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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2530-8.txt b/2530-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..25c1f38 --- /dev/null +++ b/2530-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10675 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Malay Archipelago, Volume I. (of II.), by +Alfred Russell Wallace + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Malay Archipelago, Volume I. (of II.) + +Author: Alfred Russell Wallace + +Release Date: February, 2001 +Last Updated: July 19, 2011 [EBook #2530] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Adamson, David Widger and Colin Choat + + + + + + +THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO, VOLUME I. (of II.) + +By Alfred Russel Wallace + + + + + The land of the orang-utan, and the bird of 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. + + + + +Contents + +PREFACE. + +THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. + + CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. + CHAPTER II. SINGAPORE. + CHAPTER III. MALACCA AND MOUNT OPHIR. + CHAPTER IV. BORNEO--THE ORANGUTAN. + CHAPTER V. BORNEO--JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR. + CHAPTER VI. BORNEO--THE DYAKS. + CHAPTER VII. JAVA. + CHAPTER VIII. SUMATRA. + CHAPTER IX. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS. + CHAPTER X. BALI AND LOMBOCK. + CHAPTER XI. LOMBOCK: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE. + CHAPTER XII. LOMBOCK: HOW THE RAJAH TOOK THE CENSUS. + CHAPTER XIII. TIMOR. + CHAPTER XIV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TIMOR GROUP. + CHAPTER XV. CELEBES. + CHAPTER XVI. CELEBES. + CHAPTER XVII. CELEBES. + CHAPTER XVIII. NATURAL HISTORY OF CELEBES. + CHAPTER XIX. BANDA. + CHAPTER XX. AMBOYNA. + + +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 bird-skins 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 races of man +in the Archipelago and the surrounding countries. With this explanation, +and a reference to the maps which illustrate the work, I trust that my +readers will always know where they are, and in what direction they are +going. + +I am well aware that my book is far too small for the extent of the +subjects it touches upon. It is a mere sketch; but so far as it goes, +I have endeavoured to make it an accurate one. Almost the whole of the +narrative and descriptive portions were written on the spot, and +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 Siau and Sanguir to the Philippine Islands along +the eastern side of which it continues, in a curving line, to their +northern extremity. From the extreme eastern bend of this belt at Banda, +we pass onwards for 1,000 miles over a non-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 Banda, are probably all due to volcanic +action. Timor itself consists of ancient stratified rocks, but is said +to have one volcano near its centre. + +Going northward, Amboyna, a part of Bouru, and the west end of Ceram, +the north part of Gilolo, and all the small islands around it, the +northern extremity of Celebes, and the islands of Siau and Sanguir, are +wholly volcanic. The Philippine Archipelago contains many active +and extinct volcanoes, and has probably been reduced to its present +fragmentary condition by subsidences attending on volcanic action. + +All along this great line of volcanoes are to be found more or less +palpable signs of upheaval and 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 pre-eminently 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 modes 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 how 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 hilly. We passed +through extensive forests, along paths often up to our knees in mud, +and were much annoyed by the leeches for which this district is famous. +These little creatures infest the leaves and herbage by the side of the +paths, and when a passenger comes along they stretch themselves out at +full length, and if they touch any part of his dress or body, quit their +leaf and adhere to it. They then creep on to his feet, legs, or other +part of his body and suck their fill, the first puncture being rarely +felt during the excitement of walking. On bathing in the evening we +generally found half a dozen or a dozen on each of us, most frequently +on our legs, but sometimes on our bodies, and I had one who sucked his +fill from the side of my neck, but who luckily missed the jugular vein. +There are many species of these forest leeches. All are small, but some +are beautifully marked with stripes of bright yellow. They probably +attach themselves to deer or other animals which frequent the forest +paths, and have thus acquired the singular habit of stretching +themselves out at the sound of a footstep or of rustling foliage. 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-batu +as 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 rude 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 Rafflesii, +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, and prepared 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. When I 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 every day; 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 been 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 he 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 Mangosteen 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 +bark 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 Mias 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 Mammalia 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, and 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 Tabókan, 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 Budw, 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 trousers), 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 sugar-cane, +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 a 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 dint 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 Senna, 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 shot +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 none 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 +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 +traiders, 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 might 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 you 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 +stepping-stones, 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 gay 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 time, 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 from 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 would +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 Modjo-kerto, 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 Jong-grang (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 suited 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 twined +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 Wonosalem 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 coön 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 +Musaceae 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 (Honeysuckle), 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 forms of plants during the +glacial epoch. This would undoubtedly be a fatal objection, were there +not abundant evidence to show that Java has been formerly connected with +Asia, and that the union must have occurred at about the epoch required. +The most striking proof of such a junction 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 the most 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 green plumage; and on the +very summit, feeding on the ground among the strawberries that have +been planted there, I obtained a dull-coloured thrush, with the form +and habits of a starling (Turdus fumidus). Insects were almost entirely +absent, owing no doubt to the extreme dampness, and I did not get a +single butterfly the whole trip; yet I feel sure that, during the +dry season, a week's residence on this mountain would well repay the +collector in every department of natural history. + +After my return to Toego, I endeavoured to find another locality to +collect in, and removed to a coffee-plantation some miles to the north, +and tried in succession higher and lower stations on the mountain; but, +I never succeeded in obtaining insects in any abundance and birds were +far less plentiful than on the Megamendong Mountain. 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 up 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 boat. A considerable portion of the population are Chinese and Arabs, +who carry on all the trade; while the only Europeans are the civil and +military officials of the Dutch Government. The town is situated at the +head of the delta of the river, and between it and the sea there is +very little ground elevated above 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 flooded for a considerable +distance. Palembang is built on a patch of elevated ground, a few miles +in extent, on the north bank of the river. At a spot about three miles +from the town this 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 almost 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 friable clay. Numbers of small +streams and rivers intersect the country, and it is pretty equally +divided between open clearings and patches of forest, both virgin and +second growth, with abundance of fruit trees; and there is no lack of +paths to get about in any direction. Altogether it is the very country +that would promise most for a naturalist, and 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 an +allied form, (Papilio Doubledayi) having red spots in place of yellow, +a closely-allied species or variety of Papilio memnon (P. androgeus) +has the tailed female 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 theseus (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 grown on +the butterflies themselves! + +If such an extraordinary adaptation as this stood alone, it would +be very difficult to offer any explanation of it; but although it is +perhaps the most perfect case of protective imitation known, there +are hundreds of similar 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 of another +a little lower, and it is very amusing when one strong leader takes a +bold jump, to see the others following with more or less trepidation; +and it often happens that one or two of the last seem quite unable to +make up their minds to leap 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 end as does its Latin name, Siamanga syndactyla. It moves much +more slowly than the active Hylobates, keeping lower down in trees, and +not indulging in such tremendous leaps; but it is still very active, +and by means of its 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 around 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, Araceae, 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 time 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 Burmah and India. All the deer are of peculiar species, except two, +which range from Malacca into India. Of the cattle, one Indian species +reaches Malacca, while the Bos 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 +nearly 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 them 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, and 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 how 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 having 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 and about an inch in diameter. When these 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 cynomolgus) 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 +some difficulty, 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 fine 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 +hills, 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 ear, 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 flats 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 shed with a raised floor of +bamboo, a place used to receive visitors and hold audiences. Turning our +horses to graze on the luxuriant grass 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 he 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 first 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 clutches 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 every day 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. LOMBOCK: 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 took 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 wind, 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 coming 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--"Oh 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 of 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 Euphorbiaceae, 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 fan-leaved 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 them 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 hare-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 grass 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 fine 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. Geach 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 grandiloquent Portuguese; and concluded by turning to Mr. +Geach, 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 floods. 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 Australian 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 all 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 seem 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 from such an origin; and +to suppose that they have been portions of Australia or of Java will +introduce perfectly gratuitous difficulties, and render it quite +impossible to 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 bare 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, Baso 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 +had sent for arrived, it was found impossible to use it because the +driver's seat was the highest, and it had to be kept as a show in its +coach 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 and 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 back ways, for no one could tell what +mischief they might do to children and houses were I to walk among +them. If I came 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 +had already begun to blow from the west, and many signs indicated that +the rainy season might set in earlier than usual; and then everything +becomes very damp, and it is almost impossible to dry collections +properly. My kind friend Mr. Mesman again lent me his pack-horses, and +with the assistance of a few men to carry my birds and insects, which I +did not like to trust on horses' backs, we got everything home safe. Few +can imagine the luxury it was 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 +drove to town in his buggy, where he had an office, with two or three +Chinese clerks who looked after his affairs. His business was that of +a coffee and opium merchant. He had a coffee estate at Bontyne, and +a small prau which traded to the Eastern islands near New Guinea, for +mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell. About one he would return home, +have coffee and cake or fried plantain, first changing his dress for a +coloured cotton shirt and trousers and bare feet, and then take a siesta +with a book. About four, after a cup of tea, he would walk round his +premises, and 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 and domes of the most varied and fantastic shapes. +In the very centre of the valley was a large bamboo house, while +scattered around were a dozen cottages of the same material. + +I was kindly received by Mr. Jacob Mesman in an airy saloon detached +from the house, and entirely built of bamboo and thatched with grass. +After breakfast he took me to his foreman's house, about a hundred yards +off, half of which was given up to me 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 my 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 reached the river about half-way between Maros and the falls, +and thence had a good bridle-road to our destination, which we reached +in another hour. The hills had closed in 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 gorges, 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 one rock on to the +other--the limestone dry and rough, being worn by the water and rains +into sharp ridges and honeycombed holes--the basalt moist, even, and +worn smooth and slippery by the passage of bare-footed pedestrians. The +solubility of the limestone by rain-water is well seen in the little +blocks and peaks which rise thickly through the soil of the alluvial +plains as you approach the mountains. They are all skittle-shaped, +larger in the middle than 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 Carabidae, 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 +Rurúkan. + +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 compositae, 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 Rurúkan, 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 Tomohón. 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 Rurúkan 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 everything 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. +Under the best aspect of education, children are subjected to a +mild despotism for the good of themselves and of society; and their +confidence in the wisdom and goodness of those who ordain and apply this +despotism, neutralizes the bad passions and degrading feelings, which +under less 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, however, that the coffee plantations were +established by the Government at great outlay of capital and skill; that +it gives free education to the people, and that the monopoly is in lieu +of taxation. He forgets that the product he wants to purchase and make +a profit by, is the creation of the Government, without whom the people +would still be savages. He knows very well that free trade would, as its +first result, lead to the importation of whole cargoes of arrack, +which would be carried over the country and exchanged for coffee. That +drunkenness and poverty would spread over the land; that the public +coffee 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 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 every day +was too far for any profitable work, especially when the weather was so +uncertain. I therefore decided at once that I must go further on, 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 every +day, 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. +On dead trunks overhanging the water and on the banks and foliage, I +obtained three very pretty species of Cicindela, quite distinct in size, +form, and colour, but having an almost 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 +"Sapi-utan" (Anoa depressicornis). Of this animal I had seen two living +specimens at Menado, and was surprised at their great resemblance to +small cattle, or still more to the Eland of South Africa. Their Malay +name signifies "forest ox," and they differ from very small 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 Sapi-utan. I found here +Mr. Goldmann, the eldest son of the Governor of the Moluccas, who was +superintending the establishment of some Government salt-works. This was +a better locality, and I obtained some 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 +Anóas, 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 mount 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 racquet-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 those 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 would 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 are 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 +entomologist. 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 1797 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, actiniae, 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 medusae +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 +Bouru 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 +anything 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 +Harúka. 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 Matakena, 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 Matakena; 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 +every day 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. + + + Next Volume + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Malay Archipelago, Volume I. 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(of II.) by Alfred Russel Wallace + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's The Malay Archipelago, by Alfred Russell Wallace + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Malay Archipelago + Volume I. (of II.) + +Author: Alfred Russell Wallace + +Release Date: December 1, 2008 [EBook #2530] +Last Updated: February 7, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Adamson, David Widger and Colin Choat + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO,<br /> VOLUME I. (of II.) + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Alfred Russel Wallace + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The land of the orang-utan, and the bird of paradise. + + A narrative of travel, with sketches of man and nature. +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 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. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.</b></big> </a><br /><br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> SINGAPORE. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> MALACCA + AND MOUNT OPHIR. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> BORNEO—THE + ORANGUTAN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> BORNEO—JOURNEY + INTO THE INTERIOR. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> BORNEO—THE + DYAKS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> JAVA, + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> SUMATRA. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> NATURAL + HISTORY OF THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> + CHAPTER X. </a> BALI AND LOMBOCK. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. </a> LOMBOCK: MANNERS AND + CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. + </a> LOMBOCK: HOW THE RAJAH TOOK THE CENSUS. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. </a> TIMOR. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. </a> THE NATURAL HISTORY + OF THE TIMOR GROUP. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV. </a> CELEBES. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI. </a> CELEBES. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII. </a> CELEBES. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII. </a> NATURAL + HISTORY OF CELEBES. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX. + </a> BANDA. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX. + </a> AMBOYNA. <br /><br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <table summary="" border="3" cellpadding="4"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td> + <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2539/2539-h/2539-h.htm">Next + Volume</a> + </td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 bird-skins 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + I must now say a few words on the plan of my work. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + I divide the Archipelago into five groups of islands, as follows: + </p> + <p> + I. THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS: comprising the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, + Borneo, Java, and Sumatra. + </p> + <p> + II. THE TIMOR GROUP: comprising the islands of Timor, Flores, Sumbawa, and + Lombock, with several smaller ones. + </p> + <p> + III. CELEBES: comprising also the Sula Islands and Bouton. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The first chapter is an introductory one, on the Physical Geography of the + whole region; and the last is a general sketch of the races of man in the + Archipelago and the surrounding countries. With this explanation, and a + reference to the maps which illustrate the work, I trust that my readers + will always know where they are, and in what direction they are going. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + I find that my Eastern collections amounted to: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 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. +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Siau and Sanguir to the Philippine Islands along the eastern + side of which it continues, in a curving line, to their northern + extremity. From the extreme eastern bend of this belt at Banda, we pass + onwards for 1,000 miles over a non-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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + To the eastward, the long string of islands from Java, passing by the + north of Timor and away to Banda, are probably all due to volcanic action. + Timor itself consists of ancient stratified rocks, but is said to have one + volcano near its centre. + </p> + <p> + 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 Siau and Sanguir, are wholly + volcanic. The Philippine Archipelago contains many active and extinct + volcanoes, and has probably been reduced to its present fragmentary + condition by subsidences attending on volcanic action. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + pre-eminently 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. SINGAPORE. + </h2> + <p> + (A SKETCH OF THE TOWN AND ISLAND AS SEEN DURING SEVERAL VISITS FROM 1854 + TO 1862.) + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. MALACCA AND MOUNT OPHIR. + </h2> + <h3> + (JULY TO SEPTEMBER, 1854.) + </h3> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> + <p> + "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 modes 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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + At Ayer-panas we had a comfortable house to stay in, and plenty of room to + dry and preserve our specimens; but, owing to there being no industrious + Chinese to cut down timber, insects were comparatively scarce, with the + exception of butterflies, of which I formed a very fine collection. The + manner in which I obtained one fine insect was curious, and indicates how + fragmentary and imperfect a traveller's 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 hilly. We passed through + extensive forests, along paths often up to our knees in mud, and were much + annoyed by the leeches for which this district is famous. These little + creatures infest the leaves and herbage by the side of the paths, and when + a passenger comes along they stretch themselves out at full length, and if + they touch any part of his dress or body, quit their leaf and adhere to + it. They then creep on to his feet, legs, or other part of his body and + suck their fill, the first puncture being rarely felt during the + excitement of walking. On bathing in the evening we generally found half a + dozen or a dozen on each of us, most frequently on our legs, but sometimes + on our bodies, and I had one who sucked his fill from the side of my neck, + but who luckily missed the jugular vein. There are many species of these + forest leeches. All are small, but some are beautifully marked with + stripes of bright yellow. They probably attach themselves to deer or other + animals which frequent the forest paths, and have thus acquired the + singular habit of stretching themselves out at the sound of a footstep or + of rustling foliage. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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-batu as 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. BORNEO—THE ORANGUTAN. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 rude 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + Rafflesii, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, and prepared a perfect skeleton, which was + afterwards purchased for the Derby Museum. + </p> + <p> + 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. When I 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 every day; 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 been 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + On June 18th I had another great success, and obtained a fine adult male. + A Chinaman told me he 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Mangosteen 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 bark 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Mias 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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 Mammalia 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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! + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. BORNEO—JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR. + </h2> + <h3> + (NOVEMBER 1855 TO JANUARY 1856.) + </h3> + <p> + 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, and 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Tabókan, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Budw, 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. + </p> + <p> + In the evening the Orang Kaya came in full dress (a spangled velvet + jacket, but no trousers), 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 sugar-cane, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 a 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 dint of threats and promises, and + the exertion of all Bujon's eloquence, we succeeded in getting off after + two hours' delay. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Senna, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 shot 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 none 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 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 +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. BORNEO—THE DYAKS. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 traiders, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 might be taken advantage of to elevate their whole + intellectual and social life. + </p> + <p> + 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 you 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. + </p> + <p> + 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? + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 stepping-stones, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. JAVA. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 gay 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. + </p> + <p> + The system introduced by the Dutch was to induce the people, through their + chiefs, to give a portion of their time, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Taking it as a whole, and surveying it from 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 would 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. + </p> + <p> + I stopped at Modjo-kerto, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Jong-grang (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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 suited 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 twined 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. + </p> + <p> + In a month's collecting at Wonosalem 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 coön 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Musaceae 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 (Honeysuckle), 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 forms of plants during the glacial epoch. + This would undoubtedly be a fatal objection, were there not abundant + evidence to show that Java has been formerly connected with Asia, and that + the union must have occurred at about the epoch required. The most + striking proof of such a junction 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. + </p> + <p> + In my more special pursuits, I had very little success upon the mountain—owing, + perhaps, to the excessively unpropitious weather and the shortness of my + stay. At from 7,000 to 8,000 feet elevation, I obtained one of the most + lovely of the small Fruit pigeons (Ptilonopus roseicollis), whose entire + head and neck are of an exquisite rosy pink colour, contrasting finely + with its otherwise green plumage; and on the very summit, feeding on the + ground among the strawberries that have been planted there, I obtained a + dull-coloured thrush, with the form and habits of a starling (Turdus + fumidus). Insects were almost entirely absent, owing no doubt to the + extreme dampness, and I did not get a single butterfly the whole trip; yet + I feel sure that, during the dry season, a week's residence on this + mountain would well repay the collector in every department of natural + history. + </p> + <p> + 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 Mountain. 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. SUMATRA. + </h2> + <h3> + (NOVEMBER 1861 to JANUARY 1862.) + </h3> + <p> + 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 + up 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 boat. A + considerable portion of the population are Chinese and Arabs, who carry on + all the trade; while the only Europeans are the civil and military + officials of the Dutch Government. The town is situated at the head of the + delta of the river, and between it and the sea there is very little ground + elevated above 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 flooded for a considerable distance. Palembang is built on + a patch of elevated ground, a few miles in extent, on the north bank of + the river. At a spot about three miles from the town this 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 almost 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Lobo Raman is a central point of the east end of Sumatra, being about a + hundred and twenty miles from the sea to the east, north, and west. The + surface is undulating, with no mountains or even hills, and there is no + rock, the soil being generally a red friable clay. Numbers of small + streams and rivers intersect the country, and it is pretty equally divided + between open clearings and patches of forest, both virgin and second + growth, with abundance of fruit trees; and there is no lack of paths to + get about in any direction. Altogether it is the very country that would + promise most for a naturalist, and 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. + </p> + <p> + 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.] + </p> + <p> + That the resemblance is not accidental is sufficiently proved by the fact, + that in the North of India, where Papilio coön is replaced by an allied + form, (Papilio Doubledayi) having red spots in place of yellow, a + closely-allied species or variety of Papilio memnon (P. androgeus) has the + tailed female 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 theseus (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! + </p> + <p> + 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! + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 grown on the butterflies themselves! + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 of another a little lower, and it + is very amusing when one strong leader takes a bold jump, to see the + others following with more or less trepidation; and it often happens that + one or two of the last seem quite unable to make up their minds to leap + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + end as does its Latin name, Siamanga syndactyla. It moves much more slowly + than the active Hylobates, keeping lower down in trees, and not indulging + in such tremendous leaps; but it is still very active, and by means of its + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 around 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, Araceae, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + time 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The hoofed animals are twenty-two in number, of which about seven extend + into Burmah and India. All the deer are of peculiar species, except two, + which range from Malacca into India. Of the cattle, one Indian species + reaches Malacca, while the Bos 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 nearly + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 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. +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. BALI AND LOMBOCK. + </h2> + <h3> + (JUNE, JULY, 1856.) + </h3> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 them 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, and a day's rowing and tracking along the shore + brought us to the place. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 how 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 having 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 and about an inch in + diameter. When these 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 cynomolgus) 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 some difficulty, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. LOMBOCK: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 fine 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 hills, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 ear, 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 flats 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 shed with a raised floor of bamboo, a + place used to receive visitors and hold audiences. Turning our horses to + graze on the luxuriant grass 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 he 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 first 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + I must now say a few words about the character, manners, and customs of + these interesting people. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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 clutches 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." + </p> + <p> + 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 + every day 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. LOMBOCK: HOW THE RAJAH TOOK THE CENSUS. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + One morning however, after about a week's continuance of this + unaccountable melancholy, a welcome change took 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: + </p> + <p> + "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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 wind, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 coming 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. + </p> + <p> + 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—"Oh + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 of 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. + </p> + <p> + 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? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. TIMOR. + </h2> + <h3> + (COUPANG, 1857-1869. DELLI, 1861.) + </h3> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Euphorbiaceae, 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 fan-leaved + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 them 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 hare-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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The village consisted of three houses only, with low walls raised a few + feet on posts, and very high roofs thatched with grass 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 fine 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. + </p> + <p> + 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! + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + Geach 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 grandiloquent Portuguese; and concluded by turning to Mr. Geach, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TIMOR GROUP. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + If we first take those species which, as far as we yet know, are + absolutely confined to each island, we find, in: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 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 " +</pre> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + In Lombock. In Flores. In Timor. + Javan birds... . 33 23 11 + Australian birds.. 4 5 10 +</pre> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 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 +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The Timor group of islands contains: + </p> + <p> + Javan birds....... 36 Australian birds... 13 Closely allied species.. 11 + Closely allied species.. 35 Derived from Java .... 47 Derived from + Australia... 48 + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The land mammals are only seven in number, as follows: 1. The common + monkey, Macacus cynomolgus, which is found in all the Indo-Malayan + islands, and has spread from Java through Bali and Lombock to Timor. This + species is very frequent on the banks of rivers, and may have been + conveyed from island to island on trees carried down by floods. 2. + Paradoxurus fasciatus; 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. + </p> + <p> + The fact that not one of these species is Australian 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + all 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 seem 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 from such an origin; and to suppose that + they have been portions of Australia or of Java will introduce perfectly + gratuitous difficulties, and render it quite impossible to 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. CELEBES. + </h2> + <h3> + (MACASSAR, SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1856.) + </h3> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The coast of this part of Celebes is low and flat, lined with trees and + villages so as to conceal the interior, except at occasional openings + which show a wide extent of bare and marshy rice-fields. A few hills of no + great height were visible in the background; but owing to the 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, Baso 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 had sent for arrived, it was found + impossible to use it because the driver's seat was the highest, and it had + to be kept as a show in its coach 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 and where + I was to be lodged. We went to the residence of the village chief, who + conversed with my conductor for some time. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 back ways, for no one could + tell what mischief they might do to children and houses were I to walk + among them. If I came 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 had + already begun to blow from the west, and many signs indicated that the + rainy season might set in earlier than usual; and then everything becomes + very damp, and it is almost impossible to dry collections properly. My + kind friend Mr. Mesman again lent me his pack-horses, and with the + assistance of a few men to carry my birds and insects, which I did not + like to trust on horses' backs, we got everything home safe. Few can + imagine the luxury it was 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 drove to town in his buggy, + where he had an office, with two or three Chinese clerks who looked after + his affairs. His business was that of a coffee and opium merchant. He had + a coffee estate at Bontyne, and a small prau which traded to the Eastern + islands near New Guinea, for mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell. About one + he would return home, have coffee and cake or fried plantain, first + changing his dress for a coloured cotton shirt and trousers and bare feet, + and then take a siesta with a book. About four, after a cup of tea, he + would walk round his premises, and generally stroll down to Mamajam to pay + me a visit, and look after his farm. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. CELEBES. + </h2> + <h3> + (MACASSAR, JULY TO NOVEMBER, 1857.) + </h3> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + and domes of the most varied and fantastic shapes. In the very centre of + the valley was a large bamboo house, while scattered around were a dozen + cottages of the same material. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 my 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + reached the river about half-way between Maros and the falls, and thence + had a good bridle-road to our destination, which we reached in another + hour. The hills had closed in 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Such gorges, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 one rock on to the + other—the limestone dry and rough, being worn by the water and rains + into sharp ridges and honeycombed holes—the basalt moist, even, and + worn smooth and slippery by the passage of bare-footed pedestrians. The + solubility of the limestone by rain-water is well seen in the little + blocks and peaks which rise thickly through the soil of the alluvial + plains as you approach the mountains. They are all skittle-shaped, larger + in the middle than 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Carabidae, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII. CELEBES. + </h2> + <h3> + (MENADO, JUNE TO SEPTEMBER, 1859.) + </h3> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Rurúkan. + </p> + <p> + 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 compositae, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + During my stay at Rurúkan, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Tomohón. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Just opposite my abode in Rurúkan 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + everything 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. Under the best aspect of education, children are subjected to a mild + despotism for the good of themselves and of society; and their confidence + in the wisdom and goodness of those who ordain and apply this despotism, + neutralizes the bad passions and degrading feelings, which under less + favourable conditions are its general results. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + No doubt the system here sketched seems open to serious objection. It is + to a certain extent despotic, and interferes with free trade, free labour, + and free communication. A native cannot leave his village without a pass, + and cannot engage himself to any merchant or captain without a Government + permit. The coffee has all to be sold to Government, at less than half the + price that the local merchant would give for it, and he consequently cries + out loudly against "monopoly" and "oppression." He forgets, however, that + the coffee plantations were established by the Government at great outlay + of capital and skill; that it gives free education to the people, and that + the monopoly is in lieu of taxation. He forgets that the product he wants + to purchase and make a profit by, is the creation of the Government, + without whom the people would still be savages. He knows very well that + free trade would, as its first result, lead to the importation of whole + cargoes of arrack, which would be carried over the country and exchanged + for coffee. That drunkenness and poverty would spread over the land; that + the public coffee 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 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 every day was + too far for any profitable work, especially when the weather was so + uncertain. I therefore decided at once that I must go further on, 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + During the three weeks that I stayed at Panghu it rained nearly every day, + either in the afternoon only, or all day long; but there were generally a + few hours' 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. + </p> + <p> + I was myself very successful in one beautiful group of insects, the + tiger-beetles, which seem more abundant and varied here than anywhere else + in the Archipelago. I first met with them on a cutting in the road, where + a hard clayey bank was partially overgrown with mosses and small ferns. + Here, I found running about, a small olive-green species which never took + flight; and more rarely, a fine purplish black wingless insect, which was + always found motionless in crevices, and was therefore, probably + nocturnal. It appeared to me to form a new genus. About the roads in the + forest, I found the large and handsome Cicindela heros, which I had before + obtained sparingly at Macassar; but it was in the mountain torrent of the + ravine itself that I got my finest things. On dead trunks overhanging the + water and on the banks and foliage, I obtained three very pretty species + of Cicindela, quite distinct in size, form, and colour, but having an + almost 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 "Sapi-utan" (Anoa + depressicornis). Of this animal I had seen two living specimens at Menado, + and was surprised at their great resemblance to small cattle, or still + more to the Eland of South Africa. Their Malay name signifies "forest ox," + and they differ from very small 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 Sapi-utan. I found here Mr. Goldmann, the eldest son of the + Governor of the Moluccas, who was superintending the establishment of some + Government salt-works. This was a better locality, and I obtained some + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + My friends remained three days, and got plenty of wild pigs and two Anóas, + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 mount 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII. NATURAL HISTORY OF CELEBES. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Of the ten Parrots found in Celebes, eight are peculiar. Among them are + two species of the singular racquet-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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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! + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The more characteristic species are as follow: + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Species of Species peculiar to Percentage + Nymphalidae. each island. of peculiar Species. + + Java..... 70...... 23.......... 33 + Borneo.... 52...... 15.......... 29 + Celebes ... 48...... 35.......... 73 +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 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 +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 those 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX. BANDA. + </h2> + <h3> + (DECEMBER 1857, MAY 1859, APRIL 1861.) + </h3> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 would have gone to a few + individuals instead of to the nation. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 are 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX. AMBOYNA. + </h2> + <h3> + (DECEMBER 1857, OCTOBER 1859, FEBRUARY 1860.) + </h3> + <p> + 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 entomologist. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 1797 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, actiniae, 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 medusae 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Bouru 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 anything 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Harúka. 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 Matakena, 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 Matakena; + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + every day 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <table summary="" border="3" cellpadding="4"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td> + <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2539/2539-h/2539-h.htm">Next + Volume</a> + </td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Malay Archipelago, by Alfred Russell Wallace + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO *** + +***** This file should be named 2530-h.htm or 2530-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/3/2530/ + +Produced by Martin Adamson, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Malay Archipelago, Volume I. (of II.) + +Author: Alfred Russell Wallace + +Release Date: February, 2001 +Last Updated: July 19, 2011 [EBook #2530] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Adamson, David Widger and Colin Choat + + + + + + +THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO, VOLUME I. (of II.) + +By Alfred Russel Wallace + + + + + The land of the orang-utan, and the bird of 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. + + + + +Contents + +PREFACE. + +THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. + + CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. + CHAPTER II. SINGAPORE. + CHAPTER III. MALACCA AND MOUNT OPHIR. + CHAPTER IV. BORNEO--THE ORANGUTAN. + CHAPTER V. BORNEO--JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR. + CHAPTER VI. BORNEO--THE DYAKS. + CHAPTER VII. JAVA. + CHAPTER VIII. SUMATRA. + CHAPTER IX. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS. + CHAPTER X. BALI AND LOMBOCK. + CHAPTER XI. LOMBOCK: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE. + CHAPTER XII. LOMBOCK: HOW THE RAJAH TOOK THE CENSUS. + CHAPTER XIII. TIMOR. + CHAPTER XIV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TIMOR GROUP. + CHAPTER XV. CELEBES. + CHAPTER XVI. CELEBES. + CHAPTER XVII. CELEBES. + CHAPTER XVIII. NATURAL HISTORY OF CELEBES. + CHAPTER XIX. BANDA. + CHAPTER XX. AMBOYNA. + + +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 bird-skins 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, Kaioa, +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 races of man +in the Archipelago and the surrounding countries. With this explanation, +and a reference to the maps which illustrate the work, I trust that my +readers will always know where they are, and in what direction they are +going. + +I am well aware that my book is far too small for the extent of the +subjects it touches upon. It is a mere sketch; but so far as it goes, +I have endeavoured to make it an accurate one. Almost the whole of the +narrative and descriptive portions were written on the spot, and +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 Siau and Sanguir to the Philippine Islands along +the eastern side of which it continues, in a curving line, to their +northern extremity. From the extreme eastern bend of this belt at Banda, +we pass onwards for 1,000 miles over a non-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 Banda, are probably all due to volcanic +action. Timor itself consists of ancient stratified rocks, but is said +to have one volcano near its centre. + +Going northward, Amboyna, a part of Bouru, and the west end of Ceram, +the north part of Gilolo, and all the small islands around it, the +northern extremity of Celebes, and the islands of Siau and Sanguir, are +wholly volcanic. The Philippine Archipelago contains many active +and extinct volcanoes, and has probably been reduced to its present +fragmentary condition by subsidences attending on volcanic action. + +All along this great line of volcanoes are to be found more or less +palpable signs of upheaval and 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 pre-eminently 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 L30. 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 modes 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 how 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 hilly. We passed +through extensive forests, along paths often up to our knees in mud, +and were much annoyed by the leeches for which this district is famous. +These little creatures infest the leaves and herbage by the side of the +paths, and when a passenger comes along they stretch themselves out at +full length, and if they touch any part of his dress or body, quit their +leaf and adhere to it. They then creep on to his feet, legs, or other +part of his body and suck their fill, the first puncture being rarely +felt during the excitement of walking. On bathing in the evening we +generally found half a dozen or a dozen on each of us, most frequently +on our legs, but sometimes on our bodies, and I had one who sucked his +fill from the side of my neck, but who luckily missed the jugular vein. +There are many species of these forest leeches. All are small, but some +are beautifully marked with stripes of bright yellow. They probably +attach themselves to deer or other animals which frequent the forest +paths, and have thus acquired the singular habit of stretching +themselves out at the sound of a footstep or of rustling foliage. 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-batu +as 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 rude 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 Rafflesii, +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, and prepared 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. When I 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 every day; 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 been 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 he 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 Mangosteen 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 +bark 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 Mias 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 Mammalia 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 Gudong, 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, and 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 Tabokan, 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 Borotoi, 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 Budw, 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 trousers), 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 sugar-cane, +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 a 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 dint 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 Senna, 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 shot +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 none 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 +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 +traiders, 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 might 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 you 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 +stepping-stones, 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 gay 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 time, 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 from 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 would +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 Modjo-kerto, 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 Jong-grang (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 suited 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 twined +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 Wonosalem 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 Hotel des Indes was very comfortable, each visitor having +a sitting-room and bedroom opening on a verandah, where he can take his +morning coffee and afternoon tea. In the centre of the quadrangle is a +building containing a number of marble baths always ready for use; and +there is an excellent table d'hote 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 cooen 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 +Musaceae 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 (Honeysuckle), 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 forms of plants during the +glacial epoch. This would undoubtedly be a fatal objection, were there +not abundant evidence to show that Java has been formerly connected with +Asia, and that the union must have occurred at about the epoch required. +The most striking proof of such a junction 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 the most 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 green plumage; and on the +very summit, feeding on the ground among the strawberries that have +been planted there, I obtained a dull-coloured thrush, with the form +and habits of a starling (Turdus fumidus). Insects were almost entirely +absent, owing no doubt to the extreme dampness, and I did not get a +single butterfly the whole trip; yet I feel sure that, during the +dry season, a week's residence on this mountain would well repay the +collector in every department of natural history. + +After my return to Toego, I endeavoured to find another locality to +collect in, and removed to a coffee-plantation some miles to the north, +and tried in succession higher and lower stations on the mountain; but, +I never succeeded in obtaining insects in any abundance and birds were +far less plentiful than on the Megamendong Mountain. 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 up 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 boat. A considerable portion of the population are Chinese and Arabs, +who carry on all the trade; while the only Europeans are the civil and +military officials of the Dutch Government. The town is situated at the +head of the delta of the river, and between it and the sea there is +very little ground elevated above 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 flooded for a considerable +distance. Palembang is built on a patch of elevated ground, a few miles +in extent, on the north bank of the river. At a spot about three miles +from the town this 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 almost 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 friable clay. Numbers of small +streams and rivers intersect the country, and it is pretty equally +divided between open clearings and patches of forest, both virgin and +second growth, with abundance of fruit trees; and there is no lack of +paths to get about in any direction. Altogether it is the very country +that would promise most for a naturalist, and 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 cooen), 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 cooen is replaced by an +allied form, (Papilio Doubledayi) having red spots in place of yellow, +a closely-allied species or variety of Papilio memnon (P. androgeus) +has the tailed female 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 theseus (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 grown on +the butterflies themselves! + +If such an extraordinary adaptation as this stood alone, it would +be very difficult to offer any explanation of it; but although it is +perhaps the most perfect case of protective imitation known, there +are hundreds of similar 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 of another +a little lower, and it is very amusing when one strong leader takes a +bold jump, to see the others following with more or less trepidation; +and it often happens that one or two of the last seem quite unable to +make up their minds to leap 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 end as does its Latin name, Siamanga syndactyla. It moves much +more slowly than the active Hylobates, keeping lower down in trees, and +not indulging in such tremendous leaps; but it is still very active, +and by means of its 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 around 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, Araceae, 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 time 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 Burmah and India. All the deer are of peculiar species, except two, +which range from Malacca into India. Of the cattle, one Indian species +reaches Malacca, while the Bos 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 +nearly 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 them 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, and 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 how 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 having 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 and about an inch in diameter. When these 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 cynomolgus) 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 +some difficulty, 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 fine 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 +hills, 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 ear, 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 flats 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 shed with a raised floor of +bamboo, a place used to receive visitors and hold audiences. Turning our +horses to graze on the luxuriant grass 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 he 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 first 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 L700. 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 clutches 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 every day 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. LOMBOCK: 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 took 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 wind, 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 coming 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--"Oh 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 of 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 Euphorbiaceae, 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 fan-leaved 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 them 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 hare-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 grass 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 fine 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. Geach 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 grandiloquent Portuguese; and concluded by turning to Mr. +Geach, 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 floods. 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 Australian 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 all 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 seem 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 from such an origin; and +to suppose that they have been portions of Australia or of Java will +introduce perfectly gratuitous difficulties, and render it quite +impossible to 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 bare 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, Baso 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 +had sent for arrived, it was found impossible to use it because the +driver's seat was the highest, and it had to be kept as a show in its +coach 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 and 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 back ways, for no one could tell what +mischief they might do to children and houses were I to walk among +them. If I came 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 +had already begun to blow from the west, and many signs indicated that +the rainy season might set in earlier than usual; and then everything +becomes very damp, and it is almost impossible to dry collections +properly. My kind friend Mr. Mesman again lent me his pack-horses, and +with the assistance of a few men to carry my birds and insects, which I +did not like to trust on horses' backs, we got everything home safe. Few +can imagine the luxury it was 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 +drove to town in his buggy, where he had an office, with two or three +Chinese clerks who looked after his affairs. His business was that of +a coffee and opium merchant. He had a coffee estate at Bontyne, and +a small prau which traded to the Eastern islands near New Guinea, for +mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell. About one he would return home, +have coffee and cake or fried plantain, first changing his dress for a +coloured cotton shirt and trousers and bare feet, and then take a siesta +with a book. About four, after a cup of tea, he would walk round his +premises, and 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 and domes of the most varied and fantastic shapes. +In the very centre of the valley was a large bamboo house, while +scattered around were a dozen cottages of the same material. + +I was kindly received by Mr. Jacob Mesman in an airy saloon detached +from the house, and entirely built of bamboo and thatched with grass. +After breakfast he took me to his foreman's house, about a hundred yards +off, half of which was given up to me 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 my 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 reached the river about half-way between Maros and the falls, +and thence had a good bridle-road to our destination, which we reached +in another hour. The hills had closed in 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 gorges, 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 one rock on to the +other--the limestone dry and rough, being worn by the water and rains +into sharp ridges and honeycombed holes--the basalt moist, even, and +worn smooth and slippery by the passage of bare-footed pedestrians. The +solubility of the limestone by rain-water is well seen in the little +blocks and peaks which rise thickly through the soil of the alluvial +plains as you approach the mountains. They are all skittle-shaped, +larger in the middle than 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 Carabidae, 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 Tomohon, 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 deg., 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 Tomohon +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 Rurukan, 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 deg. and +never rose so high as 80 deg., 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 compositae, 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 deg., 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 Rurukan 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 Tomohon. School was held +every morning for about three hours, and twice a week in the evening +there was catechising and preaching. There was also a service on Sunday +morning. The children were all taught in Malay, and I often heard them +repeating the 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 everything 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. +Under the best aspect of education, children are subjected to a +mild despotism for the good of themselves and of society; and their +confidence in the wisdom and goodness of those who ordain and apply this +despotism, neutralizes the bad passions and degrading feelings, which +under less 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, however, that the coffee plantations were +established by the Government at great outlay of capital and skill; that +it gives free education to the people, and that the monopoly is in lieu +of taxation. He forgets that the product he wants to purchase and make +a profit by, is the creation of the Government, without whom the people +would still be savages. He knows very well that free trade would, as its +first result, lead to the importation of whole cargoes of arrack, +which would be carried over the country and exchanged for coffee. That +drunkenness and poverty would spread over the land; that the public +coffee 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 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 Rurukan, I left that pretty and interesting +village in search of a locality and climate more productive of birds and +insects. I passed the evening with the Controlleur of 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 Langowan, 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 every day +was too far for any profitable work, especially when the weather was so +uncertain. I therefore decided at once that I must go further on, 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 deg., 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 Langowan with +inflammation of the chest, and as his case looked rather bad I had +him sent back to Menado. The people here were all so busy with their +rice-harvest, which 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 every +day, 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. +On dead trunks overhanging the water and on the banks and foliage, I +obtained three very pretty species of Cicindela, quite distinct in size, +form, and colour, but having an almost 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 +"Sapi-utan" (Anoa depressicornis). Of this animal I had seen two living +specimens at Menado, and was surprised at their great resemblance to +small cattle, or still more to the Eland of South Africa. Their Malay +name signifies "forest ox," and they differ from very small 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 Sapi-utan. I found here +Mr. Goldmann, the eldest son of the Governor of the Moluccas, who was +superintending the establishment of some Government salt-works. This was +a better locality, and I obtained some 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 Anoas 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 mount 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 racquet-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 those 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 would 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 are 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 +entomologist. 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 1797 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, actiniae, 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 medusae +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 +Bouru 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 +anything 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 +Saparua and Haruka, 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 Matakena, 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 Matakena; 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 +every day 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. + + + Next Volume + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Malay Archipelago, Volume I. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +E-Text created by Martin Adamson +martin@grassmarket.freeserve.co.uk + + + + + +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. 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