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+Project Gutenberg's The Malay Archipelago by Alfred R. Wallace
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+Volume 1
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+Title:  The Malay Archipelago  Volume 1
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+Author:  by Alfred Russell Wallace
+
+February, 2001  [Etext #2530]
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+
+THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO
+
+VOLUME I
+
+By
+
+ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE.
+
+
+The land of the orang-utan, and the bird or paradise.
+
+A narrative of travel, with sketches of man and nature.
+
+To CHARLES DARWIN,
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES,"
+
+I dedicate this book,
+Not only as a token of personal esteem and friendship
+But also
+To express my deep admiration
+For
+His genius and his works.
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+My readers will naturally ask why I have delayed writing this
+book for six years after 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 containing the
+collections that I had, from time to time, sent home for my
+private use. These comprised nearly three thousand birdskins of
+about one thousand species, at least twenty thousand beetles and
+butterflies of about seven thousand species, and some quadrupeds
+and land shells besides. A large proportion of these I had not
+seen for years, and in my then weakened 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 distribution (of which I had had
+glimpses while collecting them), I would not attempt to publish
+my travels. Indeed, I could have printed my notes and journals at
+once, leaving all reference to questions of natural history for a
+future work; but, I felt that this would be as unsatisfactory 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 Linnean
+Zoological and Entomological Societies", describing or
+cataloguing portions of my collections, along with twelve others
+in various scientific periodicals on more general subjects
+connected with them.
+
+Nearly two thousand of my Coleoptera, and many hundreds of my
+butterflies, have been already described by various eminent
+naturalists, British 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 Entomological Society of London, who had 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 perhaps forgotten all about it.
+
+I must now say a few words on the plan of my work.
+
+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 follows:
+
+I. THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS: comprising the Malay Peninsula and
+Singapore, Borneo, Java, and Sumatra.
+
+II. THE TIMOR GROUP: comprising the islands of Timor, Flores,
+Sumbawa, and Lombock, with several smaller ones.
+
+III. CELEBES: comprising also the Sula Islands and Bouton.
+
+IV. THE MOLUCCAN GROUP: comprising Bouru, Ceram, Batchian,
+Gilolo, and Morty; with the smaller islands of Ternate, Tidore,
+Makian, Kaióa, Amboyna, Banda, Goram, and Matabello.
+
+V. THE 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 geographically they
+belong to the Moluccas.
+
+The chapters relating to the separate islands of each of these
+groups are followed by one on the Natural History of that group;
+and the work may thus be divided into five parts, each treating
+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 paces 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 have 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 illustrations 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, only 
+subjects that would really illustrate the narrative or the
+descriptions, have been chosen.
+
+I have to thank Messrs. Walter and Henry Woodbury, 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.
+
+As the main object of all my journeys was to obtain specimens of
+natural history, both for my private collection 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 nearly half the time had the services of an English
+lad, Charles Allen. I was 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 specimens of Reptiles.
+8,050 specimens of Birds.
+7,500 specimens of Shells.
+13,100 specimens of Lepidoptera.
+83,200 specimens of Coleoptera.
+13,400 specimens of other Insects.
+
+125,660 specimens of natural history in all.
+
+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 Geographical Society,
+through whose valuable recommendations I obtained important aid
+from our own Government 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. I am
+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 and 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.
+
+THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
+
+From a look at a globe or a map of the Eastern hemisphere, we
+shall perceive between Asia and Australia a number of large and
+small islands forming a connected group distinct from those great
+masses of land, and having little connection 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
+Indigenous here. It produces the giant flowers of the Rafflesia,
+the great green-winged Ornithoptera (princes among the butterfly
+tribes), the man-like Orangutan, 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 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 weeks along
+the shores of one of these great islands, often so great that its
+inhabitants believe it to be a vast continent. 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 differ widely in their natural products, and really form
+two parts 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 in the several
+islands I shall have to refer continually to this view, and
+adduce facts in support of it, I have thought it advisable to
+commence with a general sketch of the main features of the
+Malayan region as will render the facts hereafter brought forward
+more interesting, and their bearing upon the general question
+more easily understood. 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 Boundaries.--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 Solomon Islands, beyond 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
+distinctly 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 that they form a connected whole,
+all the parts of which are intimately related to each other.
+
+Extent of the Archipelago and Islands.--The Malay Archipelago
+extends for more than 4,000 miles in length from east to west,
+and is about 1,300 in breadth from north to south. It would
+stretch over an expanse equal to that of all Europe from the
+extreme west far into Central Asia, or would cover the widest
+parts of South America, and extend far beyond the land into the
+Pacific and 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 surrounded 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 productions 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 produces 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,
+Sumbawa, 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 begins again in North
+Celebes, and passes by Sian 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-
+volcanic district to the volcanoes observed by Dampier, in 1699,
+on the north-eastern coast of New 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 volcanoes, 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. On 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 Papandayang 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 around.
+Even quite recently, since I left 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 inaction, it again
+suddenly burst forth, blowing up and completely 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. 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 position, 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 extensive 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 Panda, 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
+Ceram, the north part of Gilolo, and all the small islands around
+it, the northern extremity of Celebes, and the islands of Sian
+and Sang-air, 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 depression 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 Ke 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 is
+very probable that such changes have occurred within a few
+centuries.
+
+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
+miles 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 submergence. 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
+surrounding 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, although 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
+continents 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
+fires. 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 Bali.
+
+In Timor the most common trees are Eucalypti of several species,
+also characteristic of Australia, with sandalwood, 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 eastward in Timor and the Ke
+Islands, a moister climate prevails; the southeast winds blowing
+from the Pacific through Torres Straits and over the damp forests
+of 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, until in the
+extreme west near Batavia, rain occurs more or less all the year
+round, and the mountains are everywhere clothed with forests of
+unexampled luxuriance.
+
+Contrasts in Depth of Sea.--It was first pointed out by Mr.
+George Windsor Earl, in a paper read before the Royal
+Geographical Society in 1845, and subsequently in a pamphlet "On
+the Physical Geography of South-Eastern Asia and Australia",
+dated 1855, that a shallow sea connected the great islands of
+Sumatra, Java, and Borneo with the Asiatic continent, with which
+their natural productions generally agreed; while a similar
+shallow sea connected New Guinea and some of the adjacent islands
+to Australia, all being characterised by the presence of
+marsupials.
+
+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 shall 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.
+
+On referring to pages 12, 13, and 36 of Mr. Earl's pamphlet, it
+will be seen that he maintains the former connection 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.
+
+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 is 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 distribution of
+living things on the surface of the earth is mainly the result of
+the last series of changes that it has undergone. 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; as 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 difference of opinion. Every successive
+stratum of sedimentary 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 organic world.
+
+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 Sardinia 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 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 intervening 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 which organic forms have
+undergone is a measure of time. When we make proper allowance for
+the continued introduction 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, possesses 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 absolutely 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 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 indicates 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 is not so; for if we leave out the aquatic tribes
+which are preeminently wanderers, it is found that the others
+(and especially the Passeres, or true perching-birds, which form
+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 Java 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 individuality 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.
+
+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; and 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 irresistibly 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 reaching 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 anomalies, which seem to indicate
+that they were separated at an earlier period, and have since
+been subject to many revolutions in their physical geography.
+
+Turning our attention now to the remaining portion of the
+Archipelago, we shall find that all the islands from Celebes and
+Lombock eastward exhibit almost as close a resemblance to
+Australia and New Guinea as the Western Islands do to Asia. It is
+well known that the natural productions of Australia differ from
+those of Asia more than those of any of the four ancient quarters
+of the world differ from each other. Australia, in fact, stands
+alone: it possesses no apes or monkeys, no cats or tigers,
+wolves, bears, or hyenas; no deer or antelopes, sheep or oxen; no
+elephant, horse, squirrel, or rabbit; none, in short, of those
+familiar types of quadruped which are met with in every other
+part of the world. Instead of these, it has Marsupials only:
+kangaroos and opossums; wombats and the duckbilled Platypus. In
+birds it is almost as peculiar. It has no woodpeckers and no
+pheasants--families which exist in every other part of the
+world; but instead of them it has the mound-making brush-turkeys,
+the honeysuckers, the cockatoos, and the brush-tongued lories,
+which are found nowhere else upon the globe. All these striking
+peculiarities are found also in those islands which form the
+Austro-Malayan division of the Archipelago.
+
+The great contrast between the two divisions of the Archipelago
+is nowhere so abruptly exhibited as on passing from the island of
+Bali to that of Lombock, where the two regions are in closest
+proximity. In Bali we have barbets, fruit-thrushes, and
+woodpeckers; on passing over to Lombock these are seen no more,
+but we have abundance of cockatoos, honeysuckers, and brush-
+turkeys, which are equally unknown in Bali, or any island further
+west. [I was informed, however, that there were a few cockatoos
+at one spot on the west of Bali, showing that the intermingling
+of the productions of these islands is now going on.] The strait
+is here fifteen miles wide, so that we may pass in two hours from
+one great division of the earth to another, differing as
+essentially in their animal life as Europe does from America. If
+we travel from Java or Borneo to Celebes or the Moluccas, the
+difference is still more striking. In the first, the forests
+abound in monkeys of many kinds, wild cats, deer, civets, and
+otters, and numerous varieties of squirrels are constantly met
+with. In the latter none of these occur; but the prehensile-
+tailed Cuscus is almost the only terrestrial mammal seen, except
+wild pigs, which are found in all the islands, and deer (which
+have probably been recently introduced) in Celebes and the
+Moluccas. The birds which are most abundant in the Western
+Islands are woodpeckers, barbets, trogons, fruit-thrushes, and
+leaf-thrushes; they are seen daily, and form the great
+ornithological features of the country. In the Eastern Islands
+these are absolutely unknown, honeysuckers and small lories being
+the most common birds, so that the naturalist feels himself in a
+new world, and can hardly realize that he has passed from the one
+region to the other in a few days, without ever being out of
+sight of land.
+
+The inference that we must draw from these facts is, undoubtedly,
+that the whole of the islands eastwards beyond Java and Borneo do
+essentially form a part of a former Australian or Pacific
+continent, although some of them may never have been actually
+joined to it. This continent must have been broken up not only
+before the Western Islands were separated from Asia, but probably
+before the extreme southeastern portion of Asia was raised above
+the waters of the ocean; for a great part of the land of Borneo
+and Java is known to be geologically of quite recent formation,
+while the very great difference of species, and in many cases of
+genera also, between the productions of the Eastern Malay Islands
+and Australia, as well as the great depth of the sea now
+separating them, all point to a comparatively long period of
+isolation.
+
+It is interesting to observe among the islands themselves how a
+shallow sea always intimates a recent land connexion. The Aru
+Islands, Mysol, and Waigiou, as well as Jobie, agree with New
+Guinea in their species of mammalia and birds much more closely
+than they do with the Moluccas, and we find that they are all
+united to New Guinea by a shallow sea. In fact, the 100-fathom
+line round New Guinea marks out accurately the range of the true
+Paradise birds.
+
+It is further to be noted--and this is a very interesting point
+in connection with theories of the dependence of special forms of
+life on external conditions--that this division of the
+Archipelago into two regions characterised by a striking
+diversity in their natural productions does not in any way
+correspond to the main physical or climatal divisions of the
+surface. The great volcanic chain runs through both parts, and
+appears to produce no effect in assimilating their productions.
+Borneo closely resembles New Guinea not only in its vast size and
+its freedom from volcanoes, but in its variety of geological
+structure, its uniformity of climate, and the general aspect of
+the forest vegetation that clothes its surface. The Moluccas are
+the counterpart of the Philippines in their volcanic structure,
+their extreme fertility, their luxuriant forests, and their
+frequent earthquakes; and Bali with the east end of Java has a
+climate almost as dry and a soil almost as arid as that of Timor.
+Yet between these corresponding groups of islands, constructed as
+it were after the same pattern, subjected to the same climate,
+and bathed by the same oceans, there exists the greatest possible
+contrast when we compare their animal productions. Nowhere does
+the ancient doctrine--that differences or similarities in the
+various forms of life that inhabit different countries are due to
+corresponding physical differences or similarities in the
+countries themselves--meet with so direct and palpable a
+contradiction. Borneo and New Guinea, as alike physically as two
+distinct countries can be, are zoologically wide as the poles
+asunder; while Australia, with its dry winds, its open plains,
+its stony deserts, and its temperate climate, yet produces birds
+and quadrupeds which are closely related to those inhabiting the
+hot damp luxuriant forests, which everywhere clothe the plains
+and mountains of New Guinea.
+
+In 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
+illustrate the question we are considering. On the one side we
+have baboons, lions, elephants, buffaloes, and giraffes; on the
+other spider-monkeys, pumas, tapirs, anteaters, and sloths; while
+among birds, the hornbills, turacos, orioles, and honeysuckers of
+Africa contrast strongly with the toucans, macaws, chatterers,
+and hummingbirds 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 it.
+Several islands would at one time be joined together, at another
+would be broken up again, until 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 inhabiting 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 hummingbirds, 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 connection 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
+had directly or indirectly once formed a part.
+
+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
+gradually and irregularly broken up; the island of Celebes
+probably marking its furthest westward extension, beyond which
+was a wide ocean. At the same time Asia appears to have been
+extending its limits in a southeast 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 disappeared beneath the ocean long
+before the earliest traditions 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
+movements above and below the sea-level; but wherever oceans and
+seas now extend, he can do nothing but speculate on 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 travels was to obtain evidence of
+this nature; and my search after such evidence has been rewarded
+by great success, so that I have been able 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
+appropriately 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 impossible to give such an
+account as I desire of the natural history of the numerous
+islands and groups of islands in the Archipelago, without
+constant reference to these generalizations which add so much to
+their interest. Having given this general sketch of the subject,
+I shall be able to show how the same principles can be applied to
+the individual islands of a group, as to the whole Archipelago;
+and thereby make my account of the many new and curious 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 races 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 it; a 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 traversing 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 civilization 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.
+
+I believe, therefore, that all the peoples of the various islands
+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
+continent, but from lands which now exist or have recently
+existed in the Pacific Ocean. These preliminary observations 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 II.
+
+SINGAPORE.
+
+(A SKETCH OF THE TOWN AND ISLAND AS SEEN DURING SEVERAL VISITS
+FROM 1854 TO 1862.)
+
+FEW places are more interesting to a traveller from Europe than
+the town and island of Singapore, furnishing, 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 agriculturists of the interior, and most of the
+mechanics and labourers. The native Malays are usually fishermen
+and boatmen, 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 Bengalees, and
+there is a small but 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 comprises handsome public
+buildings and churches, Mahometan mosques, Hindu 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 twice what they are willing to take. If you
+buy a few things from 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
+shoemakers 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 flintlock very handsomely. All
+about the streets are sellers of water, vegetables, fruit, soup,
+and agar-agar (a jelly made of seaweed), 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 shellfish, 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 province--even those
+farthest in the interior--has a permanent Jesuit mission
+establishment constantly kept up by fresh 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 had a
+school to teach their children. His house was open to them day
+and night. If a man came to him and said, "I have no rice for my
+family to eat today," 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 last 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 island 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-house at Bukit-tima
+was surrounded by several of these wood-topped hills, which were
+much frequented by woodcutters and sawyers, and offered me an
+excellent collecting ground 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 gambir 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, awaiting 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
+(Cerambycidae), so much esteemed by collectors. Almost all these
+were collected 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. 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 larvae. 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
+butterflies 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 III.
+
+MALACCA AND MOUNT OPHIR.
+
+(JULY TO SEPTEMBER, 1854.)
+
+BIRDS 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 excursion 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 description 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 around
+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 greater number
+of Portuguese if it were not for the inconvenience, 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 beginning, 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 established a peculiar language, drawn from the most elegant
+nodes of speaking of other nations, so that in fact the, language
+of 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 convenience of its situation, in a short time
+grew to such wealth, that it does not yield to the most powerful
+towns and regions around about. The natives, both men and women,
+are very courteous and are reckoned the most skillful 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, degraded, 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. Eu 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 impossible
+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 fortnight at a village called
+Gading, where I was accommodated 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 is 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
+"Rainbird." 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 beautiful. 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 (Megalaema 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 kingfishers,
+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 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 bungalow 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 bow fragmentary and
+imperfect a traveller's collection 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 ground. It was large,
+handsome, and quite new to me, and I got close to it before it
+flew away. I then observed 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 calydona. 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 northwestern 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
+distance 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 some eggs. The next day the country got wilder and more
+dilly. 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. Early 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 hunting, he went with two others to clear the path for our
+ascent the next day.
+
+Early next morning we started after breakfast, carrying 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 until we came out upon the "Padang-batu," or stone
+field, a place of which we had heard much, but could never get
+anyone to describe intelligibly. We found it to be a steep slope
+of even rock, extending along the mountain side farther than we
+could see. Parts of it were quite bare, but where it was cracked
+and fissured there grew a most luxuriant vegetation, among which
+the pitcher plants were the most remarkable. 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
+exciting our admiration by their size and beauty. A few
+coniferae of the genus Dacrydium here first appeared, and in the
+thickets just above the rocky surface we walked through groves of
+those splendid ferns Dipteris Horsfieldii and Matonia pectinata,
+which bear large spreading palmate fronds on slender stems six or
+eight feet high. The Matonia is the tallest and most elegant, and
+is known only from this mountain, and neither of them is yet
+introduced into our hot-houses.
+
+It was very striking to come out from the dark, cool, and shady
+forest in which we had been ascending since we started, on to
+this hot, open rocky slope where we seemed to have entered at one
+step from a lowland to an alpine vegetation. The height, as
+measured by a sympiesometer, was about 2,800 feet. We had been
+told we should find water at Padang-batuas we were exceedingly thirsty;
+but we looked about for it in vain. At last we turned to
+the pitcher-plants, but the water contained in the pitchers
+(about half a pint in each) was full of insects, and otherwise
+uninviting. On tasting it, however, we found it very palatable
+though rather warm, and we all quenched our thirst from these
+natural jugs. Farther on we came to forest again, but of a more
+dwarf and stunted character than below; and alternately passing
+along ridges and descending into valleys, we reached a peak
+separated from the true summit of the mountain by a considerable
+chasm. Here our porters gave in, and declared they could carry
+their loads no further; and certainly the ascent to the highest
+peak was very precipitous. But on the spot where we were there
+was no water, whereas it was well known that there was a spring
+close to the summit, so we determined to go on without them, and
+carry with us only what was absolutely necessary. We accordingly
+took a blanket each, and divided our food and other articles
+among us, and went on with only the old Malay and his son.
+
+After descending into the saddle between the two peaks we found
+the ascent very laborious, the slope being so steep, as often to
+necessitate hand-climbing. Besides a bushy vegetation the ground
+was covered knee-deep with mosses on a foundation of decaying
+leaves and rugged rock, and it was a hard hour's climb to the
+small ledge just below the summit, where an overhanging rock
+forms a convenient shelter, and a little basin collects the
+trickling water. Here we put down our loads, and in a few minutes
+more stood on the summit of Mount Ophir, 4,000 feet above the
+sea. The top is a small rocky platform covered with rhododendrons
+and other shrubs. The afternoon was clear, and the view fine in
+its way--ranges of hill and valley everywhere covered with
+interminable forest, with glistening rivers winding among them.
+
+In a distant view a forest country is very monotonous, and no
+mountain I have ever ascended in the tropics presents a panorama
+equal to that from Snowdon, while the views in Switzerland are
+immeasurably superior. When boiling our coffee I took
+observations with a good boiling-point thermometer, as well as
+with the sympiesometer, and we then enjoyed our evening meal and
+the noble prospect that lay before us. The night was calm and
+very mild, and having made a bed of twigs and branches over which
+we laid our blankets, we passed a very comfortable night. Our
+porters had followed us after a rest, bringing only their rice to
+cook, and luckily we did not require the baggage they left behind
+them. In the morning I caught a few butterflies and beetles, and
+my friend got a few land-shells; and we then descended, bringing
+with us some specimens of the ferns and pitcher-plants of Padang-
+batu.
+
+The place where we had first encamped at the foot of the mountain
+being very gloomy, we chose another in a kind of swamp near a
+stream overgrown with Zingiberaceous plants, in which a clearing
+was easily made. Here our men built two little huts without
+sides that would just shelter us from the rain; we lived in
+them for a week, shooting and insect-hunting, and roaming about
+the forests at the foot of the mountain. This was the country of
+the great Argus pheasant, and we continually heard its cry. On
+asking the old Malay to try and shoot one for me, he told me that
+although he had been for twenty years shooting birds in these
+forests he had never yet shot one, and had never even seen one
+except after it had been caught. The bird is so exceedingly shy
+and wary, and runs along the ground in the densest parts of the
+forest so quickly, that it is impossible to get near it; and its
+sober colours and rich eye-like spots, which are so ornamental
+when seen in a museum, must harmonize well with the dead leaves
+among which it dwells, and render it very inconspicuous. All the
+specimens sold in Malacca are caught in snares, and my informant,
+though he had shot none, had snared plenty.
+
+The tiger and rhinoceros are still found here, and a few years
+ago elephants abounded, but they have lately all disappeared. We
+found some heaps of dung, which seemed to be that of elephants,
+and some tracks of the rhinoceros, but saw none of the animals.
+However, we kept a fire up all night in case any of these
+creatures should visit us, and two of our men declared that they
+did one day see a rhinoceros. When our rice was finished, and our
+boxes full of specimens, we returned to Ayer-Panas, and a few
+days afterwards went on to Malacca, and thence to Singapore.
+Mount Ophir has quite a reputation for fever, and all our friends
+were astonished at our recklessness in staying so long at its
+foot; but none of us suffered in the least, and I shall ever
+look back with pleasure to my trip as being my first
+introduction to mountain scenery in the Eastern tropics.
+
+The meagreness and brevity of the sketch I have here given of my
+visit to Singapore and the Malay Peninsula is due to my having
+trusted chiefly to some private letters and a notebook, which
+were lost; and to a paper on Malacca and Mount Ophir which was
+sent to the Royal Geographical Society, but which was neither
+read nor printed owing to press of matter at the end of a
+session, and the MSS. of which cannot now be found. I the less
+regret this, however, as so many works have been written on these
+parts; and I always intended to pass lightly over my travels in
+the western and better known portions of the Archipelago, in
+order to devote more space to the remoter districts, about which
+hardly anything has been written in the English language.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+BORNEO--THE ORANGUTAN.
+
+I ARRIVED at Sarawak on November 1st, 1854, and left it on
+January 25th, 1856. In the interval I resided at many different
+localities, and saw a good deal of the Dyak tribes as well as of
+the Bornean Malays. I was hospitably entertained by Sir James
+Brooke, and lived in his house whenever I was at the town of
+Sarawak in the intervals of my journeys. But so many books have
+been written about this part of Borneo since I was there, that I
+shall avoid going into details of what I saw and heard and
+thought of Sarawak and its ruler, confining myself chiefly to my
+experiences as a naturalist in search of shells, insects, birds
+and the Orangutan, and to an account of a journey through a part
+of the interior seldom visited by Europeans.
+
+The first four months of my visit were spent in various parts of
+the Sarawak River, from Santubong at its mouth up to the
+picturesque limestone mountains and Chinese gold-fields of Bow
+and Bede. This part of the country has been so frequently
+described that I shall pass it over, especially as, owing to its
+being the height of the wet season, my collections were
+comparatively poor and insignificant.
+
+In March 1865 I determined to go to the coalworks which were
+being opened near the Simunjon River, a small branch of the
+Sadong, a river east of Sarawak and between it and the Batang-
+Lupar. The Simunjon enters the Sadong River about twenty miles
+up. It is very narrow and very winding, and much overshadowed by
+the lofty forest, which sometimes almost meets over it. The whole
+country between it and the sea is a perfectly level forest-
+covered swamp, out of which rise a few isolated hills, at the
+foot of one of which the works are situated. From the landing-
+place to the hill a Dyak road had been formed, which consisted
+solely of tree-trunks laid end to end. Along these the barefooted
+natives walk and carry heavy burdens with the greatest ease, but
+to a booted European it is very slippery work, and when one's
+attention is constantly attracted by the various objects of
+interest around, a few tumbles into the bog are almost
+inevitable. During my first walk along this road I saw few
+insects or birds, but noticed some very handsome orchids in
+flower, of the genus Coelogyne, a group which I afterwards found
+to be very abundant, and characteristic of the district. On the
+slope of the hill near its foot a patch of forest had been
+cleared away, and several rule houses erected, in which were
+residing Mr. Coulson the engineer, and a number of Chinese
+workmen. I was at first kindly accommodated in Mr. Coulson's
+house, but finding the spot very suitable for me and offering
+great facilities for collecting, I had a small house of two rooms
+and a verandah built for myself. Here I remained nearly nine
+months, and made an immense collection of insects, to which class
+of animals I devoted my chief attention, owing to the
+circumstances being especially favourable.
+
+In the tropics a large proportion of the insects of all orders,
+and especially of the large and favourite group of beetles, are
+more or less dependent on vegetation, and particularly on timber,
+bark, and leaves in various stages of decay. In the untouched
+virgin forest, the insects which frequent such situations are
+scattered over an immense extent of country, at spots where trees
+have fallen through decay and old age, or have succumbed to the
+fury of the tempest; and twenty square miles of country may not
+contain so many fallen and decayed trees as are to be found in
+any small clearing. The quantity and the variety of beetles and
+of many other insects that can be collected at a given time in
+any tropical locality, will depend, first upon the immediate
+vicinity of a great extent of virgin forest, and secondly upon
+the quantity of trees that for some months past have been, and
+which are still being cut down, and left to dry and decay upon
+the ground.
+
+Now, during my whole twelve years' collecting in the western and
+eastern tropics, I never enjoyed such advantages in this respect
+as at the Simunjon coalworks. For several months from twenty to
+fifty Chinamen and Dyaks were employed almost exclusively in
+clearing a large space in the forest, and in making a wide
+opening for a railroad to the Sadong River, two miles distant.
+Besides this, sawpits were established at various points in the
+jungle, and large trees were felled to be cut up into beams and
+planks. For hundreds of miles in every direction a magnificent
+forest extended over plain and mountain, rock and morass, and I
+arrived at the spot just as the rains began to diminish and the
+daily sunshine to increase; a time which I have always found the
+most favourable season for collecting. The number of openings,
+sunny places, and pathways were also an attraction to wasps and
+butterflies; and by paying a cent each for all insects that were
+brought me, I obtained from the Dyaks and the Chinamen many fine
+locusts and Phasmidae, as well as numbers of handsome beetles.
+
+When I arrived at the mines, on the 14th of March, I had
+collected in the four preceding months, 320 different kinds of
+beetles. In less than a fortnight I had doubled this number, an
+average of about 24 new species every day. On one day I collected
+76 different kinds, of which 34 were new to me. By the end of
+April I had more than a thousand species, and they then went on
+increasing at a slower rate, so that I obtained altogether in
+Borneo about two thousand distinct kinds, of which all but about
+a hundred were collected at this place, and on scarcely more than
+a square mile of ground. The most numerous and most interesting
+groups of beetles were the Longicorns and Rhynchophora, both pre-
+eminently wood-feeders. The former, characterised by their
+graceful forms and long antenna, were especially numerous,
+amounting to nearly three hundred species, nine-tenths of which
+were entirely new, and many of them remarkable for their large
+size, strange forms, and beautiful colouring. The latter
+correspond to our weevils and allied groups, and in the tropics
+are exceedingly numerous and varied, often swarming upon dead
+timber, so that I sometimes obtained fifty or sixty different
+kinds in a day. My Bornean collections of this group exceeded
+five hundred species.
+
+My collection of butterflies was not large; but I obtained some
+rare and very handsome insects, the most remarkable being the
+Ornithoptera Brookeana, one of the most elegant species known.
+This beautiful creature has very long and pointed wings, almost
+resembling a sphinx moth in shape. It is deep velvety black, with
+a curved band of spots of a brilliant metallic-green colour
+extending across the wings from tip to tip, each spot being
+shaped exactly like a small triangular feather, and having very
+much the effect of a row of the wing coverts of the Mexican
+trogon, laid upon black velvet. The only other marks are a broad
+neck-collar of vivid crimson, and a few delicate white touches on
+the outer margins of the hind wings. This species, which was then
+quite new and which I named after Sir James Brooke, was very
+rare. It was seen occasionally flying swiftly in the clearings,
+and now and then settling for an instant at puddles and muddy
+places, so that I only succeeded in capturing two or three
+specimens. In some other parts of the country I was assured it
+was abundant, and a good many specimens have been sent to
+England; but as yet all have been males, and we are quite unable
+to conjecture what the female may be like, owing to the extreme
+isolation of the species, and its want of close affinity to any
+other known insect.
+
+One of the most curious and interesting reptiles which I met with
+in Borneo was a large tree-frog, which was brought me by one of
+the Chinese workmen. He assured me that he had seen it come down
+in a slanting direction from a high tree, as if it flew. On
+examining it, I found the toes very long and fully webbed to
+their very extremity, so that when expanded they offered a
+surface much larger than the body. The forelegs were also
+bordered by a membrane, and the body was capable of considerable
+inflation. The back and limbs were of a very deep shining green
+colour, the undersurface and the inner toes yellow, while the
+webs were black, rayed with yellow. The body was about four
+inches long, while the webs of each hind foot, when fully
+expanded, covered a surface of four square inches, and the webs
+of all the feet together about twelve square inches. As the
+extremities of the toes have dilated discs for adhesion, showing
+the creature to be a true tree frog, it is difficult to imagine
+that this immense membrane of the toes can be for the purpose of
+swimming only, and the account of the Chinaman, that it flew down
+from the tree, becomes more credible. This is, I believe, the
+first instance known of a "flying frog," and it is very
+interesting to Darwinians as showing that the variability of the
+toes which have been already modified for purposes of swimming
+and adhesive climbing, have been taken advantage of to enable an
+allied species to pass through the air like the flying lizard. It
+would appear to be a new species of the genus Rhacophorus, which
+consists of several frogs of a much smaller size than this, and
+having the webs of the toes less developed.
+
+During my stay in Borneo I had no hunter to shoot for me
+regularly, and, being myself fully occupied with insects, I did
+not succeed in obtaining a very good collection of the birds or
+Mammalia, many of which, however, are well known, being identical
+with species found in Malacca. Among the Mammalia were five
+squirrels,and two tigercats--the Gymnurus Rafesii, which looks
+like a cross between a pig and a polecat, and the Cynogale
+Bennetti--a rare, otter-like animal, with very broad muzzle
+clothed with long bristles.
+
+One of my chief objects in coming to stay at Simunjon was to see
+the Orangutan (or great man-like ape of Borneo) in his native
+haunts, to study his habits, and obtain good specimens of the
+different varieties and species of both sexes, and of the adult
+and young animals. In all these objects I succeeded beyond my
+expectations, and will now give some account of my experience in
+hunting the Orangutan, or "Mias," as it is called by the natives;
+and as this name is short, and easily pronounced, I shall
+generally use it in preference to Simia satyrus, or Orangutan.
+
+Just a week after my arrival at the mines, I first saw a Mias. I
+was out collecting insects, not more than a quarter of a mile
+from the house, when I heard a rustling in a tree near, and,
+looking up, saw a large red-haired animal moving slowly along,
+hanging from the branches by its arms. It passed on from tree to
+tree until it was lost in the jungle, which was so swampy that I
+could not follow it. This mode of progression was, however, very
+unusual, and is more characteristic of the Hylobates than of the
+Orang. I suppose there was some individual peculiarity in this
+animal, or the nature of the trees just in this place rendered it
+the most easy mode of progression.
+
+About a fortnight afterwards I heard that one was feeding in a
+tree in the swamp just below the house, and, taking my gun, was
+fortunate enough to find it in the same place. As soon as I
+approached, it tried to conceal itself among the foliage; but, I
+got a shot at it, and the second barrel caused it to fall down
+almost dead, the two balls having entered the body. This was a
+male, about half-grown, being scarcely three feet high. On April
+26th, I was out shooting with two Dyaks, when we found another
+about the same size. It fell at the first shot, but did not seem
+much hurt, and immediately climbed up the nearest tree, when I
+fired, and it again fell, with a broken arm and a wound in the
+body. The two Dyaks now ran up to it, and each seized hold of a
+hand, telling me to cut a pole, and they would secure it. But
+although one arm was broken and it was only a half-grown animal,
+it was too strong for these young savages, drawing them up
+towards its mouth notwithstanding all their efforts, so that they
+were again obliged to leave go, or they would have been seriously
+bitten. It now began climbing up the tree again; and, to avoid
+trouble, I shot it through the heart.
+
+On May 2nd, I again found one on a very high tree, when I had
+only a small 80-bore gun with me. However, I fired at it, and on
+seeing me it began howling in a strange voice like a cough, and
+seemed in a great rage, breaking off branches with its hands and
+throwing them down, and then soon made off over the tree-tops. I
+did not care to follow it, as it was swampy, and in parts
+dangerous, and I might easily have lost myself in the eagerness
+of pursuit.
+
+On the 12th of May I found another, which behaved in a very
+similar manner, howling and hooting with rage, and throwing down
+branches. I shot at it five times, and it remained dead on the
+top of the tree, supported in a fork in such a manner that it
+would evidently not fall. I therefore returned home, and luckily
+found some Dyaks, who came back with me, and climbed up the tree
+for the animal. This was the first full-grown specimen I had
+obtained; but it was a female, and not nearly so large or
+remarkable as the full-grown males. It was, however, 3 ft. 6 in.
+high, and its arms stretched out to a width of 6 ft. 6 in. I
+preserved the skin of this specimen in a cask of arrack,
+andprepared a perfect skeleton, which was afterwards purchased
+for the Derby Museum.
+
+Only four days afterwards some Dyaks saw another Mias near the
+same place, and came to tell me. We found it to be a rather large
+one, very high up on a tall tree. At the second shot it fell
+rolling over, but almost immediately got up again and began to
+climb. At a third shot it fell dead. This was also a full-grown
+female, and while preparing to carry it home, we found a young
+one face downwards in the bog. This little creature was only
+about a foot long, and had evidently been hanging to its mother
+when she first fell. Luckily it did not appear to have been
+wounded, and after we had cleaned the mud out of its mouth it
+began to cry out, and seemed quite strong and active. While
+carrying it home it got its hands in my beard, and grasped so
+tightly that I had great difficulty in getting free, for the
+fingers are habitually bent inwards at the last joint so as to
+form complete hooks. At this time it had not a single tooth, but
+a few days afterwards it cut its two lower front teeth.
+Unfortunately, I had no milk to give it, as neither Malays-
+Chinese nor Dyaks ever use the article, and I in vain inquired
+for any female animal that could suckle my little infant. I was
+therefore obliged to give it rice-water from a bottle with a
+quill in the cork, which after a few trials it learned to suck
+very well. This was very meagre diet, and the little creature did
+not thrive well on it, although I added sugar and cocoa-nut milk
+occasionally, to make it more nourishing. WhenI put my finger in
+its mouth it sucked with great vigour, drawing in its cheeks with
+all its might in the vain effort to extract some milk, and only
+after persevering a long time would it give up in disgust, and
+set up a scream very like that of a baby in similar
+circumstances.
+
+When handled or nursed, it was very quiet and contented, but when
+laid down by itself would invariably cry; and for the first few
+nights was very restless and noisy. I fitted up a little box for
+a cradle, with a soft mat for it to lie upon, which was changed
+and washed everyday; and I soon found it necessary to wash the
+little Mias as well. After I had done so a few times, it came to
+like the operation, and as soon as it was dirty would begin
+crying and not leave off until I took it out and carried it to
+the spout, when it immediately became quiet, although it would
+wince a little at the first rush of the cold water and make
+ridiculously wry faces while the stream was running over its
+head. It enjoyed the wiping and rubbing dry amazingly, and when I
+brushed its hair seemed to be perfectly happy, lying quite still
+with its arms and legs stretched out while I thoroughly brushed
+the long hair of its back and arms. For the first few days it
+clung desperately with all four hands to whatever it could lay
+hold of, and I had to be careful to keep my beard out of its way,
+as its fingers clutched hold of hair more tenaciously than
+anything else, and it was impossible to free myself without
+assistance. When restless, it would struggle about with its hands
+up in the air trying to find something to take hold of, and, when
+it had got a bit of stick or rag in two or three of its hands,
+seemed quite happy. For want of something else, it would often
+seize its own feet, and after a time it would constantly cross
+its arms and grasp with each hand the long hair that grew just
+below the opposite shoulder. The great tenacity of its grasp soon
+diminished, and I was obliged to invent some means to give it
+exercise and strengthen its limbs. For this purpose I made a
+short ladder of three or four rounds, on which I put it to hang
+for a quarter of an hour at a time. At first it seemed much
+pleased, but it could not get all four hands in a comfortable
+position, and, after changing about several times, would leave
+hold of one hand after the other, and drop onto the floor.
+Sometimes when hanging only by two hands, it would loose one, and
+cross it to the opposite shoulder, grasping its own hair; and, as
+this seemed much more agreeable than the stick, it would then
+loose the other and tumble down, when it would cross both and lie
+on its back quite contentedly, never seeming to be hurt by its
+numerous tumbles. Finding it so fond of hair, I endeavoured to
+make an artificial mother, by wrapping up a piece of buffalo-skin
+into a bundle, and suspending it about a foot from the floor. At
+first this seemed to suit it admirably, as it could sprawl its
+legs about and always find some hair, which it grasped with the
+greatest tenacity. I was now in hopes that I had made the little
+orphan quite happy; and so it seemed for some time, until it
+began to remember its lost parent, and try to suck. It would pull
+itself up close to the skin, and try about everywhere for a
+likely place; but, as it only succeeded in getting mouthfuls of
+hair and wool, it would be greatly disgusted, and scream
+violently, and, after two or three attempts, let go altogether.
+One day it got some wool into its throat, and I thought it would
+have choked, but after much gasping it recovered, and I was
+obliged to take the imitation mother to pieces again, and give up
+this last attempt to exercise the little creature.
+
+After the first week I found I could feed it better with a spoon,
+and give it a little more varied and more solid food. Well-soaked
+biscuit mixed with a little egg and sugar, and sometimes sweet
+potatoes, were readily eaten; and it was a never-failing
+amusement to observe the curious changes of countenance by which
+it would express its approval or dislike of what was given to it.
+The poor little thing would lick its lips, draw in its cheeks,
+and turn up its eyes with an expression of the most supreme
+satisfaction when it had a mouthful particularly to its taste. On
+the other hand, when its food was not sufficiently sweet or
+palatable, it would turn the mouthful about with its tongue for a
+moment as if trying to extract what flavour there was, and then
+push it all out between its lips. If the same food was continued,
+it would set up a scream and kick about violently, exactly like a
+baby in a passion.
+
+After I had had the little Mias about three weeks, I fortunately
+obtained a young hare-lip monkey (Macacus cynomolgus), which,
+though small, was very active, and could feed itself. I placed it
+in the same box with the Mias, and they immediately became
+excellent friends, neither exhibiting the least fear of the
+other. The little monkey would sit upon the other's stomach, or
+even on its face, without the least regard to its feelings. While
+I was feeding the Mias, the monkey would sit by, picking up all
+that was spilt, and occasionally putting out its hands to
+intercept the spoon; and as soon as I had finished would pick off
+what was left sticking to the Mias' lips, and then pull open its
+mouth and see if any still remained inside; afterwards lying down
+on the poor creature's stomach as on a comfortable cushion. The
+little helpless Mias would submit to all these insults with the
+most exemplary patience, only too glad to have something warm
+near it, which it could clasp affectionately in its arms. It
+sometimes, however, had its revenge; for when the monkey wanted
+to go away, the Mias would hold on as long as it could by the
+loose skin of its back or head, or by its tail, and it was only
+after many vigorous jumps that the monkey could make his escape.
+
+It was curious to observe the different actions of these two
+animals, which could not have differed much in age. The Mias,
+like a very young baby, lying on its back quite helpless, rolling
+lazily from side to side, stretching out all four hands into the
+air, wishing to grasp something, but hardly able to guide its
+fingers to any definite object; and when dissatisfied, opening
+wide its almost toothless mouth, and expressing its wants by a
+most infantine scream. The little monkey, on the other hand, in
+constant motion, running and jumping about wherever it pleased,
+examining everything around it, seizing hold of the smallest
+object with the greatest precision, balancing itself on the edge
+of the box or running up a post, and helping itself to anything
+eatable that came in its way. There could hardly be a greater
+contrast, and the baby Mias looked more baby-like by the
+comparison.
+
+When I had had it about a month, it began to exhibit some signs
+of learning to run alone. When laid upon the floor it would push
+itself along by its legs, or roll itself over, and thus make an
+unwieldy progression. When lying in the box it would lift itself
+up to the edge into almost an erect position, and once or twice
+succeeded in tumbling out. When left dirty, or hungry, or
+otherwise neglected, it would scream violently until attended to,
+varied by a kind of coughing or pumping noise very similar to
+that which is made by the adult animal. If no one was in the
+house, or its cries were not attended to, it would be quiet after
+a little while, but the moment it heard a footstep would begin
+again harder than ever.
+
+After five weeks it cut its two upper front teeth, but in all
+this time it had not grown the least bit, remaining both in size
+and weight the same as when I first procured it. This was no
+doubt owing to the want of milk or other equally nourishing food.
+Rice-water, rice, and biscuits were but a poor substitute, and
+the expressed milk of the cocoa-nut which I sometimes gave it did
+not quite agree with its stomach. To this I imputed an attack of
+diarrhoea from which the poor little creature suffered greatly,
+but a small dose of castor-oil operated well, and cured it. A
+week or two afterwards it was again taken ill, and this time more
+seriously. The symptoms were exactly those of intermittent fever,
+accompanied by watery swellings on the feet and head. It lost all
+appetite for its food, and, after lingering for a week a most
+pitiable object, died, after being in my possession nearly three
+months. I much regretted the loss of my little pet, which I had
+at one time looked forward to bringing up to years of maturity,
+and taking home to England. For several months it had afforded me
+daily amusement by its curious ways and the inimitably ludicrous
+expression of its little countenance. Its weight was three pounds
+nine ounces, its height fourteen inches, and the spread of its
+arms twenty-three inches. I preserved its skin and skeleton, and
+in doing so found that when it fell from the tree it must have
+broken an arm and a leg, which had, however, united so rapidly
+that I had only noticed the hard swellings on the limbs where the
+irregular junction of the bones had taken place.
+
+Exactly a week after I had caught this interesting little animal,
+I succeeded in shooting a full-grown male Orangutan. I had just
+come home from an entomologising excursion when Charles [Charles
+Allen, an English lad of sixteen, accompanied me as an assistant]
+rushed in out of breath with running and excitement, and
+exclaimed, interrupted by gasps, "Get the gun, sir,--be quick,--
+such a large Mias!" "Where is it?" I asked, taking hold of my gun
+as I spoke, which happened luckily to have one barrel loaded with
+ball. "Close by, sir--on the path to the mines--he can't get
+away." Two Dyaks chanced to be in the house at the time, so I
+called them to accompany me, and started off, telling Charley to
+bring all the ammunition after me as soon as possible. The path
+from our clearing to the mines led along the side of the hill a
+little way up its slope, and parallel with it at the foot a wide
+opening had been made for a road, in which several Chinamen were
+working, so that the animal could not escape into the swampy
+forest below without descending to cross the road or ascending to
+get round the clearings. We walked cautiously along, not making
+the least noise, and listening attentively for any sound which
+might betray the presence of the Mias, stopping at intervals to
+gaze upwards. Charley soon joined us at the place where he had
+seen the creature, and having taken the ammunition and put a
+bullet in the other barrel, we dispersed a little, feeling sure
+that it must be somewhere near, as it had probably descended the
+hill, and would not be likely to return again.
+
+After a short time I heard a very slight rustling sound overhead,
+but on gazing up could see nothing. I moved about in every
+direction to get a full view into every part of the tree under
+which I had been standing, when I again heard the same noise but
+louder, and saw the leaves shaking as if caused by the motion of
+some heavy animal which moved off to an adjoining tree. I
+immediately shouted for all of them to come up and try and get a
+view, so as to allow me to have a shot. This was not an easy
+matter, as the Mias had a knack of selecting places with dense
+foliage beneath. Very soon, however, one of the Dyaks called me
+and pointed upwards, and on looking I saw a great red hairy body
+and a huge black face gazing down from a great height, as if
+wanting to know what was making such a disturbance below. I
+instantly fired, and he made off at once, so that I could not
+then tell whether I had hit him.
+
+He now moved very rapidly and very noiselessly for so large an
+animal, so I told the Dyaks to follow and keep him in sight while
+I loaded. The jungle was here full of large angular fragments of
+rock from the mountain above, and thick with hanging and twisted
+creepers. Running, climbing, and creeping among these, we came up
+with the creature on the top of a high tree near the road, where
+the Chinamen had discovered him, and were shouting their
+astonishment with open mouths: "Ya Ya, Tuan; Orangutan, Tuan."
+Seeing that he could not pass here without descending, he turned
+up again towards the hill, and I got two shots, and following
+quickly, had two more by the time he had again reached the path,
+but he was always more or less concealed by foliage, and
+protected by the large branch on which he was walking. Once while
+loading I had a splendid view of him, moving along a large limb
+of a tree in a semi-erect posture, and showing it to be an animal
+of the largest size. At the path he got on to one of the loftiest
+trees in the forest, and we could see one leg hanging down
+useless, having been broken by a ball. He now fixed himself in a
+fork, where he was hidden by thick foliage, and seemed
+disinclined to move. I was afraid he would remain and die in this
+position, and as it was nearly evening. I could not have got the
+tree cut down that day. I therefore fired again, and he then
+moved off, and going up the hill was obliged to get on to some
+lower trees, on the branches of one of which he fixed himself in
+such a position that he could not fall, and lay all in a heap as
+if dead, or dying.
+
+I now wanted the Dyaks to go up and cut off the branch he was
+resting on, but they were afraid, saying he was not dead, and
+would come and attack them. We then shook the adjoining tree,
+pulled the hanging creepers, and did all we could to disturb him,
+but without effect, so I thought it best to send for two Chinamen
+with axes to cut down the tree. While the messenger was gone,
+however, one of the Dyaks took courage and climbed towards him,
+but the Mias did not wait for him to get near, moving off to
+another tree, where he got on to a dense mass of branches and
+creepers which almost completely hid him from our view. The tree
+was luckily a small one, so when the axes came we soon had it cut
+through; but it was so held up by jungle ropes and climbers to
+adjoining trees that it only fell into a sloping position. The
+Mias did not move, and I began to fear that after all we should
+not get him, as it was near evening, and half a dozen more trees
+would have to be cut down before the one he was on would fall. As
+a last resource we all began pulling at the creepers, which shook
+the tree very much, and, after a few minutes, when we had almost
+given up all hope, down he came with a crash and a thud like the
+fall of a giant. And he was a giant, his head and body being
+fully as large as a man's. He was of the kind called by the Dyaks
+"Mias Chappan," or "Mias Pappan," which has the skin of the face
+broadened out to a ridge or fold at each side. His outstretched
+arms measured seven feet three inches across, and his height,
+measuring fairly from the top of the head to the heel was four
+feet two inches. The body just below the arms was three feet two
+inches round, and was quite as long as a man's, the legs being
+exceedingly short in proportion. On examination we found he had
+been dreadfully wounded. Both legs were broken, one hip-joint and
+the root of the spine completely shattered, and two bullets were
+found flattened in his neck and jaws. Yet he was still alive when
+he fell. The two Chinamen carried him home tied to a pole, and I
+was occupied with Charley the whole of the next day preparing the
+skin and boiling the bones to make a perfect skeleton, which are
+now preserved in the Museum at Derby.
+
+About ten days after this, on June 4th, some Dyaks came to tell
+us that the day before a Mias had nearly killed one of their
+companions. A few miles down the river there is a Dyak house, and
+the inhabitants saw a large Orang feeding on the young shoots of
+a palm by the riverside. On being alarmed he retreated towards
+the jungle which was close by, and a number of the men, armed
+with spears and choppers, ran out to intercept him. The man who
+was in front tried to run his spear through the animal's body,
+but the Mias seized it in his hands, and in an instant got hold
+of the man's arm, which he seized in his mouth, making his teeth
+meet in the flesh above the elbow, which he tore and lacerated in
+a dreadful manner. Had not the others been close behind, the man
+would have keen more seriously injured, if not killed, as he was
+quite powerless; but they soon destroyed the creature with their
+spears and choppers. The man remained ill for a long time, and
+never fully recovered the use of his arm.
+
+They told me the dead Mias was still lying where it had been
+killed, so I offered them a reward to bring it up to our landing-
+place immediately, which they promised to do. They did not come,
+however, until the next day, and then decomposition had
+commenced, and great patches of the hair came off, so that it was
+useless to skin it. This I regretted much, as it was a very fine
+full-grown male. I cut off the head and took it home to clean,
+while I got my men to make a closed fence about five feet high
+around the rest of the body, which would soon be devoured by
+maggots, small lizards, and ants, leaving me the skeleton. There
+was a great gash in his face, which had cut deep into the bone,
+but the skull was a very fine one, and the teeth were remarkably
+large and perfect.
+
+On June 18th I had another great success, and obtained a fine
+adult male. A Chinaman told me be had seen him feeding by the
+side of the path to the river, and I found him at the same place
+as the first individual I had shot. He was feeding on an oval
+green fruit having a fine red arillus, like the mace which
+surrounds the nutmeg, and which alone he seemed to eat, biting
+off the thick outer rind and dropping it in a continual shower. I
+had found the same fruit in the stomach of some others which I
+had killed. Two shots caused this animal to loose his hold, but
+he hung for a considerable time by one hand, and then fell flat
+on his face and was half buried in the swamp. For several minutes
+he lay groaning and panting, while we stood close around,
+expecting every breath to be his last. Suddenly, however, by a
+violent effort he raised himself up, causing us all to step back
+a yard or two, when, standing nearly erect, he caught hold of a
+small tree, and began to ascend it. Another shot through the back
+caused him to fall down dead. A flattened bullet was found in his
+tongue, having entered the lower part of the abdomen and
+completely traversed the body, fracturing the first cervical
+vertebra. Yet it was after this fearful wound that he had risen,
+and begun climbing with considerable facility. This also was a
+full-grown male of almost exactly the same dimensions as the
+other two I had measured.
+
+On June 21st I shot another adult female, which was eating fruit
+in a low tree, and was the only one which I ever killed by a
+single ball.
+
+On June 24th I was called by a Chinaman to shoot a Mias, which,
+he said, was on a tree close by his house, at the coal-mines.
+Arriving at the place, we had some difficulty in finding the
+animal, as he had gone off into the jungle, which was very rocky
+and difficult to traverse. At last we found him up a very high
+tree, and could see that he was a male of the largest size. As
+soon as I had fired, he moved higher up the tree, and while he
+was doing so I fired again; and we then saw that one arm was
+broken. He had now reached the very highest part of an immense
+tree, and immediately began breaking off boughs all around, and
+laying them across and across to make a nest. It was very
+interesting to see how well he had chosen his place, and how
+rapidly he stretched out his unwounded arm in every direction,
+breaking off good-sized boughs with the greatest ease, and laying
+them back across each other, so that in a few minutes he had
+formed a compact mass of foliage, which entirely concealed him
+from our sight. He was evidently going to pass the night here,
+and would probably get away early the next morning, if not
+wounded too severely. I therefore fired again several times, in
+hopes of making him leave his nest; but, though I felt sure I had
+hit him, as at each shot he moved a little, he would not go away.
+At length he raised himself up, so that half his body was
+visible, and then gradually sank down, his head alone remaining
+on the edge of the nest. I now felt sure he was dead, and tried
+to persuade the Chinaman and his companion to cut down the tree;
+but it was a very large one, and they had been at work all day,
+and nothing would induce them to attempt it. The next morning, at
+daybreak, I came to the place, and found that the Mias was
+evidently dead, as his head was visible in exactly the same
+position as before. I now offered four Chinamen a day's wages
+each to cut the tree down at once, as a few hours of sunshine
+would cause decomposition on the surface of the skin; but, after
+looking at it and trying it, they determined that it was very big
+and very hard, and would not attempt it. Had I doubled my offer,
+they would probably have accepted it, as it would not have been
+more than two or three hours' work; and had I been on a short
+visit only, I would have done so; but as I was a resident, and
+intended remaining several months longer, it would not have
+answered to begin paying too exorbitantly, or I should have got
+nothing done in the future at a lower rate.
+
+For some weeks after, a cloud of flies could be seen all day,
+hovering over the body of the dead Mias; but in about a month all
+was quiet, and the body was evidently drying up under the
+influence of a vertical sun alternating with tropical rains. Two
+or three months later two Malays, on the offer of a dollar,
+climbed the tree and let down the dried remains. The skin was
+almost entirely enclosing the skeleton, and inside were millions
+of the pupa-cases of flies and other insects, with thousands of
+two or three species of small necrophagous beetles. The skull had
+been much shattered by balls, but the skeleton was perfect,
+except one small wristbone, which had probably dropped out and
+been carried away by a lizard.
+
+Three days after I had shot this one and lost it, Charles found
+three small Orangs feeding together. We had a long chase after
+them, and had a good opportunity of seeing how they make their
+way from tree to tree by always choosing those limbs whose
+branches are intermingled with those of some other tree, and then
+grasping several of the small twigs together before they venture
+to swing themselves across. Yet they do this so quickly and
+certainly, that they make way among the trees at the rate of full
+five or six miles an hour, as we had continually to run to keep
+up with them. One of these we shot and killed, but it remained
+high up in the fork of a tree; and, as young animals are of
+comparatively little interest, I did not have the tree cut down
+to get it.
+
+At this time I had the misfortune to slip among some fallen
+trees, and hurt my ankle; and, not being careful enough at first,
+it became a severe inflamed ulcer, which would not heal, and kept
+me a prisoner in the house the whole of July and part of August.
+When I could get out again, I determined to take a trip up a
+branch of the Simunjon River to Semabang, where there was said to
+be a large Dyak house, a mountain with abundance of fruit, and
+plenty of Orangs and fine birds. As the river was very narrow,
+and I was obliged to go in a very small boat with little luggage,
+I only took with me a Chinese boy as a servant. I carried a cask
+of medicated arrack to put Mias skins in, and stores and
+ammunition for a fortnight. After a few miles, the stream became
+very narrow and winding, and the whole country on each side was
+flooded. On the banks were an abundance of monkeys--the common
+Macacus cynomolgus, a black Semnopithecus, and the extraordinary
+long-nosed monkey (Nasalis larvatus), which is as large as a
+three-year old child, has a very long tail, and a fleshy nose
+longer than that of the biggest-nosed man. The further we went on
+the narrower and more winding the stream became; fallen trees
+sometimes blocked up our passage, and sometimes tangled branches
+and creepers met completely across it, and had to be cut away
+before we could get on. It took us two days to reach Semabang,
+and we hardly saw a bit of dry land all the way. In the latter
+part of the journey I could touch the bushes on each side for
+miles; and we were often delayed by the screw-pines (Pandanus),
+which grow abundantly in the water, falling across the stream. In
+other places dense rafts of floating grass completely filled up
+the channel, making our journey a constant succession of
+difficulties.
+
+Near the landing-place we found a fine house, 250 feet long,
+raised high above the ground on posts, with a wide verandah and
+still wider platform of bamboo in front of it. Almost all the
+people, however, were away on some excursion after edible birds'-
+nests or bees'-wax, and there only remained in the house two or
+three old men and women with a lot of children. The mountain or
+hill was close by, covered with a complete forest of fruit-trees,
+among which the Durian and Mangusteen were very abundant; but the
+fruit was not yet quite ripe, except a little here and there. I
+spent a week at this place, going out everyday in various
+directions about the mountain, accompanied by a Malay, who had
+stayed with me while the other boatmen returned. For three days
+we found no Orangs, but shot a deer and several monkeys. On the
+fourth day, however, we found a Mias feeding on a very lofty
+Durian tree, and succeeded in killing it, after eight shots.
+Unfortunately it remained in the tree, hanging by its hands, and
+we were obliged to leave it and return home, as it was several
+miles off. As I felt pretty sure it would fall during the night,
+I returned to the place early the next morning, and found it on
+the ground beneath the tree. To my astonishment and pleasure, it
+appeared to be a different kind from any I had yet seen; for
+although a full-grown male, by its fully developed teeth and very
+large canines, it had no sign of the lateral protuberance on the
+face, and was about one-tenth smaller in all its dimensions than
+the other adult males. The upper incisors, however, appeared to
+be broader than in the larger species, a character distinguishing
+the Simia morio of Professor Owen, which he had described from
+the cranium of a female specimen. As it was too far to carry the
+animal home, I set to work and skinned the body on the spot,
+leaving the head, hands, and feet attached, to be finished at
+home. This specimen is now in the British Museum.
+
+At the end of a week, finding no more Orangs, I returned home;
+and, taking in a few fresh stores, and this time accompanied by
+Charles, went up another branch of the river, very similar in
+character, to a place called Menyille, where there were several
+small Dyak houses and one large one. Here the landing place was a
+bridge of rickety poles, over a considerable distance of water;
+and I thought it safer to leave my cask of arrack securely placed
+in the fork of a tree. To prevent the natives from drinking it, I
+let several of them see me put in a number of snakes and lizards;
+but I rather think this did not prevent them from tasting it. We
+were accommodated here in the verandah of the large house, in
+which were several great baskets of dried human heads, the
+trophies of past generations of head-hunters. Here also there was
+a little mountain covered with fruit-trees, and there were some
+magnificent Durian trees close by the house, the fruit of which
+was ripe; and as the Dyaks looked upon me as a benefactor in
+killing the Mias, which destroys a great deal of their fruit,
+they let us eat as much as we liked; we revelled in this emperor
+of fruits in its greatest perfection.
+
+The very day after my arrival in this place, I was so fortunate
+as to shoot another adult male of the small Orang, the Mias-
+kassir of the Dyaks. It fell when dead, but caught in a fork of
+the tree and remained fixed. As I was very anxious to get it, I
+tried to persuade two young Dyaks who were with me to cut down
+the tree, which was tall, perfectly straight and smooth-barked,
+and without a branch for fifty or sixty feet. To my surprise,
+they said they would prefer climbing up it, but it would be a
+good deal of trouble, and, after a little talking together, they
+said they would try. They first went to a clump of bamboo that
+stood near, and cut down one of the largest stems. From this they
+chopped off a short piece, and splitting it, made a couple of
+stout pegs, about a foot long and sharp at one end. Then cutting
+a thick piece of wood for a mallet, they drove one of the pegs
+into the tree and hung their weight upon it. It held, and this
+seemed to satisfy them, for they immediately began making a
+quantity of pegs of the same kind, while I looked on with great
+interest, wondering how they could possibly ascend such a lofty
+tree by merely driving pegs in it, the failure of any one of
+which at a good height would certainly cause their death. When
+about two dozen pegs were made, one of them began cutting some
+very long and slender bamboo from another clump, and also
+prepared some cord from the hark of a small tree. They now drove
+in a peg very firmly at about three feet from the ground, and
+bringing one of the long bamboos, stood it upright close to the
+tree, and bound it firmly to the two first pegs, by means of the
+bark cord and small notches near the head of each peg. One of the
+Dyaks now stood on the first peg and drove in a third, about
+level with his face, to which he tied the bamboo in the same way,
+and then mounted another step, standing on one foot, and holding
+by the bamboo at the peg immediately above him, while he drove in
+the next one. In this manner he ascended about twenty feet; when
+the upright bamboo was becoming thin, another was handed up by
+his companion, and this was joined by tying both bamboos to three
+or four of the pegs. When this was also nearly ended, a third was
+added, and shortly after, the lowest branches of the tree were
+reached, along which the young Dyak scrambled, and soon sent the
+Mias tumbling down headlong. I was exceedingly struck by the
+ingenuity of this mode of climbing, and the admirable manner in
+which the peculiar properties of the bamboo were made available.
+The ladder itself was perfectly safe, since if any one peg were
+loose or faulty, and gave way, the strain would be thrown on
+several others above and below it. I now understood the use of
+the line of bamboo pegs sticking in trees, which I had often
+seen, and wondered for what purpose they could have been put
+there. This animal was almost identical in size and appearance
+with the one I had obtained at Semabang, and was the only other
+male specimen of the Simia morio which I obtained. It is now in
+the Derby Museum.
+
+I afterwards shot two adult females and two young ones of
+different ages, all of which I preserved. One of the females,
+with several young ones, was feeding on a Durian tree with unripe
+fruit; and as soon as she saw us she began breaking off branches
+and the great spiny fruits with every appearance of rage, causing
+such a shower of missiles as effectually kept us from approaching
+too near the tree. This habit of throwing down branches when
+irritated has been doubted, but I have, as here narrated,
+observed it myself on at least three separate occasions. It was
+however always the female Arias who behaved in this way, and it
+may be that the male, trusting more to his great strength and his
+powerful canine teeth, is not afraid of any other animal, and
+does not want to drive them away, while the parental instinct of
+the female leads her to adopt this mode of defending herself and
+her young ones.
+
+In preparing the skins and skeletons of these animals, I was much
+troubled by the Dyak dogs, which, being always kept in a state of
+semi-starvation, are ravenous for animal food. I had a great iron
+pan, in which I boiled the bones to make skeletons, and at night
+I covered this over with boards, and put heavy stones upon it;
+but the dogs managed to remove these and carried away the greater
+part of one of my specimens. On another occasion they gnawed away
+a good deal of the upper leather of my strong boots, and even ate
+a piece of my mosquito-curtain, where some lamp-oil had been
+spilt over it some weeks before.
+
+On our return down the stream, we had the fortune to fall in with
+a very old male Mias, feeding on some low trees growing in the
+water. The country was flooded for a long distance, but so full
+of trees and stumps that the laden boat could not be got in among
+them, and if it could have been we should only have frightened
+the Mias away. I therefore got into the water, which was nearly
+up to my waist, and waded on until I was near enough for a shot.
+The difficulty then was to load my gun again, for I was so deep
+in the water that I could not hold the gun sloping enough to pour
+the powder in. I therefore had to search for a shallow place, and
+after several shots under these trying circumstances, I was
+delighted to see the monstrous animal roll over into the water. I
+now towed him after me to the stream, but the Malays objected to
+having the animal put into the boat, and he was so heavy that I
+could not do it without their help. I looked about for a place to
+skin him, but not a bit of dry ground was to be seen, until at
+last I found a clump of two or three old trees and stumps,
+between which a few feet of soil had collected just above the
+water, which was just large enough for us to drag the animal upon
+it. I first measured him, and found him to be by far the largest
+I had yet seen, for, though the standing height was the same as
+the others (4 feet 2 inches), the outstretched arms were 7 feet 9
+inches, which was six inches more than the previous one, and the
+immense broad face was 13 1/2 inches wide, whereas the widest I
+had hitherto seen was only 11 1/2 inches. The girth of the body
+was 3 feet 7 1/2 inches. I am inclined to believe, therefore,
+that the length and strength of the arms, and the width of the
+face continues increasing to a very great age, while the standing
+height, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head,
+rarely if ever exceeds 4 feet 2 inches.
+
+As this was the last Mias I shot, and the last time I saw an
+adult living animal, I will give a sketch of its general habits,
+and any other facts connected with it. The Orangutan is known to
+inhabit Sumatra and Borneo, and there is every reason to believe
+that it is confined to these two great islands, in the former of
+which, however, it seems to be much more rare. In Borneo it has a
+wide range, inhabiting many districts on the southwest,
+southeast, northeast, and northwest coasts, but appears to be
+chiefly confined to the low and swampy forests. It seems, at
+first sight, very inexplicable that the Mias should be quite
+unknown in the Sarawak valley, while it is abundant in Sambas, on
+the west, and Sadong, on the east. But when we know the habits
+and mode of life of the animal, we see a sufficient reason for
+this apparent anomaly in the physical features of the Sarawak
+district. In the Sadong, where I observed it, the Mias is only
+found when the country is low level and swampy, and at the same
+time covered with a lofty virgin forest. From these swamps rise
+many isolated mountains, on some of which the Dyaks have settled
+and covered with plantations of fruit trees. These are a great
+attraction to the Mias, which comes to feed on the unripe fruits,
+but always retires to the swamp at night. Where the country
+becomes slightly elevated, and the soil dry, the Mias is no
+longer to be found. For example, in all the lower part of the
+Sadong valley it abounds, but as soon as we ascend above the
+limits of the tides, where the country, though still flat, is
+high enough to be dry, it disappears. Now the Sarawak valley has
+this peculiarity--the lower portion though swampy, is not
+covered with a continuous lofty forest, but is principally
+occupied by the Nipa palm; and near the town of Sarawak where the
+country becomes dry, it is greatly undulated in many parts, and
+covered with small patches of virgin forest, and much second-
+growth jungle on the ground, which has once been cultivated by
+the Malays or Dyaks.
+
+Now it seems probable to me that a wide extent of unbroken and
+equally lofty virgin forest is necessary to the comfortable
+existence of these animals. Such forests form their open country,
+where they can roam in every direction with as much facility as
+the Indian on the prairie, or the Arab on the desert, passing
+from tree-top to tree-top without ever being obliged to descend
+upon the earth. The elevated and the drier districts are more
+frequented by man, more cut up by clearings and low second-growth
+jungle--not adapted to its peculiar mode of progression, and
+where it would therefore be more exposed to danger, and more
+frequently obliged to descend upon the earth. There is probably
+also a greater variety of fruit in the Mias district, the small
+mountains which rise like islands out of it serving as gardens or
+plantations of a sort, where the trees of the uplands are to be
+found in the very midst of the swampy plains.
+
+It is a singular and very interesting sight to watch a Mias
+making his way leisurely through the forest. He walks
+deliberately along some of the larger branches in the semi-erect
+attitude which the great length of his arms and the shortness of
+his legs cause him naturally to assume; and the disproportion
+between these limbs is increased by his walking on his knuckles,
+not on the palm of the hand, as we should do. He seems always to
+choose those branches which intermingle with an adjoining tree,
+on approaching which he stretches out his long arms, and seizing
+the opposing boughs, grasps them together with both hands, seems
+to try their strength, and then deliberately swings himself
+across to the next branch, on which he walks along as before. He
+never jumps or springs, or even appears to hurry himself, and yet
+manages to get along almost as quickly as a person can run
+through the forest beneath. The long and powerful arms are of the
+greatest use to the animal, enabling it to climb easily up the
+loftiest trees, to seize fruits and young leaves from slender
+boughs which will not bear its weight, and to gather leaves and
+branches with which to form its nest. I have already described
+how it forms a nest when wounded, but it uses a similar one to
+sleep on almost every night. This is placed low down, however, on
+a small tree not more than from twenty to fifty feet from the
+ground, probably because it is warmer and less exposed to wind
+than higher up. Each Mias is said to make a fresh one for himself
+every night; but I should think that is hardly probable, or their
+remains would be much more abundant; for though I saw several
+about the coal-mines, there must have been many Orangs about
+every day, and in a year their deserted nests would become very
+numerous. The Dyaks say that, when it is very wet, the Mias
+covers himself over with leaves of pandanus, or large ferns,
+which has perhaps led to the story of his making a hut in the
+trees.
+
+The Orang does not leave his bed until the sun has well risen and
+has dried up the dew upon the leaves. He feeds all through the
+middle of the day, but seldom returns to the same tree two days
+running. They do not seem much alarmed at man, as they often
+stared down upon me for several minutes, and then only moved away
+slowly to an adjacent tree. After seeing one, I have often had to
+go half a mile or more to fetch my gun, and in nearly every case
+have found it on the same tree, or within a hundred yards, when I
+returned. I never saw two full-grown animals together, but both
+males and females are sometimes accompanied by half-grown young
+ones, while, at other times, three or four young ones were seen
+in company. Their food consists almost exclusively of fruit, with
+occasionally leaves, buds, and young shoots. They seem to prefer
+unripe fruits, some of which were very sour, others intensely
+bitter, particularly the large red, fleshy arillus of one which
+seemed an especial favourite. In other cases they eat only the
+small seed of a large fruit, and they almost always waste and
+destroy more than they eat, so that there is a continual rain of
+rejected portions below the tree they are feeding on. The Durian
+is an especial favourite, and quantities of this delicious fruit
+are destroyed wherever it grows surrounded by forest, but they
+will not cross clearings to get at them. It seems wonderful how
+the animal can tear open this fruit, the outer covering of which
+is so thick and tough, and closely covered with strong conical
+spines. It probably bites off a few of these first, and then,
+making a small hole, tears open the fruit with its powerful
+fingers.
+
+The Mias rarely descends to the ground, except when pressed by
+hunger, it seeks succulent shoots by the riverside; or, in very
+dry weather, has to search after water, of which it generally
+finds sufficient in the hollows of leaves. Only once I saw two
+half-grown Orangs on the ground in a dry hollow at the foot of
+the Simunjon hill. They were playing together, standing erect,
+and grasping each other by the arms. It may be safely stated,
+however, that the Orang never walks erect, unless when using its
+hands to support itself by branches overhead or when attacked.
+Representations of its walking with a stick are entirely
+imaginary.
+
+The Dyaks all declare that the Mias is never attacked by any
+animal in the forest, with two rare exceptions; and the accounts
+I received of these are so curious that I give them nearly in the
+words of my informants, old Dyak chiefs, who had lived all their
+lives in the places where the animal is most abundant. The first
+of whom I inquired said: "No animal is strong enough to hurt the
+Mias, and the only creature he ever fights with is the crocodile.
+When there is no fruit in the jungle, he goes to seek food on the
+banks of the river where there are plenty of young shoots that he
+likes, and fruits that grow close to the water. Then the
+crocodile sometimes tries to seize him, but the Mias gets upon
+him, and beats him with his hands and feet, and tears him and
+kills him." He added that he had once seen such a fight, and that
+he believes that the Mias is always the victor.
+
+My next informant was the Orang Kaya, or chief of the Balow
+Dyaks, on the Simunjon River. He said: "The Mias has no enemies;
+no animals dare attack it but the crocodile and the python. He
+always kills the crocodile by main strength, standing upon it,
+pulling open its jaws, and ripping up its throat. If a python
+attacks a Mias, he seizes it with his hands, and then bites it,
+and soon kills it. The Mias is very strong; there is no animal in
+the jungle so strong as he."
+
+It is very remarkable that an animal so large, so peculiar, and
+of such a high type of form as the Orangutan, should be confined
+to so limited a district--to two islands, and those almost the
+last inhabited by the higher Mammalia; for, east of Borneo and
+Java, the Quadrumania, Ruminants, Carnivora, and many other
+groups of Mammalla diminish rapidly, and soon entirely disappear.
+When we consider, further, that almost all other animals have in
+earlier ages been represented by allied yet distinct forms--
+that, in the latter part of the tertiary period, Europe was
+inhabited by bears, deer, wolves, and cats; Australia by
+kangaroos and other marsupials; South America by gigantic sloths
+and ant-eaters; all different from any now existing, though
+intimately allied to them--we have every reason to believe that
+the Orangutan, the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla have also had
+their forerunners. With what interest must every naturalist look
+forward to the time when the caves and tertiary deposits of the
+tropics may be thoroughly examined, and the past history and
+earliest appearance of the great man-like apes be made known at
+length.
+
+I will now say a few words as to the supposed existence of a
+Bornean Orang as large as the Gorilla. I have myself examined the
+bodies of seventeen freshly-killed Orangs, all of which were
+carefully measured; and of seven of them, I preserved the
+skeleton. I also obtained two skeletons killed by other persons.
+Of this extensive series, sixteen were fully adult, nine being
+males, and seven females. The adult males of the large Orangs
+only varied from 4 feet 1 inch to 4 feet 2 inches in height,
+measured fairly to the heel, so as to give the height of the
+animal if it stood perfectly erect; the extent of the
+outstretched arms, from 7 feet 2 inches to 7 feet 8 inches; and
+the width of the face, from 10 inches to 13 1/2 inches. The
+dimensions given by other naturalists closely agree with mine.
+The largest Orang measured by Temminck was 4 feet high. Of
+twenty-five specimens collected by Schlegel and Muller, the
+largest old male was 4 feet 1 inch; and the largest skeleton in
+the Calcutta Museum was, according to Mr. Blyth, 4 feet 1 1/2
+inch. My specimens were all from the northwest coast of Borneo;
+those of the Dutch from the west and south coasts; and no
+specimen has yet reached Europe exceeding these dimensions,
+although the total number of skins and skeletons must amount to
+over a hundred.
+
+Strange to say, however, several persons declare that they have
+measured Orangs of a much larger size. Temminck, in his Monograph
+of the Orang, says that he has just received news of the capture
+of a specimen 5 feet 3 inches high. Unfortunately, it never seems
+to have a reached Holland, for nothing has since been heard of
+any such animal. Mr. St. John, in his "Life in the Forests of the
+Far East," vol. ii. p. 237, tells us of an Orang shot by a friend
+of his, which was 5 feet 2 inches from the heel to the top of the
+head, the arm 17 inches in girth, and the wrist 12 inches! The
+head alone was brought to Sarawak, and Mr. St. John tells us that
+he assisted to measure this, and that it was 15 inches broad by
+14 long. Unfortunately, even this skull appears not to have been
+preserved, for no specimen corresponding to these dimensions has
+yet reached England.
+
+In a letter from Sir James Brooke, dated October 1857 in which he
+acknowledges the receipt of my Papers on the Orang, published in
+the "Annals and Magazine of Natural History," he sends me the
+measurements of a specimen killed by his nephew, which I will
+give exactly as I received it: "September 3rd, 1867, killed
+female Orangutan. Height, from head to heel, 4 feet 6 inches.
+Stretch from fingers to fingers across body, 6 feet 1 inch.
+Breadth of face, including callosities, 11 inches." Now, in these
+dimensions, there is palpably one error; for in every Orang yet
+measured by any naturalist, an expanse of arms of 6 feet 1 inch
+corresponds to a height of about 3 feet 6 inches, while the
+largest specimens of 4 feet to 4 feet 2 inches high, always have
+the extended arms as much as 7 feet 3 inches to 7 feet 8 inches.
+It is, in fact, one of the characters of the genus to have the
+arms so long that an animal standing nearly erect can rest its
+fingers on the ground. A height of 4 feet 6 inches would
+therefore require a stretch of arms of at least 8 feet! If it
+were only 6 feet to that height, as given in the dimensions
+quoted, the animal would not be an Orang at all, but a new genus
+of apes, differing materially in habits and mode of progression.
+But Mr. Johnson, who shot this animal, and who knows Orangs well,
+evidently considered it to be one; and we have therefore to judge
+whether it is more probable that he made a mistake of two feet in
+the stretch of the arms, or of one foot in the height. The latter
+error is certainly the easiest to make, and it will bring his
+animal into agreement, as to proportions and size, with all those
+which exist in Europe. How easy it is to be deceived as to the
+height of these animals is well shown in the case of the Sumatran
+Orang, the skin of which was described by Dr. Clarke Abel. The
+captain and crew who killed this animal declared that when alive
+he exceeded the tallest man, and looked so gigantic that they
+thought he was 7 feet high; but that, when he was killed and lay
+upon the ground, they found he was only about 6 feet. Now it will
+hardly be credited that the skin of this identical animal exists
+in the Calcutta Museum, and Mr. Blyth, the late curator, states
+"that it is by no means one of the largest size"; which means
+that it is about 4 feet high!
+
+Having these undoubted examples of error in the dimensions of
+Orangs, it is not too much to conclude that Mr. St. John's friend
+made a similar error of measurement, or rather, perhaps, of
+memory; for we are not told that the dimensions were noted down
+at the time they were made. The only figures given by Mr. St.
+John on his own authority are that "the head was 15 inches broad
+by 14 inches long." As my largest male was 13 1/2 broad across
+the face, measured as soon as the animal was killed, I can quite
+understand that when the head arrived at Sarawak from the Batang
+Lupar, after two or three days' voyage, it was so swollen by
+decomposition as to measure an inch more than when it was fresh.
+On the whole, therefore, I think it will be allowed, that up to
+this time we have not the least reliable evidence of the
+existence of Orangs in Borneo more than 4 feet 2 inches high.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+BORNEO--JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR.
+
+(NOVEMBER 1855 TO JANUARY 1856.)
+
+As the wet season was approaching, I determined to return to
+Sarawak, sending all my collections with Charles Allen around by
+sea, while I myself proposed to go up to the sources of the
+Sadong River and descend by the Sarawak valley. As the route was
+somewhat difficult, I took the smallest quantity of baggage, and
+only one servant, a Malay lad named Bujon, who knew the language
+of the Sadong Dyaks, with whom he had traded. We left the mines
+on the 27th of November, and the next day reached the Malay
+village of Gúdong, where I stayed a short time to buy fruit and
+eggs, and called upon the Datu Bandar, or Malay governor of the
+place. He lived in a large, arid well-built house, very dirty
+outside and in, and was very inquisitive about my business, and
+particularly about the coal-mines. These puzzle the natives
+exceedingly, as they cannot understand the extensive and costly
+preparations for working coal, and cannot believe it is to be
+used only as fuel when wood is so abundant and so easily
+obtained. It was evident that Europeans seldom came here, for
+numbers of women skeltered away as I walked through the village
+and one girl about ten or twelve years old, who had just brought
+a bamboo full of water from the river, threw it down with a cry
+of horror and alarm the moment she caught sight of me, turned
+around and jumped into the stream. She swam beautifully, and kept
+looking back as if expecting I would follow her, screaming
+violently all the time; while a number of men and boys were
+laughing at her ignorant terror.
+
+At Jahi, the next village, the stream became so swift in
+consequence of a flood, that my heavy boat could make no way, and
+I was obliged to send it back and go on in a very small open one.
+So far the river had been very monotonous, the banks being
+cultivated as rice-fields, and little thatched huts alone
+breaking the unpicturesque line of muddy bank crowned with tall
+grasses, and backed by the top of the forest behind the
+cultivated ground. A few hours beyond Jahi we passed the limits
+of cultivation, and had the beautiful virgin forest coming down
+to the water's edge, with its palms and creepers, its noble
+trees, its ferns, and epiphytes. The banks of the river were,
+however, still generally flooded, and we had some difficulty in
+finding a dry spot to sleep on. Early in the morning we reached
+Empugnan, a small Malay village, situated at the foot of an
+isolated mountain which had been visible from the mouth of the
+Simunjon River. Beyond here the tides are not felt, and we now
+entered upon a district of elevated forest, with a finer
+vegetation. Large trees stretch out their arms across the stream,
+and the steep, earthy banks are clothed with ferns and
+zingiberaceous plants.
+
+Early in the afternoon we arrived at Tabókan, the first village
+of the Hill Dyaks. On an open space near the river, about twenty
+boys were playing at a game something like what we call
+"prisoner's base;" their ornaments of beads and brass wire and
+their gay-coloured kerchiefs and waist-cloths showing to much
+advantage, and forming a very pleasing sight. On being called by
+Bujon, they immediately left their game to carry my things up to
+the "headhouse,"--a circular building attached to most Dyak
+villages, and serving as a lodging for strangers, the place for
+trade, the sleeping-room of the unmarried youths, and the general
+council-chamber. It is elevated on lofty posts, has a large
+fireplace in the middle and windows in the roof all round, and
+forms a very pleasant and comfortable abode. In the evening it
+was crowded with young men and boys, who came to look at me. They
+were mostly fine young fellows, and I could not help admiring the
+simplicity and elegance of their costume. Their only dress is
+the long "chawat," or waist-cloth, which hangs down before and
+behind. It is generally of blue cotton, ending in three broad
+bands of red, blue, and white. Those who can afford it wear a
+handkerchief on the head, which is either red, with a narrow
+border of gold lace, or of three colours, like the "chawat." The
+large flat moon-shaped brass earrings, the heavy necklace of
+white or black beads, rows of brass rings on the arms and legs,
+and armlets of white shell, all serve to relieve and set off the
+pure reddish brown skin and jet-black hair. Add to this the
+little pouch containing materials for betel-chewing, and a long
+slender knife, both invariably worn at the side, and you have the
+everyday dress of the young Dyak gentleman.
+
+The "Orang Kaya," or rich man, as the chief of the tribe is
+called, now came in with several of the older men; and the
+"bitchara" or talk commenced, about getting a boat and men to
+take me on the next morning. As I could not understand a word of
+their language, which is very different from Malay, I took no
+part in the proceedings, but was represented by my boy Bujon, who
+translated to me most of what was said. A Chinese trader was in
+the house, and he, too, wanted men the next day; but on his
+hinting this to the Orang Kaya, he was sternly told that a white
+man's business was now being discussed, and he must wait another
+day before his could be thought about.
+
+After the "bitchara "was over and the old chiefs gone, I asked
+the young men to play or dance, or amuse themselves in their
+accustomed way; and after some little hesitation they agreed to
+do so. They first had a trial of strength, two boys sitting
+opposite each other, foot being placed against foot, and a stout
+stick grasped by both their hands. Each then tried to throw
+himself back, so as to raise his adversary up from the ground,
+either by main strength or by a sudden effort. Then one of the
+men would try his strength against two or three of the boys; and
+afterwards they each grasped their own ankle with a hand, and
+while one stood as firm as he could, the other swung himself
+around on one leg, so as to strike the other's free leg, and try
+to overthrow him. When these games had been played all around with
+varying success, we had a novel kind of concert. Some placed a
+leg across the knee, and struck the fingers sharply on the ankle,
+others beat their arms against their sides like a cock when he
+is going to crow, this making a great variety of clapping sounds,
+while another with his hand under his armpit produced a deep
+trumpet note; and, as they all kept time very well, the effect
+was by no means unpleasing. This seemed quite a favourite
+amusement with them, and they kept it up with much spirit.
+
+The next morning we started in a boat about thirty feet long, and
+only twenty-eight inches wide. The stream here suddenly changes
+its character. Hitherto, though swift, it had been deep and
+smooth, and confined by steep banks. Now it rushed and rippled
+over a pebbly, sandy, or rocky bed, occasionally forming
+miniature cascades and rapids, and throwing up on one side or the
+other broad banks of finely coloured pebbles. No paddling could
+make way here, but the Dyaks with bamboo poles propelled us along
+with great dexterity and swiftness, never losing their balance in
+such a narrow and unsteady vessel, though standing up and
+exerting all their force. It was a brilliant day, and the
+cheerful exertions of the men, the rushing of the sparkling
+waters, with the bright and varied foliage, which from either
+bank stretched over our heads, produced an exhilarating sensation
+which recalled my canoe voyages on the grander waters of South
+America.
+
+Early in the afternoon we reached the village of Borotói, and,
+though it would have been easy to reach the next one before
+night, I was obliged to stay, as my men wanted to return and
+others could not possibly go on with me without the preliminary
+talking. Besides, a white man was too great a rarity to be
+allowed to escape them, and their wives would never have forgiven
+them if, when they returned from the fields, they found that such
+a curiosity had not been kept for them to see. On entering the
+house to which I was invited, a crowd of sixty or seventy men,
+women, and children gathered around me, and I sat for half an hour
+like some strange animal submitted for the first time to the gaze
+of an inquiring public. Brass rings were here in the greatest
+profusion, many of the women having their arms completely covered
+with them, as well as their legs from the ankle to the knee.
+Round the waist they wear a dozen or more coils of fine rattan
+stained red, to which the petticoat is attached. Below this are
+generally a number of coils of brass wire, a girdle of small
+silver coins, and sometimes a broad belt of brass ring armour. On
+their heads they wear a conical hat without a crown, formed of
+variously coloured beads, kept in shape by rings of rattan, and
+forming a fantastic but not unpicturesque headdress.
+
+Walking out to a small hill near the village, cultivated as a
+rice-field, I had a fine view of the country, which was becoming
+quite hilly, and towards the south, mountainous. I took bearings
+and sketches of all that was visible, an operation which caused
+much astonishment to the Dyaks who accompanied me, and produced
+a request to exhibit the compass when I returned. I was then
+surrounded by a larger crowd than before, and when I took my
+evening meal in the midst of a circle of about a hundred
+spectators anxiously observing every movement and criticising
+every mouthful, my thoughts involuntarily recurred to the lion
+at feeding time. Like those noble animals, I too was used to it,
+and it did not affect my appetite. The children here were more
+shy than at Tabokan, and I could not persuade them to play. I
+therefore turned showman myself, and exhibited the shadow of a
+dog's head eating, which pleased them so much that all the
+village in succession came out to see it. The "rabbit on the
+wall" does not do in Borneo, as there is no animal it resembles.
+The boys had tops shaped something like whipping-tops, but spun
+with a string.
+
+The next morning we proceeded as before, but the river had become
+so rapid and shallow and the boats were all so small, that though
+I had nothing with me but a change of clothes, a gun, and a few
+cooking utensils, two were required to take me on. The rock
+which appeared here and there on the riverbank was an indurated
+clay-slate, sometimes crystalline, and thrown up almost
+vertically. Right and left of us rose isolated limestone
+mountains, their white precipices glistening in the sun and
+contrasting beautifully with the luxuriant vegetation that
+elsewhere clothed them. The river bed was a mass of pebbles,
+mostly pure white quartz, but with abundance of jasper and agate,
+presenting a beautifully variegated appearance. It was only ten
+in the morning when we arrived at Budu, and, though there were
+plenty of people about, I could not induce them to allow me to go
+on to the next village. The Orang Kaya said that if I insisted on
+having men, of course he would get them, but when I took him at
+his word and said I must have them, there came a fresh remonstrance;
+and the idea of my going on that day seemed so painful that I was
+obliged to submit. I therefore walked out over the rice-fields, which
+are here very extensive, covering a number of the little hills and
+valleys into which the whole country seems broken up, and obtained a
+fine view of hills and mountains in every direction.
+
+In the evening the Orang Kaya came in full dress (a spangled
+velvet jacket, but no trowsers), and invited me over to his
+house, where he gave me a seat of honour under a canopy of white
+calico and coloured handkerchiefs. The great verandah was
+crowded with people, and large plates of rice with cooked and
+fresh eggs were placed on the ground as presents for me. A very
+old man then dressed himself in bright-coloured cloths and many
+ornaments, and sitting at the door, murmured a long prayer or
+invocation, sprinkling rice from a basin he held in his hand,
+while several large gongs were loudly beaten and a salute of
+muskets fired off. A large jar of rice wine, very sour but with
+an agreeable flavour, was then handed around, and I asked to see
+some of their dances. These were, like most savage performances,
+very dull and ungraceful affairs; the men dressing themselves
+absurdly like women, and the girls making themselves as stiff and
+ridiculous as possible. All the time six or eight large Chinese
+gongs were being beaten by the vigorous arms of as many young
+men, producing such a deafening discord that I was glad to escape
+to the round house, where I slept very comfortably with half a
+dozen smoke-dried human skulls suspended over my head,
+
+The river was now so shallow that boats could hardly get along. I
+therefore preferred walking to the next village, expecting to see
+something of the country, but was much disappointed, as the path
+lay almost entirely through dense bamboo thickets. The Dyaks get
+two crops off the ground in succession; one of rice, and the
+other of sugarcane, maize, and vegetables. The ground then lies
+fallow eight or ten years, and becomes covered with bamboos and
+shrubs, which often completely arch over the path and shut out
+everything from the view. Three hours' walking brought us to the
+village of Senankan, where I was again obliged to remain the
+whole day, which I agreed to do on the promise of the Orang Kaya
+that his men should next day take me through two other villages
+across to Senna, at the head of the Sarawak River. I amused
+myself as I best could till evening, by walking about the high
+ground near, to get views of the country and bearings of the
+chief mountains. There was then another public audience, with
+gifts of rice and eggs, and drinking of rice wine. These Dyaks
+cultivate a great extent of ground, and supply a good deal of
+rice to Sarawak. They are rich in gongs, brass trays, wire,
+silver coins, and other articles in which a Dyak's wealth
+consists; and their women and children are all highly ornamented
+with bead necklaces, shells, and brass wire.
+
+In the morning I waited some time, but the men that were to
+accompany me did not make their appearance. On sending to the
+Orang Kaya I found that both he and another head-man had gone out
+for the day, and on inquiring the reason was told that they could
+not persuade any of their men to go with me because the journey
+was long and fatiguing one. As I was determined to get on, I told
+the few men that remained that the chiefs had behaved very badly,
+and that I should acquaint the Rajah with their conduct, and I
+wanted to start immediately. Every man present made some excuse,
+but others were sent for, and by hint of threats and promises,
+and the exertion of all Bujon's eloquence, we succeeded in
+getting off after two hours' delay.
+
+For the first few miles our path lay over a country cleared for
+rice-fields, consisting entirely of small but deep and sharply-
+cut ridges and valleys without a yard of level ground. After
+crossing the Kayan river, a main branch of the Sadong, we got on
+to the lower slopes of the Seboran Mountain, and the path lay
+along a sharp and moderately steep ridge, affording an excellent
+view of the country. Its features were exactly those of the
+Himalayas in miniature, as they are described by Dr. Hooker and
+other travellers, and looked like a natural model of some parts
+of those vast mountains on a scale of about a tenth--thousands of
+feet being here represented by hundreds. I now discovered the
+source of the beautiful pebbles which had so pleased me in the
+riverbed. The slatey rocks had ceased, and these mountains seemed
+to consist of a sandstone conglomerate, which was in some places
+a mere mass of pebbles cemented together. I might have known that
+such small streams could not produce such vast quantities of
+well-rounded pebbles of the very hardest materials. They had
+evidently been formed in past ages, by the action of some
+continental stream or seabeach, before the great island of Borneo
+had risen from the ocean. The existence of such a system of hills
+and valleys reproducing in miniature all the features of a great
+mountain region, has an important bearing on the modern theory
+that the form of the ground is mainly due to atmospheric rather
+than to subterranean action. When we have a number of branching
+valleys and ravines running in many different directions within a
+square mile, it seems hardly possible to impute their formation,
+or even their origination, to rents and fissures produced by
+earthquakes. On the other hand, the nature of the rock, so easily
+decomposed and removed by water, and the known action of the
+abundant tropical rains, are in this case, at least, quite
+sufficient causes for the production of such valleys. But the
+resemblance between their forms and outlines, their mode of
+divergence, and the slopes and ridges that divide them, and those
+of the grand mountain scenery of the Himalayas, is so remarkable,
+that we are forcibly led to the conclusion that the forces at
+work in the two cases have been the same, differing only in the
+time they have been in action, and the nature of the material
+they have had to work upon.
+
+About noon we reached the village of Menyerry, beautifully
+situated on a spur of the mountain about 600 feet above the
+valley, and affording a delightful view of the mountains of this
+part of Borneo. I here got a sight of Penrissen Mountain, at the
+head of the Sarawak River, and one of the highest in the
+district, rising to about 6,000 feet above the sea. To the south
+the Rowan, and further off the Untowan Mountains in the Dutch
+territory appeared equally lofty. Descending from Menyerry we
+again crossed the Kayan, which bends round the spur, and ascended
+to the pass which divides the Sadong and Sarawak valleys, and
+which is about 2,000 feet high. The descent from this point was
+very fine. A stream, deep in a rocky gorge, rushed on each side
+of us, to one of which we gradually descended, passing over many
+lateral gullys and along the faces of some precipices by means
+of native bamboo bridges. Some of these were several hundred feet
+long and fifty or sixty high, a single smooth bamboo four inches
+diameter forming the only pathway, while a slender handrail of
+the same material was often so shaky that it could only be used as
+a guide rather than a support.
+
+Late in the afternoon we reached Sodos, situated on a spur
+between two streams, but so surrounded by fruit trees that little
+could be seen of the country. The house was spacious, clean and
+comfortable, and the people very obliging. Many of the women and
+children had never seen a white man before, and were very
+sceptical as to my being the same colour all over, as my face.
+They begged me to show them my arms and body, and they were so
+kind and good-tempered that I felt bound to give them some
+satisfaction, so I turned up my trousers and let them see the
+colour of my leg, which they examined with great interest.
+
+In the morning early we continued our descent along a fine
+valley, with mountains rising 2,000 or 3,000 feet in every
+direction. The little river rapidly increased in size until we
+reached Serma, when it had become a fine pebbly stream navigable
+for small canoes. Here again the upheaved slatey rock appeared,
+with the same dip and direction as in the Sadong River. On
+inquiring for a boat to take me down the stream, I was told that
+the Senna Dyaks, although living on the river-banks, never made
+or used boats. They were mountaineers who had only come down into
+the valley about twenty years before, and had not yet got into
+new habits. They are of the same tribe as the people of Menyerry
+and Sodos. They make good paths and bridges, and cultivate much
+mountain land, and thus give a more pleasing and civilized aspect
+to the country than where the people move about only in boats,
+and confine their cultivation to the banks of the streams.
+
+After some trouble I hired a boat from a Malay trader, and found
+three Dyaks who had been several times with Malays to Sarawak,
+and thought they could manage it very well. They turned out very
+awkward, constantly running aground, striking against rocks, and
+losing their balance so as almost to upset themselves and the
+boat--offering a striking contrast to the skill of the Sea Dyaks.
+At length we came to a really dangerous rapid where boats were
+often swamped, and my men were afraid to pass it. Some Malays
+with a boatload of rice here overtook us, and after safely
+passing down kindly sent back one of their men to assist me. As
+it was, my Dyaks lost their balance in the critical part of the
+passage, and had they been alone would certainly have upset the
+boat. The river now became exceedingly picturesque, the ground on
+each side being partially cleared for ricefields, affording a
+good view of the country. Numerous little granaries were built
+high up in trees overhanging the river, and having a bamboo
+bridge sloping up to them from the bank; and here and there
+bamboo suspension bridge crossed the stream, where overhanging
+trees favoured their construction.
+
+I slept that night in the village of the Sebungow Dyaks, and the
+next day reached Sarawak, passing through a most beautiful
+country where limestone mountains with their fantastic forms and
+white precipices slot up on every side, draped and festooned with
+a luxuriant vegetation. The banks of the Sarawak River are
+everywhere covered with fruit trees, which supply the Dyaks with
+a great deal of their food. The Mangosteen, Lansat, Rambutan,
+Jack, Jambou, and Blimbing, are all abundant; but most abundant
+and most esteemed is the Durian, a fruit about which very little
+is known in England, but which both by natives and Europeans in
+the Malay Archipelago is reckoned superior to all others. The old
+traveller Linschott, writing in 1599, says: "It is of such an
+excellent taste that it surpasses in flavour all the other fruits
+of the world, according to those who have tasted it." And Doctor
+Paludanus adds: "This fruit is of a hot and humid nature. To
+those not used to it, it seems at first to smell like rotten
+onions, but immediately when they have tasted it, they prefer it
+to all other food. The natives give it honourable titles, exalt it,
+and make verses on it." When brought into a house the smell is often
+so offensive that some persons can never bear to taste it. This
+was my own case when I first tried it in Malacca, but in Borneo I
+found a ripe fruit on the ground, and, eating it out of doors, I
+at once became a confirmed Durian eater.
+
+The Durian grows on a large and lofty forest tree, somewhat
+resembling an elm in its general character, but with a more
+smooth and scaly bark. The fruit is round or slightly oval, about
+the size of a large cocoanut, of a green colour, and covered all
+over with short stout spines the bases of which touch each other,
+and are consequently somewhat hexagonal, while the points are
+very strong and sharp. It is so completely armed, that if the
+stalk is broken off it is a difficult matter to lift one from the
+ground. The outer rind is so thick and tough, that from whatever
+height it may fall it is never broken. From the base to the apex
+five very faint lines may be traced, over which the spines arch a
+little; these are the sutures of the carpels, and show where the
+fruit may be divided with a heavy knife and a strong hand. The
+five cells are satiny white within, and are each filled with an
+oval mass of cream-coloured pulp, imbedded in which are two or
+three seeds about the size of chestnuts. This pulp is the eatable
+part, and its consistency and flavour are indescribable. A rich
+butter-like custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best
+general idea of it, but intermingled with it come wafts of
+flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, brown
+sherry, and other incongruities. Then there is a rich glutinous
+smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which
+adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid, nor sweet, nor juicy;
+yet one feels the want of more of these qualities, for it is
+perfect as it is. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and
+the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In
+fact to eat Durians is a new sensation, worth a voyage to the
+East to experience.
+
+When the fruit is ripe it falls of itself, and the only way to
+eat Durians in perfection is to get them as they fall; and the
+smell is then less overpowering. When unripe, it makes a very
+good vegetable if cooked, and it is also eaten by the Dyaks raw.
+In a good fruit season large quantities are preserved salted, in
+jars and bamboos, and kept the year round, when it acquires a
+most disgusting odour to Europeans, but the Dyaks appreciate
+it highly as a relish with their rice. There are in the forest
+two varieties of wild Durians with much smaller fruits, one of
+them orange-coloured inside; and these are probably the origin of
+the large and fine Durians, which are never found wild. It would
+not, perhaps, be correct to say that the Durian is the best of
+all fruits, because it cannot supply the place of the subacid
+juicy kinds, such as the orange, grape, mango, and mangosteen,
+whose refreshing and cooling qualities are so wholesome and
+grateful; but as producing a food of the most exquisite flavour,
+it is unsurpassed. If I had to fix on two only, as representing
+the perfection of the two classes, I should certainly choose the
+Durian and the Orange as the king and queen of fruits.
+
+The Durian is, however, sometimes dangerous. When the fruit
+begins to ripen it falls daily and almost hourly, and accidents
+not unfrequently happen to persons walking or working under the
+trees. When a Durian strikes a man in its fall, it produces a
+dreadful wound, the strong spines tearing open the flesh, while
+the blow itself is very heavy; but from this very circumstance
+death rarely ensues, the copious effusion of blood preventing the
+inflammation which might otherwise take place. A Dyak chief
+informed me that he had been struck down by a Durian falling on
+his head, which he thought would certainly have caused his death,
+yet he recovered in a very short time.
+
+Poets and moralists, judging from our English trees and fruits,
+have thought that small fruits always grew on lofty trees, so
+that their fall should be harmless to man, while the large ones
+trailed on the ground. Two of the largest and heaviest fruits
+known, however, the Brazil-nut fruit (Bertholletia) and Durian,
+grow on lofty forest trees, from which they fall as soon as they
+are ripe, and often wound or kill the native inhabitants. From
+this we may learn two things: first, not to draw general
+conclusions from a very partial view of nature; and secondly,
+that trees and fruits, no less than the varied productions of the
+animal kingdom, do not appear to be organized with exclusive
+reference to the use and convenience of man.
+
+During my many journeys in Borneo, and especially during my
+various residences among the Dyaks, I first came to appreciate
+the admirable qualities of the Bamboo. In those parts of South
+America which I had previously visited, these gigantic grasses
+were comparatively scarce; and where found but little used, their
+place being taken as to one class of uses by the great variety of
+Palms, and as to another by calabashes and gourds. Almost all
+tropical countries produce Bamboos, and wherever they are found
+in abundance the natives apply them to a variety of uses. Their
+strength, lightness, smoothness, straightness, roundness and
+hollowness, the facility and regularity with which they can be
+split, their many different sizes, the varying length of their
+joints, the ease with which they can be cut and with which holes
+can be made through them, their hardness outside, their freedom
+from any pronounced taste or smell, their great abundance, and
+the rapidity of their growth and increase, are all qualities
+which render them useful for a hundred different purposes, to
+serve which other materials would require much more labour and
+preparation. The Bamboo is one of the most wonderful and most
+beautiful productions of the tropics, and one of nature's most
+valuable gifts to uncivilized man.
+
+The Dyak houses are all raised on posts, and are often two or
+three hundred feet long and forty or fifty wide. The floor is
+always formed of strips split from large Bamboos, so that each
+may be nearly flat and about three inches wide, and these are
+firmly tied down with rattan to the joists beneath. When well
+made, this is a delightful floor to walk upon barefooted, the
+rounded surfaces of the bamboo being very smooth and agreeable to
+the feet, while at the same time affording a firm hold. But, what
+is more important, they form with a mat over them an excellent
+bed, the elasticity of the Bamboo and its rounded surface being
+far superior to a more rigid and a flatter floor. Here we at once
+find a use for Bamboo which cannot be supplied so well by another
+material without a vast amount of labour--palms and other
+substitutes requiring much cutting and smoothing, and not being
+equally good when finished. When, however, a flat, close floor is
+required, excellent boards are made by splitting open large
+Bamboos on one side only, and flattening them out so as to form
+slabs eighteen inches wide and six feet long, with which some
+Dyaks floor their houses. These with constant rubbing of the feet
+and the smoke of years become dark and polished, like walnut or
+old oak, so that their real material can hardly be recognised.
+What labour is here saved to a savage whose only tools are an axe
+and a knife, and who, if he wants boards, must hew them out of
+the solid trunk of a tree, and must give days and weeks of labour
+to obtain a surface as smooth and beautiful as the Bamboo thus
+treated affords him. Again, if a temporary house is wanted,
+either by the native in his plantation or by the traveller in the
+forest, nothing is so convenient as the Bamboo, with which a
+house can be constructed with a quarter of the labour and time
+than if other materials are used.
+
+As I have already mentioned, the Hill Dyaks in the interior of
+Sarawak make paths for long distances from village to village and
+to their cultivated grounds, in the course of which they have to
+cross many gullies and ravines, and even rivers; or sometimes, to
+avoid a long circuit, to carry the path along the face of a
+precipice. In all these cases the bridges they construct are of
+Bamboo, and so admirably adapted is the material for this
+purpose, that it seems doubtful whether they ever would have
+attempted such works if they had not possessed it. The Dyak
+bridge is simple but well designed. It consists merely of stout
+Bamboos crossing each other at the road-way like the letter X,
+and rising a few feet above it. At the crossing they are firmly
+bound together, and to a large Bamboo which lays upon them and
+forms the only pathway, with a slender and often very shaky one
+to serve as a handrail. When a river is to be crossed, an
+overhanging tree is chosen from which the bridge is partly
+suspended and partly supported by diagonal struts from the banks,
+so as to avoid placing posts in the stream itself, which would be
+liable to be carried away by floods. In carrying a path along the
+face of a precipice, trees and roots are made use of for
+suspension; struts arise from suitable notches or crevices in the
+rocks, and if these are not sufficient, immense Bamboos fifty or
+sixty feet long are fixed on the banks or on the branch of a tree
+below. These bridges are traversed daily by men and women
+carrying heavy loads, so that any insecurity is soon discovered,
+and, as the materials are close at hand, immediately repaired.
+When a path goes over very steep ground, and becomes slippery in
+very wet or very dry weather, the Bamboo is used in another way.
+Pieces are cut about a yard long, and opposite notches being made
+at each end, holes are formed through which pegs are driven, and
+firm and convenient steps are thus formed with the greatest ease
+and celerity. It is true that much of this will decay in one or
+two seasons, but it can be so quickly replaced as to make it more
+economical than using a harder and more durable wood.
+
+One of the most striking uses to which Bamboo is applied by the
+Dyaks, is to assist them in climbing lofty trees by driving in
+pegs in the way I have already described at page 85. This method
+is constantly used in order to obtain wax, which is one of the
+most valuable products of the country. The honey-bee of Borneo
+very generally hangs its combs under the branches of the Tappan,
+a tree which towers above all others in the forest, and whose
+smooth cylindrical trunk often rises a hundred feet without a
+branch. The Dyaks climb these lofty trees at night, building up
+their Bamboo ladder as they go, and bringing down gigantic
+honeycombs. These furnish them with a delicious feast of honey
+and young bees, besides the wax, which they sell to traders, and
+with the proceeds buy the much-coveted brass wire, earrings, and
+bold-edged handkerchiefs with which they love to decorate
+themselves. In ascending Durian and other fruit trees which
+branch at from thirty to fifty feet from the ground, I have seen
+them use the Bamboo pegs only, without the upright Bamboo which
+renders them so much more secure.
+
+The outer rind of the Bamboo, split and shaved thin, is the
+strongest material for baskets; hen-coops, bird-cages, and
+conical fish-traps are very quickly made from a single joint, by
+splitting off the skin in narrow strips left attached to one end,
+while rings of the same material or of rattan are twisted in at
+regular distances. Water is brought to the houses by little
+aqueducts formed of large Bamboos split in half and supported on
+crossed sticks of various heights so as to give it a regular
+fall. Thin long-jointed Bamboos form the Dyaks' only water-
+vessels, and a dozen of them stand in the corner of every house.
+They are clean, light, and easily carried, and are in many ways
+superior to earthen vessels for the same purpose. They also make
+excellent cooking utensils; vegetables and rice can be boiled in
+them to perfection, and they are often used when travelling.
+Salted fruit or fish, sugar, vinegar, and honey are preserved in
+them instead of in jars or bottles. In a small Bamboo case,
+prettily carved and ornamented, the Dyak carries his sirih and
+lime for betel chewing, and his little long-bladed knife has a
+Bamboo sheath. His favourite pipe is a huge hubble-bubble, which
+he will construct in a few minutes by inserting a small piece of
+Bamboo for a bowl obliquely into a large cylinder about six
+inches from the bottom containing water, through which the smoke
+passes to a long slender Bamboo tube. There are many other small
+matters for which Bamboo is daily used, but enough has now been
+mentioned to show its value. In other parts of the Archipelago I
+have myself seen it applied to many new uses, and it is probable
+that my limited means of observation did not make me acquainted
+with one-half the ways in which it is serviceable to the Dyaks of
+Sarawak.
+
+While upon the subject of plants I may here mention a few of the
+more striking vegetable productions of Borneo. The wonderful
+Pitcher-plants, forming the genus Nepenthes of botanists, here
+reach their greatest development. Every mountain-top abounds with
+them, running along the ground, or climbing over shrubs and
+stunted trees; their elegant pitchers hanging in every direction.
+Some of these are long and slender, resembling in form the
+beautiful Philippine lace-sponge (Euplectella), which has now
+become so common; others are broad and short. Their colours are
+green, variously tinted and mottled with red or purple. The
+finest yet known were obtained on the summit of Kini-balou, in
+North-west Borneo. One of the broad sort, Nepenthes rajah, will
+hold two quarts of water in its pitcher. Another, Nepenthes
+Edwardsiania, has a narrow pitcher twenty inches long; while the
+plant itself grows to a length of twenty feet.
+
+Ferns are abundant, but are not so varied as on the volcanic
+mountains of Java; and Tree-ferns are neither so plentiful nor so
+large as on that island. They grow, however, quite down to the
+level of the sea, and are generally slender and graceful plants
+from eight to fifteen feet high. Without devoting much time to
+the search I collected fifty species of Ferns in Borneo, and I
+have no doubt a good botanist would have obtained twice the
+number. The interesting group of Orchids is very abundant, but,
+as is generally the case, nine-tenths of the species have small
+and inconspicuous flowers. Among the exceptions are the fine
+Coelogynes, whose large clusters of yellow flowers ornament the
+gloomiest forests, and that most extraordinary plant, Vanda
+Lowii, which last is particularly abundant near some hot springs
+at the foot of the Penin-jauh Mountain. It grows on the lower
+branches of trees, and its us strange pendant flower-spires often
+hang down so as almost to reach the ground. These are generally
+six or eight feet long, bearing large and handsome flowers three
+inches across, and varying in colour from orange to red, with
+deep purple-red spots. I measured one spike, which reached the
+extraordinary length of nine feet eight inches, and bore thirty-
+six flowers, spirally arranged upon a slender thread-like stalk.
+Specimens grown in our English hot-houses have produced flower-
+spires of equal length, and with a much larger number of
+blossoms.
+
+Flowers were scarce, as is usual in equatorial forests, and it
+was only at rare intervals that I met with anything striking. A
+few fine climbers were sometimes seen, especially a handsome
+crimson and yellow Aeschynanthus, and a fine leguminous plant
+with clusters of large Cassia-like flowers of a rich purple
+colour. Once I found a number of small Anonaceous trees of the
+genus Polyalthea, producing a most striking effect in the gloomy
+forest shades. They were about thirty feet high, and their
+slender trunks were covered with large star-like crimson flowers,
+which clustered over them like garlands, and resembled some
+artificial decoration more than a natural product.
+
+The forests abound with gigantic trees with cylindrical,
+buttressed, or furrowed stems, while occasionally the traveller
+comes upon a wonderful fig-tree, whose trunk is itself a forest
+of stems and aerial roots. Still more rarely are found trees
+which appear to have begun growing in mid-air, and from the same
+point send out wide-spreading branches above and a complicated
+pyramid of roots descending for seventy or eighty feet to the
+ground below, and so spreading on every side, that one can stand
+in the very centre with the trunk of the tree immediately
+overhead. Trees of this character are found all over the
+Archipelago, and the accompanying illustration (taken from one
+which I often visited in the Aru Islands) will convey some idea
+of their general character. I believe that they originate as
+parasites, from seeds carried by birds and dropped in the fork of
+some lofty tree. Hence descend aerial roots, clasping and
+ultimately destroying the supporting tree, which is in time
+entirely replaced by the humble plant which was at first
+dependent upon it. Thus we have an actual struggle for life in
+the vegetable kingdom, not less fatal to the vanquished than the
+struggles among animals which we can so much more easily observe
+and understand. The advantage of quicker access to light and
+warmth and air, which is gained in one way by climbing plants, is
+here obtained by a forest tree, which has the means of starting
+in life at an elevation which others can only attain after many
+years of growth, and then only when the fall of some other tree
+has made room for then. Thus it is that in the warm and moist and
+equable climate of the tropics, each available station is seized
+upon and becomes the means of developing new forms of life
+especially adapted to occupy it.
+
+On reaching Sarawak early in December, I found there would not be
+an opportunity of returning to Singapore until the latter end of
+January. I therefore accepted Sir James Brooke's invitation to
+spend a week with him and Mr. St. John at his cottage on Peninjauh.
+This is a very steep pyramidal mountain of crystalline
+basaltic rock, about a thousand feet high, and covered with
+luxuriant forest. There are three Dyak villages upon it, and on a
+little platform near the summit is the rude wooden lodge where
+the English Rajah was accustomed to go for relaxation and cool
+fresh air. It is only twenty miles up the river, but the road up
+the mountain is a succession of ladders on the face of
+precipices, bamboo bridges over gullies and chasms, and slippery
+paths over rocks and tree-trunks and huge boulders as big as
+houses. A cool spring under an overhanging rock just below the
+cottage furnished us with refreshing baths and delicious drinking
+water, and the Dyaks brought us daily heaped-up baskets of
+Mangosteens and Lansats, two of the most delicious of the subacid
+tropical fruits. We returned to Sarawak for Christmas (the second
+I had spent with Sir James Brooke), when all the Europeans both
+in the town and from the out-stations enjoyed the hospitality of
+the Rajah, who possessed in a pre-eminent degree the art of
+making every one around him comfortable and happy.
+
+A few days afterwards I returned to the mountain with Charles and
+a Malay boy named Ali and stayed there three weeks for the
+purpose of making a collection of land-shells, butterflies and
+moths, ferns and orchids. On the hill itself ferns were tolerably
+plentiful, and I made a collection of about forty species. But
+what occupied me most was the great abundance of moths which on
+certain occasions I was able to capture. As during the whole of
+my eight years' wanderings in the East I never found another spot
+where these insects were at all plentiful, it will be interesting
+to state the exact conditions under which I here obtained them.
+
+On one side of the cottage there was a verandah, looking down
+the whole side of the mountain and to its summit on the right,
+all densely clothed with forest. The boarded sides of the cottage
+were whitewashed, and the roof of the verandah was low, and also
+boarded and whitewashed. As soon as it got dark I placed my lamp
+on a table against the wall, and with pins, insect-forceps, net,
+and collecting-boxes by my side, sat down with a book. Sometimes
+during the whole evening only one solitary moth would visit me,
+while on other nights they would pour in, in a continual stream,
+keeping me hard at work catching and pinning till past midnight.
+They came literally by the thousands. These good nights were very
+few. During the four weeks that I spent altogether on the hill I
+only had four really good nights, and these were always rainy,
+and the best of them soaking wet. But wet nights were not always
+good, for a rainy moonlight night produced next to nothing. All
+the chief tribes of moths were represented, and the beauty and
+variety of the species was very great. On good nights I was able
+to capture from a hundred to two hundred and fifty moths, and these
+comprised on each occasion from half to two-thirds that number of
+distinct species. Some of them would settle on the wall, some on
+the table, while many would fly up to the roof and give me a chase
+all over the verandah before I could secure them. In order to show
+the curious connection between the state of weather and the degree
+in which moths were attracted to light, I add a list of my captures
+each night of my stay on the hill.
+
+  	          
+Date (1855)    No. of Moths 	   Remarks
+ 
+Dec. 13th             1    	Fine; starlight.
+     14th            75   	Drizzly and fog.
+     15th            41    	Showery; cloudy.
+     16th           158    	(120 species.) Steady rain.
+     17th            82    	Wet; rather moonlight.
+     18th             9    	Fine; moonlight.
+     19th             2    	Fine; clear moonlight.
+     31st           200    	(130 species.) Dark and windy; 
+                           	heavy rain.
+
+Date (1856)
+Jan. 1st            185    	Very wet.
+     2d              68     	Cloudy and showers.
+     3d              50     	Cloudy.
+     4th             12     	Fine.
+     5th             10     	Fine.
+     6th              8     	Very fine.
+     7th              8     	Very fine.
+     8th             10     	Fine.
+     9th             36     	Showery.
+    10th             30     	Showery.
+    11th            260    	Heavy rain all night, and dark.
+    12th             56     	Showery.
+    13th             44     	Showery; some moonlight.
+    14th              4     	Fine; moonlight.
+    15th             24     	Rain; moonlight.
+    16th              6    	Showers; moonlight.
+    17th              6    	Showers; moonlight.
+    18th              1    	Showers; moonlight.
+Total             1,386  
+
+It thus appears that on twenty-six nights I collected 1,386
+moths, but that more than 800 of them were collected on four very
+wet and dark nights. My success here led me to hope that, by
+similar arrangements, I might on every island be able to obtain an
+abundance of these insects; but, strange to say, during the six
+succeeding years, I was never once able to make any collections at
+all approaching those at Sarawak. The reason for this I can pretty
+well understand to be owing to the absence of some one or other
+essential condition that were here all combined. Sometimes the
+dry season was the hindrance; more frequently residence in a town
+or village not close to virgin forest, and surrounded by other
+houses whose lights were a counter-attraction; still more
+frequently residence in a dark palm-thatched house, with a lofty
+roof, in whose recesses every moth was lost the instant it
+entered. This last was the greatest drawback, and the real reason
+why I never again was able to make a collection of moths; for I
+never afterwards lived in a solitary jungle-house with a low
+boarded and whitewashed verandah, so constructed as to prevent
+insects at once escaping into the upper part of the house, quite
+out of reach.
+
+After my long experience, my numerous failures, and my one success,
+I feel sure that if any party of naturalists ever make a yacht-voyage
+to explore the Malayan Archipelago, or any other tropical region,
+making entomology one of their chief pursuits, it would well repay
+them to carry a small framed verandah, or a verandah-shaped tent
+of white canvas, to set up in every favourable situation, as a means
+of making a collection of nocturnal Lepidoptera, and also of obtaining
+rare specimens of Coleoptera and other insects. I make the suggestion
+here, because no one would suspect the enormous difference in results
+that such an apparatus would produce; and because I consider it one
+of the curiosities of a collector's experience, to have found out
+that some such apparatus is required.
+
+When I returned to Singapore I took with me the Malay lad named
+Ali, who subsequently accompanied me all over the Archipelago.
+Charles Allen preferred staying at the Mission-house, and
+afterwards obtained employment in Sarawak and in Singapore, until
+he again joined me four years later at Amboyna in the Moluccas.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+BORNEO--THE DYAKS.
+
+THE manners and customs of the aborigines of Borneo have been
+described in great detail, and with much fuller information than I
+possess, in the writings of Sir James Brooke, Messrs. Low, St. John,
+Johnson Brooke, and many others. I do not propose to go over the
+ground again, but shall confine myself to a sketch, from personal
+observation, of the general character of the Dyaks, and of such
+physical, moral, and social characteristics as have been less
+frequently noticed.
+
+The Dyak is closely allied to the Malay, and more remotely to the
+Siamese, Chinese, and other Mongol races. All these are characterised
+by a reddish-brown or yellowish-brown skin of various shades, by jet-
+black straight hair, by the scanty or deficient beard, by the rather
+small and broad nose, and high cheekbones; but none of the Malayan
+races have the oblique eyes which are characteristic of the more
+typical Mongols. The average stature of the Dyaks is rather more than
+that of the Malays, while it is considerably under that of most
+Europeans. Their forms are well proportioned, their feet and hands
+small, and they rarely or never attain the bulk of body so often seen
+in Malays and Chinese.
+
+I am inclined to rank the Dyaks above the Malays in mental capacity,
+while in moral character they are undoubtedly superior to them. They
+are simple and honest, and become the prey of the Malay and Chinese
+trailers, who cheat and plunder them continually. They are more
+lively, more talkative, less secretive, and less suspicious than the
+Malay, and are therefore pleasanter companions. The Malay boys have
+little inclination for active sports and games, which form quite a
+feature in the life of the Dyak youths, who, besides outdoor games of
+skill and strength, possess a variety of indoor amusements. One wet
+day, in a Dyak house, when a number of boys and young men were about
+me, I thought to amuse them with something new, and showed them how
+to make "cat's cradle" with a piece of string. Greatly to my
+surprise, they knew all about it, and more than I did; for, after
+Charles and I had gone through all the changes we could make, one of
+the boys took it off my hand, and made several new figures which
+quite puzzled me. They then showed me a number of other tricks with
+pieces of string, which seemed a favourite amusement with them.
+
+Even these apparently trifling matters may assist us to form a truer
+estimate of the Dyaks' character and social condition. We learn
+thereby, that these people have passed beyond that first stage of
+savage life in which the struggle for existence absorbs all of the
+faculties, and in which every thought and idea is connected with war
+or hunting, or the provision for their immediate necessities. These
+amusements indicate a capability of civilization, an aptitude to
+enjoy other than mere sensual pleasures, which night be taken
+advantage of to elevate their whole intellectual and social life.
+
+The moral character of the Dyaks is undoubtedly high--a statement
+which will seem strange to those who have heard of them only as
+head-hunters and pirates. The Hill Dyaks of whom I am speaking,
+however, have never been pirates, since they never go near the sea;
+and head-hunting is a custom originating in the petty wars of village
+with village, and tribe with tribe, which no more implies a bad moral
+character than did the custom of the slave-trade a hundred years ago
+imply want of general morality in all who participated in it. Against
+this one stain on their character (which in the case of the Sarawak
+Dyaks no longer exists) we have to set many good points. They are
+truthful and honest to a remarkable degree. From this cause it is
+very often impossible to get from them any definite information, or
+even an opinion. They say, "If I were to tell yon what I don't know,
+I might tell a lie;" and whenever they voluntarily relate any matter
+of fact, you may be sure they are speaking the truth. In a Dyak
+village the fruit trees have each their owner, and it has often
+happened to me, on asking an inhabitant to gather me some fruit, to
+be answered, "I can't do that, for the owner of the tree is not
+here;" never seeming to contemplate the possibility of acting
+otherwise. Neither will they take the smallest thing belonging to an
+European. When living at Simunjon, they continually came to my house,
+and would pick up scraps of torn newspaper or crooked pins that I had
+thrown away, and ask as a great favour whether they might have them.
+Crimes of violence (other than head-hunting) are almost unknown; for
+in twelve years, under Sir James Brooke's rule, there had been only
+one case of murder in a Dyak tribe, and that one was committed by a
+stranger who had been adopted into the tribe. In several other
+matters of morality they rank above most uncivilized, and even above
+many civilized nations. They are temperate in food and drink, and the
+gross sensuality of the Chinese and Malays is unknown among them.
+They have the usual fault of all people in a half-savage state--
+apathy and dilatoriness, but, however annoying this may be to
+Europeans who come in contact with them, it cannot be considered a
+very grave offence, or be held to outweigh their many excellent
+qualities.
+
+During my residence among the Hill Dyaks, I was much struck by the
+apparent absence of those causes which are generally supposed to
+check the increase of population, although there were plain
+indications of stationary or but slowly increasing numbers. The
+conditions most favourable to a rapid increase of population are: an
+abundance of food, a healthy climate, and early marriages. Here these
+conditions all exist. The people produce far more food than they
+consume, and exchange the surplus for gongs and brass cannon, ancient
+jars, and gold and silver ornaments, which constitute their wealth.
+On the whole, they appear very free from disease, marriages take
+place early (but not too early), and old bachelors and old maids are
+alike unknown. Why, then, we must inquire, has not a greater
+population been produced? Why are the Dyak villages so small and so
+widely scattered, while nine-tenths of the country is still covered
+with forest?
+
+Of all the checks to population among savage nations mentioned by
+Malthus--starvation, disease, war, infanticide, immorality, and
+infertility of the women--the last is that which he seems to think
+least important, and of doubtful efficacy; and yet it is the only one
+that seems to me capable of accounting for the state of the
+population among the Sarawak Dyaks. The population of Great Britain
+increases so as to double itself in about fifty years. To do this it
+is evident that each married couple must average three children who
+live to be married at the age of about twenty-five. Add to these
+those who die in infancy, those who never marry, or those who marry
+late in life and have no offspring, the number of children born to
+each marriage must average four or five, and we know that families
+of seven or eight are very common, and of ten and twelve by no means
+rare. But from inquiries at almost every Dyak tribe I visited, I
+ascertained that the women rarely had more than three or four
+children, and an old chief assured me that he had never known a woman
+to have more than seven.
+
+In a village consisting of a hundred and fifty families, only one
+consisted of six children living, and only six of five children,
+the majority of families appearing to be two, three, or four.
+Comparing this with the known proportions in European countries,
+it is evident that the number of children to each marriage can hardly
+average more than three or four; and as even in civilized countries
+half the population die before the age of twenty-five, we should have
+only two left to replace their parents; and so long as this state of
+things continued, the population must remain stationary. Of course
+this is a mere illustration; but the facts I have stated seem to
+indicate that something of the kind really takes place; and if so,
+there is no difficulty in understanding the smallness and almost
+stationary population of the Dyak tribes.
+
+We have next to inquire what is the cause of the small number of
+births and of living children in a family. Climate and race may have
+something to do with this, but a more real and efficient cause seems
+to me to be the hard labour of the women, and the heavy weights they
+constantly carry. A Dyak woman generally spends the whole day in the
+field, and carries home every night a heavy load of vegetables and
+firewood, often for several miles, over rough and hilly paths; and
+not unfrequently has to climb up a rocky mountain by ladders, and
+over slippery steppingstones, to an elevation of a thousand feet.
+Besides this, she has an hour's work every evening to pound the rice
+with a heavy wooden stamper, which violently strains every part of
+the body. She begins this kind of labour when nine or ten years old,
+and it never ceases but with the extreme decrepitude of age. Surely
+we need not wonder at the limited number of her progeny, but rather
+be surprised at the successful efforts of nature to prevent the
+extermination of the race.
+
+One of the surest and most beneficial effects of advancing
+civilization, will be the amelioration of the condition of these
+women. The precept and example of higher races will make the Dyak
+ashamed of his comparatively idle life, while his weaker partner
+labours like a beast of burthen. As his wants become increased and
+his tastes refined, the women will have more household duties to
+attend to, and will then cease to labour in the field--a change which
+has already to a great extent taken place in the allied Malay,
+Javanese, and Bugis tribes. Population will then certainly increase
+more rapidly, improved systems of agriculture and some division of
+labour will become necessary in order to provide the means of
+existence, and a more complicated social state will take the place of
+the simple conditions of society which now occur among them. But,
+with the sharper struggle for existence that will then arise, will
+the happiness of the people as a whole be increased or diminished?
+Will not evil passions be aroused by the spirit of competition, and
+crimes and vices, now unknown or dormant, be called into active
+existence? These are problems that time alone can solve; but it is to
+be hoped that education and a high-class European example may obviate
+much of the evil that too often arises in analogous cases, and that we
+may at length be able to point to one instance of an uncivilized
+people who have not become demoralized, and finally exterminated, by
+contact with European civilization.
+
+A few words in conclusion, about the government of Sarawak. Sir James
+Brooke found the Dyaks oppressed and ground down by the most cruel
+tyranny. They were cheated by the Malay traders and robbed by the
+Malay chiefs. Their wives and children were often captured and sold
+into slavery, and hostile tribes purchased permission from their
+cruel rulers to plunder, enslave, and murder them. Anything like
+justice or redress for these injuries was utterly unattainable. From
+the time Sir James obtained possession of the country, all this was
+stopped. Equal justice was awarded to Malay, Chinaman, and Dyak. The
+remorseless pirates from the rivers farther east were punished, and
+finally shut up within their own territories, and the Dyak, for the
+first time, could sleep in peace. His wife and children were now
+safe from slavery; his house was no longer burned over his head; his
+crops and his fruits were now his own to sell or consume as he
+pleased. And the unknown stranger who had done all this for them, and
+asked for nothing in return, what could he be? How was it possible
+for them to realize his motives? Was it not natural that they should
+refuse to believe he was a man? For of pure benevolence combined with
+great power, they had had no experience among men. They naturally
+concluded that he was a superior being, come down upon earth to
+confer blessings on the afflicted. In many villages where he had not
+been seen, I was asked strange questions about him. Was he not as old
+as the mountains? Could he not bring the dead to life? And they
+firmly believe that he can give them good harvests, and make their
+fruit-trees bear an abundant crop.
+
+In forming a proper estimate of Sir James Brooke's government it must
+ever be remembered that he held Sarawak solely by the goodwill of the
+native inhabitant. He had to deal with two races, one of whom, the
+Mahometan Malays, looked upon the other race, the Dyaks, as savages
+and slaves, only fit to be robbed and plundered. He has effectually
+protected the Dyaks, and has invariably treated them as, in his
+sight, equal to the Malays; and yet he has secured the affection and
+goodwill of both. Notwithstanding the religious prejudice, of
+Mahometans, he has induced them to modify many of their worst laws
+and customs, and to assimilate their criminal code to that of the
+civilized world. That his government still continues, after twenty-
+seven years--notwithstanding his frequent absences from ill-health,
+notwithstanding conspiracies of Malay chiefs, and insurrections of
+Chinese gold-diggers, all of which have been overcome by the support
+of the native population, and notwithstanding financial, political,
+and domestic troubles is due, I believe, solely to the many admirable
+qualities which Sir James Brooke possessed, and especially to his
+having convinced the native population, by every action of his life,
+that he ruled them, not for his own advantage, but for their good.
+
+Since these lines were written, his noble spirit has passed away.
+But though, by those who knew him not, he may be sneered at as an
+enthusiastic adventurer, abused as a hard-hearted despot, the universal
+testimony of everyone who came in contact with him in his adopted
+country, whether European, Malay, or Dyak, will be, that Rajah Brooke
+was a great, a wise, and a good ruler; a true and faithful friend--
+a man to be admired for his talents, respected for his honesty and
+courage, and loved for his genuine hospitality, his kindness of
+disposition, and his tenderness of heart.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+JAVA
+
+I SPENT three months and a half in Java, from July 18th to
+October 31st, 1861, and shall briefly describe my own movements,
+and my observations of the people and the natural history of the
+country. To all those who wish to understand how the Dutch now
+govern Java, and how it is that they are enabled to derive a
+large annual revenue from it, while the population increases, and
+the inhabitants are contented, I recommend the study of Mr.
+Money's excellent and interesting work, "How to Manage a Colony."
+The main facts and conclusions of that work I most heartily
+concur in, and I believe that the Dutch system is the very best
+that can be adopted, when a European nation conquers or otherwise
+acquires possession of a country inhabited by an industrious but
+semi-barbarous people. In my account of Northern Celebes, I shall
+show how successfully the same system has been applied to a
+people in a very different state of civilization from the
+Javanese; and in the meanwhile will state in the fewest words
+possible what that system is.
+
+The mode of government now adopted in Java is to retain the whole
+series of native rulers, from the village chief up to princes,
+who, under the name of Regents, are the heads of districts about
+the size of a small English county. With each Regent is placed a
+Dutch Resident, or Assistant Resident, who is considered to be
+his "elder brother," and whose "orders" take the form of
+"recommendations," which are, however, implicitly obeyed. Along
+with each Assistant Resident is a Controller, a kind of inspector
+of all the lower native rulers, who periodically visits every
+village in the district, examines the proceedings of the native
+courts, hears complaints against the head-men or other native
+chiefs, and superintends the Government plantations. This brings
+us to the "culture system," which is the source of all the wealth
+the Dutch derive from Java, and is the subject of much abuse in
+this country because it is the reverse of "free trade." To
+understand its uses and beneficial effects, it is necessary first
+to sketch the common results of free European trade with
+uncivilized peoples.
+
+Natives of tropical climates have few wants, and, when these are
+supplied, are disinclined to work for superfluities without some
+strong incitement. With such a people the introduction of any new
+or systematic cultivation is almost impossible, except by the
+despotic orders of chiefs whom they have been accustomed to obey,
+as children obey their parents. The free competition of European
+traders, however introduces two powerful inducements to exertion.
+Spirits or opium is a temptation too strong for most savages to
+resist, and to obtain these he will sell whatever he has, and
+will work to get more. Another temptation he cannot resist, is
+goods on credit. The trader offers him bay cloths, knives, gongs,
+guns, and gunpowder, to be paid for by some crop perhaps not yet
+planted, or some product yet in the forest. He has not sufficient
+forethought to take only a moderate quantity, and not enough
+energy to work early and late in order to get out of debt; and
+the consequence is that he accumulates debt upon debt, and often
+remains for years, or for life, a debtor and almost a slave. This
+is a state of things which occurs very largely in every part of
+the world in which men of a superior race freely trade with men
+of a lower race. It extends trade no doubt for a time, but it
+demoralizes the native, checks true civilization--and does not
+lead to any permanent increase in the wealth of the country; so
+that the European government of such a country must be carried on
+at a loss.
+
+The system introduced by the Dutch was to induce the people,
+through their chiefs, to give a portion of their till, to the
+cultivation of coffee, sugar, and other valuable products. A
+fixed rate of wages--low indeed, but, about equal to that of all
+places where European competition has not artificially raised it-
+-was paid to the labourers engaged in clearing the ground and
+forming the plantations under Government superintendence. The
+produce is sold to the Government at a low, fixed price. Out of
+the net profit a percentage goes to the chiefs, and the remainder
+is divided among the workmen. This surplus in good years is
+something considerable. On the whole, the people are well fed and
+decently clothed, and have acquired habits of steady industry and
+the art of scientific cultivation, which must be of service to
+them in the future. It must be remembered, that the Government
+expended capital for years before any return was obtained; and if
+they now derive a large revenue, it is in a way which is far less
+burthensome, and far more beneficial to the people, than any tax
+that could be levied.
+
+But although the system may be a good one, and as well adapted to
+the development of arts and industry in a half civilized people
+as it is to the material advantage of the governing country, it
+is not pretended that in practice it is perfectly carried out.
+The oppressive and servile relations between chiefs and people,
+which have continued for perhaps a thousand years, cannot be at
+once abolished; and some evil must result from those relations,
+until the spread of education and the gradual infusion of
+European blood causes it naturally and insensibly to disappear.
+It is said that the Residents, desirous of showing a large
+increase in the products of their districts, have sometimes
+pressed the people to such continued labour on the plantations
+that their rice crops have been materially diminished, and famine
+has been the result. If this has happened, it is certainly not a
+common thing, and is to be set down to the abuse of the system,
+by the want of judgment, or want of humanity in the Resident.
+
+A tale has lately been written in Holland, and translated into
+English, entitled "Max Havelaar; or, the "Coffee Auctions of the
+Dutch Trading Company," and with our usual one-sidedness in all
+relating to the Dutch Colonial System, this work has been
+excessively praised, both for its own merits, and for its
+supposed crushing exposure of the iniquities of the Dutch
+government of Java. Greatly to my surprise, I found it a very
+tedious and long-winded story, full of rambling digressions; and
+whose only point is to show that the Dutch Residents and
+Assistant Residents wink at the extortions of the native princes;
+and that in some districts the natives have to do work without
+payment, and have their goods taken away from them without
+compensation. Every statement of this kind is thickly
+interspersed with italics and capital letters; but as the names
+are all fictitious, and neither dates, figures, nor details are
+ever given, it is impossible to verify or answer them. Even if
+not exaggerated, the facts stated are not nearly so bad as those
+of the oppression by free-trade indigo-planters, and torturing by
+native tax-gatherers under British rule in India, with which the
+readers of English newspapers were familiar a few years ago. Such
+oppression, however, is not fairly to be imputed in either case
+to the particular form of government, but is rather due to the
+infirmity of human nature, and to the impossibility of at once
+destroying all trace of ages of despotism on the one side, and of
+slavish obedience to their chiefs on the other.
+
+It must be remembered, that the complete establishment of the
+Dutch power in Java is much more recent than that of our rule in
+India, and that there have been several changes of government,
+and in the mode of raising revenue. The inhabitants have been so
+recently under the rule of their native princes, that it is not
+easy at once to destroy the excessive reverence they feel for
+their old masters, or to diminish the oppressive exactions which
+the latter have always been accustomed to make. There is,
+however, one grand test of the prosperity, and even of the
+happiness, of a community, which we can apply here--the rate of
+increase of the population.
+
+It is universally admitted that when a country increases rapidly
+in population, the people cannot be very greatly oppressed or
+very badly governed. The present system of raising a revenue by
+the cultivation of coffee and sugar, sold to Government at a
+fixed price, began in 1832. Just before this, in 1826, the
+population by census was 5,500,000, while at the beginning of the
+century it was estimated at 3,500,000. In 1850, when the
+cultivation system had been in operation eighteen years, the
+population by census was over 9,500,000, or an increase of 73 per
+cent in twenty-four years. At the last census, in 1865, it
+amounted to 14,168,416, an increase of very nearly 50 per cent in
+fifteen years--a rate which would double the population in about
+twenty-six years. As Java (with Madura) contains about 38,500
+geographical square miles, this will give an average of 368
+persons to the square mile, just double that of the populous and
+fertile Bengal Presidency as given in Thornton's Gazetteer of
+India, and fully one-third more than that of Great Britain and
+Ireland at the last Census. If, as I believe, this vast
+population is on the whole contented and happy, the Dutch
+Government should consider well before abruptly changing a system
+which has led to such great results.
+
+Taking it as a whole, and surveying it front every point of view,
+Java is probably the very finest and most interesting tropical
+island in the world. It is not first in size, but it is more than
+600 miles long, and from 60 to 120 miles wide, and in area is
+nearly equal to England; and it is undoubtedly the most fertile,
+the most productive, and the most populous island within the
+tropics. Its whole surface is magnificently varied with mountain
+and forest scenery. It possesses thirty-eight volcanic mountains,
+several of which rise to ten or twelve thousand feet high. Some
+of these are in constant activity, and one or other of them
+displays almost every phenomenon produced by the action of
+subterranean fires, except regular lava streams, which never
+occur in Java. The abundant moisture and tropical heat of the
+climate causes these mountains to be clothed with luxuriant
+vegetation, often to their very summits, while forests and
+plantations cover their lower slopes. The animal productions,
+especially the birds and insects, are beautiful and varied, and
+present many peculiar forms found nowhere else upon the globe.
+
+The soil throughout the island is exceedingly fertile, and all
+the productions of the tropics, together with many of the
+temperate zones, can be easily cultivated. Java too possesses a
+civilization, a history and antiquities of its own, of great
+interest. The Brahminical religion flourished in it from an epoch
+of unknown antiquity until about the year 1478, when that of
+Mahomet superseded it. The former religion was accompanied by a
+civilization which has not been equalled by the conquerors; for,
+scattered through the country, especially in the eastern part of
+it, are found buried in lofty forests, temples, tombs, and
+statues of great beauty and grandeur; and the remains of
+extensive cities, where the tiger, the rhinoceros, and the wild
+bull now roam undisturbed. A modern civilization of another type
+is now spreading over the land. Good roads run through the
+country from end to end; European and native rulers work
+harmoniously together; and life and property are as well secured
+as in the best governed states of Europe. I believe, therefore,
+that Java may fairly claim to be the finest tropical island in
+the world, and equally interesting to the tourist seeking after
+new and beautiful scenes; to the naturalist who desires to
+examine the variety and beauty of tropical nature; or to the
+moralist and the politician who want to solve the problem of how
+man may be best governed under new and varied conditions.
+
+The Dutch mail steamer brought me from Ternate to Sourabaya, the
+chief town and port in the eastern part of Java, and after a
+fortnight spent in packing up and sending off my last
+collections, I started on a short journey into the interior.
+Travelling in Java is very luxurious but very expensive, the only
+way being to hire or borrow a carriage, and then pay half a crown
+a mile for post-horses, which are changed at regular posts every
+six miles, and will carry you at the rate of ten miles an hour
+from one end of the island to the other. Bullock carts or coolies
+are required to carry all extra baggage. As this kind of
+travelling world not suit my means, I determined on making only a
+short journey to the district at the foot of Mount Arjuna, where
+I was told there were extensive forests, and where I hoped to be
+able to make some good collections. The country for many miles
+behind Sourabaya is perfectly flat and everywhere cultivated;
+being a delta or alluvial plain, watered by many branching
+streams. Immediately around the town the evident signs of wealth
+and of an industrious population were very pleasing; but as we
+went on, the constant succession of open fields skirted by rows
+of bamboos, with here and there the white buildings and a tall
+chimney of a sugar-mill, became monotonous. The roads run in
+straight lines for several miles at a stretch, and are bordered
+by rows of dusty tamarind-trees. At each mile there are little
+guardhouses, where a policeman is stationed; and there is a
+wooden gong, which by means of concerted signals may be made to
+convey information over the country with great rapidity. About
+every six or seven miles is the post-house, where the horses are
+changed as quickly as were those of the mail in the old coaching
+days in England.
+
+I stopped at Modjokerto, a small town about forty miles south of
+Sourabaya, and the nearest point on the high road to the district
+I wished to visit. I had a letter of introduction to Mr. Ball, an
+Englishman, long resident in Java and married to a Dutch lady;
+and he kindly invited me to stay with him until I could fix on a
+place to suit me. A Dutch Assistant Resident as well as a Regent
+or native Javanese prince lived here. The town was neat, and had
+a nice open grassy space like a village green, on which stood a
+magnificent fig-tree (allied to the Banyan of India, but more
+lofty), under whose shade a kind of market is continually held,
+and where the inhabitants meet together to lounge and chat. The
+day after my arrival, Mr. Ball drove me over to the village of
+Modjo-agong, where he was building a house and premises for the
+tobacco trade, which is carried on here by a system of native
+cultivation and advance purchase, somewhat similar to the indigo
+trade in British India. On our way we stayed to look at a
+fragment of the ruins of the ancient city of Modjo-pahit,
+consisting of two lofty brick masses, apparently the sides of a
+gateway. The extreme perfection and beauty of the brickwork
+astonished me. The bricks are exceedingly fine and hard, with
+sharp angles and true surfaces. They are laid with great
+exactness, without visible mortar or cement, yet somehow fastened
+together so that the joints are hardly perceptible, and sometimes
+the two surfaces coalesce in a most incomprehensible manner.
+
+Such admirable brickwork I have never seen before or since. There
+was no sculpture here, but an abundance of bold projections and
+finely-worked mouldings. Traces of buildings exist for many miles
+in every direction, and almost every road and pathway shows a
+foundation of brickwork beneath it--the paved roads of the old
+city. In the house of the Waidono or district chief at Modjo-
+agong, I saw a beautiful figure carved in high relief out of a
+block of lava, and which had been found buried in the ground near
+the village. On my expressing a wish to obtain some such
+specimen, Mr. B. asked the chief for it, and much to my surprise
+he immediately gave it me. It represented the Hindu goddess
+Durga, called in Java, Lora Jonggrang (the exalted virgin). She
+has eight arms, and stands on the back of a kneeling bull. Her
+lower right hand holds the tail of the bull, while the
+corresponding left hand grasps the hair of a captive, Dewth
+Mahikusor, the personification of vice, who has attempted to slay
+her bull. He has a cord round his waist, and crouches at her feet
+in an attitude of supplication. The other hands of the goddess
+hold, on her right side, a double hook or small anchor, a broad
+straight sword, and a noose of thick cord; on her left, a girdle
+or armlet of large beads or shells, an unstrung bow, and a
+standard or war flag. This deity was a special favourite among
+the old Javanese, and her image is often found in the ruined
+temples which abound in the eastern part of the island.
+
+The specimen I had obtained was a small one, about two feet high,
+weighing perhaps a hundredweight; and the next day we had it
+conveyed to Modjo-Kerto to await my return to Sourabaya. Having
+decided to stay some time at Wonosalem, on the lower slopes of
+the Arjuna Mountain, where I was informed I should find forest
+and plenty of game, I had first to obtain a recommendation from
+the Assistant Resident to the Regent, and then an order from the
+Regent to the Waidono; and when after a week's delay I arrived
+with my baggage and men at Modjo-agong, I found them all in the
+midst of a five days' feast, to celebrate the circumcision of the
+Waidono's younger brother and cousin, and had a small room in an
+on outhouse given me to stay in. The courtyard and the great open
+reception-shed were full of natives coming and going and making
+preparations for a feast which was to take place at midnight, to
+which I was invited, but preferred going to bed. A native band,
+or Gamelang, was playing almost all the evening, and I had a good
+opportunity of seeing the instruments and musicians. The former
+are chiefly gongs of various sizes, arranged in sets of from
+eight to twelve, on low wooden frames. Each set is played by one
+performer with one or two drumsticks. There are also some very
+large gongs, played singly or in pairs, and taking the place of
+our drums and kettledrums. Other instruments are formed by broad
+metallic bars, supported on strings stretched across frames; and
+others again of strips of bamboo similarly placed and producing
+the highest notes. Besides these there were a flute and a curious
+two-stringed violin, requiring in all twenty-four performers.
+There was a conductor, who led off and regulated the time, and
+each performer took his part, coming in occasionally with a few
+bars so as to form a harmonious combination. The pieces played
+were long and complicated, and some of the players were mere
+boys, who took their parts with great precision. The general
+effect was very pleasing, but, owing to the similarity of most of
+the instruments, more like a gigantic musical box than one of our
+bands; and in order to enjoy it thoroughly it is necessary to
+watch the large number of performers who are engaged in it. The
+next morning, while I was waiting for the men and horses who were
+to take me and my baggage to my destination, the two lads, who
+were about fourteen years old, were brought out, clothed in a
+sarong from the waist downwards, and having the whole body
+covered with yellow powder, and profusely decked with white
+blossom in wreaths, necklaces, and armlets, looking at first
+sight very like savage brides. They were conducted by two priests
+to a bench placed in front of the house in the open air, and the
+ceremony of circumcision was then performed before the assembled
+crowd.
+
+The road to Wonosalem led through a magnificent forest in the
+depths of which we passed a fine ruin of what appeared to have
+been a royal tomb or mausoleum. It is formed entirely of stone,
+and elaborately carved. Near the base is a course of boldly
+projecting blocks, sculptured in high relief, with a series of
+scenes which are probably incidents in the life of the defunct.
+These are all beautifully executed, some of the figures of
+animals in particular, being easily recognisable and very
+accurate. The general design, as far as the ruined state of the
+upper part will permit of its being seen, is very good, effect
+being given by an immense number and variety of projecting or
+retreating courses of squared stones in place of mouldings. The
+size of this structure is about thirty feet square by twenty
+high, and as the traveller comes suddenly upon it on a small
+elevation by the roadside, overshadowed by gigantic trees,
+overrun with plants and creepers, and closely backed by the
+gloomy forest, he is struck by the solemnity and picturesque
+beauty of the scene, and is led to ponder on the strange law of
+progress, which looks so like retrogression, and which in so many
+distant parts of the world has exterminated or driven out a
+highly artistic and constructive race, to make room for one
+which, as far as we can judge, is very far its inferior.
+
+Few Englishmen are aware of the number and beauty of the
+architectural remains in Java. They have never been popularly
+illustrated or described, and it will therefore take most persons
+by surprise to learn that they far surpass those of Central
+America, perhaps even those of India. To give some idea of these
+ruins, and perchance to excite wealthy amateurs to explore them
+thoroughly and obtain by photography an accurate record of their
+beautiful sculptures before it is too late, I will enumerate the
+most important, as briefly described in Sir Stamford Raffles'
+"History of Java."
+
+BRAMBANAM.--Near the centre of Java, between the native capitals
+of Djoko-kerta and Surakerta, is the village of Brambanam, near
+which are abundance of ruins, the most important being the
+temples of Loro-Jongran and Chandi Sewa. At Loro-Jongran there
+were twenty separate buildings, six large and fourteen small
+temples. They are now a mass of ruins, but the largest temples
+are supposed to have been ninety feet high. They were all
+constructed of solid stone, everywhere decorated with carvings
+and bas-reliefs, and adorned with numbers of statues, many of
+which still remain entire. At Chandi Sewa, or the "Thousand
+Temples," are many fine colossal figures. Captain Baker, who
+surveyed these ruins, said he had never in his life seen "such
+stupendous and finished specimens of human labour, and of the
+science and taste of ages long since forgot, crowded together in
+so small a compass as in this spot." They cover a space of nearly
+six hundred feet square, and consist of an outer row of eighty-
+four small temples, a second row of seventy-six, a third of
+sixty-four, a fourth of forty-four, and the fifth forming an
+inner parallelogram of twenty-eight, in all two hundred and
+ninety-six small temples; disposed in five regular
+parallelograms. In the centre is a large cruciform temple
+surrounded by lofty flights of steps richly ornamented with
+sculpture, and containing many apartments. The tropical
+vegetation has ruined most of the smaller temples, but some
+remain tolerably perfect, from which the effect of the whole may
+be imagined.
+
+About half a mile off is another temple, called Chandi Kali
+Bening, seventy-two feet square and sixty feet high, in very fine
+preservation, and covered with sculptures of Hindu mythology
+surpassing any that exist in India, other ruins of palaces,
+halls, and temples, with abundance of sculptured deities, are
+found in the same neighbourhood.
+
+BOROBODO.--About eighty miles westward, in the province of Kedu,
+is the great temple of Borobodo. It is built upon a small hill,
+and consists of a central dome and seven ranges of terraced walls
+covering the slope of the hill and forming open galleries each
+below the other, and communicating by steps and gateways. The
+central dome is fifty feet in diameter; around it is a triple
+circle of seventy-two towers, and the whole building is six
+hundred and twenty feet square, and about one hundred feet high.
+In the terrace walls are niches containing cross-legged figures
+larger than life to the number of about four hundred, and both
+sides of all the terrace walls are covered with bas-reliefs
+crowded with figures, and carved in hard stone and which must
+therefore occupy an extent of nearly three miles in length! The
+amount of human labour and skill expended on the Great Pyramid of
+Egypt sinks into insignificance when compared with that required
+to complete this sculptured hill-temple in the interior of Java.
+
+GUNONG PRAU.--About forty miles southwest of Samarang, on a
+mountain called Gunong Prau, an extensive plateau is covered with
+ruins. To reach these temples, four flights of stone steps were
+made up the mountain from opposite directions, each flight
+consisting of more than a thousand steps. Traces of nearly four
+hundred temples have been found here, and many (perhaps all) were
+decorated with rich and delicate sculptures. The whole country
+between this and Brambanam, a distance of sixty miles, abounds
+with ruins, so that fine sculptured images may be seen lying in
+the ditches, or built into the walls of enclosures.
+
+In the eastern part of Java, at Kediri and in Malang, there are
+equally abundant traces of antiquity, but the buildings
+themselves have been mostly destroyed. Sculptured figures,
+however, abound; and the ruins of forts, palaces, baths,
+aqueducts, and temples, can be everywhere traced. It is
+altogether contrary to the plan of this book to describe what I
+have not myself seen; but, having been led to mention them, I
+felt bound to do something to call attention to these marvellous
+works of art. One is overwhelmed by the contemplation of these
+innumerable sculptures, worked with delicacy and artistic feeling
+in a hard, intractable, trachytic rock, and all found in one
+tropical island. What could have been the state of society, what
+the amount of population, what the means of subsistence which
+rendered such gigantic works possible, will, perhaps, ever remain
+a mystery; and it is a wonderful example of the power of
+religious ideas in social life, that in the very country where,
+five hundred years ago, these grand works were being yearly
+executed, the inhabitants now only build rude houses of bamboo
+and thatch, and look upon these relics of their forefathers with
+ignorant amazement, as the undoubted productions of giants or of
+demons. It is much to be regretted that the Dutch Government does
+not take vigorous steps for the preservation of these ruins from
+the destroying agency of tropical vegetation; and for the
+collection of the fine sculptures which are everywhere scattered
+over the land.
+
+Wonosalem is situated about a thousand feet above the sea, but
+unfortunately it is at a distance from the forest, and is
+surrounded by coffee plantations, thickets of bamboo, and coarse
+grasses. It was too far to walk back daily to the forest, and in
+other directions I could find no collecting ground for insects.
+The place was, however, famous for peacocks, and my boy soon shot
+several of these magnificent birds, whose flesh we found to be
+tender, white, and delicate, and similar to that of a turkey. The
+Java peacock is a different species from that of India, the neck
+being covered with scale-like green feathers, and the crest of a
+different form; but the eyed train is equally large and equally
+beautiful. It is a singular fact in geographical distribution
+that the peacock should not be found in Sumatra or Borneo, while
+the superb Argus, Fire-backed and Ocellated pheasants of those
+islands are equally unknown in Java. Exactly parallel is the fact
+that in Ceylon and Southern India, where the peacock abounds,
+there are none of the splendid Lophophori and other gorgeous
+pheasants which inhabit Northern India. It would seem as if the
+peacock can admit of no rivals in its domain. Were these birds
+rare in their native country, and unknown alive in Europe, they
+would assuredly be considered as the true princes of the
+feathered tribes, and altogether unrivalled for stateliness and
+beauty. As it is, I suppose scarcely anyone if asked to fix upon
+the most beautiful bird in the world would name the peacock, any
+more than the Papuan savage or the Bugis trader would fix upon
+the bird of paradise for the same honour.
+
+Three days after my arrival at Wonosalem, my friend Mr. Ball came
+to pay me a visit. He told me that two evenings before, a boy had
+been killed and eaten by a tiger close to Modjo-agong. He was
+riding on a cart drawn by bullocks, and was coming home about
+dusk on the main road; and when not half a mile from the village
+a tiger sprang upon him, carried him off into the jungle close
+by, and devoured him. Next morning his remains were discovered,
+consisting only of a few mangled bones. The Waidono had got
+together about seven hundred men, and were in chase of the
+animal, which, I afterwards heard, they found and killed. They
+only use spears when in pursuit of a tiger in this way. They
+surround a large tract of country, and draw gradually together
+until the animal is enclosed in a compact ring of armed men. When
+he sees there is no escape he generally makes a spring, and is
+received on a dozen spears, and almost instantly stabbed to
+death. The skin of an animal thus killed is, of course,
+worthless, and in this case the skull, which I had begged Mr.
+Ball to secure for me, was hacked to pieces to divide the teeth,
+which are worn as charms.
+
+After a week at Wonosalem, I returned to the foot of the
+mountain, to a village named Djapannan, which was surrounded by
+several patches of forest, and seemed altogether pretty well
+spited to my pursuits. The chief of the village had prepared two
+small bamboo rooms on one side of his own courtyard to
+accommodate me, and seemed inclined to assist me as much as he
+could. The weather was exceedingly hot and dry, no rain having
+fallen for several months, and there was, in consequence, a great
+scarcity of insects, and especially of beetles. I therefore
+devoted myself chiefly to obtaining a good set of the birds, and
+succeeded in making a tolerable collection. All the peacocks we
+had hitherto shot had had short or imperfect tails, but I now
+obtained two magnificent specimens more than seven feet long, one
+of which I preserved entire, while I kept the train only attached
+to the tail of two or three others. When this bird is seen
+feeding on the ground, it appears wonderful how it can rise into
+the air with such a long and cumbersome train of feathers. It
+does so however with great ease, by running quickly for a short
+distance, and then rising obliquely; and will fly over trees of a
+considerable height. I also obtained here a specimen of the rare
+green jungle-fowl (Gallus furcatus), whose back and neck are
+beautifully scaled with bronzy feathers, and whose smooth-edged
+oval comb is of a violet purple colour, changing to green at the
+base. It is also remarkable in possessing a single large wattle
+beneath its throat, brightly coloured in three patches of red,
+yellow, and blue. The common jungle-cock (Gallus bankiva) was
+also obtained here. It is almost exactly like a common game-cock,
+but the voice is different, being much shorter and more abrupt;
+hence its native name is Bekeko. Six different kinds of
+woodpeckers and four kingfishers were found here, the fine
+hornbill, Buceros lunatus, more than four feet long, and the
+pretty little lorikeet, Loriculus pusillus, scarcely more than as
+many inches.
+
+One morning, as I was preparing and arranging specimens, I was
+told there was to be a trial; and presently four or five men came
+in and squatted down on a mat under the audience-shed in the
+court. The chief then came in with his clerk, and sat down
+opposite them. Each spoke in turn, telling his own tale, and then
+I found that those who first entered were the prisoner, accuser,
+policemen, and witness, and that the prisoner was indicated
+solely by having a loose piece of cord twilled around his wrists,
+but not tied. It was a case of robbery, and after the evidence
+was given, and a few questions had been asked by the chief, the
+accused said a few words, and then sentence was pronounced, which
+was a fine. The parties then got up and walked away together,
+seeming quite friendly; and throughout there was nothing in the
+manner of any one present indicating passion or ill-feeling--a
+very good illustration of the Malayan type of character.
+
+In a month's collecting at Wonosaleni and Djapannan 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 liable 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 account 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 everybody drives, as it can hardly be
+supposed that people never walk in their gardens. The Hôtel 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 d'hôte 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 delicious climate
+and its Botanical Gardens. With the latter I 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 skillful 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 heat 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 picturesque and luxuriant, and the
+great volcano of Gunung Salak, with its truncated and jagged
+summit, forms a characteristic background to many of the
+landscapes. A great mud eruption took place in 1699, since which
+date the mountain has been entirely inactive.
+
+On leaving Buitenzorg, I had coolies to carry my baggage and a
+horse for myself, both to be changed every six or seven miles.
+The road rose gradually, and after the first stage the hills
+closed in a little on each side, forming a broad valley; and the
+temperature was so cool and agreeable, and the country so
+interesting, that I preferred walking. Native villages imbedded
+in fruit trees, and pretty villas inhabited by planters or
+retired Dutch officials, gave this district a very pleasing and
+civilized aspect; but what most attracted my attention was the
+system of terrace-cultivation, which is here universally adopted,
+and which is, I should think, hardly equalled in the world. The
+slopes of the main valley, and of its branches, were everywhere
+cut in terraces up to a considerable height, and when they wound
+round the recesses of the hills produced all the effect of
+magnificent amphitheatres. Hundreds of square miles of country
+are thus terraced, and convey a striking idea of the industry of
+the people and the antiquity of their civilization. These
+terraces are extended year by year as the population increases,
+by the inhabitants of each village working in concert under the
+direction of their chiefs; and it is perhaps by this system of
+village culture alone, that such extensive terracing and
+irrigation has been rendered possible. It was probably introduced
+by the Brahmins from India, since in those Malay countries where
+there is no trace of a previous occupation by a civilized people,
+the terrace system is unknown. I first saw this mode of
+cultivation in Bali and Lombock, and, as I shall have to describe
+it in some detail there (see Chapter X.), I need say no more
+about it in this place, except that, owing to the finer outlines
+and greater luxuriance of the country in West Java, it produces
+there the most striking and picturesque effect. The lower slopes
+of the mountains in Java possess such a delightful climate and
+luxuriant soil; living is so cheap and life and property are so
+secure, that a considerable number of Europeans who have been
+engaged in Government service, settle permanently in the country
+instead of returning to Europe. They are scattered everywhere
+throughout the more accessible parts of the island, and tend
+greatly to the gradual improvement of the native population, and
+to the continued peace and prosperity of the whole country.
+
+Twenty miles beyond Buitenzorg the post road passes over the
+Megamendong Mountain, at an elevation of about 4,500 feet. The
+country is finely mountainous, and there is much virgin forest
+still left upon the hills, together with some of the oldest
+coffee-plantations in Java, where the plants have attained almost
+the dimensions of forest trees. About 500 feet below the summit
+level of the pass there is a road-keeper's hut, half of which I
+hired for a fortnight, as the country looked promising for making
+collections. I almost immediately found that the productions of
+West Java were remarkably different from those of the eastern
+part of the island; and that all the more remarkable and
+characteristic Javanese birds and insects were to be found here.
+On the very first day, my hunters obtained for me the elegant
+yellow and green trogon (Harpactes Reinwardti), the gorgeous
+little minivet flycatcher (Pericrocotus miniatus), which looks
+like a flame of fire as it flutters among the bushes, and the
+rare and curious black and crimson oriole (Analcipus
+sanguinolentus), all of these species which are found only in
+Java, and even seem to be confined to its western portion.
+
+In a week I obtained no less than twenty-four species of birds,
+which I had not found in the east of the island, and in a
+fortnight this number increased to forty species, almost all of
+which are peculiar to the Javanese fauna. Large and handsome
+butterflies were also tolerably abundant. In dark ravines, and
+occasionally on the roadside, I captured the superb Papilio
+arjuna, whose wings seem powdered with grains of golden green,
+condensed into bands and moon-shaped spots; while the elegantly-
+formed Papilio coon was sometimes to be found fluttering slowly
+along the shady pathways (see figure at page 201). One day a boy
+brought me a butterfly between his fingers, perfectly unhurt. He
+had caught it as it was sitting with wings erect, sucking up the
+liquid from a muddy spot by the roadside. Many of the finest
+tropical butterflies have this habit, and they are generally so
+intent upon their meal that they can be easily be reached and
+captured. It proved to be the rare and curious Charaxes kadenii,
+remarkable for having on each hind wing two curved tails like a
+pair of callipers. It was the only specimen I ever saw, and is
+still the only representative of its kind in English collections.
+
+In the east of Java I had suffered from the intense heat and
+drought of the dry season, which had been very inimical to insect
+life. Here I had got into the other extreme of damp, wet, and
+cloudy weather, which was equally unfavourable. During the month
+which I spent in the interior of West Java, I never had a really
+hot fine, day throughout. It rained almost every afternoon, or
+dense mists came down from the mountains, which equally stopped
+collecting, and rendered it most difficult to dry my specimens,
+so that I really had no chance of getting a fair sample of
+Javanese entomology.
+
+By far the most interesting incident in my visit to Java was a
+trip to the summit of the Pangerango and Gedeh mountains; the
+former an extinct volcanic cone about 10,000 feet high, the
+latter an active crater on a lower portion of the same mountain
+range. Tchipanas, about four miles over the Megamendong Pass, is
+at the foot of the mountain. A small country house for the
+Governor-General and a branch of the Botanic Gardens are situated
+here, the keeper of which accommodated me with a bed for a night.
+There are many beautiful trees and shrubs planted here, and large
+quantities of European vegetables are grown for the Governor-
+General's table. By the side of a little torrent that bordered
+the garden, quantities of orchids were cultivated, attached to
+the trunks of trees, or suspended from the branches, forming an
+interesting open air orchid-house. As I intended to stay two or
+three nights on the mountain, I engaged two coolies to carry my
+baggage, and with my two hunters we started early the next
+morning.
+
+The first mile was over open country, which brought us to the
+forest that covers the whole mountain from a height of about
+5,000 feet. The next mile or two was a tolerably steep ascent
+through a grand virgin forest, the trees being of great size, and
+the undergrowth consisting of fine herbaceous plants, tree-ferns,
+and shrubby vegetation. I was struck by the immense number of
+ferns that grew by the side of the road. Their variety seemed
+endless, and I was continually stopping to admire some new and
+interesting forms. I could now well understand what I had been
+told by the gardener, that 300 species had been found on this one
+mountain. A little before noon we reached the small plateau of
+Tjiburong, at the foot of the steeper part of the mountain, where
+there is a plank-house for the accommodation of travellers. Close
+by is a picturesque waterfall and a curious cavern, which I had
+not time to explore. Continuing our ascent the road became
+narrow, rugged and steep, winding zigzag up the cone, which is
+covered with irregular masses of rock, and overgrown with a dense
+luxuriant but less lofty vegetation. We passed a torrent of water
+which is not much lower than the boiling point, and has a most
+singular appearance as it foams over its rugged bed, sending up
+clouds of steam, and often concealed by the overhanging herbage
+of ferns and lycopodia, which here thrive with more luxuriance
+than elsewhere.
+
+At about 7,500 feet we came to another hut of open bamboos, at a
+place called Kandang Badak, or "Rhinoceros-field," which we were
+going to make our temporary abode. Here was a small clearing,
+with abundance of tree-ferns and some young plantations of
+Cinchona. As there was now a thick mist and drizzling rain, I did
+not attempt to go on to the summit that evening, but made two
+visits to it during my stay, as well as one to the active crater
+of Gedeh. This is a vast semicircular chasm, bounded by black
+perpendicular walls of rock, and surrounded by miles of rugged
+scoria-covered slopes. The crater itself is not very deep. It
+exhibits patches of sulphur and variously-coloured volcanic
+products, and emits from several vents continual streams of smoke
+and vapour. The extinct cone of Pangerango was to me more
+interesting. The summit is an irregular undulating plain with a
+low bordering ridge, and one deep lateral chasm. Unfortunately,
+there was perpetual mist and rain either above or below us all
+the time I was on the mountain; so that I never once saw the
+plain below, or had a glimpse of the magnificent view which in
+fine weather is to be obtained from its summit. Notwithstanding
+this drawback I enjoyed the excursion exceedingly, for it was the
+first time I had been high enough on a mountain near the Equator
+to watch the change from a tropical to a temperate flora. I will
+now briefly sketch these changes as I observed them in Java.
+
+On ascending the mountain, we first meet with temperate forms of
+herbaceous plants, so low as 3,000 feet, where strawberries and
+violets begin to grow, but the former are tasteless, and the
+latter have very small and pale flowers. Weedy composites also
+begin to give a European aspect to the wayside herbage. It is
+between 2,000 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 Musceae and Zingiberaceae,
+with their curious and brilliant flowers; and the elegant and
+varied forms of plants allied to Begonia and Melastoma,
+continually attract the attention in this region. Filling in 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 intertwine in ever-varying complexity. At about
+5,000 feet I 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 eatable Rubus.
+At 7,000 feet Cypresses appear, and the forest trees become
+reduced in size, and more covered with mosses and lichens. From
+this point upward these rapidly increase, so that the blocks of
+rock and scoria that form the mountain slope are completely
+hidden in a mossy vegetation. At about 5,000 feet European forms
+of plants become abundant. Several species of Honeysuckle, St.
+John's-wort, and Guelder-rose abound, and at about 9,000 feet we
+first meet 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,
+sometimes 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,
+Whortleberries, Sow-thistles, Chickweed, white and yellow
+Cruciferae 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 of
+European plants found on or near the summit: Two 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,
+Gnaphalium,  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 is 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 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.
+
+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 Himalayas, 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 extended to the confines of
+the tropics, and on its departure, 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 of a flora
+of European type on the volcanoes of Java.
+
+It will, however, naturally be objected that there is a wide
+expanse of sea between Java and the continent, which would have
+effectually prevented the immigration of temperate fortes 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 is, that the great Mammalia 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
+corresponds with the time we should require since the temperate
+forms of plants entered Java. These are now almost distinct
+species, but the changed conditions under which they are now
+forced to exist, and the probability of some of them having since
+died out on the continent of India, sufficiently accounts for the
+Javanese species being different.
+
+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 almost lovely of the small Fruit
+pigeons (Ptilonopus roseicollis), whose entire head and neck are
+of an exquisite rosy pink colour, contrasting finely with its
+otherwise blue 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 succeeded in obtaining insects in any
+abundance and birds were far less plentiful than on the
+Megamendong Mountan. 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 collections, and
+left by steamer on November 1st for Banca and Sumatra.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+SUMATRA.
+
+(NOVEMBER 1861 to JANUARY 1862.)
+
+The 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, until I could obtain a boat to take me
+across the straits, and all the river to Palembang. A few walks
+into the country 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 favourable 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
+November, I was lodged by the Doctor, to whom I had brought a
+letter of introduction, and endeavoured to ascertain where I
+could find a good locality for collecting. Everyone 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 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 riverfront 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 heat. 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 highwater
+mark; while for many miles further inland, the banks of the main
+stream and its numerous tributaries are swampy, and in the wet
+season hooded 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
+turns into a little hill, the top of which is held sacred by the
+natives, shaded by some fine trees,and 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 exceedingly 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 deliberation 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 by 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 until 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 underwater. Leaving early in the morning we did
+not reach Lorok, the village where the road begins, until late at
+night. I stayed there a few days, but found that most all the
+ground in the vicinity not underwater 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 (Palaeornis 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, I 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
+travelling very easy, and was a great convenience for me. 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 different from the common
+species of Malacca. I therefore 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
+agreeable 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 the ground is bare and smooth with
+the trampling of many feet. The 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 sometimes
+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 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 without 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, I 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, until at length it became
+quite unintelligible, although the continual recurrence of many
+well-known words assured 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 heard of no more.
+This is one of the numerous examples I have met with of the good
+effects of the Dutch Government. It exercises a strict
+surveillance 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 everywhere
+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
+pliable 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 I 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.
+
+The first is the handsome Papilio memnon, a splendid butterfly of
+a deep black colour, dotted over with lines and groups 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
+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 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
+coön), and that we have here a case of mimicry similar to those
+so well illustrated and explained by Mr. Bates.[ Trans. Linn.
+Soc. vol. xviii. p. 495; "Naturalist on the Amazons," vol. i. p.
+290.]
+
+That the resemblance is not accidental is sufficiently
+proved by the fact, that in the North of India, where Papilio
+coön is replaced by all allied forms, (Papilio Doubledayi) having
+red spots in place of yellow, a closely-allied species or variety
+of Papilio memnon (P. androgens) has the tailed female also 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 escape persecution. Two other
+species of this same section (Papilio antiphus and Papilio
+polyphontes) are so closely imitated by two female forms of
+Papilio tbeseus (which comes in the same section with Memnon),
+that they completely 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 larva 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 black-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 is 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 forewings there is a broad bar of deep orange, so
+that when on the wing it is 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
+carefully I crept up to the spot I could never discover it until
+it would suddenly start out again and then disappear in a similar
+place. If 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 would discover that it 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 upon it. I captured several specimens on the wing, and
+was able fully to understand the way in which this wonderful resemblance
+is produced.
+
+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 somewhat 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 innerside
+towards the middle and apex, and they are produced by striae 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 undersurface 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 moderately-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 antennae are drawn back between the wings so as
+to be quite concealed, and there is a little notch hollowed out
+at the very base of the wings, which allows the head to be
+retracted sufficiently. All these varied details combine to
+produce a disguise that is so complete and marvellous as to
+astonish everyone who observes it; and the habits of the insects
+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 is very common, and specimens are sent in every collection from
+the 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. Every 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 closely resembling the way in which
+minute fungi grow on leaves that it is almost impossible at first
+not to believe that fungi have gown 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 resemblances in nature, and from
+these it is possible to deduce a general theory of the manner in
+which they have been slowly brought about. The principle of
+variation and that of "natural selection," or survival of the
+fittest, as elaborated 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
+imitation in an article published in the "Westminster Review" for
+1867, entitled, "Mimicry, and other Protective Resemblances
+Among Animals," to which any reader is referred who wishes to
+know more about this subject.
+
+In Sumatra, monkeys are very abundant, and at Lobo Kaman 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 at another a little
+lower, and it is very amusing when a 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 until the rest
+are disappearing, when, as if in desperation at being left alone,
+they throw themselves frantically into the air, and often go
+crashing through the slender branches and fall to the ground.
+
+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 is considerably larger,
+and differs from them by having the two first fingers of the feet
+united together, nearly to the endm as does its Latin native,
+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 immense long arms, five feet six inches across in an adult
+about three feet high, can swing itself along among the trees 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 Orangutan 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 is probably confined to a limited region in the
+northwest 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. Lobo Kaman tusks
+and bones are occasionally found about 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 disturbed 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 Singapore and in
+Borneo, but which was more abundant here, is the Galeopithecus,
+or flying lemur. This creature has a broad membrane extending all
+aound 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 guiding
+itself through the air, otherwise in so long a distance it would
+have little chance of alighting exactly upon the trunk. Like the
+Cuscus of the Moluccas, the Galeopithecus feeds chiefly on
+leaves, and possesses a very voluminous stomach and long
+convoluted intestines. The brain is very small, and the animal
+possesses such remarkable tenacity of life, that it is
+exceedingly difficult to kill it by any ordinary means. The tail
+is prehensile; and is probably made use of as an additional
+support while feeding. It is said to have only a single young one
+at a time, and my own observation confirms this statement, for I
+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 in a hole in a 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 leaning 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 anyone
+who would go up and get the bird out, with the egg or young one;
+but they all declared it was too difficult, and they were afraid
+to try. I therefore very reluctantly came away. 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 until 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."
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+NATURAL HISTORY OF THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS.
+
+IN the first chapter of this work I have stated generally the
+reasons which lead us to conclude that the large islands 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 of the Natural History of these, which I term the
+Indo-Malay islands, and to show how far it supports this view,
+and how much 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 Himalayas, 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, Aracae, Zingiberaceae
+and ferns, are especially abundant, and the genus Grammatophyllum--
+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 (Nepenthaceae), 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 connexion with the continent of
+Asia; and a still more extraordinary and more ancient connection
+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 carried by the
+winds, and many of them are specially adapted to be so carried.
+Others can float a long tune 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
+lowlands 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 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 connection of that island with the Asiatic
+continent. With land animals, however, the case is very
+different. Their means of passing a wide expanse of sea are far
+more restricted. Their distribution 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 distinct
+species are known to inhabit it, and these are distributed 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 Orangutans are found only in Sumatra
+and Borneo; the curious Siamang (next to 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 monkeys. The lemur-like animals, Nycticebus, Tarsius, and
+Galeopithecus, are found on 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 Burma, and one into North India. With the
+exception of the Orangutan, the Siamang, the Tarsius spectrum,
+and the Galeopithecus, all the Malayan genera of Quadrumana are
+represented in India by closely allied species, although, 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 Burma 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 example, the Malayan bear is represented in North
+India by the Tibetan bear, both of which may be seen alive at the
+Zoological Society's Gardens.
+
+The hoofed animals are twenty-two in number, of which about seven
+extend into Burmahand 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 sondiacus
+of Java and Borneo is also found in Siam and Burma. 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 Burma, 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.
+A few species are identical with those of India. A much larger
+number are closely allied or representative forms, while there
+are always a small number of peculiar genera, consisting of
+animals unlike those found in any other part of the world. There
+are about fifty bats, of which less than one-fourth are Indian
+species; thirty-four Rodents (squirrels, rats, &c.), of which six
+or eight only are Indian; and ten Insectivora, with one exception
+peculiar to the Malay region. The squirrels are very abundant
+and characteristic, only two species out of twenty-five extending
+into Siam and Burma. The Tupaias are curious insect-eaters,
+which closely resemble squirrels, and are almost confined to the
+Malay islands, as,are the small feather-tailed Ptilocerus lowii
+of Borneo, and the curious long-snouted and naked-tailed Gymnurus
+rafllesii.
+
+As the Malay peninsula is a part of the continent of Asia, the
+question of the former union of the islands to the mainland will
+be best elucidated by studying the species which are found in the
+former district, and also in some of the islands. Now, if we
+entirely leave out of consideration the bats, which have the
+power of flight, there are still forty-eight species of mammals
+common to the Malay peninsula and the three large islands. Among
+these are seven Quadrumana (apes, monkeys, and lemurs), animals
+who pass their whole existence in forests, who never swim, and
+who would be quite unable to traverse a single mile of sea;
+nineteen Carnivora, some of which no doubt might cross by
+swimming, but we cannot suppose so large a number to have passed
+in this way across a strait which, except at one point, is from
+thirty to fifty miles wide; and five hoofed animals, including
+the Tapir, two species of rhinoceros, and an elephant. Besides
+these there are thirteen Rodents and four Insectivora, including
+a shrew-mouse and six squirrels, whose unaided passage over
+twenty miles of sea is even more inconceivable than that of the
+larger animals.
+
+But when we come to the cases of the same species inhabiting two
+of the more widely separated islands, the difficulty is much
+increased. Borneo is distant nearly 150 miles from Biliton, which
+is about fifty miles from Banca, and this fifteen from Sumatra,
+yet there are no less than thirty-six species of mammals common
+to Borneo and Sumatra. Java again is more than 250 miles from
+Borneo, yet these two islands have twenty-two species in common,
+including monkeys, lemurs, wild oxen, squirrels and shrews. These
+facts seem to render it absolutely certain that there has been at
+some former period a connection between all these islands and the
+mainland, and the fact that most of the animals common to two or
+more of then, show little or no variation, but are often absolutely
+identical, indicates that the separation must have been recent in
+a geological sense; that is, not earlier than the Newer Pliocene
+epoch, at which time land animals began to assimilate closely with
+those now existing.
+
+Even the bats furnish an additional argument, if one were needed,
+to show that the islands could not have been peopled from each
+other and from the continent without some former connection. For
+if such had been the mode of stocking them with animals, it is
+quite certain that creatures which can fly long distances would
+be the first to spread from island to island, and thus produce an
+almost perfect uniformity of species over the whole region. But
+no such uniformity exists, and the bats of each island are
+almost, if not quite, as distinct as the other mammals. For
+example, sixteen species are known in Borneo, and of these ten
+are found in Java and five in Sumatra, a proportion about the
+same as that of the Rodents, which have no direct means of
+migration. We learn from this fact, that the seas which separate
+the islands from each other are wide enough to prevent the
+passage even of flying animals, and that we must look to the same
+causes as having led to the present distribution of both groups.
+The only sufficient cause we can imagine is the former connection
+of all the islands with the continent, and such a change is in
+perfect harmony with what we know of the earth's past history,
+and is rendered probable by the remarkable fact that a rise of
+only three hundred feet would convert the wide seas that separate
+them into an immense winding valley or plain about three hundred
+miles wide and twelve hundred long. It may, perhaps, be thought
+that birds which possess the power of flight in so pre-eminent a
+degree, would not be limited in their range by arms of the sea,
+and would thus afford few indications of the former union or
+separation of the islands they inhabit. This, however, is not the
+case. A very large number of birds appear to be as strictly
+limited by watery barriers as are quadrupeds; and as they have
+been so much more attentively collected, we have more complete
+materials to work upon, and are able to deduce from them still
+more definite and satisfactory results. Some groups, however,
+such as the aquatic birds, the waders, and the birds of prey, are
+great wanderers; other groups are little known except to
+ornithologists. I shall therefore refer chiefly to a few of the
+best known and most remarkable families of birds as a sample of
+the conclusions furnished by the entire class.
+
+The birds of the Indo-Malay region have a close resemblance to
+those of India; for though a very large proportion of the species
+are quite distinct, there are only about fifteen peculiar genera,
+and not a single family group confined to the former district.
+If, however, we compare the islands with the Burmese, Siamese,
+and Malayan countries, we shall find still less difference, and
+shall be convinced that all are closely united by the bond of a
+former union. In such well-known families as the woodpeckers,
+parrots, trogons, barbets, kingfishers, pigeons, and pheasants,
+we find some identical species spreading over all India, and as
+far as Java and Borneo, while a very large proportion are common
+to Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.
+
+The force of these facts can only be appreciated when we come to
+treat the islands of the Austro-Malay region, and show how
+similar barriers have entirely prevented the passage of birds
+from one island to another, so that out of at least three hundred
+and fifty land birds inhabiting Java and Borneo, not more than
+ten have passed eastward into Celebes. Yet the Straits of
+Macassar are not nearly so wide as the Java sea, and at least a
+hundred species are common to Borneo and Java.
+
+I will now give two examples to show how a knowledge of the
+distribution of animals may reveal unsuspected facts in the past
+history of the earth. At the eastern extremity of Sumatra, and
+separated from it by a strait about fifteen miles wide, is the
+small rocky island of Banca, celebrated for its tin mines. One of
+the Dutch residents there sent some collections of birds and
+animals to Leyden, and among them were found several species
+distinct from those of the adjacent coast of Sumatra. One of
+these was a squirrel (Sciurus bangkanus), closely allied to three
+other species inhabiting respectively the Malay peninsula,
+Sumatra, and Borneo, but quite as distinct from them all as they
+are from each other. There were also two new ground thrushes of
+the genus Pitta, closely allied to, but quite distinct from, two
+other species inhabiting both Sumatra and Borneo, and which did
+not perceptibly differ in these large and widely separated
+islands. This is just as if the Isle of Man possessed a peculiar
+species of thrush and blackbird, distinct from the birds which
+are common to England and Ireland.
+
+These curious facts would indicate that Banca may have existed as
+a distinct island even longer than Sumatra and Borneo, and there
+are some geological and geographical facts which render this not
+so improbable as it would at first seem to be. Although on the
+map Banca appears so close to Sumatra, this does not arise from
+its having been recently separated from it; for the adjacent
+district of Palembang is new land, being a great alluvial swamp
+formed by torrents from the mountains a hundred miles distant.
+
+Banca, on the other hand, agrees with Malacca, Singapore, and the
+intervening island of Lingen, in being formed of granite and
+laterite; and these have all most likely once formed an extension
+of the Malay peninsula. As the rivers of Borneo and Sumatra have
+been for ages filling up the intervening sea, we may be sure that
+its depth has recently been greater, and it is very probable that
+those large islands were never directly connected with each other
+except through the Malay peninsula. At that period the same
+species of squirrel and Pitta may have inhabited all these
+countries; but when the subterranean disturbances occurred which
+led to the elevation of the volcanoes of Sumatra, the small
+island of Banca may have been separated first, and its
+productions being thus isolated might be gradually modified
+before the separation of the larger islands had been completed.
+
+As the southern part of Sumatra extended eastward and formed the
+narrow straits of Banca, many birds and insects and some Mammalia
+would cross from one to the other, and thus produce a general
+similarity of productions, while a few of the older inhabitants
+remained, to reveal by their distinct forms, their different
+origin. Unless we suppose some such changes in physical geography
+to have occurred, the presence of peculiar species of birds and
+mammals in such an island as Banca is a hopeless puzzle; and I
+think I have shown that the changes required are by no means so
+improbable as a mere glance at the map would lead us to suppose.
+
+For our next example let us take the great islands of Sumatra and
+Java. These approach so closely together, and the chain of
+volcanoes that runs through them gives such an air of unity to
+the two, that the idea of their having been recently dissevered
+is immediately suggested. The natives of Java, however, go
+further than this; for they actually have a tradition of the
+catastrophe which broke them asunder, and fix its date at not
+much more than a thousand years ago. It becomes interesting,
+therefore, to see what support is given to this view by the
+comparison of their animal productions.
+
+The Mammalia have not been collected with sufficient completeness
+in both islands to make a general comparison of much value, and
+so many species have been obtained only as live specimens in
+captivity, that their locality has often been erroneously given,
+the island in which they were obtained being substituted for that
+from which they originally came. Taking into consideration only
+those whose distribution is more accurately known, we learn that
+Sumatra is, in a zoological sense, more neatly related to Borneo
+than it is to Java. The great man-like apes, the elephant, the
+tapir, and the Malay bear, are all common to the two former
+countries, while they are absent from the latter. Of the three
+long-tailed monkeys (Semnopithecus) inhabiting Sumatra, one
+extends into Borneo, but the two species of Java are both
+peculiar to it. So also the great Malay deer (Rusa equina), and
+the small Tragulus kanchil, are common to Sumatra and Borneo, but
+do not extend into Java, where they are replaced by Tragulas
+javanicus. The tiger, it is true, is found in Sumatra and Java,
+but not in Borneo. But as this animal is known to swim well, it
+may have found its way across the Straits of Sunda, or it may
+have inhabited Java before it was separated from the mainland,
+and from some unknown cause have ceased to exist in Borneo.
+
+In Ornithology there is a little uncertainty owing to the birds
+of Java and Sumatra being much better known than those of Borneo;
+but the ancient separation of Java as an island is well
+exhibited by the large number of its species which are not found
+in any of the other islands. It possesses no less than seven
+pigeons peculiar to itself, while Sumatra has only one. Of its
+two parrots one extends into Borneo, but neither into Sumatra. Of
+the fifteen species of woodpeckers inhabiting Sumatra only four
+reach Java, while eight of them are found in Borneo and twelve in
+the Malay peninsula. The two Trogons found in Java are peculiar
+to it, while of those inhabiting Sumatra at least two extend to
+Malacca and one to Borneo. There are a very large number of
+birds, such as the great Argus pheasant, the fire-backed and
+ocellated pheasants, the crested partridge (Rollulus coronatus),
+the small Malacca parrot (Psittinus incertus), the great helmeted
+hornbill (Buceroturus galeatus), the pheasant ground-cuckoo
+(Carpococcyx radiatus), the rose-crested bee-eater (Nyctiornis
+amicta), the great gaper (Corydon sumatranus), and the green-
+crested gaper (Calyptomena viridis), and many others, which are
+common to Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo, but are entirely absent
+from Java. On the other hand we have the peacock, the green
+jungle cock, two blue ground thrushes (Arrenga cyanea and
+Myophonus flavirostris), the fine pink-headed dove (Ptilonopus
+porphyreus), three broad-tailed ground pigeons (Macropygia), and
+many other interesting birds, which are found nowhere in the
+Archipelago out of Java.
+
+Insects furnish us with similar facts wherever sufficient data
+are to be had, but owing to the abundant collections that have
+been made in Java, an unfair preponderance may be given to that
+island. This does not, however, seem to be the case with the true
+Papilionidae or swallow-tailed butterflies, whose large size and
+gorgeous colouring has led to their being collected more frequently
+than other insects. Twenty-seven species are known from Java,
+twenty-nine from Borneo, and only twenty-one from Sumatra. Four are
+entirely confined to Java, while only two are peculiar to Borneo and
+one to Sumatra. The isolation of Java will, however, be best shown by
+grouping the islands in pairs, and indicating the number of species
+common to each pair. Thus:--
+
+
+Borneo  . .  .  . . 29 species
+Sumatra . .  .  . . 21  do.    20 species common to both islands.
+
+Borneo  . .  .  . . 29  do.  
+Java .  . .  .  . . 27  do.    20    do.    do.
+
+Sumatra . .  .  . . 21  do.
+Java .  . .  .  . . 27  do.    11    do.    do.
+
+Making some allowance for our imperfect knowledge of the Sumatran
+species, we see that Java is more isolated from the two larger
+islands than they are from each other, thus entirely confirming
+the results given by the distribution of birds and Mammalia, and
+rendering it almost certain that the last-named island was the
+first to be completely separated from the Asiatic continent, and
+that the native tradition of its having been recently separated
+from Sumatra is entirely without foundation.
+
+We are now able to trace out with some probability the course
+of events. Beginning at the time when the whole of the Java sea,
+the Gulf of Siam, and the Straits of Malacca were dry land,
+forming with Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, a vast southern
+prolongation of the Asiatic continent, the first movement would
+be the sinking down of the Java sea, and the Straits of Sunda,
+consequent on the activity of the Javanese volcanoes along the
+southern extremity of the land, and leading to the complete
+separation of that island. As the volcanic belt of Java and
+Sumatra increased in activity, more and more of the land was
+submerged, until first Borneo, and afterwards Sumatra, became
+entirely severed. Since the epoch of the first disturbance,
+several distinct elevations and depressions may have taken place,
+and the islands may have been more than once joined with each
+other or with the main land, and again separated. Successive
+waves of immigration may thus have modified their animal
+productions, and led to those anomalies in distribution which are
+so difficult to account for by any single operation of elevation
+or submergence. The form of Borneo, consisting of radiating
+mountain chains with intervening broad alluvial valleys, suggests
+the idea that it has once been much more submerged than it is at
+present (when it would have somewhat resembled Celebes or Gilolo
+in outline), and has been increased to its present dimensions by
+the filling up of its gulfs with sedimentary matter, assisted by
+gradual elevation of the land. Sumatra has also been evidently
+much increased in size by the formation of alluvial plains along
+its northeastern coasts.
+
+There is one peculiarity in the productions of Java that is very
+puzzling:--the occurrence of several species or groups
+characteristic of the Siamese countries or of India, but which do
+not occur in Borneo or Sumatra. Among Mammals the Rhinoceros
+javanicus is the most striking example, for a distinct species
+is found in Borneo and Sumatra, while the Javanese species occurs
+in Burma and even in Bengal. Among birds, the small ground-dove,
+Geopelia striata, and the curious bronze-coloured magpie,
+Crypsirhina varians, are common to Java and Siam; while there are
+in Java species of Pteruthius, Arrenga, Myiophonus, Zoothera,
+Sturnopastor, and Estrelda, the near allies of which are found in
+various parts of India, while nothing like them is known to
+inhabit Borneo or Sumatra.
+
+Such a curious phenomenon as this can only be understood by
+supposing that, subsequent to the separation of Java, Borneo
+became almost entirely submerged, and on its re-elevation was for
+a time connected with the Malay peninsula and Sumatra, but not
+with Java or Siam. Any geologist who knows how strata have been
+contorted and tilted up, and how elevations and depressions must
+often have occurred alternately, not once or twice only, but
+scores and even hundreds of times, will have no difficulty in
+admitting that such changes as have been here indicated, are not
+in themselves improbable. The existence of extensive coal-beds in
+Borneo and Sumatra, of such recent origin that the leaves which
+abound in their shales are scarcely distinguishable from those of
+the forests which now cover the country, proves that such changes
+of level actually did take place; and it is a matter of much
+interest, both to the geologist and to the philosophic
+naturalist, to be able to form some conception of the order of
+those changes, and to understand how they may have resulted in
+the actual distribution of animal life in these countries; a
+distribution which often presents phenomena so strange and
+contradictory, that without taking such changes into
+consideration we are unable even to imagine how they could have
+been brought about.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+BALI AND LOMBOCK.
+
+(JUNE, JULY, 1856.)
+
+THE islands of Bali and Lombock, situated at the eastern end of
+Java, are particularly interesting. They are the only islands of
+the whole Archipelago in which the Hindu religion still
+maintains itself--and they form the extreme points of the two
+great zoological divisions of the Eastern hemisphere; for
+although so similar in external appearance and in all physical
+features, they differ greatly in their natural productions. It
+was after having spent two years in Borneo, Malacca and
+Singapore, that I made a somewhat involuntary visit to these
+islands on my way to Macassar. Had I been able to obtain a
+passage direct to that place from Singapore, I should probably
+never have gone near them, and should have missed some of the
+most important discoveries of my whole expedition the East.
+
+It was on the 13th of June, 1856, after a twenty days' passage
+from Singapore in the "Kembang Djepoon" (Rose of Japan), a
+schooner belonging to a Chinese merchant, manned by a Javanese
+crew, and commanded by an English captain, that we cast anchor in
+the dangerous roadstead of Bileling on the north side of the
+island of Bali. Going on shore with the captain and the Chinese
+supercargo, I was at once introduced to a novel and interesting
+scene. We went first to the house of the Chinese Bandar, or chief
+merchant, where we found a number of natives, well dressed, and
+all conspicuously armed with krisses, displaying their large
+handles of ivory or gold, or beautifully grained and polished wood.
+
+The Chinamen had given up their national costume and adopted the
+Malay dress, and could then hardly be distinguished from the
+natives of the island--an indication of the close affinity of the
+Malayan and Mongolian races. Under the thick shade of some mango-
+trees close by the house, several women-merchants were selling
+cotton goods; for here the women trade and work for the benefit
+of their husbands, a custom which Mahometan Malays never adopt.
+Fruit, tea, cakes, and sweetmeats were brought to us; many questions
+were asked about our business and the state of trade in
+Singapore, and we then took a walk to look at the village. It was
+a very dull and dreary place; a collection of narrow lanes
+bounded by high mud walls, enclosing bamboo houses, into some of
+which we entered and were very kindly received.
+
+During the two days that we remained here, I walked out into the
+surrounding country to catch insects, shoot birds, and spy out
+the nakedness or fertility of the land. I was both astonished and
+delighted; for as my visit to Java was some years later, I had
+never beheld so beautiful and well cultivated a district out of
+Europe. A slightly undulating plain extends from the seacoast
+about ten or twelve miles inland, where it is bounded by a wide
+range of wooded and cultivated hills. Houses and villages, marked
+out by dense clumps of cocoa-nut palms, tamarind and other fruit
+trees, are dotted about in every direction; while between then
+extend luxuriant rice-grounds, watered by an elaborate system of
+irrigation that would be the pride of the best cultivated parts
+of Europe. The whole surface of the country is divided into
+irregular patches, following the undulations of the ground, from
+many acres to a few perches in extent, each of which is itself
+perfectly level, but stands a few inches or several feet above or
+below those adjacent to it. Every one of these patches can be
+flooded or drained at will by means of a system of ditches and
+small channels, into which are diverted the whole of the streams
+that descend from the mountains. Every patch now bore crops in
+various stages of growth, some almost ready for cutting, and all
+in the most flourishing condition and of the most exquisite green
+tints.
+
+The sides of the lanes and bridle roads were often edged with
+prickly Cacti and a leafless Euphorbia, but the country being so
+highly cultivated there was not much room for indigenous
+vegetation, except upon the sea-beach. We saw plenty of the fine
+race of domestic cattle descended from the Bos banteng of Java,
+driven by half naked boys, or tethered in pasture-grounds. They
+are large and handsome animals, of a light brown colour, with
+white legs, and a conspicuous oval patch behind of the same
+colour. Wild cattle of the same race are said to be still found
+in the mountains. In so well-cultivated a country it was not to
+be expected that I could do much in natural history, and my
+ignorance of how important a locality this was for the
+elucidation of the geographical distribution of animals, caused
+me to neglect obtaining some specimens which I never met with
+again. One of these was a weaver bird with a bright yellow head,
+which built its bottle-shaped nests by dozens on some trees near
+the beach. It was the Ploceus hypoxantha, a native of Java; and
+here, at the extreme limits of its range westerly, I shot and
+preserved specimens of a wagtail-thrush, an oriole, and some
+starlings, all species found in Java, and some of them peculiar
+to that island. I also obtained some beautiful butterflies,
+richly marked with black and orange on a white ground, and which
+were the most abundant insects in the country lanes. Among these
+was a new species, which I have named Pieris tamar.
+
+Leaving Bileling, a pleasant sail of two days brought us to
+Ampanam in the island of Lombock, where I proposed to remain till
+I could obtain a passage to Macassar. We enjoyed superb views of
+the twin volcanoes of Bali and Lombock, each about eight thousand
+feet high, which form magnificent objects at sunrise and sunset,
+when they rise out of the mists and clouds that surround their
+bases, glowing with the rich and changing tints of these the most
+charming moments in a tropical day.
+
+The bay or roadstead of Ampanam is extensive, and being at this
+season sheltered from the prevalent southeasterly winds, was as
+smooth as a lake. The beach of black volcanic sand is very steep,
+and there is at all times, a heavy surf upon it, which during
+spring-tides increases to such an extent that it is often
+impossible for boats to land, and many serious accidents have
+occurred. Where we lay anchored, about a quarter of a mile from
+the shore, not the slightest swell was perceptible, but on
+approaching nearer undulations began, which rapidly increased, so
+as to form rollers which toppled over onto the beach at regular
+intervals with a noise like thunder. Sometimes this surf
+increases suddenly during perfect calms to as great a force and
+fury as when a gale of wind is blowing, beating to pieces all
+boats that may not have been hauled sufficiently high upon the
+beach, and carrying away uncautious natives. This violent surf is
+probably in some way dependent upon the swell of the great
+southern ocean and the violent currents that flow through the
+Straits of Lombock. These are so uncertain that vessels preparing
+to anchor in the bay are sometimes suddenly swept away into the
+straits, and are not able to get back again for a fortnight.
+
+What seamen call the "ripples" are also very violent in the
+straits, the sea appearing to boil and foam and dance like the
+rapids below a cataract; vessels are swept about helplessly, and
+small ones are occasionally swamped in the finest weather and
+under the brightest skies.
+
+I felt considerably relieved when all my boxes and myself had
+passed in safety through the devouring surf, which the natives
+look upon with some pride, saying, that "their sea is always
+hungry, and eats up everything it can catch." I was kindly
+received by Mr. Carter, an Englishman, who is one of the Bandars
+or licensed traders of the port, who offered me hospitality and
+every assistance during my stay. His house, storehouses, and
+offices were in a yard surrounded by a tall bamboo fence, and
+were entirely constructed of bamboo with a thatch of grass, the
+only available building materials. Even these were now very
+scarce, owing to the great consumption in rebuilding the place
+since the great fire some months before, which in an hour or two
+had destroyed every building in the town.
+
+The next day I went to see Mr. S., another merchant to whom I had
+brought letters of introduction, and who lived about seven miles
+off. Mr. Carter kindly lent me a horse, and I was accompanied by
+a young Dutch gentleman residing at Ampanam, who offered to be my
+guide. We first passed through the town and suburbs along a
+straight road bordered by mud walls and a fine avenue of lofty
+trees; then through rice-fields, irrigated in the same manner as
+I had seen them at Bileling; and afterwards over sandy pastures
+near the sea, and occasionally along the beach itself. Mr. S.
+received us kindly, and offered me a residence at his house
+should I think the neighbourhood favourable for my pursuits.
+After an early breakfast we went out to explore, taking guns and
+insect nets. We reached some low hills which seemed to offer the
+most favourable ground, passing over swamps, sandy flats
+overgrown with coarse sedges, and through pastures and cultivated
+grounds, finding however very little in the way of either birds
+or insects. On our way we passed one or two human skeletons,
+enclosed within a small bamboo fence, with the clothes, pillow,
+mat, and betel-box of the unfortunate individual, who had been
+either murdered or executed. Returning to the house, we found a
+Balinese chief and his followers on a visit. Those of higher rank
+sat on chairs, the others squatted on the floor. The chief very
+coolly asked for beer and brandy, and helped himself and his
+followers, apparently more out of curiosity than anything else as
+regards the beer, for it seemed very distasteful to them, while
+they drank the brandy in tumblers with much relish.
+
+Returning to Ampanam, I devoted myself for some days to shooting
+the birds of the neighbourhood. The fine fig-trees of the
+avenues, where a market was held, were tenanted by superb orioles
+(Oriolus broderpii) of a rich orange colour, and peculiar to this
+island and the adjacent ones of Sumbawa and Flores. All round the
+town were abundance of the curious Tropidorhynchus timoriensis,
+allied to the Friar bird of Australia. They are here called
+"Quaich-quaich," from their strange loud voice, which seems to
+repeat these words in various and not unmelodious intonations.
+
+Every day boys were to be seen walking along the roads and by the
+hedges and ditches, catching dragonflies with birdlime. They
+carry a slender stick, with a few twigs at the end well annointed,
+so that the least touch captures the insect, whose wings are
+pulled off before it is consigned to a small basket. The dragon-
+flies are so abundant at the time of the rice flowering that
+thousands are soon caught in this way. The bodies are fried in
+oil with onions and preserved shrimps, or sometimes alone, and
+are considered a great delicacy. In Borneo, Celebes, and many
+other islands, the larvae of bees and wasps are eaten, either
+alive as pulled out of the cells, or fried like the dragonflies.
+In the Moluccas the grubs of the palm-beetles (Calandra) are
+regularly brought to market in bamboos and sold for food; and
+many of the great horned Lamellicorn beetles are slightly roasted
+on the embers and eaten whenever met with. The superabundance of
+insect life is therefore turned to some account by these
+islanders.
+
+Finding that birds were not very numerous, and hearing much of
+Labuan Tring at the southern extremity of the bay, where there
+was said to be much uncultivated country and plenty of birds as
+well as deer and wild pigs, I determined to go there with my two
+servants, Ali, the Malay lad from Borneo, and Manuel, a Portuguese
+of Malacca accustomed to bird-skinning. I hired a native boat with
+outriggers to take us with our small quantity of luggage, on a day's
+rowing and tracking along the shore brought us to the place.
+
+I had a note of introduction to an Amboynese Malay, and obtained
+the use of part of his house to live and work in. His name was
+"Inchi Daud" (Mr. David), and he was very civil; but his
+accommodations were limited, and he could only hire me part of
+his reception-room. This was the front part of a bamboo house
+(reached by a ladder of about six rounds very wide apart), and
+having a beautiful view over the bay. However, I soon made what
+arrangements were possible, and then set to work. The country
+around was pretty and novel to me, consisting of abrupt volcanic
+hills enclosing flat valleys or open plains. The hills were
+covered with a dense scrubby bush of bamboos and prickly trees
+and shrubs, the plains were adorned with hundreds of noble palm-
+trees, and in many places with a luxuriant shrubby vegetation.
+Birds were plentiful and very interesting, and I now saw for the
+first time many Australian forms that are quite absent from the
+islands westward. Small white cockatoos were abundant, and their
+loud screams, conspicuous white colour, and pretty yellow crests,
+rendered them a very important feature in the landscape. This is
+the most westerly point on the globe where any of the family are
+to be found. Some small honeysuckers of the genus Ptilotis, and
+the strange moundmaker (Megapodius gouldii), are also here first
+met with on the traveller's journey eastward. The last mentioned
+bird requires a fuller notice.
+
+The Megapodidae are a small family of birds found only in
+Australia and the surrounding islands, but extending as far as
+the Philippines and Northwest Borneo. They are allied to the
+gallinaceous birds, but differ from these and from all others in
+never sitting upon their eggs, which they bury in sand, earth, or
+rubbish, and leave to be hatched by the heat of the sun or by
+fermentation. They are all characterised by very large feet and
+long curved claws, and most of the species of Megapodius rake and
+scratch together all kinds of rubbish, dead leaves, sticks,
+stones, earth, rotten wood, etc., until they form a large mound,
+often six feet high and twelve feet across, in the middle of
+which they bury their eggs. The natives can tell by the condition
+of these mounds whether they contain eggs or not; and they rob
+them whenever they can, as the brick-red eggs (as large as those
+of a swan) are considered a great delicacy. A number of birds are
+said to join in making these mounds and lay their eggs together,
+so that sometimes forty or fifty may be found. The mounds are to
+be met with here and there in dense thickets, and are great
+puzzles to strangers, who cannot understand who can possibly have
+heaped together cartloads of rubbish in such out-of-the-way
+places; and when they inquire of the natives they are but little
+wiser, for it almost always appears to them the wildest romance
+to be told that it is all done by birds. The species found in
+Lombock is about the size of a small hen, and entirely of dark
+olive and brown tints. It is a miscellaneous feeder, devouring
+fallen fruits, earthworms, snails, and centipedes, but the flesh
+is white and well-flavoured when properly cooked.
+
+The large green pigeons were still better eating, and were much
+more plentiful. These fine birds, exceeding our largest tame
+pigeons in size, abounded on the palm-trees, which now bore huge
+bunches of fruits--mere hard globular nuts, about an inch in
+diameter, and covered with a dry green skin and a very small
+portion of pulp. Looking at the pigeon's bill and head, it would
+seem impossible that it could swallow such large masses, or that
+it could obtain any nourishment from them; yet I often shot these
+birds with several palm-fruits in the crop, which generally burst
+when they fell to the ground. I obtained here eight species of
+Kingfishers; among which was a very beautiful new one, named by
+Mr. Gould, Halcyon fulgidus. It was found always in thickets,
+away from water, and seemed to feed on snails and insects picked
+up from the ground after the manner of the great Laughing Jackass
+of Australia. The beautiful little violet and orange species
+(Ceyx rufidorsa) is found in similar situations, and darts
+rapidly along like a flame of fire. Here also I first met with
+the pretty Australian Bee-eater (Merops ornatus). This elegant
+little bird sits on twigs in open places, gazing eagerly around,
+and darting off at intervals to seize some insect which it sees
+flying near; returning afterwards to the same twig to swallow it.
+Its long, sharp, curved bill, the two long narrow feathers in its
+tail, its beautiful green plumage varied with rich brown and
+black and vivid blue on the throat, render it one of the most
+graceful and interesting objects a naturalist can see for the
+first time.
+
+Of all the birds of Lombock, however, I sought most after the
+beautiful ground thrushes (Pitta concinna), and always thought
+myself lucky if I obtained one. They were found only in the dry
+plains densely covered with thickets, and carpeted at this season
+with dead leaves. They were so shy that it was very difficult to
+get a shot at them, and it was only after a good deal of practice
+that I discovered low to do it. The habit of these birds is to
+hop about on the ground, picking up insects, and on the least
+alarm to run into the densest thicket or take a flight close to
+the ground. At intervals they utter a peculiar cry of two notes
+which when once heard is easily recognised, and they can also be
+heard hopping along among the dry leaves.
+
+My practice was, therefore, to walk cautiously along the narrow
+pathways with which the country abounded, and on detecting any sign
+of a Pitta's vicinity to stand motionless and give a gentle whistle
+occasionally, imitating the notes as near as possible. After half
+an hour's waiting I was often rewarded by seeing the pretty bird
+hopping along in the thicket. Then I would perhaps lose sight of
+it again, until leaving my gun raised and ready for a shot, a
+second glimpse would enable me to secure my prize, and admire its
+soft puffy plumage and lovely colours. The upper part is rich
+soft green, the head jet black with a stripe of blue and brown
+over each eye; at the base of the tail and on the shoulders are
+bands of bright silvery blue; the under side is delicate buff
+with a stripe of rich crimson, bordered with black on the belly.
+Beautiful grass-green doves, little crimson and black flower-
+peckers, large black cuckoos, metallic king-crows, golden
+orioles, and the fine jungle-cocks--the origin of all our
+domestic breeds of poultry--were among the birds that chiefly
+attracted my attention during our stay at Labuan Tring.
+
+The most characteristic feature of the jungle was its thorniness.
+The shrubs were thorny; the creepers were thorny; the bamboos
+even were thorny. Everything grew zigzag and jagged, and in an
+inextricable tangle, so that to get through the bush with gun or
+net or even spectacles, was generally not to be done, and insect-
+catching in such localities was out of the question. It was in
+such places that the Pittas often lurked, and when shot it became
+a matter of some difficulty to secure the bird, and seldom
+without a heavy payment of pricks and scratches and torn clothes
+could the prize be won. The dry volcanic soil and arid climate
+seem favourable to the production of such stunted and thorny
+vegetation, for the natives assured me that this was nothing to
+the thorns and prickles of Sumbawa whose surface still bears the
+covering of volcanic ashes thrown out forty years ago by the
+terrible eruption of Tomboro.
+
+Among the shrubs and trees that are not prickly the Apocynaceae
+were most abundant, their bilobed fruits of varied form and colour
+and often of most tempting appearance, hanging everywhere by the
+waysides as if to invite to destruction the weary traveller who may
+be unaware of their poisonous properties. One in particular with a
+smooth shining skin of a golden orange colour rivals in appearance
+the golden apples of the Hesperides, and has great attractions for
+many birds, from the white cockatoos to the little yellow Zosterops,
+who feast on the crimson seeds which are displayed when the fruit
+bursts open. The great palm called "Gubbong" by the natives, a
+species of Corypha, is the most striking feature of the plains,
+where it grows by thousands and appears in three different
+states--in leaf, in flower and fruit, or dead. It has a lofty
+cylindrical stem about a hundred feet high and two to three feet
+in diameter; the leaves are large and fan-shaped, and fall off
+when the tree flowers, which it does only once in its life in a
+huge terminal spike, upon which are produced masses of a smooth
+round fruit of a green colour rind about an inch in diameter.
+When those ripen and fall the tree dies, and remains standing a
+year or two before it falls. Trees in leaf only are by far the
+most numerous, then those in flower and fruit, while dead trees
+are scattered here and there among them. The trees in fruit are
+the resort of the great green fruit pigeons, which have been
+already mentioned. Troops of monkeys (Macacus cynoraolgus) may
+often be seen occupying a tree, showering down the fruit in great
+profusion, chattering when disturbed and making an enormous
+rustling as they scamper off among the dead palm leaves; while
+the pigeons have a loud booming voice more like the roar of a
+wild beast than the note of a bird.
+
+My collecting operations here were carried on under more than
+usual difficulties. One small room had to serve for eating,
+sleeping and working,and one for storehouse and dissecting-room;
+in it were no shelves, cupboards, chairs or tables; ants swarmed in
+every part of it, and dogs, cats and fowls entered it at pleasure.
+Besides this it was the parlour and reception-room of my host, and
+I was obliged to consult his convenience and that of the numerous
+guests who visited us. My principal piece of furniture was a box,
+which served me as a dining table, a seat while skinning birds,
+and as the receptacle of the birds when skinned and dried.
+To keep them free from ants we borrowed, with somedifficulty, an old
+bench, the four legs of which being placed in cocoa-nut shells filled
+with water kept us tolerably free from these pests. The box and the
+bench were, however, literally the only places where anything could
+be put away, and they were generally well occupied by two insect boxes
+and about a hundred birds' skins in process of drying. It may therefore
+be easily conceived that when anything bulky or out of the common way was
+collected, the question "Where is it to be put?" was rather a
+difficult one to answer. All animal substances moreover require
+some time to dry thoroughly, emit a very disagreeable odour while
+doing so, and are particularly attractive to ants, flies, dogs,
+rats, cats, and other vermin, calling for special cautions and
+constant supervision, which under the circumstances above
+described were impossible.
+
+My readers may now partially understand why a travelling
+naturalist of limited means, like myself, does so much less than
+is expected or than he would himself wish to do. It would be
+interesting to preserve skeletons of many birds and animals,
+reptiles and fishes in spirits, skins of the larger animals,
+remarkable fruits and woods and the most curious articles of
+manufacture and commerce; but it will be seen that under the
+circumstances I have just described, it would have been impossible
+to add these to the collections which were my own more especial
+favourites. When travelling by boat the difficulties are as great
+or greater, and they are not diminished when the journey is by
+land. It was absolutely necessary therefore to limit my
+collections to certain groups to which I could devote constant
+personal attention, and thus secure from destruction or decay
+what had been often obtained by much labour and pains.
+
+While Manuel sat skinning his birds of an afternoon, generally
+surrounded by a little crowd of Malays and Sassaks (as the
+indigenes of Lombock are termed), he often held forth to them
+with the air of a teacher, and was listened to with profound
+attention. He was very fond of discoursing on the "special
+providences" of which he believed he was daily the subject.
+"Allah has been merciful today," he would say--for although a
+Christian he adopted the Mahometan mode of speech- "and has given
+us some very fine birds; we can do nothing without him." Then one
+of the Malays would reply, "To be sure, birds are like mankind;
+they have their appointed time to die; when that time comes
+nothing can save them, and if it has not come you cannot kill
+them." A murmur of assent follow, until sentiments and cries of
+"Butul! Butul!" (Right, right.) Then Manuel would tell a long
+story of one of his unsuccessful hunts--how he saw some fine
+bird and followed it a long way, and then missed it, and again
+found it, and shot two or three times at it, but could never hit
+it, "Ah!" says an old Malay, "its time was not come, and so it
+was impossible for you to kill it." A doctrine is this which is
+very consoling to the bad marksman, and which quite accounts for
+the facts, but which is yet somehow not altogether satisfactory.
+
+It is universally believed in Lombock that some men have the
+power to turn themselves into crocodiles, which they do for the
+sake of devouring their enemies, and many strange tales are told
+of such transformations. I was therefore rather surprised one
+evening to hear the following curious fact stated, and as it was
+not contradicted by any of the persons present, I am inclined to
+accept it provisionally as a contribution to the Natural History
+of the island. A Bornean Malay who had been for many years
+resident here said to Manuel, "One thing is strange in this
+country--the scarcity of ghosts." "How so? "asked Manuel. "Why,
+you know," said the Malay, "that in our countries to the
+westward, if a man dies or is killed, we dare not pass near the
+place at night, for all sorts of noises are heard which show that
+ghosts are about. But here there are numbers of men killed, and
+their bodies lie unburied in the fields and by the roadside, and
+yet you can walk by them at night and never hear or see anything
+at all, which is not the case in our country, as you know very
+well." "Certainly I do," said Manuel; and so it was settled that
+ghosts were very scarce, if not altogether unknown in Lombock. I
+would observe, however, that as the evidence is purely negative
+we should be wanting in scientific caution if we accepted this
+fact as sufficiently well established.
+
+One evening I heard Manuel, Ali, and a Malay man whispering
+earnestly together outside the door, and could distinguish
+various allusions to "krisses," throat-cutting, heads, etc. etc.
+At length Manuel came in, looking very solemn and frightened, and
+said to me in English, "Sir--must take care,--no safe here;--want
+cut throat." On further inquiry, I found that the Malay had been
+telling them that the Rajah had just sent down an order to the
+village, that they were to get a certain number of heads for an
+offering in the temples to secure a good crop of rice. Two or
+three other Malays and Bugis, as well as the Amboyna man in whose
+house we lived, confirmed this account, and declared that it was
+a regular thing every year, and that it was necessary to keep a
+good watch and never go out alone. I laughed at the whole thing,
+and tried to persuade them that it was a mere tale, but to no
+effect. They were all firmly persuaded that their lives were in
+danger. Manuel would not go out shooting alone, and I was obliged
+to accompany him every morning, but I soon gave him the slip in
+the jungle. Ali was afraid to go and look for firewood without a
+companion, and would not even fetch water from the well a few
+yards behind the house unless armed with an enormous spear. I was
+quite sure all the time that no such order had been sent or
+received, and that we were in perfect safety. This was well shown
+shortly afterwards, when an American sailor ran away from his
+ship on the east side of the island, and made his way on foot and
+unarmed across to Ampanam, having met with the greatest
+hospitality on the whole route. Nowhere would the smallest
+payment be taken for the food and lodging which were willingly
+furbished him. On pointing out this fact to Manuel, he replied,
+"He one bad man,--run away from his ship--no one can believe word
+he say;" and so I was obliged to leave him in the uncomfortable
+persuasion that he might any day have his throat cut.
+
+A circumstance occurred here which appeared to throw some light
+on the cause of the tremendous surf at Ampanam. One evening I
+heard a strange rumbling noise, and at the same time the house
+shook slightly. Thinking it might be thunder, I asked, "What is
+that?" "It is an earthquake," answered Inchi Daud, my host; and
+he then told me that slight shocks were occasionally felt there,
+but he had never known them to be severe. This happened on the day of
+the last quarter of the moon, and consequently when tides were low and
+the surf usually at its weakest. On inquiry afterwards at Ampanam, I
+found that no earthquake had been noticed, but that on one night there
+had been a very heavy surf, which shook the house, and the next day
+there was a very high tide, the water having flooded Mr. Carter's
+premises, higher than he had ever known it before. These unusual
+tides occur every now and then, and are not thought much of; but
+by careful inquiry I ascertained that the surf had occurred on
+the very night I had felt the earthquake at Labuan Tring, nearly
+twenty miles off. This would seem to indicate, that although the
+ordinary heavy surf may be due to the swell of the great Southern
+Ocean confined in a narrow channel, combined with a peculiar form
+of bottom near the shore, yet the sudden heavy surfs and high tides
+that occur occasionally in perfectly calm weather, may be due to
+slight upheavals of the ocean-bed in this eminently volcanic region.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+LOMBOCK: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE.
+
+HAVING made a very fine and interesting collection of the birds
+of Labuan Tring, I took leave of my kind host, Inchi Daud, and
+returned to Ampanam to await an opportunity to reach Macassar. As
+no vessel had arrived bound for that port, I determined to make
+an excursion into the interior of the island, accompanied by Mr.
+Ross, an Englishman born in the Keeling Islands, and now employed
+by the Dutch Government to settle the affairs of a missionary who
+had unfortunately become bankrupt here. Mr. Carter kindly lent me
+a horse, and Mr. Ross took his native groom.
+
+Our route for some distance lay along a perfectly level country
+bearing ample crops of rice. The road was straight and generally
+bordered with lofty trees forming a due avenue. It was at first
+sandy, afterwards grassy, with occasional streams and mudholes.
+At a distance about four miles we reached Mataram, the capital of
+the island and the residence of the Rajah. It is a large village
+with wide streets bordered by a magnificent avenue of trees, and
+low houses concealed behind mud walls. Within this royal city no
+native of the lower orders is allowed to ride, and our attendant,
+a Javanese, was obliged to dismount and lead his horse while we
+rode slowly through. The abodes of the Rajah and of the High
+Priest are distinguished by pillars of red brick constructed with
+much taste; but the palace itself seemed to differ but little
+from the ordinary houses of the country. Beyond Mataram and close
+to it is Karangassam, the ancient residence of the native or
+Sassak Rajahs before the conquest of the island by the Balinese.
+
+Soon after passing Mataram the country began gradually to rise in
+gentle undulations, swelling occasionally into low hills towards
+the two mountainous tracts in the northern and southern parts of
+the island. It was now that I first obtained an adequate idea of
+one of the most wonderful systems of cultivation in the world,
+equalling all that is related of Chinese industry, and as far as
+I know surpassing in the labour that has been bestowed upon it
+any tract of equal extent in the most civilized countries of
+Europe. I rode through this strange garden utterly amazed and
+hardly able to realize the fact that in this remote and little
+known island, from which all Europeans except a few traders at
+the port are jealously excluded, many hundreds of square miles of
+irregularly undulating country have been so skillfully terraced
+and levelled, and so permeated by artificial channels, that every
+portion of it can be irrigated and dried at pleasure. According
+as the slope of the ground is more or less rapid, each terraced
+plot consists in some places of many acres, in others of a few
+square yards. We saw them in every state of cultivation; some in
+stubble, some being ploughed, some with rice-crops in various
+stages of growth. Here were luxuriant patches of tobacco; there,
+cucumbers, sweet potatoes, yams, beans or Indian-corn varied the
+scene. In some places the ditches were dry, in others little
+streams crossed our road and were distributed over lands about to
+be sown or planted. The banks which bordered every terrace rose
+regularly in horizontal lines above each other; sometimes
+rounding an abrupt knoll and looking like a fortification, or
+sweeping around some deep hollow and forming on a gigantic scale
+the seats of an amphitheatre. Every brook and rivulet had been
+diverted from its bed, and instead of flowing along the lowest
+ground, were to be found crossing our road half-way up an ascent,
+yet bordered by ancient trees and moss-grown stones so as to have
+all the appearance of a natural channel, and bearing testimony to
+the remote period at which the work had been done. As we advanced
+further into the country, the scene was diversified by abrupt
+rocky bills, by steep ravines, and by clumps of bamboos and palm-
+trees near houses or villages; while in the distance the fine
+range of mountains of which Lombock Peak, eight thousand feet
+high, is the culminating point, formed a fit background to a view
+scarcely to be surpassed either in human interest or picturesque
+beauty.
+
+Along the first part of our road we passed hundreds of women
+carrying rice, fruit, and vegetables to market; and further on, an
+almost uninterrupted line of horses laden with rice in bags or in
+the car, on their way to the port of Ampanam. At every few miles
+along the road, seated under shady trees or slight sheds, were
+sellers of sugar-cane, palm-wine, cooked rice, salted eggs, and
+fried plantains, with a few other native delicacies. At these
+stalls a hearty meal may be made for a penny, but we contented
+ourselves with drinking some sweet palm-wine, a most delicious
+beverage in the heat of the day. After having travelled about
+twenty miles we reached a higher and drier region, where, water
+being scarce, cultivation was confined to the little fiats
+bordering the streams. Here the country was as beautiful as
+before, but of a different character; consisting of undulating
+downs of short turf interspersed with fine clumps of trees and
+bushes, sometimes the woodland, sometimes the open ground
+predominating. We only passed through one small patch of true
+forest, where we were shaded by lofty trees, and saw around us a
+dark and dense vegetation, highly agreeable after the heat and
+glare of the open country.
+
+At length, about an hour after noon, we reached our destination--
+the village of Coupang, situated nearly in the centre of the
+island--and entered the outer court of a house belonging to one of
+the chiefs with whom my friend Mr. Ross had a slight acquaintance.
+Here we were requested to seat ourselves under an open den with a
+raised floor of bamboo, a place used to receive visitors and hold
+audiences. Turning our horses to graze on the luxuriant glass of
+the courtyard, we waited until the great man's Malay interpreter
+appeared, who inquired our business and informed us that the Pumbuckle
+(chief) was at the Rajah's house, but would soon be back. As we had
+not yet breakfasted, we begged he would get us something to eat,
+which be promised to do as soon as possible. It was however about
+two hours before anything appeared, when a small tray was brought
+containing two saucers of rice, four small fried fish, and a few
+vegetables. Having made as good a breakfast as we could, we strolled
+about the village, and returning, amused ourselves by conversation
+with a number of men and boys who gathered around us; and by
+exchanging glances and smiles with a number of women and girls who
+peeped at us through half-opened doors and other crevices. Two little
+boys named Mousa and Isa (Moses and Jesus) were great friends with
+us, and an impudent little rascal called Kachang (a bean) made us
+all laugh by his mimicry and antics.
+
+At length, about four o'clock, the Pumbuckle made his appearance,
+and we informed him of our desire to stay with him a few days, to
+shoot birds and see the country. At this he seemed somewhat
+disturbed, and asked if we had brought a letter from the Anak
+Agong (Son of Heaven) which is the title of the Rajah of Lombock.
+This we had not done, thinking it quite unnecessary; and he then
+abruptly told us that he must go and speak to his Rajah, to see
+if we could stay. Hours passed away, night came, and he did not
+return. I began to think we were suspected of some evil designs,
+for the Pumbuckle was evidently afraid of getting himself into
+trouble. He is a Sassak prince, and, though a supporter of the
+present Rajah, is related to some of the heads of a conspiracy
+which was quelled a few years since.
+
+About five o'clock a pack-horse bearing my guns and clothes
+arrived, with my men Ali and Manuel, who had come on foot. The
+sun set, and it soon became dark, and we got rather hungry as we
+sat wearily under the shed and no one came. Still hour after hour
+we waited, until about nine o'clock, the Pumbuckle, the Rajah,
+some priests, and a number of their followers arrived and took
+their seats around us. We shook hands, and for some minutes there
+was a dead silence. Then the Rajah asked what we wanted; to which
+Mr. Ross replied by endeavouring to make them understand who we
+were, and why we had come, and that we had no sinister intentions
+whatever; and that we had not brought a letter from the "Anak
+Agong," merely because we had thought it quite unnecessary. A
+long conversation in the Bali language then took place, and
+questions were asked about my guns, and what powder I had, and
+whether I used shot or bullets; also what the birds were for, and
+how I preserved them, and what was done with them in England.
+Each of my answers and explanations was followed by a low and
+serious conversation which we could not understand, but the
+purport of which we could guess. They were evidently quite
+puzzled, and did not believe a word we had told them. They then
+inquired if we were really English, and not Dutch; and although
+we strongly asserted our nationality, they did not seem to
+believe us.
+
+After about an hour, however, they brought us some supper (which
+was the same as the breakfast, but without the fish), and after
+it some very weak coffee and pumpkins boiled with sugar. Having
+discussed this, a second conference took place; questions were
+again asked, and the answers again commented on. Between whiles
+lighter topics were discussed. My spectacles (concave glasses)
+were tried in succession by three or four old men, who could not
+make out why they could not see through them, and the fact no
+doubt was another item of suspicion against me. My beard, too,
+was the subject of some admiration, and many questions were asked
+about personal peculiarities which it is not the custom to allude
+to in European society. At length, about one in the morning, the
+whole party rose to depart, and, after conversing some time at
+the gate, all went away. We now begged the interpreter, who with
+a few boys and men remained about us, to show us a place to sleep
+in, at which he seemed very much surprised, saying he thought we
+were very well accommodated where we were. It was quite chilly,
+and we were very thinly clad and had brought no blankets, but all
+we could get after another hour's talk was a native mat and
+pillow, and a few old curtains to hang round three sides of the
+open shed and protect us a little from the cold breeze. We passed
+the rest of the night very uncomfortably, and determined to
+return in the morning and not submit any longer to such shabby
+treatment.
+
+We rose at daybreak, but it was near an hour before the
+interpreter made his appearance. We then asked to have some
+coffee and to see the Pumbuckle, as we wanted a horse for Ali,
+who was lame, and wished to bid him adieu. The man looked puzzled
+at such unheard--of demands and vanished into the inner court,
+locking the door behind him and leaving us again to our
+meditations. An hour passed and no one came, so I ordered the
+horses to be saddled and the pack-horse to be loaded, and
+prepared to start. Just then the interpreter came up on horse
+back, and looked aghast at our preparations. "Where is the
+Pumbuckle?" we asked. "Gone to the Rajah's," said he. "We are
+going," said I. "Oh! pray don't," said he; "wait a little; they
+are having a consultation, and some priests are coming to see
+you, and a chief is going off to Mataram to ask the permission of
+the Anak Agong for you to stay." This settled the matter. More
+talk, more delay, and another eight or ten hours' consultation
+were not to be endured; so we started at once, the poor
+interpreter almost weeping at our obstinacy and hurry, and
+assuring us "the Pumbuckle would be very sorry, and the Rajah
+would be very sorry, and if we would but wait all would be
+right." I gave Ali my horse, and started on foot, but he
+afterwards mounted behind Mr. Ross's groom, and we got home very
+well, though rather hot and tired.
+
+At Mataram we called at the house of Gusti Gadioca, one of the
+princes of Lombock, who was a friend of Mr. Carter's, and who had
+promised to show me the guns made by native workmen. Two guns
+were exhibited, one six, the other seven feet long, and of a
+proportionably large bore. The barrels were twisted and well
+finished, though not so finely worked as ours. The stock was well
+made, and extended to the end of the barrel. Silver and gold
+ornament was inlaid over most of the surface, but the locks were
+taken from English muskets. The Gusti assured me, however, that
+the Rajah had a man who made locks and also rifled barrels. The
+workshop where these guns are made and the tools used were next
+shown us, and were very remarkable. An open shed with a couple of
+small mud forges were the chief objects visible. The bellows
+consisted of two bamboo cylinders, with pistons worked by hand.
+They move very easily, having a loose stuffing of feathers
+thickly set round the piston so as to act as a valve, and produce
+a regular blast. Both cylinders communicate with the same nozzle,
+one piston rising while the other falls. An oblong piece of iron
+on the ground was the anvil, and a small vice was fixed on the
+projecting root of a tree outside. These, with a few files and
+hammers, were literally the only tools with which an old man
+makes these fine guns, finishing then himself from the rough iron
+and wood.
+
+I was anxious to know how they bored these long barrels, which
+seemed perfectly true and are said to shoot admirably; and, on
+asking the Gusti, received the enigmatical answer: "We use a
+basket full of stones." Being utterly unable to imagine what he
+could mean, I asked if I could see how they did it, and one of
+the dozen little boys around us was sent to fetch the basket. He
+soon returned with this most extraordinary boring-machine, the
+mode of using which the Gusti then explained to me. It was simply
+a strong bamboo basket, through the bottom of which was stuck
+upright a pole about three feet long, kept in its place by a few
+sticks tied across the top with rattans.
+
+The bottom of the pole has an iron ring, and a hole in which
+four-cornered borers of hardened iron can be fitted. The barrel
+to be bored is buried upright in the ground, the borer is
+inserted into it, the top of the stick or vertical shaft is held
+by a cross-piece of bamboo with a hole in it, and the basket is
+filled with stones to get the required weight. Two boys turn the
+bamboo round. The barrels are made in pieces of about eighteen
+inches long, which are first bored small, and then welded
+together upon a straight iron rod. The whole barrel is then
+worked with borers of gradually increasing size, and in three
+days the boring is finished. The whole matter was explained in
+such a straightforward manner that I have no doubt the process
+described to me was that actually used; although, when examining
+one of the handsome, well-finished, and serviceable guns, it was
+very hard to realize the fact that they had been made from first
+to last with tools hardly sufficient for an English blacksmith to
+make a horseshoe.
+
+The day after we returned from our excursion, the Rajah came to
+Ampanam to a feast given by Gusti Gadioca, who resides there; and
+soon after his arrival we went to have an audience. We found him
+in a large courtyard sitting on a mat under a shady tree; and all
+his followers, to the number of three or four hundred, squatting
+on the ground in a large circle round him. He wore a sarong or
+Malay petticoat and a green jacket. He was a man about thirty-
+five years of age, and of a pleasing countenance, with some
+appearance of intellect combined with indecision. We bowed, and
+took our seats on the ground near some chiefs we were acquainted
+with, for while the Rajah sits no one can stand or sit higher. He
+just inquired who I was, and what I was doing in Lombock, and
+then requested to see some of my birds. I accordingly sent for
+one of my boxes of bird-skins and one of insects, which he
+examined carefully, and seemed much surprised that they could be
+so well preserved. We then had a little conversation about Europe
+and the Russian war, in which all natives take an interest.
+Having heard much of a country-seat of the Rajah's called Gunong
+Sari, I took the opportunity to ask permission to visit it and
+shoot a few birds there which he immediately granted. I then
+thanked him, and we took our leave.
+
+An hour after, his son came to visit Mr. Carter accompanied by
+about a hundred followers, who all sat on the ground while he
+came into the open shed where Manuel was skinning birds. After
+some time he went into the house, had a bed arranged to sleep a
+little, then drank some wine, and after an hour or two had dinner
+brought him from the Gusti's house, which he ate with eight of
+the principal priests and princes, he pronounced a blessing over
+the rice and commenced eating first, after which the rest fell
+to. They rolled up balls of rice in their hands, dipped them in
+the gravy and swallowed them rapidly, with little pieces of meat
+and fowl cooked in a variety of ways. A boy fanned the young
+Rajah while eating. He was a youth of about fifteen, and had
+already three wives. All wore the kris, or Malay crooked dagger,
+on the beauty and value of which they greatly pride themselves. A
+companion of the Rajah's had one with a golden handle, in which
+were set twenty-eight diamonds and several other jewels. He said
+it had cost him £700. The sheaths are of ornamental wood and
+ivory, often covered on one side with gold. The blades are
+beautifully veined with white metal worked into the iron, and
+they are kept very carefully. Every man without exception carries
+a kris, stuck behind into the large waist-cloth which all wear,
+and it is generally the most valuable piece of property he
+possesses.
+
+A few days afterwards our long-talked-of excursion to Gunong Sari
+took place. Our party was increased by the captain and supercargo
+of a Hamburg ship loading with rice for China. We were mounted on
+a very miscellaneous lot of Lombock ponies, which we had some
+difficulty in supplying with the necessary saddles, etc.; and most
+of us had to patch up our girths, bridles, or stirrup-leathers
+as best we could. We passed through Mataram, where we were joined
+by our friend Gusti Gadioca, mounted on a handsome black horse,
+and riding as all the natives do, without saddle or stirrups,
+using only a handsome saddlecloth and very ornamental bridle.
+
+About three miles further, along pleasant byways, brought us to
+the place. We entered through a rather handsome brick gateway
+supported by hideous Hindu deities in stone. Within was an
+enclosure with two square fish-ponds and some fine trees; then
+another gateway through which we entered into a park. On the
+right was a brick house, built somewhat in the Hindu style, and
+placed on a high terrace or platform; on the left a large fish-
+pond, supplied by a little rivulet which entered it out of the
+mouth of a gigantic crocodile well executed in brick and stone.
+The edges of the pond were bricked, and in the centre rose a
+fantastic and picturesque pavilion ornamented with grotesque
+statues. The pond was well stocked with fine fish, which come
+every morning to be fed at the sound of a wooden gong which is
+hung near for the purpose. On striking it a number of fish
+immediately came out of the masses of weed with which the pond
+abounds, and followed us along the margin expecting food. At the
+same time some deer came out of as adjacent wood, which, from
+being seldom shot at and regularly fed, are almost tame. The
+jungle and woods which surrounded the park appearing to abound in
+birds, I went to shoot a few, and was rewarded by getting several
+specimens of the fine new kingfisher, Halcyon fulgidus, and the
+curious and handsome ground thrush, Zoothera andromeda. The
+former belies its name by not frequenting water or feeding on
+fish. It lives constantly in low damp thickets picking up ground
+insects, centipedes, and small mollusca. Altogether I was much
+pleased with my visit to this place, and it gave me a higher
+opinion than I had before entertained of the taste of these
+people, although the style of the buildings and of the sculpture
+is very much inferior to those of the magnificent ruins in Java.
+
+I must now say a few words about the character, manners, and
+customs of these interesting people.
+
+The aborigines of Lombock are termed Sassaks. They are a Malay
+race hardly differing in appearance from the people of Malacca or
+Borneo. They are Mahometans and form the bulk of the population.
+The ruling classes, on the other hand, are natives of the
+adjacent island of Bali, and are of the Brahminical religion. The
+government is an absolute monarchy, but it seems to be conducted
+with more wisdom and moderation than is usual in Malay countries.
+The father of the present Rajah conquered the island, and the
+people seem now quite reconciled to their new rulers, who do not
+interfere with their religion, and probably do not tax them any
+heavier than did the native chiefs they have supplanted. The laws
+now in force in Lombock are very severe. Theft is punished by
+death. Mr. Carter informed me that a man once stole a metal
+coffee-pot from his house. He was caught, the pot restored, and
+the man brought to Mr. Carter to punish as he thought fit. All
+the natives recommended Mr. Carter to have him "krissed" on the
+spot; "for if you don't," said they, "he will rob you again." Mr.
+Carter, however, let him off with a warning, that if he ever
+came inside his premises again he would certainly be shot. A few
+months afterwards the same man stole a horse from Mr. Carter. The
+horse was recovered, but the thief was not caught. It is an
+established rule, that anyone found in a house after dark,
+unless with the owner's knowledge, may be stabbed, his body
+thrown out into the street or upon the beach, and no questions
+will be asked.
+
+The men are exceedingly jealous and very strict with their wives.
+A married woman may not accept a cigar or a sirih leaf from a
+stranger under pain of death. I was informed that some years ago
+one of the English traders had a Balinese woman of good family
+living with him--the connection being considered quite honourable
+by the natives. During some festival this girl offended against
+the law by accepting a flower or some such trifle from another
+man. This was reported to the Rajah (to some of whose wives the
+girl was related), and he immediately sent to the Englishman's
+house ordering him to give the woman up as she must be "krissed."
+In vain he begged and prayed, and offered to pay any fine the
+Rajah might impose, and finally refused to give her up unless he
+was forced to do so. This the Rajah did not wish to resort to, as
+he no doubt thought he was acting as much for the Englishman's
+honour as for his own; so he appeared to let the matter drop. But
+some time afterwards he sent one of his followers to the house,
+who beckoned the girl to the door, and then saying, "The Rajah
+sends you this," stabbed her to the heart. More serious
+infidelity is punished still more cruelly, the woman and her
+paramour being tied back to back and thrown into the sea, where
+some large crocodiles are always on the watch to devour the
+bodies. One such execution took place while I was at Ampanam, but
+I took a long walk into the country to be out of the way until it
+was all over, thus missing the opportunity of having a horrible
+narrative to enliven my somewhat tedious story.
+
+One morning, as we were sitting at breakfast, Mr. Carter's
+servant informed us that there was an "Amok" in the village--in
+other words, that a man was "running a muck." Orders were
+immediately given to shut and fasten the gates of our enclosure;
+but hearing nothing for some time, we went out, and found there
+had been a false alarm, owing to a slave having run away,
+declaring he would "amok," because his master wanted to sell him.
+A short time before, a man had been killed at a gaming-table
+because, having lost half-a-dollar more than he possessed, he was
+going to "amok." Another had killed or wounded seventeen people
+before he could be destroyed. In their wars a whole regiment of
+these people will sometimes agree to "amok," and then rush on
+with such energetic desperation as to be very formidable to men
+not so excited as themselves. Among the ancients these would have
+been looked upon as heroes or demigods who sacrificed themselves
+for their country. Here it is simply said--they made "amok."
+
+Macassar is the most celebrated place in the East for "running a
+muck." There are said to be one or two a month on the average,
+and five, ten, or twenty persons are sometimes killed or wounded
+at one of them. It is the national, and therefore the honourable,
+mode of committing suicide among the natives of Celebes, and is
+the fashionable way of escaping from their difficulties. A Roman
+fell upon his sword, a Japanese rips up his stomach, and an
+Englishman blows out his brains with a pistol. The Bugis mode has
+many advantages to one suicidically inclined. A man thinks
+himself wronged by society--he is in debt and cannot pay--he is
+taken for a slave or has gambled away his wife or child into
+slavery--he sees no way of recovering what he has lost, and
+becomes desperate. He will not put up with such cruel wrongs, but
+will be revenged on mankind and die like a hero. He grasps his
+kris-handle, and the next moment draws out the weapon and stabs a
+man to the heart. He runs on, with bloody kris in his hand,
+stabbing at everyone he meets. "Amok! Amok!" then resounds
+through the streets. Spears, krisses, knives and guns are brought
+out against him. He rushes madly forward, kills all he can--men,
+women, and children--and dies overwhelmed by numbers amid all the
+excitement of a battle. And what that excitement is those who
+have been in one best know, but all who have ever given way to
+violent passions, or even indulged in violent and exciting
+exercises, may form a very good idea. It is a delirious
+intoxication, a temporary madness that absorbs every thought and
+every energy. And can we wonder at the kris-bearing, untaught,
+brooding Malay preferring such a death, looked upon as almost
+honourable to the cold-blooded details of suicide, if he wishes
+to escape from overwhelming troubles, or the merciless of the
+hangman and the disgrace of a public execution, when he has taken
+the law into his own hands and too hastily revenged himself upon
+his enemy? In either case he chooses rather to "amok."
+
+The great staples of the trade of Lombock as well as of Bali are
+rice and coffee; the former grown on the plains, the latter on
+the hills. The rice is exported very largely to other islands of
+the Archipelago, to Singapore, and even to China, and there are
+generally one or more vessels loading in the port. It is brought
+into Ampanam on pack-horses, and almost everyday a string of
+these would come into Mr. Carter's yard. The only money the
+natives will take for their rice is Chinese copper cash, twelve
+hundred of which go to a dollar. Every morning two large sacks of
+this money had to be counted out into convenient sums for
+payment. From Bali quantities of dried beef and ox-tongues are
+exported, and from Lombock a good many ducks and ponies. The ducks
+are a peculiar breed, which have very long flat bodies, and walk
+erect almost like penguins. They are generally of a pale reddish
+ash colour, and are kept in large flocks. They are very cheap and
+are largely consumed by the crews of the rice ships, by whom they
+are called Baly-soldiers, but are more generally known elsewhere
+as penguin-ducks.
+
+My Portuguese bird-stuffer Fernandez now insisted on breaking his
+agreement and returning to Singapore; partly from homesickness,
+but more I believe from the idea that his life was not worth many
+months' purchase among such bloodthirsty and uncivilized peoples.
+It was a considerable loss to me, as I had paid him full three
+times the usual wages for three months in advance, half of which
+was occupied in the voyage and the rest in a place where I could
+have done without him, owing to there being so few insects that I
+could devote my own time to shooting and skinning. A few days
+after Fernandez had left, a small schooner came in bound for
+Macassar, to which place I took a passage. As a fitting
+conclusion to my sketch of these interesting islands, I will
+narrate an anecdote which I heard of the present Rajah; and
+which, whether altogether true or not, well illustrates native
+character, and will serve as a means of introducing some details
+of the manners and customs of the country to which I have not yet
+alluded.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+L0MBOCK: HOW THE RAJAH TOOK THE CENSUS.
+
+The Rajah of Lombock was a very wise man and he showed his wisdom
+greatly in the way he took the census. For my readers must know
+that the chief revenues of the Rajah were derived from a head-tax
+of rice, a small measure being paid annually by every man, woman,
+and child in the island, There was no doubt that every one paid
+this tax, for it was a very light one, and the land was fertile
+and the people well off; but it had to pass through many hands
+before it reached the Government storehouses. When the harvest
+was over the villagers brought their rice to the Kapala kampong,
+or head of the village; and no doubt he sometimes had compassion
+for the poor or sick and passed over their short measure, and
+sometimes was obliged to grant a favour to those who had
+complaints against him; and then he must keep up his own dignity
+by having his granaries better filled than his neighbours, and so
+the rice that he took to the "Waidono" that was over his district
+was generally good deal less than it should have been. And all
+the "Waidonos" had of course to take care of themselves, for they
+were all in debt and it was so easy to take a little of the
+Government rice, and there would still be plenty for the Rajah.
+And the "Gustis" or princes who received the rice from the
+Waidonos helped themselves likewise, and so when the harvest was
+all over and the rice tribute was all brought in, the quantity
+was found to be less each year than the one before. Sickness in
+one district, and fevers in another, and failure of the crops in
+a third, were of course alleged as the cause of this falling
+off; but when the Rajah went to hunt at the foot of the great
+mountain, or went to visit a "Gusti" on the other side of the
+island, he always saw the villages full of people, all looking
+well-fed and happy. And he noticed that the krisses of his chiefs
+and officers were getting handsomer and handsomer; and the
+handles that were of yellow wood were changed for ivory, and
+those of ivory were changed for gold, and diamonds and emeralds
+sparkled on many of them; and he knew very well which way the
+tribute-rice went. But as he could not prove it he kept silence,
+and resolved in his own heart someday to have a census taken, so
+that he might know the number of his people, and not be cheated
+out of more rice than was just and reasonable.
+
+But the difficulty was how to get this census. He could not go
+himself into every village and every house, and count all the
+people; and if he ordered it to be done by the regular officers
+they would quickly understand what it was for, and the census
+would be sure to agree exactly with the quantity of rice he got
+last year. It was evident therefore that to answer his purpose no
+one must suspect why the census was taken; and to make sure of
+this, no one must know that there was any census taken at all.
+This was a very hard problem; and the Rajah thought and thought,
+as hard as a Malay Rajah can be expected to think, but could not
+solve it; and so he was very unhappy, and did nothing but smoke
+and chew betel with his favourite wife, and eat scarcely
+anything; and even when he went to the cock-fight did not seem to
+care whether his best birds won or lost. For several days he
+remained in this sad state, and all the court were afraid some
+evil eye had bewitched the Rajah; and an unfortunate Irish
+captain who had come in for a cargo of rice and who squinted
+dreadfully, was very nearly being krissed, but being first
+brought to the royal presence was graciously ordered to go on
+board and remain there while his ship stayed in the port.
+
+One morning however, after about a week's continuance of this
+unaccountable melancholy, a welcome change tool place, for the
+Rajah sent to call together all the chiefs, priests, and
+princes who were then in Mataram, his capital city; and when they
+were all assembled in anxious expectation, he thus addressed
+them:
+
+"For many days my heart has been very sick and I knew not why,
+but now the trouble is cleared away, for I have had a dream. Last
+night the spirit of the 'Gunong Agong'--the great fire mountain--
+appeared to me, and told me that I must go up to the top of the
+mountain. All of you may come with me to near the top, but then I
+must go up alone, and the great spirit will again appear to me
+and will tell me what is of great importance to me and to you and
+to all the people of the island. Now go all of you and make this
+known through the island, and let every village furnish men to
+make clear a road for us to go through the forest and up the
+great mountain."
+
+So the news was spread over the whole island that the Rajah must
+go to meet the great spirit on the top of the mountain; and
+every village sent forth its men, and they cleared away the
+jungle and made bridges over the mountain streams and smoothed
+the rough places for the Rajah's passage. And when they came to
+the steep and craggy rocks of the mountain, they sought out the
+best paths, sometimes along the bed of a torrent, sometimes along
+narrow ledges of the black rocks; in one place cutting down a
+tall tree so as to bridge across a chasm, in another constructing
+ladders to mount the smooth face of a precipice. The chiefs who
+superintended the work fixed upon the length of each day's
+journey beforehand according to the nature of the road, and chose
+pleasant places by the banks of clear streams and in the
+neighbourhood of shady trees, where they built sheds and huts of
+bamboo well thatched with the leaves of palm-trees, in which the
+Rajah and his attendants might eat and sleep at the close of each
+day.
+
+And when all was ready, the princes and priests and chief men
+came again to the Rajah, to tell him what had been done and to
+ask him when he would go up the mountain. And he fixed a day, and
+ordered every man of rank and authority to accompany him, to do
+honour to the great spirit who had bid him undertake the journey,
+and to show how willingly they obeyed his commands. And then
+there was much preparation throughout the whole island. The best
+cattle were killed and the meat salted and sun-dried; and
+abundance of red peppers and sweet potatoes were gathered; and
+the tall pinang-trees were climbed for the spicy betel nut, the
+sirih-leaf was tied up in bundles, and every man filled his
+tobacco pouch and lime box to the brim, so that he might not want
+any of the materials for chewing the refreshing betel during the
+journey. The stores of provisions were sent on a day in advance.
+And on the day before that appointed for starting, all the chiefs
+both great and small came to Mataram, the abode of the king, with
+their horses and their servants, and the bearers of their sirih boxes,
+and their sleeping-mats, and their provisions. And they encamped under
+the tall Waringin-trees that border all the roads about Mataram, and
+with blazing fires frighted away the ghouls and evil spirits that
+nightly haunt the gloomy avenues.
+
+In the morning a great procession was formed to conduct the Rajah
+to the mountain. And the royal princes and relations of the Rajah
+mounted their black horses whose tails swept the ground; they
+used no saddle or stirrups, but sat upon a cloth of gay colours;
+the bits were of silver and the bridles of many-coloured cords.
+The less important people were on small strong horses of various
+colours, well suited to a mountain journey; and all (even the
+Rajah) were bare-legged to above the knee, wearing only the gay
+coloured cotton waist-cloth, a silk or cotton jacket, and a large
+handkerchief tastefully folded around the head. Everyone was
+attended by one or two servants bearing his sirih and betel
+boxes, who were also mounted on ponies; and great numbers more
+had gone on in advance or waited to bring up the rear. The men in
+authority were numbered by hundreds and their followers by
+thousands, and all the island wondered what great thing would
+come of it.
+
+For the first two days they went along good roads and through
+many villages which were swept clean, and where bright cloths were
+hung out at the windows; and all the people, when the Rajah came,
+squatted down upon the ground in respect, and every man riding
+got off his horse and squatted down also, and many joined the
+procession at every village. At the place where they stopped for
+the night, the people had placed stakes along each side of the
+roads in front of the houses. These were split crosswise at the
+top, and in the cleft were fastened little clay lamps, and
+between them were stuck the green leaves of palm-trees, which,
+dripping with the evening dew, gleamed prettily with the many
+twinkling lights. And few went to sleep that night until the
+morning hours, for every house held a knot of eager talkers, and
+much betel-nut was consumed, and endless were the conjectures
+what would come of it.
+
+On the second day they left the last village behind them and
+entered the wild country that surrounds the great mountain, and
+rested in the huts that had been prepared for them on the banks
+of a stream of cold and sparkling water. And the Rajah's hunters,
+armed with long and heavy guns, went in search of deer and wild
+bulls in the surrounding woods, and brought home the meat of both
+in the early morning, and sent it on in advance to prepare the
+mid-day meal. On the third day they advanced as far as horses
+could go, and encamped at the foot of high rocks, among which
+narrow pathways only could be found to reach the mountain-top.
+And on the fourth morning when the Rajah set out, he was
+accompanied only by a small party of priests and princes with
+their immediate attendants; and they toiled wearily up the rugged
+way, and sometimes were carried by their servants, until they
+passed up above the great trees, and then among the thorny
+bushes, and above them again on to the black and burned rock of
+the highest part of the mountain.
+
+And when they were near the summit, the Rajah ordered them all to
+halt, while he alone went to meet the great spirit on the very
+peak of the mountain. So he went on with two boys only who
+carried his sirih and betel, and soon reached the top of the
+mountain among great rocks, on the edge of the great gulf whence
+issue forth continually smoke and vapour. And the Rajah asked for
+sirih, and told the boys to sit down under a rock and look down
+the mountain, and not to move until he returned to them. And as
+they were tired, and the sun was warm and pleasant, and the rock
+sheltered them from the cold grind, the boys fell asleep. And the
+Rajah went a little way on under another rock; and as he was tired,
+and the sun was warm and pleasant, and he too fell asleep.
+
+And those who were waiting for the Rajah thought him a long time
+on the top of the mountain, and thought the great spirit must
+have much to say, or might perhaps want to keep him on the
+mountain always, or perhaps he had missed his way in conning down
+again. And they were debating whether they should go and search
+for him, when they saw him coming down with the two boys. And
+when he met them he looked very grave, but said nothing; and then
+all descended together, and the procession returned as it had
+come; and the Rajah went to his palace and the chiefs to their
+villages, and the people to their houses, to tell their wives and
+children all that had happened, and to wonder yet again what
+would come of it.
+
+And three days afterwards the Rajah summoned the priests and the
+princes and the chief men of Mataram, to hear what the great
+spirit had told him on the top of the mountain. And when they
+were all assembled, and the betel and sirih had been handed
+round, he told them what had happened. On the top of the mountain
+he had fallen into a trance, and the great spirit had appeared to
+him with a face like burnished gold, and had said--"0h Rajah! much
+plague and sickness and fevers are coming upon all the earth,
+upon men and upon horses and upon cattle; but as you and your
+people have obeyed me and have come up to my great mountain, I
+will teach you how you and all the people of Lombock may escape
+this plague." And all waited anxiously, to hear how they were to
+be saved from so fearful a calamity. And after a short silence
+the Rajah spoke again and told them, that the great spirit had
+commanded that twelve sacred krisses should be made, and that to
+make them every village and every district must send a bundle of
+needles--a needle for every head in the village. And when any
+grievous disease appeared in any village, one of the sacred
+krisses should be sent there; and if every house in that village
+had sent the right number of needles, the disease would
+immediately cease; but if the number of needles sent had not been
+exact, the kris would have no virtue.
+
+So the princes and chiefs sent to all their villages and
+communicated the wonderful news; and all made haste to collect
+the needles with the greatest accuracy, for they feared that if
+but one were wanting, the whole village would suffer. So one by
+one the head men of the villages brought in their bundles of
+needles; those who were near Mataram came first, and those who
+were far off came last; and the Rajah received them with his own
+hands and put them away carefully in an inner chamber, in a
+camphor-wood chest whose hinges and clasps were of silver; and on
+every bundle was marked the name of the village and the district
+from whence it came, so that it might be known that all had heard
+and obeyed the commands of the great spirit.
+
+And when it was quite certain that every village had sent in its
+bundle, the Rajah divided the needles into twelve equal parts,
+and ordered the best steelworker in Mataram to bring his forge
+and his bellows and his hammers to the palace, and to make the
+twelve krisses under the Rajah's eye, and in the sight of all men
+who chose to see it. And when they were finished, they were
+wrapped up in new silk and put away carefully until they might be
+wanted.
+
+Now the journey to the mountain was in the time of the east wind
+when no rain falls in Lombock. And soon after the krisses were
+made it was the time of the rice harvest, and the chiefs of
+districts and of villages brought their tax to the Rajah
+according to the number heads in their villages. And to those
+that wanted but little of the full amount, the Rajah said
+nothing; but when those came who brought only half or a fourth
+part of what was strictly due, he said to them mildly, "The
+needles which you sent from your village were many more than came
+from such-a-one's village, yet your tribute is less than his; go
+back and see who it is that has not paid the tax." And the next
+year the produce of the tax increased greatly, for they feared
+that the Rajah might justly kill those who a second time kept
+back the right tribute. And so the Rajah became very rich, and
+increased the number of his soldiers, and gave golden jewels to
+his wives, and bought fine black horses from the white-skinned
+Hollanders, and made great feasts when his children were born or
+were married; and none of the Rajahs or Sultans among the Malays
+were so great or powerful as the Rajah of Lombock.
+
+And the twelve sacred krisses had great virtue. And, when any
+sickness appeared in a village one of them was sent for; and
+sometimes the sickness went away, and then the sacred kris was
+taken back again with great Honour, and the head men of the
+village came to tell the Rajah of its miraculous power, and to
+thank him. And sometimes the sickness would not go away; and then
+everybody was convinced that there had been a mistake in the
+number of needles sent from that village, and therefore the
+sacred kris had no effect, and had to be taken back again by the
+head men with heavy hearts, but still, with all honour--for was
+not the fault their own?
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+TIMOR.
+
+(COUPANG, 1857-1869. DELLI, 1861.)
+
+THE island of Timor is about three hundred miles long and sixty wide,
+and seems to form the termination of the great range of volcanic
+islands which begins with Sumatra more than two thousand miles to the
+west. It differs however very remarkably from all the other islands of
+the chain in not possessing any active volcanoes, with the one
+exception of Timor Peak near the centre of the island, which was
+formerly active, but was blown up during an eruption in 1638 and has
+since been quiescent. In no other part of Timor do there appear to be
+any recent igneous rocks, so that it can hardly be classed as a
+volcanic island. Indeed its position is just outside of the great
+volcanic belt, which extends from Flores through Ombay and Wetter to
+Banda.
+
+I first visited Timor in 1857, staying a day at Coupang, the chief
+Dutch town at the west end of the island; and again in May 1859, when
+I stayed a fortnight in the same neighbourhood. In the spring of 1861
+I spent four months at Delli, the capital of the Portuguese
+possessions in the eastern part of the island.
+
+The whole neighbourhood of Coupang appears to have been elevated at a
+recent epoch, consisting of a rugged surface of coral rock, which
+rises in a vertical wall between the beach and the town, whose low,
+white, red-tiled houses give it an appearance very similar to other
+Dutch settlements in the East. The vegetation is everywhere scanty
+and scrubby. Plants of the families Apocynaceae and Euphorbiacea,
+abound; but there is nothing that can be called a forest, and the
+whole country has a parched and desolate appearance, contrasting
+strongly with the lofty forest trees and perennial verdure of the
+Moluccas or of Singapore. The most conspicuous feature of the
+vegetation was the abundance of fine fanleaved palms (Borassus
+flabelliformis), from the leaves of which are constructed the strong
+and durable water-buckets in general use, and which are much superior
+to those formed from any other species of palm. From the same tree,
+palm-wine and sugar are made, and the common thatch for houses formed
+of the leaves lasts six or seven years without removal. Close to the
+town I noticed the foundation of a ruined house below high-water mark,
+indicating recent subsidence. Earthquakes are not severe here, and are
+so infrequent and harmless that the chief houses are built of stone.
+
+The inhabitants of Coupang consist of Malays, Chinese, and Dutch,
+besides the natives, so that there are many strange and complicated
+mixtures among the population. There is one resident English merchant,
+and whalers as well as Australian ships often come here for stores and
+water. The native Timorese preponderate, and a very little examination
+serves to show that they have nothing in common with Malays, but are
+much more closely allied to the true Papuans of the Aru Islands and
+New Guinea. They are tall, have pronounced features, large somewhat
+aquiline noses, and frizzly hair, and are generally of a dusky brown
+colour. The way in which the women talk to each other and to the men,
+their loud voices and laughter, and general character of self-
+assertion, would enable an experienced observer to decide, even
+without seeing them, that they were not Malays.
+
+Mr. Arndt, a German and the Government doctor, invited me to stay at
+his house while in Coupang, and I gladly accepted his offer, as I only
+intended making a short visit. We at first began speaking French, but
+he got on so badly that we soon passed insensibly into Malay; and we
+afterwards held long discussions on literary, scientific, and
+philosophical questions in that semi-barbarous language, whose
+deficiencies we made up by the free use of French or Latin words.
+
+After a few walks in the neighbourhood of the town, I found such a
+poverty of insects and birds that I determined to go for a few days to
+the island of Semao at the western extremity of Timor, where I heard
+that there was forest country with birds not found at Coupang. With
+some difficulty I obtained a large dugout boat with outriggers, to
+take me over a distance of about twenty miles. I found the country
+pretty well wooded, but covered with shrubs and thorny bushes rather
+than forest trees, and everywhere excessively parched and dried up by
+the long-continued dry season. I stayed at the village of Oeassa,
+remarkable for its soap springs. One of these is in the middle of the
+village, bubbling out from a little cone of mud to which the ground
+rises all round like a volcano in miniature. The water has a soapy
+feel and produces a strong lather when any greasy substance is washed
+in it. It contains alkali and iodine, in such quantities as to destroy
+all vegetation for some distance around. Close by the village is one of
+the finest springs I have ever seen, contained in several rocky basins
+communicating by narrow channels. These have been neatly walled where
+required and partly levelled, and form fine natural baths. The water
+is well tasted and clear as crystal, and the basins are surrounded by
+a grove of lofty many-stemmed banyan-trees, which keep them always
+cool and shady, and add greatly to the picturesque beauty of the
+scene.
+
+The village consists of curious little houses very different from any
+I have seen elsewhere. They are of an oval figure, and the walls are
+made of sticks about four feet high placed close together. From this
+rises a high conical roof thatched with grass. The only opening is a
+door about three feet high. The people are like the Timorese with
+frizzly or wavy hair and of a coppery brown colour. The better class
+appear to have a mixture of some superior race which has much improved
+their features. I saw in Coupang some chiefs from the island of Savu
+further west, who presented characters very distinct from either the
+Malay or Papuan races. They most resembled Hindus, having fine well-
+formed features and straight thin noses with clear brown complexions.
+As the Brahminical religion once spread over all Java, and even now
+exists in Bali and Lombock, it is not at all improbable that some
+natives of India should have reached this island, either by accident
+or to escape persecution, and formed a permanent settlement there.
+
+I stayed at Oeassa four days, when, not finding any insects and very
+few new birds, I returned to Coupang to await the next mail steamer.
+On the way I had a narrow escape of being swamped. The deep coffin-
+like boat was filled up with my baggage, and with vegetables, cocoa-
+nut and other fruit for Coupang market, and when we had got some way
+across into a rather rough sea, we found that a quantity of water was
+coming in which we had no means of baling out. This caused us to sink
+deeper in the water, and then we shipped seas over our sides, and the
+rowers, who had before declared it was nothing, now became alarmed and
+turned the boat round to get back to the coast of Semao, which was not
+far off. By clearing away some of the baggage a little of the water
+could be baled out, but hardly so fast as it came in, and when we
+neared the coast we found nothing but vertical walls of rock against
+which the sea was violently beating. We coasted along some distance
+until we found a little cove, into which we ran the boat, hauled it on
+shore, and emptying it found a large hole in the bottom, which had
+been temporarily stopped up with a plug of cocoa-nut which had come
+out. Had we been a quarter of a mile further off before we discovered
+the leak, we should certainly have been obliged to throw most of our
+baggage overboard, and might easily have lost our lives. After we had
+put all straight and secure we again started, and when we were
+halfway across got into such a strong current and high cross sea that
+we were very nearly being swamped a second time, which made me vow
+never to trust myself again in such small and miserable vessels.
+
+The mail steamer did not arrive for a week, and I occupied myself
+in getting as many of the birds as I could, and found some which were
+very interesting. Among them were five species of pigeons of as many
+distinct genera, and most of then peculiar to the island; two
+parrots--the fine red-winged broad-tail (Platycercus vulneratus),
+allied to an Australian species, and a green species of the genus
+Geoffroyus. The Tropidorhynchus timorensis was as ubiquitous and as
+noisy as I had found it at Lombock; and the Sphaecothera viridis, a
+curious green oriole with bare red orbits, was a great acquisition.
+There were several pretty finches, warblers, and flycatchers, and
+among them I obtained the elegant blue and red Cyornis hyacinthina;
+but I cannot recognise among my collections the species mentioned by
+Dampier, who seems to have been much struck by the number of small
+songbirds in Timor. He says: "One sort of these pretty little birds
+my men called the ringing bird, because it had six notes, and always
+repeated all his notes twice, one after the other, beginning high and
+shrill and ending low. The bird was about the bigness of a lark,
+having a small, sharp, black bill and blue wings; the head and breast
+were of a pale red, and there was a blue streak about its neck." In
+Semao, monkeys are abundant. They are the common bare-lipped monkey
+(Macacus cynomolgus), which is found all over the western islands of
+the Archipelago, and may have been introduced by natives, who often
+carry it about captive. There are also some deer, but it is not quite
+certain whether they are of the same species as are found in Java.
+
+I arrived at Delli, the capital of the Portuguese possessions in
+Timor, on January 12, 1861, and was kindly received by Captain Hart,
+an Englishman and an old resident, who trades in the produce of the
+country and cultivates coffee on an estate at the foot of the hills.
+With him I was introduced to Mr. Geach, a mining-engineer who had been
+for two years endeavouring to discover copper in sufficient quantity
+to be worth working.
+
+Delli is a most miserable place compared with even the poorest of the
+Dutch towns. The houses are all of mud and thatch; the fort is only a
+mud enclosure; and the custom-house and church are built of the same
+mean materials, with no attempt at decoration or even neatness. The
+whole aspect of the place is that of a poor native town, and there is
+no sign of cultivation or civilization round about it. His Excellency
+the Governor's house is the only one that makes any pretensions to
+appearance, and that is merely a low whitewashed cottage or bungalow.
+Yet there is one thing in which civilization exhibits itself--
+officials in black and white European costume, and officers in gorgeous
+uniforms abound in a degree quite disproportionate to the size or
+appearance of the place.
+
+The town being surrounded for some distance by swamps and mudflats is
+very unhealthy, and a single night often gives a fever to newcomers
+which not unfrequently proves fatal. To avoid this malaria, Captain
+Hart always slept at his plantation, on a slight elevation about two
+miles from the town, where Mr. Geach also had a small house, which he
+kindly invited me to share. We rode there in the evening; and in the
+course of two days my baggage was brought up, and I was able to look
+about me and see if I could do any collecting.
+
+For the first few weeks I was very unwell and could not go far from
+the house. The country was covered with low spiny shrubs and acacias,
+except in a little valley where a stream came down from the hills,
+where some fine trees and bushes shaded the water and formed a very
+pleasant place to ramble up. There were plenty of birds about, and of
+a tolerable variety of species; but very few of them were gaily
+coloured. Indeed, with one or two exceptions, the birds of this
+tropical island were hardly so ornamental as those of Great Britain.
+Beetles were so scarce that a collector might fairly say there were
+none, as the few obscure or uninteresting species would not repay him
+for the search. The only insects at all remarkable or interesting were
+the butterflies, which, though comparatively few in species, were
+sufficiently abundant, and comprised a large proportion of new or rare
+sorts. The banks of the stream formed my best collecting-ground, and I
+daily wandered up and down its shady bed, which about a mile up became
+rocky and precipitous. Here I obtained the rare and beautiful swallow-
+tail butterflies, Papilio aenomaus and P. liris; the males of which
+are quite unlike each other, and belong in fact to distinct sections
+of the genus, while the females are so much alike that they are
+undistinguishable on the wing, and to an uneducated eye equally so in
+the cabinet. Several other beautiful butterflies rewarded my search in
+this place, among which I may especially mention the Cethosia
+leschenaultii, whose wings of the deepest purple are bordered with
+buff in such a manner as to resemble at first sight our own Camberwell
+beauty, although it belongs to a different genus. The most abundant
+butterflies were the whites and yellows (Pieridae), several of which I
+had already found at Lombock and at Coupang, while others were new to
+me.
+
+Early in February we made arrangements to stay for a week at a village
+called Baliba, situated about four miles off on the mountains, at an
+elevation of 2,000 feet. We took our baggage and a supply of all
+necessaries on packhorses; and though the distance by the route we
+took was not more than six or seven miles, we were half a day getting
+there. The roads were mere tracks, sometimes up steep rocky stairs,
+sometimes in narrow gullies worn by the horses' feet, and where it was
+necessary to tuck up our legs on our horses' necks to avoid having
+them crushed. At some of these places the baggage had to be unloaded,
+at others it was knocked off. Sometimes the ascent or descent was so
+steep that it was easier to walk than to cling to our ponies' backs;
+and thus we went up and down over bare hills whose surface was
+covered with small pebbles and scattered over with Eucalypti,
+reminding me of what I had read of parts of the interior of Australia
+rather than of the Malay Archipelago.
+
+The village consisted of three houses only, with low walls raised a
+few feet on posts, and very high roofs thatched with brass hanging
+down to within two or three feet of the ground. A house which was
+unfinished and partly open at the back was given for our use, and in
+it we rigged up a table, some benches, and a screen, while an inner
+enclosed portion served us for a sleeping apartment. We had a splendid
+view down upon Delli and the sea beyond. The country around was
+undulating and open, except in the hollows, where there were some
+patches of forest, which Mr. Geach, who had been all over the eastern
+part of Timor, assured me was the most luxuriant he had yet seen in
+the island. I was in hopes of finding some insects here, but was much
+disappointed, owing perhaps to the dampness of the climate; for it was
+not until the sun was pretty high that the mists cleared away, and by
+noon we were generally clouded up again, so that there was seldom more
+than an hour or two of fitful sunshine. We searched in every direction
+for birds and other game, but they were very scarce. On our
+way I had shot the find white-headed pigeon, Ptilonopus cinctus, and
+the pretty little lorikeet, Trichoglossus euteles. I got a few more of
+these at the blossoms of the Eucalypti, and also the allied species
+Trichoglossus iris, and a few other small but interesting birds. The
+common jungle-cock of India (Gallus bankiva) was found here, and
+furnished us with some excellent meals; but we could get no deer.
+Potatoes are grown higher up the mountains in abundance, and are very
+good. We had a sheep killed every other day, and ate our mutton with
+much appetite in the cool climate, which rendered a fire always
+agreeable.
+
+Although one-half the European residents in Delli are continually ill
+from fever, and the Portuguese have occupied the place for three
+centuries, no one has yet built a house on these fine hills, which, if
+a tolerable road were made, would be only an hour's ride from the
+town; and almost equally good situations might be found on a lower
+level at half an hour's distance. The fact that potatoes and wheat of
+excellent quality are grown in abundance at from 3,000 to 3,500 feet
+elevation, shows what the climate and soil are capable of if properly
+cultivated. From one to two thousand feet high, coffee would thrive;
+and there are hundreds of square miles of country over which all the
+varied products which require climates between those of coffee and
+wheat would flourish; but no attempt has yet been made to form a
+single mile of road, or a single acre of plantation!
+
+There must be something very unusual in the climate of Timor to permit
+wheat being grown at so moderate an elevation. The grain is of
+excellent quality, the bread made from it being equal to any I have
+ever tasted, and it is universally acknowledged to be unsurpassed by
+any made from imported European or American flour. The fact that the
+natives have (quite of their own accord) taken to cultivating such
+foreign articles as wheat and potatoes, which they bring in small
+quantities on the backs of ponies by the most horrible mountain
+tracks, and sell very cheaply at the seaside, sufficiently indicates
+what might be done if good roads were made, and if the people were
+taught, encouraged, and protected. Sheep also do well on the
+mountains; and a breed of hardy ponies in much repute all over the
+Archipelago, runs half-wild, so that it appears as if this island, so
+barren-looking and devoid of the usual features of tropical
+vegetation, were yet especially adapted to supply a variety of
+products essential to Europeans, which the other islands will not
+produce, and which they accordingly import from the other side of the
+globe.
+
+On the 24th of February my friend Mr. Geach left Timor, having finally
+reported that no minerals worth working were to be found. The
+Portuguese were very much annoyed, having made up their minds that
+copper is abundant, and still believing it to be so. It appears that
+from time immemorial pure native copper has been found at a place on
+the coast about thirty miles east of Delli.
+
+The natives say they find it in the bed of a ravine, and many years
+ago a captain of a vessel is said to have got some hundreds-weight of
+it. Now, however, it is evidently very scarce, as during the two years
+Mr. Geach resided in the country, none was found. I was shown one
+piece several pounds' weight, having much the appearance of one of the
+larger Australian nuggets, but of pure copper instead of gold. The
+natives and the Portuguese have very naturally imagined that where
+these fragments come from there must be more; and they have a report
+or tradition, that a mountain at the head of the ravine is almost pure
+copper, and of course of immense value.
+
+After much difficulty a company was at length formed to work the
+copper mountain, a Portuguese merchant of Singapore supplying most of
+the capital. So confident were they of the existence of the copper,
+that they thought it would be waste of time and money to have any
+exploration made first; and accordingly, sent to England for a mining
+engineer, who was to bring out all necessary tools, machinery,
+laboratory, utensils, a number of mechanics, and stores of all kinds
+for two years, in order to commence work on a copper-mine which he was
+told was already discovered. On reaching Singapore a ship was
+freighted to take the men and stores to Timor, where they at length
+arrived after much delay, a long voyage, and very great expense.
+
+A day was then fixed to "open the mines." Captain Hart accompanied Mr.
+Geach as interpreter. The Governor, the Commandante, the Judge, and
+all the chief people of the place went in state to the mountain, with
+Mr. Geach's assistant and some of the workmen. As they went up the
+valley Mr. Leach examined the rocks, but saw no signs of copper. They
+went on and on, but still nothing except a few mere traces of very
+poor ore. At length they stood on the copper mountain itself. The
+Governor stopped, the officials formed a circle, and he then addressed
+them, saying, that at length the day had arrived they had all been so
+long expecting, when the treasures of the soil of Timor would be
+brought to light, and much more in very graandiloquent Portuguese;
+and concluded by turning to Mr. Leach, and requesting him to point out
+the best spot for them to begin work at once, and uncover the mass of
+virgin copper. As the ravines and precipices among which they had
+passed, and which had been carefully examined, revealed very clearly
+the nature and mineral constitution of the country, Mr. Geach simply
+told them that there was not a trace of copper there, and that it was
+perfectly useless to begin work. The audience were thunderstruck! The
+Governor could not believe his ears. At length, when Mr. Geach had
+repeated his statement, the Governor told him severely that he was
+mistaken; that they all knew there was copper there in abundance, and
+all they wanted him to tell them, as a mining-engineer, was how best
+to get at it; and that at all events he was to begin work somewhere.
+This Mr. Geach refused to do, trying to explain that the ravines had
+cut far deeper into the hill than he could do in years, and that he
+would not throw away money or time on any such useless attempt. After
+this speech had been interpreted to him, the Governor saw it was no
+use, and without saying a word turned his horse and rode away, leaving
+my friends alone on the mountain. They all believed there was some
+conspiracy that the Englishman would not find the copper, and that
+they had been cruelly betrayed.
+
+Mr. Geach then wrote to the Singapore merchant who was his employer,
+and it was arranged that he should send the mechanics home again, and
+himself explore the country for minerals. At first the Government
+threw obstacles in his way and entirely prevented his moving; but at
+length he was allowed to travel about, and for more than a year he and
+his assistant explored the eastern part of Timor, crossing it in
+several places from sea to sea, and ascending every important valley,
+without finding any minerals that would pay the expense of working.
+Copper ore exists in several places, but always too poor in quality.
+The best would pay well if situated in England; but in the interior of
+an utterly barren country, with roads to make, and all skilled labour
+and materials to import, it would have been a losing concern. Gold
+also occurs, but very sparingly and of poor quality. A fine spring of
+pure petroleum was discovered far in the interior, where it can never
+be available until the country is civilized. The whole affair was a
+dreadful disappointment to the Portuguese Government, who had
+considered it such a certain thing that they had contracted for the
+Dutch mail steamers to stop at Delli and several vessels from
+Australia were induced to come with miscellaneous cargoes, for which
+they expected to find a ready sale among the population at the newly-
+opened mines. The lumps of native copper are still, however, a
+mystery. Mr. Geach has examined the country in every direction without
+being able to trace their origin; so that it seems probable that they
+result from the debris of old copper-bearing strata, and are not
+really more abundant than gold nuggets are in Australia or California.
+A high reward was offered to any native who should find a piece and
+show the exact spot where he obtained it, but without effect.
+
+The mountaineers of Timor are a people of Papuan type, having rather
+slender forms, bushy frizzled hair, and the skin of a dusky brown
+colour. They have the long nose with overhanging apex which is so
+characteristic of the Papuan, and so absolutely unknown among races of
+Malayan origin. On the coast there has been much admixture of some of
+the Malay races, and perhaps of Hindu, as well as of Portuguese. The
+general stature there is lower, the hair wavy instead of frizzled, and
+the features less prominent. The houses are built on the ground, while
+the mountaineers raise theirs on posts three or four feet high. The
+common dress is a long cloth, twisted around the waist and hanging to
+the knee, as shown in the illustration (page 305), copied from a
+photograph. Both men carry the national umbrella, made of an entire
+fan-shaped palm leaf, carefully stitched at the fold of each leaflet
+to prevent splitting. This is opened out, and held sloping over the
+head and back during a shower. The small water-bucket is made from an
+entire unopened leaf of the same palm, and the covered bamboo probably
+contains honey for sale. A curious wallet is generally carried,
+consisting of a square of strongly woven cloth, the four corners of
+which are connected by cords, and often much ornamented with beads and
+tassels. Leaning against the house behind the figure on the right are
+bamboos, used instead of water jars.
+
+A prevalent custom is the "pomali," exactly equivalent to the "taboo"
+of the Pacific islanders, and equally respected. It is used on the
+commonest occasions, and a few palm leaves stuck outside a garden as a
+sign of the "pomali" will preserve its produce from thieves as
+effectually as the threatening notice of man-traps, spring guns, or a
+savage dog would do with us. The dead are placed on a stage, raised
+six or eight feet above the ground, sometimes open and sometimes
+covered with a roof. Here the body remains until the relatives can
+afford to make a feast, when it is buried. The Timorese are generally
+great thieves, but are not bloodthirsty. They fight continually among
+themselves, and take every opportunity of kidnapping unprotected
+people of other tribes for slaves; but Europeans may pass anywhere
+through the country in safety. Except for a few half-breeds in the town,
+there are no native Christians in the island of Timor. The people
+retain their independence in a great measure, and both dislike and
+despise their would-be rulers, whether Portuguese or Dutch.
+
+The Portuguese government in Timor is a most miserable one. Nobody
+seems to care the least about the improvement of the country, and at
+this time, after three hundred years of occupation, there has not been
+a mile of road made beyond the town, and there is not a solitary
+European resident anywhere in the interior. All the Government
+officials oppress and rob the natives as much as they can, and yet
+there is no care taken to render the town defensible should the
+Timorese attempt to attack it. So ignorant are the military officers,
+that having received a small mortar and some shells, no one could be
+found who knew how to use them; and during an insurrection of the
+natives (while I was at Delli) the officer who expected to be sent
+against the insurgents was instantly taken ill! And they were allowed
+to get possession of an important pass within three miles of the town,
+where they could defend themselves against ten times the force. The
+result was that no provisions were brought down from the hills; a
+famine was imminent; and the Governor had to send off to beg for
+supplies from the Dutch Governor of Amboyna.
+
+In its present state Timor is more trouble than profit to its Dutch
+and Portuguese rulers, and it will continue to be so unless a
+different system is pursued. A few good roads into the elevated
+districts of the interior; a conciliatory policy and strict justice
+towards the natives, and the introduction of a good system of
+cultivation as in Java and northern Celebes, might yet make Timor a
+productive and valuable island. Rice grows well on the marshy flats,
+which often fringe the coast, and maize thrives in all the lowlands,
+and is the common food of the natives as it was when Dampier visited
+the island in 1699. The small quantity of coffee now grown is of very
+superior quality, and it might be increased to any extent. Sheep
+thrive, and would always be valuable as fresh food for whalers and to
+supply the adjacent islands with mutton, if not for their wool;
+although it is probable that on the mountains this product might soon
+be obtained by judicious breeding. Horses thrive amazingly; and enough
+wheat might be grown to supply the whole Archipelago if there were
+sufficient inducements to the natives to extend its cultivation, and
+good roads by which 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 become large consumers of European goods.
+This would be a far surer source of profit to their rulers than
+imposts 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
+misgovernment.
+
+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 everywhere covered with scrubby Eucalypti,
+which only occasionally grow into lofty forest trees. Mingled with
+these in smaller quantities are acacias and the fragrant sandalwood,
+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 great 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 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 decomposing 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 burned 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 sandalwood and beeswax. The
+sandalwood (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 wonderfully 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 beeswax 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 underside 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, until 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 a long 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 directions, which
+showed that it was very tough and stringy. He then wrapped it in palm-
+leaves, which were secured by twisting a slender creeper round them.
+He then fastened his cloth tightly round his loins, and producing
+another cloth wrapped it around his head, neck, and body, and tied it
+firmly around 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 around 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, until
+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 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 deliberately, 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. I 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.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TIMOR GROUP.
+
+IF 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 differences 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 leaving 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 termination 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 sedimentary
+rocks. Neither of these physical differences corresponds with the
+remarkable change in natural productions 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 on the island
+of Bali, informs us that its productions completely assimilate with
+those of Java, and that he is not aware of a single animal found in it
+which does not inhabit the larger island. During the few days which I
+stayed on the north coast of Bali on my way to Lombock, I saw several
+birds highly characteristic of Javan ornithology. Among these were the
+yellow-headed weaver (Ploceus hypoxantha), the black grasshopper
+thrush (Copsychus amoenus), the rosy barbet (Megalaema 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 example, among the commonest
+birds in Lombock were white cockatoos and three species of
+Meliphagidae or honeysuckers, 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 distinctness 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
+Lombock 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 back beyond one of the most recent geological epochs. Of
+course there are a large number of species (such as most of the
+waders, many of the raptorial birds, some of the kingfishers,
+swallows, and a few others), which range so widely 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 1 is Australian, 1 Indian.
+Flores 12       "      7        "         5 are    "       2    "
+Timor  42       "      20       "        16 are    "       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 special interest, is the
+greatly increased proportion of Australian forms and decreased
+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 . . .  . 33             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. [The names of all the birds inhabiting these islands are
+to be found in the "Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London"
+for the year 1863.] 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 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 combine these with the former table thus:
+
+
+                               In Lombock.  In Flores.  In Timor.
+Javan birds . . . . . . . .   . . .33           23         11
+Closely allied to Javan birds . .   1            5          6
+Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34           28         17
+
+Australian birds . . . . . . . . .  4            5         10
+Closely allied to Australian birds  3            9         26
+Total . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  7           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 between the two series: that whereas the
+larger proportion by far of the Java set are identical with those
+still inhabiting 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 Lombock, and can therefore support a decreasing number
+of species; the other and the more important is, that the distance 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 relations to Java and Australia.
+
+The Timor group of islands contains:
+
+Javan birds . . . . . . .  36       Australian birds . . . 13
+Closely allied species . . 11   Closely allied species . . 35
+Derived from Java  . . . . 47 Derived from Australia . . . 48
+
+We have here a wonderful agreement in the number of birds belonging to
+Australian and Javanese 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 in 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 is 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 with Australia,
+because such a large number of very abundant 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
+(Ptilonorhynchus), the black and red cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus), the
+blue wrens (Malurus), the crowshrikes (Cracticus), the Australian
+shrikes (Falcunculus 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 representative species derived from each extremity. It
+is true that the widening of the strait at the Australian end by
+subsidence, would, by putting a stop to immigration and intercrossing
+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 wanting. This would clearly indicate
+that there has been, until 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 forms
+than the other islands, would point them out as of comparatively
+recent origin. A wide arm of the sea probably 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 island 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 species, 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 hoods. 2.
+Paradoxurus fasciatus; a 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 distinct. 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 Australia or nearly allied
+to any Australian form, is strongly corroborative 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. It 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 thousands 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 fragmentary 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 upon the origin of the Timorese fauna
+because it appears to be a most interesting 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, the
+manner, and the proportions of their introduction. We have here a
+group of Oceanic Islands in miniature--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 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 stragglers 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 relationship to those
+of the two nearest masses of land. The insects have similar relations
+with the birds. As an example, four species of the Papilionidae 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 seen allied to those of the
+Moluccas and Celebes. The very few land shells known are all,
+curiously enough, allied to or identical with Moluccan or Celebes
+forms. The Pieridae (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 in 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 and 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 positive evidence
+that such has been the mode of peopling the islands. Their
+productions are of that miscellaneous character which we should
+expect front 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 explain those curious
+relations 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 banks, and the volcanic character of
+most of the islands, all point to 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 land-inhabitants of any country we have
+only to consider those 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.)
+
+I 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 care and marshy
+rice-fields. A few hills of no great height were visible in the
+background; but owing to the perpetual 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 extremity. In the roadstead of Macassar there was a
+fine 42-gun 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 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, suitable for my pursuits. In the
+meantime, I went to a kind of clubhouse, in default of any hotel in
+the place.
+
+Macassar was the first Dutch town I had visited, and I found it
+prettier and cleaner than any I had yet seen in the East. The
+Dutch have some admirable local regulations. 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 seaside, 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 line of the street, and being generally backed by
+fruit trees. This street is usually thronged with a native
+population 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 around 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 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 outhouses,
+and several cottages nearby, 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 around 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 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, produced 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
+granted 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 I
+would first give him notice, in order that he might send someone
+to see that no injury was done me. Some wine was then brought us,
+and afterwards some detestable coffee and wretched sweetmeats,
+for it is 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 mealtime. 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. Ali's fever attacked
+him daily, but early in the morning he was pretty well, and then
+managed to cook enough for me for the day. In a week I cured him,
+and also succeeded in 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 "beche 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
+abundantly 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 characteristic of the great Fissirostral group to
+which it belongs. From this habit alone, the kingfishers, bee-
+eaters, rollers, trogons, and South American puff-birds, might be
+grouped together by a person who had observed them in a state of
+nature, but who had never had an opportunity of examining 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 brilliant 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 abundant; the
+most common being species of Euplaea 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
+ground--these both belong to the Pieridae, the group that
+contains our common white butterflies, although differing so much
+from them in appearance. Both were quite new to European
+naturalists. [The former has been named Eronia tritaea; the
+latter Tachyris ithonae.] 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 it 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
+dignified by the name of bazaars, which are scattered about the
+country wherever there is any traffic.
+
+One day Mr. Mesman told me of a larger piece of forest where he
+sometimes went to shoot 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, Paso carrying our
+provisions and my insect-box, while I took only my net and
+collecting-bottle and determined to devote myself 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 specimens of one of the
+finest of known cuckoos, Phoenicophaus 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 back; 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 doorstep, 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
+course granted. While I ate, three men, two women, and four
+children watched every motion, and never took eyes off me until 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 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 of my birds.
+During my work I often glanced at my precious box to see that no
+intruders had arrived, until 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 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 it placed my box on the top, and then felt secure
+for the night; a few inches of clean water or oil being the only
+barrier these terrible pests are not able to pass.
+
+On returning home to Mamajam (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, 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 the everlasting sirih and betel-nut, while a
+brass spittoon by her side and a sirih-box in front were ready to
+administer to her wants. The Rajah seated himself opposite to her
+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
+profusely. 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, sufficiently good-
+looking, yet neither their persons nor their garments had that
+appearance of freshness and cleanliness without which no other
+charms can be contemplated with pleasure. Everything had a dingy
+and faded appearance, very disagreeable and unroyal to a European
+eye. The only thing that excited some degree of admiration 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 bad 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 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, gave 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 conductor 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, I 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 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 packhorses, and, after a few break-
+downs, arrived about noon at our destination.
+
+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
+around, 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 of the 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 explained 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 snail-shells, a
+dozen children came one after another, bringing me a few
+specimens 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 around 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 convinced me that there was not a sufficient
+extent of forest in the neighbourhood to make the place worth
+staying at long, but it was too late now to think of going
+further, as in about a month 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 produced
+excessive lassitude and disinclination to all exertion. In 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 occasionally 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 buffaloes wallowed. Close to my
+house was an enclosed mudhole where three buffaloes 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 pattern 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 cultivate 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 until 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 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 or 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, I had to
+turn aside into the jungle and hide myself until they had passed,
+to avoid a catastrophe which would increase the dislike with
+which I was already regarded. Everyday about noon the buffaloes
+were brought into the villa, and were tethered in the shade
+around the houses; and then I had to creep about like a thief by
+backways, for no one could tell what mischief they might do to
+children and houses were I to walk among them. If I came suddenly
+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 determined to
+return to Mamajam, and pack up my collections before the heavy
+rains commenced. The wind bad 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 to stretch myself on a
+sofa, and to take my supper comfortably 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 someday 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 discovered 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, until 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 I.
+"Oh," replied 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 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 Mamajam 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 premature 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 necessity of life. The 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, 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 uninterrupted
+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 grove 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, until seven,
+when a substantial breakfast of rice and meat was ready in a cool
+verandah. Putting on a clean white linen suit, he then (trove 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
+generally stroll down to Mamajam to pay me a visit, and look
+after his farm.
+
+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 morning, 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.
+
+On 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.
+
+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 XVI.
+
+CELEBES.
+
+(MACASSAR. JULY TO NOVEMBER, 1857.)
+
+I 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. I began to feel eager
+for work again, and had to consider where I should spend my time
+until 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 stubble 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 assistance 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 ill
+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 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 until 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, until made to come back and wait until 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 burned-up rice-
+grounds, but at a few miles' distance precipitous hills appeared,
+backed by the lofty central range of the peninsula. 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
+limestone 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 precipices, and forming a
+succession of knolls and peaks aid 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 until 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 afternoon, and after a
+few days I got a sharp attack of fever, which determined me to
+move. I accordingly fixed on a place about a mile off, at the
+foot of a forest-covered hill, where in a few days Mr. M. built
+for me a nice little house, consisting of a good-sized enclosed
+verandah or open room, and a small inner sleeping-room, with a
+little cookhouse outside. As soon as it was finished I moved into
+it, and found the change most agreeable.
+
+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), 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 anywhere 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 pouring it over my body.
+
+My host Mr. M. enjoyed a thoroughly country life, depending
+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 from which he made his own butter; he
+grew his own rice and coffee, and had ducks, fowls, and their
+eggs, in profusion. 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 buffalo-milk every morning; it was as thick as
+cream, and required diluting with water to keep it fluid during
+the day. It mixes very well with tea and coffee, although it has
+a slight peculiar flavour, which after a time is not
+disagreeable. 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 flatland 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 precipitous as to be quite inaccessible. These
+circumstances, combined with the excessive drought, were very
+unfavourable for lily pursuits. Birds were scarce, and I got but
+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 eatable 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 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 vegetation. 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 blue-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-blue butterflies (Amblypodia) sitting on the leaves, as
+well as some rare and beautiful leaf-beetles of the families
+Hispidae and Chrysomelidae.
+
+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 morning's search at these
+often produced me a score of species--Staphylinidae, Nitidulidae,
+Onthophagi, and minute Carabidae, 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 Maros river, situated at the point
+where it issues from the mountains--a spot often visited by
+travellers and considered very beautiful. Mr. M. lent me a horse,
+and I obtained a guide from 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 readied
+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 around 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, forming 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 concentric cones until
+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, after
+which the rocks recede a little, and leave a wooded bank on one
+side, along which the path is continued, until 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
+descending into the bowels of the mountain, and which, 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 until 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 Phlaegenas tristigmata, a large
+ground pigeon with yellow 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). It 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
+obtained an insect which I had hoped but hardly expected 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. It is
+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 butterflies--orange, yellow, white, blue, and green--
+which on being disturbed rose into the air by hundreds, forming
+clouds of variegated colours.
+
+Such gores, chasms, and precipices here abound,as 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 enclosing 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, Pandanaceae, 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 surfaces 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.
+
+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 forgotten 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 grandeur 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 luxuriant 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 at 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 hothouses have been culled from the
+most varied regions, and therefore give a most erroneous idea of
+their abundance 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 luxuriance. Fine
+and varied foliage, rather than gay flowers, is more
+characteristic of those parts where tropical 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 abundance 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 vegetation 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
+comparable 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 is a step in this rock which forms the
+cascade already described. From it the limestone precipices rise
+abruptly; and in ascending the little stairway along the side of
+the fall, you step two or three times from tpe of 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
+at the base, the greatest diameter occurring at the height to
+which the country is flooded in the wet season, and thence
+decreasing regularly to the ground. Many of them overhang
+considerably, and some of the slenderer pillars appear to stand
+upon a point. When the rock is less solid it becomes curiously
+honeycombed by the rains of successive winters, and I 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 accumulate 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 unaffected by the intense drought; the Diptera, or
+two-winged flies, continued as plentifully 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 an abundance
+of Carbidae, 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 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, especially 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 until 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 until 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.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+CELEBES.
+
+(MENADO. JUNE TO SEPTEMBER, 1859.)
+
+IT was after my residence at Timor-Coupang that I visited the
+northeastern extremity of Celebes, touching Banda, Amboyna, and
+Ternate on my way. 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. All these gentlemen showed me the
+greatest kindness, accompanied 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 around the town, and over extensive districts far into
+the interior.
+
+The little town of Menado is one of the prettiest in the East. 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 backgrounds to
+the landscape.
+
+The inhabitants of Minahasa (as this part of Celebes is called)
+differ much from those of all the rest of the island, and in fact
+from any other people in the Archipelago. They are of a light-
+brown or yellow tint, often approaching the fairness of a
+European; of a rather short stature, stout and well-made; of an
+open and pleasing countenance, more or less disfigured as age
+increases by projecting check-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 destroyed by
+the intermixture of other races, they approach to the ordinary
+types of the wild inhabitants of the surrounding countries.
+
+In mental and moral characteristics they are also highly
+peculiar. They are remarkably quiet and gentle in disposition,
+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 intellectual education.
+
+Up to a very recent period these people were thorough savages,
+and there are persons now living in Menado who remember 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 unintelligible to each other, and almost
+always at war. They built their houses elevated upon lofty posts
+to defend themselves from the attacks of their enemies. They were
+headhunters 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 mountain, the torrent
+and the lake, were the abode of their deities; and certain trees
+and birds were supposed to have special 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 admirably from fifteen
+hundred feet, 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
+established at which all coffee brought to the government
+collectors was to be paid for, and the village chiefs who now
+received the titles of "Majors" were to receive five percent of
+the produce. After a time, 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 Java, was
+introduced. The "Controlleur "was a European, or a native of
+European blood, who was the general superintendent of the
+cultivation 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 semi-fortified houses were
+disused, and under the direction of the "Controlleurs" most of
+the houses were rebuilt on a neat and uniform plan. It was this
+interesting district which I was now about to visit.
+
+Having decided on my route, I started at 8 A.M. 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 returning 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 are all
+of wood, raised about six feet on substantial posts neatly
+painted blue, while the walls are whitewashed. They all have a
+verandah enclosed with a neat balustrade, and are generally
+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 Tomohón, 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
+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 excellent. 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 entirely in Malay, as that is the official
+language here, and in fact the mother-tongue and only language of
+the Controlleur, 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 but raised home
+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 until 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
+sunrise 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 Tomohón 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 little village of
+Rurúkan, the highest in the district of Minahasa, and probably in
+all Celebes. Here I had determined to stay for some time to see
+whether this elevation 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 beyond. 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 hemispheres, loaded with fruit
+from top to bottom, and producing 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 population are summoned by the
+sound of a 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 inhabitants. 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 small 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 thermometer 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 enjoyed
+myself very much among these fine mountains and forests, I was
+somewhat disappointed as to my collections. There was hardly any
+perceptible difference between the animal life in this temperate
+region and in the torrid 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 Cleridae, 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-tail, with azure-blue and spoon-shaped tails, and was often
+seen flying 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 I was at Rurukan.
+
+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 seeing 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 Orchideae, with dwarf Begonias on the rocks, make 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
+Orchideae, Bromeliae, Araceae, 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 endless variety and interest to the forest
+paths. The cocoa-nut palm still produces fruit abundantly, but is
+said to be deficient in oil. Oranges thrive better than 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 even in England in
+fine summers, especially if the young plants were raised under
+glass.
+
+The mountains have an unusual quantity of earth and 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 abundance of rocky and exposed surfaces as on
+difference of climate. At a 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 atmospheric action,
+and that its elevation has been exceedingly slow and continuous.
+
+During my stay at Rurukan, 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 crack as if it would fall to pieces.
+Then began a cry throughout the village of "Tana goyang! tana
+goyang! "(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 seasick. 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, walls, and
+church towers; but as the houses here are all low, and strongly
+framed of timber, it is impossible 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 of 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 convulsed, and we were utterly impotent to guard
+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, even while reminding each other that it
+really might be no 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 shocks continued at intervals of half an hour or an
+hour all night, just strong enough to wake me thoroughly 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 intervals, 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 earthquake. 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 Tondano, 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 Tomohon. 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 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 Rurúkan 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
+great 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 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.
+
+Just opposite my abode in Rurukan was the schoolhouse. The
+schoolmaster was a native, educated by the Missionary at Tomohón.
+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
+multiplication-table, up to twenty times twenty, very glibly. They
+always wound up with singing, and it 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 wonderfully 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 elsewhere 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 possessions.
+The system is one which may be called a "paternal 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 ourselves. 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 government. 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 rendered 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,
+of 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. Ruder 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 favourable 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 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
+willful 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 beneficial 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.
+
+In 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 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 willingly 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, how ever, 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 plantations would not be kept up;
+that the quality and quantity of the coffee would soon deteriorate;
+that traders and merchants would get rich, but that the people would
+relapse into poverty and barbarism. That such is invariably is the
+result of free trade with any savage tribes who possess 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 would 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 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 guide, 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 them 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
+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 permanent
+increase in the production 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 increase the health and
+happiness of the whole community. 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 an equality with their white
+rulers.
+
+After a fortnight's stay at Rurúkan, 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 Tondano, and the next morning at nine, left in a
+small boat for the head of the lake, a distance 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 greet river, the width being about two miles.
+At the upper end is the village of Kakas, where I dined with the
+head man in a good house like those I have already described;
+and then went on to Langówan, 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 accompany 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 until night.
+This distance to walk everyday 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, until I found someplace
+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 learned 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 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 in 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
+emitted 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. On a sloping tract of ground in a slight
+hollow is a small lake of liquid mud, with patches of blue, red, or
+white, and in many places boiling and bubbling most furiously.
+All around on the indurated clay are small wells and craters
+full of boiling mud. These seem to be forming continually, a
+small hole appearing first, which emits jets of steam and boiling
+mud, which upon 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 pressure
+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 around 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 ventured too near
+the liquid mud, when the crust gave way and he was engulfed in
+the horrible caldron.
+
+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 volcano which was in eruption about thirty years
+before my visit, presenting a magnificent appearance and covering
+the surrounding country with showers of ashes. The plains around
+the lake formed by the intermingling and decomposition of
+volcanic products are of amazing fertility, and with a little
+management 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, without any manure and with scarcely any
+cultivation.
+
+I was delayed a day by incessant rain, and then proceeded 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 I 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 diarrhoea, and
+the other was attacked at Langówan 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 was 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
+everyday, either in the afternoon only, or all day long; but
+there were generally a few hours' sunshine 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.
+
+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. 0n 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
+identical pattern of pale spots. I also found a single specimen
+of a most curious species with very long antennae. 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 on 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 illustration of the low state
+of civilization of these people, until quite recently, is to be
+found in the great diversity of their languages. Villages three
+or four miles apart have separate dialects, and each group of
+three or four such villages has a distinct language quite
+unintelligible to all the rest; so that, until the recent
+introduction of Malay by the Missionaries, there must have been a
+bar to all free communication. 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
+characteristics 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 physiognomy prevails. The
+plateau of Tondano is chiefly inhabited by people nearly as white
+as the Chinese, and 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.
+
+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 all of 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 Lempias, 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) until sunset.
+I was wet through, and had to wait for an hour in an uncomfortable
+state until the first installment of my baggage arrived, which
+luckily contained my clothes, while the rest did not come in until
+midnight.
+
+This being the district inhabited by that singular annual 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 "Sapiutan" (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 highbred oxen principally by the low-
+hanging dewlap, 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 Babirusa and Sapiutan. 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 fine butterflies
+and very good birds, among which was one more specimen of the
+rare ground dove (Phlegaenas tristigmata), which I had first
+obtained near the Maros waterfall in South Celebes.
+
+Hearing what I was particularly in search of, Mr. Goldmann kindly
+offered to make a hunting-party to the place where the "Maleos"
+are most abundant, a remote and uninhabited sea-beach about
+twenty miles distant. The climate here was quite different from
+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 group. 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 but and prepared for a stay
+of some days--I to shoot and skin "Maleos", and 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 Limbe and Banca,
+and consists of steep beach more than a mile in length, of deep
+loose and coarse black volcanic sand (or rather gravel), 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
+probably have here 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 mentioned 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
+supposed 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, where 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 probably 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 as a great delicacy, and when quite fresh,
+are indeed delicious. They are richer than hens' eggs and of a
+finer favour, and each one 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, upon 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 accumulate the
+heaps of miscellaneous rubbish, which the large grasping feet of
+the Megapodius bring together with ease.
+
+We may also, I think, see in the peculiar organization of the
+entire family of the Megapodidae 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). Each
+bird lays six or eight eggs or even more each season, so that
+between the first and last there may be an interval of two or
+three months. Now, 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 Megapodidae 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 pigs and
+two Anoas, 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 Anóas 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 practicable 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 ludicrous; 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 is 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
+general knowledge of the whole country, its water system, its
+soil and its vegetation, that as they approach the point they are
+to reach, many easily-recognised indications 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 confusion. 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 until 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 moult up several trees
+in succession, and thus reach the enormous 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 lightning-
+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 complete 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 around 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.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+NATURAL HISTORY OF CELEBES.
+
+THE position of Celebes is the most central in the Archipelago.
+Immediately to the north are the Philippine 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
+observation 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 expected; 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. I now
+propose to examine 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 Moluccan 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 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 only
+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 rosenbergii), is 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 Prioniturus, and which are characterised by
+possessing two long spoon-shaped feathers in the tail. Two 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 remarkable.
+Phoenicophaus 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. Eudynamis melanorynchus
+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 interesting 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 Magpies (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.
+
+Doubtfully allied to the Starlings are two other very isolated
+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, is 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, resembling 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 upwards into
+quite a different form.
+
+A still more curious bird is the Scissirostrum pagei, 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 slatey 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 grain and fruits, often
+frequenting dead trees, in holes of which they build their nests;
+and they cling to the trunks as easily as woodpeckers or
+creepers.
+
+Out of eighteen Pigeons found in Celebes, eleven are peculiar to
+it. Two of them, Ptilonopus gularis and Turacaena menadensis,
+have their nearest allies in Timor. Two others, Carpophaga
+forsteni and Phlaegenas tristigmata, most resemble Philippine
+island species; and Carpophaga 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 whatsoever in the countries which
+surround Celebes, 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, consisting 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 resembling 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 descending 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 cattle, 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 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, and
+curved tusks resembling horns. This extraordinary creature
+resembles a pig in general appearance, but it does not dig with
+its snout, as it feeds on fallen fruits. The tusks of the lower
+jaw are very long and sharp, but the upper ones instead of
+growing downwards in the usual way are completely reversed,
+growing 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 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 to
+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 from 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
+Bourn, 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 connection
+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.
+
+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 is 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 larvae and pupae, 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 immigrations 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
+conditions 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 Papilionidae 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 Pieridae, 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 Danaidae are large, but weak-flying butterflies, which
+frequent forests and gardens, and are plainly but often very
+richly coloured. 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 Nymphalidae 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  Species peculiar to      Percentage
+          Nymphalidae.    each island.     of peculiar Species.
+
+Java . . . . . 70 . . . . . . 23 . . . . . . . . . . 33
+Borneo . . . . 52 . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . 29
+Celebes  . . . 48 . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . . 73
+
+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 Cetoniadae 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 percent, are peculiar to the former island, and 19, or 63
+percent, to the latter.
+
+The result of these comparisons is, that although Celebes 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 comparison of
+Celebes with the other groups of islands:--
+	
+                   PAPILIONIDAE AND    HAWKS, PARROTS, AND
+                       PERIDAE               PIGEONS.
+                  Percent of peculiar   Percent of peculiar
+                       Species.              Species.
+Indo-Malay region . . . . 56 . . . . . . . . . . 54
+Philippine group  . . . . 66 . . . . . . . . . . 73
+Celebes . . . . . . . . . 69 . . . . . . . . . . 60
+Moluccan group  . . . . . 52 . . . . . . . . . . 62
+Timor group . . . . . . . 42 . . . . . . . . . . 47
+Papuan group  . . . . . . 64 . . . . . . . . . . 74
+
+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 phenomena 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 Pieridae, and
+consists in the forewings 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 Pieridae have the same
+character, and in four or five of the Nymphalidae it is also very
+distinctly marked. In almost every case, the species found in
+Celebes are much larger than thane of the islands westward, and
+at least equal to those of the Moluccas, or even larger. The
+difference of form is, however, 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 Pieridae, 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 Celebes, 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 curvature in
+the common Papilio sarpedon, which has almost exactly the same
+form from India to New Guinea and 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
+insects 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, always accompanies a
+more feeble or more laborious 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 is 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 sufficiently 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 Podargidae and Laniadae, 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, Rhipidura 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 in this case; and it
+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 distribution 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
+productions 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 a
+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 distribution 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
+peninsula 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 indicated by the Mascarene
+islands and the Maldive coral group, the name of Lemuria. Whether
+or not 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, proof 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 is 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
+individuality. 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 undergone; 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 distribution 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.
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+BANDA.
+
+(DECEMBER 1857, MAY 1859, APRIL 1861.)
+
+THE Dutch mail steamer in which I travelled from Macassar to
+Banda and Amboyna was a roomy and comfortable 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, etc. 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 around at three P.M.; bitters, etc.
+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 offering 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 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, its 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 eight 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 magnificent 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 sulphurous smoke forever
+issues from this bare and desolate 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
+volcanoes 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 generation, 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 volcano is a fact opposed to all this mass of
+experience, a fact of so awful a character that, if it were the
+rule instead of the exception, it would make the earth
+uninhabitable a fact so strange and unaccountable that we may be
+sure it would not be believed on any human testimony, if
+presented to us now for the first time, as a natural phenomenon
+happening in a distant country.
+
+The summit of the small island is composed of a highly
+crystalline basalt; lower down I found a hard, stratified slatey
+sandstone, while on the beach are huge blocks of lava, and
+scattered masses of white coralline limestone. The larger island
+has coral rock to a height of three or four hundred feet, while
+above is lava and basalt. It seems probable, therefore, that this
+little group of four islands is the fragment of a larger district
+which was perhaps once connected with Ceram, but which was
+separated and broken up by the same forces which formed the
+volcanic cone. When I visited the larger island on another
+occasion, I saw a considerable tract covered with large forest
+trees--dead, but still standing. This was a record of the last
+great earthquake only two years ago, when the sea broke in over
+this part of the island and so flooded it as to destroy the
+vegetation on all the lowlands. Almost every year there is an
+earthquake here, and at intervals of a few years, very severe
+ones which throw down houses and carry ships out of the harbour
+bodily into the streets.
+
+Notwithstanding the losses incurred by these terrific
+visitations, and the small size and isolated position of these
+little islands, they have been and still are of considerable
+value to the Dutch Government, as the chief nutmeg-garden in the
+world. Almost the whole surface is planted with nutmegs, grown
+under the shade of lofty Kanary trees (Kanarium commune). The
+light volcanic soil, the shade, and the excessive moisture of
+these islands, where it rains more or less every month in the
+year, seem exactly to suit the nutmeg-tree, which requires no
+manure and scarcely any attention. All the year round flowers and
+ripe fruit are to be found, and none of those diseases occur
+which under a forced and unnatural system of cultivation have
+ruined the nutmeg planters of Singapore and Penang.
+
+Few cultivated plants are more beautiful than nutmeg-trees. They
+are handsomely shaped and glossy-leaved, growing to the height of
+twenty or thirty feet, and bearing small yellowish flowers. The
+fruit is the size and colour of a peach, but rather oval. It is
+of a tough fleshy consistence, but when ripe splits open, and
+shows the dark-brown nut within, covered with the crimson mace,
+and is then a most beautiful object. Within the thin, hard shell
+of the nut is the seed, which is the nutmeg of commerce. The nuts
+are eaten by the large pigeons of Banda, which digest the mace,
+but cast up the nut with its seed uninjured.
+
+The nutmeg trade has hitherto been a strict monopoly of the Dutch
+Government; but since leaving the country I believe that this
+monopoly has been partially or wholly discontinued, a proceeding
+which appears exceedingly injudicious and quite unnecessary.
+There are cases in which monopolies are perfectly justifiable,
+and I believe this to be one of them. A small country like
+Holland cannot afford to keep distant and expensive colonies at
+a loss; and having possession of a very small island where a
+valuable product, not a necessity of life, can be obtained at
+little cost, it is almost the duty of the state to monopolise
+it. No injury is done thereby to anyone, but a great benefit is
+conferred upon the whole population of Holland and its
+dependencies, since the produce of the state monopolies saves
+them from the weight of a heavy taxation. Had the Government not
+kept the nutmeg trade of Banda in its own hands, it is probable
+that the whole of the islands would long ago have become the
+property of one or more large capitalists. The monopoly would
+have been almost the same, since no known spot on the globe can
+produce nutmegs so cheaply as Banda, but the profits of the
+monopoly world have gone to a few individuals instead of to the
+nation.
+
+As an illustration of how a state monopoly may become a state duty,
+let us suppose that no gold existed in Australia, but that it had
+been found in immense quantities by one of our ships in some small
+and barren island. In this case it would plainly become the duty of
+the state to keep and work the mines for the public benefit, since
+by doing so, the gain would be fairly divided among the whole population
+by decrease of taxation; whereas by leaving it open to free trade
+while merely keeping the government of the island; we should certainly
+produce enormous evils during the first struggle for the precious
+metal, and should ultimately subside into the monopoly of some wealthy
+individual or great company, whose enormous revenue would not
+equally benefit the community. The nutmegs of Banda and the tin
+of Banca are to some extent parallel cases to this supposititious
+one, and I believe the Dutch Government will act most unwisely if
+they give up their monopoly.
+
+Even the destruction of the nutmeg and clove trees in many
+islands, in order to restrict their cultivation to one or two
+where the monopoly could be easily guarded, usually made the
+theme of so much virtuous indignation against the Dutch, may be
+defended on similar principles, and is certainly not nearly so
+bad as many monopolies we ourselves have until very recently
+maintained. Nutmegs and cloves arc not necessaries of life; they
+are not even used as spices by the natives of the Moluccas, and
+no one was materially or permanently injured by the destruction
+of the trees, since there are a hundred other products that can
+be grown in the same islands, equally valuable and far more
+beneficial in a social point of view. It is a case exactly
+parallel to our prohibition of the growth of tobacco in England,
+for fiscal purposes, and is, morally and economically, neither
+better nor worse. The salt monopoly which we so long maintained
+in India was in much worse. As long as we keep up a system of
+excise and customs on articles of daily use, which requires an
+elaborate array of officers and coastguards to carry into effect,
+and which creates a number of purely legal crimes, it is the
+height of absurdity for us to affect indignation at the conduct
+of the Dutch, who carried out a much more justifiable, less
+hurtful, and more profitable system in their Eastern possessions.
+
+I challenge objectors to point out any physical or moral evils
+that have actually resulted from the action of the Dutch
+Government in this matter; whereas such evils are the admitted
+results of every one of our monopolies and restrictions. The
+conditions of the two experiments are totally different. The true
+"political economy" of a higher race, when governing a lower race,
+has never yet been worked out. The application of our "political
+economy" to such cases invariably results in the extinction or
+degradation of the lower race; whence, we may consider it probable
+that one of the necessary conditions of its truth is the
+approximate mental and social unity of the society in which it is
+applied. I shall again refer to this subject in my chapter on
+Ternate, one of the most celebrated of the old spice-islands.
+
+The natives of Banda are very much mixed, and it is probable that
+at least three-fourths of the population are mongrels, in various
+degrees of Malay, Papuan, Arab, Portuguese, and Dutch. The first
+two form the bases of the larger portion, and the dark skins,
+pronounced features, and more or less frizzly hair of the Papuans
+preponderates. There seems little doubt that the aborigines of
+Banda were Papuans, and a portion of them still exists in the Ke
+islands, where they emigrated when the Portuguese first took
+possession of their native island. It is such people as these
+that are often looked upon as transitional forms between two very
+distinct races, like the Malays and Papuans, whereas they are
+only examples of intermixture.
+
+The animal productions of Banda, though very few, are
+interesting. The islands have perhaps no truly indigenous
+Mammalia but bats. The deer of the Moluccas and the pig have
+probably been introduced. A species of Cuscus or Eastern opossum
+is also found at Banda, and this may be truly indigenous in the
+sense of not having been introduced by man. Of birds, during my
+three visits of one or two days each, I collected eight kinds,
+and the Dutch collectors have added a few others. The most
+remarkable is a fine and very handsome fruit-pigeon, Carpophaga
+concinna, which feeds upon the nutmegs, or rather on the mace,
+and whose loud booming note is to be continually heard. This bird
+is found in the Ke and Matabello islands as well as Banda, but
+not in Ceram or any of the larger islands, which are inhabited by
+allied but very distinct species. A beautiful small fruit-dove,
+Ptilonopus diadematus, is also peculiar to Banda.
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+AMBOYNA
+
+(DECEMBER 1857, OCTOBER 1859, FEBRUARY 1860.)
+
+TWENTY hours from Banda brought us to Amboyna, the capital of the
+Moluccas, and one of the oldest European settlements in the East.
+The island consists of two peninsulas, so nearly divided by
+inlets of the sea, as to leave only a sandy isthmus about a mile
+wide near their eastern extremity. The western inlet is several
+miles long and forms a fine harbour on the southern side of
+which is situated the town of Amboyna. I had a letter of
+introduction to Dr. Mohnike, the chief medical officer of the
+Moluccas, a German and a naturalist. I found that he could write
+and read English, but could not speak it, being like myself a bad
+linguist; so we had to use French as a medium of communication.
+He kindly offered me a room during my stay in Amboyna, and
+introduced me to his junior, Dr. Doleschall, a Hungarian and also
+an entomologïst. He was an intelligent and most amiable young man
+but I was shocked to find that he was dying of consumption,
+though still able to perform the duties of his office. In the
+evening my host took me to the residence of the Governor, Mr.
+Goldmann, who received me in a most kind and cordial manner, and
+offered me every assistance. The town of Amboyna consists of a
+few business streets, and a number of roads set out at right
+angles to each other, bordered by hedges of flowering shrubs, and
+enclosing country houses and huts embossed in palms and fruit
+trees. Hills and mountains form the background in almost every
+direction, and there are few places more enjoyable for a morning
+or evening stroll than these sandy roads and shady lanes in the
+suburbs of the ancient city of Amboyna.
+
+There are no active volcanoes in the island, nor is it now
+subject to frequent earthquakes, although very severe ones have
+occurred and may be expected again. Mr. William Funnell, in his
+voyage with Dampier to the South Seas in 1705, says: "Whilst we
+were here, (at Amboyna) we had a great earthquake, which
+continued two days, in which time it did a great deal of
+mischief, for the ground burst open in many places, and swallowed
+up several houses and whole families. Several of the people were
+dug out again, but most of them dead, and many had their legs or
+arms broken by the fall of the houses. The castle walls were rent
+asunder in several places, and we thought that it and all the
+houses would have fallen down. The ground where we were swelled
+like a wave in the sea, but near us we had no hurt done." There
+are also numerous records of eruptions of a volcano on the west
+side of the island. In 1674 an eruption destroyed a village. In
+1694 there was another eruption. In I797 much vapour and heat was
+emitted. Other eruptions occurred in 1816 and 1820, and in 1824 a
+new crater is said to have been formed. Yet so capricious is the
+action of these subterranean fires, that since the last-named
+epoch all eruptive symptoms have so completely ceased, that I was
+assured by many of the most intelligent European inhabitants of
+Amboyna, that they had never heard of any such thing as a volcano
+on the island.
+
+During the few days that elapsed before I could make arrangements 
+to visit the interior, I enjoyed myself much in the society of
+the two doctors, both amiable and well-educated men, and both
+enthusiastic entomologists, though obliged to increase their
+collections almost entirely by means of native collectors.
+Dr. Doleschall studied chiefly the flies and spiders, but also
+collected butterflies and moths, and in his boxes I saw grand
+specimens of the emerald Ornithoptera priamus and the azure
+Papilio Ulysses, with many more of the superb butterflies of this
+rich island. Dr. Mohnike confined himself chiefly to the beetles,
+and had formed a magnificent collection during many years
+residence in Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Japan, and Amboyna. The
+Japanese collection was especially interesting, containing both
+the fine Carabi of northern countries, and the gorgeous
+Buprestidae and Longicorns of the tropics. The doctor made the
+voyage to Jeddo by land from Nagasaki, and is well acquainted
+with the character, manners, and customs of the people of Japan,
+and with the geology, physical features, and natural history of
+the country. He showed me collections of cheap woodcuts printed
+in colours, which are sold at less than a farthing each, and
+comprise an endless variety of sketches of Japanese scenery and
+manners. Though rude, they are very characteristic, and often
+exhibit touches of great humour. He also possesses a large
+collection of coloured sketches of the plants of Japan, made by a
+Japanese lady, which are the most masterly things I have ever
+seen. Every stem, twig, and leaf is produced by single touches of
+the brush, the character and perspective of very complicated
+plants being admirably given, and the articulations of stem and
+leaves shown in a most scientific manner.
+
+Having made arrangements to stay for three weeks at a small hut
+on a newly cleared plantation in the interior of the northern
+half of the island, I with some difficulty obtained a boat and
+men to take me across the water--for the Amboynese are dreadfully
+lazy. Passing up the harbour, in appearance like a fine river,
+the clearness of the water afforded me one of the most
+astonishing and beautiful sights I have ever beheld. The bottom
+was absolutely hidden by a continuous series of corals, sponges,
+actinic, and other marine productions of magnificent dimensions,
+varied forms, and brilliant colours. The depth varied from about
+twenty to fifty feet, and the bottom was very uneven, rocks and
+chasms and little hills and valleys, offering a variety of
+stations for the growth of these animal forests. In and out among
+them, moved numbers of blue and red and yellow fishes, spotted
+and banded and striped in the most striking manner, while great
+orange or rosy transparent medusa floated along near the surface.
+It was a sight to gaze at for hours, and no description can do
+justice to its surpassing beauty and interest. For once, the
+reality exceeded the most glowing accounts I had ever read of the
+wonders of a coral sea. There is perhaps no spot in the world
+richer in marine productions, corals, shells and fishes, than the
+harbour of Amboyna.
+
+From the north side of the harbour, a good broad path passes
+through swamp clearing and forest, over hill and valley, to the
+farther side of the island; the coralline rock constantly
+protruding through the deep red earth which fills all the
+hollows, and is more or less spread over the plains and hill-
+sides. The forest vegetation is here of the most luxuriant
+character; ferns and palms abound, and the climbing rattans were
+more abundant than I had ever seen them, forming tangled festoons
+over almost every large forest tree. The cottage I was to occupy
+was situated in a large clearing of about a hundred acres, part
+of which was already planted with young cacao-trees and plantains
+to shade them, while the rest was covered with dead and half-
+burned forest trees; and on one side there was a tract where the
+trees had been recently felled and were not yet burned. The path
+by which I had arrived continued along one side of this clearing,
+and then again entering the virgin forest passed over hill and
+dale to the northern aide of the island.
+
+My abode was merely a little thatched hut, consisting of an open
+verandah in front and a small dark sleeping room behind. It was
+raised about five feet from the ground, and was reached by rude
+steps to the centre of the verandah. The walls and floor were of
+bamboo, and it contained a table, two bamboo chairs, and a couch.
+Here I soon made myself comfortable, and set to work hunting for
+insects among the more recently felled timber, which swarmed with
+fine Curculionidae, Longicorns, and Buprestidae, most of them
+remarkable for their elegant forms or brilliant colours, and
+almost all entirely new to me. Only the entomologist can
+appreciate the delight with which I hunted about for hours in the
+hot sunshine, among the branches and twigs and bark of the fallen
+trees, every few minutes securing insects which were at that time
+almost all rare or new to European collections.
+
+In the shady forest paths were many fine butterflies, most
+conspicuous among which was the shining blue Papilio Ulysses, one
+of the princes of the tribe, though at that time so rare in
+Europe, I found it absolutely common in Amboyna, though not easy
+to obtain in fine condition, a large number of the specimens
+being found when captured to have the wings torn or broken. It
+flies with a rather weak undulating motion, and from its large
+size, its tailed wings and brilliant colour, is one of the most
+tropical-looking insects the naturalist can gaze upon.
+
+There is a remarkable contrast between the beetles of Amboyna and
+those of Macassar, the latter generally small and obscure, the
+former large and brilliant. On the whole, the insects here most
+resemble those of the Aru islands, but they are almost always of
+distinct species, and when they are most nearly allied to each
+other, the species of Amboyna are of larger size and more
+brilliant colours, so that one might be led to conclude that in
+passing east and west into a less favourable soil and climate,
+they had degenerated into less striking forms.
+
+Of an evening I generally sat reading in the verandah, ready to
+capture any insects that were attracted to the light. One night
+about nine o'clock, I heard a curious noise and rustling
+overhead, as if some heavy animal were crawling slowly over the
+thatch. The noise soon ceased, and I thought no more about it and
+went to bed soon afterwards. The next afternoon just before
+dinner, being rather tired with my day's work, I was lying on the
+couch with a book in my hand, when gazing upwards I saw a large
+mass of something overhead which I had not noticed before.
+Looking more carefully I could see yellow and black marks, and
+thought it must be a tortoise-shell put up there out of the way
+between the ridge-pole and the roof Continuing to gaze, it
+suddenly resolved itself into a large snake, compactly coiled up
+in a kind of knot; and I could detect his head and his bright
+eyes in the very centre of the folds. The noise of the evening
+before was now explained. A python had climbed up one of the
+posts of the house, and had made his way under the thatch within
+a yard of my head, and taken up a comfortable position in the
+roof--and I had slept soundly all night directly under him.
+
+I called to my two boys who were skinning birds below and said,
+"Here's a big snake in the roof;" but as soon as I had shown it
+to them they rushed out of the house and begged me to come out
+directly. Finding they were too much afraid to do anything, we
+called some of the labourers in the plantation, and soon had half
+a dozen men in consultation outside. One of these, a native of
+Bouru, where there are a great many snakes, said he would get him
+out, and proceeded to work in a businesslike manner. He made a
+strong noose of rattan, and with a long pole in the other hand
+poked at the snake, who then began slowly to uncoil itself. He
+then managed to slip the noose over its head, and getting it well
+on to the body, dragged the animal down. There was a great
+scuffle as the snake coiled round the chairs and posts to resist
+his enemy, but at length the man caught hold of its tail, rushed
+out of the house (running so quick that the creature seemed quite
+confounded), and tried to strike its head against a tree. He
+missed however, and let go, and the snake got under a dead trunk
+close by. It was again poked out, and again the Bourn man caught
+hold of its tail, and running away quickly dashed its head with a
+swing against a tree, and it was then easily killed with a
+hatchet. It was about twelve feet long and very thick, capable of
+doing much mischief and of swallowing a dog or a child.
+
+I did not get a great many birds here. The most remarkable were
+the fine crimson lory, Eos rubra--a brush-tongued parroquet of a
+vivid crimson colour, which was very abundant. Large flocks of
+them came about the plantation, and formed a magnificent object
+when they settled down upon some flowering tree, on the nectar of
+which lories feed. I also obtained one or two specimens of the
+fine racquet-tailed kingfisher of Amboyna, Tanysiptera nais, one
+of the most singular and beautiful of that beautiful family.
+These birds differ from all other kingfishers (which have usually
+short tails) by having the two middle tail-feathers immensely
+lengthened and very narrowly webbed, but terminated by a spoon-
+shaped enlargement, as in the motmots and some of the humming-
+birds. They belong to that division of the family termed king-
+hunters, living chiefly on insects and small land-molluscs, which
+they dart down upon and pick up from the ground, just as a
+kingfisher picks a fish out of the water. They are confined to a
+very limited area, comprising the Moluccas, New Guinea and
+Northern Australia. About ten species of these birds are now
+known, all much resembling each other, but yet sufficiently
+distinguishable in every locality. The Amboynese species, of
+which a very accurate representation is here given, is one of the
+largest and handsomest. It is full seventeen inches long to the
+tips of the tail-feathers; the bill is coral red, the under-
+surface pure white, the back and wings deep purple, while the
+shoulders, head and nape, and some spots on the upper part of the
+back and wings, are pure azure blue; the tail is white, with the
+feathers narrowly blue-edged, but the narrow part of the long
+feathers is rich blue. This was an entirely new species, and has
+been well named after an ocean goddess, by Mr. R. G. Gray.
+
+On Christmas eve I returned to Amboyna, where I stayed about ten
+days with my kind friend Dr. Mohnike. Considering that I had been
+away only twenty days, and that on five or six of those I was
+prevented doing any thing by wet weather and slight attacks of
+fever, I had made a very nice collection of insects, comprising a
+much larger proportion of large and brilliant species than I had
+ever before obtained in so short a time. Of the beautiful
+metallic Buprestidae I had about a dozen handsome species, yet in
+the doctor's collection I observed four or five more very fine
+ones, so that Amboyna is unusually rich in this elegant group.
+
+During my stay here I had a good opportunity of seeing how
+Europeans live in the Dutch colonies, and where they have adopted
+customs far more in accordance with the climate than we have done
+in our tropical possessions. Almost all business is transacted in
+the morning between the hours of seven and twelve, the afternoon
+being given up to repose, and the evening to visiting. When in
+the house during the heat of the day, and even at dinner, they
+use a loose cotton dress, only putting on a suit of thin
+European-made clothes for out of doors and evening wear. They
+often walk about after sunset bareheaded, reserving the black hat
+for visits of ceremony. Life is thus made far more agreeable, and
+the fatigue and discomfort incident to the climate greatly
+diminished. Christmas day is not made much of, but on New Year's
+day official and complimentary visits are paid, and about sunset
+we went to the Governor's, where a large party of ladies and
+gentlemen were assembled. Tea and coffee were handed around, as is
+almost universal during a visit, as well as cigars, for on no
+occasion is smoking prohibited in Dutch colonies, cigars being
+generally lighted before the cloth is withdrawn at dinner, even
+though half the company are ladies. I here saw for the first time
+the rare black lory from New Guinea, Chalcopsitta atra. The
+plumage is rather glossy, and slightly tinged with yellowish and
+purple, the bill and feet being entirely black.
+
+The native Amboynese who reside in the city are a strange half-
+civilized, half-savage lazy people, who seem to be a mixture of at
+least three races--Portuguese, Malay, and Papuan or Ceramese,
+with an occasional cross of Chinese or Dutch. The Portuguese
+element decidedly predominates in the old Christian population,
+as indicated by features, habits, and the retention of many
+Portuguese words in the Malay, which is now their language. They
+have a peculiar style of dress which they wear among themselves,
+a close-fitting white shirt with black trousers, and a black
+frock or upper shirt. The women seem to prefer a dress entirely
+black. On festivals and state occasions they adopt the swallow-
+tail coat, chimneypot hat, and their accompaniments, displaying
+all the absurdity of our European fashionable dress. Though now
+Protestants, they preserve at feasts and weddings the processions
+and music of the Catholic Church, curiously mixed up with the
+gongs and dances of the aborigines of the country. Their language
+has still much more Portuguese than Dutch in it, although they
+have been in close communication with the latter nation for more
+than two hundred and fifty years; even many names of birds, trees
+and other natural objects, as well as many domestic terms, being
+plainly Portuguese. [The following are a few of the Portuguese
+words in common use by the Malay-speaking natives of Amboyna and
+the other Molucca islands: Pombo (pigeon); milo (maize); testa
+(forehead); horas (hours); alfinete (pin); cadeira (chair); lenco
+(handkerchief); fresco (cool); trigo (flour); sono (sloop);
+familia (family); histori (talk); vosse (you); mesmo (even);
+cunhado (brother-in-law); senhor (sir); nyora for signora
+(madam). None of them, however, have the least notion that these
+words belong to a European language.] This people seems to have
+had a marvellous power of colonization, and a capacity for
+impressing their national characteristics on every country they
+conquered, or in which they effected a merely temporary
+settlement. In a suburb of Amboyna there is a village of
+aboriginal Malays who are Mahometans, and who speak a peculiar
+language allied to those of Ceram, as well as Malay. They are
+chiefly fishermen, and are said to be both more industrious and
+more honest than the native Christians.
+
+I went on Sunday, by invitation, to see a collection of shells
+and fish made by a gentleman of Amboyna. The fishes are perhaps
+unrivalled for variety and beauty by those of any one spot on the
+earth. The celebrated Dutch ichthyologist, Dr. Blecker, has given
+a catalogue of seven hundred and eighty species found at Amboyna,
+a number almost equal to those of all the seas and rivers of
+Europe. A large proportion of them are of the most brilliant
+colours, being marked with bands and spots of the purest yellows,
+reds, and blues; while their forms present all that strange and
+endless variety so characteristic of the inhabitants of the
+ocean. The shells are also very numerous, and comprise a number
+of the finest species in the world. The Mactras and Ostreas in
+particular struck me by the variety and beauty of their colours.
+Shells have long been an object of traffic in Amboyna; many of
+the natives get their living by collecting and cleaning them, and
+almost every visitor takes away a small collection. The result is
+that many of the commoner-sorts have lost all value in the eyes
+of the amateur, numbers of the handsome but very common cones,
+cowries, and olives sold in the streets of London for a penny
+each, being natives of the distant isle of Amboyna, where they
+cannot be bought so cheaply. The fishes in the collection were
+all well preserved in clear spirit in hundreds of glass jars, and
+the shells were arranged in large shallow pith boxes lined with
+paper, every specimen being fastened down with thread. I roughly
+estimated that there were nearly a thousand different kinds of
+shells, and perhaps ten thousand specimens, while the collection
+of Amboyna fishes was nearly perfect.
+
+On the 4th of January I left Amboyna for Ternate; but two years
+later, in October 1859, I again visited it after my residence in
+Menado, and stayed a month in the town in a small house which I
+hired for the sake of assorting and packing up a large and varied
+collection which I had brought with me from North Celebes,
+Ternate, and Gilolo. I was obliged to do this because the mail
+steamer would have come the following month by way of Amboyna to
+Ternate, and I should have been delayed two months before I could
+have reached the former place. I then paid my first visit to
+Ceram, and on returning to prepare for my second more complete
+exploration of that island, I stayed (much against my will) two
+months at Paso, on the isthmus which connects the two portions of
+the island of Amboyna. This village is situated on the eastern
+side of the isthmus, on sandy ground, with a very pleasant view
+over the sea to the island of Haruka. On the Amboyna side of the
+isthmus there is a small river which has been continued by a
+shallow canal to within thirty yards of high-water mark on the
+other side. Across this small space, which is sandy and but
+slightly elevated, all small boats and praus can be easily
+dragged, and all the smaller traffic from Ceram and the islands
+of Saparúa and Harúka, passes through Paso. The canal is not
+continued quite through, merely because every spring-tide would
+throw up just such a sand-bank as now exists.
+
+I had been informed that the fine butterfly Ornithoptera priamus
+was plentiful here, as well as the racquet-tailed kingfisher and
+the ring-necked lory. I found, however, that I had missed the
+time for the former: and birds of all kinds were very scarce,
+although I obtained a few good ones, including one or two of the
+above-mentioned rarities. I was much pleased to get here the fine
+long-armed chafer, Euchirus longimanus. This extraordinary insect
+is rarely or never captured except when it comes to drink the sap
+of the sugar palms, where it is found by the natives when they go
+early in the morning to take away the bamboos which have been
+filled during the night. For some time one or two were brought me
+every day, generally alive. They are sluggish insects, and pull
+themselves lazily along by means of their immense forelegs. A
+figure of this and other Moluccan beetles is given in the 27th
+chapter of this work.
+
+I was kept at Paso by an inflammatory eruption, brought on by the
+constant attacks of small acari-like harvest-bugs, for which the
+forests of Ceram are famous, and also by the want of nourishing
+food while in that island. At one time I was covered with severe
+boils. I had them on my eye, cheek, armpits, elbows, back,
+thighs, knees, and ankles, so that I was unable to sit or walk,
+and had great difficulty in finding a side to lie upon without
+pain. These continued for some weeks, fresh ones coming out as
+fast as others got well; but good living and sea baths ultimately
+cured them.
+
+About the end of January Charles Allen, who had been my assistant
+in Malacca and Borneo, again joined me on agreement for three
+years; and as soon as I got tolerably well, we had plenty to do
+laying in stores and making arrangements for our ensuing
+campaign. Our greatest difficulty was in obtaining men, but at
+last we succeeded in getting two each. An Amboyna Christian named
+Theodorus Watakena, who had been some time with me and had learned
+to skin birds very well, agreed to go with Allen, as well as a
+very quiet and industrious lad named Cornelius, whom I had
+brought from Menado. I had two Amboynese, named Petrus Rehatta,
+and Mesach Matahena; the latter of whom had two brothers, named
+respectively Shadrach and Abednego, in accordance with the usual
+custom among these people of giving only Scripture names to their
+children.
+
+During the time I resided in this place, I enjoyed a luxury I have
+never met with either before or since--the true bread-fruit. A
+good deal of it has been planted about here and in the
+surrounding villages, and almost everyday we had opportunities
+of purchasing some, as all the boats going to Amboyna were
+unloaded just opposite my door to be dragged across the isthmus.
+Though it grows in several other parts of the Archipelago, it is
+nowhere abundant, and the season for it only lasts a short time.
+It is baked entire in the hot embers, and the inside scooped out
+with a spoon. I compared it to Yorkshire pudding; Charles Allen
+said it was like mashed potatoes and milk. It is generally about
+the size of a melon, a little fibrous towards the centre, but
+everywhere else quite smooth and puddingy, something in
+consistence between yeast-dumplings and batter-pudding. We
+sometimes made curry or stew of it, or fried it in slices; but it
+is no way so good as simply baked. It may be eaten sweet or
+savory. With meat and gravy it is a vegetable superior to any I
+know, either in temperate or tropical countries. With sugar,
+milk, butter, or treacle, it is a delicious pudding, having a
+very slight and delicate but characteristic flavour, which, like
+that of good bread and potatoes, one never gets tired of. The
+reason why it is comparatively scarce is that it is a fruit of
+which the seeds are entirely aborted by cultivation, and the tree
+can therefore only be propagated by cuttings. The seed-bearing
+variety is common all over the tropics, and though the seeds are
+very good eating, resembling chestnuts, the fruit is quite
+worthless as a vegetable. Now that steam and Ward's cases render
+the transport of young plants so easy, it is much to be wished
+that the best varieties of this unequalled vegetable should be
+introduced into our West India islands, and largely propagated
+there. As the fruit will keep some time after being gathered, we
+might then be able to obtain this tropical luxury in Covent
+Garden Market.
+
+Although the few months I at various times spent in Amboyna were
+not altogether very profitable to me in the way of collections,
+it will always remain as a bright spot in the review of my
+Eastern travels, since it was there that I first made the
+acquaintance of those glorious birds and insects which render
+the Moluccas classic ground in the eyes of the naturalist, and
+characterise its fauna as one of the most remarkable and
+beautiful upon the globe. On the 20th of February I finally
+quitted Amboyna for Ceram and Waigiou, leaving Charles Allen to
+go by a Government boat to Wahai on the north coast of Ceram, and
+thence to the unexplored island of Mysol.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of V1 of Project Gutenberg's The Malay Archipelago by Alfred R. Wallace
+
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