufficient for sailing, though rather too few if
obliged to row much. The next day was very wet,
with squalls, calms, and contrary winds, and with some
difficulty we reached Kilwaru, the metropolis of the Bugis
traders in the far East. As I wanted to make some
purchases, I stayed here two days, and sent two of my
boxes of specimens by a Macassar prau to be forwarded to
Ternate, thus relieving myself of a considerable incum-
brance. I bought knives, basins, and handkerchiefs for
barter, which with the choppers, cloth, and beads I had
brought with me, made a pretty good assortment, TI also
bought two tower muskets to satisfy my crew, who insisted
on the necessity of being armed against attacks of pirates ;
and with spices and a few articles of food for the voyage
nearly my last doit was expended.
The little island of Kilwaru is a mere sandbank, just
large enough to contain a small village, and situated
between the islands of Ceram-laut, and Kissa—straits about
376 CERAM. (CHAP. XXV.
a third of a mile wide separating it from each of them.
It is surrounded by coral reefs, and offers good anchorage
in both monsoons. Though not more than fifty yards
across, and not elevated more than three or four feet above
the highest tides, it has wells of excellent drinking water—
a singular phenomenon, which would seem to imply deep-
seated subterranean channels connecting it with other
islands. ‘These advantages, with its situation in the centre
of the Papuan trading district, lead to its being so much
frequented by the Bugis traders. Here the Goram men
bring the produce of their little voyages, which they ex-
change for cloth, sago cakes, and opium; and the in-
habitants of all the surrounding islands visit it with the
same object. It is the rendezvous of the praus trading to
various parts of New Guinea, which here assort and dry
their cargoes, and refit for the voyage home. Tripang and
mussoi bark are the most bulky articles of produce
brought here, with wild nutmegs, tortoise-shell, pearls, and
birds of Paradise, in smaller quantities. The villagers of
the mainland of Ceram bring their sago, which is thus
distributed to the islands farther east, while rice from
Bali and Macassar can also be purchased at a moderate
price. The Goram men come here for their supplies of
opium, both for their own consumption and for barter in
Mysol and Waigiou, where they have introduced it, and
where the chiefs and wealthy men are passionately fond of
‘+ Schooners from Bali come to buy Papuan slaves, while
the sea-wandering Bugis arrive from distant Singapore in
their lumbering praus, bringing thence the produce of the
Chinamen’s workshops and Kling’s bazaar, as well as of
the looms of Lancashire and Massachusetts.
One of the Bugis traders who had arrived a few days
before from Mysol, brought me news of my assistant
Charles Allen, with whom he was well acquainted, and who,
he assured me, was making large collections of birds and
insects, although he had not obtained any birds of Paradise ;
Silinta, where he was staying, not being a good place for
them, This was on the whole satisfactory, and 1 was
anxious to reach him as soon as possible. :
Leaving Kilwaru early in the morning of June Ist, with |
a strong east wind we doubled the point of Ceram about
OHAP. XXv. | MY CREW RUN AWAY. Sia
noon, the heavy sea causing my prau to roll about a gooil
deal, to the damage of our crockery. As bad weather
seemed coming on, we got inside the reefs and anchored
opposite the village of Warus-warus to wait for a change.
The night was very squally, and though in a good harbour
we rolled and jerked uneasily ; but in the morning I had
greater cause for uneasiness in the discovery that our
entire Goram crew had decamped, taking with them all
they possessed and a little more, and leaving us without
any small boat in which to land. I immediately told my
Amboyna men to load and fire the muskets as a signal of
distress, which was soon answered by the village chief
sending off a boat, which took me on shore. I requested
that messengers should be immediately sent to the neigh-
bouring villages in quest of the fugitives, which was
promptly done. My prau was brought into a small creek,
where it could securely rest in the mud at low water, and
part of a house was given me in which I could stay for
a while. I now found my progress again suddenly checked,
just when I thought I had overcome my chief difficulties.
As I had treated my men with the greatest kindness, and
had given them almost everything they had asked for, I
can impute their running away only to their being totally
unaccustomed to the restraint of a European master, and
to some undefined dread of my ultimate intentions regard-
ing them. The oldest man was an opium smoker, and a
reputed thief, but I had been obliged to take him at the
last moment as a substitute for another. I feel sure it was
he who induced the others to run away, and as they knew
the country well, and had several hours’ start of us, there
was little chance of catching them.
We were here in the great sago district of East Ceram,
which supplies most of the surrounding islands with their
daily bread, and during our week’s delay I had an oppor-
tunity of seeing the whole process of making it, and
obtaining some interesting statistics. The sago tree is a
palm, thicker and larger than the cocoa-nut tree, although
rarely so tall, and having immense pinnate spiny leaves,
which completely cover the trunk till it is many years old.
It has a creeping root-stem like the Nipa palm, and when
about ten or fifteen years of age sends up an immense
378 CERAM. [CHAP. XXv.
terminal spike of flowers, after which the tree dies. It
grows in swamps, OF in swampy hollows on the rocky
slopes of hills, where it seems to thrive equally well as
when exposed to the influx of salt or brackish water.
The midribs of the immense leaves form one of the most
useful articles in these lands, supplying the place of
bamboo, to which for many purposes they are superior.
They are twelve or fifteen feet long, and, when very fine,
as thick in the lower part as a man’s leg. They are very
light, consisting entirely of a firm pith covered with a hard
thin rind or bark. Entire houses are built of these; they
form admirable roofing-poles for thatch; split and well-
supported, they do for flooring ; and when chosen of equal
size, and pegged together side by side to fill up the panels
of framed wooden houses, they have a very neat appear-
ance, and make better walls and partitions than boards, as
they do not shrink, require no paint or varnish, and are
not a quarter the expense. When carefully split and
shaved smooth they are formed into light boards with pegs
of the bark itself, and are the foundation of the leaf-
covered boxes of Goram. All the insect-boxes I used in
the Moluccas were thus made at Amboyna, and when
covered with stout paper inside and out, are strong, light,
and secure the insect-pins remarkably well. The leaflets
of the sago folded and tied side by side on the smaller
midribs form the “atap” or thatch in universal use, while
the product of the trunk is the staple food of some
hundred thousands of men.
SAGO CLUB.
When sago is to be made, a full-grown tree is selected
just before it is going to flower. It is cut down close*to
the ground, the leaves and leaf-stalks cleared away, and a
broad strip of the bark taken off the upper side of the
trunk, This exposes the pithy matter, which is of a rusty
colour near the bottom of the tree, but higher up pure
CHAP. XXv.] MAKING SAGO. 379
white, about as hard as a dry apple, but with woody fibres
running through it about a quarter of an inch apart. This
pith is cut or broken down into a coarse powder by means
of a tool constructed for the purpose—a club of hard and
heavy wood, having a piece of sharp quartz rock firmly
imbedded into its blunt end, and projecting about half an
inch. By successive blows of this, narrow strips of the
pith are cut away, and fall down into the cylinder formed
by the bark. Proceeding steadily on, the whole trunk is
cleared out, leaving a skin not more than half an inch in
thickness. This material is carried away (in baskets made
of the sheathing bases of the leaves) to the nearest water,
where a washing-machine is put up, which is composed
Win
HA
8AGO WASHING.
almost entirely of the sago tree itself. The large sheathing
bases of the leaves form the troughs, and the fibrous cover-
ing from the leaf-stalks of the young cocoa-nut the strainer.
Water is poured on the mass of pith, which is kneaded and
pressed against the strainer till the starch is all dissolved
and has passed through, when the fibrous refuse is thrown
away, and a fresh basketful put in its place. The water
380 CERAM. (cHAP. XXV
charged with sago starch passes on to a trough, with a
depression in the centre, where the sediment is deposited,
the surplus water trickling off by a shallow outlet. When
the trough is nearly full, the mass of starch, which has a
slight reddish tinge, is made into cylinders of about thirty
pounds’ weight, and neatly covered with sago leaves, and
in this state is sold as raw Sago.
Boiled with water this forms a thick glutinous mass,
with a rather astringent taste, and is eaten with salt,
limes, and chilies. Sago-bread is made in large quan-
tities, by baking it into cakes in a small clay oven
containing six or eight slits side by side, each about
three-quarters of an inch wide, and six or eight inches
square. The raw sago is broken up, dried in the sun,
powdered, and finely sifted. The oven is heated over a
clear fire of embers, and is lightly filled with the sago-
powder. The openings are then covered with a flat piece
of sago bark, and in about
five minutes the cakes are
turned out sufficiently baked.
The hot cakes are very nice
with butter, and when made
with the addition of a little
sugar and grated cocoa-nut
are quite a delicacy. They
BAGS OVEN. are soft, and something like
corn-flour cakes, but have a
slight characteristic flavour which is lost in the refined sago
we use in this country. When not wanted for immediate
use, they are dried for several days in the sun, and tied up
in bundles of twenty. They wi then keep for years ; they
are very hard, and very rough and dry, but the people are
used to them from infancy, and little children may be seen
enawing at them as contentedly as ours with their bread-
and-butter. If dipped in water and then toasted, they
become almost as good as when fresh baked; and thus
treated they were my daily substitute for bread with my
coffee. Soaked and boiled they make a very good pudding
or vegetable, and served well to economize our rice, which
is sometimes difficult to get so far east.
It is truly an extraordinary sight to witness a whole
2
{
x
}
'
CHAP. XXvV. | CHEAPNESS OF FOOD. 381
tree-trunk, perhaps twenty feet long and four or five in
circumference, converted into food with so little labour
and preparation. A good-sized tree will produce thirty
tomans or bundles of thirty pounds each, and each toman
will make sixty cakes of three to the pound. Two of
these cakes are as much as a man can eat at one meal, and
five are considered a full day’s allowance; so that, reckon-
ing a tree to produce 1,800 cakes, weighing 600 pounds, it
will supply a man with food for a whole year, The labour
to produce this is very moderate. Two men will finish a
tree in five days, and two women will bake the whole into
cakes in five days more ; but the raw sago will keep very
well, and can be baked as wanted, so that we may estimate
that in ten days a man may produce food for the whole
year. This is on the supposition that he possesses sago
trees of his own, for they are now all private property. If
he does not, he has to pay about seven and sixpence for
one; and as labour here is five pence a day, the total cost
of a year’s food for one man is about twelve shillings.
The effect of this cheapness of food is decidedly prejudicial,
for the inhabitants of the sago countries are never so well
off as those where rice is cultivated. Many of the people
here have neither vegetables nor fruit, but live almost
entirely on sago and a little fish. Having few occupations
at home, they wander about on petty trading or fishing
expeditions to the neighbouring islands; and as far as the
comforts of life are concerned, are much inferior to the
wild hill-Dyaks of Borneo, or to many of the mare bar-
barous tribes of the Archipelago.
The country round Warus-warus is low and swampy,
and owing to the absence of cultivation there were scarcely
any paths leading into the forest. I was therefore unable
to collect much during my enforced stay, and found no
rare birds or insects to improve my opinion of Ceram as a
collecting ground. Finding it quite impossible to get men
here to accompany me on the whole voyage, I was obliged
to be content with a crew to take me as far as Wahai, on
the middle of the north coast of Ceram, and the chief
Dutch station in the island. The journey took us five
days, owing to calms and light winds, and no incident of
any interest occurred on it, nor did I obtain at our
352 BOURU. : (CAP, XXL
stopping places 1 single addition to my collections werth
naming. At Wahai, which I reached on the 15th of June,
I was hospitably received by the Commandant and my old
friend Herr Rosenberg, who was now on an official visit
here. He lent me some money to pay my men, and | was
lucky enough to obtain three others willing to make the
voyage with me to Ternate, and one more who was. to
return from Mysol. One of my Amboyna lads, however,
left me, so that I was still rather short of hands.
I found here a letter from Charles Allen, who was at
Silinta in Mysol, anxiously expecting me, as he was out of
rice and other necessaries, and was short of insect-pins. He
‘was also ill, and if I did not soon come would return to
Wahat.
As my voyage from this place to Waigiou was among
islands inhabited by the Papuan race, and was an event-
ful and disastrous one, I will narrate its chief inci-
dents in a separate chapter in that division of my work
devoted to the Papuan Islands. I now have to pass over
a year spent in Waigiou and Timor, in order to describe
my visit to the island of Bouru, which concluded my
explorations of the Moluccas.
CHAPTER XXVI.
BOURU.
(MAY AND JUNE 1861. Map, p. 292.)
i HAD long wished to visit the large island of Bouru,
which lies due west of Ceram, and of which scarcely
anything appeared to be known to naturalists, except
that it contained a babirusa very like that of Celebes.
I therefore made arrangements for staying there two
months after leaving Timor Delli in 1861. This I could
conveniently do by means of the Dutch mail-steamers,
which make a monthly round of the Moluccas.
We arrived at the harbour of Cajeli on the 4th of May;
CHAP, XXVI.] THE TOWN OF CAJELL. 333
a gun was fired, the Commandant of the fort came along-
side in a native boat to receive the post-packet, and took
me and my baggage on shore, the steamer going off again
without coming toan anchor. We went to the house of the
Opzeiner, or overseer, a native of Amboyna—Bouru being
too poor a place to deserve even an Assistant Resident; yet
the appearance of the village was very far superior to that
of Delli, which possesses “ His Excellency the Governor,”
and the little fort, in perfect order, surrounded by neat
grass-plots and straight walks, although manned by only
a dozen Javanese soldiers with an Adjutant for commander,
was a very Sebastopol in comparison with the miserable
mud enclosure at Delli, with its numerous staff of Lieu-
tenants, Captain, and Major. Yet this, as well as most
of the forts in the Moluccas, was originally built by the
Portuguese themselves. Oh! Lusitania, how art thou
fallen !
While the Opzeiner was reading his letters, I took a
walk round the village with a guide in search of a house.
The whole place was dreadfully damp and muddy, being
built in a swamp with not a spot of ground raised a foot
above it, and surrounded by swamps on every side. The
houses were mostly well built, of wooden framework filled
in with gaba-gaba (leaf-stems of the sago-palm), but as they
had no whitewash, and the floors were of bare black earth
like the roads, and generally on the same level, they were
extremely damp and gloomy. At length I found one with
the floor raised about a foot, and succeeded in making a
bargain with the owner to turn out immediately, so that
by night I had installed myself comfortably. The chairs
and tables were left for me; and as the whole of the
remaining furniture in the house consisted of a little
crockery and a few clothes-boxes, it was not much trouble
for the owners to move into the house of some relatives,
and thus obtain a few silver rupees very easily. Every
foot of ground between the houses throughout the village
is crammed with fruit trees, so that the sun and air have
no chance of penetrating. This must be very cool and
pleasant in the dry season, but makes it damp and un-
healthy at other times of the year. Unfortunately I had
come two months too soon, for the rains were not yet over,
384 BOURU. fc es ees:
and mud and water were the prominent features of the
country.
About a mile behind and to the east of the village the
hills commence, but they are very barren, being covered
with scanty coarse grass and scattered trees of the
Melaleuca cajuputi, from the leaves of which the cele-
brated cajeput oil is made. Such districts are absolutely
destitute of interest for the zoologist. A few miles further
on rose higher mountains, apparently well covered with
forest, but they were entirely uninhabited and trackless,
and practically inaccessible to a traveller with limited
time and means. It became evident, therefore, that I
must leave Cajeli for some better collecting ground, and
finding a man who was going a few miles eastward to a
village on the coast where he said there were hills and
forest, I sent my boy Ali with him to explore and report
on the capabilities of the district. At the same time I.
arranged to go myself on a little excursion up a river
which flows into the bay about five miles north of the
town, to a village of the Alfuros, or indigenes, where I
thought I might perhaps find a good collecting ground.
The Rajah of Cajeli, a good-tempered old man, offered to
accompany me, as the village was under his government ;
and we started one morning early, in a long narrow boat
with eight rowers. In about two hours we entered the
river, and commenced our inland journey against a very
powerful current. The stream was about a hundred yards
wide, and was generally bordered with high grass, and
occasionally bushes and palm-trees. The country round
was flat and more or less swampy, with scattered trees and
shrubs. At every bend we crossed the river to avoid the
strength of the current, and arrived at our landing-
place about four o’clock, in a torrent of rain. Here we
waited for an hour, crouching under a leaky mat till
the Alfuros arrived who had been sent for from the
village to carry my baggage, when we set off along a
path of whose extreme muddiness I had been warned
before starting.
I turned up my trousers as high as possible, grasped a
stout stick to prevent awkward falls, and then boldly
plunged into the first mud-hole, which was immediately
|
ee eS ol ee eee ee
|
CHAP. XXVL.] = VILLAGE OF WAYAPO. 885
succeeded by another and another. The mud or mud and
water was knee-deep, with little intervals of firmer ground
between, making progression exceedingly difficult. The
path was bordered with high rigid grass, growing in dense
clumps separated by water, so that nothing was to be
gained by leaving the beaten track, and we were obliged
to go floundering on, never knowing where our feet would
rest, as the mud was now a few inches, now two feet, deep,
and the bottom very uneven, so that the foot slid down tu
the lowest part, and made it difficult to keep one’s balance.
One step would be upon a concealed stick or log, almost
dislocating the ankle, while the next would plunge into
soft mud above the knee. It rained all the way, and the
long grass, six feet high, met over the path ; so that we
could not seea step of the way ahead, and received a double
drenching. Before we got to the village it was dark, and
we had to cross over a small but deep and swollen stream
by a narrow log of wood, which was more than a foot
under water. There was a slender shaking stick for a
handrail, and it was nervous work feeling in the dark in
the rushing water for a safe place on which to place the
advanced foot. After an hour of this most disagreeable
and fatiguing walk we reached the village, followed by
the men with our guns, ammunition, boxes, and bedding,
all more or less soaked. We consoled ourselves with
some hot tea and cold fowl, and went early to bed.
The next morning was clear and fine, and I set out soon
after sunrise to explore the neighbourhood. The village
had evidently been newly formed, and consisted of a single
straight street of very miserable huts totally deficient in
every comfort, and as bare and cheerless inside as out. It
was situated on a little elevated patch of coarse gravelly
sou, covered with the usual high rigid grass, which came
up close to the backs of the houses, Ata short distance
in several directions were patches of forest, but all on low
and swampy ground. I made one attempt along the only
path I could find, but soon came upon a deep mud-hole,
and found that I must walk barefoot if at all; so I returned
and deferred further exploration till after breakfast. I
then went on into the jungle and found patches of sago-
palms and a low forest vegetation, but the paths were every-
OC¢
»
886 BOURU. [CHAP. XXVL :
where full of mud-holes, and intersected by muddy streams
and tracts of swamp, so that walking was not pleasurable,
and too much attention to one’s steps was not favourable to
insect catching, which requires above everything freedom of
motion. [shot a few birds, and caught a few butterflies, but
all were the same as I had already obtained about Cajeli. —
On my return to the village I was told that the same
‘kind of ground extended for many miles in every
direction, and I at once decided that Wayapo was |
not a suitable piace to stay at. The next morning ©
early we waded back again through the mud and long
wet grass to our boat, and by mid-day reached Cajeli, —
where I waited ~Ali’s return to decide on my future
movements. He came the following day, and gave a
very bad account of Pelah, where he had been. There was
a little brush and trees along the beach, and hills inland
covered with high grass and cajuputi trees—my dread and
abhorrence. On inquiring who could give me trustworthy
information, I was referred to the Lieutenant of the
Burghers, who had travelled all round the island, and was a
very intelligent fellow. I asked him to tell me if he knew
of any part of Bouru where there was no “ kusu-kusu,” as —
the coarse grass of the country is called. He assured me-
that a good deal of the south coast was forest land, while
along the north was almost entirely swamp and grassy hills.
After minute inquiries, I found that the forest country com-
menced at a place called Waypoti, only a few miles beyond
Pelah, but thai, as the coast beyond that place was exposed —
to the east monsoon and dangerous for praus, it was neces-
sary to walk. I immediately went to the Opzeiner, and
he called the Rajah. We hada consultation, and arranged
for a boat to take me the next evening but one, to Pelah,
whence I was to proceed on foot, the Orang-kaya going the
day before to call the Alfuros to carry my baggage.
The journey was made as arranged, and on May 19th
we arrived at Waypoti, having walked about ten miles
along the beach, and through stony forest bordering the
sea, with occasional plunges of a mile or two into the
interior. We found no village, but scattered houses and
plantations, with hilly country pretty well covered with
forest, and looking rather promisiug. A low hut with a
CHAP, XXVI.| WAYPOTI. 387
_ very rotten roof, showing the sky through in several places,
was the only one I could obtain. Luckily it did not rain
that night, and the next day we pulled down some of
the walls to repair the roof, which was of immediate
importance, especially over our beds and table.
About half a mile from the house was a fine mountain
stream, running swiftly over a bed of rocks and pebbles,
and beyond this was a hill covered with fine forest, By
carefully picking my way I could wade across this river
without getting much above my knees, although I would
sometimes slip off a rock and go into a hole up to my
waist, and about twice a week I went across it in order to
explore the forest. Unfortunately there were no paths
here of any extent, and it did not prove very productive
either in insects or birds. To add to my difficulties I had
stupidly left my only pair of strong boots on board the
steamer, and my others were by this time all dropping to
pieces, so that I was obliged to walk about barefooted, and
in constant fear of hurting my feet, and causing a wound
which might lay me up for weeks, as had happened in
Borneo, Aru, and Dorey. Although there were numerous
plantations of maize and plantains, there were no new
clearings; and as without these it is almost impossible
to find many of the best kinds of insects, I determined
to make one myself, and with much difficulty engaged two
men to clear a patch of forest, from which I hoped to
obtain many fine beetles before I left.
During the whole of my stay, however, insects never
became plentiful. My clearing produced me a few fine
longicorns and Buprestide, different from any I had before
seen, together with several of the Amboyna species, but by
no means so numerous or so beautiful as I had found in
that small island. For example, I collected only 210
different kinds of beetles during my two months’ stay at
Bouru, while in three weeks at Amboyna, in 1857, I found
more than 300 species. One of the finest insects found at
Bouru was a large Cerambyx, of a deep shining chestnut
colour, and with very long antenne. It varied greatly
in size, the largest specimens being three inches long,
while the smallest were only an inch, the antennx varying
from one and a half to five inches.
cc 2
388 BOURU.. (CHAP. XXVI.
One day my boy Ali came home with a story of a —
big snake. He was walking through some high grass, —
and stepped on something which he took for a small
fallen tree, but it felt cold and yielding to his feet,
and far to the right and left there was a waving and —
rustling of the herbage.” He jumped back in affright —
and prepared to shoot, but could not get a good view ©
of the creature, and it passed away, he said, hike a
tree being dragged along through the grass. As he ©
had several times already shot large snakes, which he
declared were all as nothing compared with this, I am
inclined to believe it must really have been a monster.
Such creatures are rather plentiful here, for a man living
close by showed me on his thigh the marks where he had —
been seized by one close to his house. It was big enough
to take the man’s thigh in its mouth, and he would pro- —
bably have been killed and devoured by it had not his —
cries brought out his neighbours, who destroyed it with
their choppers. As far as I could make out it was about
twenty feet long, but Ali's was probably much larger.
It sometimes amuses me to observe how, a few days after
I have taken possession of it, a native hut seems quite
a comfortable home. My house at Waypoti was a bare
shed, with a large bamboo platform at one side. At one
end of this platform, which was elevated about three feet, I
fixed up my mosquito curtain, and partly enclosed it with
a large Scotch plaid, making a comfortable little sleeping
apartment. I put up a rude table on legs buried in the-
earthen floor, and had my comfortable rattan-chair for
a seat. A line across one corner carried my daily-—
washed cotton clothing, and on a bamboo shelf was
arranged my small stock of crockery and hardware. Boxes”
ging shelves,
were ranged against the thatch walls, and hang
to preserve my collections from ants while drying, were
suspended both without and within the house. On my
table lay books, penknives, scissors, pliers, and pins, with
-nsect and bird labels, all of which were unsolved mysteries
to the native mind. :
Most of the people here had never seen a pin, and
the better informed took a pride in teaching their more
ignorant companions the peculiarities and uses of that
CHAP. XXVI. | THE NATIVES. 389
strange European production—a needle with a head, but
no eye! Even paper, which we throw away hourly as
rubbish, was to them a curiosity; and I often saw them
picking up litle scraps which had been swept out of
the house, and carefully putting them away in their betel-
pouch. Then when IJ took my morning coffee and evening
tea, how many were the strange things displayed to them!
Teapot, teacups, teaspoons, were all more or less curious in
their eyes ; tea, sugar, biscuit, and butter, were articles of
human consumption seen by many of them for the first
time. One asks if that whitish powder is “ gula passir”
(sand-sugar), so called to distinguish it from the coarse
lump palm-sugar or molasses of native manufacture; and
the biscuit is considered a sort of European sago-cake,
which the inhabitants of those remote regions are obliged
to use in the absence of the genuine article. My pursuits
were of course utterly beyond their comprehension. They
continually asked me what white people did with the birds
and insects I took so much care to preserve. If I only
kept what was beautiful, they might perhaps comprehend
it ; but to see ants and flies and small ugly insects put
away so carefully was a great puzzle to them, and they
were convinced that there must be some medical or
magical use for them which I kept a profound secret,
These people were in fact as completely unacquainted with
civilized life as the Indians of the Rocky Mountains, or
the savages of Central Africa—yet a steamship, that
highest triumph of human ingenuity, with its little float-
ing epitome of European civilization, touches monthly at
Cajeli, twenty miles off; while at Amboyna, only sixty
miles distant,a European population and government have
been established for more than three hundred years.
Having seen a good many of the natives of Bouru from
different villages, and from distant parts of the island, I
feel convineed that they consist of two distinct races now
partially amalgamated. The larger portion are Malays of
the Celebes type, often exactly similar to the Tomére
people of East Celebes, whom | found settled in Batchian ;
while others altogether resemble the Alfuros of Ceram.
The influx of two races can easily be accounted for. The
Sula Islands, which are closely connected with East
390 BOURU. (CHAP. XXVI
Celebes, approach to within forty miles of the north coast —
of Bouru, while the island of Manipa offers an easy point
of departure for the people of Ceram. I was confirmed in
this view by finding that the languages of Bouru possessed
distinct resemblances to that of Sula, as well as to those —
of Ceram. } a
Soon after we had arrived at Waypoti, Ali had seen a
beautiful little bird of the genus Pitta, which I was very
anxious to obtain, as in almost every island the species are
different, and none were yet known from Bouru. He and
my other hunter continued to see it two or three times a
week, and to hear its peculiar note much oftener, but could
never get a specimen, owing to its always frequenting the
most dense thorny thickets, where only hasty glimpses of
it could be obtained, and at so short a distance that it
would be difficult to avoid blowing the bird to pieces. Ali
was very much annoyed that he could not get a specimen
of this bird, in going after which he had already severely
wounded his feet with thorns ; and when we had only two ~
days more to stay, he went of his own accord one evening
to sleep at a little hut in the forest some miles off, in order
to have a last try for it at daybreak, when many birds
come out to feed, and are very intent on their morning
meal, The next evening he brought me home two specl- ~
mens, one with the head blown completely off, and other- —
wise too much injured to preserve, the other in very good —
order, and which I at once saw to be a new species, very —
like the Pitta celebensis, but ornamented with a square —
patch of bright red on the nape of the neck.
The next day after securing this prize we returned to "
Cajeli, and packing up my collections left Bouru by the
steamer. During our two days’ stay at Ternate, I took on —
board what baggage I had left there, and bade adieu to —
all my friends. We then crossed over to Menado, on our ~
way to Macassar and Java, and I finally quitted the i
Moluccas, among whose luxuriant and beautiful islands 1 _
had wandered for more than three years. +
My collections in Bouru, though not extensive, were of
considerable interest; for out of sixty-six species of birds —
which I collected there, no less than seventeen were new, —
or had not been previously found in any island of the
Peon ath uted
CHAP, XXVII.] NATURAL HISTORY. 391
Moluccas. Among these were two kinefishers, Tanysip-
tera acis and Ceyx Cajeli; a beautiful sunbird, Nectarinea
proserpina; a handsome little black and white flycatcher,
Monarcha loricata, whose swelling throat was beautifully
scaled with metallic blue; and several of less interest. I
also obtained a skull of the babirusa, one specimen of
which was killed by native hunters during my residence
at Cajeli.
CHAPTER XXVILI.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MOLUCOAS.
gees Moluccas consist of three large islands, Gilolo,
Ceram, and Bouru, the two former being each about
two hundred miles long; and a great number of smaller
isles and islets, the most important of which are Batchian,
Morty, Obi, Ké, Timor-laut, and Amboyna; and among
the smaller ones, Ternate, Tidore, Kaida, and Banda. These
eeccupy a space of ten degrees of latitude by eight of
longitude, and they are connected by groups of small islets
to New Guinea on the east, the Philippines on the north,
Celebes on the west, and Timor on the south. It will be
as well to bear in mind these main features of extent and
geographical position, while we survey their animal pro-
ductions and discuss their relations to the countries which
surround them on every side in almost equal proximity.
We will first consider the Mammalia, or warm-blooded
quadrupeds, which present us with some singular anomalies,
The land mammals are exceedingly few in number, only
ten being yet known from the entire group. The bats or
aérial mammals, on the other hand, are numerous—not less
than twenty-five species being already known. But even
this exceeding poverty of terrestrial mammals does not at
all represent the real poverty of the Moluccas in this
class of animals; for, as we shall soon see, there is good
reason to believe that several of the species have been
introduced by man, either purposely or by accident.
The only quadrumanous: animal in the group is the
392 NATURAL HISTORY (CHAP. Xxvn
curious baboon-monkey, Cynopithecus nigrescens, already
described as being one of the characteristic animals of
Celebes. This is found only in the island of Batchian ;
and it seems so much out of place there—as it is difficult
to imagine how it could have reached the island by any
natural means of dispersal, and yet not have passed by
the same means over the narrow strait to Gilolo—that
it seems more likely to have originated from some indi-
viduals which had escaped from confinement, these and
similar animals being often kept as pets by the Malays,
and carried about in their praus.
Of all the carnivorous animals of the Archipelago the
only one found in the Moluccas is the Viverra tangalunga,
which inhabits both Batchian and Bouru, and probably
some of the other islands. I am inclined to think that
this also may have been introduced accidentally, for it is _
often made captive by the Malays, who procure civet
from it, and it is an animal very restless and untameable,
and therefore likely to escape. This view is rendered still
more probable by what Antonio de Morga tells us was
the custom in the Philippines in 1602. He says that “the
natives of Mindanao carry about civet-cats in cages, and
sell them in the islands; and they take the civet from
them, and let them go again.” The same species 18
common in the Philippines and in all the large islands
of the Indo-Malay region.
The only Moluccan ruminant is a deer, which was once
supposed to be a distinct species, but is now. generally
considered to be a slight variety of the Rusa hippelaphus
of Java. Deer are often tamed and petted, and their flesh
-3 so much esteemed by all Malays, that it 1s very natural
they should endeavour to introduce them into the remote
islands in which they settled, and whose luxuriant forests
seem so well adapted for their subsistence.
The strange babirusa of Celebes 1s also found in Bourn,
but in no other Moluccan island, and it is somewhat diffi-
cult to imagine how it got there. It is true that there is
some approximation between the birds of the Sula Islands
(where the babirusa is also found) and those of Bouru,
which seems to indicate that these islands have recently
been closer together, or that some intervening land ha
CHAP, XXVII,J OF THE MOLUCCAS. 393
disappeared. At this time the babirusa may have entered
Bouru, since it probably swims as well as its allies the
pigs. These are spread all over the Archipelago, even to
several of the smaller islands, and in many cases the species
are peculiar. It is evident, therefore, that they have some
natural means of dispersal. There is a popular idea that
pigs cannot swim, but Sir Charles Lyell has shown that
this is a mistake. In his “Principles of Geology” (10th
Edit. vol. ii. p. 355) he adduces evidence to show that pigs
have swum many miles at sea, and are able to swim with
great ease and swiftness. I have myself seen a wild pig
swimming across the arm of the sea that separates Singa-
pore from the Peninsula of Malacca, and we thus have
explained the curious fact, that of all the large mammals
of the Indian region, pigs alone extend beyond the
Moluccas and as far as New Guinea, although it is
somewhat curious that they have not found their way
to Australia.
The little shrew, Sorex myosurus, which is common in
Sumatra, Borneo, and Java, is also found in the larger
islands of the Moluccas, to which it may have been
accidentally conveyed in native praus.
This completes the list of the placental mammals which
are so characteristic of the Indian region; and we see that,
with the single exception of the pig, all may very probably
have been introduced by man, since all except the pig are
of species identical with those now abounding in the great
Malay islands, or in Celebes.
The four remaining mainmals are Marsupials, an order
of the class Mammalia, which is very characteristic of the
Australian fauna; and these are probably true natives of
the Moluccas, since they are either of peculiar species, or
if found elsewhere are natives only of New Guinea or
North Australia. The first is the small flying opossum,
Belideus ariel, a beautiful little animal, exactly like a
small flying squirrel in appearance, but belonging to the
marsupial order. The other three are species of the
curlous genus Cuscus, which is peculiar to the Austro-
Malayan region. These are opossum-like animals, with a
tong prehensile tail, of which the terminal half is generally
bare. They have small heads, large eyes, and a dense
8394 NATURAL HISTORY (cuAP, XXVII.
covering of woolly fur, which is often pure white with
irregular black spots or blotches, or sometimes ashy brown
with or without white spots. They live in trees, feeding
upon the leaves, of which they devour large quantities.
They move about slowly, and are difficult to kill, owing to
the thickness of their fur, and their tenacity of life. A heavy
charge of shot will often lodge in the skin and do them no
CUSCUS ORNATUS.
harm, and even breaking the spine or piercing the brain
will not kill them for some hours. The natives everywhere
eat their flesh, and as their motions are SO slow, easily
catch them by climbing ; so that it is wonderful they have
not been exterminated. It may be, however, that their
dense woolly fur protects. them from birds of prey, and the
islands they live in are too thinly inhabited for man to be
CHAP. XXVII.} OF THE MOLUCCAS. 395
able to exterminate them. The figure represents Cuscus
ornatus, a new species discovered by me in Batchian, and
which also inhabits Ternate. It is peculiar to the Moluccas,
while the two other species which inhabit Ceram are found
also in New Guinea and Waigiou.
In place of the excessive poverty of mammals which
characterises the Moluccas, we have a very rich display of
the feathered tribes. The number of species of birds at
present known from the various islands of the Moluccan
group 1s 265, but of these only 70 belong to the usually
abundant tribes of the waders and swimmers, indicating
that these are very imperfectly known. As they are also
pre-eminently wanderers, and are thus little fitted for illus-
trating the geographical distribution of life in a limited
area, we will here leave them out of consideration and
confine our attention only to the 195 land birds.
When we consider that all Europe, with its varied
climate and vegetation, with every mile of its surface
explored, and with the immense extent of temperate Asia
and Africa, which serve as storehouses, from which jt is
continually recruited, only supports 257 species of land
birds as residents or regular immigrants, we must look
upon the numbers already procured in the small and com-
paratively unknown islands of the Moluccas as indicating
a fauna of fully average richness in this department. But
when we come to examine the family groups which go to
make up this number, we find the most curious deficiencies
in some, balanced by equally striking redundancy in others.
Thus if we compare the birds of the Moluccas with those
of India, as given in Mr. Jerdon’s work, we find that the
three groups of the parrots, kingfishers, and pigeons, form
nearly one-third of the whole land-birds in the former,
while they amount to only one-twentieth in the latter
country. On the other hand, such wide-spread groups as
the thrushes, warblers, and finches, which in India form
nearly one-third of all the land-birds, dwindle down in the
Moluccas to one-fourteenth.
The reason of these peculiarities appears to be, that the
Moluccan fauna has been almost entirely derived from
that of New Guinea, in which country the same deficiency
and the same luxuriance is to be observed. Out of the
296 NATURAL HISTORY [CHAP. XXVIL.
seventy-eight genera in which the Moluccan land-birds
may be classed, no less than seventy are characteristic of
New Guinea, while only six belong specially to the Indo-
Malay islands. But this close resemblance to New Guinea
genera does not extend to the species, for no less than 140
out of the 195 land-birds are peculiar to the Moluccan
islands, while 32 are found also in New Guinea, and 15
*n the Indo-Malay islands. These facts teach us, that
though the birds of this group have evidently been derived
mainly from New Guinea, yet the immigration has not
been a recent one, since there has been time for the greater
portion of the species to have become changed. We find,
also, that many very characteristic New Guinea forms
have not entered the Moluccas at all, while others found
=n Cerain and Gilolo do not extend so far west as Bouru.
Considering, further, the absence of most of the New Guinea
mammals from the Moluccas, we are led to the conclusion
that these islands are not fragments which have been
separated from New Guinea, but form a distinct insular
region, which has been upheaved independently at a
rather remote epoch, and during all the mutations it has
undergone has been constantly receiving immigrants from
that great and productive island. The considerable
length of time the Moluccas have remained isolated is
further indicated by the occurrence of two peculiar genera
of birds, Semioptera and Lycocorax, which are found
nowhere else.
We are able to divide this small archipelago into two
well-marked groups—that of Ceram, including also Bouru,
Amboyna, Banda, and Ké; and that of Gilolo, including
Morty, Batchian, Obi, Ternate, and other small islands.
These divisions have each a considerable number of pecu-
liar species, no less than fifty-five being found in the
Ceram group only; and besides this, most of the separate
islands have some species peculiar to themselves. Thus
Morty island has a peculiar kingfisher, honeysucker, and
starling; Ternate has a eround-thrush (Pitta) and a fly-
catcher; Banda has a pigeon, a shrike, and a Pitta; Ke
has two flycatchers, a Zosterops, a shrike, a king-crow,
and a cuckoo; aud the remote Timor-laut, which should
probably come into the Moluccan group, has a cockatoo
CHAP. XXVII.] OF THE MOLUCCAS. 397
and lory as its only known birds, and both are of peculiar
species.
The Moluccas are especially rich in the parrot tribe, no
less than twenty-two species, belonging to ten genera,
inhabiting them. Among these is the large red-crested
cockatoo, so commonly seen alive in Europe, two handsome
red parrots of the genus Eclectus, and five of the beautiful
crimson lories, which are almost exclusively confined to
these islands and the New Guinea group. The pigeons
are hardly less abundant or beautiful, twenty-one species
being known, including twelve of the beautiful green fruit
pigeons, the smaller kinds of which are ornamented with
the most brilliant patches of colour on the head and the
under-surface. Next to these come the kingfishers, in-
cluding sixteen species, almost all of which are beautiful,
and many are among the most brilliantly-coloured birds
that exist.
One of the most curious groups of birds, the Megapodii,
or mound-makers, is very abundant in the Moluccas,
They are gallinaceous birds, about the size of a small fowl,
and generally of a dark ashy or sooty colour, and they
have remarkably large and strong feet and long claws.
They are allied to the ‘‘Maleo” of Celebes, of which an
account has already been given, but they differ in habits,
most of these birds frequenting the scrubby jungles along
the sea-shore, where the soil is sandy, and there is a con-
siderable quantity of débris, consisting of sticks, shells,
seaweed, leaves, &c. Of this rubbish the Megapodius
forms immense mounds, often six or eight feet high and
twenty or thirty feet in diameter, which they are enabled
to do with comparative ease by means of their large feet,
with which they can grasp and throw backwards a quantity
of material. In the centre of this mound, at a depth of
two or three feet, the eggs are deposited, and are hatched
by the gentle heat produced by the fermentation of the
vegetable matter of the mound. When I first saw these
mounds in the island of Lombock, I could hardly believe
that they were made by such small birds, but I afterwards
met with them frequently, and have once or twice come
upon the birds engaged in making them. They run a
few steps backwards, grasping a quantity of loose material
398 NATURAL HISTORY (cHAF. XXVIL
sn one foot, and throw it a long way behind them.
When once properly buried the eggs seem to be no more
cared for, the young birds working their way up through
the heap of rubbish, and running off at once into the forest.
They come out of the egg covered with thick downy
feathers, and have no tail, although the wings are fully
developed.
I was so fortunate as to discover a now species (Mega-
podius wallacei), which inhabits Gilolo, Ternate, and
Bouru. It is the handsomest bird of the genus, being
richly banded with reddish brown on the back and wings ;
and it differs from the other species in its habits. It fre-
quents the forests of the interior, and comes down to the
sea-beach to deposit its eggs, but instead of making a
mound, or scratching a hole to receive them, it burrows into
the sand to the depth of about three feet obliquely down-
wards, and deposits its eggs at the bottom. It then loosely
covers up the mouth of the hole, and is said by the natives
to obliterate and disguise its own footmarks leading to and
from the hole, by making many other tracks and scratches
in the neighbourhood. It lays its eggs only at night, and
at Bouru a bird was caught early one morning as it was
coming out of its hele, ‘1 which several eggs were found.
All these birds seem to be semi-nocturnal, for their loud
wailing cries may be constarttly heard late into the night
and long before daybreak in the morning. The eggs are
all of a rusty red colour, and very large for the size of
the bird, being generally three or three and a quarter
inches long, by two or two and a quarter wide. They
are very good eating, and are much sought after by the
natives.
Another large and extraordinary bird is the Cassowary,
which inhabits the island of Ceram only. It is a stout and
strong bird, standing five or six feet high, and covered with
long coarse black hair-like feathers. The head is orna-
mented with a large horny casque or helmet, and the bare
skin of the neck is conspicuous with bright blue and red
colours. The wings are quite absent, and are replaced by
a group of horny black spines like blunt porcupine quills.
These birds wander about the vast mountainous forests that
cover the island of Ceram, feeding chiefly on fallen fruits,
CHAP. XXVII.] OF THE MOLUCCAS. 399
and on insects or crustacea. The female lays from three
to five large and beautifully shagreened green eges upon
a bed of leaves, the male and female sitting upon them
alternately for about a month. This bird is the helmeted
cassowary (Casuarius galeatus) of naturalists, and was for
a long time the only species known. Others have since
been discovered in New Guinea, New Britain, and North
Australia.
It was in the Moluccas that I first discovered undoubted
cases of “mimicry” among birds, and these are so curious
that I must briefly describe them. It will be as well,
however, first to explain what is meant by mimicry in
natural history. At page 131, I have described a butterfly
which, when at rest, so closely resembles a dead leaf,
that it thereby escapes the attacks of its enemies, This
is termed a “protective resemblance.” If however the
butterfly, being itself a savoury morsel to birds, had
closely resembled another butterfly which was disagreeable
to birds, and therefore never eaten by them, it would be
as well protected as if it resembled a leaf; and this is what
has been happily termed “mimicry” by Mr. Bates, who
first discovered the object of these curious external imita-
tions of one insect by another belonging to a distinct
genus or family, and sometimes even to a distinct
order. The clear-winged moths which resemble wasps
and hornets are the best examples of “mimicry” in our
own country.
For a long time all the known cases of exact resem-
blance of one creature to quite a different one were con-
fined to insects, and it was therefore with great pleasure
that I discovered in the island of Bouru two birds which I
constantly mistook for each other, and which yet belonged
to two distinct and somewhat distant families. One of
these is a honeysucker named Tropidorhynchus bouruensis,
and the other a kind of oriole, which has been called Mimeta
bouruensis. The oriole resembles the honeysucker in the
following particulars: the upper and under surfaces of the
two birds are exactly of the same tints of dark and hight
brown ; the Tropidorhynchus has a large bare black patch
round the eyes; this is copied in the Mimeta by a patch of
black feathers. The top of the head of the Tropidorhyn-
400 NATURAL HISTORY [cCHAP. XXVIL
chus has a scaly appearance from the narrow scale-formed
feathers, which are imitated by the broader feathers of the
Mimeta having a dusky line down each. ‘The Tropido-
rhynchus has a_ pale ruff formed of curious recurved
feathers on the nape (which has given the whole genus the’
name of Friar birds); this is represented in the Mimeta by
a pale band in the same position. Lastly, the bill of the
Tropidorhynchus is raised into a protuberant keel at the
base, and the Mimeta has the same character, although it 1s
not a common one in the genus. The result is, that on a
superficial examination the birds are identical, although
they have important structural differences, and cannot be
placed near each other in any natural arrangement.
In the adjacent island of Ceram we find very distinct
species of both these genera, and, strange to say, these
resemble each other quite as closely as do those of Bouru.
The Tropidorhynchus subcornutus is of an earthy brown
colour, washed with ochreish yellow, with bare orbits, dusky
cheeks, and the usual recurved nape-ruff. The Mimeta
forsteni which accompanies it, is absolutely identical in the
tints of every part of the body, and the details are copied
just as minutely as In the former species.
We have two kinds of evidence to tell us which bird in
this case is the model, and which the copy. The honey-
suckers are coloured in a manner which is very general in
the whole family to which they belong, while the orioles
seem to have departed from the gay yellow tints so
common among their allies. We should therefore con-
clude that it is the latter who mimic the former. If
so, however, they must derive some advantage from the
imitation, and as they are certainly weak birds, with small
feet and claws, they may require it. Now the Tropido-
rhynchi are very strong and active birds, having powerful
erasping claws, and long, curved, sharp beaks. They
assemble together in groups and small flocks, and they have
a very loud bawling note which can be heard at a great
distance, and serves to collect a number together in time of
danger. They are very plentiful and very pugnacious, fre-
quently driving away crows and even hawks, which perch
on a tree where a few of them are assembled. It is very
probable, therefore, that the smaller birds of prey have
7
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———————
MOLUCCAN BEETLES.
CHAP. xxvit.] OF THE MOLUCCAS. 401
learnt to respect these birds and leave them alone, and it
may thus be a great advantage for the weaker and less
courageous Mimetas to be mistaken for them. This being
the case, the laws of Variation and Survival of the
Fittest, will suffice to explain how the resemblance has
been brought about, without supposing any voluntary
action on the part of the birds themselves; and those who
have read Mr. Darwin’s “Origin of Species” will have no
difficulty in comprehending the whole process.
The insects of the Moluceas are pre-eminently beautiful,
even when compared with the varied and beautiful pro-
ductions of other parts of the Archipelago. The erand
bird-winged butterflies (Ornithoptera) here reach their
maximum of size and beauty, and many of the Papilios,
. Pieride, Danaide, and Nymphalide are equally pre-
eminent. ‘There is, perhaps, no island in the world so
small as Amboyna where so many grand insects are to be
found. Here are three of the very finest Ornithopteree—
priamus, helena, and remus ; three of the handsomest and
largest Papilios—ulysses, deiphobus, and gambrisius; one
of the handsomest Pieride, Iphias leucippe; the largest of
the Danaide, Hestia idea; and two unusually large and
handsome Nymphalide—Diadema pandarus, and Charaxes
euryalus. Among its beetles are the extraordinary
Kuchirus longimanus, whose enormous legs spread over a
space of eight inches, and an unusual number of large and
handsome Longicorns, Anthribide, and Buprestide.
The beetles figured on the plate as characteristic of the
Moluccas are: 1. A small specimen of the Euchirus longi-
manus, or Long-armed Chafer, which has been already
mentioned in the account of my residence at Amboyna
(Chapter XX.). The female has the fore legs of moderate
length. 2. A fine weevil, (an undescribed species of Eu-
-pholus,) of rich blue and emerald green colours, banded
with black. It is a native of Ceram and Goram, and is
found on foliage. 3. A female of KXenocerus semiluc-
tuosus, one of the Anthribide of delicate silky white
and black colours. It is abundant on fallen trunks
and stumps in Ceram and Amboyna. 4, An unde-
scribed species of Xenocerus ; a male, with very long and
curious antenne, and elegant black and white markings.
D D
402 NATURAL HISTORY. [OHAP. XXVIT.
It is fuund on fallen trunks in Batchian. 9. An un-—
described species of Arachnobas, a curious genus of
weevils peculiar to the Moluccas and New Guinea, and
yemarkable for their long legs, and. their habit of often
sitting on leaves, and turning rapidly round the edge to
the under-surface when disturbed. It was found in
Gilolo. All these insects are represented of the natural
s1Ze. |
Like the birds, the insects of the Moluccas show a
decided affinity with those of New Guinea rather than
with the productions of the great western islands of the
Archipelago, but the difference in form and structure be-
tween the productions of the east and west is not nearly
so marked here as in birds. This is probably due to the
more immediate dependence of insects on climate and
vegetation, and the greater facilities for their distribution
in the varied stages of egg, pupa, and perfect insect.
This has led to a general uniformity in the insect-life
of the whole Archipelago, in accordance with the gene-
ral uniformity of its climate and vegetation ; while on —
the other hand the great susceptibility of the insect
organization to the action of external conditions has led to ©
infinite detailed modifications of form and colour, which —
have in many cases given a considerable diversity to the —
productions of adjacent islands.
Owing to the great preponderance among the birds, of ©
parrots, pigeons, kingfishers, and sunbirds, almost all of gay —
or delicate colours, and many adorned with the most —
gorgeous plumage, and to the numbers of very large and —
showy butterflies which are almost everywhere to be met —
with, the forests of the Moluccas offer to the naturalist
a very striking example of the luxuriance and beauty of
animal life in the tropics. Yet the almost entire absence
of Mammalia, and of such wide-spread groups of birds as
woodpeckers, thrushes, Jays, tits, and pheasants, must
convince him that he is in a part of the world which has
in reality but little im common with the great Asiatic
continent, although an unbroken chain of islands seems to
link them to it. | :
euap. Xxvill.] MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS. 403
CHAPTER XXVIII.
-MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS IN A NATIVE PRAU.
(DECEMBER, 1856.)
ia was the beginning of December, and the rainy season
4 at Macassar had just set in. For nearly three months
I had beheld the sun rise daily above the palm-groves,
mount to the zenith, and descend like a globe of fire into
the ogean, unobscured for a single moment of his course:
now dark leaden clouds had gathered over the whole
heavens, and seemed to have rendered him permanently
invisible. The strong east winds, warm and dry and dust-
laden, which had hitherto blown as certainly as the sun
had risen, were now replaced by variable gusty breezes
and heavy rains, often continuous for three days and
nights together; and the parched and fissured rice stubbles
which during the dry weather had extended in every
direction for miles around the town, were already so
flooded as to be only passable by boats, or by means of a
labyrinth of paths on the top of the narrow banks which
divided the separate properties.
Five months of this kind of weather might be expected
in Southern Celebes, and I therefore determined to seek
some more favourable climate for collecting in during that
period, and to return in the next dry season to complete
my exploration of the district. Fortunately for me I was
in one of the great emporiums of the native trade of the
Archipelago. Rattans from Borneo, sandal-wood and bees’-
wax from Flores and Timor, tripang from the Gulf of
Carpentaria, cajuputi-oil from Bouru, wild nutmegs and
mussoi-bark from New Guinea, are all to be found in the
stores of the Chinese and Bugis merchants of Macassar,
along with the rice and coffee which are the chief products
of the surrounding country. More important than all these
however is the trade to Aru, a group of islands situated on
the south-west coast of New Guinea, and of which almost
the whole produce comes to Macassar in native vessels.
DD 2
AQ4 MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS ([cwar. XXVI0.
These islands are quite out of the track of all European
trade, and are inhabited only by black mop-headed savages, —
who yet contribute to the luxurious tastes of the most
civilized races. Pearls, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell,
find their way to Europe, while edible birds’ nests and
“tripang” or sea-slug are obtained by shiploads for the
castronomic enjoyment of the Chinese.
"The trade to these islands has existed from very early
times, and it is from them that Birds of Paradise, of the
two kinds known to Linneus, were first brought. The
native vessels can only make the voyage once a year,
owing to the monsoons. They leave Macassar in Decem-
ber or January atthe beginning of the west monsoon, and
return in July or August with the full strength of the
east monsoon. Even by the Macassar people themselves,
the voyage to the Aru Islands is looked upon as a rather
wild and romantic expedition, full of novel sights and
strange adventures. He who has made it is looked up to
as an authority, and it remains with many the unachieved
ambition of their lives. I myself had hoped rather than
expected ever to reach this “ Ultima Thule” of the East ;
and when 1 found that I really could do so now, had I but
courage to trust myself for a thousand miles’ voyage in a
Bugis prau, and for six or seven months among lawless
traders and ferocious savages,—I felt somewhat as I did
when, a schoolboy, I was for the first time allowed to ©
travel outside the stage-coach, to visit that scene of all that
is strange and new and wonderful to young imaginations
—London !
By the help of some kind friends I was introduced to-
the owner of one of the large praus which was to sail in a
few days.. He was a Javanese half-caste, intelligent, mild, —
and gentlemanly in his manners, and had a young and
pretty Dutch wife, whom he was going to leave bebind
during his absence. When we talked about passage money
he would fix no sum, but insisted on leaving it entirely to
me to pay on my return exactly what I liked. “ And then,”
said he, “whether you give me one dollar or a hundred, I
shall be satisfied, and shall ask no more.”
The remainder of my stay was fully occupied in laying
in stores, engaging servants, and making every other pre-
AAR, XXVIII. IN A NATIVE PRAU. 405
paration for an absence of seven months from even the
outskirts of civilization. On the morning of December
15th, when we went on board at daybreak, it was raining
hard. We set sail and it came on to blow. Our boat was
lost astern, our sails damaged, and the evening found us
back again in Macassar harbour. We remained there four
days longer, owing to its raining all the time, thus render-
ing it impossible to dry and repair the huge mat sails.
All these dreary days I remained on board, and during the
rare intervals when it didn’t rain, made myself acquainted
with our outlandish craft, some of the peculiarities of
which I will now endeavour to describe.
It was a vessel of about seventy tons burthen, and
shaped something like a Chinese junk. The deck sloped
considerably downward to the bows, which are thus the
lowest part of the ship. There were two large rudders,
but instead of being placed astern they were hung on the
quarters from strong cross beams, which projected out two
or three feet on each side, and to which extent the deck
overhung the sides of the vessel amidships. The rudders
were not hinged but hung with slings of rattan, the friction
of which keeps them in any position in which they are
placed, and thus perhaps facilitates steering. The tillers
were not on deck, but entered the vessel through two
square openings into a lower or half deck about three feet
high, in which sit the two steersmen. In the after part of
the vessel was a low poop, about three and a half feet high,
which forms the captain’s cabin, its furniture consisting of
-hoxes, mats, and pillows. In front of the poop and main-
mast was a little thatched house on deck, about four feet
high to the ridge ; and one compartment of this, forming a
cabin six and a half feet long by five and a half wide, I
had all to myself, and it was the snuggest and most com-
fortable little place 1 ever enjoyed at sea. It was entered
by a low sliding door of thatch on one side, and had a very
small window on the other. The floor was of split bamboo,
pleasantly elastic, raised six inches above the deck, so as
to be quite dry. It was covered with fine cane mats, for
the manufacture of which Macassar is celebrated ; against
the further wall were arranged my gun-case, insect-boxes,
clothes, and books; my mattress occupied the middle, and
A06 MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS (ouav. XXvIn- :
next the door were my canteen, lamp, and little store of
luxuries for the voyage; while guns, revolver, and hunting
knife hung conveniently from the roof. During these four
miserable days I was quite jolly in this little snuggery—
more so than I should have been if confined the same time
to the gilded and uncomfortable saloon of a first-class
steamer. Then, how comparatively sweet was everything
on board—no paint, no tar, no new rope, (vilest of smells
to the qualmish!) no grease, or oil, or varnish ; but instead
of these, bamboo and rattan, and coir rope and palm
thatch; pure vegetable fibres, which smell pleasantly if
they smell at all, and recall quiet scenes in the green
and shady forest.
Our ship had two masts, if masts they can be called,
which were great moveable triangles. If in an ordinary
ship you replace the shrouds and backstay by strong
timbers, and take away the mast altogether, you have the
arrangement adopted on board a prau. Above my cabin,
and resting on cross-beams attached to the masts, was a
wilderness of yards and spars, mostly formed of bamboo.
The mainyard, an immense affair nearly a hundred feet
long, was formed of many pieces of wood and bamboo
bound together with rattans in an ingenious manner. The
sail carried by this was of an oblong shape, and was hung —
out of the centre, so that when the short end was hauled
down on deck the long end mounted high in the air,
making up for the lowness of the mast itself. The fore-
sail was of the same shape, but smaller. Both these were
of matting, and, with two jibs and a fore and aft sail astern
of cotton canvas, completed our rig.
The crew consisted of about thirty men, natives of —
|
Macassar and the adjacent coasts and islands. They were ~
mostly young, and were short, broad-faced, good-humoured ~
looking fellows. Their dress consisted generally of a pair
of trousers only, when at work, and a handkerchief twisted
round the head, to which in the evening they would add a
¥
f
ry
thin cotton jacket. Four of the elder men were “jurumudis,” —
or steersmen, who had to squat (two ata time) in the little
steerage before described, changing every six hours. Then
~
‘
there was an old man, the “ ‘uragan.” or captain, but who —
) J fo) ? ?
was really what we should call the first mate ; he occupied
4
i
CHAP. XXVIII. ] IN A NATIVE PRAU. 407
the other half of the little house on deck. There were
about ten respectable men, Chinese or Bugis, whom our
owner used to call “his own people.” He treated them
very well, shared his meals with them, and spoke to them
always with perfect politeness; yet they were most of.
them a kind of slave debtors, bound over by the police
magistrate to work for him at mere nominal wages for a
term of years till their debts were liquidated. This is a
Dutch institution in this part of the world, and seems to
work well. It is a great boon to traders, who can do
nothing in these thinly-populated regions without trusting
goods to agents and petty dealers, who frequently squander
them away in gambling and debauchery. The lower
classes are almost all in a chronic state of debt. The
merchant trusts them again and again, till the amount is
something serious, when he brings them to court and has
their services allotted to him for its liquidation. The
debtors seem to think this no disgrace, but rather enjoy
their freedom from responsibility, and the dignity of their
position under a wealthy and well-known merchant. They
trade a little on their own account, and both parties seem
to get on very well together. The plan seems a more
sensible one than that which we adopt, of effectually pre-
venting a man from earning anything towards paying his
debts by shutting him up in a jail.
My own servants were three in number. Ali, the Malay
boy whom I had picked up in Borneo, was my head man.
He had already been with me a year, could turn his hand
to anything, and was quite attentive and trustworthy. He
was a good shot, and fond of shooting, and I had taught
him to skin birds very well. The second, named Baderoon,
was a Macassar lad, also a pretty good boy, but a desperate
gambler. Under pretence of buying a house for his mother,
and clothes for himself, he had received four months’
wages about.a week before we sailed, and in a day or two
gambled away every dollar of it. He had come on board
with no clothes, no betel, or tobacco, or salt fish, all which
necessary articles I was obliged to send Ali to buy for
him. These two lads were about sixteen, I should suppose;
the third was younger, a sharp little rascal named Baso,
who had been with me a month or two, and had learnt to
408 MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS. {cuav. XXVUt-
cook tolerably. He was to fulfil the important office of
cook and housekeeper, for I could not get any regular
servants to go to such a terribly remote country; one
might as well ask a chef de cwisine to go to Patagonia.
On the fifth day that I had spent on board (Dec. 15th)
the rain ceased, and final preparations were made for
starting. Sails were dried and furled, boats were constantly
coming and going, and stores for the voyage, fruit, vege-
tables, fish, and palm sugar, were taken on board. In the
afternoon two women arrived with a large party of friends
and relations, and at parting there was a general nose-
rubbing (the Malay kiss), and some tears shed. These ©
were promising symptoms for our getting off the next
day; and accordingly, at three in the morning, the owner
came on board, the anchor was immediately weighed, and
by four we set sail. Just as we were fairly off and clear
of the other praus, the old juragan repeated some prayers,
all around responding with “Allah il Allah,” and a few
strokes on a gong as an accompaniment, concluding with
all wishing each other “Salaamat jalan,” a safe and happy
journey. We had a light breeze, a calm sea, and a fine
morning, a prosperous commencement of our voyage of
about a thousand miles to the far-famed Aru Islands.
The wind continued light and variable all day, with a
calm in the evening before the land breeze sprangup. We
were then passing the island of “Tanakaki” (foot of the
land), at the extreme south of this part of Celebes. There
are some dangerous rocks here, and as I was standing by
the bulwarks, I happened to spit over the side; one of the
men begged I would not do so just now, but spit on deck,
as they were much afraid of this place. Not quite com-
prehending, I made him repeat his request, when, seeing he
was in earnest, I said, “ Very well, 1 suppose there are
‘hantus’ (spirits) here.” “Yes,” said he, “ and they don’t
like anything to be thrown overboard; many a prau has
been lost by doing it.” Upon which | promised to be
very careful. At sunset the good Mahometans on board
all repeated a few words of prayer with a general chorus,
reminding me of the pleasing and impressive “ Ave Maria”
of Catholic countries.
Dec. 20th—At sunrise we were opposite the Bontyne
CILAP, XXVIII. ] IN A NATIVE PRAU. 409
mountain, said to be one of the highest in Celebes. In the
afternoon we passed the Salayer Straits and had a little
squall, which obliged us to lower our huge mast, sails, and
heavy yards. The rest of the evening we had a fine west
wind, which carried us on at near five knots an hour, as
much as our lumbering old tub can possibly go.
Dec. 21st.—A heavy swell from the south-west rolling us
about most uncomfortably. A steady wind was blowing,
however, and we got on very well.
Dec. 22d.—The swell had gone down. We _ passed
Boutong, a large island, high, woody, and populous, the
native place of some of our crew. A small prau returning
from Bali to the island of Goram overtook us. The
nakoda (captain) was known to our owner. They had
been two years away, but were full of people, with several
black Papuans on board. At 6 P.M. we passed Wangi-
wanei, low but not flat, inhabited and subject to Boutong.
We had now fairly entered the Molucca Sea. After dark
it was a beautiful sight to look down on our rudders, from
which rushed eddying streams of phosphoric light gemmed
with whirling sparks of fire. It resembled (more nearly than
anything else to which I can compare it) one of the large
irregular nebulous star-clusters seen through a good tele-
scope, with the additional attraction of ever-changing form
and dancing motion.
Dec. 23d.—¥Fine red sunrise; the island we left last
evening barely visible behind us. The Goram praw about
a mile south of us. They have no compass, yet they have
kept a very true course during the night. Our owner tells
me they do it by the swell of the sea, the direction of
which they notice at sunset, and sail by it during the night.
In these seas they are never (in fine weather) more than
two days without seeing land. Of course adverse winds or
currents sometimes carry them away, but they soon fall
in with some island, and there are always some old sailors
on board who know it, and thence take a new course.
Last night a shark about five feet long was caught, and
this morning it was cut up and cooked. In the afternoon
they got another, and I had a little fried, and found it firm
and dry, but very palatable. In the evening the sun set
in a heavy bank of clouds, which, as darkness came on,
410 MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS [owaP. XXV1UI.
assumed a fearfully black appearance. According to
custom, when strong wind or rain is expected, our large
sails were furled, and with their yards let down on deck,
and a small square foresail alone kept up. The great mat
sails are most awkward things to manage in rough weather.
The yards which support them are seventy feet long, and
of course very heavy ; and the only way to furl them being
to roll up the sail on the boom, it is a very dangerous
thing to have them standing when overtaken by a squall.
Our crew, though numerous enough for a vessel of 700
‘nstead of one of 70 tons, have it very much their own
way, and there seems to be seldom more than a dozen at
work at atime. When anything important 1s to be done,
however, all start up willingly enough, but then all think
themselves at liberty to give their opinion, and half a
dozen voices are heard giving orders, and there is such a
shrieking and confusion that 1t seems wonderful anything
gets done at all. |
Considering we have fifty men of several tribes and
tongues on board, wild, half-savage looking fellows, and few
of them feeling any of the restraints of morality or educa-
tion, we get on wonderfully well. There is no fighting or
quarrelling, as there would certainly be among the same
number of Europeans with as little restraint upon their
actions, and there is scarcely any of that noise and excite-
ment which might be expected. In fine weather the
ereater part of them are quietly enjoying themselves— —
some are sleeping under the shadow of the sails; others, in —
little groups of three or four, are talking or chewing betel ;
one is making a new handle to his chopping-knife, another —
is stitching away at a new pair of trousers or a shirt, and
all are as quiet and well-conducted as on board the best-—
ordered English merchantman. ‘wo or three take it by
‘tums to watch in the bows and see after the braces and ©
halyards of the great sails ; the two steersmen are below
in the steerage; our captain, or the juragan, gives the ~
course, guided partly by the compass and partly by the
direction of the wind, and a watch of two or three on the —
poop look after the trimming of the sails and call out the —
hours by the water-clock. This 1s a very ingenious con-
trivance, which measures time well in both rough weather
CHAP. XXVIII. ] IN A NATIVE PRAU. 411
and fine. It is simply a bucket half filled with water, in
which floats the half of a well-scraped cocoa-nut shell.
In the bottom of this shell is a very small hole, so that
when placed to float in the bucket a fine thread of water
squirts up into it. This gradually fills the shell, and the
size of the hole is so adjusted to the capacity of the vessel
that, exactly at the end of an hour, plump it goes to the
bottom. The watch then cries out the number of hours
from sunrise, and sets the shell afloat again empty. This
is a very good measurer of time. I tested it with my
watch and found that it hardly varied a minute from one
hour to another, nor did the motion of the vessel have any
effect upon it, as the water in the bucket of course kept
level. It has a great advantage for a rude people in being
easily understood, in being rather bulky and easy to see,
and in the final submergence being accompanied with a
little bubbling and commotion of the water, which calls
the attention to it. It is also quickly replaced if lost while
in harbour.
Our captain and owner I find to be a quiet, good-
tempered man, who seems to get on very well with all
about him. When at sea he drinks no wine or spirits,
but indulges only in coffee and cakes, morning and atfter-
noon, in company with his supercargo and assistants. He
is a man of some little education, can read and write
well both Dutch and Malay, uses a compass, and has a
chart. He has been a trader to Aru for many years, and
is well known to both Europeans and natives in this part
of the world.
Dee. 24th—Fine, and little wind. No land in sight for
the first time since we left Macassar. At noon calm, with
heavy showers, in which our crew wash their clothes, and
in the afternoon the prau is covered with shirts, trousers,
and sarongs of various gay colours. I made a discovery
to-day which at first rather alarmed me. The two ports,
or openings, through which the tillers enter from the
lateral rudders are not more than three or four feet above
the surface of the water, which thus has a free entrance
into the vessel. I of. course had imagined that this open
space from one side to the other was separated from the
hold by a water-tight bulkhead, so that a sea entering
412 MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS [cHAP. XXVIUL
might wash out at the further side, and do no mere harm
than give the steersmen a drenching. To my surprise
and dismay, however, I find that it is completely open to
the hold, so that half-a-dozen seas rolling in on a stormy
night would nearly, or quite, swamp us. Think of a vessel
going to sea for a month with two holes, each a yard
square, into the hold, at three feet above the water-line,—
holes, too, which cannot possibly be closed! But our
captain says all praus are so; and though he acknowledges
the danger, “he does not know how to alter it—the people
are used to it; he does not understand praus so well as
they do, and if such a great alteration were made, he
should be sure to have difficulty in getting a crew |” This
proves at all events that praus must be good sea-boats,
for the captain has been continually making voyages in
them for the last ten years, and says he has never known
water enough enter to do any harm. |
Dec, 25th.—Christmas-day dawned upon us with gusts
of wind, driving rain, thunder and lightning, added to
which a short confused sea made our queer vessel pitch
and roll very uncomfortably. About nine o'clock, however,
it cleared up, and we then saw ahead of us the fine island
of Bouru, perhaps forty or fifty miles distant, its): moun-
tains wreathed with clouds, while its lower lands were
still invisible. The afternoon was fine, and the wind got
round again to the west; but although this is really the
west monsoon, there is no regularity or steadiness about
it, calms and breezes from every point of the compass
continually occurring. The captain, though nominally a
Protestant, seemed to have no idea of Christmas-day as a
festival. Our dinner was of rice and curry as usual, and
an extra glass of wine was all I could do to celebrate it.
Dec, 26th. —Fine view of the mountains of Bouru,
which we have now approached considerably. Our crew
seem rather a clumsy lot. They do not walk the deck
with the easy swing of English sailors, but hesitate and
stagger like landsmen. In the night the lower boom of
our mainsail broke, and they were all the morning re-
pairing it. It consisted of two bamboos lashed together
thick end to thin, and was about seventy feet long. The
rigging and arrangement of these praus contrasts strangely
CILAP. XXVIII] IN A NATIVE PRAU. 413
with that of European vessels, in which the various ropes
and spars, though much more numerous, are placed so as
not to interfere with each other’s action. Here the case is
quite different; for though there are no shrouds or stays to
complicate the matter, yet scarcely anything can be done
without first clearing something else out of the way. The
large sails cannot be shifted round to go on the other tack
without first hauling down the jibs, and the booms of the
fore and aft sails have to be lowered and completely
detached to perform the same operation. Then there are
always a lot of ropes foul of each other, and all the sails
can never be set (though they are so few) without a good
part of their surface having the wind kept out of them by
others. Yet praus are much liked even by those who
have had European vessels, because of their cheapness
both in first cost and in keeping up; almost all repairs
can be done by the crew, and very few European stores
are required.
Dec. 28th.—This day we saw the Banda group, the
volcano first appearing,—a perfect cone, having very
much the outline of the Egyptian pyramids, and looking
almost as regular. In the evening the smoke rested: over
its summit like a small stationary cloud. This was my
first view of an active volcano, but pictures and pano-
ramas have so impressed such things on one’s mind, that
when we at length behold them they seem nothing
extraordinary.
Dec. 30th.—Passed the island of Teor, and a group
near it, which are very incorrectly marked on the charts.
Flying-fish were numerous to-day. It is a smaller species
than that of the Atlantic, and more active and elegant in
its motions. As they skim along the surface they turn on
their sides, so as fully to display their beautiful fins, taking
a flight of about a hundred yards, rising and falling in a
most graceful manner. At a little distance they exactly
resemble swallows, and no one who sees them can doubt
that they really do fly, not merely descend in an oblique
direction from the height they gain by their first spring.
In the evening an aquatic bird, a species of booby (Sula
fiber.) rested on our hen-coop, and was caught by the
neck by one of my boys.
414 MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS [cHap. XXVIII.
Dee. 31st-—At daybreak the Ké Islands (pronounced
kay) were in sight, where we are to stay a few days.
About noon we rounded the northern point, and endea-
voured to coast along to the anchorage; but being now on
the leeward side of the island, the wind came in violent
irrecular gusts, and then leaving us altogether, we were
carried back by a strong current. Just then two boats-
load of natives appeared, and our owner having agreed
with them to tow us into harbour, they tried to do so,
assisted by our own boat, but could make no way. We
were therefore obliged to anchor in a very dangerous place
on a rocky bottom, and we were engaged till nearly dark
getting hawsers secured to some rocks under water. The
coast of Ké along which we had passed was very pic-
turesque. Light coloured limestone rocks rose abruptly
from the water to the height of several hundred feet, every-
where broken into jutting peaks and pinnacles, weather-
worn into sharp points and honeycombed surfaces, and
clothed throughout with a most varied and luxuriant
vegetation. The cliffs above the sea offered to our view
screw-pines and arborescent Lihaces of strange forms,
mingled with shrubs and creepers ; while the higher
slopes supported a dense growth of forest trees. Here and
there little bays and inlets presented beaches of dazzling
whiteness. The water was transparent as crystal, and tinged
the rock-strewn slope which plunged steeply into its
unfathomable depths with colours varying from emerald
to lapis-lazuli. The sea was calm as a lake, and the
glorious sun of the tropics threw a flood of golden light
over all. The scene was to.me inexpressibly delightful.
I was in a new world, and could dream of the wonderful
productions hid in those rocky forests, and in those azure
abysses. But few European feet had ever trodden the
shores I gazed upon; its plants, and animals, and men
were alike almost unknown, and I could not help specu-
lating on what my wanderings there for a few days might
bring to light.
CHAP. XXIX.] THE SAVAGES BOARD US. A415
CHAPTER +) SCX.
THE KE ISLANDS.
(JANUARY 1857.)
HE native boats that had come to meet us were three
or four in number, containing in all about fifty men.
They were long canoes, with the bow and stern rising up
into a beak six or eight feet high, decorated with shells
and waving plumes of cassowaries hair. I now had my first
view of Papuans in their own country, and in less than five
minutes was convinced that the opinion already arrived at
by the examination of a few Timor and New Guinea slaves
was substantially correct, and that the people I now had
an opportunity of comparing side by side belonged to two
of the most distinct and strongly marked races that the
earth contains. Had I been blind, I could have been
certain that these islanders were not Malays. The loud,
rapid, eager tones, the incessant motion, the intense vital
activity manifested in speech and action, are the very
antipodes of the quiet, unimpulsive, unanimated Malay.
These Ké men came up singing and shouting, dipping
their paddles deep in the water and throwing up clouds of
spray ; as they approached nearer they stood up in their
canoes and increased their noise and gesticulations; and
on coming alongside, without asking leave, and without a
moment's hesitation, the greater part of them scrambled up
on our deck just as if they were come to take possession of
a captured vessel. Then commenced a scene of indescribable
confusion. ‘These forty black, naked, mop-headed savages
seemed intoxicated with joy and excitement. Not one of
them could remain still for a moment. Every individual
of our crew was in turn surrounded and examined, asked
for tobacco or arrack, grinned at and deserted for another.
All talked at once, and our captain was regularly mobbed
by the chief men, who wanted to be employed to tow us
in, and who begged vociferously to be paid in advance. A
few presents of tobacco’ made their eyes glisten; they
416 THE KE ISLANDS. (CHAP. XXIZ.
would express their satisfaction by erins and shouts, by
rolling on deck, or by a headlong leap overboard. School-
boys on an unexpected holiday, Irishmen at a fair, or mid-
shipmen on shore, would give but a faint idea of the
exuberant animal enjoyment of these people.
Under similar circumstances Malays could not behave as
these Papuans did. If they came on board a vessel (after
asking permission), not a word would be at first spoken,
except a few compliments, and only after some time, and
very cautiously, would any approach be made to business.
One would speak at a time, with a low voice and great
deliberation, and the mode of making a bargain would be
by quietly refusing all your offers, or even going away
without saying another word about the matter, unless you
advanced your price to what they were willing to accept.
Our crew, many of whom had not made the voyage before,
seemed quite scandalized at such unprecedented bad
manners, and only very gradually made any approach to
fraternization with the black fellows. They reminded me
of a party of demure and well-behaved children suddenly
broken in upon by a lot of wild romping, riotous boys,
whose conduct seems most extraordinary and very naughty !
“These moral features are more striking and more con-
clusive of absolute diversity than even the physical
contrast presented by the two races, though that is sufh-
ciently remarkable. The sooty blackness of the skin, the
mop-like head of frizzly hair, and, most important of all,
the marked form of countenance of quite a different type
from that of the Malay, are what we cannot believe to
result from mere climatal or other modifying influences on
one and the same race. The Malay face is of the Mon-
golian type, broad and somewhat flat. The brows are
depressed, the mouth wide, but not projecting, and the nose
small and well formed but for the great dilatation of the
nostrils, The face is smooth, and rarely develops the trace
of a beard; the hair biack, coarse, and perfectly straight.
The Papuan, on the other hand, has a face which we may
say is compressed and projecting. The brows are pro-
tuberant and overhanging, the mouth large and prominent,
while the nose is very large, the apex elongated down-
wards, the ridge thick, and the nostrils large. It is an
omar. xxix.] CONTRAST OF PAPUANS AND MALAYS, ALY
obtrusive and remarkable feature in the countenance, the
very reverse of what obtains in the Malay face. The
twisted beard and frizzly hair complete this remarkable
contrast. Here then I had reached a new world, inhabited
by a strange people. Between the Malayan tribes, among
whom I had for some years been living, and the Papuan
races, whose country I had now entered, we may fairly say
that there is as much difference, both moral and physical,
as between the red Indians of South America and the
negroes of Guinea on the opposite side of the Atlantic.
Jan. 1st, 1857.—This has been a day of thorough enjoy-
ment. I have wandered in the forests of an island rarely
seen by Europeans. Before daybreak we left our anchor-
age, and in an hour reached the village of Har, where we
were to stay three or four days. The range of hills here
receded so as to form a small bay, and they were broken
up into peaks and hummocks with intervening flats and
hollows. A broad beach of the whitest sand lined the
inner part of the bay, backed by a mass of cocoa-nut
palms, among which the huts were concealed, and sur-
mounted by a dense and varied erowth of timber. Canoes
and boats of various sizes were drawn up on the beach,
and one or two idlers, with a few children and a dog, gazed
at our prau as we came to an anchor.
When we went on shore the first thing that attracted us
was a large and well-constructed shed, under which a long
boat: was being built, while others in various stages of com-
pletion were placed at intervals along the beach. Our
captain, who wanted two of moderate size for the trade
among the islands at Aru, immediately began bargaining
for them, and in a short time had arranged the number
of brass guns, gongs, sarongs, handkerchiefs, axes, white
plates, tobacco, and arrack, which he was to give for a pair
which, could be got ready in four days. We then went to
the village, which consisted only of three or four huts,
situated immediately above the beach on en irregular
rocky piece of ground overshadowed with cocoa-nuts,
palms, bananas, and other fruit trees. The houses were
very rude, black and half rotten, raised a few feet on posts
with low sides of bamboo or planks, and high thatched
roofs. They had small doors and no windows, an opening
EE
418 THE K# ISLANDS. (CHAP. XXIX
under the projecting gables letting the smoke out and
a little light in. The floors were of strips of bamboo,
thin, slippery, and elastic, and so weak that my feet
were in danger of plunging through at every step. Native
boxes of pandanus-leaves and slabs of palm pith, very
neatly constructed, mats of the same, jars and cooking
pots of native pottery, and a few European plates and
basins, were the whole furniture, and the interior was
throughout dark and smoke-blackened, and dismal in the
extreme.
Accompanied by Ali and Baderoon, I now attempted to
make some explorations, and we were followed by a train
of boys eager to see what we were going to do. The most
trodden path from the beach led us into a shady hollow,
where the trees were of immense height and the under-
erowth scanty. From the summits of these trees came at
intervals a deep booming sound, which at first puzzled
us, but which we soon found to proceed from some large
pigeons. My boys shot at them, and after one or two
misses, brought one down. It was a magnificent bird
twenty inches long, of a bluish white colour, with the
back wings and tail intense metallic green, with golden,
blue, and violet reflexions, the feet coral red, and the eyes
golden yellow. It is a rare species, which I have named
Carpophaga concinna, and is found only in a few smail
islands, where, however, it abounds. It is the same species
which in the island of Banda is called the nutmeg-pigeon,
from its habit of devouring the fruits, the seed or nutmeg
being thrown up entire and uninjured. Though these
pigeons have a narrow beak, yet their jaws and throat are
so extensible that they can swallow fruits of very large
size. I had before shot a species much smaller than this
one, which had a number of hard globular palm-fruits in
its crop, each more than an inch in diameter.
A little further the path divided mto two, one leading
along the beach, and across mangrove and sago swamps,
the other rising to cultivated grounds. We therefore
returned, and taking a fresh departure from the village,
endeavoured to ascend the hills and penetrate into the
interior. The path, however, was a most trying one.
Where there was earth, it was a deposit of reddish clay
CHAP, XXIX.] TRADE AND PRODUCTS. 419
overlying the rock, and was worn so smooth by the attrition
of naked feet that my shoes could obtain no hold on the
sloping surface. A little farther we came to the bare rock,
and this was worse, for it was so rugged and broken, and
so honeycombed and weatherworn into sharp points and
angles, that my boys, who had gone barefooted all their
lives, could not stand it. Their feet began to bleed, and I
saw that if I did not want them completely lamed it would
be wise to turn back. My own shoes, which were rather
thin, were but a poor protection, and would soon have been
cut to pieces; yet our little naked guides tripped along
with the greatest ease and unconcern, and seemed much
astonished at our effeminacy in not being able to take
a walk which to them was a perfectly agreeable one.
During the rest of our stay in the island we were obliged
to confine ourselves to the vicinity of the shore and the
cultivated grounds, and those more level portions of the
forest where a little soil had accumulated and the rock
had been less exposed to atmospheric action.
The island of Ké (pronounced exactly as the letter K,
but erroneously spelt in our maps K ey or Ki) is long and
narrow, running in a north and south direction, and con-
sists almost entirely of rock and mountain. It is every-
where covered with luxuriant forests, and in its bays and
inlets the sand is of dazzling whiteness, resulting from the
decomposition of the coralline limestone of which it is
entirely composed. In all the little Swampy inlets and
valleys sago trees abound, and these supply the main sub-
sistence of the natives, who grow no rice, and have scarcely
any other cultivated products but cocoa-nuts, plantains,
and yams. From the cocoa-nuts, which surround every
hut, and which thrive exceedingly on the porous limestone
soil and under the influence of salt breezes, oil is made
which is sold at a good price to the Aru traders, who all
touch here to lay in their stock of this article, as well as
to purchase boats and native crockery. Wooden bowls,
pans, and trays are also largely made here, hewn out of
solid blocks of wood with knife and adze ; and these are
carried to all parts of the Moluccas. But the art in which
the natives of Ké pre-eminently excel is that of boat-
building. Their forests supply abundance of fine timber
EE 2
AZO THE KE ISLANDS. [CHAP. XXIX.
though probably not more so than many other islands, and
from some unknown causes these remote savages have
come to excel in what seems a very difficult art. Their
small canoes are beautifully formed, broad and low in the
centre, but rising at each end, where they terminate in
high-pointed beaks more or less carved, and ornamented
with a plume of feathers. They are not hollowed out of
a tree, but are regularly built of planks running from end
to end, and so accurately fitted that it is often difficult to
find a place where a knife-blade can be inserted between
the joints. The larger ones are from 20 to 30 tons
burthen, and are finished ready for sea without a nail or
particle of iron being used, and with no other tools than
axe, adze, and auger. ‘These vessels are handsome to look
at, good sailers, and admirable sea-boats, and will make
long voyages with perfect safety, traversing the whole
Archipelago from New Guinea to Singapore in seas which,
as every one who has sailed much in them can testify, are
not so smooth and tempest free as word-painting travellers
love to represent them.
The forests of Ké produce magnificent timber, tall,
straight, and durable, of various qualities, some of which
are said to be superior to the best Indian teak. To make
each pair of planks used in the construction of the larger
boats an entire tree is consumed. It is felled, often miles
away from the shore, cut across to the proper length, and
then hewn longitudinally into two equal portions. Each
of these forms a plank by cutting down with the axe to a
uniform thickness of three or four inches, leaving at first a
solid block at each end to prevent splitting. Along the
centre of each plank a series of projecting pieces are left,
standing up three or four inches, about the same width, and
a foot long; these are of great importance in the construc-
tion of the vessel. When a sufficient number of planks
have been made, they are laboriously dragged through the
forest by three or four men each to the beach, where the
boat is to be built. A foundation piece, broad in the
middle and rising considerably at each end, is first laid on
blocks and properly shored up. The edges of this are
worked true and smooth with the adze, and a plank, pro-
perly curved and tapering at each end, is held firmly up
CHAP. XXIX.] NATIVE BC AT-BUILDING. 431
against it, while a line is struck along it which allows it
to be cut so as to fit exactly. A series of auger holes,
about as large as one’s finger, are then bored along the
opposite edges, and pins of very hard wood are fitted to
these, so that the two planks are held firmly, and can be
driven into the closest contact; and difficult as this seems
to do without any other aid than rude practical skill in
forming each edge to the true corresponding curves, and in
boring the holes so as exactly to match both in position
and direction, yet so well is it done that the best European
shipwright cannot produce sounder or closer-fitting joints.
Lhe boat is built up in this way by fitting plank to
plank till the proper height and width are obtained.
We have now a skin held together entirely by the hard-
wood pins connecting the edges of the planks, very strong
and elastic, but having nothing but the adhesion of these
pins to prevent the planks gaping. In the smaller boats
seats, in the larger ones cross-beams, are now fixed. They
are sprung into slight notches cut to receive them, and are
further secured to the projecting pieces of the plank below
by a strong lashing of rattan. Ribs are now formed of
single pieces of tough wood chosen and trimmed so as
exactly to fit on to the projections from each plank, being
slightly notched to receive them, and securely bound to
them by rattans passed through a hole in each projecting
piece close to the surface of the plank. The ends are
closed against the vertical prow and stern posts, and
further secured with pegs and rattans, and then the boat
is complete; and when fitted with rudders, masts, and
thatched covering, is ready to do battle with the waves.
A careful consideration of the principle of this mode of
construction, and allowing for the strength and binding
qualities of rattan (which resembles in these respects wire
rather than cordage), makes me believe that a vessel care-
fully built in this manner is actually stronger and safer
than one fastened in the ordinary way with nails.
During our stay here we wee all very busy. Our
captain was daily superintending the completion of his
two small praus. All day long native boats were coming
with fish, cocoa-nuts, parrots and lories, earthen pans,
sirip leaf, wooden bowls, and trays, &c. &c., which every
422 THE KE ISLANDS. [CHAP, XXIX.
one of the fifty inhabitants of our prau seemed to be
buying on his own account, till all available and most
unavailable space of our vessel was occupied with these
miscellaneous articles: for every man on board a prau
considers himself at liberty to trade, and to carry with
him whatever he can afford to buy.
Money is unknown and valueless here—knives, cloth,
and arrack forming the only medium of exchange, with
tobacco for small coin. Every transaction is the subject of
a special bargain, and the cause of much talking. It is
absolutely necessary to offer very little, as the natives are
never satisfied till you add a little more. They are then
far better pleased than if you had given them twice the
amount at first and refused to increase it.
I, too, was doing a little business, having persuaded
some of the natives to collect insects for me; and when
they really found that I gave them most fragrant tobacco
for worthless black and green beetles, I soon had scores of
-visitors, men, women, and children, bringing bamboos full
-of creeping things, which, alas! too frequently had eaten
each other into fragments during the tedium of a day’s
confinement. Of one grand new beetle, glittering with
ruby and emerald tints, I got a large quantity, having first
‘detected one of its wing-cases ornamenting the outside of
a native’s tobacco pouch. It was quite a new species, and
had not been found elsewhere than on this little island.
It is one of the Buprestide, and has been named Cypho-
gastra calepyga.
Each morning after an early breakfast I wandered by
-myself into the forest, where I found delightful occupation
in capturing the large and handsome butterflies, which
were tolerably abundant, and most of them new to me;
for I was now upon the confines of the Moluccas and New
Guinea,—a region the productions of which were then
among the most precious and rare in the cabinets of
Europe. Here my eyes were feasted for the first time with
splendid scarlet lories on the wing, as well as by the sight
of that most imperial butterfly, the “Priamus ” of col-
lectors, or a closely allied species, but flying so high that I
Aid not succeed in capturing a specimen. One of them
vas breveht me in a bamboo, boxed up with a lot of
7
CHAP. XXIX.] VEGETATION. 492,
beetles, and of course torn to pieces. The principal draw-
back of the place for a collector is the want of good paths,
and the dreadfully rugged character of the surface, re-
quiring the attention to be so continually directed to
securing a footing, as to make it very difficult to capture
active winged things, who pass out of reach while one is
glancing to see that the next step may not plunge one into
a chasm or over a precipice. Another inconvenience is
that there are no running streams, the rock being of so
porous a nature that the surface-water everywhere pene-
trates its fissures; at least such is the character of the
neighbourhood we visited, the only water being small
springs trickling out close to the sea-beach.
In the forests of Ké, arboreal Liliaceze and Pandanaceze
abound, and give a character to the vegetation in the more
exposed rocky places. Flowers were scarce, and there
were not many orchids, but I noticed the fine white
butterfly-orchis, Phalenopsis grandiflora, or a_ species
closely allied to it. The freshness and vigour of the
vegetation was very pleasing, and on such an arid rocky
surface was a sure indication of a perpetually humid
climate. Tall clean trunks, many of them buttressed, and
immense trees of the fig family, with aérial roots stretching
out and interlacing and matted together for fifty or a
hundred feet above the ground, were the characteristic
features; and there was an absence of thorny shrubs and
prickly rattans, which would have made these wilds very
pleasant to roam in, had it not been for the sharp honey-
combed rocks already alluded to. In damp places a fine
undergrowth of broad-leaved herbaceous plants was found,
about which swarmed little green lizards, with tails of the
most “heavenly blue,’ twisting in and out among the
stalks and foliage so actively that I often caught glimpses
of their tails only, when they startled me by their resem-
blance to small snakes. Almost the only sounds in these
primeeval woods proceeded from two birds, the red lories,
who utter shrill screams like most of the parrot tribe, and
the large green nutmeg-pigeon, whose voice is either a
loud and deep boom, like two notes struck upon a very
large gong, or sometimes a harsh toad-like croak, altogether
peculiar and remarkable. Only two quadrupeds are said
AQ4 THE KE ISLANDS. [cHAP. XXIX.
by the natives to inhabit the island—a wild pig and a
Guscus, or Eastern opossum, of neither of which could
I obtain specimens.
The insects were more abundant, and very interesting.
Of butterflies I caught thirty-five species, most of them
new to me, and many quite unknown in European collec-
tions. Among them was the fine yellow and black Papilio
euchenor, of which but few specimens had been previously
captured, and several other handsome butterflies of large
size, as well as some beautiful little “blues,” and some
brilliant day-flying moths. The beetle tribe were less
abundant, yet 1 obtained some very fine and rare species.
On the leaves of a slender shrub in an old clearing I found
several fine blue and black beetles of the genus Eupholus,
which almost rival in beauty the diamond beetles of South
America. Some cocoa-nut palms in blossom on the beach
were frequented by a fine green floral beetle (Lomaptera
papua), which, when the flowers were shaken, flew off like
a small swarm of bees. I got one of our crew to climb up
the tree, and he brought me a good number in his hand ;
~ and seeing they were valuable, I sent him up again with
my net to shake the flowers into, and thus secured a large
quantity. My best capture, however, was the superb
insect of the Buprestis family, already mentioned as
having been obtained from the natives, who told me they
found it in rotten trees in the mountains.
In the forest itself the only common and conspicuous
coleoptera were two tiger beetles. One, Therates labiata,
was much larger than our green tiger beetle, of a purple
black colour, with: green metallic glosses, and the broad
upper lip of a bright yellow. It was always found upon
foliage, generally of broad-leaved herbaceous plants, and in
damp and gloomy situations, taking frequent short flights
from ieat to leaf, and preserving an alert attitude, as if
always looking out for its prey. Its vicinity could be im-
mediately ascertained, often before it was seen, by a very
pleasant odour, like otto of roses, which it seems to emit
continually, and which may probably be attractive to the
small insects on which it feeds. The other, Tricondyla
aptera, is one of the most curious forms in the family of
the Cicindelide, and is almost exclusively confined to the
CHAP. XXIx.] PAPUAN CHARACTER. 435
Malay islands. In shape it resembles a very large ant,
more than an inch long, and of a purple black colour.
Like an ant also it is wingless, and is generally found
ascending trees, passing around the trunks in a spiral
direction when approached, to avoid capture, so that it
requires a sudden run and active fingers to secure a
specimen. This species emits the usual fetid odour of the
ground beetles. My collections during our four days’ stay
al Ké were as follow :—Birds, 13 species; insects, 194
species ; and 3 kinds of land-shells.
There are two kinds of people inhabiting these islands
—the indigenes, who have the Papuan characters strongly
marked, and who are pagans; and a mixed race, who are
nominally Mahometans, and wear cotton clothing, while
the former use only a waist cloth of cotton or bark. These
Mahometans are said to have been driven out of Banda by
the early European settlers. They were probably a brown
race, more allied to the Malays, and their mixed descend-
ants here exhibit great variations of colour, hair, and
features, graduating between the Malay and Papuan types.
It is interesting to observe the influence of the early
Portuguese trade with these countries in the words of
their language, which still remain in use even among these
remote and savage islanders. “Lenco” for handkerchief,
and “faca” for knife, are here used to the exclusion of the
proper Malay terms. The Portuguese and Spaniards were
truly wonderful conquerors and colonizers. They effected
more rapid changes in the countries they conquered than
any other nations of modern times, resembling the Romans
in their power of impressing their own language, religion,
and manners on rude and barbarous tribes.
The striking contrast of character between these people
and the Malays is exemplified in many little traits. One
day when I was rambling in the forest, an old man stopped
to look at me catching an insect. He stood very quiet
tull I had pinned and put it away in my collecting box,
when he could contain himself no longer, but bent almost
double, and enjoyed a hearty roar of laughter. Every
one will recognise this as a true negro trait. A Malay
would have stared, and asked with a tone of bewilderment
what I was doing, for it is but little in his nature to laugh,
426 THE Ki; ISLANDS. (CHAP. XXIX.
never heartily, and still less at or in the presence of a
stranger, to whom, however, his disdainful glances or
whispered remarks are less agreeable than the most
boisterous open expression of merriment. The women
here were not so much frightened at strangers, OF made
to keep themselves 80 much secluded as among the
Malay races; the children were more merry and had
the “nigger grin,” while the noisy confusion of tongues
among the men, and their excitement on very ordinary
occasions, are altogether removed from the general taci-
turnity and reserve of the Malay.
The language of. the Ké people consists of words of one,
two, or three syllables in about equal proportions, and has
many aspirated and a few guttural sounds. The different
villages have slight differences of dialect, but they are
mutually intelligible, and, except in words that have
evidently been introduced during a long-continued com-
mercial intercourse, seem to have no affinity whatever with i
the Malay languages. 4
Jan. 6th.—The small boats being finished, we sailed —
for Aru at 4 P.M, and as we left the shores of Ké had a
fne view of its rugged and mountainous character ; ranges
of hills, three or four thousand feet high, stretching south- —
wards as far as the eye could reach, everywhere covered
with a lofty, dense, and unbroken forest. We had very
light winds, and it therefore took us thirty hours to make
the passage of sixty miles to the low, or flat, but equally
forest-covered Aru Islands, where we anchored in the
harbour of Dobbo at nine in the evening of the next day.
My first voyage in a prau being thus satisfactorily
terminated, I must, before taking leave of it for some
months, bear testimony to the merits of the queer old-
world vessel. Setting aside all ideas of danger, which is
probably, after all, not more than Im any other craft, |
must declare that I have never, either before or since,
made a twenty days voyage so pleasantly, or perhaps,
more correctly speaking, with so little aiscomfort. This I
attribute chiefly to having my small cabin on deck, and
entirely to myself, to having my own servants to walt
upon me, and to the absence of all those marine-store ~
smels of paint, pitch, tallow, and new cordage, which are
CHAP, XXX,] DOBBO. 43:7
to me insupportable. Something is also to be put down
to freedom from all restraint of dress, hours of meals, &c.,
and to the civility and obliging disposition of the captain.
I had agreed to have my meals with him, but whenever I
wished it I had them in my own berth, and at what
hours I felt inclined. The crew were all civil and good-
tempered, and with very little discipline everything went
on smoothly, and the vessel was kept very clean and in
pretty good order, so that on the whole I was much
delighted with the trip, and was inclined to rate the
luxuries of the semi-barbarous prau as surpassing those of
the most magnificent screw-steamer, that highest result
of our civilization.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE ARU ISLANDS.—RESIDENCE IN DOBBO.
(JANUARY TO MARCH 1857.)
QO’ the 8th of January, 1857, I landed at Dobbo, the
trading settlement of the Bugis and Chinese, who
annually visit the Aru Islands. It is situated on the
small island of Wamma, upon a spit of sand which
projects out to the north, and is just wide enough to
contain three rows of houses. Though at first sight a
most strange and desolate-looking place to build a village
on, it has many advantages. There is a clear entrance
from the west among the coral reefs that border the land,
and there is good anchorage for vessels, on one side of the
village or the other, in both the east and west monsoons,
Being fully exposed to the sea-breezes in three directions
it is healthy, and the soft sandy beach offers great facilities
for hauling up the praus, in order to secure them from
sea-worms and prepare them for the homeward voyage.
At its southern extremity the sand-bank merges in the
beach of the island, and is backed by a luxuriant growth
of lofty forest. The houses are of various sizes, but are
all built after one pattern, being merely large thatched
428 THE ARU ISLANDS. [oHAP. XXX.
sheds, a small portion of which, next the entrance, is used
as a dwelling, while the rest is parted off, and often
divided by one or two floors, in order better to stow away
merchandise and native produce.
As we had arrived early in the season, most of the
houses were empty, and the place looked desolate in the
extreme—the whole of the inhabitants who received us
on our landing amounting to about half-a-dozen Bugis and
Chinese. Our captain, Herr Warzbergen, had promised
to obtain a house for me, but unforeseen difficulties pre-
sented themselves. One which was to let had no rool,
and the owner, who was building it on speculation, could
not promise to finish it in less than a month. Another,
of which the owner was dead, and which I might there-
fore take undisputed possession of as the first comer,
wanted considerable repairs, and no one could be found
to do the work, although about four times its value was
offered. The captain, therefore, recommended me to take
possession of a pretty good house near his own, whose
owner was not expected for some weeks ; and as I was
anxious to be on shore, I immediately had it cleared out,
and by evening had all my things housed, and was
regularly installed as an inhabitant of Dobbo. I had
brought with me a cane chair, and a few light boards,
which were soon rigged up into a table and shelves. A -
broad bamboo bench served as sofa and bedstead, my :
boxes were conveniently arranged, my mats spread on the
floor, a window cut in the palm-leaf wall to light my
table, and though the place was as miserable and gloomy
a shed as could be imagined, I felt as contented as if I
had obtained a well-furnished mansion, and looked forward
to a month’s residence in it with unmixed satisfaction.
The next morning, after an early breakfast, I set off to
explore the virgin forests of Aru, anxious to set my mind
at rest as to the treasures they were likely to yield, and
the probable success of my long-meditated expedition.
little native imp was our guide, seduced by the gift of a
German knife, value three-halfpence, and my Macassar
boy Baderoon brought his chopper to clear the path if
necessary.
We had to walk about half a mile along the beach, the
CHAP. XXX. | HANDSOME BUTTERFLIES. 42,9
ground behind the village being mostly swampy, and then
turned. into the forest along a path which leads to the
native village of Wamma, about three miles off on the
other side of the island. The path was a narrow one, and
very little used, often swampy and obstructed by fallen
trees, so that after about a mile we lost it altogether, our
guide having turned back, and we were obliged to follow
his example. In the meantime, however, I had not been
idle, and my day’s captures determined the success of my
journey in an entomological point of view. I had taken -
about thirty species of butterflies, more than I had ever
captured in a day since leaving the prolific banks of the
Amazon, and among them were many most rare and
beautiful insects, hitherto only known by a few specimens
from New Guinea. The large and handsome spectre-
butterfly, Hestia durvillei; the pale-winged peacock
butterfly, Drusilla catops; and the most brilliant and
wonderful of the clear-winged moths, Cocytia d@ Urvillei,
were especially interesting, as well as several little
“blues,” equalling in brilliancy and beauty anything the
butterfly world can produce. In the other groups of
insects [ was not so successful, but this was not to be
wondered at in a mere exploring ramble, when only what
is most conspicuous and novel attracts the attention.
Several pretty beetles, a superb “ bug,” and a few nice
land-shells were obtained, and I returned in the afternoon
well satisfied with my first trial of the promised land.
The next two days were so wet and windy that there
was no going out; but on the succeeding one the sun shone
brightly, and I had the good fortune to capture one of the
most magnificent insects the world contains, the great bird-
winged butterfly, Ornithoptera poseidon. I trembled with
excitement as I saw it coming majestically towards me,
and could hardly believe I had really succeeded in my
stroke till I had taken it out of the net and was gazing,
lost in admiration, at the velvet black and brilliant green
of its wings, seven inches across, its golden body, and
crimson breast. It is true I had seen similar insects in
cabinets at home, but it is quite another thing to capture
such oneself—to feel it struggling between one’s fingers,
and to gaze upon its fresh and living beauty, a bright gera
430 THE ARU ISLANDS. [cmar. KX.
shining out amid the silent eloom of a dark and tangled
forest. The village of Dobbo held that evening at least
one contented man. |
Jan. 26th.—Having now been here a fortnight, I
began to understand a little of the place and its pecu-
liarities. Praus continually arrived, and the merchant
population increased almost daily. Every two or three
days a fresh house was opened, and the necessary repairs
made. In every direction men were bringing in poles,
bamboos, rattans, and the leaves of the nipa palm. to
construct or repair the walls, thatch, doors, and shutters of
their houses, which they do with great celerity. Some of
the arrivals were Macassar men or Bugis, but more from
the small island of Goram, at the east end of Ceram,
whose inhabitants are the petty traders of the far Hast.
Then the natives of Aru come in from the other side of
the islands (called here “ blakang tana,” or “back of the
country”) with the produce they have collected during
the preceding six months, and which they now sell to the
traders, to some of whom they are most likely in debt.
Almost all, or I may safely say all, the new arrivals pay
me a visit, to see with their own eyes the unheard-of phe-
nomenon of a person come to stay at Dobbo who does not
trade! ‘They have their own ideas of the uses that may
possibly be made of stuffed birds, beetles, and shells which -
are not the right shells—that 1s, “ mother-of-pearl.” They
every day bring me dead and broken shells, such as I can
pick up by hundreds on the beach, and seem quite puzzled
and distressed when I decline them. If, however, there
are any snail shells among a lot, I take them, and ask for
more—a principle of selection so utterly unintelligible to
them, that they give it up 10 despair, or solve the problem
by imputing hidden medical virtue to those which they
see me preserve so carefully.
These traders are all of the Malay race, ora mixture of
which Malay is the chief ingredient, with the exception of
a few Chinese. The natives of Aru, on the other hand,
are Papuans, with black or sooty brown skins, woolly
or frizzly hair, thick-ridged prominent noses, and rather
slender limbs. Most of them wear nothing but a waist-
cloth, and a few of them may be seen all day long wan-
cHaP. xxx.]| PROGRESS OF MY COLLECTIONS. 43]
_ dering about the half-deserted streets of Dobbo offering
_ their little bit of merchandise for sale.
Living in a trader’s house everything is brought to me as
well as to the rest,—bundles of smoked tripang, or “ béche
de mer,” looking like sausages which have been rolled in
mud and then thrown up the chimney ; dried sharks’ fins,
mother-of-pearl shells, as well as Birds of Paradise, which,
however, are so dirty and so badly preserved that I have as
yet found no specimens worth purchasing. When I hardly
look at the articles, and make no offer for them, they seem
incredulous, and, as if fearing they have misunderstood
me, again offer them, and declare what they want in return
—knives, or tobacco, or sago, or handkerchiefs. I then
have to endeavour to explain, through any interpreter who
may be at hand, that neither tripang nor pearl oyster shells
have any charms for me, and that I even decline to specu-
late in tortoiseshell, but that anything eatable I will buy—
fish, or turtle, or vegetables of any sort. Almost the only
food, however, that we can obtain with any regularity, are
fish and cockles of very good quality, and to supply our
daily wants it is absolutely necessary to be always pro-
vided with four articles—tobacco, knives, sago-cakes, and
Dutch copper doits—because when the particular thing
asked for is not forthcoming, the fish pass on to the next
house, and we may go that day without a dinner. It is
curious to see the baskets and buckets used here. The
cockles are brought in large volute shells, probably the
Cymbium ducale, while gigantic helmet-shells, a species of
Cassis, suspended by a rattan handle, form the vessels in
which fresh water is daily carried past my door. It is
painful to a naturalist to see these splendid shells with
their inner whorls ruthlessly broken away to fit them for
their ignoble use.
My collections, however, got on but slowly, owing to
the unexpectedly bad weather, violent winds with heavy
showers having been so continuous as only to give me four
good collecting days out of the first sixteen T spent here.
Yet enough had been collected to show me that with time
and fine weather I might expect to do something good.
From the natives I obtained some very fine insects and a
_ few pretty land-shells; and of the small number of birds
432 THE ARU ISLANDS. (CHAP, Xxx.
yet shot more than half were known New Guinea species,
and therefore certainly rare in European collections, while
the remainder were probably new. In oue respect my
hopes seemed doomed to be disappointed. I had antici-
pated the pleasure of myself preparing fine specimens of
the Birds of Paradise, but I now learnt that they are all at
this season out of plumage, and that it is in September
and October that they have the long plumes of yellow
silky feathers in full perfection. As all the praus return
in July, I should not be able to spend that season in Aru
without remaining another whole year, which was out of
the question. I was informed, however, that the smali rea
species, the “King Bird of Paradise,” retains its plumage
at all seasons, and this I might therefore hope to get.
As I became familiar with the forest scenery cf the
island, I perceived it to possess some characteristic features
that distinguished it from that of Borneo aud Malacca,
while, what is very singular and interesting, it recalled to
my mind the halt-forgotten impressions of the forests of
Equatorial America. For example, the palms were much
more abundant than I had generally found them in the
East, more generally mingled with the other vegetation,
more varied in form and aspect, and presenting some of
those lofty and majestic smooth-stemmed, pinnate-leaved
species which recall the Uauasst (Attalea speciosa) of the
Amazon, but which I had hitherto rarely met with in
the Malayan islands.
In animal life the immense number and variety of
spiders and of lizards were circumstances that recalled
the prolific regions of South America, more especially the
abundance and varied colours of the little jumping spiders
which abound on flowers and foliage, and are often perfect
gems of beauty. The web-spinning species were also more
numerous than I had ever seen them, and were a great
annoyance, stretching their nets across the footpaths just
about the height of my face; and the threads composing
these are so strong and glutinous as to require much trouble
to free oneself from them. Then their inhabitants, great
yellow-spotted monsters with bodies two inches long, and
legs in proportion, are not pleasant things to run one’s nose —
against while pursuing some gorgeous butterfly, or gazing
CHAP. XXx.] SPIDERS, LIZARDS, AND CRABS. 433
aloft in search of some strange-voiced bird. {£ soon found
it necessary not only to brush away the web, but also to
destroy the spinner; for at first, having cleared the path one
day, I found the next morning that the industrious insects
had spread their nets again in the very same places.
The lizards were equally striking by their numbers,
variety, and the situations in which they were found. The
beautiful blue-tailed species so abundant in Ké, was not
seen here. The Aru lizards are more varied but more
sombre in their colours—shades of green, grey, brown, and
even black, being very frequently seen. livery shrub and
herbaceous plant was alive with them, every rotten trunk
or dead branch served as a station for some of these active
little insect-hunters, who, I fear, to satisfy their gross
appetites, destroy many gems of the insect world, which
would feast the eyes and delight the heart of our more
discriminating entomologists. Another curious feature of
the jungle here was the multitude of sea-shells everywhere
met with on the ground and high up on the branches
and foliage, all inhabited by hermit-crabs, who forsake the
beach to wander in the forest. I have actually seen a
spider carrying away a good-sized shell and devouring its
(probably juvenile) tenant. On the beach, which I had to
walk along every morning to reach the forest, these crea-
tures swarmed by thousands. Every dead shell, from the
largest to the most minute, was appropriated by them.
They formed small social parties of ten or twenty around
bits of stick or seaweed, but dispersed hurriedly at the
sound of approaching footsteps. After a windy night, that
nasty-looking Chinese delicacy the sea-slug was sometimes
thrown up on the beach, which was at such times thickly
strewn with some of the most beautiful shells that adorn
our cabinets, along with fragments and masses of coral
and strange sponges, of which I picked up more than
twenty different sorts. In many cases sponge and coral
are so much alike that it is only on touching them that
they can be distinguished. Quantities of seaweed, too,
are thrown up; but strange as it may seem, these are far
Jess beautiful and less varied than may be found on any
favourable part of our own coasts.
The natives here, even those who seem to be of pure
FF
ASA THE ARU ISLANDS. [OHAP. XXX.
Papuan race, were much more reserved and taciturn than
those of Ké. This is probably because I only saw them
as yet among strangers and in small parties. One must
see the savage at home to know what he really is. Even
here, however, the Papuan character sometimes breaks out.
Little boys sing cheerfully as they walk along, or talk
aloud to themselves (quite a negro characteristic) ; and, try
all they can, the men cannot conceal their emotions im the
true Malay fashion. A number of them were one day in
my house, and having a fancy to try what sort of eating
tripang would be, I bought a couple, paying for them with
such an extravagant quantity of tobacco that the seller
saw I was a green customer. He could not, however,
conceal his delight, but as he smelt the fragrant weed, and
exhibited the large handful to his companions, he erinned
and twisted and gave silent chuckles in a most expressive
pantomime. I had often before made the same mistake in
paying a Malay for some trifle. In no case, however, was
his pleasure visible on his countenance—a dull and stupid
hesitation only showing his surprise, which would be
exhibited exactly in the same way whether he was over
or under paid. These little moral traits are of the greatest
snterest when taken in connexion with physical features.
They do not admit of the same ready explanation by
external causes which 1s so frequently applied to the
latter, Writers on the races of mankind have too often
to trust to the information of travellers who pass rapidly
from country to country, and thus have few opportunities —
of becoming acquainted with peculiarities of national cha-
racter, or even of ascertaining what is really the average
physical conformation of the people. Such are exceed-
ingly apt to be deceived in places where two races have
long intermingled, by looking on intermediate forms and
mixed habits as evidences of a natural transition from one
race to the other, instead of an artificial mixture of two
distinct peoples; and they will be the more readily led
‘nto this error if, as in the present case, writers on the
subject should have been in the habit of classing these
races as mere varieties of one stock, as closely related in
physical conformation as from their geographical proximity
one might suppose they ought to be. So far as I have yet
CHAP. XXx.] NOBLE TREE FERNS. 435
seen, the Malay and Papuan appear to be as widely sepa-
rated as any two human races that exist, being distin-
guished by physical, mental, and moral characteristics, all
of the most marked and striking kind.
Feb. 5th.—I took advantage of a very fine calm day to
pay a visit to the island of Wokan, which is about a mile
from us, and forms part of the “tanna busar,” or main-
land of Aru. This is a large island, extending from
north to south about a hundred miles, but so low in many
parts as to be intersected by. several creeks, which run
completely through it, offering a passage for good-sized
vessels. On the west side, where we are, there are only a
few outlying islands, of which ours (Wamma) is the
principal; but on the east coast are a great number of
islands, extending some miles beyond the mainland, and
forming the “blakang tana,” or “back country,” of the
traders, being the principal seat of the pearl, tripang, and
tortoiseshell fisheries. To the mainland many of the
birds and animals of the country are altogether confined;
the Birds of Paradise, the black cockatoo, the great brush-
turkey, and the cassowary, are none of them found on
Wamma or any of the detached islands. I did not,
however, expect in this excursion to see any decided differ-
ence in the forest or its productions, and was therefore
agreeably surprised. The beach was overhung with the
drooping branches of large trees, loaded with Orchidee,
ferns, and other epiphytal plants. In the forest there was
more variety, some parts being dry, and with trees of a
lower growth, while in others there were some of the most
beautiful palms I have ever seen, with a perfectly straight,
smooth, slender stem, a hundred feet high, and a crown of
handsome drooping leaves. But the greatest novelty and
most striking feature to my eyes were the tree-ferns, which,
_ after seven years spent in the tropics, I now saw in per-
fection for the first time. All I had hitherto met with
were slender species, not more than twelve feet high, and
they gave not the least idea of the supreme beauty of trees
bearing their elegant heads of fronds more than thirty feet
in the air, like those which were plentifully scattered about
this forest. There is nothing in tropical vegetation so
perfectly beautiful.
FF 2
A36 THE ARU ISLANDS. ~ [cHAP. XXX.
My boys shot five sorts of birds, none of which we had
obtained during a month's shooting in Warnma. Two
were very pretty flycatchers, already known from New
Guinea; one of them (Monarcha chrysomela), of brillant
black and bright orange colours, is by some authors con-
sidered to be the most beautiful of all flycatchers ; the
other is pure white and velvety black, with a broad fleshy
ring round the eye of an azure blue colour; it is named
the “spectacled flycatcher ” (Monarcha telescopthalma),
and was first found in New Guinea, along with the other,
by the French naturalists during the voyage of the dis-
covery-ship Coquille.
Feb. 18t/..—Before leaving Macassar, I had written to
the Governor of Amboyna requesting him to assist me
with the native chiefs of Aru. I now received by a
vessel which had arrived from Amboyna a very polite
answer, informing me that orders had been sent to give
me every assistance that I might require ; and I was just
congratulating myself on being at length able to get a boat
and men to go to the mainland and explore the interlor,
when a sudden check came in the form of a piratical
incursion. A small prau arrived which had been
attacked by pirates and had a man wounded. They
were said to have five boats, but more were expected to be —
behind, and the traders were all in consternation, fearing
that their small vessels sent trading to the “ blakang tana %
would be plundered. The Aru natives were of course
dreadfully alarmed, as these marauders attack their
villages, burn and murder, and carry away women and
children for slaves. Not a man will stir from his village
for some time, and I must remain still a prisoner im
Dobbo. The Governor of Amboyna, out of pure kind- —
ness, has told the chiefs that they are to be respon-
sible for my safety, so that they have an excellent excuse
for refusing to stir.
Several praus went out in search of the pirates, sentinels
were appointed, and watch-fires lighted on the beach to
euard against the possibility of a night attack, though it
was hardly thought they would be bold enough to attempt
to plunder Dobbo. ‘The next day the praus returned, and
we had positive information that these scourges of the
729
CHAP. Xxx. ] THE PIRATES VISIT US, A437
Kastern seas were really among us. One of Herr Warz-
bergen’s small praus also arrived in a sad plight. It had
been attacked six days before, just as it was returning
from the “blakang tana.” The crew escaped in their
small boat and hid in the jungle, while the pirates came
up and plundered the vessel. They took away everything
but the cargo of mother-of-pearl shell, which was too
bulky for them. All the clothes and boxes of the men, and
the sails and cordage of the prau, were cleared off. They
had four large war boats, and fired a volley of musketry
as they came up, and sent off their small boats to the
attack. After they had left, our men observed from their
concealment that three had stayed behind with a small
boat ; and being driven to desperation by the sight of the
plundering, one brave fellow swam off armed only with
his parang, or chopping-knife, and coming on them un-
awares made a desperate attack, killing one and wounding
the other two, receiving himself numbers of shght wounds,
and then swimming off again when almost exhausted.
Two other praus were also plundered, and the crew of one
of them murdered toa man. They are said to be Sooloo
pirates, but have Bugis among them. On their way here
they have devastated one of the small islands east of
Ceram. It is now eleven years since they have visited
Aru, and by thus making their attacks at long and uncer-
tain intervals the alarm dies away, and they find a
population for the most part unarmed and unsuspicious of
danger. None of the small trading vessels now carry
arms, though they did so for a year or two after the last
attack, which was just the time when there was the least
occasion for it. A week later one of the smaller pirate
boats was captured in the “blakang tana.” Scven men
were killed and three taken prisoners. The larger vessels
have been often seen but cannot be caught, as they have
very strong crews, and can always escape by rowing out
to sea in the eye of the wind, returning at night. They
will thus remain among the innumerable islands and
channels, till the change of the monsoon enables them to
sail westward.
Merch 9th.—Foyr four or five days we have had a con-
tinual gale of wind, with occasional gusts of great fury,
43% THE ARU ISLANDS. (CHAP, XXX.
which seem as if they would send Dobbo into the sea.
Rain accompanies it almost every alternate hour, so that
it is not a pleasant time. During such weather I can do
little, but am busy getting ready a boat I have purchased,
for an excursion into the interior. There is immense
difficulty about men, but I believe the “ Orang-kaya,” 02
head man of Wamma, will accompany me to see that J
don’t run into danger. 3
Having become quite an old inhabitant of Dobbo, I will
endeavour to sketch the sights and sounds that pervade it,
and the manners and customs of its inhabitants. The
place is now pretty full, and the streets present a far more
cheerful aspect than when we first arrived. Every house
is a store, where the natives barter their produce for what
they are most in need of. Knives, choppers, swords, guns,
tobacco, gambier, plates, basins, handkerchiefs, sarongs,
calicoes, and arrack, are the principal articles wanted by
the natives; but some of the stores contain also tea, coffee,
sugar, wine, biscuits, &c., for the supply of the traders; and
others are full of fancy goods, china ornaments, looking-
glasses, razors, umbrellas, pipes, and purses, which take
the fancy of the wealthier natives. Every fine day mats
are spread before the doors and the tripang is put out to
dry, as well as sugar, salt, biscuit, tea, cloths, and other
things that get injured by an excessively moist atmosphere.
In the morning and evening, spruce Chinamen stroll about
or chat at each other’s doors, in blue trousers, white jacket,
and a queue into which red silk is plaited till it reaches
almost to their heels. An old Bugis hadji regularly takes
an evening stroll in all the dignity of flowing green silk
robe and gay turban, followed by two small boys carrying
his sirih and betel boxes.
In every vacant space new houses are being built, and
all sorts of odd little cooking-sheds are erected against the
old ones, while in some out-of-the-way corners, massive log
pigsties are tenanted by growing porkers; for how could
the Chinamen exist six months without one feast of pig?
Here and there are stalls where bananas are sold, and
every morning two little boys go about with trays of sweet
rice and grated cocoa-nut, fried fish, or fried plantains ; and
whichever it may be, they have but one cry, and that is—
CHAP. XXX.] LAW OR NO LAW. 439
“ Chocolat—t—t !” This must be a Spanish or Portuguese
cry, handed down for centuries, while its meaning has
been lost. The Bugis sailors, while hoisting the main-
sail, cry out, “Véla a véla,—véla, véla, véla!” repeated
in an everlasting chorus. As “vela” is Portuguese
for a sail, I supposed I had discovered the origin of
this, but I found afterwards they used the same cry
when heaving anchor, and often changed it to “hela,”
which is so much an universal expression of exertion
and hard breathing that it is most probably a mere in-
terjectional cry.
I daresay there are now near five hundred people in
Dobbo of various races, all met in this remote corner of
the Kast, as they express it, “to look for their fortune ;” to
get money any way they can. They are most of them
people who have the very worst reputation for honesty as
well as every other form of morality,—Chinese, Bugis,
Ceramese, and half-caste Javanese, with a sprinkling of
half-wild Papuans from Timor, Babber, and other islands,—
yet all goes on as yet very quietly. This motley, ignorant,
bloodthirsty, thievish population live here without the
shadow of a government, with no police, no courts, and no.
lawyers ; yet they do not cut each other’s throats, do not.
plunder each other day and night, do not fall into the
anarchy such a state of things might be supposed to lead
to. It is very extraordinary! It puts strange thoughts.
into one’s head about the mountain-load of government
under which people exist in Europe, and suggests the idea.
that we may be overgoverned. Think of the hundred
Acts of Parliament annually enacted to prevent us, the
people of England, from cutting each other’s throats,
or from doing to our neighbour as we would not be
done by. Think of the thousands of lawyers and bar-
tisters whose whole lives are spent in telling us what
the hundred Acts of Parliament mean, and one would be
led to infer that if Dobbo has too little law England has
too much.
Here we may behold in its simplest form the genius of
Commerce at the work of Civilization. Trade is the macic
that keeps all at peace, and unites these discordant elements
into a well-behaved community. Al! are traders, and all
AAQ GHE ARU ISLANDS. |CHAP. XXX.
know that peace and order are essential to successful trade,
and thus a public opinion is created which puts down all
lawlessness, Often in former years, when strolling along
the Campong Glam in Singapore, I have thought how wild
and ferocious the Bugis sailors looked, and how little I
should like to trust myself among them. But now I find
them to be very decent, well-behaved fellows; I walk
daily unarmed in the jungle, where I meet them con-
tinually; I sleep in a palm-leat hut, which any one may
enter, with as little fear and as little danger of thieves or
murder as if 1 were under the protection of the Metro-
politan police. -It is true the Dutch influence is felt here.
The islands are nominally under the government of the
Moluccas, which the native chiefs acknowledge; and in
most years a commissioner arrives from Amboyna, who
makes the tour of the islands, hears complaints, settles
disputes, and carries away prisoner any heinous offender.
This year he is not expected to come, as No orders have yet —
been received to prepare for him; so the people of Dobbo
will probably be left to their own devices. One day a
man was caught in the act of stealing a piece of iron from
Herr Warzbergen’s house, which he had entered by making
a hole through the thatch wall., In the evening the chiet
traders of the place, Bugis and Chinese, assembled, the
offender was tried and found guilty, and sentenced to
receive twenty lashes on the spot. They were given with
a small rattan in the middle of the street, not very severely,
as the executioner appeared to sympathise a little with the
culprit. The disgrace seemed to be thought as much of as
the pain; for though any amount of clever cheating 1s
thought rather meritorious than otherwise, open robbery
and housebreaking meet with universal reprobation.
SHAP, XXXL.) JOURNEY TO TEE MAINLAND. 44]
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE ARU ISLANDS.—JOURNEY AND RESIDENCE IN
THE INTERIOR
(MARCH TO MAY 1857.)
Y boat was at length ready, and having obtained two
men besides my own servants, after an enormous
amount of talk and trouble, we left Dobbo on the morning
of March 13th, for the mainland of Aru. By noon we
reached the mouth of a small river or creek, which we
ascended, winding among mangrove swamps, with here
and there a glimpse of dry land. In two hours we reached
a house, or rather small shed, of the most miserable de-
scription, which our steersman, the “Orang-kaya” of
Wamma, said was the place we were to stay at, and where
he had assured me we could get every kind of bird and
beast to be found in Aru. The shed was occupied by
about a dozen men, women, and children; two cooking
fires were burning in it, and there seemed little prospect
of my obtaining any accommodation. I however deferred
inquiry till I had seen the neighbouring forest, and imme-
diately started off with two men, net, and guns, along a
path at the back of the house. In an hours walk I saw
enough to make me determine to give the place a trial, and
on my return, finding the “Orang-kaya” was in a strong
fever-fit and unable to do anything, I entered into nego-
tiations with the owner of the house for the use of a slip
at one end of it about five feet wide, for a week, and agreed
to pay as rent one “parang,” or chopping-knife. I then
immediately got my boxes and bedding out of the boat,
hung up a shelf for my bird-skins and insects, and got all
ready for work next morning. My own boys slept in the
boat to guard the remainder of my property; a cooking
place sheltered by a few mats was arrangec under a tree
close by, and I felt that degree of satisfaction and enjoy-
ment which I always experience when, after much trouble
442, THE ARU ISLANDS. [CHAP. XXX]
and delay, I am on the point of beginning work in a new -
locality. ;
One of my first objects was to inquire for the people
who are accustomed to shoot the Paradise birds. hey
lived at some distance in the jungle, and a man was sent
to call them. When they arrived, we had a talk by means
of the “Orang-kaya” as interpreter, and they said they
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NATIVES OF ARU SHOOTING THE GREAT BIRD OF PARADIS
CHAP. XXXI.] THE KING-BIRD. 443
thought they could get some. They explained that they
shoot the birds with a bow and arrow, the arrow having a
conical wooden cap fitted to the end as large as a teacup,
so as to kill the bird by the violence of the blow without
making any wound or snedding any blood. The trees
frequented by the birds are very lofty; it is therefore
necessary to erect a small leafy covering or hut among the
branches, to which the hunter mounts before daylight in
the morning and remains the whole day, and whenever a
bird alights they are almost sure of securing it. (See
Iilustration.) They returned to their homes the same
evening, and I never saw anything more of them, owing,
as I afterwards found, to its being too early to obtain
birds in good plumage.
The first two or three days of our stay here were very
wet, and I obtained but few insects or birds, but at length,
when I was beginning to despair, my boy Baderoon
returned one day with a specimen which repaid me for
months of delay and expectation. It was a small bird, a
little less than a thrush. The greater part of its plumage
was of an intense cinnabar red, with a gloss as of spun glass.
On the head the feathers became short and velvety, and
shaded into rich orange. Beneath, from the breast down-
wards, was pure white, with the softness and gloss of silk,
and across the breast a band of deep metallic green sepa-
rated this colour from the red of the throat. Above each
eye was a round spot of the same metallic green; the bill
was yellow, and the feet and legs were of a fine cobalt
blue, strikingly contrasting with all the other parts of the
body. Merely in arrangement of colours and texture of
plumage this little bird was a gem of the first water, yet
these comprised only half its strange beauty. Springing
from each side of the breast, and ordinarily lying concealed
under the wings, were little tufts of greyish feathers about
two inches long, and each terminated by a broad band of
intense emerald green. These plumes can be raised at the
will of the bird, and spread out into a pair of elegant fans
when the wings are elevated. But this is not the only
ornament. The two middle feathers of the tail are in the
- form of slender wires about five inches long, and which
diverge in a beautiful double curve. About half an inch of
—A44 THE ARU ISLANDS. (caaP. XXXL.
the end of this wire is webbed on the outer side only, and
coloured of a fine metallic green, and being curled spirally
inwards form a pair of elegant glittering buttons, hanging
Sve inches below the body, and the same distance apart.
These two ornaments, the breast fans and the spiral
tipped tail wires, are altogether unique, not occurring on
any other species of the eight thousand different birds
that are known to exist upon the earth; and, combined
with the most exquisite beauty of plumage, render this
one of the most perfectly lovely of the many lovely pro-
ductions of nature. My transports of admiration and
delight quite amused my Aru hosts, who saw nothing
more in the “Burong raja” than we do im the robin or
the goldfinch."
Thus one of my objects in coming to the far Hast was
accomplished. I had obtained a specimen of the King
Bird of Paradise (Paradisea regia), which had been de-
scribed by Linnzus from skins preserved in a mutilated
state by the natives. I knew how few Europeans had
ever beheld the perfect little organism I now gazed upon,
and how very imperfectly it was still known in Europe.
The emotions excited in the minds of a naturalist, who has
long desired to see the actual thing which he has hitherto
known only by description, drawing, or badly-preserved
external covering—especially when that thing is of sur-
passing rarity and beauty, require the poetic faculty fully
to express them. The remote island in which I found
inyself situated, in an almost unvisited sea, far from the
tracks of merchant fleets and navies ; the wild luxuriant
tropical forest, which stretched far away on every side ;
the rude uncultured savages who gathered round me,—all
lad their influence in determining the emotions with which
I gazed upon this “thing of beauty.” I thought of the
long ages of the past, during which the successive gene-
rations of this little creature had run their course—year
by year being born, and living and dying amid these
dark and gloomy woods, with no intelligent eye to gaze
upon their loveliness ; to all appearance such a wanton
waste of beauty. Such ideas excite a feeling of melan-
1 See the upper figure on Plate at cominencement of Cliapter
XXXVITII.
CHAP. XXX1. | THE GREAT PARADISE BIRD. 448
choly. It seems sad, that on the one hand such exquisite
creatures should live out their lives and exhibit their
charms only in these wild inhospitable regions, doomed
for ages yet to come to hopeless barbarism; while on the
other hand, should civilized man ever reach these distant
lands, and bring moral, intellectual, and physical light
into the recesses of these virgin forests, we may be sure
that he will so disturb the nicely-balanced relations of
organic and inorganic nature as to cause the disappearance,
and finally the extinction, of these very beings whose
wonderful structure and beauty he alone is fitted to appre-
ciate and enjoy. This consideration must surely tell us
that all living things were not made for man. Many of
them have no relation to him. The cycle of their exist-
ence has gone on independently of his, and is disturbed or
broken by every advance in man’s intellectual develop-
ment; and their happiness and enjoyments, their loves
and hates, their struggles for existence, their vigorous life
and early death, would seem to be immediately related to
their own well-being and perpetuation alone, limited only
by the equal well-being and perpetuation of the number-
less other organisms with which each is more or less inti-
mately connected.
After the first king-bird was obtained, I went with my
men into the forest, and we were not only rewarded with
another in equally perfect plumage, but I was enabled to
see a little of the habits of both it and the larger species.
It frequents the lower trees of the less dense forests, and is
very active, flying strongly with a whirring sound, and
continually hopping or flying from branch to branch. It
eats hard stone-bearing fruits as large as a gooseberry, and
often fiutters its wings after the manner of the South
American manakins, at which time it elevates and expands
the beautiful fans with which its breast is adorned. The
natives of Aru call it “Goby-goby.”
One day I got under a tree where a number of the Great
Paradise birds were assembled, but they were high up in
the thickest of the foliage, and flying and jumping about
so continually that I could get no good view of them. At
length I shot one, but it was a young specimen, and was
entirely of a rich chocolate-brown colour, without either
446 THE ARU ISLANDS. (CHAP. XXX.
the metallic green throat or yellow plumes of the full-
crown bird. All that I had yet seen resembled this, and
fhe natives told me that it would be about two months
before any would be found in full plumage. I still hoped,
therefore, to get some. Their voice is most extraordinary.
At early morn, before the sun has risen, we hear a loud
cry of “ Wawk—wawk—wawk, wok—wok—wok,” which
resounds through the forest, changing its direction con-
tinually. This is the Great Bird of Paradise going to seek
his breakfast. Others soon follow his example ; lories and
parroquets cry shrilly, cockatoos scream, king-hunters
croak and bark, and the various smaller birds chirp and
whistle their morning song. As I lie listening to these
interesting sounds, I realize my position as the first
European who has ever lived for months together in the
Aru islands, a place which I had hoped rather than
expected ever to visit. I think how many besides myself
have longed to reach these almost fairy realms, and to see
with their own eyes the many wonderful and beautiful
things which I am daily encountering. But now Ali
and Baderoon are up and getting ready their guns and
ammunition, and little Baso has his fire lighted and is
boiling my coffee, and I remember that I had a black
cockatoo brought in late last night, which I must skin
immediately, and so I jump up and begin my day’s work
very happily. .
This cockatoo is the first I have seen, and is a great
prize. It has a rather small and weak body, long weak
legs, large wings, and an enormously developed head,
ornamented with a magnificent crest, and armed with a
sharp-pointed hooked bill of immense size and strength.
The plumage is entirely black, but has all over it the
curious powdery white secretion characteristic of cockatoos.
The cheeks are bare, and of an intense blood-red colour.
Instead of the harsh scream of the white cockatoos, its
voice is a somewhat plaintive whistle. The tongue is a
curious organ, being a slender fleshy cylinder of a deep
red colour, terminated by a horny black plate, furrowed
across and somewhat prehensile. The whole tongue has
a considerable extensile power. I will here relate some-
thing of the habits of this bird, with which I have since
CHAP. XXX1. | GREAT BLACK COCKATOO. 447
become acquainted. It frequents the lower parts of the
forest, and is seen singly, or at most two or three together.
It flies slowly and noiselessly, and may be killed by a
HEAD OF BLACK COCKATOO,
comparatively slight wound. It eats various fruits and
seeds, but seems more particularly attached to the kerne!
of the kanary-nut, which grows on a lofty forest tree
448 THE AKU ISLANDS. [cHaP. XXX fj
(Canarium commune), abundant in the islands where this
bird is found; and the manner in which it gets at these
seeds shows a correlation of structure and habits, which
would point out the “kanary” as its special food. The
shell of this nut is so excessively hard that only a heavy
hammer will crack it; it is somewhat triangular, and the
outside is quite smooth. The manner in which the bird
opens these nuts 1s very curious. Taking one endways in
its bill and keeping it firm by a pressure of the tongue, it
cuts a transverse notch by a lateral sawing motion of the
sharp-edged lower mandible. This done, it takes hold of
the nut with its foot, and biting off a piece of leaf retains
it in the deep notch of the upper mandible, and again
seizing the nut, which is prevented from slipping by the
elastic tissue of the leaf, fixes the edge of the lower
mandible in the notch, and by a powerful nip breaks off
a piece of the shell. Again taking the nut in its claws,
it inserts the very long and sharp point of the bill and
picks out the kernel, which is seized hold of, morsel by
morsel, by the extensible tongue. Thus every detail of
form and structure in the extraordinary bill of this bird
seems to have its use, and we may easily conceive that
the black cockatoos have maintained themselves in com-
petition with their more active and more numerous white
allies, by their power of existing on a kind of food which
no other bird is able to extract from its stony shell. The
species is the Microglossum aterrimum of naturalists.
During the two weeks which I spent in this little settle-
ment, I had good opportunities of observing the natives at
their own home, and living in their usual manner. There
is a great monotony and uniformity in every-day savage
life, and it seemed to me a more miserable existence
than when it had the charm of novelty. To begin with
the most important fact in the existence of uncivilized
peoples—their food—the Aru men have no regular supply,
no staff of life, such as bread, rice, mandiocca, maize, or
sago, which are the daily food of a large proportion of
mankind. They have, however, many sorts of vegetables,
plantains, yams, sweet potatoes, and raw sago; and they
chew up vast quantities of sugar-cane, as well as betel-
nuts, gambir, and tobacco. Those who live on the coast
(OHAP. XXx1.] NATIVE HOUSES AND HABITS. 'AAY
have plenty of fish; but when inland, as we are here,
they only go to the sea occasionally, and then bring
home cockles and other shell-fish by the boatload. Now
and then they get wild pig or kangaroo, but too rarely to
form anything like a regular part of their dist, which is
essentially vegetable ; and what is of more importance,
as affecting their health, green, watery vegetables, imper-
fectly cooked, and even these in varying and often in-
sufficient quantities. To this diet may be attributed the
prevalence of skin diseases, and ulcers on the legs and
joints. |The scurfy skin disease so common among savages
has a close connexion with the poorness and irregularity of
their living. \The Malays, who are never without their
daily rice, até generally free from it; the hill-Dyaks of
Borneo, who grow rice and live well, are clean skinned,
while the less industrious and less cleanly tribes, who
live for a portion of the year on fruits and vegetables only,
are very subject to this malady. It seems clear that in
this, as in other respects, man is not able to make a beast
of himself with impunity, feeding like the cattle on the
herbs and fruits of the earth, and taking no thought of
the morrow. To maintain his health and beauty he must
labour to prepare some farinaceous product capable of
being stored and accumulated, so as to give him a regular
supply of wholesome food. When this is obtained, he
may add vegetables, fruits, and meat with advantage.
The chief luxury of the Aru people, besides betel
and tobacco, is arrack (Java rum), which the traders
bring in great quantities and sell very cheap. A day’s
fishing or rattan cutting will purchase at least a half-
gallon bottle; and when the tripang or birds’ nests
collected during a season are sold, they get whole boxes,
each containing fifteen such bottles, which the inmates
of a house will sit round day and night till they have
finished. They themselves tell me that at such bouts they
often tear to pieces the house they are in, break and
destroy everything they can lay their hands on, and make
such an infernal riot as is alarming to behold.
The houses and furniture are on a par with the food.
A rude shed, supported on rough and slender sticks rather
than posts, no walls, hut the tloor raised to within a toot
GG
a * +
450 THE ARU ISLANDS. (cHaP. XXXI 0 |
of the eaves, is the style of architecture they usually
- adopt. Inside there are partition walls of thatch, forming
little boxes or sleeping places, to accommodate the two or
three separate families that usually live together. A few
mats, baskets, and cooking vessels, with plates and basins
purchased from the Macassar traders, constitute their
whole furniture; spears and bows are their weapons; a
‘garong or mat forms the clothing of the women, a waist-
cloth of the men. For hours or even for days they sit
idle in their houses, the women bringing in the vegetables
or sago which form their food. Sometimes they hunt or —
fsh a little, or work at their houses or canoes, but they
seem to enjoy pure idleness, and work as little as they
can. They have little to vary the monotony of life, little
that can be called pleasure, except idleness and conver-
sation. And they certainly do talk! Every evening there
‘sa, little Babel around me: but as I understand not a
word of it, I go on with my book or work undisturbed.
Now and then they scream and shout, or laugh frantically
for variety ; and this goes on alternately with vociferous
talking of men, women, and children, till long after 1 am
in my mosquito curtain and sound asleep.
At this place I obtained some light on the complicated
mixture of races in Aru, which would utterly confound an
ethnologist. Many of the natives, though equally dark
with the others, have little of the Papuan physiognomy,
but have more delicate features of the European. type,
with more glossy, curling hair. These at first quite puzzled
me, for they have no more resemblance to Malay than to
Papuan, and the darkness of skin and hair would forbid
the idea of Dutch intermixture. Listening to their con-—
versation, however, I detected some words that were
familiar to me. “Accab6” was one; and to be sure that |
it was not an accidental resemblance, I asked the speaker |
in Malay what “accabo” meant, and was told it meant
“done or finished,’ a true Portuguese word, with its
meaning retained. Again, I heard the word “jafui” often
repeated, and could see, without inquiry, that its meaning
was “he’s gone,” as in Portuguese. “ Porco,” too, seems
common: name, though the people have no idea of its
European mearing. | This cleared up the difficulty. T at
CHAP. XXXI.] MIXTURE OF RACES. 45]
once understood that some early Portuguese traders had
penetrated to these islands, and mixed with the natives,
influencing their language, and leaving in their descendants
for many generations the visible characteristics of their
race. If to this we add the occasional mixture of Malay,
Dutch, and Chinese with the indigenous Papuans, we have
no reason to wonder at the curious varieties of form and
feature occasionally to be met with in Aru. In this very
house there was a Macassar man, with an Aru wife and a
family of mixed children. In Dobbo I saw a Javanese and
an Amboyna man, each with an Aru wife and family ; and
as this kind of mixture has been going on for at least
three hundred years, and probably much longer, it has
produced a decided effect on the physical characteristics
of a considerable portion of the population of the islands,
more especially in Dobbo and the parts nearest to it,
March 28th.—The “Orang-kaya ” being very ill with
fever had begged to go home, and had arranged with one of
the men of the house to go on with me as his substitute.
Now that I wanted to move, the bugbear of the pirates was
brought up, and it was pronounced unsafe to go further
than the next small river. This would not suit’ me, as I
had determined to traverse the channel called Watelai to
the “blakang-tana;” but my guide was firm in his dread
of pirates, of which I knew there was now no danger, as
several vessels had gone in search of them, as well as a
Dutch gunboat which had arrived since I left Dobbo. I
had, fortunately, by this time heard that the Dutch “Com-
missie” had really arrived, and therefore threatened that if
my guide did not go with me immediately, I would appeal
to the authorities, and he would certainly be obliged to give
back the cloth which the “Orang-kaya” had transferred
to him in prepayment. This had the desired effect ; matters
were soon arranged, and we started the next morning.
The wind, however, was dead against us, and after rowing
hard till midday we put in to a small river where there were
a few huts, to cook our dinners. The place did not look
very promising. but as we could not reach our destination,
the Watelai river, owing to the contrary wind, I thought we
might as well wait here a day or two. I therefore paid a
chopper for the use of a small shed, and got my bed and
GG 2
452 THE ARU ISLANDS. [cHAP. KXXXI. —
some boxes on shore. In the evening, after dark, we were
suddenly alarmed by the. cry of “ Bajak! bajak!” (Pirates !)
The men all seized their bows and spears, and rushed down
to the beach; we got hold of our guns and prepared for
action, but in a few minutes all came back laughing and
chattering, for it had proved to be only a small boat and
some of their own comrades returned from fishing. When
all was quiet again, one of the men, who could speak a
little Malay, came to me and begged me not to sleep too
hard. “Why?” said J. “Perhaps the pirates may really
come,” said he very seriously, which made me laugh and
assure him I should sleep as hard as I could.
Two days were spent here, but the place was unpro-
ductive of insects or birds of interest, so we made another
attempt to get on. As soon as we got a little away from
the land we had a fair wind, and in six hours’ sailing
reached the entrance of the Watelai channel, which divides
the most northerly from the middle portion of Aru. At
its mouth this was about half a mile wide, but soon
narrowed, and a mile or two on it assumed entirely the
aspect of a river about the width of the Thames at London,
winding among low but undulating and often hilly country.
The scene was exactly such as might be expected in the —
interior of a continent. The channel continued of a uniform
average width, with reaches and sinuous bends, one bank
being often precipitous, or even forming vertical clifis,
while the other was flat and apparently alluvial ; and it
was only the pure salt-water, and the absence of any
stream but the slight flux and reflux of the tide, that would
enable a person to tell that he was navigating a strait and
not a river. The wind was fair, and carried us along, with
occasional assistance from our oars, till about three in the
afternoon, when we landed where a little brook formed
two or three basins in the coral rock, and then fell in
a, miniature cascade into the salt-water river. Here we —
bathed and cooked our dinner, and enjoyed ourselves
lazily till sunset, when we pursued our way for two hours
more, and then moored our little vessel to an overhanging
tree for the night.
At five the next morning we started again, and in
an hour overtook four large praus containing the “ Com-
CHAP, XXX] TO WANUMBAI. 453
missie,’ who had come from Dobbo to make theit
official tour round the islands, and had passed us in the
night. I paid a visit to the Dutchmen, one of whom
spoke a little English, but we found that we could get
on much better with Malay. They told me that they
had been delayed going after the pirates to one of the
northern islands, and had seen three of their vessels but
could not catch them, because on being pursued they
rowed out in the wind’s eye, which they are enabled to do
by having about fifty oars to each boat. Having had some
tea with them, I bade them adieu, and turned up a narrow
channel which our pilot said would take us to the village
of Watelai, on the east side of Aru. After going some
miles we found the channel nearly blocked up with coral,
so that our boat grated along the bottom, crunching what
may truly be called the living rock. Sometimes all hands
had to get out and wade, to lighten the vessel and lift it
over the shallowest places; but at length we overcame all
obstacles and reached a wide bay or estuary studded with
little rocks and islets, and opening to the eastern sea and
the numerous islands of the “blakang-tana.” I now found
that the village we were going to was miles away; that we
should have to go out to sea, and round a rocky point. A
squall seemed coming on, and as. I have a horror of small
boats at sea, and from all I could learn Watelai village
was not a place to stop at (no Birds of Paradise being
found there), I determined to return and go to a village
I had heard of up a tributary of the Watelai river, and
situated nearly in the centre of the mainland cf Aru. The
people there were said to be good, and to be accustomed to
hunting and bird-catching, being too far inland to get any
part of their food from the sea. While I was deciding
this point the squall burst upon us, and soon raised a
rolling sea in the shallow water, which upset an oil bottle
and a lamp, broke some of my crockery, and threw us all
into confusion. Rowing hard we managed to get back
into the main river by dusk, and looked out for a place to
cook our suppers. It happened to be high water, and a
very high tide, so that every piece of sand or beach was
covered, and it was with the greatest difficulty, and after
much groping in the dark, that we discovered a little
454 THE ARU ISLANDS. [CHAP. XXXI.
sloping piece of rock about two feet square on which to
make a fire and cook some rice. The next day we con-
tinued our way back, and on the following day entered a
stream on the south side of the Watelai river, and ascend-
ing to where navigation ceased found the little village of
Wanumbai, consisting of two large houses surrounded by
plantations, amid the virgin forests of Aru.
As I liked the look of the place, and was desirous of
staying some time, | sent my pilot to try and make a
bargain for house accommodation. The owner and chief
man of the place made many excuses. First, he was
afraid I would not like his house, and then was doubtful
whether his son, who was away, would like his admitting
me. I had a long talk with him myself, and tried to
explain what I was doing, and how many things I would
buy of them, and showed him my stock of beads, and
knives, and cloth, and tobacco, all of which I would spend
with his family and friends if he would give me house-
room. He seemed a little staggered at this, and said he
would talk to his wife, and in the meantime I went for a
little walk to see the neighbourhood. When I came back,
I again sent my pilot, saying that I would go away if he
would not give me part of his house. In about half an
hour he returned with a demand for about half the cost of
building a house, for the rent of a small portion of it for a
few weeks. As the only difficulty now was a pecuniary
one, I got out about ten yards of cloth, an axe, with a few
beads and some tobacco, and sent them as my final offer
for the part of the house which I had before pointed out.
This was accepted after a little more talk, and I imme-
diately proceeded to take possession.
The house was a good large one, raised as usual about
seven feet on posts, the walls about three or four feet —
more, with a high-pitched roof. The floor was of bamboo
laths, and in the sloping roof was an immense shutter,
which could be lifted and propped up to admit light and
air. At the end where this was situated the floor was
raised about a foot, and this piece, about ten feet wide
by twenty long, quite open to the rest of the house, was
the portion I was to occupy. At one end of this piece.
separated by a thatch partition, was a cooking place, with
ns
“ine
ae
7
;
:
CHAP. xxxI.] § LODGINGS AT’ WANUMBAL. 459
a Clay floor and shelves for crockery. At the opposite end
I had my mosquito curtain hung, and round the walls we
arranged my boxes and other stores, fitted up a table and
seat, and with a little cleaning and dusting made the place
look quite comfortable. My boat was then hauled up on
shore, and covered with palm-leaves, the sails and oars
brought indoors, a hanging-stage for drying my specimens
erected outside the house and another inside, and my
boys were set to clean their guns and get all ready for
beginning work. |
_ The next day I occupied myself in exploring the paths
in the immediate neighbourhood. The small river up
which we had ascended ceases to be navigable at this
point, above which it is a little rocky brook, which quite
dries up in the hot season. There was now, however, a
fair stream of water in it; and a path which was partly
in and partly by the side of the water, promised well
for insects, as I here saw the magnificent blue but-
terfly, Papilio ulysses, as well as several other fine species,
flopping lazily along, sometimes resting high up on the
foliage which drooped over the water, at others settling
down on the damp rock or on the edges of muddy pools.
A little way on several paths branched off through patches
of second-growth forest to cane-fields, gardens, and scat-
tered houses, beyond which again the dark wall of verdure
striped with tree-trunks, marked out the limits of the
primeval forests. The voices of many birds promised
good shooting, and on my return I found that my boys
had already obtained two or three kinds I had not seen
before ; and in the evening a native brought me a rare and
beautiful species of ground-thrush (Pitta nove-guinez)
hitherto only known from New Guinea.
As I improved my acquaintance with them I became
much interested in these people, who are a fair sample of
the true savage inhabitants of the Aru Islands, tolerably
free from foreign admixture. The house I lived in con-
tained four or five families, and there were generally from
six to a dozen visitors besides. They kept up a continual
row from morning till night—talking, laughing, shouting,
without intermission—not very pleasant, but interesting
as a study of national character. My boy Ali said to me,
456 THE ARU ISLANDS. (CHAP. XxXI.
“Banyak quot bitchara Orang Aru” (The Aru people are
very strong talkers), never having been accustomed to such
eloquence either in his own or any other country he had
hitherto visited. Of an evening the men, haying got over
their first shyness, began to talk to me a little, asking
about my country, &c., and in return I questioned them
about any traditions they had of their own origin. I had,
however, very little success, for I could not possibly make
them understand the simple question of where the Aru
people first came from. I put it in every possible way to
them, but it was a subject quite beyond their speculations ;
they had evidently never thought of anything of the kind,
and were unable to conceive a thing so remote and so
unnecessary to be thought about, as their own origin.
Finding this hopeless, I asked if they knew when the
trade with Aru first began, when the Bugis and Chinese
and Macassar men first came in their praus to buy tripang
and tortoise-shell, and birds’ nests, and Paradise birds?
This they comprehended, but replied that there had always
been the same trade as long as they or their fathers recol-
lected, but that this was the first time a real white man
had come among them, and, said they, “ You see how the
people come every day from all the villages round to look
at you.” This was very flattering, and accounted for the
great concourse of visitors which I had at first imagined
was accidental. A few years before I had been one of the
cazers at the Zoolus and the Aztecs in London. Now the
tables were turned upon me, for I was to these people a
new and strange variety of man, and had the honour ot
affording to them, in my own person, an attractive exhi-
bition, gratis.
All the men and boys of Aru are expert archers, neve)
stirring without their bows and arrows. They: shoot al]
sorts of birds, as well as pigs and kangaroos occasionally
and thus have a tolerably good supply of meat to eat with
their vegetables. The result of this better living is superior
healthiness, well-made bodies, and generally clear skins,
They brought me numbers of small birds. in exchange for
beads or tobacco, but mauled them terribly, notwithstand-
ing my repeated instructions. When they got a bird alive
they would often tie a string to its leg, and keep it a day
q
CHAP, XXXL) FINE BIRDS. 457
or two, till its plumage was so draggled and dirtied as to
be almost worthless. One of the first things I got from
them was a living specimen of the curious and beautiful
racquet-tailed kingfisher. Seeing how much I admired it,
they afterwards brought me several more, which were all
caught before daybreak, sleeping in cavities of the rocky
banks of the stream. My hunters also shot a few speci-
mens, and almost all of .them had the red bill more or less
cloggedwith mud and earth. This indicates the habits of
the bird, which, though popularly a king-fisher, never
catches fish, but lives on insects and minute Shells, which
it picks up in the forest, darting down upon them from its
perch on some.low branch. “The genus ‘Tanysiptera, to
which this bird belongs, is remarkable for the enormously
lengthened tail, which in all other kingfishers is small and
short. Linnzeus named the species known to him “tho
goddess kingfisher” (Alcedo dea), from its extreme eTace
and-beauty, the plumage being brilliant blue and white,
with the bill red, like coral. Several species of these in-
teresting birds are now known, all confined within the
very limited area which comprises the Moluccas, New
Guinea, and fhe extreme North of Australia. They
resemble each other so closely that several of them can
only be distinguished by careful comparison. One of the
rarest, however, which inhabits New Guinea; is very distinct
from the rest, being bright red beneath instead of white.
That which I now obtained was a.new one, and has been
named Tanysiptera hydrocharis, but in general form and
coloration it is exactly similar to the larger species: found
in Amboyna, and figured at page 298.
New and interesting birds were continually brought in,
either by.my own boys or by the natives, and at the end of
a week Ali.arrived triumphant one afternoon with a fine
specimen of the Great Bird of :Paradise. The ornamental
_ plumes had not yet attained their full growth, but the
richness of their glossy orange colouring, and the exquisite
delicacy of the loosely waving feathers, were unsurpassable.
At the:same time a great black cockatoo was brought in, as
well as a fine fruit-pigeon and several small birds, so that
we were all kept hard at work skinning till sunset. Just
as we had cleared away and packed up for the night, a
458 THE ARU ISLANDS. |CHAP. XXXI.
strange beast was brought, which had been shot by the
natives. It resembled in size, and in its white woolly —
covering, a small fat lamb, but had short legs, hand-like
feet with large claws, and a long prehensile tail. It was_
a Cuscus (C. maculatus), one of the curious marsupial
animals of the Papuan region, and I was very desirous to
obtain the skin. The owners, however, said they wanted
to eat it; and though I offered them a eood price, and
promised to give them all the meat, there was great
hesitation. Suspecting the reason, I offered, though it was
night, to set to work immediately and get out the body for
them, to which they agreed. The creature was much
hacked about, and the two hind feet almost cut off, but it
was the largest and finest specimen of the kind I had seen ;
and after an hours hard work I handed over the body to
the owners, who immediately cut it up and roasted it for
supper.
‘As this was a very good place for birds, 1 determined to
remain a month longer, and took the opportunity of a
native boat going to Dobbo, to send Ali for a fresh supply
of ammunition and provisions. They started on the 10th
of April, and the house was crowded with about a hundred
inen, boys, women, and girls, bringing their loads of sugar-
cane, plantains, sirih-leaf, yams, &c.; one lad going from
each house to sell the produce and make purchases. The
noise was indescribable. At least fifty of the hundred
were always talking at once, and that not in the low
measured tones of the apathetically polite Malay, but with
loud voices, shouts, and screaming laughter, in which the
women and children. were even more conspicuous than the
men. It was only while gazing at me that their tongues
were moderately quiet, because their eyes were fully occu-
pied. The black vegetable soil here overlying the coral rock |
is very rich, and the sugar-cane was finer than any I had
ever seen, The canes brought to the boat were often ten
and even twelve feet long, and thick in proportion, with
short joints throughout, swelling between the knots with the
abundance of the rich juice. At Dobbo they get a high
price for it, 1d. to 3d. a stick, and there is an insatiable
demand among the crews of the praus and the Baba fisher-
men. Here they eat it continually They half live en it,
OHAP, XXXI.] SUGAR-CANE EATERS. 459
and sometimes feed their pigs with it. Near every house are
great heaps of the refuse cane; and large wicker-baskets to
contain this refuse as it is produced form a regular part of
the furniture of a house. Whatever time of the day you
enter, you are sure to find three or four people with a yard
of cane in one hand, a knife in the other, and a basket
between their legs, hacking, paring, chewing, and basket-
filling, with a persevering assiduity which reminds one of
a hungry cow grazing, or of a caterpillar eating up a leaf.
After five days’ absence the boats returned from Dobbo,
bringing Ali and all the things I had sent for quite safe.
A large party had-assembled to be ready to carry home the
goods brought, among which were a good many cocoa-nuts,
which are a great luxury here. It seems strange that they
should never plant them; but the reason simply is, that
they cannot bring their hearts to bury a good nut for
the prospective advantage of a crop twelve years hence.
There is also the chance of the fruits being dug up and
eaten unless watched night and day. Among the things I
had sent for was a box of arrack, and I was now of course
besieged with requests for a little drop. I gave them a
flask (about two bottles), which was very soon finished,
and I was assured that there were many present who had
not had a taste. As I feared my box would very soon be
emptied if I supplied all their demands, I told them I had
given them one, but the second they must pay for, and
that afterwards I must have a Paradise bird for each flask.
They immediately sent round to all the neighbouring
houses, and mustered up a rupee in Dutch copper money,
got their second flask, and drunk it as quickly as the first,
and were then very talkative, but less noisy and impor-
tunate than I-had expected. Two or three of them got
round me and begged me for the twentieth time to tell
them the name of my country. Then, as they could not
pronounce it satisfactorily, they insisted that I was de-
ceiving them, and that it was a name of my own invention.
One funny old man, who bore a ludicrous resemblance to
a friend of mine at home, was almost indignant. “Ung-
lung!” said he, “who ever heard of such a name ?—ang-
lang—anger-lang—that can’t be the name of your country ;
you are playing with us.” Then he tried to give a con-
460 THE ARU ISLANDS. [cHaP. XXXI,
vincing illustration. “My country is Wanumbai—any-
body can say Wanumbai. [Tm an * orang-Wanumbat ;
put, N-glung! who ever heard of such a name? Do tell
us the real name of your country, and then when you are
gone we shall know how to talk about you.” To this
luminous argument and remonstrance I could oppose
nothing but assertion, and the whole party remained
firmly convinced that I was for some reason or other
deceiving them. They then attacked me on another point
—_what all the animals and birds and insects and shells
were preserved so carefully for. They had often asked me
this before, and I had tried to explain to them that they
would be stuffed, and made to look as if alive, and
people in my country would go to look at them. But this
was not satisfying; in my country there must be many
better things to look at, and they could not believe 1
would take so much trouble with their birds and beasts
just for people to look at. They did not want to look at
them ; and we, who made calico and glass and knives, and
all sorts of wonderful things, could not want things from
‘Aru to look at. They had evidently been thinking about
it, and. had at length got what seemed a very satisfactory
theory; for the same old man said to me, in a low mys-
terious voice, “ What becomes of them when you go on to
the sea?” “-Why, they are all packed up in boxes,” said
IL “What did you think became of them?” “They all
come’ to life again, don’t they?” said he; and though I
tried to joke it off, and. said if they did we should have
plenty to eat at sea, he stuck to his opinion, and kept
repeating, with an air of deep conviction, “ Yes, they all
come to life again, that’s what they do—they all come to
life again.” }
‘After a little while, and a good deal of talking among
themselves, he began again—‘ 1. know all about it—oh,
yes! Before you came we had ‘rain every day—very wet
indeed; now, ever since you have been here, it is fine hot
weather. Oh, yes! I know all about it; you can’t deceive
me.” And so I was set down ‘as a conjurer, and was
unable to repel the charge. But the conjurer was com-
pletely puzzled by the next question: ® What,” said
the old man, “is the great ship, where the Bugis and
q
OHAP. XXXI.] NATIVE TALK. 461
Chinainen go to sell their things? It is always in the great
sea—its name is Jong; tell us all about it.” In vain I
inquired what they knew about it; they knew nothing
but that it was called “Jong,” and was always in the sea,
and was avery great ship, and concluded with, “ Perhaps
that is your country?” Finding that I could not or
would not tell them anything about “Jong,” there came
more regrets that I would not tell them the real name of
my country ; and then a long string of compliments, to the
effect that I was a much better sort of a person than the
Bugis and Chinese, who sometimes came to trade with
them, for I gave them things for nothing, and did not try
fo cheat them. How long would I stop? was the next
earnest inquiry. Would I stay two or three months?
They would get me plenty of birds and animals, and I
might soon finish all the goods I had brought, and then,
said the old spokesman, “ Don’t go away, but send for
more things from Dobbo, and stay here a year or two.”
And then again the old story, “Do tell us the name of
your country. We know the Bugis men, and the Macassar
men, and the Java men, and the China men; only you, we
don’t know from what country you come. Ung-lung! it
can't be; I know that is not the name of your country.”
Seeing no end to this long talk, I said 1 was tired, and
wanted to go to sleep; so after begging—one a little bit of
dry fish for his supper, and another a little salt to eat with
his sago—they went off very quietly, and I went outside
and took a stroll round the house by moonlight, thinking of
the simple people and the strange productions of Aru, and
then turned in under my mosquito curtain, to sleep with
a sense of perfect security in the midst of these good-
natured savages.
We now had seven or eight days of hot and dry
weather, which reduced the little river to a succession of
shallow pools connected by the smallest possible thread of
trickling water. If there were a dry season like that of
Macassar, the Aru Islands would be uninhabitable, as there
is no part of them much above a hundred feet high ; and
the whole being a mass of porous coralline rock, allows
the surface water rapidly to escape. The only dry season
they have is for a month or two about September or
+
462 THE ARU ISLANDS. (cHAP. XXXI.
October, and there is then an excessive scarcity of water, |
so that sometimes hundreds of birds and other animals die
of drought. The natives then remove to houses near the
sources of the small streams, where, in the shady depths of
the forest, a small quantity of water still remains. Even
then many of them have to go miles for their water, which
they keep in large bamboos and use very sparingly. They
assure me that they catch and kill game of all kinds,
by watching at the water holes or setting snares around
them, That would be the time for me to make my collec-
tions; but the want of water would be a terrible annoy-
ance, and the impossibility of getting away before another
whole year had passed made it out of the question.
Ever since leaving Dobbo I had suffered terribly from
insects, who seemed here bent upon revenging my long-
continued persecution of their race. At our first stopping-
place sand-flies were very abundant at night, penetrating to
every part of the body, and producing a more lasting irri-
tation than mosquitoes. My feet and ankles especially
suffered, and were completely covered with little red
swollen specks, which tormented me horribly. On arriving
here we were delighted to find the house free from sand-
flies or mosquitoes, but in the plantations where my daily
walks led me, the day-biting mosquitoes swarmed, and
seemed especially to delight in attacking my poor feet.
After a month's incessant punishment, those useful
members rebelled against such treatment and broke into
open insurrection, throwing out numerous inflamed ulcers,
which were very painful, and stopped me from walking.
So I found myself confined to the house, and with no
immediate prospect of leaving it. Wounds or sores in
the feet are especially difficult to heal in hot climates, and
I therefore dreaded them more than any other illness. The
confinement was very annoying, as the fine hot weather
was excellent for insects, of which I had every promise of
obtaining a fine collection; and it is only by daily and
unremitting search that the smaller kinds, and the rarer
and more interesting specimens, can be obtained. When I
crawled down to the river-side to bathe, 1 often saw the
blue-winged Papilio ulysses, or some other equally rare and
beautiful insect ; but there was nothing for it but patience,
¥
CHAP. XXXI.] GREAT BIRD OF PARADISE. AG63
and to return quietly to my bird-skinning, or whatever
other work I had indoors. The stings and bites and
ceaseless irritation caused by these pests of the tropical
forests, would be borne uncomplainingly; but to be kept
prisoner by them in so rich and unexplored a country,
where rare and beautiful creatures are to be met with in
every forest ramble—a country reached by such a long and
tedious voyage, and which might not in the present cen-
tury be again visited for the same purpose—is a punish-
ment too severe for a naturalist to pass over in silence.
I had, however, some consolation in the birds my boys
brought home daily, more especially the Paradiseas, which
they at length obtained in full plumage. It was quite a
relief to my mind to get these, for I could hardly have torn
myself away from Aru had I not obtained specimens.
But what I valued almost as much as the birds themselves
was the knowledge of their habits, which I was daily ob-
taining both from the accounts of my hunters, and from
the conversation of the natives. The birds had now com-
menced what the people here call their “ sdcaleli,” or
dancing-parties, in certain trees in the forest, which are not
fruit trees as I at first imagined, but which have an im-
mense head of spreading branches and large but scattered
leaves, giving a clear space for the birds to play and exhibit
their plumes. On one of these trees a dozen or twenty
full-plumaged male birds assemble together, raise up their
wings, stretch out their necks, and elevate their exquisite
plumes, keeping them in a continual vibration. Between
whiles they fly across from branch to branch in great ex-
citement, so that the whole tree is filled with waving plumes
in every variety of attitude and motion. (See Illustration
facing p. 443.) The bird itself is nearly as large as a crow,
and is of a rich coffee brown colour. The head and neck is of
a pure straw yellow above, and rich metallic green beneath.
The long plumy tufts of golden orange feathers spring from
the sides beneath each wing, and when the bird is in repose
are partly concealed by them. At the time of its excitement,
however, the wings are raised vertically over the back, the
head is bent down and stretched out, and the long plumes
are raised up and expanded till they form two magnificent
golden fans striped with deep red at the base, and fading
464 THE ARU ISLANDS. | CHAP. XXX..
off into the pale brown tint of the finely divided and softly
waving points. The whole bird is then overshadowed by
them, the crouching body, yellow head, and emerald green
throat forming but the foundation and setting to the golden
elory which waves above. When seen in this attitude, the
Bird of Paradise really deserves its name, and must be
ranked as one of the most beautiful and most wonderful of
living things. I continued also to get specimens of the
lovely little king-bird occasionally, as well as numbers of
brilliant pigeons, sweet little parroquets, and many curious
small birds, most nearly resembling those of Australia and
New Guinea.
Here, as among most savage people I have dwelt among,
I was delighted with the beauty of the human form—a
beauty of which stay-at-home civilized people can scarcely
have any conception. What are the finest Grecian - statues
to the living, moving, breathing men I saw daily around
me? The unrestrained grace of the naked savage as he
goes about his daily occupations, or lounges at his ease,
must be seen to be understood; and a youth bending his
bow is the perfection of manly beauty. The women,
however, except in extreme youth, are by no means So
pleasant to look at as the men. ~ Their strongly-marked
features are very unfeminine, and hard work, privations,
and very early marriages soon destroy whatever of beauty
or grace they may for a short time possess. Their toilet is
very simple, but also, I am sorry to say, very Coarse,
and disgusting. It consists solely of a mat of plaited
strips of palm leaves, worn tight round the body, and
reaching from the hips to the knees. It seems not to be
changed till worn out, is seldom. washed, and is generally
very dirty. This is the universal dress, except in a few
cases where Malay “sarongs” have come into use. Their
frizzly hair is tied in a bunch at the back of the head.
They delight in combing, or rather forking it, using for that
purpose a large wooden fork with four diverging prongs,
which answers the purpose of separating and arranging
the long tangled, frizzly mass of cranial vegetation much
better than any comb could do. The only ornaments of
the women are earrings and necklaces, which they arrange
cHaP. XxXI.] MALE AND FEMALE ORNAMENTS, 465
in various tasteful ways. The ends of a necklace are often
attached to the earrings, and then looped on to the hair-
knot behind. This has really an elegant appearance, the
beads hanging gracefully on each side of the head, and by
establishing a connexion with the earrings give an appear-
ance of utility to those barbarous ornaments, We recom-
mend this style to the consideration of those of the fair sex
who still bore holes in their ears and hang rings thereto.
Another style of necklace among these Papuan belles is to
wear two, each hanging on one side of the neck and under
the opposite arm, so as to cross each other. This has a
very pretty appearance, in part due to the contrast of the
white beads or kangaroo teeth of which they are composed
with the dark glossy skin. The earrings themselves are
formed of a bar of copper or silver, twisted so that the
ends cross.) The men, as usual among savages, adorn
themselves more than the women. They wear necklaces,
earrings, and finger rings, and delight in a band of plaited
grass tight round the arm just below the shoulder, tu
which they attach a bunch of hair or bright coloured
feathers by way of ornament The teeth of small
animals, either alone, or alternately with black or white
beads, form their necklaces, and sometimes bracelets also.
For these latter, however, they prefer brass wire, or the
black, horny, wing-spines of the cassowary, which they
consider a charm. Anklets of brass or shell, and tight
plaited garters below the knee, complete their ordinary
decorations,
Some natives of Kobror from further south, and who
are reckoned the worst and least civilized of the Aru
tribes, came one day to visit us. They have a rather
more than usually savage appearance, owing to the creater
amount of ornaments they use—the most conspicuous
being a large horseshoe-shaped comb which they wear
over the forehead, the ends resting on the temples. The
back of the comb is fastened into a piece of wood, which
is plated with tin in front, and above is attached a plume
of feathers from a cock’s tail. In other respects they
scarcely differed from the people I was living with. They
brought me a couple of birds, some shells and insects,
Showing that the report of the white man and his doings
H
468 THE ARU ISLANDS. (cHAY. XXXL.
had reached their country. There was probably hardly a
man in Aru who had not by this time heard of me. ~
Besides the domestic utensils already mentioned, the
moveable property of a native is very scanty. He
has a good supply of spears and bows and arrows for
hunting, a parang, or chopping-knife, and an axe—tfor
the stone age has passed away here, owing to the com-
mercial enterprise of the Bugis and other Malay races.
Attached to a belt, or hung across his shoulder, he carries
a little skin pouch and an ornamented bamboo, containing
betel-nut, tobacco, and lime, and a small German wooden-
handled knife is generally stuck between his waist-cloth
of bark and his bare skin. Each man also possesses a
“cadjan,’ or sleeping-mat, made of the broad leaves of
a pandanus neatly sewn together in three layers. This
mat is about four feet square, and when folded has one
end sewn up, so that it forms a kind of sack open at one
side, In the closed corner the head or feet can be placed,
or by carrying it on the head in a shower it forms both
coat and umbrella. It doubles up in a small compass for
convenient carriage, and then forms a light and elastic
cushion, so that on a journey it becomes clothing, house,
bedding, and furniture, all in one.
The only ornaments in an Aru house are trophies of the
chase—jaws of wild pigs, the heads and backbones of
cassowaries, and plumes made from the feathers of the
Bird of Paradise, cassowary, and domestic fowl. The
spears, shields, knife-handles, and other utensils are more
or less carved in fanciful designs, and the mats and leat
boxes are painted or plaited in neat patterns of red, black,
and yellow colours. I must not forget these boxes, which
are most ingeniously made of the pith of a palm leaf —
pegged together, lined inside with pandanus leaves, and
outside with the same, or with plaited grass. All the
joints and angles are covered with strips of split rattan,
sewn neatly on. The lid is covered with the brown —
leathery spathe of the Areca palm, which is impervious
to water, and the whole box is neat, strong, and well
finished. They are made from a few inches to two or
three feet long, and being much esteemed by the Malays
as clothes-boxes, are a regular article of export from Aru.
CHAP. XXX1.] RAVENOUS DOGS. 467
The natives use the smaller ones for tobacco or betel-nut,
but seldom have clothes enough to require the larger ones,
which are only made for sale.
Among the domestic animals which may generally be
seen in native houses, are gaudy parrots, green, red, and
blue, a few domestic fowls, which have baskets hung for
them to lay in under the eaves, and who sleep on the
ridge, and several half-starved wolfish-looking dogs. In-
stead of rats and mice there are curious little marsupial
animals about the same size, which run about at night and
ulbble anything eatable that may be left uncovered. Four
or five different kinds of ants attack everything not
isolated by water, and one kind even swims across that;
great spiders lurk in baskets and boxes, or hide in the folds
of my mosquito curtain ; centipedes and millepedes are
found everywhere. I have caught them under my pillow
and on my head; while in every box, and under ever
board which has lain for some days undisturbed, little
scorpions are sure to be found snugly ensconced, with their
formidable tails quickly turned up ready for attack or
defence. Such companions seem very alarming and dan-
gerous, but all combined are not so bad as the irritation
of mosquitoes, or of the insect pests often found at
home. These latter are a constant and unceasing source
of torment and disgust, whereas you may live a long time
aiulong scorpions, spiders, and centipedes, ugly and veno-
mous though they are, and get no harm from them. After
living twelve years in the tropics, I have never yet been
bitten or stung by either.
The lean and hungry dogs before mentioned were my
greatest enemies, and kept me constantly on the watch.
lt my boys left the bird they were skinning for an instant,
it was sure to be carried off. Everything eatable had to
be hung up to the roof, to be out of their reach. Ali
had just finished skinning a fine King Bird of Paradise
one day, when he dropped the skin. Before he could
stoop to pick it up, one of this famished race had seized
upon it, and he only succeeded in rescuing it from its
fangs after it was torn to tatters. Two skins of the large
Paradisea, which were quite dry and ready to pack away,
were incautiously left on my table for the night, wrapped
HH Z
468 THE ARU ISLANDS. (CHAP. XXXI.
up in paper. The next morning they were gone, and only
a few scattered feathers indicated their fate. My hanging
shelf was out of their reach; but having stupidly left a
box which served as a step, a full-plumaged Paradise bird
was next morning missing ; and a dog below the house was
to be seen still mumbling over the fragments, with the fine
golden plumes all trampled in the mud, Every night, as
soon as-1 was in bed, I could hear them searching about
for what they could devour, under my table, and all about
my boxes and baskets, keeping me in a state of suspense
till morning, lest something of value might incautiously
have been left within their reach. They would drink the
oil of my floating lamp and eat the wick, and upset or
break my crockery if my lazy boys had neglected to wash
away even the smell of anything eatable. Bad, however,
as they are here, they were worse in a Dyak’s house in
Borneo where I was once staying, for there they onawed
off the tops of my waterproof boots, ate a large piece out of
an old leather game-bag, besides devouring a portion of my
inosquito curtain !
April 28th.—Last evening we had a grand consultation,
which had evidently been arranged and discussed before-
hand. A number of the natives gathered round me, and
said they wanted to talk. Two of the best Malay scholars
helped each other, the rest putting in hints and ideas in
their own language. They told me a long rambling story ;
but, partly owing to their imperfect knowledge of Malay,
partly through my ignorance of local terms, and partly
through the incoherence of their narrative, I could not
make it out very clearly. It was, however, a tradition,
and I was glad to find they had anything of the kind. A
long time ago, they said, sorne strangers came to Aru, and
eame here to Wanumbai, and the chief of the Wanumbal
people did not like them, and wanted them to go away,
but they would not go, and so it came to fighting, and |
many Aru men were killed, and some, along with the chief, —
were taken prisoners, and carried away by the strangers. —
Some of the speakers, however, said that he was not carried —
away, but went away in his own boat to escape from the
foreigners, and went to the sea and never came back again. —
But they all believe that the chief and the people chat
CHAP, XXXI.] A LEGEND, 469
went with him still live in some foreign country ; and if
they could but find out where, they would send for them
to come back again. Now having some vague idea that
white men must know every country beyond the sea, they
wanted to know if I had met their people in my country
or in the sea. They thought they must be there, for they
could not imagine where else they could be. They had
sought for them everywhere, they said—on the land and in
the sea, in the forest and on the mountains, in the air and
in the sky, and could not find them; therefore, they must
be in my country, and they begged me to tell them, for I
must surely know, as I came from across the great sea. I
tried to explain to them that their friends could not have
reached my country in small boats; and that there were
plenty of islands like Aru all about the sea, which they
would be sure to find. Besides, as it was so long ago, the
chief and all the people must be dead. But they quite
laughed at this idea, and said they were sure they were alive,
for they had proof of it. And then they told me that a good
many years ago, when the speakers were boys, some Wokan
men who were out fishing met these lost people in the sea,
and spoke to them; and the chief gave the Wokan men a
hundred fathoms of cloth to bring to the men of Wanum-
bai, to show that they were alive and would soon come
back to them; but the Wokan men were thieves, and kept
the cloth, and they only heard of it afterwards; and when
they spoke about it, the Wokan men denied it, and pre-
tended they had not received the cloth ;—so they were
quite sure their friends were at that time alive and some-
where in the sea. And again, not many years ago, a report
came to them that some Bugis traders had brought some
children of their lost people ; so they went to Dobbo to see
about it, and the owner of the house, who was now speak-
ing to me, was one who went; but the Bugis man would
not let them see the children, and threatened to kill them
if they came into his house. He kept the children shut
up in a large box, and when he went away he took them
with him. And at the end of each of these stories, they
begged me in an imploring tone to tell them if I knew
where their chief and their people now were.
By dint of questioning, I got some account of the
470 THE ARU ISLANDS. [cHAP. XXX1.
strangers who had taken away their people. They said
they were wonderfully strong, and each one could kill a
great many Aru men ; and when they were wounded, how-
ever badly, they spit upon the place, and it immediately
became well. And they made a great net of rattans, and
entangled their prisoners in it, and sunk them in the
water; and the next day, when they pulled the net up on
shore, they made the drowned men come to life again, and
carried them away. 3
Much more of the same kind was told me, but in so
confused and rambling a manner that I could make no-
thing out of it, till I inquired how long ago it was that
all this happened, when they told me that after their
people were taken away the Bugis came in their praus, to
trade in Aru, and to buy tripang and birds’ nests. It is
not impossible that something similar to what they related
to me really happened when the early Portuguese dis-
coverers first came to Aru, and has formed the founda-
tion for a continually increasing accumulation of legend
and fable. I have no doubt that to the next generation,
or even before, I myself shall be transformed into a magi-
cian or a demigod, a worker of miracles, and a being of
supernatural knowledge. They already believe that all
the animals I preserve will come to life again ; and to
their children it will be related that they actually did so.
An unusual spell of fine weather setting in just at my
arrival has made them believe I can control the seasons ;
and the simple circumstance of my always walking alone
‘n the forest is a wonder and a mystery to them, as well as
my asking them about birds and animals I have not yet
seen, and showing an acquaintance with their forms,
colours, and habits. These facts are brought against me
when I disclaim knowledge of what they wish me to tell
them. “You must know,” say they; “you know every-
thing: you make the fine weather for your men to shoot ;
and you know all about our birds and our animals as well
as we do; and you go alone into the forest and are not
afraid.” Therefore every confession of ignorance on my
part is thought to be a blind, a mere excuse to avoid tell-
ing them too much. My very writing materials and books
are to them weird things; and were I to choose to mystify
=
CHAP, XXXI.] WEAPONS OF WAR. AV]
them by a few simple experiments with lens and magnet,
miracles without end would in a few years cluster about
me ; and future travellers, penetrating to Wanumbai, would
hardly believe that a poor English naturalist, who had re-
sided a few months among them, could have been the
original of the supernatural being to whom so many
marvels were attributed.
For some days I had noticed a good deal of excitement,
and many strangers came and went armed with spears and
cutlasses, bows and shields. I now found there was war
near us—two neighbouring villages having a quarrel about
some matter of local politics that I could not understand.
They. told me it was quite a common thing, and that they
are rarely without fighting somewhere near. Individual
quarrels are taken up by villages and tribes, and the non-
payment of the stipulated price for a wife is one of the
most frequent causes of bitterness and bloodshed. One
of the war shields was brought me to look at. It was
made of rattans and covered with cotton twist, so as to be
both light, strong, and very tough. I should think it
would resist any ordinary bullet. About the middle there
was an arm-hole with a shutter or flap over it. This
enables the arm to be put through and the bow drawn,
while the body and face, up to the eyes, remain pretected,
which cannot be done if the shield is carried on the arm
by loops attached at the back in the ordinary way. A
few of the young men from our house went to help their
friends, but I could not hear that any of them were hurt,
or that there was much hard fighting.
May 8th—I had now been six weeks at Wanumbai,
but for more than half the time was laid up in the house
with ulcerated feet. My stores being nearly exhausted,
and my bird and insect boxes full, and having no imme-
diate prospect of getting the use of my legs again, I
determined on returning to Dobbo. Birds had lately
become rather scarce, and the Paradise birds had not yet
become as plentiful as the natives assured me they would
be in another month, The Wanumbai people seemed
very sorry at my departure ; and well they might be, for
the shells and insects they picked up on the way to and
from their plantations, and the birds the little boys shot
472 THE ARU ISLANDS. [cHAP. XXXII.
with their bows and arrows, kept them all well supplied
with tobacco and gambir, besides enabling them to accu-
mulate a stock of beads and coppers for future expenses.
The owner of the house was supplied gratis with a little
rice, fish, or salt, whenever he asked for it, which I must
say was not very often. On parting, I distributed among
them my remnant stock of salt and tobacco, and gave my
host a flask of arrack, and believe that on the whole my
stay with these simple and good-natured people was pro-
ductive of pleasure and profit to both parties. I fully
intended to come back; and had I known that circum-
stances would have prevented my doing so, should have
felt some sorrow in leaving a place where I had first. seen
so many rare and beautiful living things, and had so fully
enjoyed the pleasure which fills the heart of the naturalist
when he is so fortunate as to discover a district hitherto
unexplored, and where every day brings forth new and
unexpected treasures. We loaded our boat in the after-
noon, and, starting before daybreak, by the help of a fair
wind reached Dobbo late the same evening.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE ARU ISLANDS.—SECOND RESIDENCE AT DOBBO.
(MAY AND JUNE 1857.)
OBBO was full to overflowing, and I was obliged to
occupy the court-house where the Commissioners
hold their sittings. They had now left the island, and I
found the situation agreeable, as it was at the end of the
village, with a view down the principal street. It was a
mere shed, but half of it had a roughly boarded floor, and
by putting up a partition and opening a window I made it
a very pleasant abode. In one of the boxes I had left |
in charge of Herr Warzbergen, a colony of small ants had —
settled and deposited millions of eggs. It was luckily a ~
fine hot day, and by carrving the box some distance from
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CHAP, XXXII] DOBBO. 473
the house, and placing every article in the sunshine for an
hour or two, I got rid of them withcut damage, as they
were fortunately a harmless species.
Dobbo now presented an animated appearance. Five or
six new houses had been added to the street; the praus
were all brought round to the western side of the point,
where they were hauled up on the beach, and were being
caulked and covered with a thick white lime-plaster for
the homeward voyage, making them the brightest and
cleanest looking things in the place. Most of the small
boats had returned from the “ blakang-tana” (back
country), as the side of the islands towards New Guinea
is called. Piles of firewood were being heaped up behind
the houses; sail-makers and carpenters were busy at
work mother-of-pearl shell was being tied up in bundles,
and the black and ugly smoked tripang was having a
last exposure to the sun before loading. The spare
portion of the crews were employed cutting and squaring
tamber, and boats from Ceram and Goram were constantly
unloading their cargoes of sago-cake for the traders’ home-
ward voyage. The fowls, ducks, and goats all looked fat
and thriving on the refuse food of a dense population, and
the Chinamen’s pigs were in a state of obesity that fore-
boded early death. Parrots and lories and cockatoos,
of a dozen different kinds, were suspended on bamboo
perches at the doors of the houses, with metallic green or
white fruit-pigeons which cooed musically at noon and
eventide. Young cassowaries, strangely striped with
black and brown, wandered about the heuses or gambolled
with the playfulness of kittens in the hot sunshine, with
sometimes a pretty little kangaroo, caught in the Aru
forests, but already tame and graceful as a petted fawn.
Of an evening there were more signs of life than at
the time of my former residence. Tom-toms, jews -harps,
and even fiddles were to be heard, and the melancholy
Malay songs sounded not unpleasantly far into the night.
Almost every day there was a cock-fight in the street.
The spectators make a ring, and after the long steel spurs
are tied on, and the poor animals are set down to gash and
kill each other, the excitement is immense. Those who
have made bets scream and yell and jump frantically, if
AT THE ARU ISLANDS. (CHAP. XXXI
they think they are going to win or lose, but in a very
few minutes it is all over; there is a hurrah from the
winners, the owners seize their cocks, the winning bird is
caressed and admired, the loser is generally dead or very
badly wounded, and his master may often be seen pluck-
ing out his feathers as he walks away, preparing him for
the cooking pot while the poor bird is still alive.
A game at foot-ball, which generally took place at sun-
set, was, however, much more interesting to me. The ball
used is a rather small one, and is made of rattan, hollow,
light, and elastic. The player keeps it dancing a little
while on his foot, then occasionally on his arm or thigh,
till suddenly he gives it a good blow with the hollow of
the foot, and sends it flying high in the air. Another
player runs to meet it, and at its first bound catches it on
his foot and plays in his turn. The ball must never be
touched with the hand; but the arm, shculder, knee, or
thigh are used at pleasure to rest. the foot. Two or three
played very skilfully, keeping the: ball continually flying
about, but the place. was too confined to show off the game
to advantage. One evening a quarrel arose from some
dispute in the game, and there was a creat row, and it
was feared: there would be a fight about it—not two men
only, but a party of a dozen or twenty on each side, a
regular battle with knives and krisses; but after a large
amount of talk it passed off quietly, and we heard nothing
about it.afterwards.
Most Europeans being gifted by nature with a luxuriant
srowth of hair upon their faces, think it disfigures them,
and keep up a continual struggle against her by mowing
down every morning the crop which has sprouted up
during the preceding twenty-four hours. Now the men of
Mongolian race are, naturally, just as many of us want to
be. They mostly pass their lives with faces as smooth and
beardless as an infant’s. But shaving seems an instinct of
the human race; for many of these people, having no hair |
to take off their faces, shave their heads. Others, how-
ever, set resolutely to work to force nature to give them a
heard. One of the chief cock-fighters at Dobbo was 4
Javanese, a sort of master of the ceremonies of the ring,
who tied on the spurs and acted as backer-up to one of
CHAP. XXXII. | CULTIVATING A BEARD. 475
the combatants. This man had succeeded, by assiduous
cultivation, in raising a pair of moustaches which were a
triumph of art, for they each contained about a dozen
hairs more than three inches long, and which, being well
greased and twisted, were distinctly visible (when not too
far off) as a black thread hanging down on each side of
his mouth. But the beard to match was the difficulty, for
nature had cruelly refused to give him a rudiment of hair
on his chin, and the most talented gardener could not do
much if he had nothing to cultivate. But true genius
triumphs over difficulties. Although there was no hair
proper on the chin, there happened to be, rather on one
side of it, a.small mole or freckle which contained (as
such things frequently do) a few stray hairs. These had
been made the most of. They had reached four or five
inches in length, and formed another black thread dangling
from the left angle of the chin. The owner carried this
as if it were. something..remarkable (as it certainly was) ;
he often felt it affectionately, passed it between his fingers,
and was evidently extremely proud of his:moustaches and
beard !
One of the most surprising things connected with Aru
was the excessive cheapness of all articles of European or
native manufacture. ‘We were here two thousand miles
beyond Singapore and Batavia, which are themselves
emporiums of the “far east,” in a place unvisited by,
and almost unknown to, European traders ; everything
reached us through at least two or three hands, often
many more; yet English calicoes and American cotton
cloths could be bought for 8s. the piece, muskets for 15s.,
common scissors and. German knives at three-halfpence
each, and other cutlery, cotton goods, and earthenware in
the same proportion. The natives of this out-of-the-way
country can, in fact, buy all these things at about the
same money price as our workmen at home, but in reality
very much cheaper, for the produce of a few hours’ labour
enables the savage to purchase in abundance what are to
him luxuries, while to the European they are necessaries
of life. The barbarian is no happier and no better off for
this cheapness. On the contrary, it has a most injurious
effect on him. He wants the stimulus of necessity to
476 THE ARU ISLANDS. [cHAP. XXXIl.
torce him to labour ; andif iron were as dear as silver, and
ealico as costly as satin, the effect would be beneficial to
him, As it is, he has more idle hours, gets a more constant
supply of tobacco, and can intoxicate himself with arrack
more frequently and more thoroughly ; for your Aru man
scorns to get half drunk—a tumbler full of arrack is but
a slight stimulus, and nothing less than half a gallon of
spirit will make him tipsy to his own satisfaction.
It is not agreeable to reflect on this state of things. At
least half of the vast multitudes of uncivilized peoples,
on whom our gigantic manufacturing system, enormous
capital, and intense competition force the produce of our
looms and workshops, would be not a whit worse off
physically, and would certainly be improved morally, if
all the articles with which we supply them were double
or treble their present prices. If at the same time the
difference of cost, or a large portion of it, could find its
way into the pockets of the manufacturing workmen,
thousands would be raised from want to comfort, from
starvation to health, and would be removed frem one of
the chief incentives to crime. It is difficult for an English-
man to avoid contemplating with pride our gigantic and
ever-increasing manufactures and commerce, and thinking
everything good that renders their progress still more
rapid, either by lowering the price at which the articles
can be produced, or by discovering new markets to which
they may be sent. If, however, the question that is so
frequently asked of the votaries of: the less popular
sciences were put here—* Cui bono ? ”__it, would be found
more difficult to answer than had been imagined. The
advantages, even to the few who reap them, would be seen
to be mostly physical, while the wide-spread moral and
intellectual evils resulting from unceasing labour, low |
wages, crowded dwellings, and monotonous oceupations, to
perhaps as large a number as those who gain any real
advantage, might be held to show a balance of evil so
great, as to lead the greatest admirers of our manufactures
and commerce to doubt the advisability of their further
development. It will be said: “We cannot stop it;
capital must be employed; our population must be kept
at work; if we hesitate a moment, other nations now hard
cuaP. xxxu.] ILL EFFECTS OF COMPETITION. any
pressing us will get ahead, and national ruin will follow.”
Some of this is true, some fallacious. It is undoubtedly
a difficult problem which we have to solve; and I am
inclined to think it is this difficulty that makes men con:
clude that what seems a necessary and unalterable state «uf
things must be good—that its benefits must be greater
than its evils. This was the feeling of the American
advocates of slavery; they could not see an easy, comfort-
able way out of it. In our own case, however, it is to be
hoped, that if a fair consideration of the matter in all its
bearings shows that a preponderance of evil arises from
the immensity of our manufactures and commerce—ev1!
which must go on increasing with their increase—there is
enough both of political wisdom and true philanthropy in
Englishmen, to induce them to turn their superabundant
wealth into other channels. The fact that has led to these
remarks is surely a striking one: that in one of the most
remote corners of the earth savages can buy clothing
cheaper than the people of the country where it is made ;
that the weaver’s child should shiver in the wintry wind,
unable to purchase articles attainable by the wild natives
of a tropical climate, where clothing is mere ornament or
luxury, should make us pause ere we regard with unmixed
admiration the system which has led to such a result, and’
cause us to look with some suspicion on the further exten-
sion. of that system. It must be remembered too thai our
commerce is not a purely natural growth. It has been
ever fostered by the legislature, and torced to an unnaturat
luxuriance by the protection of our fleets and armies. The
wisdom and the justice of this policy have been already
doubted. So soon, therefore, as it is seen that the further
extension of our manufactures and commerce would be ax.
evil, the remedy is not far to seek.
After six weeks’ confinement to the house I was at
length well, and could resume my daily walks in the
forest. 1 did not, however, find it so productive as wheu
I had first arrived at Dobbo. There was a damp stagna-
tion about the paths, and insects were very scarce. In
some of my best collecting places I now found a mass uf
rotting wood, mingled with young shoots, and overgrown
478 THE ARU ISLANDS. (CHAP. XXXIL.
with climbers, yet I always managed to add something daily
to my extensive collections. I one day met with a se So
example of failure of instinct, which, by showing it to be
fallible, renders it very doubtful whether it is anything more
than hereditary habit, dependent on delicate modifications
of sensation. Some sailors cut down a good-sized tree, aud,
as is always my practice, I visited it daily for some time in
search of insects. Among other beetles came swarms of
the little cylindrical wood-borers (Platypus, Tesserocerus,
&e.), and commenced making holes in the bark. After a
day or two I was surprised to find hundreds of them
sticking in the holes they had bored, and on examination
discovered that the milky sap of the tree was of the nature
of gutta-percha, hardening rapidly on exposure to the alr,
and glueing the little animals in self-duy graves. The
habit of boring holes in trees in which to deposit their
eggs, was not accompanied by a sufficient instinctive
knowledge of which trees were suitable, and which
destructive to them. If, as is very probable, these trees
have an attractive odour to certain species of borers, it
might very likely lead to their becoming extinct; while
other species, to whom the same odour was disagreeable,
and who therefore avoided the dangerous trees, would sur-
vive, and would be credited by us with an instinct, whereas
they would really be guided by a simple sensation.
Those curious little beetles, the Brenthidee, were very
abundant in Aru. The females have a pointed rostrum,
with which they bore deep holes in the bark of dead trees,
often burying the rostrum up to the eyes, and in these
holes deposit their eggs. The males are larger, and have
the rostrum dilated at the end, and sometimes terminating
in a good-sized pair of jaws. 1 once saw two males fight-
ing together ; each had a fore-leg laid across the neck of
the other, and the rostrum bent quite in an attitude of
defiance, and looking most ridiculous. Another time, two
were fighting for a female, who stood close by busy at her
boring. They pushed at each other with their rostra, and
clawed and thumped, apparently in the greatest rage,
although their coats of mail must have saved both from
injury. The small one, however, soon ran away, acknow-
ledging himself vanquished. In most Coleoptera the
CHAP. XXXII] BURYING IN DOBBO. 479
female is larger than the male, and it is therefore interest-
ing, as bearing on the question of sexual selection, that in
this case, as in the stag-beetles where the males fight
together, they should be not only better armed, but also
much larger than the females.
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MALE BRENTHID (Leptorhynchus angusiatus) FIGHTING.
Just as we were going away, a handsome tree, allied to
Erythrina, was in blossom, showing its masses of large
crimson flowers scattered here and there about the forest.
Could it have been seen from an elevation, it would have
had a fine effect ; from below I could only catch sight of
masses of gorgeous colour in clusters and festoons over-
head, about which flocks of blue and orange lories were
fluttering and screaming.
A good many people died at Dobbo this season; I
believe about twenty. They were buried in a little grove
of Casuarinas behind my house. Among the traders was
a Mahometan priest, who superintended the funerals,
which were very simple. The body was wrapped up in
new white cotton cloth, and was carried on a bier to the
grave. All the spectators sat down on the ground, and
the priest chanted some verses from the Koran. The graves
were fenced round with a slight bamboo railing, and a
little carved wooden head-post was put to mark the spot.
rhere was also in the village a small mosque, where every
Yriday the faithful went to pray. This is probably more
ABO THE ARU ISLANDS. (CHAP. XXXIL
remote from Mecca than any other mosque in the world,
and marks the farthest eastern extension of the Maho-
métan religion. The Chinese here, as elsewhere, showed
their superior wealth and civilization by tombstones of
solid granite brought from Singapore, with deeply-cut
inscriptions, the characters of which are painted in red,
blue, and gold. No people have more respect for the
craves of their relations and friends than tnis strange,
ubiquitous, money-getting people.
Soon after we had returned to Dobbo, my Macassar boy,
Baderoon, took his wages and left me, because I scolded
him for laziness. He then occupied himself in gambling,
and at first had some luck, and bought ornaments, and had
plenty of money. Then his luck turned; he lost every-
thing, borrowed money and lost that, and was obliged to
become the slave of his creditor till he had worked out the
debt. He was a quick and active lad when he pleased,
but was apt to be idle, and had such an incorrigible pro-
pensity for gambling, that it will very likely lead to his
becoming a slave for life.
The end of June was now approaching, the east monsoon
had set in steadily, and in another week or two Dobbo
would be deserted. Preparations for departure were every-
where visible, and every sunny day (rather rare now) the
streets were as crowded and as busy as beehives. Heaps
of tripang were finally dried and packed up in sacks ;
mother-of-pearl shell, tied up with rattans into convenient
bundles, was all day long being carried to the beach to be
loaded ; water-casks were filled, and cloths and mat-sails
mended and strengthened for the run home before the
strong east wind. Almost every day groups of natives
arrived from the most distant parts of the islands, with
cargoes of bananas and sugar-cane to exchange for tobacco,
sago, bread, and other luxuries, before the general de-
parture. The Chinamen killed their fat pig and made
their parting feast, and kindly sent me some pork, and a
basin of birds’-nest stew, which had very little more taste
than a dish of vermicelli, My boy Ali returned from
Wanumbai, where I had sent him alone for a fortnight to
buy Paradise birds and prepare the skins; he brought
me sixteen glorious specimens, and had he not been very
CHAP. XXX11. | AMOUNT OF TRADE. 48]
ill with fever and ague might have obtained twice the
number. He had lived with the people whose house I
had occupied, and it is a proof of their goodness, if fairly
treated, that although he took with him a quantity of
silver dollars to pay for the birds they caught, no attempt
was made to rob him, which might have been done with
the most perfect impunity. He was kindly treated when
ill, and was brought back to me with the balance of the
dollars he had not spent.
The Wanumbai people, like almost ali the inhabitants of
the Aru Islands, are perfect savages, and I saw no signs of
any religion. There are, however, three or four villages on
the coast where schoolmasters from Amboyna reside, and
the people are nominally Christians, and are to some extent
educated and civilized. I could not get much real know-
ledge of the customs of the Aru people during the short
time. I was among them, but they have evidently been con-
siderably influenced by their long association with Maho-
metan traders. They often bury their dead, although the
national custom is to expose the body on a raised stage till
it decomposes. Though there is no limit to the number
of wives a man may have, they seldom exceed one or two.
A wife is regularly purchased from the parents, the price
being a large assortment of articles, always including
gongs, crockery, and cloth. They told me that some of
the tribes kill the old men and women when they can no
longer work, but I saw many very old and decrepid people,
who seemed pretty well attended to. No doubt all who
have much intercourse with the Bugis and Ceramese
traders gradually lose many of their native customs,
especially as these people often settle in their villages and
marry native women.
The trade carried on at Dobbo is very considerable,
This year there were fifteen large praus from Macassar,
and perhaps a hundred small boats from Ceram, Goram,
and Ké. The Macassar cargoes are worth about 1,0002.
each, and the other boats take away perhaps about 3,000.
worth, so that the whole exports may be estimated at
18,0607. per annum. The largest and most bulky items
are pearl-shell and tripang, or “ béche-de-mer,” with smaller
guantities of tortoise-shell, edible birds’ nests, pearls, orna-
TI
A892, THE ARU ISLANDS. [CHAP. XXXIL
mental woods, timber, and Birds of Paradise. These are
purchased with a variety of goods. Of arrack; about
equal in strength to ordinary West India rum, 3,000 boxes,
each containing fifteen half-gallon bottles, are consumed
annually. Native cloth from Celebes is much esteemed
for its durability, and large quantities are sold, as well as
white English calico and American unbleached cottons,
common crockery, coarse cutlery, muskets, gunpowder,
gongs, small brass cannon, and elephants’ tusks. These
three last articles constitute the wealth of the Aru people,
with which they pay for their wives, or which they hoard
up as “real property.” Tobacco is in immense demand
for chewing, and it must be very strong, or an Aru man
will not look at it. Knowing how little these people
generally work, the mass of produce obtained annually
shows that the islands must’be pretty thickly inhabited,
especially along the coasts, as nine-tenths of the whole are
marine productions.
Tt was on the 2d of July that we left Aru, followed by
all the Macassar praus, fifteen in number, who had agreed
to sail in company. We passed south of Banda, and then
steered due west, not seeing land for three days, till we
sighted some low islands west of Bouton. We had a
strong and steady south-east wind day and night, which
carried us on at about five knots an hour, where a clipper
ship would have made twelve. The sky was continually
cloudy, dark, and threatening, with occasional drizzling
showers, till we were west of Bouru, when it cleared up
and we enjoyed the bright sunny skies of the dry season
for the rest of our voyage. It is about here, therefore,
that the seasons of the eastern and western regions of the
Archipelago are divided. West of this line from June to
December is generally fine, and often very dry, the rest of
the year being the wet season, East of it the weather is
exceedingly uncertain, each island, and each side of an
island, having its own peculiarities. The difference seems
to consist not so much in the distribution of the rainfall
as in that of the clouds and the moistness of the atmo-
sphere. In Aru, for example, when we left, the little
streams were all dried up, although the weather was
gloomy ; while in January, February, and March, when we
}
4
CHAP, XXXII] THE RETURN VOYAGE. 483
had the hottest sunshine and the finest days, they were
always flowing. The driest time of all the year in Aru
occurs in September and October, just as it does in Java
and Celebes. The rainy seasons agree, therefore, with
those of the western islands, although the weather is very
different. The Molucca sea is of a very deep blue colour,
quite distinct from the clear light blue of the Atlantic. In
cloudy and dull weather it looks absolutely black, and »
when crested with foam has a stern and angry aspect.
The wind continued fair and strong during our whole
voyage, and we reached Macassar in perfect safety on the
evening of the 11th of July, having made the passage
from Aru (more than a thousand miles) in nine and a half
days. |
My expedition to the Aru Islands had been eminently
successful. Although I had been for months confined to
the house by illness, and had lost much time by the want
of the means of locomotion, and by missing the right
season at the right place, I brought away with me more
than nine thousand specimens of natural objects, of about
sixteen hundred distinct species. I had made the acquaint-
ance of a strange and little-known race of men; I had
become familiar with the traders of the far East ; I had
revelled in the delights of exploring a new fauna and flora,
one of the most remarkable and most beautiful and least-
known in the world; and I had succeeded in the main
object for which I had undertaken the journey—namely,
to obtain fine specimens of the magnificent Birds of Para-
dise, and to be enabled to observe them in their native
forests. By this success I was stimulated to: continue my
researches in the Moluccas and New Guinea for nearly
five years longer, and it is still the portion of my travels to.
which I look back with the most complete satisfaction.
112
484 THE ARU ISLANDS. [oHAP. XXXII.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE ARU ISLANDS.—PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND ASPECTS
OF NATURE.
i this chapter I propose to give a general sketch of the
physical geography of the Aru Islands, and of their
relation to the surrounding countries ; and shall thus be
able to incorporate the information obtained from traders,
and from the works of other naturalists, with my own
observations in these exceedingly interesting and little-
known regions.
The Aru group may be said to consist of one very large
central island with a number of small ones scattered round
it. The great island 1s called by the natives and traders
«Tana-busar” (great or mainland), to distinguish it as a
whole from Dobbo, or any of the detached islands. It is
of an irregular oblong form, about eighty miles from north
to south, and forty or fifty from east to west, in which
direction it is traversed by three narrow channels, dividing
it into four portions. These channels are always called
rivers by the traders, which puzzled me much till I passed
through one of them, and saw how exceedingly applicable
the name was. ‘The northern channel, called the river of
Watelai, is about a quarter of a mile wide at its entrance,
put soon narrows to about the eighth of a mile, which
width it retains, with little variation, during its whole
length of nearly fifty miles, till it again widens at ‘its
eastern mouth. Its course is moderately winding, and the
panks are generally dry and somewhat elevated. In many
places there are low cliffs of hard coralline limestone, more
or less worn by the action of water ; while sometimes level
spaces extend from the banks to low ranges of hills a little
inland. A few small streams enter it from right and lett,
at the mouths of which are some little rocky islands. The
depth is very regular, being from ten to tifteen fathoms,
and it has thus every feature of a true river, but for the salt
water and the absence of a current. The other two rivers,
cHaP.uxxnL.] § PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 485
whose names are Vorkai and Maykor, are said to be very
similar in general character; but they are rather near
together, and have a number of cross channels intersecting
the flat tract between them. On the south side of Mayor
the banks are very rocky, and from thence to the southern
extremity of Aru is an uninterrupted extent of rather
elevated and very rocky country, penetrated by numerous
small streams, in the high limestone cliffs bordering which
the edible birds’ nests of Aru are chiefly obtained. All
iny informants stated that the two southern rivers are
larger than Watelai.
The whole of Aru is low, but by no means so flat as it
has been represented, or as it appears from the sea. Most
of it is dry rocky ground, with a somewhat undulating
surface, rising here and there into abrupt hillocks, or cut
into steep and narrow ravines. Except the patches of
swamp which are found at the mouths of most of the
small rivers, there is no absolutely level ground, although
the greatest elevation is probably not more than two
hundred feet. The rock which everywhere appears in the
ravines and brooks is a coralline limestone, in some places
soft and pliable, in others so hard and crystalline as to
resemble our mountain limestone.
The small islands which surround the central mass are
very numerous; but most of them are on the east side,
where they form a fringe, often extending ten or fifteen
miles from the main islands. On the west there are very
few, Wamma and Pulo Babi being the chief, with Ougia
and Wassia at the north-west extremity. On the east side
the sea is everywhere shallow, and full of coral; and it is
here that the pearl-shells are {uund which form one of the
chief staples of Aru trade. All the islands are covered
with a dense and very lofty forest.
The physical features here described are of peculiar
interest, and, as far as I am aware, are to some extent
unique; for I have been unable to tind any other record
of an island of the size of Aru crossed by channels which
exactly resemble true rivers. How these channels origi-
nated were a complete puzzls to me, till, after a long consi-
deration of the whole of tne natural phenomena presented
by these islands, 1 arrived at a conclusion which I will now
A86 THE ARU ISLANDS. . [cHAP, XXXII
endeavour to explain. There are three ways in which we
may conceive islands which are not volcanic to have been
formed, or to have been reduced to their present condition,
—hby elevation, by subsidence, or by separation from a
continent or larger island. The existence of coral rock, or
of raised beaches far inland, indicates recent elevation ;
lagoon coral-islands, and such as have barrier or encircling
reefs, have suffered subsidence ; while our own islands,
whose productions are entirely those of the adjacent con-
tinent, have been separated from it. Now the Aru Islands
are all coral rock, and the adjacent sea is shallow and full
of coral; it is therefore evident that they have been
elevated from beneath the ocean at a not very distant
epoch. But if we suppose that elevation to be the first
and only cause of their present condition, we shall find
ourselves quite unable to explain the curious river-chan-
nels which divide them. Fissures during upheaval would
not produce the regular width, the regular depth, or the
winding curves which characterise them; and the action
of tides and currents during their elevation might form
straits of irregular width and depth, but not the river-like
channels which actually exist. If, again, we suppose the |
last movement to have been one of subsidence, reducing
the size of the islands, these channels are quite as inex-
plicable ; for subsidence would necessarily lead to the
flooding of all low tracts on the banks of the old rivers,
and thus obliterate their courses ; whereas these remain
perfect, and of nearly uniform width from end to end.
Now if these channels have ever been rivers they must
have flowed from some higher regions, and this must have
been to the east, because on the north and west the sea-
bottom sinks down at a short distance from the shore to an
unfathomable depth; whereas on the east a shallow sea,
nowhere exceeding fifty fathoms, extends quite across to
New Guinea, a distance of about a hundred and fifty miles.
An elevation of only three hundred feet would convert the
whole of this sea into moderately high land, and make
the Aru Islands a portion of New Guinea; and the rivers
which have their mouths at Utanata and Wamuka, might —
then have flowed on across Aru, in the channels which are ;
now occupied by salt water. When the intervening land —
OHAP. XXXIII. | PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. AQ”
sunk down, we must suppose the land that now constitutes
Aru to have remained nearly stationary, a not very impro-
bable supposition, when we consider the great extent of
the shallow sea, and the very small amount of depression
the land need have undergone to produce it.
But the fact of the Aru Islands having once been con
nected with New Guinea does not rest on this evidence
alone. ‘There is such a striking resemblance between the
productions of the two countries as only exists between
portions of a common territory. I collected one hundred
species of land-birds in the Aru Islands, and about eighty
of them have been found on the mainland of New Guinea.
Among these are the great wingless cassowary, two species:
of heavy brush turkeys, and two of short winged thrushes,
which could certainly not have passed over the 150 miles
of open sea to the coast of New Guinea. This barrien is
equally effectual in the case of many other birds which
live only in the depths of the forest, as the kinghunters
(Dacelo gaudichaudi), the fly-catching wrens (Todopsis),
the great crown pigeon (Goura coronata), and the small
wood doves (Ptilonopus perlatus, P. aurantiifrons, and P.
coronulatus). Now, to show the real effect of such a
‘barrier, let us take the island of Ceram, which is exactly
the same distance from New Guinea, but separated from it
by a deep sea. Out of about seventy land-birds inhabiting
Ceram, only fifteen are found in New Guinea, and none
of these are terrestrial or forest-haunting species. The
cassowary is distinct ; the kingfishers, parrots, pigeons, fly-
catchers, honeysuckers, thrushes, and cuckoos, are almost
always quite distinct species. More than this, at least
twenty genera, which are common to New Guinea and
Aru, do not extend into Ceram, indicating with a force
which every naturalist will appreciate, that the two latter
countries have received their faunas in a radically different
manner. Again, a true kangaroo is found in Aru, and the
same species occurs in Mysol, which is equally Papuan in
its productions, while either the same, or one closely allied
to it, inhabits New Guinea; but no such animal is found
in Ceram, which is only sixty miles from Mysol. Another
small marsupial animal (Peramales doreyanus) is common
to Aru and New Guinea. The insects show exactly the
488 THE ARU ISLANDS. (CHAP, XXXL |
same results. The butterflies of Aru are all either New
Guinea species, or very slightly modified forms ; whereas
those of Ceram are more distinct than are the birds of the
two countries.
It is now generally admitted that we may safely reason.
on such facts as these, which supply a link in the defective
geological record. The upward and downward movements
which any country has undergone, and the succession of
such movements, can be determined with much accuracy ; —
but geology alone can tell us nothing of lands which have
entirely disappeared beneath the, ocean. Here physical
geography and the distribution of animals and plants are
of the greatest service. By ascertaining the depth of the
seas separating one country from another, we can form
some judgment of the changes which are taking place. If
there are other evidences of subsidence, a shallow sea
implies a former connexion of the adjacent lands; but if ©
this evidence is wanting, or if there is reason to suspect a
rising of the land, then the shallow sea may be the result
of that rising, and may indicate that the two countries will
be joined at some future time, but not that they have
previously been so. The nature of the animals and plants
inhabiting these countries will, however, almost always
enable us to determine this question. Mr. Darwin has
shown us how we may determine in almost every Case,
whether an island has ever been connected with a con-
tinent or larger land, by the presence or absence of terres-
trial Mammalia and reptiles. What he terms “oceanic
islands” possess neither of these groups of animals, though
they may have a luxuriant vegetation, and a fair number of
birds, insects, and land-shells ; and we therefore conclude
that they have originated in mid-ocean, and have never
been connected with the nearest masses of land. St.
Helena, Madeira, and New Zealand are examples of
oceanic islands. They possess all other classes of lite,
because these have means of dispersion over wide spaces
of sea, which terrestrial mammals and birds have not, as
is fully explained in Sir Charles Lyell’s “ Principles of
Geology,” and Mr. Darwin’s “ Origin of Species.” On the
other hand, an island may never have been actually con-
nected with the adjacent continents or islands, and yet
CHAP. XXXII. ] PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 489
may possess representatives of all classes of animals,
because many terrestrial mammals and some reptiles have
the means of passing over short distances of sea. But in
these cases the number of species that have thus migrated
will be very small, and there will be great deficiencies
even in birds and flying insects, which we should imagine
could easily cross over. The island of Timor (as I have
already shown in Chapter XIII.) bears this relation to
Australia ; for while it contains several birds and insects
of Australian forms, no Australian mammal or reptile is
found in it, and a great number of the most abundant and
characteristic forms of Australian birds and insects are
entirely absent. Contrast this with the British Islands, in
Which a large proportion of the plants, insects, reptiles,
and Mammalia of the adjacent parts of the continent are
fully represented, while there are no remarkable defi-
ciencies of extensive groups, such as always occur when
there is reason to believe there has been no such connexion.
The case of Sumatra, Borneo, and Java, and the Asiatic
continent is equally clear; many large Mammalia, terres-
trial birds, and reptiles being common to all, while a large
number more are of closely allied forms. Now, ceology
has taught us that this representation by allied forms in
the same locality implies lapse of time, and we therefore
infer that in Great Britain, where almost every species
is absolutely identical with those on the Continent, the
separation has been very recent; while in Sumatra and
Java, where a considerable number of the continental
species are represented by allied forms, the separation was
more remote. |
From these examples we may see how important a
supplement to geological evidence is the study of the
geographical distribution of animals and plants, in deter-
mining the former condition of the earth’s surface; and
how impossible it is to understand the former without
taking the latter into account. The productions of the
Aru Islands offer the strongest evidence that at no very
distant epoch they formed a part of New Guinea; and
the peculiar physical features which I have described,
indicate that they must have stood at very nearly the
same level then as they do now, having been separated
49() THE ARU ISLANDS. [CHAP. XXXII,
by the subsidence of the great plain which formerly con-
nected them with it.
Persons who have formed the usual ideas of the vegetation
of the tropics—who picture to themselves the abundance
and brilliancy of the flowers, and the magnificent appear-
ance of hundreds of forest trees covered with masses of
coloured blossoms, will be surprised to hear, that though
vegetation in Aru is highly luxuriant and varied, and
would afford abundance of fine and curious plants to
adorn our hothouses, yet bright and showy flowers are.
as a general rule, altogether absent, or so very Scatve
as to produce no effect whatever on the general scenery.
To give particulars: I have visited five distinct locali-
ties in the islands, I have wandered daily in the forests,
and have passed along upwards of a hundred miles
of coast and river during a period of six months, much
of it very fine weather, and till just as I was about to
leave, I never saw a single plant of striking brilliancy ©
or beauty, hardly a shrub equal to a hawthorn, or a
climber equal to a honeysuckle ! It cannot be said |
that the flowering season had not arrived, for I saw many ~
herbs, shrubs, and forest trees in flower, but all had
blossoms of a green or greenish-white tint, nob superior to ©
our lime-trees. Here and there on the river banks: and
coasts are a few Convolvulacee, not equal to our garden —
Ipomeeas, and in the deepest shades of the forest some
fine scarlet and purple Zingiberacez, but so few and
scattered as to be nothing amid the mass of green and
flowerless vegetation. Yet the noble Cycadaceze and
screw-pines, thirty or forty feet high, the elegant tree ferns,
the lofty palms, and the variety of beautiful and curious
plants which everywhere meet the eye, attest the warmth
and moisture of the tropics, and the fertility of the soil.
It is true that Aru seemed to me exceptionally poor in
flowers, but this is only an exaggeration of a general
tropical feature ; for my whole experience in the equa-
torial regions of the west and the east has convinced me,
that in the most luxuriant parts of the tropics, flowers are
less abundant, on the average less showy, and are far less
effective in adding colour to the landscape than in tempe-
’
CHAP. XXXIII. | ASPECTS OF NATURE. 49]
rate climates. I have never seen in the tropics such bril-
lant masses of colour as even England can show in her
furze-clad commons, her heathery mountain-sides, her glades
of wild hyacinths, her fields of poppies, her meadows of
buttercups and orchises—carpets of yellow, purple, azure-
blue, and fiery crimson, which the tropics can rarely ex-
hibit. We have smaller masses of colour in our hawthorn
and crab trees, our holly and mountain-ash, our broom,
foxgloves, primroses, and purple vetches, which clothe
with gay colours the whole length and breadth of our land.
These beauties are allcommon. They are characteristic of
the country and the climate; they have not to be sought
for, but they gladden the eye at every step. In the regions
of the equator, on the other hand, whether it be forest or
savannah, a sombre green clothes universal nature. You
may journey for hours, and even for days, and meet with
nothing to break the monotony. Flowers are everywhere
rare, and anything at all striking is only to be met with at
very distant intervals.
The idea that nature exhibits gay colours in the tropics,
and that the general aspect of nature is there more bright
and varied in hue than with us, has even been made the
foundation of theories of art, and we have been forbidden
to use bright colours in our garments, and in the decorations
of our dwellings, because it was supposed that we should
be thereby acting in opposition to the teachings of nature.
The argument itself is a very poor one, since it might
with equal justice be maintained, that as we possess facul-
ties for the appreciation of colours, we should make up for
the deficiencies of nature and use the gayest tints in those
regions where the landscape is most monotonous. But the
assumption on which the argument is founded is totally
false, so that even if the reasoning were valid, we need not
be afraid of outraging nature, by decorating our houses
and our persons with all those gay hues which are so
lavishly spread over -our fields and mountains, our hedges,
woods, and meadows.
It is very easy to see what has led to this erroneous
view of the nature of tropical vegetation. In our hot-
houses and at our flower-shows we gather together the
finest flowering plants from the most distant regions of
A92, NEW GUINEA. [CBAP. XXXIV, ©
the earth, and exhibit them in a proximity to each other
which never occurs in nature. A hundred distinct plants,
all with bright, or strange, or gorgeous flowers, make a
wonderful show when brought together; but perhaps no
two of these plants could ever be seen together in a
state of nature, each. inhabiting a distant region or a
(lifferent station. Again, all moderately warm extra-
European countries are mixed up with the tropics in
ceneral estimation, and a vague idea is formed that
whatever is pre-eminently beautiful mus? come from the —
hottest parts of the earth. But the fact is quite the
contrary. Rhododendrons and azaleas are plants of tem-
perate regions, the orandest lilies are from temperate
Japan, and a large proportion of our most showy flower-
ing plants are natives of the Himalayas, of the Cape, of
the United States, of Chili, or of China and Japan, all
temperate regions. True, there are @ ereat number of
srand and gorgeous flowers in the tropics, but the pro-
portion they bear to the mass of the vegetation 1s ex-
ceedingly small; so that what appears an anomaly is —
nevertheless a fact, and the effect of flowers on the
ceneral aspect of nature is far less in the equatorial
than in the temperate regions of the earth
CHAPTER XXXIV
NEW GUINEA.—DOREY
(MARCH TO JULY 1858.)
ne my return from Gilolo to Ternate, in March
1858, 1 made arrangements tor my long-wished-for —
voyage to the mainland of New Guinea, where I antici-
pated that my collections would surpass those which I had
formed at the Aru Islands. The poverty of Ternate in
articles used by Europeans was shown, by my searching 10 ©
vain through all the stores for such common things a8 —
CHAP. XXXIV. | VOYAGE TO DOREY. 49%
flour, metal spoons, wide-mouthed phials, beeswax, a pen-
knife, and a stone or metal pestle and mortar. I took with
me four servants: my head man Ali, and a Ternate lad
named Jumaat (Friday), to shoot ; Lahagi, a steady middle-
aged man, to cut timber and assist me in insect-collecting ;
and Loisa, a Javanese cook. As I knew I should have to
build a house at Dorey, where I was going, I took with
me eighty cadjans, or waterproof mats, made of pandanus
leaves, to cover over my baggage on first landing, and
to help to roof my house afterwards.
We started on the 25th of March in the schooner
Hester Helena, belonging to my friend Mr. Duivenboden,
and bound on a trading voyage along the north coast of
New Guinea. Having calms and light airs, we were
three days reaching Gané, near the south end of
Gilolo, where we stayed to fill up our water-casks and
buy a few provisions. We obtained fowls, eggs, sago,
plantains, sweet potatoes, yellow pumpkins, chilies, fish,
and dried deer’s meat; and on the afternoon of the
29th proceeded on our voyage to Dorey harbour. We
found it, however, by no means easy to get along; for so
near to the equator the monsoons entirely fail of their
regularity, and after passing the southern point of Gilolo
we had calms, light puffs of wind, and contrary currents,
which kept us for five days in sight of the same islands
between it and Poppa. A squall then brought us on to
the entrance of Dampier’s Straits, where we were again
becalmed, and were three more days creeping through
them. Several native canoes now came off to us from
Waigiou on one side, and Batanta on the other, bringing
a few common shells, palm-leaf mats, cocoa-nuts, and
pumpkins. They were very extravagant in their de-
mands, being accustomed to sell their trifles to whalers
and China ships, whose crews will purchase anything at
ten times its value. My only purchases were a float ©
belonging to a turtle-spear carved to resemble a bird,
and a very well made palm-leaf box, for which articles
[ gave a copper ring and a yard of calico. The canoes
were very narrow and furnished with an outrigger, and
in some of them there was only one man, who seemed
to think nothing of coming out alone eight or ten miles
494 NEW GUINEA. (CHAP. XXXIV.
from shore. The people were Papuans, much resembling
the natives of Aru.
When we had got out of the Straits, and were fairly in
the great Pacific Ocean, we had a steady wind for the first
time since leaving Ternate, but unfortunately it was dead
ahead, and we had to beat against. it, tacking on and off
the coast of New Guinea. I looked with intense interest
on those rugged mountains, retreating ridge behind ridge
into the interior, where the foot of civilized man had
never trod. There was the country of the cassowary and
the tree-kangaroo, and those dark forests produced the
most extraordinary and the most beautiful of the feathered
inhabitants of the earth—the varied species of Birds of
Paradise. A few days more and I hoped to be in pursuit
of these, and of the scarcely less beautiful insects which
accompany them. We had still, however, for several days
only calms and light head-winds, and it was not till the
10th of April that a fine westerly breeze set im, followed
by a squally night, which kept us off the entrance of
Dorey harbour. The next morning we entered, and came
to anchor off the small island of Mansinam, on which
dwelt two German missionaries, Messrs. Otto and Geisler.
The former immediately came on board to give us welcome,
and invited us to go on shore and breakfast with him.
We were then introduced to his companion—who was
suffering dreadfully from an abscess on the heel, which
had confined him to the house for six months—and to his
wife, a young German woman, who had been out only
three months. Unfortunately she could speak no Malay
or English, and had to guess at our compliments on her
excellent breakfast by the justice we did to it.
These missionaries were working men, and had been sent
out, as being more useful among savages than persons of a
higher class. They had been here about two years, and
Mr. Otto had already learnt to speak the Papuan language
with fluency, and had begun translating some portions of
the Bible. The language, however, is so poor that a con-
siderable number of Malay words have to be used; and it
is very questionable whether it 1s possible to convey any
idea of such a book, to a people in so low a state of
civilization. The only nominal converts yet made are a
cHap. xxxiv.1 TRADING MISSIONARIES. 495
few of the women; and some few of the children attend
school, and are being taught to read, but they make little
progress. ‘here is one feature of this mission which I
believe will materially interfere with its moral effect. The
missionaries are allowed to trade to eke out the very small
salaries granted them from Europe, and of course are
obliged to carry out the trade principle of buying cheap
and selling dear, in order to make a profit. Like all
savages the natives are quite careless of the future, and
when their small rice crops are gathered they bring a large
portion of it to the missionaries, and sell it for knives,
beads, axes, tobacco, or any other articles they may require.
A few months later, in the wet season, when food is scarce,
they come to buy it back again, and give in exchange
tortoiseshell, tripang, wild nutmegs, or other produce. Of
course the rice is sold at a much higher rate than it was
bought, as is perfectly fair and just—and the operation is
on the whole thoroughly beneficial to the natives, who
would otherwise consume and waste their food when it
was abundant, and then starve—yet I cannot imagine that
the natives see it in this light. They must look upon the
trading missionaries with some suspicion, and cannot feel
so sure of their teachings being disinterested, as would be
the case if they acted like the Jesuits in Singapore. The
first thing to be done by the missionary in attempting to
improve savages, is to convince them by his actions that
he comes among them for their benefit only, and not for
any private ends of his own. To do this he must act ina
different way from other men, not trading and taking
advantage of the necessities of those who want to sell,
but rather giving to those who are in distress. It would
be well if he conformed himself in some degree to native
customs, and then endeavoured to show how these customs
might be gradually modified, so as to be more healthful
and more agreeable. A few energetic and devoted men
acting in this way might probably effect a decided moral
improvement on the lowest savage tribes, whereas trading
missionaries, teaching what Jesus said, but not doing as
He did, can scarcely be expected to do more than give
them a very little.of the superficial varnish of religion.
Dorey harbour is in a fine bay, at one extremity of
496 NEW GUINEA. [CHAP, XXXIV.
which an elevated point juts out, and, with two or three
small islar ds, forms a sheltered anchorage. The only vessel
+t contained when we arrived was a Dutch brig, laden with
coals for the use of a war-steamer, which was expected
daily, on an exploring expedition along the coasts of New
Guinea, for the purpose of fixing on a locality for a colony.
In the evening we paid it a visit, and landed at the village
of Dorey, to look out for a place where I could build my
house. Mr. Otto also made arrangements for me with
some of the native chiefs, to send men to cub wood,
rattans, and bamboo the next day.
The villages of Mansinam and Dorey presented some
features quite new to me. The houses all stand com-
pletely in the water, and are reached by long rude
bridges. They are very low, with the roof shaped like
a large boat, bottom upwards. The posts which support
the houses, bridges, and platforms are small crooked
sticks, placed without any regularity, and looking as if
they were tumbling down. The floors are also formed of
sticks, equally irregular, and so loose and far apart that
I found it almost impossible to walk on them. The walls
consist of bits of boards, old boats, rotten mats, attaps,
and palm-leaves, stuck in anyhow here and there, and
having altogether the most wretched and dilapidated
appearance it 1s possible to conceive. Under the eaves
of many of the houses hang human skulls, the trophies of
their battles with the savage Arfaks of the interior, who
often come to attack them. A large boat-shaped council-
house is supported on larger posts, each of which is grossly
carved to represent a naked male or female human figure,
and other carvings still more revolting are placed upon
the platform before the entrance. The view of an ancient
lake-dweller’s village, given as the frontispiece of Sir
Charles Lyell’s “ Antiquity of Man,” is chiefly founded on
a sketch of this very village of Dorey ; but the extreme
regularity of the structures there depicted has no place
in the original, any more than it probably had in the
actual lake-villages. :
The people who inhabit these miserable huts are very
similar to the Ké and Aru islanders, and many of them
are very handsome, being tall and well-made, with well-
rst Seid hlnicncannadeh Pyhpuetinan NODE
Let _
a fF oe lie
CHAP, XXXIV.] THE NATIVES OF DOREY. 497
cut features and large aquiline noses. Their colour is a
deep brown, often approaching closely to black, and the
fine mop-like heads of frizzly hair appear to be more
comuien than elsewhere, and are considered a great orna-
ment, a long six-pronged bamboo fork being kept stuck in
them to serve the purpose of a comb; and this is assidu-
ously used at idle moments to keep the densely growing
PAPUAN, NEW GUINEA,
mass from becoming matted and tangled. The majority
have short woolly hair, which does not seem capable of
an equally luxuriant development. A growth of hair somv-
what similar to this, and almost as abundant, is found
among the half-breeds between the Indian and Negro in
South America. Can this be an indication that the
Papuans are a mixed race?
For the first three days after our arrival I was fully
occupied from morning to night building a house, with the
K K
498 NEW GUINEA. (CHAP. XXXIV.
assistance of a dozen Papuans aud my own men. It was |
immense trouble to get our labourers to work, as scarcely
one of them could speak a word of Malay ; and it was only
by the most energetic gesticulations, and going through a
regular pantomime of what was wanted, that we could get
them to do anything. If we made them understand that a—
few more poles were required, which two could have easily
cut, six or eight would insist upon going together, although
we needed their assistance in other things. One morning
ten of them came to work, bringing only one chopper be-
tween them, although they knew I had none ready for use.
I chose a place about two hundred yards from the beach, |
on an elevated ground, by the side of the chief path from |
the village of Dorey to the provision-grounds and the forest. |
Within twenty yards was a little stream, which furnished |
us with excellent water and a nice place to bathe. There |
was only low underwood to clear away, while some fine |
forest trees stood at a short distance, and we cut down the
wood for about twenty yards round to give us light and |
air. The house, about twenty feet by fifteen, was built |
entirely of wood, with a bamboo floor, a single door of ~
thatch, and a large window, looking ever the sea, at which |
I fixed my table, and close beside it my bed, within a little 7
partition. I bought a number of very large palm-leaf mats 7)
of the natives, which made excellent walls ; while the mats ©
I had brought myself were used on the roof, and were |
covered over with attaps as soon as We could get them
made. Outside, and rather behind, was a little hut, used |
I had my goods and stores brought up, arranged them 7
conveniently inside, and then paid my Papuans with”
knives and choppers, and sent them away. The next day
our schooner left for the more eastern islands, and I found |
myself fairly established as the only European inhabitant”
of the vast island of New Guinea. 5
As we had some doubt about the natives, we slept
at first with loaded guns beside us and a watch set; but)
after a few days, finding the people friendly, and feeling |
sure that they would not venture to attack five well-arme@ |
men, we took no further precautions. We had still a day.
CHAP, XxxIv.} COAST AND INLAND PAPUANS 499
or twos work in finishing up the house, stopping leaks,
putting up our hanging shelves for drying specimens
inside and out, and making the path down to the water,
and a clear dry space in front of the house.
On the 17th, the steamer not having arrived, the coal-
ship left, having lain here a month, according to her con- .
tract ; and on the same day my hunters went out to shoot
for the first time, and brought home a magnificent crown
pigeon and a few common birds. The next day they were
more successful, and I was delighted to see them return
with a Bird of Paradise in full plumage, a pair of the fine
Papuan lories (Lorius domicella), four other lories and
parroquets, a grackle (Gracula dumonti), a king-hunter
(Dacelo gaudichaudi), a racquet-tailed kingfisher (Tany-
siptera galatea), and two or three other birds of less beauty.
I went myself to visit the native village on the hill behind
Dorey, and took with me a small present of cloth, knives,
and beads, to secure the good-will of the chief, and get
him to send some men to catch or shoot birds for me.
The houses were ‘scattered about among rudely cultivated
clearings. Two which I visited consisted of a central
passage, on each side of which opened short passages, ad-
mitting to two rooms, each of which was a house accom-
modating a separate family. They were elevated at least
fifteen feet above the ground, on a complete forest of poles,
and were so rude and dilapidated that some of the small
passages had openings in the floor of loose sticks, through
which a child might fall. The inhabitants seemed rather
ugher than those at Dorey village. They are, no doubt,
the true indigenes of this part of New Guinea, living in
the interior, and subsisting by cultivation and hunting.
The Dorey men, on the other hand, are shore-dwellers,
fishers and traders in a small way, and have thus the
character of a colony who have migrated from another
district. These hillmen or “Arfaks” differed much in
physical features. They were generally black, but some
were brown like Malays. Their hair, though always more
or less frizzly, was sometimes short and matted, instead
of being long, loose, and woolly; and this seemed to be a
constitutional difference, not the effect of care and cultiva-
jon. Nearly half of them were afflicted with the scurly
Be te Tes 2 }
500 NEW GUINEA. (CHAP. XXXIV.
skin-digease. The old chief seemed much pleased with —
his present, and promised (through an interpreter I
brought with me) to pro-
tect my men when they
came there shooting, and
also to procure me some
birds and animals. While
conversing, they smoked
tobacco of their own grow-
ing, in pipes cut from a
single piece of wood with
a long upright handle.
We had arrived at Do-
rey about the end of the
wet season, when the whole
country was soaked with
moisture. The native paths
were so neglected as to be
often mere tunnels closed
over with vegetation, and
in such places there was
always a fearful accumula-
tion of mud. To the naked Papuan this is no obstruction
He wades through it, and the next watercourse makes him
clean again; but to myself, wearing boots and trousers.
it was a most disagreeable thing to have to go up WW
my knees in a mud-hole every morning. The man I
brought with me to cut wood fell ill soon after we arrived,
or 1 would have set him to clear fresh paths in the worst —
places. For the first ten days it generally rained every
afternoon and all night; but by going out every hour
of fine weather, 1 managed to get on’ tolerably with my
collections of birds and insects, finding most of those
collected by Lesson during his visit in the Coquille, as
well as many new ones. It appears, however, that Dorey
is not the place for Birds of Paradise, none of the natives
being accustomed to preserve them. Those sold here are |
all brought from Amberbaki, about a hundred miles west,
where the Doreyans go to trade.
The islands in the bay, with the low lands near the
coast, seem to have been formed by recently raised coral
PAPUAN PIPE.
CHAP. XxXIv.] ARRIVAL OF THE “ ETNA” 901
reefs and are much strewn with masses of coral but little
altered. The ridge behind my house, which runs out
to the point, is also entirely coral rock, although there
are signs of a stratified foundation in the ravines, and
the rock itself is more compact and crystalline. It is,
therefore, probably older, a more recent elevation having
exposed the low grounds and islands. On the other side
of the bay rise the great mass of the Arfak mountains,
said by the French navigators to be about ten thousand
feet high, and inhabited by savage tribes. These are
held in great dread by the Dorey people, who have often
been attacked and plundered by them, and have some of
their skulls hanging outside their houses. If I was seen
going into the forest anywhere in the direction of the
mountains, the little boys of the village would shout after
me, “Arfaki! Arfaki!” just as they did after Lesson
nearly forty years before.
On the 15th of May the Dutch war-steamer Fina
arrived; but, as the coals had gone, it was obliged to
stay till they came back. The captain knew when the
coalship was to arrive, and how long it was chartered to
stay at Dorey, and could have been back in time, but
supposed it would wait for him, and so did not hurry
himself. The steamer lay at anchor just opposite my
house, and I had the advantage of hearing the half-
hourly bells struck, which was very pleasant after the
monotonous silence of the forest. The captain, doctor,
engineer, and some other of the officers paid me visits;
the servants came to the brook to wash clothes, and the
son of the Prince of Tidore, with one or two companions,
to bathe; otherwise I saw little of them, and was not
disturbed by visitors so much as I had expected to be.
About this time the weather set in pretty fine, but neither
birds nor insects became much more abundant, and new
birds were very scarce. None of the Birds of Paradise
except the common one were ever met with, and we were
still searching in vain for several of the fine birds which
Lesson had obtained here. Insects were tolerably abun-
lant, but were not on the average so fine as those of
Amboyna, and I reluctantly came to the conclusion that
Dorey was not a good collecting locality. Buttertlies were
502 NEW GUINEA. (CHAP, XXXIV,
very scarce, and were mostly the same as those which I
had obtained at Aru.
Among the insects of other orders, the most curious and
novel were a group of horned flies, of which I obtained
four distinct species, settling on fallen trees and decaying
trunks. ‘These remarkable insects, which have been de-
scribed by Mr. W. W. Saunders as a new genus, under the
name of Elaphomia or deer-flies, are about half an inch
long, slender-bodied, and with very long legs, which they
draw together so as to elevate their bodies high above the
surface they are standing upon. The front pair of legs
are much shorter, and these are often stretched directly
forwards, so as to resemble antenne. The horns spring
from beneath the eye, and seem to be a prolongation of
the lower part of the orbit. In the largest and most
singular species, named Elaphomia cervicornis or the stag-
Coe « eS ASTI
oe Ze ~ 4B SSS
= VAN y
: SSSR
3 S SS wy
HORNED FLIES.
Elaphomia cervicornis. Elaphomia wallacei.
E. brevicornis. E. alcicornis.
horned deer-fly, these horns are nearly as long as the
body, having two branches, with two small snags near their
bifurcation, so as to resemble the horns of a stag. They
are black, with the tips pale, while the body and legs are
yellowish brown, and the eyes (when alive) violet and green.
The next species (Elaphomia wallace) is of a dark brown
colour, banded and spotted with yellow. The horns are
about one-third the length of the insect, broad, flat, and
of an elongated triangular form. They are of a beautiful
CHAP. XXXIV. ] DEER-FLIES. 203
pink colour, edged with black, and with a pale central
stripe. The front part of the head is also pink, and the
eyes violet pink, with a green stripe across them, giving
the insect a very elegant and singular appearance. The
third species (Elaphomia alcicornis, the elk-horned deer-fly)
is a little smaller than the two already described, but
- resembling in colour Elaphomia wallacei. The horns are
very remarkable, being suddenly dilated into a flat plate,
strongly toothed round the outer margin, and strikingly
resembling the horns of the elk, after which it has been
named. ‘They are of a yellowish colour, margined with
brown, and tipped with black on the three upper teeth.
The fourth species (Elaphomia brevicornis, the short-
horned deer-fly) differs considerably from the rest. It is
stouter in form, of a nearly black colour, with a yellow
ring at the base of the abdomen; the wings have dusky
stripes, and the head is compressed and dilated laterally,
with very small flat horns, which are black with a pale
centre, and look exactly like the rudiment of the horns of
the two preceding species. None of the females have any
trace of the horns, and Mr. Saunders places in the same
genus a species which has no horns in either sex (Hla-
phomia polita). It is of a shining black colour, and re-
sembles Elaphomia cervicornis in form, size, and general
appearance. The figures above given represent these
insects of their natural size and in characteristic attitudes.
The natives seldom brought me anything. They are
poor creatures, and rarely shoot a bird, pig, or kangaroo, or
even the sluggish opossum-like Cuscus. The tree-kangaroos
are found here, but must be very scarce, as my hunters,
although out daily in the forest, never once saw them.
Cockatoos, lories, and parroquets were really the only
common birds. Even pigeons were scarce, and in little
variety, although we occasionally got the fine crown
pigeon, which was always welcome as an addition to our
scantily furnished larder.
Just before the steamer arrived I had wounded my ankle
by clambering among the trunks and branches of fallen trees
(which formed my best hunting grounds for insects), and,
as usual with foot wounds in this climate, it turned into an
obstinate ulcer, keeping me in the house for several days,
504 NEW GUINEA. [CHAP, XXXIV.
When it healed up it was followed by an internal inflam-
mation of the foot, which by the doctor’s advice I poulticed
incessantly for four or five days, bringing out a severe in-
flamed swelling on the tendon above the heel. This had to
be leeched, and lanced, and doctored with ointments and
poultices for several weeks, till I was almost driven to
despair,—for the weather was at length fine, and I was
tantalized by seeing grand butterflies flying past my door,
and thinking of the twenty or thirty new species of
insects that I ought to be getting every day. And this,
too, in New Guinea !—a country which I might never visit
again,—a country which no naturalist had ever resided in
before,—a country which contained more strange and new
and beautiful natural objects than any other part of the
globe. The naturalist will be able to appreciate my feel-
ings, sitting from morning to night in my little hut, unable
to move without a crutch, and my only solace the birds my
hunters brought in every afternoon, and the few insects
caught by my Ternate man, Lahagi, who now went out
daily in my place, but who of course did not get a fourth
part of what I should have obtained. To add to my
troubles all my men were more or less ill, some with
fever, others with dysentery or ague; at one time there
were three of them besides myself all helpless, the cook
alone being well, and having enough to do to wait upon us.
The Prince of Tidore and the Resident of Banda were both
on board the steamer, and were seeking Birds of Paradise,
sending men round in every direction, so that there was no
chance of my getting even native skins of the rarer kinds ;
and any birds, insects, or animals the Dorey people had to
sell were taken on board the steamer, where purchasers
were found for everything, and where a larger variety of
articles were offered in exchange than I had to show.
After a month’s close confinement in the house I was at
length able to go out a little, and about the same time I
succeeded in getting a boat and six natives to take Ali and
Lahagi to Amberbaki, and to bring them back at the end
uf a month. Ali was charged to buy all the Birds ot
Paradise he could get, and to shoot and skin all other rare
or new birds; and Lahagi was to collect insects, which I
hoped might be more abundant than at Dorey. When I
CHAP, XXXIV.] ARFAK, | 505
recommenced my daily walks in search of insects, I found a
great change in the yeighbourhood, and one very agreeable
tome. All the time I had been laid up the ship’s crew
and the Javanese soldiers who had been brought in a
tender (a sailing ship which had arrived goon after the
Lina), had been employed cutting down, sawing, and split-
ting large trees for firewood, to enable the steamer to get
bacx to Amboyna if the coal-ship did not return ; and they
had also cleared a number of wide, straight paths through
the forest in various directions, greatly to the astonishment
of the natives, who could not make out what it all meant.
I had now a variety of walks, and a good deal of dead
wood on which to search for insects; but notwithstanding
these advantages, they were not nearly so plentiful as I had
found them at Sarawak, or Amboyna, or Batchian, con-
firming my opinion that Dorey was not a good locality.
It is quite probable, however, that at a station a few miles
in the interior, away from the recently elevated coralline
rocks and the influence of the sea air, a much more abun-
dant harvest might be obtained.
One afternoon I went on board the steamer to return
the captain’s visit, and was shown some very nice sketches
(by one of the lieutenants), made on the south coast, and
also at the Arfak mountain, to which they had made an
excursion. From these and the captain’s description, it
appeared that the people of Arfak were similar to those of
Dorey, and I could hear nothing of the straight-haired race
which Lesson says inhabits the interior, but which no one
has ever seen, and the account of which I suspect has origi-
nated in some mistake. The captain told me he had made
a detailed survey of part of the south coast, and if the coal
arrived should go away at once to Humboldt Bay, in lon-
gitude 141° east, which is the line up to which the Dutch
claim New Guinea. On board the tender I found a
brother naturalist, a German named Rosenberg, who was
draughtsman to the surveying staff. He had brought two
men with him to shoot and skin birds, and had been able
to purchase a few rare skins from the natives, Among
these was a pair of the superb Paradise Pie (Astrapia
nigra) in tolerable preservation. They were brought from
the island of Jobie, which may be its native country, as it
596 NEW GUINEA. (CHAP. XXXIV,
certainly is of the rare” species of crown pigeon (Goura
steursii), one of which was brought alive and sold on boara.
Jobie, however, is a very dangerous place, and sailors are
often murdered there when on shore ; sometimes the
vessels themselves being attacked. Wandammen, on the
mainland opposite Jobie, where there are said to be
plenty of birds, is even worse, and at either of these
places my life would not have been worth a week's pur-
chase had I ventured to live alone and unprotected as at
Dorey. On board the steamer they had a pair of tree-
kangaroos alive. They differ chiefly from the ground-
kangaroo in having a more hairy tail, not thickened at
the base, and not used as a prop; and by the powerful
claws on the fore-feet, by which they grasp the bark and
branches, and seize the leaves on which they feed. They
move along by short jumps on their hind-feet, which do —
not seem particularly well adapted for climbing trees. ‘It
has been supposed that these tree-kangaroos are a special
adaptation to the swampy, half-drowned forests of New
Guinea, in place of the usual form of the group, which is
adapted only to dry cround. Mr. Windsor Karl makes
much of this theory, but, unfortunately for it, the tree-
kangaroos are chiefly found in the northern peninsula of
New Guinea, which is entirely composed of hills and
mountains with very little flat land, while the kangaroo
of the low flat Aru Islands (Dorcopsis asiaticus) 18 a
ground species. A more probable supposition seems to
be, that the tree-kangaroo has been modified to enable
it to feed on foliage in the vast forests of New Guinea,
as these form the great natural feature which distin-
guishes that country from Australia.
On June 5th, the coal-ship arrived, having been sent
yack from Amboyna, with the addition of some -fresh
stores for the steamer. The wood, which had been almost
all taken on board, was now unladen again, the coal taken
in, and on the 17th both steamer and tender left for Hum-
boldt Bay. We were then a little quiet again, and got
something to eat ; for while the vessels were here every bit
of fish or vegetable was taken on board, and I had often
to make a small parroquet serve for two meals. My men
'
;
i
cHAP, xxxiv.] SCARCITY OF PARADISE BIRDS. 507
now returned from Amberbaki, but, alas! brought me
almost nothing. They had visited several villages, and
even went two days’ journey into the interior, but could
find no skins of Birds of Paradise to purchase, except the
common kind, and very few even of those. The birds
found were the same as at Dorey, but were still scarcer.
None of the natives anywhere near the coast shoot or
prepare Birds of Paradise, which come from far in the
interior over two or three ranges of mountains, passing
by barter from village to village till they reach the sea,
There the natives of Dorey buy them, and on their return
home sell them to the Bugis or Ternate traders. It is
therefore hopeless for a traveller to go to any particular
place on the coast of New Guinea where rare Paradise
birds may have been bought, in hopes of obtaining freshly
killed specimens from the natives ; and it also shows the
scarcity of these birds in any one locality, since from the
Amberbaki district, a celebrated place, where at least five
or six species have been procured, not one of the rarer
ones has been obtained this year. The Prince of Tidore,
who would certainly have got them if any were to be had,
was obliged to put up with a few of the common yellow
ones. I think it probable that a longer residence at Dorey,
a little farther in the interior, might show that several
of the rarer kinds were found there, as I obtained a single
female of the fine scale-breasted Ptiloris magnificus. I was
told at Ternate of a bird that is certainly not yet known
in Europe, a black King Paradise Bird, with the curled
tail and beautiful side plumes of the common species, but
all the rest of the plumage glossy black. The people of
Dorey knew nothing about this, although they recognised
by description most of the other species.
When the steamer left, I was suffering from a severe
attack of fever. In about a week I got over this, but it
was followed by such a soreness of the whole inside of the
mouth, tongue, and gums, that for many days I could put
nothing solid between my lips, but was obliged to subsist
entirely on slops, although in other respects very well. At
the same time two of my men again fell ill, one with fever,
the other with dysentery, and both got very bad. I did
what I could for them with my small stock of medicines
508 NEW GUINEA. (CHAP. XXXIV.
but they lingered on for some weeks, till on June 26th
poor Jumaat died. He was about eighteen years of age, a
native, I believe, of Bouton, and a quiet lad, not very
active, but doing his work pretty steadily, and as well as
he was able. As my men were all Mahometans, I let
them bury him in their own fashion, giving them some
new cotton cloth for a shroud.
On July 6th the steamer returned from the eastward.
The weather was still terribly wet, when, according to rule
it should have been fine and dry. We had scarcely any-
thing to eat, and were all of us ill. Fevers, colds, and
dysentery were continually attacking us, and made me long
to get away from New Guinea, as much as ever I had
longed to come there. The captain of the Kina paid me
a visit, and gave me a very interesting account of his trip.
They had stayed at Humboldt Bay several days, and found
it a much more beautiful and more interesting place than
Dorey, as well as a better harbour. The natives were
quite unsophisticated, being rarely visited except by stray
whalers, and they were superior to the Dorey people,
morally and physically. They went quite naked. Their
houses were some in the water and some inland, and were
all neatly and well built ; their fields were well cultivated,
and the paths to them kept clear and open, in which
respects Dorey is abominable. They were shy at first,
and opposed the boats with hostile demonstrations, bend-
ing their bows, and intimating that they would shoot if
an attempt was made to land. Very judiciously the
captain gave way, but threw on shore a few presents, and
after two or three trials they were permitted to land, and
to go about and see the country, and were supplied with
fruits and vegetables. All communication was carried on
with them by signs—the Dorey interpreter, who accom~
panied the steamer, being unable to understand a word of
their language. No new birds or animals were obtained,
but in their ornaments the feathers of Paradise birds
were seen, showing, as might be expected, that these
birds range far in this direction, and probably all over
New Guinea.
It is curious that a rudimental love of art should
eo-exist with such a very low state of civilization. The
CHAP, Xxxiv.] ART AND BARBARISM. 209
people of Dorey are great carvers and painters. The
outsides of the houses, wherever there is a plank, are
covered with rude yet characteristic figures. The high-
peaked prows of their boats are orna-
mented with masses of open filagree
work, cut out of solid blocks of wood,
and often of very tasteful design, As a
figure-head, or pinnacle, there is often a
human figure, with a head of cassowary
feathers to imitate the Papuan “ mop.”
The floats of their fishing-lines, the
wooden beaters used in tempering the
clay for their pottery, their tobacco-
boxes, and other household articles, are
covered with carving of tasteful and
often elegant design. Did we not already
know that such taste and skill are com-
patible with utter barbarism, we could
hardly believe that the same people are,
in other matters, entirely wanting in all
sense of order, comfort, or decency. Yet
such is the case. ‘They live in the most
miserable, crazy, and filthy hovels, which
are utterly destitute of anything that can
be called furniture ; not a stool, or bench,
or board is seen in them, no brush seems
to be known, and the clothes they wear
are often filthy bark, or rags, or sacking.
Along the paths where they daily pass
to and from their provision grounds, not
an overhanging bough or straggling briar
ever seeims to be cut, so that you have to
brush through a rank vegetation, creep
under fallen trees and spiny creepers, and
wade through pools of mud and mire,
which cannot dry up because the sun is
not allowed to penetrate. Their food is
almost wholly roots and vegetables, with
fish or game only as an occasional luxury,
and they are consequently very subject to various skin
diseases, the children especially being often miserable-
aS \\:
i
v
toa mT p
ti i ti
CARVED TOOL FOR MAKING POITERY.
510 NEW GUINEA. (CHAP. XXXIV.
looking objects, blotched all over with eruptions and sores.
If these people are not savages, where shall we find any ?
Yet they have all a decided leve for the fine arts, and
spend their leisure time in executing works whose good
taste and elegance would often be admired in our schools
of design !
During the latter part of my stay in New Guinea the
weather was very wet, my only shooter was ill, and birds
became scarce, so that my only resource was insect-hunt-
ing. I worked very hard every hour of fine weather, and
daily obtained a number of new species. Every dead tree
and fallen log was searched and searched again ; and among
the dry and rotting leaves, which still hung on certain
trees which had been cut down, I found an abundant
harvest of minute Coleoptera. Although I never after-
wards found so many large and handsome beetles as in
Borneo, yet I obtained here a great variety of species. For
the first two or three weeks, while I was searching out the
best localities, I took about 30 different kinds of beetles a
day, besides about half that number of butterflies, and a
fow of the other orders. But afterwards, up to the very
last week, I averaged 49 species a day. On the 31st of
May, I took 78 distinct sorts, a larger number than I had
ever captured before, principally obtained among dead
trees and under rotten bark. A good long walk on a fine
day up the hill, and to the plantations of the natives,
capturing everything not very common that came in my
way, would produce about 60 species ; but on the last day
of June I brought home no less than 90 distinct kinds of
beetles, a larger number than | ever obtained in one day
before or since. It was a fine hot day, and I devoted it to
a search among dead leaves, beating foliage, and hunting
under rotten bark, in all the best stations L had discovered
during my walks. I was out from ten in the morning till
three in the afternoon, and it took me six hours’ work at
home to pin and set out all the specimens, and to separate
the species. Although I had already been working this
spot daily for two months and a half, and had obtained
over 800 species of Coleoptera, this day's work added 32
new ones. Among these were 4 Longicorns, 2 Carabide,
7 Staphylinide, 7 Curculionide, 2 Copride, 4 Chrysomelide,
J
‘
:
4
a
7
CHAP. XXXIV.] WE LEAVE DOREY. 51]
3 Heteromera, 1 Elater, and 1 Buprestis. Even on the
last day I went out, I obtained 16 new species; so that
although I collected over a thousand distinct sorts of
beetles in a space not much exceeding a square mile
during the three months of my residence at Dorey, I
cannot believe that this represents one half the species
really inhabiting the same spot, or a fourth of what might
he obtained in an area extending twenty miles in each
direction.
On the 22d of July the schooner Hester Helena arrived,
and five days afterwards we bade adieu to Dorey, without
much regret, for in no place which I have visited have I
encountered more privations and annoyances. Continual
rain, continual sickness, little wholesome food, with a
plague of ants and flies, surpassing anything I had before
met with, required all a-naturalist’s ardour to encounter ;
and when they were uncompensated by great success in
collecting, became all the more insupportable. This long-
thought-of and much-desired voyage to New Guinea haa
realized none of my expectations. Instead of being far
better than the Aru Islands, it was in almost everything
much worse. Instead of producing several of the rarer
Paradise birds, I had not even seen one of them, and had
not obtained any one superlatively fine bird or insect.
I cannot deny, however, that Dorey was very rich in
ants. One small black kind was excessively abundant.
Almost every shrub and tree was more or less infested
with it, and its large papery nests were everywhere to
be seen. They immediately took possession of my house,
building a large nest in the roof, and forming papery
tunnels down almost every post. They swarmed on my
table as I was at work setting out my insects, carrying
them off from under my very nose, and even tearing them
from the cards on which they were gummed if I left them
for an instant. They crawled continually over my hands
and face, got into my hair, and roamed at will over my
whole body, not producing much inconvenience till they
began to bite, which they would do on meeting with any
obstruction to their passage, and with a sharpness which
made me jump again and rush to undress and turn out
the offender. They visited my bed also, so that night
512 _ NEW GUINEA. [ouap. XXXIV. _
brought no relief from their persecutions; and I verily
believe that during my three and a half months’ residence
at Dorey I was never for a single hour entirely free from
them. They were not nearly so voracious as many other
kinds, but their numbers and ubiquity rendered it neces-
sary to be constantly on guard against them.
The flies that troubled me most were a large kind of
blue-bottle or blow-fly. These settled in swarms on my
pird skins when first put out to dry, filling their plumage
with masses of eggs, which, if neglected, the next day
produced maggots. They would get under the wings or
under the body where it rested on the drying-board, some-
times actually raising it up half an inch by the mass of
eggs deposited in a few hours ; and every egg was so firmly
clued to the fibres of the feathers, as to make it a work of
much time and patience to get them off without injuring
the bird. In no other locality have I ever been troubled
with such a plague as this.
On the 29th we left Dorey, and expected a quick
voyage home, as it was the time of year when we
ought to have had steady southerly and easterly winds.
Instead of these, however, we had calms and westerly
breezes, and it was seventeen days before we reached
Ternate, a distance of five hundred miles only, which,
with average winds, could have been done in five days.
+ was a great treat to me to find myself back again
in my comfortable house, enjoying milk to my tea and
coffee, fresh bread and butter, and fowl and fish daily
for dinner. This New Guinea voyage had used us all
up, and I determined to stay and recruit before I com-
menced any fresh expeditions. My succeeding journeys
to Gilolo and Batchian have already been narrated, and
it now only remains for me to give an account of my
residence in Waigiou, the last Papuan territory I visited
in search of Birds of Paradise.
:
i
4
ox, xxxv.] VOYAGE FROM CERAM 10 WAIGIOV. 513
CHAPTER XXXV.
VOYAGE FROM CERAM TO WAIGIOU.
(JUNE AND JULY 1860.)
N my twenty-fifth chapter I have described my arrival
at Wahai, on my way to Mysol and Waigiou, islands
which belong to the Papuan district, and the account of
which naturally follows after that of my visit to the main-
land of New Guinea. I now take up my narrative at my
departure from Wahai, with the intention of carrying various
necessary stores to my assistant, Mr. Allen, at Silinta, in
Mysol, and then continuing my journey to Waigiou. It
will be remembered that I was travelling in a small prau,
which I had purchased and fitted up in Goram, and that,
having been deserted by my crew on the coast of Ceram,
I had obtained four men at Wahai, who, with my Amboy-
nese hunter, constituted my crew.
Between Ceram and Mysol there are sixty miles of open
sea, and along this wide channel the east monsoon blows
strongly ; so that with native praus, which will not lay up
to the wind, it requires some care in crossing. In order to
give ourselves sufficient leeway, we sailed back from
Wahai eastward, along the coast of Ceram, with the land-
breeze; but in the morning (June 18th) had not gone
nearly so far as I expected. My pilot, an old and expe-
rienced sailor, named Gurulampoko, assured me there was
a current setting to the eastward, and that we could easily
lay across to Silinta,in Mysol. As we got out from the
land the wind increased, and there was a considerable sea,
which made my short little vessel plunge and roll about
violently. By sunset we had not got halfway across, but
could see Mysol distinctly. All night we went along un-
easily, and at daybreak, on looking out anxiously, I found
that we had fallen much to the westward during the night,
owing, no doubt, to the pilot being sleepy and not keeping
the boat sufficientiy close to the wind. We could see the
LL
==
22.4. UT Bary
2/3 me [Ze es
p.m,
of iat = New Guinea
SKETCH MAP
of voyage from
CERAM 70 WAICIOU
Sune. T ‘July 4: 7860.
130] East Longitude.
cH. xxxv.] VOYAGE FROM CERAM TO WAIGIOU. d15
mountains distinctly, but it wae clear we should not reach
Silinta, and should have some difficulty in getting to the
extreme westward point of the island. The sea was now
very boisterous, and our prau was continually beaten to
leeward by the waves, and after another weary day we
found we could not get to Mysol at all, but might perhaps
reach the island called Pulo Kanary, about ten miles to
the north-west. Thence we might await a favourable
wind to reach Waigamma, on the north side of the island,
and visit Allen by means of a small boat.
About nine o'clock at night, greatly to my satisfaction,
we got under the lee of this island, into quite smooth
water—for I had been very sick and uncomfortable, and
had eaten scarcely anything since the preceding morning.
We were slowly nearing the shore, which the smooth dark
water told us we could safely approach, and were congra-
tulating ourselves on soon being at anchor, with the pros-
pect of hot coffee, a good supper, and a sound sleep, when
the wind completely dropped, and we had to get out the
oars to row. We were not more than two hundred yards
from the shore, when I noticed that we seemed to get no
nearer although the men were rowing hard, but drifted to
the westward ; and the prau would not obey the helm, but
continually fell off, and gave us much trouble to bring her
up again. Soon a loud ripple of water told us we were
seized by one of those treacherous currents which so fre-
quently frustrate all the efforts of the voyager in these
seas ; the men threw down the oars in despair, and in a
few minutes we drifted to leeward of the island fairly out
to sea again, and lost our last chance of ever reaching
Mysol! Hoisting our jib, we lay to, and in the morning
found ourselves only a few miles from the island, but with
such a steady wind blowing from its direction as to render
it impossible for us to get back to it.
We now made sail to the northward, hoping soon to get
a more southerly wind. Towards noon the sea was much
smoother, and with a 8.S.E. wind we were laying in the
direction of Salwatty, which I hoped to reach, as I could
there easily get a boat to take provisions and stores to my
companion in Mysol. This wind did not, however, last
long, but died away into-a calm; and a light west wind
Eb 3
516 VOYAGE FROM CERAM — [cuiar. xxxv,
springing up, with a dark bank of clouds, again gave us
hopes of reaching Mysol. "We were soon, however, again
disappointed. The ESE. wind began to blow again with
violence, and continued all ni ght in irregular gusts, and
with a short cross sea tossed us about unmercifully, and
so continually took our sails aback, that we were at length
forced to run before it with our jib only, to escape being
swamped by our heavy mainsail. After another miserable
and anxious night, we found that we had drifted westward
of the island of Poppa, and the wind being again a little
southerly, we made all sail in order to reach it. This we
did not succeed in doing, passing to the north-west, when
che wind again blew hard from the E.S.E., and our last
hope of finding a refuge till better weather was frus-
trated, This was a very serious matter to me, as I could
not tell how Charles Allen might act, if, after waiting in
vain for me, he should return to Wahai, and find that I
had left there long before, and had not since been heard of.
Such an event as our missing an island forty miles long
would hardly cecur to him, and he would conclude either
that our boat had foundered, or that my crew had murdered
me and run away with her. However, as it was physically —
impossible now for me to reach him, the only thing to be
done was to make the best of my way to Waigiou, and
trust to our meeting some traders, who might convey to
him the news of my safety.
Finding on my map a group of three small islands,
twenty-five miles north of Poppa, I resolved, if possible, to
rest there a day or two. We could lay our boat's head
NE. by N.; but a heavy sea from the eastward so con-
tinually beat us off our course, and we made so much
leeway, that I found it would be as much as we could do
to reach them. It was a delicate point to keep our head —
in the best direction, neither so close to the wind as to.
stop our way, or so free as to carry us too far to leeward.
I continually directed the steersman myself, and by imces-
sant vigilance succeeded, just at sunset, In bringing our
poat to an anchor under the lee of the southern point of
one of the islands. The anchorage was, however, by no
means good, there being @ fringing coral reef, dry at low
water, beyond which, on a bottom strewn with masses
OHAP. XXXV.] TO WAIGIOU. 517
coral, we were obliged to anchor. We had now been inces-
santly tossing about for four days in our small undecked
boat, with constant disappointments and anxiety, and it
was a great comfort to have a night of quiet and com-
parative safety. My old pilot had never left the helm for
more than an hour at a time, when one of the others would
relieve him for a little sleep; so I determined the next
morning to look out for a secure and convenient harbour,
and rest on shore for a day.
In the morning, finding it would be necessary for us. to
get round a rocky point, I wanted my men to go on shore
and cut jungle-rope, by which to secure us from being
again drifted away, as the wind was directly off shore. I
unfortunately, however, allowed myself to be overruled. by
the pilot and crew, who all declared that it was the easiest
thing possible, and that they would row the boat round the
point in a few minutes. They accordingly got up the
anchor, set the jib, and began rowing; but, just as I had
feared, we drifted rapidly off shore, and had to drop anchor
again in deeper water, and much farther off. The two best
men, a Papuan and a Malay, now swam on shore, each
carrying a hatchet, and went into the jungle to seek
creepers for rope. After about an hour our anchor loosed
hold, and began to drag. This alarmed me greatly, and we
let go our spare anchor, and, by running out all our cable,
appeared tolerably secure again. We were now most
anxious for the return of the men, and were going to. fire
our muskets to recall them, when we observed them. on
the beach, some way off, and almost immediately our
anchors again slipped, and we drifted slowly away into
deep water. We instantly seized the oars, but found we
could not counteract the wind and current, and our frantic
cries to the men were not heard till we had got a
long way off, as they seemed to be hunting for shell-fish on
the beach. Very soon, however, they stared at us, and ina
few minutes seemed to comprehend their situation; for
they rushed down into the water, as if to swim off, but
again returned on shore, as if afraid to make the attempt.
We had drawn up our anchors at first not to check our
rowing; but now, finding we could do nothing, we let them
both hang down by the full length of the cables. This
518 VOYAGE FROM CERAM [cHAP. XXXY.
stopped our way very much, and we drifted from shore
very slowly, and hoped the men would hastily form a raft,
or cut down a soft-wood tree, and paddle out to us, as we
were stilt not more than a third of a mile from shore.
They seemed, however, to have half lost their senses,
gesticulating wildly to us, running along the beach, then
going into the forest; and just when we thought they
had prepared some mode of making an attempt to reach
us, we saw the smoke of a fire they had made to cook
their shell-fish! They had evidently given up all idea
of coming after us, and we were obliged to look to our
own position.
We were now about a mile from shore, and midway be-
tween two of the islands, but we were slowly drifting out
to sea to the westward, and our only chance of yet saving
the men was to reach the opposite shore. We therefore set
our jib and rowed hard ; but the wind failed, and we drifted
out so rapidly that we had some difficulty in reaching the
extreme westerly point of the island. Our only sailor —
left, then swam ashore with a rope, and helped to tow ~
us round the point into a tolerably safe and secure anchor-
age, well sheltered from the wind, but exposed to a little
swell which jerked our anchor and made us rather un-
easy. We were now in a sad plight, having lost our two
best men, and being doubtful if we had strength left to
hoist our mainsail. We had only two days’ water on
board, and the small, rocky, voleanic island did not
promise us much chance of finding any. The conduct
of the men on shore was such as to render it doubtful
if they would make any serious attempt to reach us,
though they might easily do so, having two good choppers,
with which in a day they could make a small outrigger
raft on which they could safely cross the two miles of
smooth sea with the wind right aft, if they started from
the east end of the island, so as to allow for the current.
I could only hope they would be sensible encugh to make
the attempt, and determined to stay as long as I could to
give them the chance.
We passed an anxious night, fearful of again breaking
our anchor or rattan cable. In the morning (23d), finding
all secure, I waded on shore with my two men, leaving the
i
7
CHAP. XXXxv.] TO WAIGIOU. 519
old steersman and the cook on board, with a loaded musket
to recall us if needed. We first walked along the beach,
till stopped by the vertical cliffs at the east end of the
island, finding a place where meat had been smoked, a
turtle-shell still greasy, and some cut wood, the leaves of
which were still green,—showing that some boat had been
here very recently. We then entered the jungle, cutting
our way up to the top of the hill, but when we got there
could see nothing, owing to the thickness of the forest.
Returning, we cut some bamboos, and sharpened them to
dig for water in a low spot where some sago-trees were
erowing ; when, just as we were going to begin, Hol, the
Wahai man, called out to say he had found water. It was
a deep hole among the sago-trees, in stiff black clay, full
of water, which was fresh, but smelt horribiy from the
quantity of dead leaves and sago refuse that had fallen
in. Hastily concluding that it was a spring, or that
the water had filtered in, we baled it all out as well as a
dozen or twenty buckets of mud and rubbish, hoping by
night to have a good supply of clean water. I then went
on board to breakfast, leaving my two men to make a
bamboo raft to carry us on shore and back without
-wading. I had scarcely finished when our cable broke,
and we bumped against the rocks. Luckily it was smooth
and calm, and no damage was done. We searched for and
got up our anchor, and found that the cable had been cut
by grating all night upon the coral. Had it given way
in the night, we might have drifted out to sea without our
anchor, or been seriously damaged. In the evening we
went to fetch water from the well, when, greatly to our
dismay, we found nothing but a little liquid mud at the
bottom, and it then became evident that the hole was
one which had been made to collect rain water, and would
never fill again as long as the present drought continued.
As we did not know what we might suffer for want of. -
water, we filled our jar with this muddy stuff so that
it might settle. In the afternoon I crossed over to the
other side of the island, and made a large fire, in order:
that our men might see we were still there.
The next day (24th) I determined to have another
search for water; and when the tide was out rounded a
520 VOYAGE FROM CERAM (CHAP. XXXV..
rocky point and went to the extremity of the island
without finding any sign of the smallest stream. On. our
way back, noticing a very small dry bed of a watercourse,.
I went up it to explore, although everything was so: dry
that my men loudly declared it was useless to expect
water there; but a little way up I was rewarded by
finding a. few pints in a small pool. We searched higher
up'in every hole and channel where water marks appeared,
but could find not a drop more. Sending one of my men.
for a:large jar and teacup, we searched along the beach till
we found signs of another dry watercourse, and on ascending
this were so fortunate as to discover two deep sheltered
rock-holes containing several gallons of water, enough to:
fill all our jars. When the cup came we enjoyed a good
drink of the cool pure water, and before we left had carried:
away, I believe, every drop on the island.
In the evening a good-sized prau appeared in sight,
making apparently for the island where our men were
left, and we had some hopes they might be seen and
picked up, but 1t passed along mid-channel, and did not
notice the signals we tried to make. I was now, however,
pretty easy as to the fate of the men. There was plenty
of sago on our rocky island, and there would probably be
some on the flat one they were left on. They had chop-
pers, and could cut down a tree and make sago, and would
most likely find sufficient water by digging. Shell-fish.
were abundant, and they would be able to manage very
well till some boat should touch there, or till 1 could
send and fetch them. The next day we devoted to.
cutting wood, filling up our jars with all the water we
could find, and making ready to sail in the evening. I
shot a small lory closely resembling a common species.
at Ternate, and a glossy starling which. differed from the:
allied birds of Ceram and Matabello. Large wood-pigeons.
and crows were the only other birds I saw, but I. did. not.
obtain specimens.
About eight in the evening of June 25th we started,
and found that with all hands at work we could just haul.
up our mainsail. We had a fair wind during the night and.
sailed north-east, finding ourselves 1 the. morning about.
twenty miles west of the extremity of Waigiou with a
CHAP. XXXV.] TO WAIGIOU. 52%
number of islands intervening. About ten o’clock we ran
full on to a coral reef, which alarmed us a good deal, but.
luckily got safe off again. About two in the afternoon we
reached an extensive coral reef, and were sailing close
alongside of it, when the wind suddenly dropped, and
we drifted on to it before we could get.in our heavy
mainsail, which we were obliged to let run down and
fall partly overboard. We had much difficulty in getting
off, but at last got into deep water again, though with reefs.
and islands all around us. At night we did not know what
to do, as no one on board could tell where we were or what
dangers might surround us, the only one of our crew who
was acquainted with the coast of Waigiou having been
left on the island. We therefore took in all sail and
allowed ourselves to drift, as we were some miles from the
nearest land. A light breeze, however, sprang up, and about.
midnight we found ourselves again bumping over a coral reef.
As it was very dark, and we knew nothing of our position,
we could only guess how to get off again, and had there
been a little more wind we might have been knocked to
pieces. However, in about half an hour we did get off,
and then thought it best to anchor on the edge of the
reef till morning. Soon after daylight on the 27th,
finding our prau had received no damage, we sailed on
with uncertain winds and squalls, threading our way
among islands and reefs, and guided only by a small map,
which was very incorrect and quite useless, and by a
general notion of the direction we ought to take. In the
afternoon we found a tolerable anchorage under a small
island and stayed for the night, and I shot a large fruit-
pigeon new to me, which I have since named Carpophaga
tumida. JI also saw and shot at the rare white-headed
kingfisher (Halcyon saurophaga), but did not kill it.
The next morning we sailed on, and having a fair wind
reached the shores of the large island of Waigiou. On
rounding a point we again ran full on to a coral reef
with our mainsail up, but luckily the wind had almost
died away, and with a good deal of exertion we managed
to get safely off.
We now had to search for the narrow channel among
the islands, which we knew was somewhere hereabouts,
522 VOYAGE FROM CERAM ~~ [omar. Xxxv.
and which leads to the villages on the south side of
Waigiou. Entering a deep bay which looked promising,
we got to the end of it, but it was then dusk, so we
anchored for the night, and having just finished all our
water could cook no rice for supper. Next morning early
(29th) we went on shore among the mangroves, and a
little way inland found some water, which relieved our
anxiety considerably, and left us free to go along the coast
in search of the opening, or of some one who could direct
us to it. During the three days we had now been among
the reefs and islands, we had only seen a single small canoe,
which had approached pretty near to us, and then, notwith-
standing our signals, went off in another direction. The
shores seemed all desert; not a house, or boat, or human
being, or a puff of smoke was to be seen ; and as we could
only go on the course that the ever-changing wind would
allow us (our hands being too few to row any distance),
our prospects of getting to our destination seemed rather
remote and precarious. Having gone to the eastward ex-
tremity of the deep bay we had entered, without finding
any sign of an opening, we turned westward ; and towards
evening were so fortunate as to find a small village of
seven miserable houses built on piles im the water.
Luckily the Orang-kaya, or head man, could speak a little
Malay, and informed us that the entrance to the strait was
really in the bay we had examined, but that it was not to
be seen except when close in-shore. He said the strait
was often very narrow, and wound among lakes and rocks
and islands, and that it would take two days to reach the
large village of Muka, and three more to get to Waigiou.
I succeeded in hiring two men to go with us to Muka,
bringing a small boat in which to return ; but we had to
wait a day for our guides, so I took my gun and made a
little excursion into the forest. The day was wet and
drizzly, and I only succeeded in shooting two small birds,
but I saw the great black cockatoo, and had a elimpse of
one or two Birds of Paradise, whose loud screains we had
heard on first approaching the coast.
Leaving the village the next morning (July 1st) with a
light wind, it took us all day to reach the entrance to the
channel, which resembled a small river, and was concealed
CHAP. Xxxv.] TO W AIGIOU. 523
by a projecting point, so that it was no wonder we did not
discover it amid the dense forest vegetation which every-
where covers these islands to the water's edge. A little
way inside it becomes bounded by precipitous rocks, after
winding among which for about two miles, we emerged
into what seemed a lake, but which was in fact a deep
culf having a narrow entrance on the south coast. This
eulf was studded along its shores with numbers of rocky
islets, mostly mushroom shaped, from the water having
worn away the lower part of the soluble coralline lime-
stone, leaving them overhanging from ten to twenty feet.
Every islet was covered with strange-looking shrubs and
trees, and was generally crowned by lofty and elegant
palms, which also studded the ridges of the mountainous
shores, forming one of the most singular and picturesque
landscapes I have ever seen. The current which had
brought us through the narrow strait now ceased, and we
were obliged to row, which with our short and heavy prau
was slow work. I went on shore several times, but the
rocks were so precipitous, sharp, and honeycombed, that I
found it impossible to get through the tangled thickets
with which they were everywhere clothed. It took us
three days to get to the entrance of the gulf, and then the
wind was such as to prevent our going any further, and we
might have had to wait for days or weeks, when, much to
my surprise and gratification, a boat arrived from Muka
with one of the head men, who had in some mysterious
manner heard I was on my way, and had come to my as-.
sistance, bringing a present of cocoa-nuts and vegetables.
Being thoroughly acquainted with the coast, and having:
several extra men to assist us, he managed to get the prau:
along by rowing, poling, or sailing, and by night had
brought us safely into harbour, a great relief after our
tedious and unhappy voyage. We had been already eight
days among the reefs and islands of Waigiou, coming a
distance of about fifty miles, and it was just forty days
since we had sailed from Goram.
Immediately on our arrival at Muka, I engaged a small
boat and three natives to go in search of my lost men, and
sent one of my own men with them to make sure of their
going to the right island. In ten days they returned, but
524 WAIGIONU. [CHAP, XXXVI.
to my great regret and disappointment, without the men.
The weather had been very bad, and though they had
reached an island within sight of that in which the men
were, they could get no further. They had waited there
six days for better weather, and then, having no more
provisions, and the man I had sent with them being very
ill and. not expected to live, they returned. As they
now knew the island, I was determined they should make
another trial, and (by a liberal payment of knives, hand-
kerchiefs, and tobacco, with plenty of provisions) persuaded
them to start back immediately, and make another attempt.
They did not return again till the 29th of July, having
stayed a few days at their own village of Bessir on the
way; but’ this time they had succeeded and brought with
them my two lost men, in tolerable health, though thin
and weak. They had lived exactly a month on the island ;
had found water, and had subsisted on the roots and
tender flower-stalks of a species of Bromelia, on shell-fish,
and on a few turtles’ eggs. Having swum to the island,
they had only a pair of trousers and a shirt between them,
but had made a hut of palm-leaves, and had altogether got.
on very well. They saw that I waited for them three days:
at the opposite island, but had been afraid to cross, lest the
current should have carried them out to sea, when they
would have been inevitably lost. They had felt sure I
would send for them on the first opportunity, and appeared
more grateful than natives usually are for my having done
so; while I felt much relieved that my voyage, though
sufficiently unfortunate, had not involved loss of life.
EE
CHAPTER XXXVI.
WAIGIOU.
(JULY TO SEPTEMBER 1860.)
oie village of Muka, on the south coast of Waigiou,
consists of a number of poor huts, partly in the water
and partly on shore, and scattered irregularly over a space
CHAP, XXXVI. ] A LEAKY HOUSE. 525
of about half a mile in a shallow bay. Around it are a
few cultivated patches, and a good deal of second-growth
woody vegetation ; while behind, at the distance of about
half a mile, rises the virgin forest, through which are a
few paths to some houses and plantations a mile or two
inland. The country round is rather flat, and in places
swampy, and there are one or two small streams which
run behind the village into the sea below it. Finding that
no house could be had suitable to my purpose, and having
so often experienced the advantages of living close to or
just within the forest, I obtained the assistance of half-a-
dozen men; and having selected a spot near the path and
the stream, and close to a fine fig-tree, which stood just
within the forest, we cleared the ground and set to build-
ing a house. As I did not expect to stay here so long as I
had done at Dorey, I built a long, low, narrow shed, about
seven feet high on one side and four on the other, which
required but little wood, and was put up very rapidly.
Our sails, with a few old attaps from a deserted hut in the
village, formed the walls, and a quantity of “cadjans,” or
palm-leaf mats, covered in the roof. On the third day my
house was finished, and all my things put in and comfort-
ably arranged to begin work, and I was quite pleased at
having got established so quickly and in such a nice
situation. ,
It had been so far fine weather, but in the night it
rained hard, and we found our mat roof would not keep
out water. It first began to drop, and then to stream over
everything. I had to get up in the middle of the night to
secure my insect-boxes, rice, and other perishable articles,
and to find a dry place to sleep in, for my bed was soaked.
Fresh leaks kept forming as the rain continued, and we
all passed a very miserable ana sleepless night. In the
morning the sun shone brightly, and everything was put
out to dry. We tried to find out why the mats leaked,
and thought we had discovered that they had been laid on
upside down. Having shifted them all, and got everything
dry and comfortable by the evening, we again went to bed,
and before midnight were again awaked by torrents of
rain and leaks streaming in upon us as bad as ever.
There was no more sleep for us that night, and the next
526 WAIGIOU. [CHAP. XXXVL
day our roof was again taken to pieces, and we came to
the conclusion that the fault was a want of slope enough
in the roof for mats, although it would be sufficient for
the usual attap thatch. I therefore purchased a few new
and some old attaps, and in the parts these would not
cover we put the mats double, and then at last had the
satisfaction of finding our roof tolerably water-tight.
I was now able to begin working at the natural history
of the island. When I first arrived I was surprised at
being told that there were no Paradise Birds at Muka,
although there were plenty at Bessir, a place where the
natives caught them and prepared the skins. I assured
the people I had heard the cry of these birds close to
the village, but they would not believe that I could
know their cry. However, the very first time I went
into the forest I not only heard but saw them, and
was convinced there were plenty about; but they were
very shy, and it was some time before we got any. My
hunter first shot a female, and I one day got very close to
a fine male. He was, as I expected, the rare red species,
Paradisea rubra, which alone inhabits this island, and is
found nowhere else. He was quite low down, running
along a bough searching for insects, almost like a wood-
pecker, and the long black riband-like filaments in his
tail hung down in the most graceful double curve imagin-
able. I covered him with my gun, and was going to use
the barrel which had a very small charge of powder and
number eight shot, so as not to injure his plumage, but
the gun missed fire, and he was off in an instant among
the thickest jungle. Another day we saw no less than
eight fine males at different times, and fired four times at
them; but though other birds at the same distance almost
always dropped, these all got away, and I began to think
we were not to get this magnificent species. At length the
fruit ripened on the fig-tree close by my house, and many
- birds came to feed on it; and one morning, as I was taking
my coffee, a male Paradise Bird was seen to settle on its
top. I seized my gun, ran under the tree, and, gazing up,
could see it flying across from branch to branch, seizing a
fruit here and another there, and then, before I could get
a sufficient aim to shoot at such a height (for it was one of
CHAP. XXXVI.] RED BIRD OF PARADISE. 527
ca; Zz ———
= a = the loftiest trees
: of the tropics), it
was away into the
forest. They now
visited the tree
every morning ;
but they stayed so
short a time, their
motions were so
rapid, and it was
so difficult to see
them, owing to the
lower trees, which
impeded the view,
that it was only
after several days’
SEEN watching, and one
\ EN or two Drasee that
ANE | I brought down
WU ue
DWE) any bird_a male
in the most mag-
THE RED BIRD OF PARADISE. (Paradisea rubra.) nificent pluma ge
y
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528 W ATGIOU. [CHAP. XXXVI.
This bird differs very much from the two large species
which I had already obtained, and, although it wants the
grace imparted by their long golden trains, is In many
respects more remarkable and more beautiful. The head,
back, and shoulders are clothed with a richer yellow, the
deep metallic green colour of the throat extends further over
the head, and the feathers are elongated on the forehead
into two little erectile crests. The side plumes are shorter,
but are of a rich red colour, terminating in delicate white
points, and the middle tail-feathers are represented by two
long rigid glossy ribands, which are black, thin, and semi-
cylindrical, and droop gracefully in a spiral curve. Several
other interesting birds were obtained, and about hali-a-
dozen quite new ories; but none of any remarkable beauty,
except the lovely little dove, Ptilonopus pulchellus, which
with several other pigeons I shot on the same fig-tree
close to my house. It is of a beautiful green colour above,
with a forehead of the richest crimson, while beneath it
is ashy white and rich yellow, banded with violet red.
On the evening of our arrival at, Muka I observed what
appeared like a display of Aurora Borealis, though I could
hardly believe that this was possible at a point a little
south of the equator. The night was clear and calm, and
the northern sky presented a diffused light, with a constant
succession of faint vertical flashings or flickerings, exactly
similar to an ordinary aurora in England. The next day
was fine, but after that the weather was unprecedentedly
bad, considering that it ought to have been the dry
monsoon. For near a month we had wet weather; the sun
either not appearing at all, or only for an hour or two
about noon. Morning and evening, as well as nearly all
night, it rained or drizzled, and boisterous winds, with dark
clouds, formed the daily programme. With the exception
that it was never cold, it was just such weather as a very
bad English Novemher or February.
The people of Waigiou are not truly indigenes of the
island, which possesses no “ Alfuros,” or aboriginal in-
habitants. They appear to be a mixed race, partly from
Gilolo, partly from New Guinea. Malays and Alfuros
from the former island have probably settled here, and
many of them have taken Papuan wives from Salwatty or
cuar. xxxvi.] MALAYS AND PAPUANS. 529
Dorey, while the influx of people from those places, and
of slaves, has led to the formation of a tribe exhibiting
almost all the transitions from a nearly pure Malayan to
an entirely Papuan type. The language spoken by them is
entirely Papuan, being that which is used on all the coasts
of Mysol, Salwatty, the north-west of New Guinea, and the
islands in the great Geelvink Bay,—a fact which indicates
the way in which the coast settlements have been formed.
The fact that so many of the islands between New Guinea
and the Moluccas—such as Waigiou, Guebé, Poppa, Obi,
Batchian, as well as the south and east peninsulas of
Gilolo—possess no aboriginal tripes, but are inhabited by
people who are evidently mongrels and wanderers, is a
remarkable corroborative proof of the distinctness of the
Malayan and Papuan races, and the separation of the
geographical areas they inhabit. If these two great races
were direct modifications, the one of the other, we should
expect to find in the intervening region some homogeneous
indigenous race presenting intermediate characters. For
example, between the whitest inhabitants of Kurope and
the black Klings of South India, there are in the inter-
vening districts homogeneous races which form a gradual
transition from one to the other; while in America,
although there is a perfect transition from the Anglo-
Saxon to the negro, and from the Spaniard to the Indian,
there is no homogeneous race forming a natural transition
from one to the other. In the Malay Archipelago we have
an excellent example of two absolutely distinct races,
which appear to have approached each other, and inter-
mingled in an unoccupied territory at a very recent
epoch in the history of man; and I feel satisfied that no
unprejudiced person could study them on the spot without
being convinced that this is the true solution of the
problem, rather than the almost universally accepted view
that they are but modifications of one and the same race.
The people of Muka live in that abject state of poverty
that is almost always found where the sago-tree is abun-
dant. Very few of them take the trouble to plant any
vegetables or fruit, but live almost entirely on sago and
fish, selling a little tripang or tortoiseshell to buy the
scanty clothing they require. Almost all of them, how-
M M
530 WAIGIOU. CoHaP. XXXVI.
ever, possess one or more Papuan slaves, on whose labour
they live in almost absolute idleness, just going out on
little fishing or trading excursions, as an excitement in
their monotonous existence. They are under the rule ol
the Sultan of Tidore, and every year have to pay @ small
tribute of Paradise birds, tortoiseshell, or sago. To obtain
these, they go in the fine season on a trading voyage to the
mainland of New Guinea, and getting a few goods on
credit from some Ceram or Bugis trader, make hard
bargains with the natives, and gain enough to pay their
tribute, and leave a little profit for themselves.
Such a country is not a very pleasant one to live in, for as
there are no superfluities, there is nothing to sell; and had
-t not been for a trader from Ceram who was residing
there during my stay, who had a small vegetable garden,
and whose men occasionally got a few spare fish, I should
often have had nothing to eat. Fowls, fruit, and vegetables
are luxuries very rarely to be purchased at Muka ; and
even cocoa-nuts, so indispensable for eastern cookery,
are not to be obtained; for though there are some
hundreds of trees in the village, all the fruit is eaten
oreen, to supply the place of the vegetables the people
are too lazy to cultivate. Without eggs, cocoa-nuts, or
plantains, we had very short commons, and the boisterous
weather being unpropitious for fishing, we had to live on
what few eatable birds we could shoot, with an occasional
cuscus, or eastern opossum, the only quadruped, except
pigs, inhabiting the island.
I had only shot two male Paradiseas on my tree when
they ceased visiting it, either owing to the fruit becoming
scarce, or that they were wise enough to know there was
danger. We continued to hear and see them in the forest,
but after a month had not succeeded in shooting any more ;
and as my chief object in visiting Waigiou was to get
these birds, I determined to go to Bessir, where there are a
number of Papuans who catch and preserve them. I hired
a small outrigger boat for this journey, and left one of my
men to guard my house and goods. We had to walt
several days for fine weather, and at length started early
one morning, and arrived late at night, after a rough and
disagreeable passage. The village of Bessir was built in
cHaP.xxxvi.] MY HOUSE AT BESSIR. 53]
the water at the point of a small island. The chief food
of the people was evidently shell-fish, since great heaps of
the shells had accumulated in the shallow water between
the houses and the land, forming a regular “ kitchen-mid-
den” for the exploration of some future archxologist. We
spent the night in the chief’s house, and the next morning
went over to the mainland to look out for a place where I
could reside. This part of Waigiou is really another island
to the south of the narrow channel we had passed through
in coming to Muka. It appears to consist almost entirely
of raised coral, whereas the northern island contains hard
crystalline rocks. The shores were a range of low lime-
stone cliffs, worn out by the water, so that the upper part
generally overhung. At distant intervals were little coves
and openings, where small streams came down from the
interior; and in one of these we landed, pulling our boat
up on a patch of white sandy beach. Immediately above
was a large newly-made plantation of yams and plantains,
and a small hut, which the chief said we might have the
use of, if it would do for me. It was quite a dwarf’s house,
just eight feet square, raised on posts so that the floor was
four and a half feet above the ground, and the highest part
of the ridge only five feet above the floor. As I am six
feet and an inch in my stockings, I looked at this with
some dismay; but finding that the other houses were
much further from water, were dreadfully dirty, and were
crowded with people, I at once accepted the little one, and
determined to make the best of it. At first I thought of
taking out the floor, which would leave it high enough to
walk in and out without stooping; but then there would
not be room enough, so I left it just as it was, had it
thoroughly cleaned out, and brought up my baggage. The
upper story I used for sleeping in, and for a store-room. In
the lower part (which was quite open all round) I fixed up
a small table, arranged my boxes, put up hanging-shelves,
laid a mat on the ground with my wicker-chair upon it,
hung up another mat on the windward side, and then
found that, by bending double and carefully creeping in,
I could sit on my chair with my head just clear of the
ceiling. Here I lived pretty comfortably for six weeks,
taking all my meals and doing all my work at my little
MM 2
532, WAIGIOU. [cHAP. XXXVI.
table, to and from which I had to creep in a semi-horizontal
position a dozen times a day; and, after a few severe
knocks on the head by suddenly rising from my chair,
learnt to accommodate myself to circumstances. We put
up a little sloping cooking-hut outside, and a bench on
which my lads could skin their birds. At night I went.
up to my little loft, they spread their mats on the floor
below, and we none of us grumbled at our lodgings.
MY HOUSE AT BESSIR, IN WAIGIOU.
My first business was to send for the men who were
accustomed to catch the Birds of Paradise. Several came,
and I showed them my hatchets, beads, knives, and hand-
kerchiefs; and explained to them, as well as I could by
signs, the price I would give for fresh-killed specimens. It
‘3 the universal custom to pay for everything in advance ;
but only one man ventured on this occasion to take goods:
to the value of two birds. The rest were suspicious, and
wanted to see the result of the first bargain with the strange
white man, the only one who had ever come to their
‘sland. After three days, my man brought me the first
pird—a very fine specimen, and alive, but tied up in @
CHAP. XxxvI.] NATIVE BIRD-CATCHERS. 533
‘small bag, and consequently its tail and wing feathers
very much crushed and injured. I tried to explain to
him, and to the others that came with him, that I wanted
‘them as perfect as possible, and that they should either
kill them, or keep them on a perch with a string to their
leg. As they were now apparently satisfied that all was
fair, and that I had no ulterior designs upon them, six
others took away goods; some for one bird, some for more,
and one for as many as six. They said they had to go a
long way for them, and that they would come back as soon
as they caught any. At intervals of a few days or a week,
some of them would return, bringing me one or more birds ;
but though they did not bring any more in bags, there was
not much improvement in their condition. As they caught
them a long way off in the forest, they would scarcely
ever come with one, but would tie it by the leg to a
stick, and put it in their house till they caught another.
‘The poor creature would make violent efforts to escape,
would get among the ashes, or hang suspended by the leg
till the limb was swollen and half-putrefied, and sometinies
die of starvation and worry. One had its beautiful head all
-defiled by pitch from a dammar torch; another had been
‘so long dead that its stomach was turning green. Luckily,
however, the skin and plumage of these birds is so firm
-and strong, that they bear washing and cleaning better
than almost any other sort; and I was generally able to
clean them so well that they did not perceptibly differ
from those I had shot myself.
Some few were brought me the same day they were
caught, and I had an opportunity of examining them in
all their beauty and vivacity. As soon as I found they
were generally brought alive, I set one of my men to
make a large bamboo cage with troughs for food and
water, -hoping to be able to keep some of them. I got
‘the natives to bring me branches of a fruit they were
very fond of, and I was pleased to find they ate it
‘greedily, and would also take any number of live grass-
hoppers I gave them, stripping off the legs and wings, and
‘then swallowing them. They drank plenty of water, and
were in constant motion, jumping about the cage from
perch to perch, clinging on the top and sides, and rarely
534 WAIGIOU. [cHaP. XXXVI
resting a moment the first day till nightfall. The second
day they were always less active, although they would
eat as freely as before; and on the morning of the third
day they were almost always found dead at the bottom
of the cage, without any apparent cause. Some of them
ate boiled rice as well as fruit and insects; but after
trying many in succession, not one out of ten lived more
than three days. The second or third day they would be
dull, and in several cases they were seized with convui-
sions, and fell off the perch, dying a few hours after-
wards. I tried immature as well as full-plumaged birds,
but with no better success, and at length gave it up as a
hopeless task, and confined my attention to preserving
specimens in as good a condition as possible.
The Red Birds of Paradise are not shot with blunt arrows,
as in the Aru Islands and some parts of New Guinea, but
are snared in a very ingenious manner. A large climbing
Arum bears a red reticulated fruit, of which the birds are
very fond. The hunters fasten this fruit on a stout forked
stick, and provide themselves with a fine but strong cord.
They then seek out some tree in the forest on which these
birds are accustomed to perch, and climbing up it fasten
the stick to a branch and arrange the cord in a noose so
ingeniously, that when the bird comes to eat the fruit its
legs are caught, and by pulling the end of the cord, which
hangs down to the ground, it comes free from the braneh
and brings down the bird. Sometimes, when food is
abundant elsewhere, the hunter sits from morning till
night under his tree with the cord in his hand, and even
for two or three whole days in succession, without even
getting a bite; while, on the other hand, if very lucky, he
may get two or three birds in a day. There are only eight
or ten men at Bessir who practise this art, which is un-
known anywhere else in the island. I determined, there-
fore, to stay as long as possible, as my only chance of.
getting a good series of specimens; and although I was
nearly starved, everything eatable by civilized man being
scarce or altogether absent, I finally succeeded.
The vegetables and fruit in the plantations around us
did not suffice for the wants of the inhabitants, and were —
almost always dug up or gathered before they were ripe. It —
CHAP. XXXVI. ] SCARCITY OF FUOD. 535
was very rarely we could purchase a little fish; fowls there
were none; and we were reduced to live upon tough
pigeons and cockatoos, with our rice and sago, and some-
times we could not get these. Having been already eight
months on this voyage, my stock of all condiments, spices
and butter, was exhausted, and I found it impossible to
eat sufficient of my tasteless and unpalatable food to
support health. I got very thin and weak, and had a
curious disease known (I have since heard) as brow-ague.
Directly after breakfast every morning an intense pain set
in on a small spot on the right temple. It was a severe
burning ache, as bad as the worst toothache, and lasted
about two hours, generally going off at noon. When this
finally ceased, I had an attack of fever, which left me so
weak and so unable to eat our regular food, that I feel
sure my life was saved by a couple of tins of soup which
I had long reserved for some such extremity. I used often
to go out searching after vegetables, and found a great
treasure in a lot of tomato plants run wild, and bearing
little fruits about the size of gooseberries. I also boiled
up the tops of pumpkin plants and of ferns, by way of
greens, and occasionally got a few green papaws. The
natives, when hard up for food, live upon a fleshy sea-
weed, which they boil till it is tender. I tried this also,
but found it too salt and bitter to be endured.
Towards the end of September it became absolutely
necessary for me to return, in order to make our home-
ward voyage before the end of the east monsoon. Most
of the men who had taken payment from me had brought
the birds they had agreed for. One poor fellow had been
so unfortunate as not to get one, and he very honestly
brought back the axe he had received in advance;
another, who had agreed for six, brought me the fifth
two days before I was to start, and went off immediately
to the forest again to get the other. He did not return,
however, and. we loaded our boat, and were just on the
point of starting, when he came running down after us
holding up a bird, which he handed to me, saying with
great satisfaction, “ Now I owe you nothing.” ‘These were
remarkable and quite unexpected instances of honesty
among savages, where it would have been very easy for
536 WAIGIOU. [CHAP., XXIXVL,
them to have been dishonest without fear of detection or
punishment.
The country round about Bessir was very hilly and
rugged, bristling with jagged and honey-combed coral-
line rocks, and with curious little chasms and ravines.
The paths often passed through these rocky clefts, which
in the depths of the forest were gloomy and dark in the
extreme, and often full of fine-leaved herbaceous plants
and curious blue-foliaged Lycopodiacee. It was in such
places as these that I obtained many of my most beau-
tiful small butterflies, such as Sospita statira and Taxila
pulchra, the gorgeous blue Amblypodia hercules, and many
others. On the skirts of the plantations I found the hand-
some blue Deudorix despcena, and in the shady woods the
lovely Lyczena wallacei. Here, too, 1 obtained the beau-
tiful Thyca aruna, of the richest orange on the upper side,
while below it is intense crimson and glossy black; and
a superb specimen of a green Ornithoptera, absolutely
fresh and perfect, and which still remains one of the
glories of my cabinet.
My collection of birds, though not very rich in number
of species, was yet very interesting. I got another speci-
men of the rare New Guinea kite (Henicopernis longi-
cauda), a large new goatsucker (Podargus superciliaris),
and a most curious ground-pigeon of an entirely new genus,
and remarkable for its long and powerful bill. It has
been named Henicophaps albifrons. I was also much
pleased to obtain a fine series of a large fruit-pigeon with
a protuberance on the bill (Carpophaga tumida), and to
ascertain that this was not, as had been hitherto supposed,
a sexual character, but was found equally in male and
female birds. I collected only seventy-three species of
birds in Waigiou, but twelve of them were entirely new,
and many others very rare; and as I brought away with
me twenty-four fine specimens of the Paradisea rubra, |
did not regret my visit to the island, although it had by
no means answered my expectations.
Hap. xxxvil.}]) VOYAGE FROM WAIGIOU. G37
CHAPTER XXXVII.
VOYAGE FROM WAIGIOU TO TERNATE.
(SEPTEMBER 29 TO NOVEMBER 5, 1860.)
HAD left the old pilot at Waigiou to take care of my
house and to get the prau into sailing order—to caulk
her bottom, and to look after the upper works, thatch,
and rigging. When I returned I found it nearly ready,
and immediately began packing up and preparing for the
voyage. Our mainsail had formed one side of our house,
but the spanker and jib had been put away in the roof,
and on opening them to see if any repairs were wanted,
to our horror we found that some rats had made them
their nest, and had gnawed through them in twentv places.
We had therefore to buy matting and make new sails,
and this delayed us till the 29th of September, when
we at length left Waigiou.
It took us four days before we could get clear of the
land, having to pass along narrow straits beset with
reefs and shoals, and full of strong currents, so that an
unfavourable wind stopped us altogether. One day, when
nearly clear, a contrary tide and head wind drove us ten
miles back to our anchorage of the night before. This
delay made us afraid of running short of water if we —
should be becalmed at sea, and we therefore determined,
if possible, to touch at the island where our men had
been lost, and which lay directly in our proper course.
‘The wind was, however, as usual, contrary, being 8.S.W.
instead of 8.8.E., as it should have been at this time of the
year, and all we could do was to reach the island of Gagie,
where we came to an anchor by moonlight under bare
volcanic hills. In the morning we tried to enter a deep
bay, at the head of which some Galela fishermen told us
there was water, but a head-wind prevented us. For the
reward of a handkerchief, however, they took us to the
place in their boat, and we filled up our jars and bamboos.
We then went round to their camping-place on the north
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coAP.xxxvu.] VOYAGE FROM WAIGIOU. 39
coast of the island to try and buy something to eat, but
could only get smoked turtle meat as black and as hard
as lumps of coal. A little further on there was a plan-
tation belonging to Guebe people, but under the eare of
a Papuan slave, and the next morning we got some plan-
tains and a few vegetables in exchange for a handkerchief
and some knives. On leaving this place our anchor had
got foul in some rock or sunken log in very deep water,
and after many unsuccessful attempts, we were forced
to cut our rattan cable and leave it behind us. We had
now only one anchor left.
Starting early, on the 4th of October, the same S.S.W.
wind continued, and we began to fear that we should
hardly clear the southern point of Gilolo. The night of
the 5th was squally, with thunder, but after midnight it
got tolerably fair, and we were going along with a light
wind and looking out for the coast of Gilolo, which we
thought we must be nearing, when we heard a dull roaring
sound, like a heavy surf, behind us. In a short time the
roar increased, and we saw a white line of foam coming on,
which rapidly passed us without doing any harm, as our
boat rose easily over the wave. At short intervals, ten or a
dozen others overtook us with great rapidity, and then the sea
became perfectly smooth, as it was before. I concluded at
once that these must be earthquake waves; and on refer-
ence to the old voyagers we find that these seas have been
long subject to similar phenomena. Dampier encountered
them near Mysol and New Guinea, and describes them as
follows: “ We found here very strange tides, that ran in
streams, making a great sea, and roaring so loud that we
could hear them before they came within a mile of us.
The sea round about them seemed all broken, and tossed
the ship so that she would not answer her helm. These
ripplings commonly lasted ten or twelve minutes, and then
the sea became as still and smooth as a millpond. We
sounded often when in the midst of them, but found no.
ground, neither could we perceive that they drove us any
way. We had in one night several of these tides, that
came mostly from the west, and the wind being from that -
quarter we commonly heard them a leng time before they
came, and sometimes lowered our topsails, thinking it was
540 VOYAGE FROM WAIGIOU [cHAP. XXXVII.
a gust of wind. They were of great length, from north to
south, but their breadth not exceeding 200 yards, and they
drove a great pace. For though we had little wind to
move us, yet these would soon pass away, and leave the
water very smooth, and just before we encountered them
we met a great swell, but it did not break.” Some time
afterwards, I learnt that an earthquake had been felt on
the coast of Gilolo the very day we had encountered
these curlous waves.
When daylight came, we saw the land of Gilolo a few
miles off, but the point was unfortunately a little to wind-
ward of us. We tried to brace up all we could to round
it, but as we approached the shore we got into a strong
current setting northward, which carried us so rapidly with
it that we found it necessary to stand off again, in order to
get out of its influence. Sometimes we approached the
point a little, and our hopes revived ; then the wind fell,
and we drifted slowly away. Night found us in nearly the
same position as we had occupied in the morning, so we
hung down our anchor with about fifteen fathoms of cable
to prevent drifting. On the morning of the 7th we were
however, a good way up the coast, and we now thought
our only chance would be to get close in-shore, where there
might be a return current, and we could then row. The
prau was heavy, and my men very poor creatures for work,
so that it took us six hours to get to the edge of the reef
that fringed the shore; and as the wind might at any
moment blow on to it, our situation was a very dangerous
one. Luckily, a short distance off there was a sandy bay,
where a small stream stopped the growth of the coral; and
by evening we reached this and anchored for the night.
Here we found some Galela men shooting deer and pigs;
but they could not or would not speak Malay, and we
could get little information from them. We found out that
along shore the current changed with the tide, while about
a mile out it was always one way, and against us; and
this gave us some hopes of getting back to the point, from
which we were now distant twenty miles. Next morning
we found that the Galela men had left before daylight,
having perhaps some vague fear of our intentions, and very
likely taking me for a pirate. During the morning a boat
CHAP, XXXVII.] TO TERNATE. 54)
passed, and the people informed us that, at a short distance
further towards the point, there was a much better harbour,
where there were plenty of Galela men, from whom we
might probably get some assistance.
At three in the afternoon, when the current turned, we
started; but having a head-wind, made slow progress.
At dusk we reached the entrance of the harbour, but an
eddy and a gust of wind carried us away and out to sea.
After sunset there was a land breeze, and we sailed a little
to the south-east. It then became calm, and we hung
down our anchor forty fathoms, to endeavour to coun-
teract the current; but it was of little avail, and in
the morning we found ourselves a good way from shore,
and just opposite our anchorage of the day before,
which we again reached by hard rowing. I gave the
men this day to rest and sleep; and the next day
(Oct. 10th) we again started at two in the morning
with a land breeze. After I had set them to their oars,
and given instructions to keep close in-shore, and on
no account to get out to sea, I went below, being rather
unwell, At daybreak I found, to my great astonishment,
that we were again far off-shore, and was told that the
wind had gradually turned more ahead, and had carried
us out—none of them having the sense to take down the
sail and row in-shore, or to call me. As soon as it was
daylight, we saw that we had drifted back, and were again
opposite our former anchorage, and, for the third time, had
to. row hard to get to it. As we approached the shore, I
saw that the current was favourable to us, and we con-
tinued down the coast till we were close to the entrance:
to the lower harbour. Just as we were congratulating
ourselves on having at last reached it, a strong south-east
squall came on, blowing us back, and rendering it impos-
sible for us to enter. Not liking the idea of again return-
ing, I determined on trying to anchor, and succeeded in
doing so, in very deep water and close to the reefs; but
the prevailing winds were such that, should we not hold,
we should have no difficulty in getting out to sea. By
the time the squall had passed, the current had turned
against us, and we expected to have to wait till four in
the afternoon, when we intended to enter the harbour.
542 VOYAGE FROM WAIGIOU [cHaP. XXXVII.
Now, however, came the climax of our troubles. The
swell produced by the squall made us jerk our cable a good
deal, and it suddenly snapped low down in the water.
We drifted out to sea, and immediately set our mainsail,
but we were now without any anchor, and in a vessel so
poorly manned that it could not be rowed against the most
feeble current or the slightest wind, it would be madness to
approach these dangerous shores except in the most perfect
calm. We had also only three days’ food left. It was
therefore out of the question making any further attempts
to get round the point without assistance, and I at once
determined to run to the village of Gani-diluar, about ten
miles further north, where we understood there was a good
harbour, and where we might get provisions and a few
more rowers. Hitherto winds and currents had invariably
opposed our passage southward and we might have ex-
pected them to be favourable to us now we had turned our
bowsprit in an opposite direction. But it immediately fell
calm, and then after a time a westerly land breeze set in,
which would not serve us, and we had to row again for
hours, and when night came had not reached the village.
We were so fortunate, however, as to find a deep sheltered
cove where the water was quite smooth, and we con-
structed a temporary anchor by filling a sack with stones
from our ballast, which being well secured by a network
of rattans held us safely during the night. The next
morning my men went on shore to cut wood suitable for
making fresh anchors, and about noon, the current turning
in our favour, we proceeded to the village, where we found
an excellent and well-protected anchorage.
On inquiry, we found that the head men resided at the
other Gani on the western side of the peninsula, and it
was necessary to send messengers across (about half a
day’s journey) to inform them of my arrival, and to beg
them to assist me. I then succeeded in buying a little
sago, some dried deer-meat and cocoa-nuts, which at once
relieved our immediate want of something to eat.