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diff --git a/2539.txt b/2539.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f36af1 --- /dev/null +++ b/2539.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10103 @@ +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 II. (of II.) + +Author: Alfred Russell Wallace + +Posting Date: December 1, 2008 [EBook #2539] +Release Date: February, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Adamson + + + + + +THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO + +VOLUME II. (of II.) + +by Alfred R. Wallace + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. THE MOLUCCAS--TERNATE. + +ON the morning of the 8th of January, 1858, I arrived at Ternate, the +fourth of a row of fine conical volcanic islands which shirt the west +coast of the large and almost unknown island of Gilolo. The largest +and most perfectly conical mountain is Tidore, which is over four +thousand Feet high--Ternate being very nearly the same height, but with +a more rounded and irregular summit. The town of Ternate is concealed +from view till we enter between the two islands, when it is discovered +stretching along the shore at the very base of the mountain. Its +situation is fine, and there are grand views on every side. Close +opposite is the rugged promontory and beautiful volcanic cone of Tidore; +to the east is the long mountainous coast of Gilolo, terminated towards +the north by a group of three lofty volcanic peaks, while immediately +behind the town rises the huge mountain, sloping easily at first and +covered with thick groves of fruit trees, but soon becoming steeper, +and furrowed with deep gullies. Almost to the summit, whence issue +perpetually faint wreaths of smoke, it is clothed with vegetation, +and looks calm and beautiful, although beneath are hidden fires which +occasionally burst forth in lava-streams, but more frequently make their +existence known by the earthquakes which have many times devastated the +town. + +I brought letters of introduction to Mr. Duivenboden, a native of +Ternate, of an ancient Dutch family, but who was educated in England, +and speaks our language perfectly. He was a very rich man, owned half +the town, possessed many ships, and above a hundred slaves. He +was moreover, well educated, and fond of literature and science--a +phenomenon in these regions. He was generally known as the king of +Ternate, from his large property and great influence with the native +Rajahs and their subjects. Through his assistance I obtained a house; +rather ruinous, but well adapted to my purpose, being close to the town, +yet with a free outlet to the country and the mountain. A few needful +repairs were soon made, some bamboo furniture and other necessaries +obtained, and after a visit to the Resident and Police Magistrate I +found myself an inhabitant of the earthquake-tortured island of Ternate, +and able to look about me and lay down the plan of my campaign for the +ensuing year. I retained this house for three years, as I found it very +convenient to have a place to return to after my voyages to the +various islands of the Moluccas and New Guinea, where I could pack +my collections, recruit my health, and make preparations for future +journeys. To avoid repetitions, I will in this chapter combine what +notes I have about Ternate. + +A description of my house (the plan of which is here shown) will +enable the reader to understand a very common mode of building in these +islands. There is of course only one floor. The walls are of stone up to +three feet high; on this are strong squared posts supporting the roof, +everywhere except in the verandah filled in with the leaf-stems of the +sago-palm, fitted neatly in wooden owing. The floor is of stucco, +and the ceilings are like the walls. The house is forty feet square, +consists of four rooms, a hall, and two verandahs, and is surrounded +by a wilderness of fruit trees. A deep well supplied me with pure cold +water, a great luxury in this climate. Five minutes' walk down the road +brought me to the market and the beach, while in the opposite direction +there were no more European houses between me and the mountain. In this +house I spent many happy days. Returning to it after a three or four +months' absence in some uncivilized region, I enjoyed the unwonted +luxuries of milk and fresh bread, and regular supplies of fish and eggs, +meat and vegetables, which were often sorely needed to restore my health +and energy. I had ample space and convenience or unpacking, sorting, and +arranging my treasures, and I had delightful walks in the suburbs of the +town, or up the lower slopes of the mountain, when I desired a little +exercise, or had time for collecting. + +The lower part of the mountain, behind the town of Ternate, is almost +entirely covered with a forest of fruit trees, and during the season +hundreds of men and women, boys and girls, go up every day to bring down +the ripe fruit. Durians and Mangoes, two of the very finest tropical +fruits, are in greater abundance at Ternate than I have ever seen them, +and some of the latter are of a quality not inferior to any in the +world. Lansats and Mangustans are also abundant, but these do not ripen +till a little later. Above the fruit trees there is a belt of clearings +and cultivated grounds, which creep up the mountain to a height of +between two and three thousand feet, above which is virgin forest, +reaching nearly to the summit, which on the side next the town is +covered with a high reedy grass. On the further side it is more +elevated, of a bare and desolate aspect, with a slight depression +marking the position of the crater. From this part descends a black +scoriaceous tract; very rugged, and covered with a scanty vegetation of +scattered bushes as far down as the sea. This is the lava of the +great eruption near a century ago, and is called by the natives +"batu-angas"(burnt rock). + +Just below my house is the fort, built by the Portuguese, below which is +an open space to the peach, and beyond this the native town extends for +about a mile to the north-east. About the centre of it is the palace +of the Sultan, now a large untidy, half-ruinous building of stone. This +chief is pensioned by the Dutch Government, but retains the sovereignty +over the native population of the island, and of the northern part of +Gilolo. The sultans of Ternate and Tidore were once celebrated through +the East for their power and regal magnificence. When Drake visited +Ternate in 1579, the Portuguese had been driven out of the island, +although they still had a settlement at Tidore. He gives a glowing +account of the Sultan: "The King had a very rich canopy with embossings +of gold borne over him, and was guarded with twelve lances. From the +waist to the ground was all cloth of gold, and that very rich; in the +attire of his head were finely wreathed in, diverse rings of plaited +gold, of an inch or more in breadth, which made a fair and princely +show, somewhat resembling a crown in form; about his neck he had a chain +of perfect gold, the links very great and one fold double; on his left +hand was a diamond, an emerald, a ruby, and a turky; on his right hand +in one ring a big and perfect turky, and in another ring many diamonds +of a smaller size." + +All this glitter of barbaric gold was the produce of the spice trade, of +which the Sultans kept the monopoly, and by which they became wealthy. +Ternate, with the small islands in a line south of it, as far as +Batchian, constitute the ancient Moluccas, the native country of the +clove, as well as the only part in which it was cultivated. Nutmegs +and mace were procured from the natives of New Guinea and the adjacent +islands, where they grew wild; and the profits on spice cargoes were so +enormous, that the European traders were glad to give gold and jewels, +and the finest manufactures of Europe or of India, in exchange. When the +Dutch established their influence in these seas, and relieved the native +princes from their Portuguese oppressors, they saw that the easiest +way to repay themselves would be to get this spice trade into their own +hands. For this purpose they adopted the wise principle of concentrating +the culture of these valuable products in those spots only of which they +could have complete control. To do this effectually it was necessary to +abolish the culture and trade in all other places, which they succeeded +in doing by treaty with the native rulers. These agreed to have all the +spice trees in their possessions destroyed. They gave up large though +fluctuating revenues, but they gained in return a fixed subsidy, freedom +from the constant attacks and harsh oppressions of the Portuguese, and a +continuance of their regal power and exclusive authority over their own +subjects, which is maintained in all the islands except Ternate to this +day. + +It is no doubt supposed by most Englishmen, who have been accustomed to +look upon this act of the Dutch with vague horror, as something +utterly unprincipled and barbarous, that the native population suffered +grievously by this destruction of such valuable property. But it is +certain that this was not the case. The Sultans kept this lucrative +trade entirely in their own hands as a rigid monopoly, and they would +take care not to give, their subjects more than would amount to their +usual wages, while: they would surely exact as large a quantity of spice +as they could possibly obtain. Drake and other early voyagers always +seem to have purchased their spice-cargoes from the Sultans and Rajahs, +and not from the cultivators. Now the absorption of so much labour in +the cultivation of this one product must necessarily have raised the +price of food and other necessaries; and when it was abolished, +more rice would be grown, more sago made, more fish caught, and more +tortoise-shell, rattan, gum-dammer, and other valuable products of the +seas and the forests would be obtained. I believe, therefore, that this +abolition of the spice trade in the Moluccas was actually beneficial to +the inhabitants, and that it was an act both wise in itself and morally +and politically justifiable. + +In the selection of the places in which to carry on the cultivation, +the Dutch were not altogether fortunate or wise. Banda was chosen for +nutmegs, and was eminently successful, since it continues to this day +to produce a large supply of this spice, and to yield a considerable +revenue. Amboyna was fixed upon for establishing the clove cultivation; +but the soil and climate, although apparently very similar to that of +its native islands, is not favourable, and for some years the Government +have actually been paying to the cultivators a higher rate than they +could purchase cloves elsewhere, owing to a great fall in the price +since the rate of payment was fixed for a term of years by the Dutch +Government, and which rate is still most honourably paid. + +In walking about the suburbs of Ternate, we find everywhere the ruins of +massive stone and brick buildings, gateways and arches, showing at once +the superior wealth of the ancient town and the destructive effects of +earthquakes. It was during my second stay in the town, after my return +from New Guinea, that I first felt an earthquake. It was a very slight +one, scarcely more than has been felt in this country, but occurring in +a place that lad been many times destroyed by them it was rather more +exciting. I had just awoke at gun-fire (5 A.M.), when suddenly the +thatch began to rustle and shake as if an army of cats were galloping +over it, and immediately afterwards my bed shook too, so that for an +instant I imagined myself back in New Guinea, in my fragile house, which +shook when an old cock went to roost on the ridge; but remembering that +I was now on a solid earthen floor, I said to myself, "Why, it's an +earthquake," and lay still in the pleasing expectation of another shock; +but none came, and this was the only earthquake I ever felt in Ternate. + +The last great one was in February 1840, when almost every house in the +place was destroyed. It began about midnight on the Chinese New Year's +festival, at which time every one stays up nearly all night feasting +at the Chinamen's houses and seeing the processions. This prevented +any lives being lost, as every one ran out of doors at the first shock, +which was not very severe. The second, a few minutes afterwards, threw +down a great many houses, and others, which continued all night and part +of the next day, completed the devastation. The line of disturbance +was very narrow, so that the native town a mile to the east scarcely +suffered at all. The wave passed from north to south, through the +islands of Tidore and Makian, and terminated in Batchian, where it was +not felt till four the following afternoon, thus taking no less than +sixteen hours to travel a hundred miles, or about six miles an hour. It +is singular that on this occasion there was no rushing up of the tide, +or other commotion of the sea, as is usually the case during great +earthquakes. + +The people of Ternate are of three well-marked races the Ternate Malays, +the Orang Sirani, and the Dutch. The first are an intrusive Malay race +somewhat allied to the Macassar people, who settled in the country at a +very early epoch, drove out the indigenes, who were no doubt the same +as those of the adjacent mainland of Gilolo, and established a monarchy. +They perhaps obtained many of their wives from the natives, which will +account for the extraordinary language they speak--in some respects +closely allied to that of the natives of Gilolo, while it contains +much that points to a Malayan origin. To most of these people the Malay +language is quite unintelligible, although such as are engaged in trade +are obliged to acquire it. "Orang Sirani," or Nazarenes, is the name +given by the Malays to the Christian descendants of the Portuguese, who +resemble those of Amboyna, and, like them, speak only Malay. There are +also a number of Chinese merchants, many of them natives of the place, +a few Arabs, and a number of half-breeds between all these races and +native women. Besides these there are some Papuan slaves, and a few +natives of other islands settled here, making up a motley and very +puzzling population, till inquiry and observation have shown the +distinct origin of its component parts. + +Soon after my first arrival in Ternate I went to the island of Gilolo, +accompanied by two sons of Mr. Duivenboden, and by a young Chinaman, a +brother of my landlord, who lent us the boat and crew. These latter +were all slaves, mostly Papuans, and at starting I saw something of the +relation of master and slave in this part of the world. The crew had +been ordered to be ready at three in the morning, instead of which none +appeared till five, we having all been kept waiting in the dark and +cold for two hours. When at length they came they were scolded by their +master, but only in a bantering manner, and laughed and joked with +him in reply. Then, just as we were starting, one of the strongest men +refused to go at all, and his master had to beg and persuade him to go, +and only succeeded by assuring him that I would give him something; so +with this promise, and knowing that there would be plenty to eat and +drink and little to do, the black gentleman was induced to favour us +with his company and assistance. In three hours' rowing and sailing we +reached our destination, Sedingole, where there is a house belonging to +the Sultan of Tidore, who sometimes goes there hunting. It was a dirty +ruinous shed, with no furniture but a few bamboo bedsteads. On taking +a walk into the country, I saw at once that it was no place for me. +For many miles extends a plain covered with coarse high grass, thickly +dotted here and there with trees, the forest country only commencing +at the hills a good way in the interior. Such a place would produce few +birds and no insects, and we therefore arranged to stay only two days, +and then go on to Dodinga, at the narrow central isthmus of Gilolo, +whence my friends would return to Ternate. We amused ourselves shooting +parrots, lories, and pigeons, and trying to shoot deer, of which we saw +plenty, but could not get one; and our crew went out fishing with a net, +so we did not want for provisions. When the time came for us to continue +our journey, a fresh difficulty presented itself, for our gentlemen +slaves refused in a body to go with us; saying very determinedly that +they would return to Ternate. So their masters were obliged to submit, +and I was left behind to get to Dodinga as I could. Luckily I succeeded +in hiring a small boat, which took me there the same night, with my two +men and my baggage. + +Two or three years after this, and about the same length of time before +I left the East, the Dutch emancipated all their slaves, paying their +owners a small compensation. No ill results followed. Owing to the +amicable relations which had always existed between them and their +masters, due no doubt in part to the Government having long accorded +them legal rights and protection against cruelty and ill-usage, many +continued in the same service, and after a little temporary difficulty +in some cases, almost all returned to work either for their old or for +new, masters. The Government took the very proper step of placing every +emancipated slave under the surveillance of the police-magistrate. They +were obliged to show that they were working for a living, and had some +honestly-acquired means of existence. All who could not do so were +placed upon public works at low wages, and thus were kept from the +temptation to peculation or other crimes, which the excitement of +newly-acquired freedom, and disinclination to labour, might have led +them into. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. GILOLO. + +(MARCH AND SEPTEMBER 1858.) + +I MADE but few and comparatively short visits to this large and little +known island, but obtained a considerable knowledge of its natural +history by sending first my boy Ali, and then my assistant, Charles +Allen, who stayed two or three months each in the northern peninsula, +and brought me back large collections of birds and insects. In this +chapter I propose to give a sketch of the parts which I myself visited. +My first stay was at Dodinga, situated at the head of a deep-bay +exactly opposite Ternate, and a short distance up a little stream +which penetrates a few miles inland. The village is a small one, and is +completely shut in by low hills. + +As soon as I arrived, I applied to the head man of the village for a +house to live in, but all were occupied, and there was much difficulty +in finding one. In the meantime I unloaded my baggage on the beach and +made some tea, and afterwards discovered a small but which the owner was +willing to vacate if I would pay him five guilders for a month's rent. +As this was something less than the fee-simple value of the dwelling, +I agreed to give it him for the privilege of immediate occupation, only +stipulating that he was to make the roof water-tight. This he agreed +to do, and came every day to tally and look at me; and when I each time +insisted upon his immediately mending the roof according to contract, +all the answer I could get was, "Ea nanti," (Yes, wait a little.) +However, when I threatened to deduct a quarter guilder from the rent for +every day it was not done, and a guilder extra if any of my things were +wetted, he condescended to work for half an hour, which did all that was +absolutely necessary. + +On the top of a bank, of about a hundred feet ascent from the water, +stands the very small but substantial fort erected by the Portuguese. +Its battlements and turrets have long since been overthrown by +earthquakes, by which its massive structure has also been rent; but it +cannot well be thrown down, being a solid mass of stonework, forming +a platform about ten feet high, and perhaps forty feet square. It is +approached by narrow steps under an archway, and is now surmounted by a +row of thatched hovels, in which live the small garrison, consisting of, +a Dutch corporal and four Javanese soldiers, the sole representatives +of the Netherlands Government in the island. The village is occupied +entirely by Ternate men. The true indigenes of Gilolo, "Alfuros" as they +are here called, live on the eastern coast, or in the interior of the +northern peninsula. The distance across the isthmus at this place is +only two miles, and there, is a good path, along which rice and sago +are brought from the eastern villages. The whole isthmus is very rugged, +though not high, being a succession of little abrupt hills anal valleys, +with angular masses of limestone rock everywhere projecting, and often +almost blocking up the pathway. Most of it is virgin forest, very +luxuriant and picturesque, and at this time having abundance of large +scarlet Ixoras in flower, which made it exceptionally gay. I got some +very nice insects here, though, owing to illness most of the time, my +collection was a small one, and my boy Ali shot me a pair of one of the +most beautiful birds of the East, Pitta gigas, a lame ground-thrush, +whose plumage of velvety black above is relieved by a breast of pure +white, shoulders of azure blue, and belly of vivid crimson. It has very +long and strong legs, and hops about with such activity in the dense +tangled forest, bristling with rocks, as to make it very difficult to +shoot. + +In September 1858, after my return from New Guinea, I went to stay +some time at the village of Djilolo, situated in a bay on the northern +peninsula. Here I obtained a house through the kindness of the Resident +of Ternate, who sent orders to prepare one for me. The first walk into +the unexplored forests of a new locality is a moment of intense interest +to the naturalist, as it is almost sure to furnish him with something +curious or hitherto unknown. The first thing I saw here was a flock of +small parroquets, of which I shot a pair, and was pleased to find a most +beautiful little long-tailed bird, ornamented with green, red, and +blue colours, and quite new to me. It was a variety of the Charmosyna +placentis, one of the smallest and most elegant of the brush-tongued +lories. My hunters soon shot me several other fine birds, and I myself +found a specimen of the rare and beautiful day-flying moth, Cocytia +d'Urvillei. + +The village of Djilolo was formerly the chief residence of the Sultans +of Ternate, till about eighty years ago, when at the request of the +Dutch they removed to their present abode. The place was then no doubt +much more populous, as is indicated by the wide extent of cleared +land in the neighbourhood, now covered with coarse high grass, very +disagreeable to walk through, and utterly barren to the naturalist. A +few days' exploring showed me that only some small patches of forest +remained for miles wound, and the result was a scarcity of insects and +a very limited variety of birds, which obliged me to change my locality. +There was another village called Sahoe, to which there was a road of +about twelve miles overland, and this had been recommended to me as +a good place for birds, and as possessing a large population both of +Mahomotans and Alfuros, which latter race I much wished to see. I set +off one morning to examine this place myself, expecting to pass +through some extent of forest on my way. In this however I was much +disappointed, as the whole road lies through grass and scrubby thickets, +and it was only after reaching the village of Sahoe that some high +forest land was perceived stretching towards the mountains to the north +of it. About half-way we dad to pass a deep river on a bamboo raft, +which almost sunk beneath us. This stream was said to rise a long way +off to the northward. + +Although Sahoe did not at all appear what I expected, I determined to +give it a trial, and a few days afterwards obtained a boat to carry +my things by sea while I walked overland. A large house on the beach +belonging to the Sultan was given me. It stood alone, and was quite +open on every side, so that little privacy could be had, but as I only +intended to stay a short time I made it do. Avery, few days dispelled +all hopes I might have entertained of making good collections in this +place. Nothing was to be found in every direction but interminable +tracts of reedy grass, eight or ten feet high, traversed by narrow +baths, often almost impassable. Here and there were clumps of fruit +trees, patches of low wood, and abundance of plantations and rice +grounds, all of which are, in tropical regions, a very desert for the +entomologist. The virgin forest that I was in search of, existed only +on the summits and on the steep rocky sides of the mountains a long way +off, and in inaccessible situations. In the suburbs of the village I +found a fair number of bees and wasps, and some small but interesting +beetles. Two or three new birds were obtained by my hunters, and by +incessant inquiries and promises I succeeded in getting the natives to +bring me some land shells, among which was a very fine and handsome +one, Helix pyrostoma. I was, however, completely wasting my time here +compared with what I might be doing in a good locality, and after a +week returned to Ternate, quite disappointed with my first attempts at +collecting in Gilolo. + +In the country round about Sahoe, and in the interior, there is a large +population of indigenes, numbers of whom came daily into the village, +bringing their produce for sale, while others were engaged as labourers +by the Chinese and Ternate traders. A careful examination convinced me +that these people are radically distinct from all the Malay races. Their +stature and their features, as well as their disposition and habits, +are almost the same as those of the Papuans; their hair is +semi-Papuan-neither straight, smooth, and glossy, like all true Malays', +nor so frizzly and woolly as the perfect Papuan type, but always crisp, +waved, and rough, such as often occurs among the true Papuans, but never +among the Malays. Their colour alone is often exactly that of the Malay, +or even lighter. Of course there has been intermixture, and there occur +occasionally individuals which it is difficult to classify; but in most +cases the large, somewhat aquiline nose, with elongated apex, the tall +stature, the waved hair, the bearded face, and hairy body, as well as +the less reserved manner and louder voice, unmistakeably proclaim the +Papuan type. Here then I had discovered the exact boundary lice between +the Malay and Papuan races, and at a spot where no other writer had +expected it. I was very much pleased at this determination, as it +gave me a clue to one of the most difficult problems in Ethnology, +and enabled me in many other places to separate the two races, and to +unravel their intermixtures. + +On my return from Waigiou in 1860, I stayed some days on the southern +extremity of Gilolo; but, beyond seeing something more of its structure +and general character, obtained very little additional information. +It is only in the northern peninsula that there are any indigenes, the +whole of the rest of the island, with Batchian and the other islands +westward, being exclusively inhabited by Malay tribes, allied to those +of Ternate and Tidore. This would seem to indicate that the Alfuros were +a comparatively recent immigration, and that they lead come from the +north or east, perhaps from some of the islands of the Pacific. It is +otherwise difficult to understand how so many fertile districts should +possess no true indigenes. + +Gilolo, or Halmaheira as it is called by the Malays and Dutch, seems +to have been recently modified by upheaval and subsidence. In 1673, a +mountain is said to stave been upheaved at Gamokonora on the northern +peninsula. All the parts that I have seen have either been volcanic +or coralline, and along the coast there are fringing coral reefs very +dangerous to navigation. At the same time, the character of its natural +history proves it to be a rather ancient land, since it possesses a +number of animals peculiar to itself or common to the small islands +around it, but almost always distinct from those of New Guinea on the +east, of Ceram on the south, and of Celebes and the Sula islands on the +west. + +The island of Morty, close to the north-eastern extremity of Gilolo, was +visited by my assistant Charles Allen, as well as by Dr. Bernstein; and +the collections obtained there present some curious differences from +those of the main island. About fifty-six species of land-birds are +known to inhabit this island, and of these, a kingfisher (Tanysiptera +Boris), a honey-sucker (Tropidorhynchus fuscicapillus), and a large +crow-like starling (Lycocorax morotensis), are quite distinct from +allied species found in Gilolo. The island is coralline and sandy, and +we must therefore believe it to have been separated from Gilolo at a +somewhat remote epoch; while we learn from its natural history that an +arm of the sea twenty-five miles wide serves to limit the range even of +birds of considerable powers of flight. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. TERNATE TO THE KAIOA ISLANDS AND BATCHIAN. + +(OCTOBER 1858.) + +ON returning to Ternate from Sahoe, I at once began making preparations +for a journey to Batchian, an island which I had been constantly +recommended to visit since I had arrived in this part of the Moluccas. +After all was ready I found that I should have to hire a boat, as no +opportunity of obtaining a passage presented itself. I accordingly went +into the native town, and could only find two boats for hire, one much +larger than I required, and the other far smaller than I wished. I chose +the smaller one, chiefly because it would not cost me one-third as much +as the larger one, and also because in a coasting voyage a small vessel +can be more easily managed, and more readily got into a place of safety +during violent gales, than a large one. I took with me my Bornean lad +Ali, who was now very useful to me; Lahagi, a native of Ternate, a very +good steady man, and a fair shooter, who had been with me to New Guinea; +Lahi, a native of Gilolo, who could speak Malay, as woodcutter and +general assistant; and Garo, a boy who was to act as cook. As the boat +was so small that we had hardly room to stow ourselves away when all my +stores were on board, I only took one other man named Latchi, as pilot. +He was a Papuan slave, a tall, strong black fellow, but very civil and +careful. The boat I had hired from a Chinaman named Lau Keng Tong, for +five guilders a month. + +We started on the morning of October 9th, but had not got a hundred +yards from land, when a strong head wind sprung up, against which we +could not row, so we crept along shore to below the town, and waited +till the turn of the tide should enable us to cross over to the coast of +Tidore. About three in the afternoon we got off, and found that our boat +sailed well, and would keep pretty close to the wind. We got on a good +way before the wind fell and we had to take to our oars again. We landed +on a nice sandy beach to cook our suppers, just as the sun set behind +the rugged volcanic hills, to the south of the great cone of Tidore, +and soon after beheld the planet Venus shining in the twilight with the +brilliancy of a new moon, and casting a very distinct shadow. We left +again a little before seven, and as we got out from the shadow of the +mountain I observed a bright light over one part of the edge, and soon +after, what seemed a fire of remarkable whiteness on the very summit of +the hill. I called the attention of my men to it, and they too thought +it merely a fire; but a few minutes afterwards, as we got farther off +shore, the light rose clear up above the ridge of the hill, and some +faint clouds clearing away from it, discovered the magnificent comet +which was at the same time, astonishing all Europe. The nucleus +presented to the naked eye a distinct disc of brilliant white light, +from which the tail rose at an angle of about 30 deg. or 35 deg. with the +horizon, curving slightly downwards, and terminating in a broad brush +of faint light, the curvature of which diminished till it was nearly +straight at the end. The portion of the tail next the comet appeared +three or four tunes as bright as the most luminous portion of the milky +way, and what struck me as a singular feature was that its upper margin, +from the nucleus to very near the extremity, was clearly and almost +sharply defined, while the lower side gradually shaded off into +obscurity. Directly it rose above the ridge of the hill, I said to my +men, "See, it's not a fire, it's a bintang ber-ekor" ("tailed-star," the +Malay idiom for a comet). "So it is," said they; and all declared that +they had often heard tell of such, but had never seen one till now. I +had no telescope with me, nor any instrument at hand, but I estimated +the length of the tail at about 20 deg., and the width, towards the +extremity, about 4 deg. or 5 deg.. + +The whole of the next day we were obliged to stop near the village of +Tidore, owing to a strong wind right in our teeth. The country was all +cultivated, and I in vain searched for any insects worth capturing. One +of my men went out to shoot, but returned home without a single bird. At +sunset, the wind having dropped, we quitted Tidore, and reached the +next island, March, where we stayed till morning. The comet was again +visible, but not nearly so brilliant, being partly obscured by clouds; +and dimmed by the light of the new moon. We then rowed across to the +island of Motir, which is so surrounded with coral-reefs that it is +dangerous to approach. These are perfectly flat, and are only covered at +high water, ending in craggy vertical walls of coral in very deep water. +When there is a little wind, it is dangerous to come near these rocks; +but luckily it was quite smooth, so we moored to their edge, while the +men crawled over the reef to the land, to make; a fire and cook our +dinner-the boat having no accommodation for more than heating water for +my morning and evening coffee. We then rowed along the edge of the reef +to the end of the island, and were glad to get a nice westerly breeze, +which carried us over the strait to the island of Makian, where we +arrived about 8 P.M, The sky was quite clear, and though the moon shone +brightly, the comet appeared with quite as much splendour as when we +first saw it. + +The coasts of these small islands are very different according to their +geological formation. The volcanoes, active or extinct, have steep black +beaches of volcanic sand, or are fringed with rugged masses of lava and +basalt. Coral is generally absent, occurring only in small patches in +quiet bays, and rarely or never forming reefs. Ternate, Tidore, and +Makian belong to this class. Islands of volcanic origin, not themselves +volcanoes, but which have been probably recently upraised, are generally +more or less completely surrounded by fringing reefs of coral, and +have beaches of shining white coral sand. Their coasts present volcanic +conglomerates, basalt, and in some places a foundation of stratified +rocks, with patches of upraised coral. Mareh and Motir are of this +character, the outline of the latter giving it the appearance of having +been a true volcano, and it is said by Forrest to have thrown out +stones in 1778. The next day (Oct. 12th), we coasted along the island of +Makian, which consists of a single grand volcano. It was now quiescent, +but about two centuries ago (in 1646) there was a terrible eruption, +which blew up the whole top of the mountain, leaving the truncated +jagged summit and vast gloomy crater valley which at this time +distinguished it. It was said to have been as lofty as Tidore before +this catastrophe. [Soon after I' left the Archipelago, on the 29th of +December, 1862, another eruption of this mountain suddenly took place, +which caused great devastation in the island. All the villages and crops +were destroyed, and numbers of the inhabitants killed. The sand and +ashes fell so thick that the crops were partially destroyed fifty miles +off, at Ternate, where it was so dark the following day that lamps +had to be lighted at noon. For the position of this and the adjacent +islands, see the map in Chapter XXXVII.] + +I stayed some time at a place where I saw a new clearing on a very steep +part of the mountain, and obtained a few interesting insects. In the +evening we went on to the extreme southern point, to be ready to pass +across the fifteen-mile strait to the island of Kaioa. At five the next +morning we started, but the wind, which had hitherto been westerly, now +got to the south and southwest, and we had to row almost all the way +with a burning sun overhead. As we approached land a fine breeze sprang +up, and we went along at a great pace; yet after an hour we were no +nearer, and found we were in a violent current carrying us out to sea. +At length we overcame it, and got on shore just as the sun set, having +been exactly thirteen hours coming fifteen miles. We landed on a beach +of hard coralline rock, with rugged cliffs of the same, resembling those +of the Ke Islands (Chap. XXIX.) It was accompanied by a brilliancy and +luxuriance of the vegetation, very like what I had observed at those +islands, which so much pleased me that I resolved to stay a few days +at the chief village, and see if their animal productions were +correspondingly interesting. While searching for a secure anchorage for +the night we again saw the comet, still apparently as brilliant as at +first, but the tail had now risen to a higher angle. + +October 14th.--All this day we coasted along the Kaioa Islands, which +have much the appearance and outline of Ke on a small scale, with the +addition of flat swampy tracts along shore, and outlying coral reefs. +Contrary winds and currents had prevented our taking the proper course +to the west of them, and we had to go by a circuitous route round the +southern extremity of one island, often having to go far out to sea on +account of coral reefs. On trying to pass a channel through one of these +reefs we were grounded, and all had to get out into the water, which in +this shallow strait had been so heated by the sun as to be disagreeably +warm, and drag our vessel a considerable distance among weeds and +sponges, corals and prickly corallines. It was late at night when we +reached the little village harbour, and we were all pretty well knocked +up by hard work, and having had nothing but very brackish water to drink +all day-the best we could find at our last stopping-place. There was a +house close to the shore, built for the use of the Resident of Ternate +when he made his official visits, but now occupied by several native +travelling merchants, among whom I found a place to sleep. + +The next morning early I went to the village to find the "Kapala," or +head man. I informed him that I wanted to stay a few days in the house +at the landing, and begged him to have it made ready for me. He was very +civil, and came down at once to get it cleared, when we found that the +traders had already left, on hearing that I required it. There were no +doors to it, so I obtained the loan of a couple of hurdles to keep out +dogs and other animals. The land here was evidently sinking rapidly, +as shown by the number of trees standing in salt water dead and dying. +After breakfast I started for a walk to the forest-covered hill above +the village, with a couple of boys as guides. It was exceedingly hot and +dry, no rain having fallen for two months. When we reached an elevation +of about two hundred feet, the coralline rock which fringes the +shore was succeeded by a hard crystalline rock, a kind of metamorphic +sandstone. This would indicate flat there had been a recent elevation of +more than two hundred feet, which had still more recently clanged into +a movement of subsidence. The hill was very rugged, but among dry sticks +and fallen trees I found some good insects, mostly of forms and species +I was already acquainted with from Ternate and Gilolo. Finding no good +paths I returned, and explored the lower ground eastward of the village, +passing through a long range of plantain and tobacco grounds, encumbered +with felled and burnt logs, on which I found quantities of beetles of +the family Buprestidae of six different species, one of which was new +to me. I then reached a path in the swampy forest where I hoped to find +some butterflies, but was disappointed. Being now pretty well exhausted +by the intense heat, I thought it wise to return and reserve further +exploration for the next day. + +When I sat down in the afternoon to arrange my insects, the louse +was surrounded by men, women, and children, lost in amazement at my +unaccountable proceedings; and when, after pinning out the specimens, I +proceeded to write the name of the place on small circular tickets, and +attach one to each, even the old Kapala, the Mahometan priest, and some +Malay traders could not repress signs of astonishment. If they had +known a little more about the ways and opinions of white men, they +would probably have looked upon me as a fool or a madman, but in their +ignorance they accepted my operations as worthy of all respect, although +utterly beyond their comprehension. + +The next day (October 16th) I went beyond the swamp, and found a place +where a new clearing was being made in the virgin forest. It was a long +and hot walk, and the search among the fallen trunks and branches was +very fatiguing, but I was rewarded by obtaining about seventy distinct +species of beetles, of which at least a dozen were new to me, and many +others rare and interesting. I have never in my life seen beetles so +abundant as they were on this spot. Some dozen species of good-sized +golden Buprestidae, green rose-chafers (Lomaptera), and long-horned +weevils (Anthribidae), were so abundant that they rose up in swarms as I +walked along, filling the air with a loud buzzing hum. Along with these, +several fine Longicorns were almost equally common, forming such au +assemblage as for once to realize that idea of tropical luxuriance which +one obtains by looking over the drawers of a well-filled cabinet. On +the under sides of the trunks clung numbers of smaller or more sluggish +Longicorns, while on the branches at the edge of the clearing others +could be detected sitting with outstretched antenna ready to take flight +at the least alarm. It was a glorious spot, and one which will always +live in my memory as exhibiting the insect-life of the tropics in +unexampled luxuriance. For the three following days I continued to visit +this locality, adding each time many new species to my collection-the +following notes of which may be interesting to entomologists. October +15th, 33 species of beetles; 16th, 70 species; 17th, 47 species; 18th, +40 species; 19th, 56 species--in all about a hundred species, of which +forty were new to me. There were forty-four species of Longicorns among +them, and on the last day I took twenty-eight species of Longicorns, of +which five were new to me. + +My boys were less fortunate in shooting. The only birds at all common +were the great red parrot (Eclectus grandis), found in most of the +Moluccas, a crow, and a Megapodius, or mound-maker. A few of the pretty +racquet-tailed kingfishers were also obtained, but in very poor plumage. +They proved, however, to be of a different species from those found in +the other islands, and come nearest to the bird originally described by +Linnaeus under the name of Alcedo dea, and which came from Ternate. This +would indicate that the small chain of islands parallel to Gilolo have +a few peculiar species in common, a fact which certainly occurs in +insects. + +The people of Kaioa interested me much. They are evidently a mixed race, +having Malay and Papuan affinities, and are allied to the peoples +of Ternate and of Gilolo. They possess a peculiar language, somewhat +resembling those of the surrounding islands, but quite distinct. They +are now Mahometans, and are subject to Ternate, The only fruits seen +here were papaws and pine-apples, the rocky soil and dry climate being +unfavourable. Rice, maize, and plantains flourish well, except that +they suffer from occasional dry seasons like the present one. There is +a little cotton grown, from which the women weave sarongs (Malay +petticoats). There is only one well of good water on the islands, +situated close to the landing-place, to which all the inhabitants come +for drinking water. The men are good boat-builders, and they make a +regular trade of it and seem to be very well off. + +After five days at Kaioa we continued our journey, and soon got among +the narrow straits and islands which lead down to the town of Batchian. +In the evening we stayed at a settlement of Galela men. These are +natives of a district in the extreme north of Gilolo, and are great +wanderers over this part of the Archipelago. They build large and roomy +praus with outriggers, and settle on any coast or island they take a +fancy for. They hunt deer and wild pig, drying the meat; they catch +turtle and tripang; they cut down the forest and plant rice or maize, +and are altogether remarkably energetic and industrious. They are very +line people, of light complexion, tall, and with Papuan features, coming +nearer to the drawings and descriptions of the true Polynesians of +Tahiti and Owyhee than any I have seen. + +During this voyage I had several times had an opportunity of seeing my +men get fire by friction. A sharp-edged piece of bamboo is rubbed across +the convex surface of another piece, on which a small notch is first +cut. The rubbing is slow at first and gradually quicker, till it becomes +very rapid, and the fine powder rubbed off ignites and falls through the +hole which the rubbing has cut in the bamboo. This is done with great +quickness and certainty. The Ternate, people use bamboo in another way. +They strike its flinty surface with a bit of broken china, and produce a +spark, which they catch in some kind of tinder. + +On the evening of October 21st we reached our destination, having been +twelve days on the voyage. It had been tine weather all the time, and, +although very hot, I had enjoyed myself exceedingly, and had besides +obtained some experience in boat work among islands and coral reefs, +which enabled me afterwards to undertake much longer voyages of the same +kind. The village or town of Batchian is situated at the head of a wide +and deep bay, where a low isthmus connects the northern and southern +mountainous parts of the island. To the south is a fine range of +mountains, and I had noticed at several of our landing-places that the +geological formation of the island was very different from those around +it. Whenever rock was visible it was either sandstone in thin layers, +dipping south, or a pebbly conglomerate. Sometimes there was a little +coralline limestone, but no volcanic rocks. The forest had a dense +luxuriance and loftiness seldom found on the dry and porous lavas and +raised coral reefs of Ternate and Gilolo; and hoping for a corresponding +richness in the birds and insects, it was with much satisfaction and +with considerable expectation that I began my explorations in the +hitherto unknown island of Batchian. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. BATCHIAN. + +(OCTOBER 1858 To APRIL 1859.) + +I LANDED opposite the house kept for the use of the Resident of Ternate, +and was met by a respectable middle-aged Malay, who told me he was +Secretary to the Sultan, and would receive the official letter with +which I had been provided. On giving it him, he at once informed me I +might have the use of the official residence which was empty. I soon got +my things on shore, but on looking about me found that the house would +never do to stay long in. There was no water except at a considerable +distance, and one of my men would be almost entirely occupied getting +water and firewood, and I should myself have to walk all through the +village every day to the forest, and live almost in public, a thing I +much dislike. The rooms were all boarded, and had ceilings, which are a +great nuisance, as there are no means of hanging anything up except +by driving nails, and not half the conveniences of a native bamboo +and thatch cottage. I accordingly inquired for a house outside of the +village on the road to the coal mines, and was informed by the Secretary +that there was a small one belonging to the Sultan, and that he would go +with me early next morning to see it. + +We had to pass one large river, by a rude but substantial bridge, and +to wade through another fine pebbly stream of clear water, just beyond +which the little but was situated. It was very small, not raised on +posts, but with the earth for a floor, and was built almost entirely +of the leaf-stems of the sago-palm, called here "gaba-gaba." Across the +river behind rose a forest-clad bank, and a good road close in front of +the horse led through cultivated grounds to the forest about half a mile +on, and thence to the coal mines tour miles further. These advantages at +once decided me, and I told the Secretary I would be very glad to +occupy the house. I therefore sent my two men immediately to buy "ataps" +(palm-leaf thatch) to repair the roof, and the next day, with the +assistance of eight of the Sultan's men, got all my stores and furniture +carried up and pretty comfortably arranged. A rough bamboo bedstead was +soon constructed, and a table made of boards which I had brought with +me, fixed under the window. Two bamboo chairs, an easy cane chair, and +hanging shelves suspended with insulating oil cups, so as to be safe +from ants, completed my furnishing arrangements. + +In the afternoon succeeding my arrival, the Secretary accompanied me +to visit the Sultan. We were kept waiting a few minutes in an outer +gate-house, and then ushered to the door of a rude, half-fortified +whitewashed house. A small table and three chairs were placed in a large +outer corridor, and an old dirty-faced man with grey hair and a grimy +beard, dressed in a speckled blue cotton jacket and loose red trousers, +came forward, shook hands, and asked me to be coated. After a quarter +of an hour's conversation on my pursuits, in which his Majesty seemed to +take great interest, tea and cakes-of rather better quality than usual +on such occasions-were brought in. I thanked him for the house, and +offered to show him my collections, which he promised to come and look +at. He then asked me to teach him to take views-to make maps-to get him +a small gun from England, and a milch-goat from Bengal; all of which +requests I evaded as skilfully as I was able, and we parted very good +friends. He seemed a sensible old man, and lamented the small population +of the island, which he assured me was rich in many valuable minerals, +including gold; but there were not people enough to look after them +and work them. I described to him the great rush of population on the +discovery of the Australian gold mines, and the huge nuggets found +there, with which he was much interested, and exclaimed, "Oh? if we had +but people like that, my country would be quite as rich." + +The morning after I had got into my new house, I sent my boys out to +shoot, and went myself to explore the road to the coal mines. In less +than half a mile it entered the virgin forest, at a place where some +magnificent trees formed a kind of natural avenue. The first part was +flat and swampy, but it soon rose a little, and ran alongside the fine +stream which passed behind my house, and which here rushed and gurgled +over a rocky or pebbly bed, sometimes leaving wide sandbanks on its +margins, and at other places flowing between high banks crowned with +a varied and magnificent forest vegetation. After about two miles, the +valley narrowed, and the road was carried along the steep hill-side +which rose abruptly from the water's edge. In some places the rock had +been cut away, but its surface was already covered with elegant ferns +and creepers. Gigantic tree-ferns were abundant, and the whole forest +had an air of luxuriance and rich variety which it never attains in +the dry volcanic soil to which I had been lately accustomed. A little +further the road passed to the other side of the valley by a bridge +across the stream at a place where a great mass of rock in the middle +offered an excellent support for it, and two miles more of most +picturesque and interesting road brought me to the mining establishment. + +This is situated in a large open space, at a spot where two tributaries +fall into the main stream. Several forest-paths and new clearings +offered fine collecting grounds, and I captured some new and interesting +insects; but as it was getting late I had to reserve a more thorough +exploration for future occasions. Coal had been discovered here some +years before, and the road was made in order to bring down a sufficient +quantity for a fair trial on the Dutch steamers. The quality, however, +was not thought sufficiently good, and the mines were abandoned. Quite +recently, works had been commenced in another spot, in Hopes of finding +a better vein. There ware about eighty men employed, chiefly convicts; +but this was far too small a number for mining operations in such a +country, where the mere keeping a few miles of road in repair requires +the constant work of several men. If coal of sufficiently good quality +should be found, a tramroad would be made, and would be very easily +worked, owing to the regular descent of the valley. + +Just as I got home I overtook Ali returning from shooting with some +birch hanging from his belt. He seemed much pleased, and said, "Look +here, sir, what a curious bird," holding out what at first completely +puzzled me. I saw a bird with a mass of splendid green feathers on +its breast, elongated into two glittering tufts; but, what I could not +understand was a pair of long white feathers, which stuck straight out +from each shoulder. Ali assured me that the bird stuck them out this way +itself, when fluttering its wings, and that they had remained so without +his touching them. I now saw that I had got a great prize, no less than +a completely new form of the Bird of Paradise, differing most remarkably +from every other known bird. The general plumage is very sober, being +a pure ashy olive, with a purplish tinge on the back; the crown of the +head is beautifully glossed with pale metallic violet, and the feathers +of the front extend as much over the beak as inmost of the family. The +neck and breast are scaled with fine metallic green, and the feathers on +the lower part are elongated on each side, so as to form a two-pointed +gorget, which can be folded beneath the wings, or partially erected and +spread out in the same way as the side plumes of most of the birds of +paradise. The four long white plumes which give the bird its altogether +unique character, spring from little tubercles close to the upper edge +of the shoulder or bend of the wing; they are narrow, gentle curved, and +equally webbed on both sides, of a pure creamy white colour. They are +about six inches long, equalling the wing, and can be raised at right +angles to it, or laid along the body at the pleasure of the bird. The +bill is horn colour, the legs yellow, and the iris pale olive. This +striking novelty has been named by Mr. G. R. Gray of the British Museum, +Semioptera Wallacei, or "Wallace's Standard wing." + +A few days later I obtained an exceedingly beautiful new butterfly, +allied to the fine blue Papilio Ulysses, but differing from it in the +colour being of a more intense tint, and in having a row of blue stripes +around the margin of the lower wings. This good beginning was, however, +rather deceptive, and I soon found that insects, and especially +butterflies, were somewhat scarce, and birds in tar less variety than +I had anticipated. Several of the fine Moluccan species were however +obtained. The handsome red lory with green wings and a yellow spot in +the back (Lorius garrulus), was not uncommon. When the Jambu, or rose +apple (Eugenic sp.), was in flower in the village, flocks of the little +lorikeet (Charmosyna placentis), already met with in Gilolo, came to +feed upon the nectar, and I obtained as many specimens as I desired. +Another beautiful bird of the parrot tribe was the Geoffroyus +cyanicollis, a green parrot with a red bill and head, which colour +shaded on the crown into azure blue, and thence into verditer blue +and the green of the back. Two large and handsome fruit pigeons, with +metallic green, ashy, and rufous plumage, were not uncommon; and I was +rewarded by finding a splendid deep blue roller (Eurystomus azureus); +a lovely golden-capped sunbird (Nectarinea auriceps), and a fine +racquet-tailed kingfisher (Tanysiptera isis), all of which were entirely +new to ornithologists. Of insects I obtained a considerable number of +interesting beetles, including many fine longicorns, among which was the +largest and handsomest species of the genus Glenea yet discovered. Among +butterflies the beautiful little Danis sebae was abundant, making the +forests gay with its delicate wings of white and the richest metallic +blue; while showy Papilios, and pretty Pieridae, and dark, rich +Euphaeas, many of them new, furnished a constant source of interest and +pleasing occupation. + +The island of Batchian possesses no really indigenous inhabitants, the +interior being altogether uninhabited; and there are only a few small +villages on various parts of the coast; yet I found here four distinct +races, which would wofully mislead an ethnological traveller unable +to obtain information as to their origin, first there are the Batchian +Malays, probably the earliest colonists, differing very little from +those of Ternate. Their language, however, seems to have more of +the Papuan element, with a mixture of pure Malay, showing that +the settlement is one of stragglers of various races, although now +sufficiently homogeneous. Then there are the "Orang Sirani," as at +Ternate and Amboyna. Many of these have the Portuguese physiognomy +strikingly preserved, but combined with a skin generally darker than +the Malays. Some national customs are retained, and the Malay, which +is their only language, contains a large number of Portuguese words +and idioms. The third race consists of the Galela men from the north of +Gilolo, a singular people, whom I have already described; and the fourth +is a colony from Tomore, in the eastern peninsula of Celebes. These +people were brought here at their own request a few years ago, to avoid +extermination by another tribe. They have a very light complexion, open +Tartar physiognomy, low stature, and a language of the Bugis type. +They are an industrious agricultural people, and supply the town with +vegetables. They make a good deal of bark cloth, similar to the tapa of +the Polynesians, by cutting down the proper trees and taping off large +cylinders of bark, which is beaten with mallets till it separates from +the wood. It is then soaked, and so continuously and regularly beaten +out that it becomes as thin and as tough as parchment. In this foam it +is much used for wrappers for clothes; and they also make jackets of it, +sewn neatly together and stained with the juice of another kind of bark, +which gives it a dark red colour and renders it nearly waterproof. + +Here are four very distinct kinds of people who may all be seen any +day in and about the town of Batchian. Now if we suppose a traveller +ignorant of Malay, picking up a word or two here and there of +the "Batchian language," and noting down the "physical and moral +peculiarities, manners, and customs of the Batchian people"--(for +there are travellers who do all this in four-and-twenty hours)--what an +accurate and instructive chapter we should have' what transitions would +be pointed out, what theories of the origin of races would be developed +while the next traveller might flatly contradict every statement and +arrive at exactly opposite conclusions. + +Soon after I arrived here the Dutch Government introduced a new copper +coinage of cents instead of doits (the 100th instead of the 120th part +of a guilder), and all the old coins were ordered to be sent to Ternate +to be changed. I sent a bag containing 6,000 doits, and duly received +the new money by return of the boat. Then Ali went to bring it, however, +the captain required a written order; so I waited to send again the next +day, and it was lucky I did so, for that night my house was entered, all +my boxes carried out and ransacked, and the various articles left on the +road about twenty yards off, where we found them at five in the morning, +when, on getting up and finding the house empty, we rushed out to +discover tracks of the thieves. Not being able to find the copper money +which they thought I had just received, they decamped, taking nothing +but a few yards of cotton cloth and a black coat and trousers, which +latter were picked up a few days afterwards hidden in the grass. There +was no doubt whatever who were the thieves. Convicts are employed to +guard the Government stores when the boat arrives from Ternate. Two of +them watch all night, and often take the opportunity to roam about and +commit robberies. + +The next day I received my money, and secured it well in a strong box +fastened under my bed. I took out five or six hundred cents for daily +expenses, and put them in a small japanned box, which always stood upon +my table. In the afternoon I went for a short walk, and on my return +this box and my keys, which I had carelessly left on the table, were +gone. Two of my boys were in the house, but had heard nothing. I +immediately gave information of the two robberies to the Director at the +mines and to the Commandant at the fort, and got for answer, that if +I caught the thief in the act I might shoot him. By inquiry in the +village, we afterwards found that one of the convicts who was on duty at +the Government rice-store in the village had quitted his guard, was +seen to pass over the bridge towards my house, was seen again within +two hundred yards of my house, and on returning over the bridge into +the village carried something under his arm, carefully covered with +his sarong. My box was stolen between the hours he was seen going +and returning, and it was so small as to be easily carried in the way +described. This seemed pretty clear circumstantial evidence. I accused +the man and brought the witnesses to the Commandant. The man was +examined, and confessed having gone to the river close to my house to +bathe; but said he had gone no farther, having climbed up a cocoa-nut +tree and brought home two nuts, which he had covered over, _because +he was ashamed to be seen carrying them!_ This explanation was thought +satisfactory, and he was acquitted. I lost my cash and my box, a seal +I much valued, with other small articles, and all my keys-the severest +loss by far. Luckily my large cash-box was left locked, but so were +others which I required to open immediately. There was, however, a very +clever blacksmith employed to do ironwork for the mines, and he picked +my locks for me when I required them, and in a few days made me new +keys, which I used all the time I was abroad. + +Towards the end of November the wet season set in, and we had daily and +almost incessant rains, with only about one or two hours' sunshine in +the morning. The flat parts of the forest became flooded, the roads +filled with mud, and insects and birds were scarcer than ever. On +December Lath, in the afternoon, we had a sharp earthquake shock, which +made the house and furniture shale and rattle for five minutes, and the +trees and shrubs wave as if a gust of wind had passed over them. About +the middle of December I removed to the village, in order more easily +to explore the district to the west of it, and to be near the sea when I +wished to return to Ternate. I obtained the use of a good-sized house in +the Campong Sirani (or Christian village), and at Christmas and the New +Year had to endure the incessant gun-firing, drum-beating, and fiddling +of the inhabitants. + +These people are very fond of music and dancing, and it would astonish +a European to visit one of their assemblies. We enter a gloomy palm-leaf +hut, in which two or three very dim lamps barely render darkness +visible. The floor is of black sandy earth, the roof hid in a smoky +impenetrable blackness; two or three benches stand against the walls, +and the orchestra consists of a fiddle, a fife, a drum, and a triangle. +There is plenty of company, consisting of young men and women, all very +neatly dressed in white and black--a true Portuguese habit. Quadrilles, +waltzes, polkas, and mazurkas are danced with great vigour and much +skill. The refreshments are muddy coffee and a few sweetmeats. Dancing +is kept up for hours, and all is conducted with much decorum and +propriety. A party of this kind meets about once a week, the principal +inhabitants taking it by turns, and all who please come in without much +ceremony. + +It is astonishing how little these people have altered in three hundred +years, although in that time they have changed their language and lost +all knowledge of their own nationality. They are still in manners and +appearance almost pure Portuguese, very similar to those with whom I had +become acquainted on the banks of the Amazon. They live very poorly as +regards their house and furniture, but preserve a semi-European dress, +and have almost all full suits of black for Sundays. They are nominally +Protestants, but Sunday evening is their grand day for music and +dancing. The men are often good hunters; and two or three times a week, +deer or wild pigs are brought to the village, which, with fish and +fowls, enables them to live well. They are almost the only people in +the Archipelago who eat the great fruit-eating bats called by us "flying +foxes." These ugly creatures are considered a great delicacy, and are +much sought after. At about the beginning of the year they come in large +flocks to eat fruit, and congregate during the day on some small islands +in the bay, hanging by thousands on the trees, especially on dead ones. +They can then be easily caught or knocked down with sticks, and are +brought home by basketsfull. They require to be carefully prepared, +as the skin and fur has a rank end powerful foxy odour; but they are +generally cooked with abundance of spices and condiments, and are really +very good eating, something like hare. The Orang Sirani are good cooks, +having a much greater variety of savoury dishes than the Malays. Here, +they live chiefly on sago as bread, with a little rice occasionally, and +abundance of vegetables and fruit. + +It is a curious fact that everywhere in the Past where the Portuguese +have mixed with the native races they leave become darker in colour than +either of the parent stocks. This is the case almost always with these +"Orang Sirani" in the Moluccas, and with the Portuguese of Malacca. +The reverse is the case in South America, where the mixture of the +Portuguese or Brazilian with the Indian produces the "Mameluco," who is +not unfrequently lighter than either parent, and always lighter than the +Indian. The women at Batchian, although generally fairer than the men, +are coarse in features, and very far inferior in beauty to the mixed +Dutch-Malay girls, or even to many pure Malays. + +The part of the village in which I resided was a grove of cocoa-nut +trees, and at night, when the dead leaves were sometimes collected +together and burnt, the effect was most magnificent--the tall stems, +the fine crowns of foliage, and the immense fruit-clusters, being +brilliantly illuminated against a dark sky, and appearing like a fairy +palace supported on a hundred columns, and groined over with leafy +arches. The cocoa-nut tree, when well grown, is certainly the prince of +palms both for beauty and utility. + +During my very first walk into the forest at Batchian, I had seen +sitting on a leaf out of reach, an immense butterfly of a dark colour +marked with white and yellow spots. I could not capture it as it flew +away high up into the forest, but I at once saw that it was a female of +a new species of Ornithoptera or "bird-winged butterfly," the pride of +the Eastern tropics. I was very anxious to get it and to find the +male, which in this genus is always of extreme beauty. During the two +succeeding months I only saw it once again, and shortly afterwards I saw +the male flying high in the air at the mining village. I had begun to +despair of ever getting a specimen, as it seemed so rare and wild; till +one day, about the beginning of January, I found a beautiful shrub with +large white leafy bracts and yellow flowers, a species of Mussaenda, and +saw one of these noble insects hovering over it, but it was too quick +for me, and flew away. The next clay I went again to the same shrub and +succeeded in catching a female, and the day after a fine male. I +found it to be as I had expected, a perfectly new and most magnificent +species, and one of the most gorgeously coloured butterflies in the +world. Fine specimens of the male are more than seven inches across +the wings, which are velvety black and fiery orange, the latter colour +replacing the green of the allied species. The beauty and brilliancy of +this insect are indescribable, and none but a naturalist can understand +the intense excitement I experienced when I at length captured it. On +taking it out of my net and opening the glorious wings, my heart began +to beat violently, the blood rushed to my head, and I felt much more +like fainting than I have done when in apprehension of immediate death. +I had a headache the rest of the day, so great was the excitement +produced by what will appear to most people a very inadequate cause. + +I had decided to return to Ternate in a week or two more, but this grand +capture determined me to stay on till I obtained a good series of +the new butterfly, which I have since named Ornithoptera croesus. The +Mussaenda bush was an admirable place, which I could visit every day +on my way to the forest; and as it was situated in a dense thicket of +shrubs and creepers, I set my man Lahi to clear a space all round it, so +that I could easily get at any insect that might visit it. Afterwards, +finding that it was often necessary to wait some time there, I had a +little seat put up under a tree by the side of it, where I came every +day to eat my lunch, and thus had half an hour's watching about noon, +besides a chance as I passed it in the morning. In this way I obtained +on an average one specimen a day for a long time, but more than half +of these were females, and more than half the remainder worn or broken +specimens, so that I should not have obtained many perfect males had I +not found another station for them. + +As soon as I had seen them come to flowers, I sent my man Lahi with a +net on purpose to search for them, as they had also been seen at some +flowering trees on the beach, and I promised him half a day's wages +extra for every good specimen he could catch. After a day or two he +brought me two very fair specimens, and told me he had caught them in +the bed of a large rocky stream that descends from the mountains to the +sea abort a mile below the village. They flew down this river, settling +occasionally on stones and rocks in the water, and he was obliged to +wade up it or jump from rock to rock to get at them. I went with him +one day, but found that the stream was far too rapid and the stones too +slippery for me to do anything, so I left it entirely to him, and all +the rest of the time we stayed in Batchian he used to be out all day, +generally bringing me one, and on good days two or three specimens. I +was thus able to bring away with me more than a hundred of both sexes, +including perhaps twenty very fine males, though not more than five or +six that were absolutely perfect. + +My daily walk now led me, first about half a mile along the sandy beach, +then through a sago swamp over a causeway of very shaky poles to the +village of the Tomore people. Beyond this was the forest with patches of +new clearing, shady paths, and a considerable quantity of felled timber. +I found this a very fair collecting ground, especially for beetles. +The fallen trunks in the clearings abounded with golden Buprestidae +and curious Brenthidae, and longicorns, while in the forest I found +abundance of the smaller Curculionidae, many longicorns, and some fine +green Carabidae. + +Butterflies were not abundant, but I obtained a few more of the fine +blue Papilio, and a number of beautiful little Lycaenidae, as well as a +single specimen of the very rare Papilio Wallacei, of which I had taken +the hitherto unique specimen in the Aru Islands. + +The most interesting birds I obtained here, were the beautiful blue +kingfisher, Todiramphus diops; the fine green and purple doves, +Ptilonopus superbus and P. iogaster, and several new birds of small +size. My shooters still brought me in specimens of the Semioptera +Wallacei, and I was greatly excited by the positive statements of +several of the native hunters that another species of this bird existed, +much handsomer and more remarkable. They declared that the plumage was +glossy black, with metallic green breast as in my species, but that the +white shoulder plumes were twice as long, and hung down far below the +body of the bird. They declared that when hunting pigs or deer far in +the forest they occasionally saw this bird, but that it was rare. I +immediately offered twelve guilders (a pound) for a specimen; but all in +vain, and I am to this day uncertain whether such a bird exists. Since +I left, the German naturalist, Dr. Bernstein, stayed many months in the +island with a large staff of hunters collecting for the Leyden Museum; +and as he was not more successful than myself, we must consider either +that the bird is very rare, or is altogether a myth. + +Batchian is remarkable as being the most eastern point on the globe +inhabited by any of the Quadrumana. A large black baboon-monkey +(Cynopithecus nigrescens) is abundant in some parts of the forest. This +animal has bare red callosities, and a rudimentary tail about an inch +long--a mere fleshy tubercle, which may be very easily overlooked. It is +the same species that is found all over the forests of Celebes, and +as none of the other Mammalia of that island extend into Batchian I am +inclined to suppose that this species has been accidentally introduced +by the roaming Malays, who often carry about with them tame monkeys +and other animals. This is rendered more probable by the fact that the +animal is not found in Gilolo, which is only separated from Batchian by +a very narrow strait. The introduction may have been very recent, as in +a fertile and unoccupied island such an animal would multiply rapidly. +The only other mammals obtained were an Eastern opossum, which Dr. Gray +has described as Cuscus ornatus; the little flying opossum, Belideus +ariel; a Civet cat, Viverra zebetha; and nice species of bats, most of +the smaller ones being caught in the dusk with my butterfly net as they +flew about before the house. + +After much delay, owing to bad weather and the illness of one of my men, +I determined to visit Kasserota (formerly the chief village), situated +up a small stream, on an island close to the north coast of Batchian; +where I was told that many rare birds were found. After my boat was +loaded and everything ready, three days of heavy squalls prevented our +starting, and it was not till the 21st of March that we got away. +Early next morning we entered the little river, and in about an hour we +reached the Sultan's house, which I had obtained permission to use. It +was situated on the bank of the river, and surrounded by a forest +of fruit trees, among which were some of the very loftiest and most +graceful cocoa-nut palms I have ever seen. It rained nearly all that +day, and I could do little but unload and unpack. Towards the afternoon +it cleared up, and I attempted to explore in various directions, but +found to my disgust that the only path was a perfect mud swamp, along +which it was almost impossible to walk, and the surrounding forest so +damp and dark as to promise little in the way of insects. I found too on +inquiry that the people here made no clearings, living entirely on sago, +fruit, fish, and game; and the path only led to a steep rocky mountain +equally impracticable and unproductive. The next day I sent my men to +this hill, hoping it might produce some good birds; but they returned +with only two common species, and I myself had been able to get nothing; +every little track I had attempted to follow leading to a dense sago +swamp. I saw that I should waste time by staying here, and determined to +leave the following day. + +This is one of those spots so hard for the European naturalist to +conceive, where with all the riches of a tropical vegetation, and partly +perhaps from the very luxuriance of that vegetation, insects are +as scarce as in the most barren parts of Europe, and hardly more +conspicuous. In temperate climates there is a tolerable uniformity in +the distribution of insects over those parts of a country in which there +is a similarity in the vegetation, any deficiency being easily accounted +for by the absence of wood or uniformity of surface. The traveller +hastily passing through such a country can at once pick out a collecting +ground which will afford him a fair notion of its entomology. Here the +case is different. There are certain requisites of a good collecting +ground which can only be ascertained to exist by some days' search in +the vicinity of each village. In some places there is no virgin forest, +as at Djilolo and Sahoe; in others there are no open pathways or +clearings, as here. At Batchian there are only two tolerable collecting +places,--the road to the coal mines, and the new clearings made by the +Tomore people, the latter being by far the most productive. I believe +the fact to be that insects are pretty uniformly distributed over these +countries (where the forests have not been cleared away), and are so +scarce in any one spot that searching for them is almost useless. If the +forest is all cleared away, almost all the insects disappear with it; +but when small clearings and paths are made, the fallen trees in various +stages of drying and decay, the rotting leaves, the loosening bark and +the fungoid growths upon it, together with the flowers that appear +in much greater abundance where the light is admitted, are so many +attractions to the insects for miles around, and cause a wonderful +accumulation of species and individuals. When the entomologist can +discover such a spot, he does more in a mouth than he could possibly do +by a year's search in the depths of the undisturbed forest. + +The next morning we left early, and reached the mouth of the little +river in about au hour. It flows through a perfectly flat alluvial +plain, but there are hills which approach it near the mouth. Towards the +lower part, in a swamp where the salt-water must enter at high tides, +were a number of elegant tree-ferns from eight to fifteen feet high. +These are generally considered to be mountain plants, and rarely to +occur on the equator at an elevation of less than one or two thousand +feet. In Borneo, in the Aru Islands, and on the banks of the Amazon, I +have observed them at the level of the sea, and think it probable that +the altitude supposed to be requisite for them may have been deduced +from facts observed in countries where the plains and lowlands are +largely cultivated, and most of the indigenous vegetation destroyed. +Such is the case in most parts of Java, India, Jamaica, and Brazil, +where the vegetation of the tropics has been most fully explored. + +Coming out to sea we turned northwards, and in about two hours' +sail reached a few huts, called Langundi, where some Galela men had +established themselves as collectors of gum-dammar, with which they made +torches for the supply of the Ternate market. About a hundred yards back +rises a rather steep hill, and a short walk having shown me that there +was a tolerable path up it, I determined to stay here for a few days. +Opposite us, and all along this coast of Batchian, stretches a row of +fine islands completely uninhabited. Whenever I asked the reason why +no one goes to live in them, the answer always was, "For fear of the +Magindano pirates." Every year these scourges of the Archipelago wander +in one direction or another, making their rendezvous on some uninhabited +island, and carrying devastation to all the small settlements around; +robbing, destroying, killing, or taking captive all they nee with. Their +long well-manned praus escape from the pursuit of any sailing vessel by +pulling away right in the wind's eye, and the warning smoke of a steamer +generally enables them to hide in some shallow bay, or narrow river, or +forest-covered inlet, till the danger is passed. The only effectual way +to put a stop to their depredations would be to attack them in their +strongholds and villages, and compel them to give up piracy, and submit +to strict surveillance. Sir James Brooke did this with the pirates of +the north-west coast of Borneo, and deserves the thanks of the whole +population of the Archipelago for having rid them of half their enemies. + +All along the beach here, and in the adjacent strip of sandy lowland, is +a remarkable display of Pandanaceae or Screw-pines. Some are like huge +branching candelabra, forty or fifty feet high, and bearing at the +end of each branch a tuft of immense sword-shaped leaves, six or eight +inches wide, and as many feet long. Others have a single unbranched +stem, six or seven feet high, the upper part clothed with the spirally +arranged leaves, and bearing a single terminal fruit ac large as a +swan's egg. Others of intermediate size have irregular clusters of rough +red fruits, and all have more or less spiny-edged leaves and ringed +stems. The young plants of the larger species have smooth glossy thick +leaves, sometimes ten feet long and eight inches wide, which are used +all over the Moluccas and New Guinea, to make "cocoyas" or sleeping +mats, which are often very prettily ornamented with coloured patterns. +Higher up on the bill is a forest of immense trees, among which those +producing the resin called dammar (Dammara sp.) are abundant. The +inhabitants of several small villages in Batchian are entirely engaged +in searching for this product, and making it into torches by pounding +it and filling it into tubes of palm leaves about a yard long, which +are the only lights used by many of the natives. Sometimes the dammar +accumulates in large masses of ten or twenty pounds weight, either +attached to the trunk, or found buried in the ground at the foot of the +trees. The most extraordinary trees of the forest are, however, a kind +of fig, the aerial roots of which form a pyramid near a hundred feet +high, terminating just where the tree branches out above, so that there +is no real trunk. This pyramid or cone is formed of roots of every size, +mostly descending in straight lines, but more or less obliquely-and so +crossing each other, and connected by cross branches, which grow from +one to another; as to form a dense and complicated network, to which +nothing but a photograph could do justice (see illustration at Vol. I. +page 130). The Kanary is also abundant in this forest, the nut of which +has a very agreeable flavour, and produces an excellent oil. The fleshy +outer covering of the nut is the favourite food of the great green +pigeons of these islands (Carpophaga, perspicillata), and their +hoarse copings and heavy flutterings among the branches can be almost +continually heard. + +After ten days at Langundi, finding it impossible to get the bird I was +particularly in search of (the Nicobar pigeon, or a new species allied +to it), and finding no new birds, and very few insects, I left early on +the morning of April 1st, and in the evening entered a river on the +main island of Batchian (Langundi, like Kasserota, being on a distinct +island), where some Malays and Galela men have a small village, and have +made extensive rice-fields and plantain grounds. Here we found a good +house near the river bank, where the water was fresh and clear, and the +owner, a respectable Batchian Malay, offered me sleeping room and the +use of the verandah if I liked to stay. Seeing forest all round within +a short distance, I accepted his offer, and the next morning before +breakfast walked out to explore, and on the skirts of the forest +captured a few interesting insects. + +Afterwards, I found a path which led for a mile or more through a very +fine forest, richer in palms than any I had seen in the Moluccas. One of +these especially attracted my attention from its elegance. The stein was +not thicker than my wrist, yet it was very lofty, and bore clusters +of bright red fruit. It was apparently a species of Areca. Another of +immense height closely resembled in appearance the Euterpes of South +America. Here also grew the fan-leafed palm, whose small, nearly +entire leaves are used to make the dammar torches, and to form the +water-buckets in universal use. During this walk I saw near a dozen +species of palms, as well as two or three Pandani different from those +of Langundi. There were also some very fine climbing ferns and true wild +Plantains (Musa), bearing an edible fruit not so large as one's thumb, +and consisting of a mass of seeds just covered with pulp and skin. +The people assured me they had tried the experiment of sowing and +cultivating this species, but could not improve it. They probably did +not grow it in sufficient quantity, and did not persevere sufficiently +long. + +Batchian is an island that would perhaps repay the researches of a +botanist better than any other in the whole Archipelago. It contains +a great variety of surface and of soil, abundance of large and small +streams, many of which are navigable for some distance, and there being +no savage inhabitants, every part of it can be visited with perfect +safety. It possesses gold, copper, and coal, hot springs and geysers, +sedimentary and volcanic rocks and coralline limestone, alluvial plains, +abrupt hills and lofty mountains, a moist climate, and a grand and +luxuriant forest vegetation. + +The few days I stayed here produced me several new insects, but scarcely +any birds. Butterflies and birds are in fact remarkably scarce in these +forests. One may walk a whole day and not see more than two or three +species of either. In everything but beetles, these eastern islands are +very deficient compared with the western (Java, Borneo, &c.), and much +more so if compared with the forests of South America, where twenty or +thirty species of butterflies may be caught every day, and on very +good days a hundred, a number we can hardly reach here in months of +unremitting search. In birds there is the same difference. In most +parts of tropical America we may always find some species of +woodpecker tanager, bush shrike, chatterer, trogon, toucan, cuckoo, +and tyrant-flycatcher; and a few days' active search will produce more +variety than can be here met with in as many months. Yet, along with +this poverty of individuals and of species, there are in almost every +class and order, some one, or two species of such extreme beauty or +singularity, as to vie with, or even surpass, anything that even South +America can produce. + +One afternoon when I was arranging my insects, and surrounded by a crowd +of wondering spectators, I showed one of them how to look at a small +insect with a hand-lens, which caused such evident wonder that all the +rest wanted to see it too. I therefore fixed the glass firmly to a piece +of soft wood at the proper focus, and put under it a little spiny +beetle of the genus Hispa, and then passed it round for examination. The +excitement was immense. Some declared it was a yard long; others were +frightened, and instantly dropped it, and all were as much astonished, +and made as much shouting and gesticulation, as children at a pantomime, +or at a Christmas exhibition of the oxyhydrogen microscope. And all +this excitement was produced by a little pocket lens, an inch and a half +focus, and therefore magnifying only four or five times, but which to +their unaccustomed eyes appeared to enlarge a hundred fold. + +On the last day of my stay here, one of my hunters succeeded in finding +and shooting the beautiful Nicobar pigeon, of which I had been so long +in search. None of the residents had ever seen it, which shows that it +is rare and slay. My specimen was a female in beautiful condition, and +the glassy coppery and green of its plumage, the snow-white tail +and beautiful pendent feathers of the neck, were greatly admired. I +subsequently obtained a specimen in New Guinea; and once saw it in the +Kaioa islands. It is found also in some small islands near Macassar, in +others near Borneo; and in the Nicobar islands, whence it receives its +name. It is a ground feeder, only going upon trees to roost, and is a +very heavy fleshy bird. This may account far the fact of its being +found chiefly on very small islands, while in the western half of the +Archipelago, it seems entirely absent from the larger ones. Being a +ground feeder it is subject to the attacks of carnivorous quadrupeds, +which are not found in the very small islands. Its wide distribution +over the whole length of the Archipelago; from extreme west to east, is +however very extraordinary, since, with the exception of a few of +the birds of prey, not a single land bird has so wide a range. +Ground-feeding birds are generally deficient in power of extended +flight, and this species is so bulky and heavy that it appears at first +sight quite unable to fly a mile. A closer examination shows, however, +that its wings are remarkably large, perhaps in proportion to its size +larger than those of any other pigeon, and its pectoral muscles +are immense. A fact communicated to me by the son of my friend Mr. +Duivenboden of Ternate, would show that, in accordance with these +peculiarities of structure, it possesses the power of flying long +distances. Mr. D. established an oil factory on a small coral island, a +hundred miles north of New Guinea, with no intervening land. After the +island had been settled a year, and traversed in every direction, his +son paid it a visit; and just as the schooner was coming to an anchor, +a bird was seen flying from seaward which fell into the water exhausted +before it could reach the shore. A boat was sent to pick it up, and it +was found to be a Nicobar pigeon, which must have come from New Guinea, +and flown a hundred miles, since no such bird previously inhabited the +island. + +This is certainly a very curious case of adaptation to an unusual and +exceptional necessity. The bird does not ordinarily require great powers +of flight, since it lives in the forest, feeds on fallen fruits, and +roosts in low trees like other ground pigeons. The majority of the +individuals, therefore, can never make full use of their enormously +powerful wings, till the exceptional case occurs of an individual +being blown out to sea, or driven to emigrate by the incursion of some +carnivorous animal, or the pressure of scarcity of food. A modification +exactly opposite to that which produced the wingless birds (the Apteryx, +Cassowary, and Dodo), appears to have here taken place; and it is +curious that in both cases an insular habitat should have been the +moving cause. The explanation is probably the same as that applied +by Mr. Darwin to the case of the Madeira beetles, many of which are +wingless, while some of the winged ones have the wings better developed +than the same species on the continent. It was advantageous to these +insects either never to fly at all, and thus not run the risk of being +blown out to sea, or to fly so well as to be able either to return to +land, or to migrate safely to the continent. Pad flying was worse +than not flying at all. So, while in such islands as New Zealand and +Mauritius far from all land, it was safer for a ground-feeding bird not +to fly at all, and the short-winged individuals continually surviving, +prepared the way for a wingless group of birds; in a vast Archipelago +thickly strewn with islands and islets it was advantageous to be able +occasionally to migrate, and thus the long and strong-winged varieties +maintained their existence longest, and ultimately supplanted all +others, and spread the race over the whole Archipelago. + +Besides this pigeon, the only new bird I obtained during the trip was +a rare goat-sucker (Batrachostomus crinifrons), the only species of the +genus yet found in the Moluccas. Among my insects the best were the rare +Pieris arum, of a rich chrome yellow colour, with a black border and +remarkable white antenna--perhaps the very finest butterfly of the +genus; and a large black wasp-like insect, with immense jaws like a +stag-beetle, which has been named Megachile Pluto by Mr. B. Smith. I +collected about a hundred species of beetles quite new to me, but mostly +very minute, and also many rare and handsome ones which I had already +found in Batchian. On the whole I was tolerably satisfied with my +seventeen days' excursion, which was a very agreeable one, and enabled +me to sea a good deal of the island. I had hired a roomy boat, and +brought with me a small table and my rattan chair. These were great +comforts, as, wherever there was a roof, I could immediately instal +myself, and work and eat at ease. When I could not find accommodation on +shore I slept in the boat, which was always drawn up on the beach if we +stayed for a few days at one spot. + +On my return to Batchian I packed up my collections, and prepared for +my return to Ternate. When I first came I had sent back my boat by the +pilot, with two or three other men who had been glad of the opportunity. +I now took advantage of a Government boat which had just arrived with +rice for the troops, and obtained permission to return in her, and +accordingly started on the 13th of April, having resided only a week +short of six months on the island of Batchian. The boat was one of +the kind called "Kora-kora," quite open, very low, and about four tons +burthen. It had outriggers of bamboo about five feet off each side, +which supported a bamboo platform extending the whole length of the +vessel. On the extreme outside of this sit the twenty rowers, while +within was a convenient passage fore and aft. The middle portion of the +boat was covered with a thatch-house, in which baggage and passengers +are stowed; the gunwale was not more than a foot above water, and from +the great top and side weight, and general clumsiness, these boats are +dangerous in heavy weather, and are not unfrequently lost. A triangle +mast and mat sail carried us on when the wind was favourable,--which +(as usual) it never was, although, according to the monsoon, it ought to +have been. Our water, carried in bamboos, would only last two days, and +as the voyage occupied seven, we had to touch at a great many places. +The captain was not very energetic, and the men rowed as little as they +pleased, or we might have reached Ternate in three days, having had fine +weather and little wind all the way. + +There were several passengers besides myself: three or four Javanese +soldiers, two convicts whose time had expired (one, curiously enough, +being the man who had stolen my cash-box and keys), the schoolmaster's +wife and a servant going on a visit to Ternate, and a Chinese trader +going to buy goods. We had to sleep all together in the cabin, packed +pretty close; but they very civilly allowed me plenty of room for my +mattrass, and we got on very well together. There was a little cookhouse +in the bows, where we could boil our rice and make our coffee, every one +of course bringing his own provisions, and arranging his meal-times as +he found most convenient. The passage would have been agreeable enough +but for the dreadful "tom-toms," or wooden drums, which are beaten +incessantly while the men are rowing. Two men were engaged constantly at +them, making a fearful din the whole voyage. The rowers are men sent by +the Sultan of Ternate. They get about threepence a day, and find their +own provisions. Each man had a strong wooden "betel" box, on which he +generally sat, a sleeping-mat, and a change of clothes--rowing naked, +with only a sarong or a waistcloth. They sleep in their places, covered +with their mat, which keeps out the rain pretty well. They chew betel +or smoke cigarettes incessantly; eat dry sago and a little salt fish; +seldom sing while rowing, except when excited and wanting to reach a +stopping-place, and do not talk a great deal. They are mostly Malays, +with a sprinkling of Alfuros from Gilolo, and Papuans from Guebe or +Waigiou. + +One afternoon we stayed at Makian; many of the men went on shore, and +a great deal of plantains, bananas, and other fruits were brought on +board. We then went on a little way, and in the evening anchored again. +When going to bed for the night, I put out my candle, there being still +a glimmering lamp burning, and, missing my handkerchief, thought I saw +it on a box which formed one side of my bed, and put out my hand to take +it. I quickly drew back on feeling something cool and very smooth, which +moved as I touched it. "Bring the light, quick," I cried; "here's a +snake." And there he was, sure enough, nicely coiled up, with his head +just raised to inquire who had disturbed him. It was mow necessary +to catch or kill him neatly, or he would escape among the piles of +miscellaneous luggage, and we should hardly sleep comfortably. One of +the ex-convicts volunteered to catch him with his hand wrapped up in a +cloth, but from the way he went about it I saw he was nervous and would +let the thing go, so I would mot allow him to make the attempt. I them +got a chopping-knife, and carefully moving my insect nets, which hung +just over the snake and prevented me getting a free blow, I cut him +quietly across the back, holding him down while my boy with another +knife crushed his head. On examination, I found he had large poison +fangs, and it is a wonder he did not bite me when I first touched him. + +Thinking it very unlikely that two snakes had got on board at the same +time, I turned in and went to sleep; but having all the time a vague +dreamy idea that I might put my hand on another one, I lay wonderfully +still, not turning over once all night, quite the reverse of my usual +habits. The next day we reached Ternate, and I ensconced myself in my +comfortable house, to examine all my treasures, and pack them securely +for the voyage home. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. CERAM, GORAM, AND THE MATABELLO ISLANDS. + +(OCTOBER 1859 To JUNE 1860.) + +I LEFT Amboyna for my first visit to Ceram at three o'clock in the +morning of October 29th, after having been delayed several days by the +boat's crew, who could not be got together. Captain Van der Beck, who +gave me a passage in his boat, had been running after them all day, and +at midnight we had to search for two of my men who had disappeared at +the last moment. One we found at supper in his own house, and rather +tipsy with his parting libations of arrack, but the other was gone +across the bay, and we were obliged to leave without him. We stayed some +hours at two villages near the east end of Amboyna, at one of which we +had to discharge some wood for the missionaries' house, and on the +third afternoon reached Captain Van der Beck's plantation, situated at +Hatosua, in that part of Ceram opposite to the island of Amboyna. This +was a clearing in flat and rather swampy forest, about twenty acres +in extent, and mostly planted with cacao and tobacco. Besides a small +cottage occupied by the workmen, there was a large shed for tobacco +drying, a corner of which was offered me; and thinking from the look of +the place that I should find good collecting ground here, I fitted up +temporary tables, benches, and beds, and made all preparations for +some weeks' stay. A few days, however, served to show that I should be +disappointed. Beetles were tolerably abundant, and I obtained plenty of +fine long-horned Anthribidae and pretty Longicorns, but they were mostly +the same species as I had found during my first short visit to Amboyna. +There were very few paths in the forest; which seemed poor in birds and +butterflies, and day after day my men brought me nothing worth notice. +I was therefore soon obliged to think about changing my locality, as I +could evidently obtain no proper notion of the productions of the almost +entirely unexplored island of Ceram by staying in this place. + +I rather regretted leaving, because my host was one of the most +remarkable men and most entertaining companions I had ever met with. +He was a Fleeting by birth, and, like so many of his countrymen, had a +wonderful talent for languages. When quite a youth he had accompanied a +Government official who was sent to report on the trade and commerce +of the Mediterranean, and had acquired the colloquial language of every +place they stayed a few weeks at. He had afterwards made voyages to +St. Petersburg, and to other parts of Europe, including a few weeks in +London, and had then come out to the past, where he had been for some +years trading and speculating in the various islands. He now spoke +Dutch, French, Malay, and Javanese, all equally well; English with +a very slight accent, but with perfect fluency, axed a most complete +knowledge of idiom, in which I often tried to puzzle him in vain. German +and Italian were also quite familiar to him, and his acquaintance +with European languages included Modern Greek, Turkish, Russian, and +colloquial Hebrew and Latin. As a test of his power, I may mention that +he had made a voyage to the out-of-the-way island of Salibaboo, and had +stayed there trading a few weeks. As I was collecting vocabularies, +he told me he thought he could remember some words, and dictated +considerable number. Some time after I met with a short list of words +taken down in those islands, and in every case they agreed with those +he had given me. He used to sing a Hebrew drinking-song, which he had +learned from some Jews with whom he had once travelled, and astonished +by joining in their conversation, and had a never-ending fund of tale +and anecdote about the people he had met and the places he had visited. + +In most of the villages of this part of Ceram are schools and native +schoolmasters, and the inhabitants have been long converted to +Christianity. In the larger villages there are European missionaries; +but there is little or no external difference between the Christian and +Alfuro villages, nor, as far as I have seen, in their inhabitants. The +people seem more decidedly Papuan than those of Gilolo. They are darker +in colour, and a number of them have the frizzly Papuan hair; their +features also are harsh and prominent, and the women in particular are +far less engaging than those of the Malay race. Captain Van der Beck was +never tired of abusing the inhabitants of these Christian villages as +thieves, liars, and drunkards, besides being incorrigibly lazy. In the +city of Amboyna my friends Doctors Mohnike and Doleschall, as well +as most of the European residents and traders, made exactly the same +complaint, and would rather have Mahometans for servants, even if +convicts, than any of the native Christians. One great cause of this +is the fact, that with the Mahometans temperance is a part of their +religion, and has become so much a habit that practically the rule is +never transgressed. One fertile source of want, and one great incentive +to idleness and crime, is thus present with the one class, but absent +in the other; but besides this the Christians look upon themselves as +nearly the equals of the Europeans, who profess the same religion, and +as far superior to the followers of Islam, and are therefore prone to +despise work, and to endeavour to live by trade, or by cultivating their +own land. It need hardly be said that with people in this low state of +civilization religion is almost wholly ceremonial, and that neither +are the doctrines of Christianity comprehended, nor its moral precepts +obeyed. At the same time, as far as my own experience goes, I have found +the better class of "Orang Sirani" as civil, obliging, and industrious +as the Malays, and only inferior to them from their tendency to get +intoxicated. + +Having written to the Assistant Resident of Saparua (who has +jurisdiction over the opposite part of the coast of Ceram) for a boat +to pursue my journey, I received one rather larger than necessary with a +crew of twenty men. I therefore bade adieu to my kind friend Captain Van +der Beck, and left on the evening after its arrival for the village of +Elpiputi, which we reached in two days. I had intended to stay here, but +not liking the appearance of the place, which seemed to have no virgin +forest near it, I determined to proceed about twelve miles further +up the bay of Amahay, to a village recently formed, and inhabited by +indigenes from the interior, and where some extensive cacao plantations +were being made by some gentlemen of Amboyna. I reached the place +(called Awaiya) the same afternoon, and with the assistance of Mr. +Peters (the manager of the plantations) and the native chief, obtained +a small house, got all my things on shore, and paid and discharged +my twenty boatmen, two of whom had almost driven me to distraction by +beating tom-toms the whole voyage. + +I found the people here very nearly in a state of nature, and going +almost naked. The men wear their frizzly hair gathered into a flat +circular knot over the left temple, which has a very knowing look, and +in their ears cylinders of wood as thick as one's finger, and coloured +red at the ends. Armlets and anklets of woven grass or of silver, with +necklaces of beads or of small fruits, complete their attire. The women +wear similar ornaments, but have their hair loose. All are tall, with a +dark brown skin, and well marked Papuan physiognomy. There is an Amboyna +schoolmaster in the village, and a good number of children attend school +every morning. Such of the inhabitants as have become Christians may be +known by their wearing their hair loose, and adopting to some extent the +native Christian dress-trousers and a loose shirt. Very few speak Malay, +all these coast villages having been recently formed by inducing natives +to leave the inaccessible interior. In all the central part of Ceram +there new remains only one populous village in the mountains. Towards +the east and the extreme west are a few others, with which exceptions +all the inhabitants of Ceram are collected on the coast. In the northern +and eastern districts they are mostly Mahometans, while on the southwest +coast, nearest Amboyna, they are nominal Christians. In all this part of +the Archipelago the Dutch make very praiseworthy efforts to improve +the condition of the aborigines by establishing schoolmasters in every +village (who are mostly natives of Amboyna or Saparua, who have; been +instructed by the resident missionaries), and by employing native +vaccinators to prevent the ravages of smallpox. They also encourage the +settlement of Europeans, and the formation of new plantations of cacao +and coffee, one of the best means of raising the condition of the +natives, who thus obtain work at fair wages, and have the opportunity of +acquiring something of European tastes and habits. + +My collections here did not progress much better than at my former +station, except that butterflies were a little more plentiful, and some +very fine species were to be found in the morning on the sea-beach, +sitting so quietly on the wet sand that they could be caught with the +fingers. In this way I had many fine specimens of Papilios brought me +by the children. Beetles, however, were scarce, and birds still more +so, and I began to think that the handsome species which I had so often +heard were found in Ceram must be entirely confined to the eastern +extremity of the island. + +A few miles further worth, at the head of the Bay of Amahay, is situated +the village of Makariki, from whence there is a native path quite +across the island to the north coast. My friend Mr. Rosenberg, whose +acquaintance I had made at New Guinea, and who was now the Government +superintendent of all this part of Ceram, returned from Wahai, on the +north coast, after I had been three weeks at Awaiya, and showed me +some fine butterflies he had obtained on the mountain streams in the +interior. He indicated a spot about the centre of the island where he +thought I might advantageously stay a few days. I accordingly visited +Makariki with him the next day, and he instructed the chief of the +village to furnish me with men to carry my baggage, and accompany me +on my excursion. As the people of the village wanted to be at home on +Christmas-day, it was necessary to start as soon as possible; so we +agreed that the men should be ready in two days, and I returned to make +my arrangements. + +I put up the smallest quantity of baggage possible for a six days' +trip, and on the morning of December 18th we left Makariki, with six men +carrying my baggage and their own provisions, and a lad from Awaiya, +who was accustomed to catch butterflies for me. My two Amboyna hunters +I left behind to shoot and skin what birds they could while I was away. +Quitting the village, we first walked briskly for an hour through a +dense tangled undergrowth, dripping wet from a storm of the previous +night, and full of mud holes. After crossing several small streams we +reached one of the largest rivers in Ceram, called Ruatan, which it was +necessary to cross. It was both deep and rapid. The baggage was first +taken over, parcel by parcel, on the men's heads, the water reaching +nearly up to their armpits, and then two men returned to assist me. The +water was above my waist, and so strong that I should certainly have +been carried off my feet had I attempted to cross alone; and it was a +matter of astonishment to me how the men could give me any assistance, +since I found the greatest difficulty in getting my foot down again when +I had once moved it off the bottom. The greater strength and grasping +power of their feet, from going always barefoot, no doubt gave them a +surer footing in the rapid water. + +After well wringing out our wet clothes and putting them on, we again +proceeded along a similar narrow forest track as before, choked with +rotten leaves and dead trees, and in the more open parts overgrown with +tangled vegetation. Another hour brought us to a smaller stream flowing +in a wide gravelly bed, up which our road lay. Here w e stayed half an +hour to breakfast, and then went on, continually crossing the stream, or +walking on its stony and gravelly banks, till about noon, when it became +rocky and enclosed by low hills. A little further we entered a regular +mountain-gorge, and had to clamber over rocks, and every moment cross +and recross the water, or take short cuts through the forest. This +was fatiguing work; and about three in the afternoon, the sky being +overcast, and thunder in the mountains indicating an approaching storm, +we had to loon out for a camping place, and soon after reached one +of Mr. Rosenberg's old ones. The skeleton of his little sleeping-hut +remained, and my men cut leaves and made a hasty roof just as the +rain commenced. The baggage was covered over with leaves, and the men +sheltered themselves as they could till the storm was over, by which +time a flood came down the river, which effectually stopped our further +march, even had we wished to proceed. We then lighted fires; I made some +coffee, and my men roasted their fish and plantains, and as soon as it +was dark, we made ourselves comfortable for the night. + +Starting at six the next morning, we had three hours of the same kind +of walking, during which we crossed the river at least thirty or forty +times, the water being generally knee-deep. This brought us to a place +where the road left the stream, and here we stopped to breakfast. We +then had a long walk over the mountain, by a tolerable path, which +reached an elevation of about fifteen hundred feet above the sea. Here I +noticed one of the smallest and most elegant tree ferns I had ever seen, +the stem being scarcely thicker than my thumb, yet reaching a height +of fifteen or twenty feet. I also caught a new butterfly of the genus +Pieris, and a magnificent female specimen of Papilio gambrisius, of +which I had hitherto only found the males, which are smaller and very +different in colour. Descending the other side of the ridge, by a very +steep path, we reached another river at a spot which is about the centre +of the island, and which was to be our resting place for two or three +days. In a couple of hour my men had built a little sleeping-shed +for me, about eight feet by four, with a bench of split poles, they +themselves occupying two or three smaller ones, which had been put up by +former passengers. + +The river here was about twenty yards wide, running over a pebbly and +sometimes a rocky bed, and bordered by steep hills with occasionally +flat swampy spots between their base and the stream. The whole country +was one dense, Unbroken, and very damp and gloomy virgin forest. Just at +our resting-place there was a little bush-covered island in the middle +of the channel, so that the opening in the forest made by the river was +wider than usual, and allowed a few gleams of sunshine to penetrate. +Here there were several handsome butterflies flying about, the finest of +which, however, escaped me, and I never saw it again during my stay. In +the two days and a half which we remained here, I wandered almost all +day up and down the stream, searching after butterflies, of which I got, +in all, fifty or sixty specimens, with several species quite new to +me. There were many others which I saw only once, and did not capture, +causing me to regret that there was no village in these interior valleys +where I could stay a month. In the early part of each morning I went out +with my gun in search of birds, and two of my men were out almost all +day after deer; but we were all equally unsuccessful, getting absolutely +nothing the whole time we were in the forest. The only good bird seen +was the fine Amboyna lory, but these were always too high to shoot; +besides this, the great Moluccan hornbill, which I did not want, was +almost the only bird met with. I saw not a single ground-thrush, or +kingfisher, or pigeon; and, in fact, have never been in a forest so +utterly desert of animal life as this appeared to be. Even in all other +groups of insects, except butterflies, there was the same poverty. I +bad hoped to find some rare tiger beetles, as I had done in similar +situations in Celebes; but, though I searched closely in forest, +river-bed, and mountain-brook, I could find nothing but the two common +Amboyna species. Other beetles there were absolutely none. + +The constant walking in water, and over rocks and pebbles, quite +destroyed the two pair of shoes I brought with me, so that, on my +return, they actually fell to pieces, and the last day I had to walk +in my stockings very painfully, and reached home quite lame. On our way +back from Makariki, as on our way there, we had storm and rain at sea, +and we arrived at Awaiya late in the evening, with all our baggage +drenched, and ourselves thoroughly uncomfortable. All the time I had +been in Ceram I had suffered much from the irritating bites of an +invisible acarus, which is worse than mosquitoes, ants, and every other +pest, because it is impossible to guard against them. This last journey +in the forest left me covered from head to foot with inflamed lumps, +which, after my return to Amboyna, produced a serious disease, confining +me to the house for nearly two months, a not very pleasant memento of my +first visit to Ceram, which terminated with the year 1859. + +It was not till the 24th of February, 1860, that I started again, +intending to pass from village to village along the coast, staying where +I found a suitable locality. I had a letter from the Governor of the +Moluccas, requesting all the chiefs to supply me with boats and men to +carry me on my journey. The first boat took me in two days to Amahay, +on the opposite side of the bay to Awaiya. The chief here, wonderful to +relate, did not make any excuses for delay, but immediately ordered out +the boat which was to carry me on, put my baggage on hoard, set up mast +and sails after dark, and had the men ready that nigh; so that we were +actually on our way at five the next morning,--a display of energy +and activity I scarcely ever saw before in a native chief on such an +occasion. We touched at Cepa, and stayed for the night at Tamilan, the +first two Mahometan villages on the south coast of Ceram. The next day, +about noon, we reached Hoya, which was as Far as my present boat and +crew were going to take me. The anchorage is about a mile east of the +village, which is faced by coral reefs, and we had to wait for the +evening tide to move up and unload the boat into the strange rotten +wooden pavilion kept for visitors. + +There was no boat here large enough to take my baggage; and although +two would have done very well, the Rajah insisted upon sending four. The +reason of this I found was, that there were four small villages under +his rule, and by sending a boat from each he would avoid the difficult +task of choosing two and letting off the others. I was told that at the +next village of Teluti there were plenty of Alfuros, and that I could +get abundance of Tories and other birds. The Rajah declared that +black and yellow Tories and black cockatoos were found there; but I am +inclined to think he knew very well he was telling me lies, and that +it was only a scheme to satisfy me with his plan of taking me to that +village, instead of a day's journey further on, as I desired. Here, as +at most of the villages, I was asked for spirits, the people being mere +nominal Mahometans, who confine their religion almost entirely to a +disgust at pork, and a few other forbidden articles of food. The next +morning, after much trouble, we got our cargoes loaded, and had a +delightful row across the deep bay of Teluti, with a view of the grand +central mountain-range of Ceram. Our four boats were rowed by sixty +men, with flags flying and tom-toms beating, as well as very vigorous +shouting and singing to keep up their spirits. The sea way smooth, the +morning bright, and the whole scene very exhilarating. On landing, the +Orang-kaya and several of the chief men, in gorgeous silk jackets, +were waiting to receive us, and conducted me to a house prepared for my +reception, where I determined to stay a few days, and see if the country +round produced anything new. + +My first inquiries were about the lories, but I could get very little +satisfactory information. The only kinds known were the ring-necked lory +and the common red and green lorikeet, both common at Amboyna. Black +Tories and cockatoos were quite unknown. The Alfuros resided in the +mountains five or six days' journey away, and there were only one or +two live birds to be found in the village, and these were worthless. My +hunters could get nothing but a few common birds; and notwithstanding +fine mountains, luxuriant forests, and a locality a hundred miles +eastward, I could find no new insects, and extremely few even of the +common species of Amboyna and West Ceram. It was evidently no use +stopping at such a place, and I was determined to move on as soon as +possible. + +The village of Teluti is populous, but straggling and very dirty. Sago +trees here cover the mountain side, instead of growing as usual in low +swamps; but a closer examination shows that they grow in swampy patches, +which have formed among the loose rocks that cover the ground, and which +are kept constantly full of moisture by the rains, and by the abundance +of rills which trickle down among them. This sago forms almost the whole +subsistence of the inhabitants, who appear to cultivate nothing but +a few small patches of maize and sweet potatoes. Hence, as before +explained, the scarcity of insects. The Orang-kaya has fine clothes, +handsome lamps, and other expensive European goods, yet lives every day +on sago and fish as miserably as the rest. + +After three days in this barren place I left on the morning of March +6th, in two boats of the same size as those which had brought me to +Teluti. With some difficulty I had obtained permission to take these +boats on to Tobo, where I intended to stay a while, and therefore got on +pretty quickly, changing men at the village of Laiemu, and arriving in a +heavy rain at Ahtiago. As there was a good deal of surf here, and likely +to be more if the wind blew hard during the night, our boats were +pulled up on the beach; and after supping at the Orang-kaya's house, and +writing down a vocabulary of the language of the Alfuros, who live in +the mountains inland, I returned to sleep in the boat. Next morning we +proceeded, changing men at Warenama, and again at Hatometen, at both of +which places there was much surf and no harbour, so that the men had to +go on shore and come on board by swimming. Arriving in the evening of +March 7th at Batuassa, the first village belonging to the Rajah of Tobo, +and under the government of Banda, the surf was very heavy, owing to a +strong westward swell. We therefore rounded the rocky point on which the +village was situated, but found it very little better on the other side. +We were obliged, however, to go on shore here; and waiting till the +people on the beach had made preparations, by placing a row of logs from +the water's edge on which to pull up our boats, we rowed as quickly as +we could straight on to them, after watching till the heaviest surfs +had passed. The moment we touched ground our men all jumped out, and, +assisted by those on shore, attempted to haul up the boat high and dry, +but not having sufficient hands, the surf repeatedly broke into the +stern. The steepness of the beach, however, prevented any damage being +done, and the other boat having both crews to haul at it, was got up +without difficulty. + +The next morning, the water being low, the breakers were at some +distance from shore, and we had to watch for a smooth moment after +bringing the boats to the water's edge, and so got safely out to sea. At +the two next villages, Tobo and Ossong, we also took in fresh men, who +came swimming through the surf; and at the latter place the Rajah came +on board and accompanied me to Kissalaut, where he has a house which +he lent me during my stay. Here again was a heavy surf, and it was with +great difficulty we got the boats safely hauled up. At Amboyna I had +been promised at this season a calm sea and the wind off shore, but in +this case, as in every other, I had been unable to obtain any reliable +information as to the winds and seasons of places distant two or three +days' journey. It appears, however, that owing to the general direction +of the island of Ceram (E.S.E. and W.N.W.), there is a heavy surf and +scarcely any shelter on the south coast during the west monsoon, when +alone a journey to the eastward can be safely made; while during the +east monsoon, when I proposed to return along the north coast to Wahai, +I should probably find that equally exposed and dangerous. But although +the general direction of the west monsoon in the Banda sea causes a +heavy swell, with bad surf on the coast, yet we had little advantage of +the wind; for, owing I suppose to the numerous bays and headlands, we +had contrary south-east or even due east winds all the way, and had to +make almost the whole distance from Amboyna by force of rowing. We had +therefore all the disadvantages, and none of the advantages, of this +west monsoon, which I was told would insure me a quick and pleasant +journey. + +I was delayed at Kissa-laut just four weeks, although after the first +three days I saw that it would be quite useless for me to stay, and +begged the Rajah to give me a prau and men to carry me on to Goram. But +instead of getting one close at hand, he insisted on sending several +miles off; and when after many delays it at length arrived, it was +altogether unsuitable and too small to carry my baggage. Another was +then ordered to be brought immediately, and was promised in three days, +but doable that time elapsed and none appeared, and we were obliged at +length to get one at the adjoining village, where it might have been +so much more easily obtained at first. Then came caulking and covering +over, and quarrels between the owner and the Rajah's men, which +occupied more than another ten days, during all which time I was getting +absolutely nothing, finding this part of Ceram a perfect desert in +zoology, although a most beautiful country, and with a very luxuriant +vegetation. It was a complete puzzle, which to this day I have not been +able to understand; the only thing I obtained worth notice during my +month's stay here being a few good land shells. + +At length, on April 4th, we succeeded in getting away in our little +boat of about four tons burthen, in which my numerous boxes were with +difficulty packed so as to leave sleeping and cooling room. The craft +could not boast an ounce of iron or a foot of rope in any part of its +construction, nor a morsel of pitch or paint in its decoration. The +planks were fastened together in the usual ingenious way with pegs +and rattans. The mast was a bamboo triangle, requiring no shrouds, +and carrying a long mat sail; two rudders were hung on the quarters by +rattans, the anchor was of wood, and a long and thick rattan; served as +a cable. Our crew consisted of four men, whose pole accommodation was +about three feet by four in the bows and stern, with the sloping thatch +roof to stretch themselves upon for a change. We had nearly a hundred +miles to go, fully exposed to the swell of the Banda sea, which is +sometimes very considerable; but we luckily had it calm and smooth, so +that we made the voyage in comparative comfort. + +On the second day we passed the eastern extremity of Ceram, formed of +a group of hummocky limestone hills; and, sailing by the islands of +Kwammer and Keffing, both thickly inhabited, came in sight of the little +town of Kilwaru, which appears to rise out of the sea like a rustic +Venice. This place has really a most extraordinary appearance, as not a +particle of land or vegetation can be seen, but a long way out at sea a +large village seems to float upon the water. There is of course a small +island of several acres in extent; but the houses are built so closely +all round it upon piles in the water, that it is completely hidden. It +is a place of great traffic, being the emporium for much of the produce +of these Eastern seas, and is the residence of many Bugis and Ceramese +traders, and appears to have been chosen on account of its being close +to the only deep channel between the extensive shoals of Ceram-laut and +those bordering the east end of Ceram. We now had contrary east winds, +and were obliged to pole over the shallow coral reefs of Ceram-laut +for nearly thirty miles. The only danger of our voyage was just at its +termination, for as we were rowing towards Manowolko, the largest of +the Goram group, we were carried out so rapidly by a strong westerly +current, that I was almost certain at one time we should pass clear +of the island; in which case our situation would have been both +disagreeable and dangerous, as, with the east wind which had just set +in, we might have been unable to return for many days, and we had not +a day's water on board. At the critical moment I served out some strong +spirits to my men, which put fresh vigour into their arms, and carried +us out of the influence of the current before it was too late. + +MANOWOLKO, GORAM GROUP. + +On arriving at Manowolko, we found the Rajah was at the opposite island +of Goram; but he was immediately sent for, and in the meantime a large +shed was given for our accommodation. At night the Rajah came, and the +next day I had a visit from him, and found, as I expected, that I had +already made his acquaintance three years before at Aru. He was very +friendly, and we had a long talk; but when I begged for a boat and +men to take me on to Ke, he made a host of difficulties. There were no +praus, as all had gone to Ke or Aim; and even if one were found, there +were no men, as it was the season when all were away trading. But he +promised to see about it, and I was obliged to wait. For the next two or +three days there was more talking and more difficulties were raised, and +I had time to make an examination of the island and the people. + +Manowolko is about fifteen miles long, and is a mere; upraised +coral-reef. Two or three hundred yards inland rise cliffs of coral rock, +in many parts perpendicular, and one or two hundred feet high; and this, +I was informed, is characteristic of the whole island, in which there is +no other kind of rock, and no stream of water. A few cracks and chasms +furnish paths to the top of these cliffs, where there is an open +undulating country, in which the chief vegetable grounds of the +inhabitants are situated. + +The people here--at least the chief men--were of a much purer Malay race +than the Mahometans of the mainland of Ceram, which is perhaps due to +there having been no indigenes on these small islands when the +first settlers arrived. In Ceram, the Alfuros of Papuan race are the +predominant type, the Malay physiognomy being seldom well marked; +whereas here the reverse is the case, and a slight infusion of Papuan +on a mixture of Malay and Bugis has produced a very good-looking set of +people. The lower class of the population consist almost entirely of +the indigenes of the adjacent island. They are a fine race, with +strongly-marked Papuan features, frizzly hair, and brown complexions. +The Goram language is spoken also at the east end of Ceram, and in +the adjacent islands. It has a general resemblance to the languages of +Ceram, but possesses a peculiar element which I have not met with in +other languages of the Archipelago. + +After great delay, considering the importance of every day at this +time of year, a miserable boat and five men were found, and with +some difficulty I stowed away in it such baggage as it was absolutely +necessary for me to take, leaving scarcely sitting or sleeping room. +The sailing qualities of the boat were highly vaunted, and I was assured +that at this season a small one was much more likely to succeed in +making the journey. We first coasted along the island, reaching its +eastern extremity the following morning (April 11th), and found a +strong W. S.W. wind blowing, which just allowed us to lay across to the +Matabello Islands, a distance little short of twenty miles. I did not +much like the look of the heavy sky and rather rough sea, and my men +were very unwilling to make the attempt; but as we could scarcely hope +for a better chance, I insisted upon trying. The pitching and jerking of +our little boat, soon reduced me to a state of miserable helplessness, +and I lay down, resigned to whatever might happen. After three or four +hours, I was told we were nearly over; but when I got up, two hours +later, just as the sun was setting, I found we were still a good +distance from the point, owing to a strong current which had been for +some time against us. Night closed in, and the wind drew more ahead, +so we had to take in sail. Then came a calm, and we rowed and sailed +as occasion offered; and it was four in the morning when we reached the +village of Kisslwoi, not having made more than three miles in the last +twelve hours. + +MATABELLO ISLANDS. + +At daylight I found we were; in a beautiful little harbour, formed by a +coral reef about two hundred yards from shore, and perfectly secure in +every wind. Having eaten nothing since the previous morning, we cooked +our breakfast comfortably on shore, and left about noon, coasting along +the two islands of this group, which lie in the same line, and are +separated by a narrow channel. Both seem entirely formed of raised +coral rock; but them has been a subsequent subsidence, as shaven by the +barrier reef which extends all along them at varying distances from the +shore, This reef is sometimes only marked by a. line of breakers when +there is a little swell on the sea; in other places there is a ridge +of dead coral above the water, which is here and there high enough to +support a few low bushes. This was the first example I had met with of a +true barrier reef due to subsidence, as has been so clearly shown by Mr. +Darwin. In a sheltered archipelago they will seldom be distinguishable, +from the absence of those huge rolling waves and breakers which in +the wide ocean throw up a barrier of broken coral far above the usual +high-water mark, while here they rarely rise to the surface. + +On reaching the end of the southern island, called Uta, we were kept +waiting two days for a wind that would enable us to pass over to the +next island, Teor, and I began to despair of ever reaching Ke, and +determined on returning. We left with a south wind, which suddenly +changed to north-east, and induced me to turn again southward in the +hopes that this was the commencement of a few days' favourable weather. +We sailed on very well in the direction of Teor for about an hour, +after which the wind shifted to WSW., and we were driven much out of our +course, and at nightfall found ourselves in the open sea, and full +ten miles to leeward of our destination. My men were now all very much +frightened, for if we went on we might be a. week at sea in our little +open boat, laden almost to the water's edge; or we might drift on to +the coast of New Guinea, in which case we should most likely all be +murdered. I could not deny these probabilities, and although I showed +them that we could not get back to our starting-point with the wind +as it was, they insisted upon returning. We accordingly put about, and +found that we could lay no nearer to Uta than to Teor; however, by great +good luck, about ten o'clock we hit upon a little coral island, and lay +under its lee till morning, when a favourable change of wind brought us +back to Uta, and by evening (April 18th) we reached our first anchorage +in Matabello, where I resolved to stay a few days, and then return to +Goram. It way with much regret that I gave up my trip to Ke and the +intervening islands, which I had looked forward to as likely to make up +for my disappointment in Ceram, since my short visit on my voyage to Aru +had produced me so many rare and beautiful insects. + +The natives of Matabello are almost entirely occupied in making cocoanut +oil, which they sell to the Bugis and Goram traders, who carry it to +Banda and Amboyna. The rugged coral rock seems very favourable to the +growth of the cocoa-nut palm, which abounds over the whole island to the +very highest points, and produces fruit all the year round. Along with +it are great numbers of the areca or betel-nut palm, the nuts of which +are sliced, dried, and ground into a paste, which is much used by the +betel-chewing Malays and Papuans. All the little children here even +such as can just run alone, carried between their lips a mass of the +nasty-looking red paste, which is even more disgusting than to see them +at the same age smoking cigars, which is very common even before they +are weaned. Cocoa-nuts, sweet potatoes, an occasional sago cake, and the +refuse nut after the oil has been extracted by boiling, form the chief +sustenance of these people; and the effect of this poor and unwholesome +diet is seen in the frequency of eruptions and scurfy skin diseases, and +the numerous sores that disfigure the faces of the children. + +The villages are situated on high and rugged coral peaks, only +accessible by steep narrow paths, with ladders and bridges over yawning +chasms. They are filthy with rotten husks and oil refuse, and the huts +are dark, greasy, and dirty in the extreme. The people are wretched +ugly dirty savages, clothed in unchanged rags, and living in the most +miserable manner, and as every drop of fresh water has to be brought +up from the beach, washing is never thought of; yet they are actually +wealthy, and have the means of purchasing all the necessaries and +luxuries of life. Fowls are abundant, and eggs were given me whenever +I visited the villages, but these are never eaten, being looked upon +as pets or as merchandise. Almost all of the women wear massive gold +earrings, and in every village there are dozens of small bronze cannon +lying about on the ground, although they have cost on the average +perhaps L10 a piece. The chief men of each village came to visit me, +clothed in robes of silk and flowered satin, though their houses and +their daily fare are no better than those of the ether inhabitants. What +a contrast between these people and such savages as the best tribes of +bill. Dyaks in Borneo, or the Indians of the Uaupes in South America, +living on the banks of clear streams, clean in their persons and their +houses, with abundance of wholesome food, and exhibiting its effect in +healthy shins and beauty of form and feature! There is in fact almost +as much difference: between the various races of savage as of civilized +peoples, and we may safely affirm that the better specimens of the +former are much superior to the lower examples of the latter class. + +One of the few luxuries of Matabello is the palm wine; which is the +fermented sap from the flower stains of the cocoa-net. It is really a +very mice drink, more like cyder than beer, though quite as intoxicating +as the latter. Young cocoa-nuts are also very abundant, so that anywhere +in the island it is only necessary to go a few yards to find a delicious +beverage by climbing up a tree for it. It is the water of the young +fruit that is drunk, before the pulp has hardened; it is then more +abundant, clear, and refreshing, and the thin coating of gelatinous pulp +is thought a treat luxury. The water of full-brown cocoa-nuts is always +thrown away as undrinkable, although it is delicious in comparison with +that of the old dry nuts which alone we obtain in this country. The +cocoa-nut pulp I did not like at first; but fruits are so scarce, except +at particular seasons, that one soon learns to appreciate anything of a +fruity nature. + +Many persons in Europe are under the impression that fruits of delicious +flavour abound in the tropical forests, and they will no doubt be +surprised to learn that the truly wild fruits of this brand and +luxuriant archipelago, the vegetation of which will vie with that of any +part of the world, are in almost every island inferior in abundance and +duality to those of Britain. Wild strawberries and raspberries are found +in some places, but they are such poor tasteless things as to be hardly +worth eating, and there is nothing to compare with our blackberries and +whortleberries. The kanary-nut may be considered equal to a hazel-nut, +but I have met with nothing else superior to our crabs, oar haws, +beech-nuts, wild plums, and acorns; fruits which would be highly +esteemed by the natives of these islands, and would form an important +part of their sustenance. All the fine tropical fruits are as much +cultivated productions as our apples, peaches, and plums, and their wild +prototypes, when found, are generally either tasteless or uneatable. + +The people of Matabello, like those of most of the Mahometan villages of +East Ceram and Goram, amused me much by their strange ideas concerning +the Russian war. They believe that the Russians were not only most +thoroughly beaten by the Turks, but were absolutely conquered, and all +converted to Islamism! And they can hardly be convinced that such is +not the case, and that had it not been for the assistance of France and +England, the poor Sultan world have fared ill. Another of their motions +is, that the Turks are the largest and strongest people in the world--in +fact a race of giants; that they eat enormous quantities of meat, and +are a most ferocious and irresistible nation. Whence such strangely +incorrect opinions could have arisen it is difficult to understand, +unless they are derived from Arab priests, or hadjis returned from +Mecca, who may have heard of the ancient prowess of the Turkish armies +when they made all Europe tremble, and suppose that their character and +warlike capacity must be the same at the present time. + +GORAM + +A steady south-east wind having set in, we returned to Manowolko on +the 25th of April, and the day after crossed over to Ondor, the chief +village of Goram. + +Around this island extends, with few interruptions, an encircling coral +reef about a quarter of a mile from the shore, visible as a stripe of +pale green water, but only at very lowest ebb-tides showing any rock +above the surface. There are several deep entrances through this reef, +and inside it there is hood anchorage in all weathers. The land rises +gradually to a moderate height, and numerous small streams descend on +all sides. The mere existence of these streams would prove that the +island was not entirely coralline, as in that case all the water would +sink through the porous rock as it does at Manowolko and Matabello; but +we have more positive proof in the pebbles and stones of their beds, +which exhibit a variety of stratified crystalline rocks. About a hundred +yards from the beach rises a wall of coral rock, ten or twenty feet +high, above which is an undulating surface of rugged coral, which slopes +downward towards the interior, and then after a slight ascent is bounded +by a second wall of coral. Similar walls occur higher up, and coral is +found on the highest part of the island. + +This peculiar structure teaches us that before the coral was formed land +existed in this spot; that this land sunk gradually beneath the waters, +but with intervals of rest, during which encircling reef's were formed +around it at different elevations; that it then rose to above its +present elevation, and is now again sinking. We infer this, because +encircling reefs are a proof of subsidence; and if the island were again +elevated about a hundred feet, what is now the reef and the shallow sea +within it would form a wall of coral rock, and an undulating coralline +plain, exactly similar to those that still exist at various altitudes up +to the summit of the island. We learn also that these changes have taken +place at a comparatively recent epoch, for the surface of the coral +has scarcely suffered from the action of the weather, and hundreds of +sea-shells, exactly resembling those still found upon the beach, and +many of them retaining their gloss and even their colour, are scattered +over the surface of the island to near its summit. + +Whether the Goram group formed originally part of New Guinea or of Ceram +it is scarcely possible to determine, and its productions will throw +little light upon the question, if, as I suppose, the islands have been +entirely submerged within the epoch of existing species of animals, +as in that case it must owe its present fauna and flora to recent +immigration from surrounding lands; and with this view its poverty in +species very well agrees. It possesses much in common with East Ceram, +but at the same time has a good deal of resemblance to the Ke Islands +and Banda. The fine pigeon, Carpophaga concinna, inhabits Ke, Banda, +Il-Iatabello, and Goram, and is replaced by a distinct species, C. +neglecta, in Ceram. The insects of these four islands have also a common +facies--facts which seem to indicate that some more extensive land has +recently disappeared from the area they now occupy, and has supplied +them with a few of its peculiar productions. + +The Goram people (among whom I stayed a month) are a race of traders. +Every year they visit the Tenimber, Ke, and Aru Islands, the whole +north-west coast of New Guinea from Oetanata to Salwatty, and the island +of Waigiou and Mysol. They also extend their voyages to Tidore and +Ternate, as well as to Banda and Amboyna, Their praus are all made by +that wonderful race of boatbuilders, the Ke islanders, who annually +turn out some hundreds of boats, large and small, which can hardly be +surpassed for beauty of form and goodness of workmanship, They trade +chiefly in tripang, the medicinal mussoi bark, wild nutmegs, and +tortoiseshell, which they sell to the Bugis traders at Ceram-laut or +Aru, few of them caring to take their products to any other market. In +other respects they are a lazy race, living very poorly, and much given +to opium smoking. The only native manufactures are sail-matting, coarse +cotton cloth, and pandanus-leaf boxes, prettily stained and ornamented +with shell-work. + +In the island of Goram, only eight or ten miles long, there are about a +dozen Rajahs, scarcely better off than the rest of the inhabitants, and +exercising a mere nominal sway, except when any order is received from +the Dutch Government, when, being backed by a higher power, they show +a little more strict authority. My friend the Rajah of Ammer (commonly +called Rajah of Goram) told me that a few years ago, before the Dutch +had interfered in the affairs of the island, the trade was not carried +on so peaceably as at present, rival praus often fighting when on the +way to the same locality, or trafficking in the same village. Now such a +thing is never thought of-one of the good effects of the superintendence +of a civilized government. Disputes between villages are still, however, +sometimes settled by fighting, and I one day saw about fifty men, +carrying long guns and heavy cartridge-belts, march through the village. +They had come from the other side of the island on some question +of trespass or boundary, and were prepared for war if peaceable +negotiations should fail. + +While at Manowolko I had purchased for 100 florins (L9.) a small prau, +which was brought over the next day, as I was informed it was more +easy to have the necessary alterations made in Goram, where several Ke +workmen were settled. + +As soon as we began getting my prau ready I was obliged to give up +collecting, as I found that unless I was constantly on the spot myself +very little work would be clone. As I proposed making some long voyages +in this boat, I determined to fit it up conveniently, and was obliged to +do all the inside work myself, assisted by my two Amboynese boys. I +had plenty of visitors, surprised to see a white man at work, and much +astonished at the novel arrangements I was making in one of their native +vessels. Luckily I had a few tools of my own, including a small saw and +some chisels, and these were now severely tried, cutting and fitting +heavy iron-wood planks for the flooring and the posts that support the +triangular mast. Being of the best London make, they stood the work +well, and without them it would have been impossible for me to have +finished my boat with half the neatness, or in double the time. I had +a Ke workman to put in new ribs, for which I bought nails of a Bugis +trader, at 8d. a pound. My gimlets were, however, too small; and having +no augers we were obliged to bore all the holes with hot irons, a most +tedious and unsatisfactory operation. + +Five men had engaged to work at the prau till finished, and then go with +me to Mysol, Waigiou, and Ternate. Their ideas of work were, however, +very different from mine, and I had immense difficulty with them; seldom +more than two or three coming together, and a hundred excuses being +given for working only half a day when they did come. Yet they were +constantly begging advances of money, saying they had nothing to eat. +When I gave it them they were sure to stay away the next day, and when I +refused any further advances some of them declined working any more. As +the boat approached completion my difficulties with the men increased. +The uncle of one had commenced a war, or sort of faction fight, and +wanted his assistance; another's wife was ill, and would not let him +come; a third had fever and ague, and pains in his head and back; and +a fourth had an inexorable creditor who would not let him go out of his +sight. They had all received a month's wages in advance; and though the +amount was not large, it was necessary to make them pay it back, or I +should get any men at all. I therefore sent the village constable +after two, and kept them in custody a day, when they returned about +three-fourths of what they owed me. The sick man also paid, and the +steersman found a substitute who was willing to take his debt, and +receive only the balance of his wages. + +About this time we had a striking proof of the dangers of New Guinea +trading. Six men arrived at the village in a small boat almost starved, +having escaped out of two praus, the remainder of whose crews (fourteen +in number) had been murdered by the natives of New Guinea. The praus had +left this village a few months before, and among the murdered men were +the Rajah's son, and the relation or slaves of many of the inhabitants. +The cry of lamentation that arose when the news arrived was most +distressing. A score of women, who had lost husbands, brothers, sons, +or more distant relatives, set up at once the most dismal shrieks and +groans and wailings, which continued at intervals till late at night; +and as the chief houses in the village were crowded together round that +which I occupied, our situation was anything but agreeable. + +It seems that the village where the attack took place (nearly opposite +the small island of Lakahia) is known to be dangerous, and the vessels +had only gone there a few days before to buy some tripang. The crew were +living on shore, the praus being in a small river close by, and they +were attacked and murdered in the day-time while bargaining with the +Papuans. The six men who survived were on board the praus, and escaped +by at once setting into the small boat and rowing out to sea. + +This south-west part of New Guinea, known to the native traders as +"Papua Kowiyee" and "Papua Onen," is inhabited by the most treacherous +and bloodthirsty tribes. It is in these districts that the commanders +and portions of the crews of many of the early discovery ships were +murdered, and scarcely a year now passes but some lives are lost. The +Goram and Ceram traders are themselves generally inoffensive; they are +well acquainted with the character of these natives, and are not likely +to provoke an attack by any insults or open attempt at robbery or +imposition. They are accustomed to visit the same places every year, and +the natives can have no fear of them, as may be alleged in excuse for +their attacks on Europeans. In other extensive districts inhabited by +the same Papuan races, such as Mysol, Salwatty, Waigiou, and some +parts of the adjacent coast, the people have taken the first step in +civilization, owing probably to the settlement of traders of mixed breed +among them, and for many years no such attacks have taken place. On the +south-west coast, and in the large island of Jobie, however, the natives +are in a very barbarous condition, and tale every opportunity of robbery +and murder,--a habit which is confirmed by the impunity they experience, +owing to the vast extent of wild mountain and forest country forbidding +all pursuit or attempt at punishment. In the very same village, four +years before, more than fifty Goram men were murdered; and as +these savages obtain an immense booty in the praus and all their +appurtenances, it is to be feared that such attacks will continue to be +made at intervals as long as traders visit the same spots and attempt no +retaliation. Punishment could only be inflicted on these people by +very arbitrary measures, such as by obtaining possession of some of the +chiefs by stratagem, and rendering them responsible for the capture of +the murderers at the peril of their own heads. But anything of this kind +would be done contrary to the system adopted by the Dutch Government in +its dealings with natives. + +GORAM TO WAHAI IN CERAM. + +When my boat was at length launched and loaded, I got my men together, +and actually set sail the next day (May 27th), much to the astonishment +of the Goram people, to whom such punctuality was a novelty. I had a +crew of three men and a boy, besides my two Amboyna lads; which was +sufficient for sailing, though rather too few if obliged to row much. +The next day was very wet, with squalls, calms, and contrary winds, and +with some difficulty we reached Kilwaru, the metropolis of the Bugis +traders in the far East. As I wanted to make some purchases, I stayed +here two days, and sent two of my boxes of specimens by a Macassar prau +to be forwarded to Ternate, thus relieving myself of a considerable +incumbrance. I bought knives, basins, and handkerchiefs for barter, +which with the choppers, cloth, and beads I had brought with me, made +a pretty good assortment. I also bought two tower muskets to satisfy my +crew, who insisted on the necessity of being armed against attacks +of pirates; and with spices and a few articles of food for the voyage +nearly my last doit was expended. + +The little island of Kilwaru is a mere sandbank, just large enough to +contain a small village, and situated between the islands of Ceram-laut, +and Kissa--straits about a third of a mile wide separating it from each +of them. It is surrounded by coral reefs, and offers good anchorage in +both monsoons. Though not more than fifty yards across, and not elevated +more than three or four feet above the highest tides, it has wells of +excellent drinking water--a singular phenomenon, which would seem +to imply deep-seated subterranean channels connecting it with other +islands. These advantages, with its situation in the centre of the +Papuan trading district, lead to its being so much frequented by the +Bugis traders. Here the Goram men bring the produce of their little +voyages, which they exchange for cloth, sago cakes, and opium; and +the inhabitants of all the surrounding islands visit it with the game +object. It is the rendezvous of the praus trading to various parts of +New Guinea, which here assort and dry their cargoes, and refit for the +voyage home. Tripang and mussoi bark are the most bulky articles of +produce brought here, with wild nutmegs, tortoiseshell, pearls, and +birds of Paradise; in smaller quantities. The villagers of the mainland +of Ceram bring their sago, which is thus distributed to the islands +farther east, while rice from Bali and Macassar can also be purchased at +a moderate price. The Goram men come here for their supplies of opium, +both for their own consumption and for barter in Mysol and Waigiou, +where they have introduced it, and where the chiefs and wealthy men are +passionately fond of it. Schooners from Bali come to buy Papuan slaves, +while the sea-wandering Bugis arrive from distant Singapore in their +lumbering praus, bringing thence the produce of the Chinamen's +workshops and Kling's bazaar, as well as of the looms of Lancashire and +Massachusetts. + +One of the Bugis traders who had arrived a few days before from Mysol, +brought me news of my assistant Charles Allen, with whom he was well +acquainted, and who, he assured me; was making large collections of +birds and insects, although he had not obtained any birds of Paradise; +Silinta, where he was staying, not being a good place for them. This +was on the whole satisfactory, and I was anxious to reach him as soon as +possible. + +Leaving Kilwaru early in the morning of June 1st, with a strong east +wind we doubled the point of Ceram about noon, the heavy sea causing my +prau to roll abort a good deal, to the damage of our crockery. As bad +weather seemed coming on, we got inside the reefs and anchored opposite +the village of Warns-warns to wait for a change. + +The night was very squally, and though in a good harbour we rolled and +jerked uneasily; but in the morning I had greater cause for uneasiness +in the discovery that our entire Goram crew had decamped, taking with +them all they possessed and a little more, and leaving us without any +small boat in which to land. I immediately told my Amboyna men to load +and fire the muskets as a signal of distress, which was soon answered +by the village chief sending off a boat, which took me on shore. I +requested that messengers should be immediately sent to the neighbouring +villages in quest of the fugitives, which was promptly done. My prau was +brought into a small creek, where it could securely rest in the mud at +low water, and part of a house was given me in which T could stay for +a while. I now found my progress again suddenly checked, just when I +thought I had overcome my chief difficulties. As I had treated my men +with the greatest kindness, and had given them almost everything they +had asked for, I can impute their running away only to their being +totally unaccustomed to the restraint of a European master, and to some +undefined dread of my ultimate intentions regarding them. The oldest man +was an opium smoker, and a reputed thief, but I had been obliged to take +him at the last moment as a substitute for another. I feel sure it was +he who induced the others to run away, and as they knew the country +well, and had several hours' start of us, there was little chance of +catching them. + +We were here in the great sago district of East Ceram which supplies +most of the surrounding islands with their daily bread, and during our +week's delay I had an opportunity of seeing the whole process of making +it, and obtaining some interesting statistics. The sago tree is a palm, +thicker and larger than the cocoa-nut tree, although rarely so tall, and +having immense pinnate spiny leaves, which completely cover the trunk +till it is many years old. It has a creeping root-stem like the Nipa +palm, and when about ten or fifteen years of age sends up an immense +terminal spike of flowers, after which the tree dies. It grows in +swamps, or in swampy hollows on the rocky slopes of hills, where it +seems to thrive equally well as when exposed to the influx of salt or +brackish water. The midribs of the immense leaves form one of the most +useful articles in these lands, supplying the place of bamboo, to which +for many purposes they are superior. They are twelve or fifteen feet +long, and, when very fine, as thick in the lower part as a man's leg. +They are very light, consisting entirely of a firm pith covered with +a hard thin rind or bark. Entire houses are built of these; they form +admirable roofing-poles for thatch; split and well-supported, they do +for flooring; and when chosen of equal size, and pegged together side +by side to fill up the panels of framed wooden horses, they have a very +neat appearance, and make better walls and partitions than boards, as +they do not shrink, require no paint or varnish, and are not a quarter +the expense. When carefully split and shaved smooth they are formed into +light boards with pegs of the bark itself, and are the foundation of the +leaf-covered boxes of Goram. All the insect-boxes I used in the Moluccas +were thus made at Amboyna, and when covered with stout paper inside and +out, are strong, light, and secure the insect-pins remarkably well. The +leaflet of the sago folded and tied side by side on the smaller midribs +form the "atap" or thatch in universal use, while the product of the +trunk is the staple food of some= hundred thousands of men. + +When sago is to be made, a full-grown tree is selected just before it +is going to flower. It is cut down close to the ground, the leaves and +leafstalks cleared away, and a broad strip of the bark taken off the +upper side of the trunk. This exposes the pithy matter, which is of +a rusty colour near the bottom of the tree, but higher up pure white, +about as hard as a dry apple, but with woody fibre running through it +about a quarter of an inch apart. This pith is cut or broken down into a +coarse powder by means of a tool constructed for the purpose--a club of +hard and heavy wood, having a piece of sharp quartz rock firmly imbedded +into its blunt end, and projecting about half an inch. By successive +blows of this, narrow strips of the pith are cut away, and fall down +into the cylinder formed by the bark. Proceeding steadily on, the whole +trunk is cleared out, leaving a skin not more than half an inch in +thickness. This material is carried away (in baskets made of +the sheathing bases of the leaves) to the nearest water, where a +washing-machine is put up, which is composed almost entirely of the saga +tree itself. The large sheathing bases of the leaves form the troughs, +and the fibrous covering from the leaf-stalks of the young cocoa-nut +the strainer. Water is poured on the mass of pith, which is kneaded and +pressed against the strainer till the starch is all dissolved and has +passed through, when the fibrous refuse is thrown away, and a fresh +basketful put in its place. The water charged with sago starch passes +on to a trough, with a depression in the centre, where the sediment is +deposited, the surplus water trickling off by a shallow outlet. When the +trough is nearly full, the mass of starch, which has a slight reddish +tinge, is made into cylinders of about thirty pounds' weight, and neatly +covered with sago leaves, and in this state is sold as raw sago. + +Boiled with water this forms a thick glutinous mass, with a rather +astringent taste, and is eaten with salt, limes, and chilies. Sago-bread +is made in large quantities, by baking it into cakes in a small +clay oven containing six or eight slits side by side, each about +three-quarters of an inch wide, and six or eight inches square. The raw +sago is broken up, dried in the sun, powdered, and finely sifted. The +oven is heated over a clear fire of embers, and is lightly filled with +the sago-powder. The openings are then covered with a flat piece of sago +bark, and in about five minutes the cakes are turned out sufficiently +baked. The hot cakes are very nice with butter, and when made with the +addition of a little sugar and grated cocoa-nut are quite a delicacy. +They are soft, and something like corn-flour cakes, but leave a slight +characteristic flavour which is lost in the refined sago we use in this +country. When not wanted for immediate use, they are dried for several +days in the sun, and tied up in bundles of twenty. They will then keep +for years; they are very hard, and very rough and dry, but the people +are used to them from infancy, and little children may be seen gnawing +at them as contentedly as ours with their bread-and-butter. If dipped in +water and then toasted, they become almost as good as when fresh baked; +and thus treated they were my daily substitute for bread with my coffee. +Soaked and boiled they make a very good pudding or vegetable, and served +well to economize our rice, which is sometimes difficult to get so far +east. + +It is truly an extraordinary sight to witness a whole tree-trunk, +perhaps twenty feet long and four or five in circumference, converted +into food with so little labour and preparation. A good-sized tree will +produce thirty tomans or bundles of thirty pounds each, and each toman +will make sixty cakes of three to the pound. Two of these cakes are as +much as a man can eat at one meal, and five are considered a full day's +allowance; so that, reckoning a tree to produce 1,800 cakes, weighing +600 pounds, it will supply a man with food for a whole year. The labour +to produce this is very moderate. Two men will finish a tree in five +days, and two women will bake the whole into cakes in five days more; +but the raw sago will keep very well, and can be baked as wanted, so +that we may estimate that in ten days a man may produce food for the +whole year. This is on the supposition that he possesses sago trees of +his own, for they are now all private property. If he does not, he has +to pay about seven and sixpence for one; and as labour here is five +pence a day, the total cost of a year's food for one man is about +twelve shillings. The effect of this cheapness of food is decidedly +prejudicial, for the inhabitants of the sago countries are never so +well off as those where rice is cultivated. Many of the people here have +neither vegetables nor fruit, but live almost entirely on sago and a +little fish. Having few occupations at home, they wander about on petty +trading or fishing expeditions to the neighbouring islands; and as far +as the comforts of life are concerned, are much inferior to the wild +hill-Dyaks of Borneo, or to many of the more barbarous tribes of the +Archipelago. + +The country round Warus-warus is low and swampy, and owing to the +absence of cultivation there were scarcely any paths leading into the +forest. I was therefore unable to collect much during my enforced stay, +and found no rare birds or insects to improve my opinion of Ceram as +a collecting ground. Finding it quite impossible to get men here to +accompany me on the whole voyage, I was obliged to be content with a +crew to take me as far as Wahai, on the middle of the north coast of +Ceram, and the chief Dutch station in the island. The journey took +us five days, owing to calms and light winds, and no incident of any +interest occurred on it, nor did I obtain at our stopping places a +single addition to my collections worth naming. At Wahai, which I +reached on the 15th of June, I was hospitably received by the Commandant +and my old friend Herr Rosenberg, who was now on an official visit here. +He lent me some money to pay my men, and I was lucky enough to obtain +three others willing to make the voyage with me to Ternate, and one more +who was to return from Mysol. One of my Amboyna lads, however, left me, +so that I was still rather short of hands. + +I found here a letter from Charles Allen, who was at Silinta in Mysol, +anxiously expecting me, as he was out of rice and other necessaries, and +was short of insect-pins. He was also ill, and if I did not soon come +would return to Wahai. + +As my voyage from this place to Waigiou was among islands inhabited by +the Papuan race, and was an eventful and disastrous one, I will narrate +its chief incidents in a separate chapter in that division of my work +devoted to the Papuan Islands. I now have to pass over a year spent in +Waigiou and Timor, in order to describe my visit to the island of Bouru, +which concluded my explorations of the Moluccas. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. BOURU. + +MAY AND JUNE 1861. + +I HAD long wished to visit the large island of Bouru, which lies due +west of Ceram, and of which scarcely anything appeared to be known +to naturalists, except that it contained a babirusa very like that of +Celebes. I therefore made arrangements for staying there two months +after leaving Timor Delli in 1861. This I could conveniently do by means +of the Dutch mail-steamers, which make a monthly round of the Moluccas. + +We arrived at the harbour of Cajeli on the 4th of May; a gun was fired, +the Commandant of the fort came alongside in a native boat to receive +the post-packet, and took me and my baggage on shore, the steamer going +off again without coming to an anchor. We went to the horse of the +Opzeiner, or overseer, a native of Amboyna--Bouru being too poor a place +to deserve even an Assistant Resident; yet the appearance of the village +was very far superior to that of Delli, which possesses "His Excellency +the Governor," and the little fort, in perfect order, surrounded by neat +brass-plots and straight walks, although manned by only a dozen Javanese +soldiers with an Adjutant for commander, was a very Sebastopol in +comparison with the miserable mud enclosure at Delli, with its numerous +staff of Lieutenants, Captain, and Major. Yet this, as well as most +of the forts in the Moluccas, was originally built by the Portuguese +themselves. Oh! Lusitania, how art thou fallen! + +While the Opzeiner was reading his letters, I took a walk round +the village with a guide in search of a horse. The whole place was +dreadfully damp and muddy, being built in a swamp with not a spot of +ground raised a foot above it, and surrounded by swamps on every side. +The houses were mostly well built, of wooden framework filled in with +gaba-gaba (leaf-stems of the sago-palm), but as they had no whitewash, +and the floors were of bare black earth like the roads, and generally on +the same level, they were extremely damp and gloomy. At length I found +one with the floor raised about a foot, and succeeded in making a +bargain with the owner to turn out immediately, so that by night I had +installed myself comfortably. The chairs and tables were left for me; +and as the whole of the remaining furniture in the house consisted of a +little crockery and a few clothes-boxes, it was not much trouble for the +owners to move into the house of some relatives, and thus obtain a +few silver rupees very easily. Every foot of ground between the homes +throughout the village is crammed with fruit trees, so that the sun and +air have no chance of penetrating. This must be very cool and pleasant +in the dry season, but makes it damp and unhealthy at other times of the +year. Unfortunately I had come two months too soon, for the rains were +not yet over, and mud and water were the prominent features of the +country. + +About a mile behind and to the east of the village the hills commence, +but they are very barren, being covered with scanty coarse grass and +scattered trees of the Melaleuca cajuputi, from the leaves of which the +celebrated cajeput oil is made. Such districts are absolutely destitute +of interest for the zoologist. A few miles further on rose higher +mountains, apparently well covered with forest, but they were entirely +uninhabited and trackless, and practically inaccessible to a traveller +with limited time and means. It became evident, therefore, that I must +leave Cajeli for some better collecting ground, and finding a man who +was going a few miles eastward to a village on the coast where he said +there were hills and forest, I sent my boy Ali with him to explore and +report on the capabilities of the district. At the same time I arranged +to go myself on a little excursion up a river which flows into the bay +about five miles north of the town, to a village of the Alfuros, or +indigenes, where I thought I might perhaps find a good collecting +ground. + +The Rajah of Cajeli, a good-tempered old man, offered to accompany me, +as the village was under his government; and we started one morning +early, in a long narrow boat with eight rowers. In about two hours +we entered the river, and commenced our inland journey against a very +powerful current. The stream was about a hundred yards wide, and +was generally bordered with high grass, and occasionally bushes and +palm-trees. The country round was flat and more or less swampy, with +scattered trees and shrubs. At every bend we crossed the river to avoid +the strength of the current, and arrived at our landing-place about +four o'clock in a torrent of rain. Here we waited for an hour, crouching +under a leaky mat till the Alfuros arrived who had been sent for from +the village to carry my baggage, when we set off along a path of whose +extreme muddiness I had been warned before starting. + +I turned up my trousers as high as possible, grasped a stoat stick to +prevent awkward falls, and then boldly plunged into the first mud-hole, +which was immediately succeeded by another and another. The marl or mud +and water was knee-deep with little intervals of firmer ground between, +making progression exceedingly difficult. The path was bordered with +high rigid grass, brewing in dense clumps separated by water, so that +nothing was to be gained by leaving the beaten track, and we were +obliged to go floundering on, never knowing where our feet would rest, +as the mud was now a few inches, now two feet deep, and the bottom +very uneven, so that the foot slid down to the lowest part, and made +it difficult to keep one's balance. One step would be upon a concealed +stick or log, almost dislocating the ankle, while the next would plunge +into soft mud above the knee. It rained all the way, and the long grass, +six feet high, met over the path; so that we could not see a step of the +way ahead, and received a double drenching. Before we got to the village +it was dark, and we had to cross over a small but deep and swollen +stream by a narrow log of wood, which was more than a foot under water. +There was a slender shaking stick for a handrail, and it was nervous +work feeling in the dark in the rushing water for a safe place on which +to place the advanced foot. After au hour of this most disagreeable +and fatiguing walk we reached the village, followed by the men with +our guns, ammunition, boxes, and bedding all more or less soaked. We +consoled ourselves with some hot tea and cold fowl, and went early to +bed. + +The next morning was clear and fine, and I set out soon after sunrise to +explore the neighbourhood. The village had evidently been newly formed, +and consisted of a single straight street of very miserable huts totally +deficient in every comfort, and as bare and cheerless inside as out. It +was situated on a little elevated patch of coarse gravelly soil, covered +with the usual high rigid grass, which came up close to the backs of +the houses. At a short distance in several directions were patches of +forest, but all on low and swampy ground. I made one attempt along the +only path I could find, but soon came upon a deep mud-hole, and found +that I must walk barefoot if at all; so I returned and deferred further +exploration till after breakfast. I then went on into the jungle and +found patches of sago-palms and a low forest vegetation, but the paths +were everywhere full of mud-holes, and intersected by muddy streams +and tracts of swamp, so that walking was not pleasurable, and too much +attention to one's steps was not favourable to insect catching, which +requires above everything freedom of motion. I shot a few birds, +and caught a few butterflies, but all were the same as I had already +obtained about Cajeli. + +On my return to the village I was told that the same kind of ground +extended for many miles in every direction, and I at once decided that +Wayapo was not a suitable place to stay at. The next morning early we +waded back again through the mud and long wet grass to our boat, and +by mid-day reached Cajeli, where I waited Ali's return to decide on my +future movements. He came the following day, and gave a very bad account +of Pelah, where he had been. There was a little brush and trees along +the beach, and hills inland covered with high grass and cajuputi +trees--my dread and abhorrence. On inquiring who could give me +trustworthy information, I was referred to the Lieutenant of the +Burghers, who had travelled all round the island, and was a very +intelligent fellow. I asked him to tell me if he knew of any part of +Bouru where there was no "kusu-kusu," as the coarse grass of the country +is called. He assured me that a good deal of the south coast was forest +land, while along the north was almost entirely swamp and grassy hills. +After minute inquiries, I found that the forest country commenced at a +place called Waypoti, only a few miles beyond Pelah, but that, as the +coast beyond that place was exposed to the east monsoon and dangerous +for praus, it was necessary to walk. I immediately went to the Opzeiner, +and he called the Rajah. We had a consultation, and arranged for a boat +to take me the next evening but one, to Pelah, whence I was to proceed +on foot, the Orang-kaya going the day before to call the Alfuros to +carry my baggage. + +The journey was made as arranged, and on May 19th we arrived at Waypoti, +having walked about ten miles along the beach, and through stony forest +bordering the sea, with occasional plunges of a mile or two into the +interior. We found no village, but scattered houses and plantations, +with hilly country pretty well covered with forest, and looking rather +promising. A low hut with a very rotten roof, showing the sky through in +several places, was the only one I could obtain. Luckily it did not rain +that night, and the next day we pulled down some of the walls to repair +the roof, which was of immediate importance, especially over our beds +and table. + +About half a mile from the house was a fine mountain stream, running +swiftly over a bed of rocks and pebbles, and beyond this was a hill +covered with fine forest. By carefully picking my way I could wade +across this river without getting much above my knees, although I would +sometimes slip off a rock and go into a hole up to my waist, and +about twice a week I went across it in order to explore the forest. +Unfortunately there were no paths here of any extent, and it did +not prove very productive either in insects or birds. To add to my +difficulties I had stupidly left my only pair of strong hoots on board +the steamer, and my others were by this time all dropping to pieces, +so that I was obliged to walk about barefooted, and in constant fear of +hurting my feet, and causing a wound which might lay me up for weeks, +as had happened in Borneo, Are, and Dorey. Although there were numerous +plantations of maize and plantains, there were no new clearings; and as +without these it is almost impossible to find many of the best kinds +of insects, I determined to make one myself, and with much difficulty +engaged two men to clear a patch of forest, from which I hoped to obtain +many fine beetles before I left. + +During the whole of my stay, however, insects never became plentiful. My +clearing produced me a few fine, longicorns and Buprestidae, different +from any I had before seen, together with several of the Amboyna +species, but by no means so numerous or, so beautiful as I had found in +that small island. For example, I collected only 210 different kinds +of beetles during my two months' stay at Bourn, while in three weeks +at Amboyna, in 1857, I found more than 300 species: One of the finest +insects found at Bouru was a large Cerambyx, of a deep shining chestnut +colour, and with very long antennae. It varied greatly in size, the +largest specimens being three inches long, while the smallest were only +an inch, the antenna varying from one and a half to five inches. + +One day my boy Ali came home with a story of a big snake. He was walking +through some high grass, and stepped on something which he took for a +small fallen tree, but it felt cold and yielding to his feet, and far +to the right and left there was a waving and rustling of the herbage. He +jumped back in affright and prepared to shoot, but could not get a good +vies of the creature, and it passed away, he said, like a tree being +dragged along through the grass. As he lead several times already shot +large snakes, which he declared were all as nothing compared with +this, I am inclined to believe it must really have been a monster. Such +creatures are rather plentiful here, for a man living close by showed +me on his thigh the marks where he had been seized by one close to his +house. It was big enough to take the man's thigh in its mouth, and he +would probably have been killed and devoured by it had not his cries +brought out his neighbours, who destroyed it with their choppers. As +far as I could make out it was about twenty feet long, but Ali's was +probably much larger. + +It sometimes amuses me to observe how, a few days after I have taken +possession of it, a native hut seems quite a comfortable home. My house +at Waypoti was a bare shed, with a large bamboo platform at one side. At +one end of this platform, which was elevated about three feet, I fixed +up my mosquito curtain, and partly enclosed it with a large Scotch +plaid, making a comfortable little sleeping apartment. I put up a +rude table on legs buried in the earthen floor, and had my comfortable +rattan-chair for a seat. A line across one corner carried my +daily-washed cotton clothing, and on a bamboo shelf was arranged my +small stock of crockery and hardware: Boxes were ranged against the +thatch walls, and hanging shelves, to preserve my collections from ants +while drying, were suspended both without and within the house. On my +table lay books, penknives, scissors, pliers, and pins, with insect and +bird labels, all of which were unsolved mysteries to the native mind. + +Most of the people here had never seen a pin, and the better +informed took a pride in teaching their more ignorant companions the +peculiarities and uses of that strange European production--a needle +with a head, but no eye! Even paper, which we throw away hourly as +rubbish, was to them a curiosity; and I often saw them picking up little +scraps which had been swept out of the house, and carefully putting +them away in their betel-pouch. Then when I took my morning coffee and +evening tea, how many were the strange things displayed to them! Teapot, +teacups, teaspoons, were all more or less curious in their eyes; tea, +sugar, biscuit, and butter, were articles of human consumption seen +by many of them for the first time. One asks if that whitish powder is +"gula passir" (sand-sugar), so called to distinguish it from the coarse +lump palm-sugar or molasses of native manufacture; and the biscuit is +considered a sort of European sago-cake, which the inhabitants of those +remote regions are obliged to use in the absence of the genuine article. +My pursuit, were of course utterly beyond their comprehension. They +continually asked me what white people did with the birds and insects I +tools so much care to preserve. If I only kept what was beautiful, they +might perhaps comprehend it; but to see ants and files and small ugly +insects put away so carefully was a great puzzle to them, and they were +convinced that there must be some medical or magical use for them +which I kept a profound secret. These people were in fact as completely +unacquainted with civilized life as the Indians of the Rocky Mountains, +or the savages of Central Africa--yet a steamship, that highest triumph +of human ingenuity, with its little floating epitome of European +civilization, touches monthly at Cajeli, twenty miles off; while at +Amboyna, only sixty miles distant, a European population and government +have been established for more than three hundred years. + +Having seen a good many of the natives of Bouru from different villages, +and from distant parts of the island, I feel convinced that they consist +of two distinct races now partially amalgamated. The larger portion are +Malays of the Celebes type, often exactly similar to the Tomore +people of East Celebes, whom I found settled in Batchian; while others +altogether resemble the Alfuros of Ceram. + +The influx of two races can easily be accounted for. The Sula Islands, +which are closely connected with East Celebes, approach to within forty +miles of the north coast of Bouru, while the island of Manipa offers an +easy point of departure for the people of Ceram. I was confirmed in +this view by finding that the languages of Bouru possessed distinct +resemblances to that of Sula, as well as to those of Ceram. + +Soon after we had arrived at Waypoti, Ali had seen a beautiful little +bird of the genus Pitta, which I was very anxious to obtain, as in +almost every island the species are different, and none were yet known +from Bourn. He and my other hunter continued to see it two or three +times a week, and to hear its peculiar note much oftener, but could +never get a specimen, owing to its always frequenting the most dense +thorny thickets, where only hasty glimpses of it could be obtained, and +at so short a distance that it would be difficult to avoid blowing +the bird to pieces. Ali was very much annoyed that he could not get a +specimen of this bird, in going after which he had already severely, +wounded his feet with thorns; and when we had only two days more to +stay, he went of his own accord one evening to sleep at a little but +in the forest some miles off, in order to have a last try for it at +daybreak, when many birds come out to feed, and are very intent on their +morning meal. The next evening he brought me home two specimens, one +with the head blown completely off, and otherwise too much injured to +preserve, the other in very good order, and which I at once saw to be +a new species, very like the Pitta celebensis, but ornamented with a +square patch of bright red on the nape of the neck. + +The next day after securing this prize we returned to Cajeli, and +packing up my collections left Bouru by the steamer. During our two +days' stay at Ternate, I took on board what baggage I had left there, +and bade adieu to all my friends. We then crossed over to Menado, on +our way to Macassar and Java, and I finally quitted the Moluccas, among +whose luxuriant and beautiful islands I had wandered for more than three +years. + +My collections in Bouru, though not extensive, were of considerable +interest; for out of sixty-six species of birds which I collected there, +no less than seventeen were new, or had not been previously found in any +island of the Moluccas. Among these were two kingfishers, Tanysiptera +acis and Ceyx Cajeli; a beautiful sunbird, Nectarines proserpina; a +handsome little black and white flycatcher, Monarcha loricata, whose +swelling throat was beautifully scaled with metallic blue; and several +of less interest. I also obtained a skull of the babirusa, one specimen +of which was killed by native hunters during my residence at Cajeli. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MOLUCCAS. + +THE Moluccas consist of three large islands, Gilolo, Ceram, and Bouru, +the two former being each about two hundred miles long; and a great +number of smaller isles and islets, the most important of which are +Batchian, Morty, Obi, Ke, Timor-Laut, and Amboyna; and among the smaller +ones, Ternate, Tidore, Kaioa, and Banda. They occupy a space of ten +degrees of latitude by eight of longitude, and they are connected by +groups of small islets to New Guinea on the east, the Philippines on the +north, Celebes on the west, and Timor on the south. It will be as well +to bear in mind these main features of extent and geographical position, +while we survey their animal productions and discuss their relations +to the countries which surround them on every side in almost equal +proximity. + +We will first consider the Mammalia or warm-blooded quadrupeds, +which present us with some singular anomalies. The land mammals are +exceedingly few in number, only ten being yet known from the entire +group. The bats or aerial mammals, on the other hand, are numerous--not +less than twenty-five species being already known. But even this +exceeding poverty of terrestrial mammals does not at all represent the +real poverty of the Moluccas in this class of animals; for, as we shall +soon see, there is good reason to believe that several of the species +have been introduced by man, either purposely or by accident. + +The only quadrumanous animal in the group is the curious baboon-monkey, +Cynopithecus nigrescens, already described as being one of the +characteristic animals of Celebes. This is found only in the island of +Batchian; and it seems so much out of place there as it is difficult +to imagine how it could have reached the island by any natural means +of dispersal, and yet not have passed by the same means over the narrow +strait to Gilolo--that it seems more likely to have originated from +some individuals which had escaped from confinement, these and similar +animals being often kept as pets by the Malays, and carried about in +their praus. + +Of all the carnivorous animals of the Archipelago the only one found in +the Moluccas is the Viverra tangalunga, which inhabits both Batchian and +Bouru, and probably come of the other islands. I am inclined to think +that this also may have been introduced accidentally, for it is often +made captive by the Malays, who procure civet from it, and it is an +animal very restless and untameable, and therefore likely to escape. +This view is rendered still more probable by what Antonio de Morga tells +us was the custom in the Philippines in 1602. He says that "the natives +of Mindanao carry about civet-cats in cages, and sell them in the +islands; and they take the civet from them, and let them go again." The +same species is common in the Philippines and in all the large islands +of the Indo-Malay region. + +The only Moluccan ruminant is a deer, which was once supposed to be a +distinct species, but is now generally considered to be a slight variety +of the Rusa hippelaphus of Java. Deer are often tamed and petted, and +their flesh is so much esteemed by all Malays, that it is very natural +they should endeavour to introduce them into the remote islands in which +they settled, and whose luxuriant forests seem so well adapted for their +subsistence. + +The strange babirusa of Celebes is also found in Bouru; but in no other +Moluccan island, and it is somewhat difficult to imagine how it got +there. It is true that there is some approximation between the birds of +the Sula Islands (where the babirusa is also found) and those of Bouru, +which seems to indicate that these islands have recently been closer +together, or that some intervening land has disappeared. At this time +the babirusa may have entered Bouru, since it probably swims as well as +its allies the pigs. These are spread all over the Archipelago, even +to several of the smaller islands, and in many cases the species are +peculiar. It is evident, therefore, that they have some natural means +of dispersal. There is a popular idea that pigs cannot swim, but Sir +Charles Lyell has shown that this is a mistake. In his "Principles of +Geology" (10th Edit. vol. ii p. 355) he adduces evidence to show that +pigs have swum many miles at sea, and are able to swim with great ease +and swiftness. I have myself seen a wild pig swimming across the arm of +the sea that separates Singapore from the Peninsula of Malacca, and we +thus have explained the curious fact, that of all the large mammals of +the Indian region, pigs alone extend beyond the Moluccas and as far as +New Guinea, although it is somewhat curious that they have not found +their way to Australia. + +The little shrew, Sorex myosurus, which is common in Sumatra, Borneo, +and Java, is also found in the larger islands of the Moluccas, to which +it may have been accidentally conveyed in native praus. + +This completes the list of the placental mammals which are so +characteristic of the Indian region; and we see that, with the single +exception of the pig, all may very probably have been introduced by +man, since all except the pig are of species identical with those now +abounding in the great Malay islands, or in Celebes. + +The four remaining mammals are Marsupials, an order of the class +Mammalia, which is very characteristic of the Australian fauna; and +these are probably true natives of the Moluccas, since they are either +of peculiar species, or if found elsewhere are natives only of New +Guinea or North Australia. The first is the small flying opossum, +Belideus ariel, a beautiful little animal, exactly line a small flying +squirrel in appearance, but belonging to the marsupial order. The other +three are species of the curious genus Cuscus, which is peculiar to +the Austro-Malayan region. These are opossum-like animals, with a long +prehensile tail, of which the terminal half is generally bare. They have +small heads, large eyes, and a dense covering of woolly fur, which is +often pure white with irregular black spots or blotches, or sometimes +ashy brown with or without white spots. They live in trees, feeding +upon the leaves, of which they devour large quantities, they move about +slowly, and are difficult to kill, owing to the thickness of their fur, +and their tenacity of life. A heavy charge of shot will often lodge in +the slain and do them no harm, and even breaking the spine or piercing +the brain will not kill them for some hours. The natives everywhere +eat their flesh, and as their motions are so slow, easily catch them by +climbing; so that it is wonderful they have not been exterminated. It +may be, however, that their dense woolly fur protects them from birds of +prey, and the islands they live in are too thinly inhabited for man to +be able to exterminate them. The figure represents Cuscus ornatus, a new +species discovered by me in Batchian, and which also inhabits Ternate. +It is peculiar to the Moluccas, while the two other species which +inhabit Ceram are found also in New Guinea and Waigiou. + +In place of the excessive poverty of mammals which characterises the +Moluccas, we have a very rich display of the feathered tribes. The +number of species of birds at present known from the various islands of +the Molluccan group is 265, but of these only 70 belong to the usually +abundant tribes of the waders and swimmers, indicating that these are +very imperfectly known. As they are also pre-eminently wanderers, and +are thus little fitted for illustrating the geographical distribution of +life in a limited area, we will here leave them out of consideration and +confine our attention only to the 195 land birds. + +When we consider that all Europe, with its varied climate and +vegetation, with every mile of its surface explored, and with the +immense extent of temperate Asia and Africa, which serve as storehouses, +from which it is continually recruited, only supports 251 species of +land birds as residents or regular immigrants, we must look upon the +numbers already procured in the small and comparatively unknown islands +of the Moluccas as indicating a fauna of fully average richness in this +department. But when we come to examine the family groups which go to +make up this number, we find the most curious deficiencies in some, +balanced by equally striking redundancy in other. Thus if we compare +the birds of the Moluccas with those of India, as given in Mr. Jerdon's +work, we find that the three groups of the parrots, kingfishers, and +pigeons, form nearly _one-third_ of the whole land-birds in the former, +while they amount to only _one-twentieth_ in the latter country. On +the other hand, such wide-spread groups as the thrushes, warblers, and +finches, which in India form nearly _one-third_ of all the land-birds, +dwindle down in the Moluccas to _one-fourteenth._ + +The reason of these peculiarities appears to be, that the Moluccan +fauna has been almost entirely derived from that of New Guinea, in which +country the same deficiency and the same luxuriance is to be observed. +Out of the seventy-eight genera in which the Moluccan land-birds may be +classed, no less than seventy are characteristic of Yew Guinea, while +only six belong specially to the Indo-Malay islands. But this close +resemblance to New Guinea genera does not extend to the species, for +no less than 140 out of the 195 land-birds are peculiar to the Moluccan +islands, while 32 are found also in New Guinea, and 15 in the Indo-Malay +islands. These facts teach us, that though the birds of this group have +evidently been derived mainly from New Guinea, yet the immigration has +not been a recent one, since there has been time for the greater portion +of the species to have become changed. We find, also, that many very +characteristic New Guinea forms lave not entered the Moluccas at all, +while others found in Ceram and Gilolo do not extend so far west as +Bouru. Considering, further, the absence of most of the New Guinea +mammals from the Moluccas, we are led to the conclusion that these +islands are not fragments which have been separated from New Guinea, but +form a distinct insular region, which has been upheaved independently at +a rather remote epoch, and during all the mutations it has undergone +has been constantly receiving immigrants from that great and productive +island. The considerable length of time the Moluccas have remained +isolated is further indicated by the occurrence of two peculiar genera +of birds, Semioptera and Lycocorax, which are found nowhere else. + +We are able to divide this small archipelago into two well marked +groups--that of Ceram, including also Bouru. Amboyna, Banda, and Ke; and +that of Gilolo, including Morty, Batchian, Obi, Ternate, and other small +islands. These divisions have each a considerable number of peculiar +species, no less than fifty-five being found in the Ceram group only; +and besides this, most of the separate islands have some species +peculiar to themselves. Thus Morty island has a peculiar kingfisher, +honeysucker, and starling; Ternate has a ground-thrush (Pitta) and +a flycatcher; Banda has a pigeon, a shrike, and a Pitta; Ke has two +flycatchers, a Zosterops, a shrike, a king-crow and a cuckoo; and the +remote Timor-Laut, which should probably come into the Moluccan group, +has a cockatoo and lory as its only known birds, and both are of +peculiar species. + +The Moluccas are especially rich in the parrot tribe, no less than +twenty-two species, belonging to ten genera, inhabiting them. Among +these is the large red-crested cockatoo, so commonly seen alive in +Europe, two handsome red parrots of the genus Eclectus, and five of the +beautiful crimson lories, which are almost exclusively confined to these +islands and the New Guinea group. The pigeons are hardly less abundant +or beautiful, twenty-one species being known, including twelve of the +beautiful green fruit pigeons, the smaller kinds of which are +ornamented with the most brilliant patches of colour on the head and +the under-surface. Next to these come the kingfishers, including sixteen +species, almost all of which are beautiful, end many are among the most +brilliantly-coloured birds that exist. + +One of the most curious groups of birds, the Megapodii, or mound-makers, +is very abundant in the Moluccas. They are gallinaceous birds, about the +size of a small fowl, and generally of a dark ashy or sooty colour, +and they have remarkably large and strong feet and long claws. They are +allied to the "Maleo" of Celebes, of which an account has already been +given, but they differ in habits, most of these birds frequenting the +scrubby jungles along the sea-shore, where the soil is sandy, and there +is a considerable quantity of debris, consisting of sticks, shells, +seaweed, leaves, &c. Of this rubbish the Megapodius forms immense +mounds, often six or eight feet high and twenty or thirty feet in +diameter, which they are enabled to do with comparative ease, by means +of their large feet, with which they can grasp and throw backwards a +quantity of material. In the centre of this mound, at a depth of two or +three feet, the eggs are deposited, and are hatched by the gentle heat +produced by the fermentation of the vegetable matter of the mound. +When I first saw these mounds in the island of Lombock, I could hardly +believe that they were made by such small birds, but I afterwards met +with them frequently, and have once or twice come upon the birds engaged +in making them. They run a few steps backwards, grasping a quantity of +loose material in one foot, and throw it a long way behind them. When +once properly buried the eggs seem to be no more cared for, the young +birds working their way up through the heap of rubbish, and running off +at once into the forest. They come out of the egg covered with thick +downy feathers, and have no tail, although the wings are full developed. + +I was so fortunate as to discover a new species (Megapodius wallacei), +which inhibits Gilolo, Ternate, and Bouru. It is the handsomest bird of +the genus, being richly banded with reddish brown on the back and wings; +and it differs from the other species in its habits. It frequents the +forests of the interior, and comes down to the sea-beach to deposit its +eggs, but instead of making a mound, or scratching a hole to receive +them, it burrows into the sand to the depth of about three feet +obliquely downwards, and deposits its eggs at the bottom. It then +loosely covers up the mouth of the hole, and is said by the natives to +obliterate and disguise its own footmarks leading to and from the hole, +by making many other tracks and scratches in the neighbourhood. It lays +its eggs only at night, and at Bouru a bird was caught early one morning +as it was coming out of its hole, in which several eggs were found. All +these birds seem to be semi-nocturnal, for their loud wailing cries may +be constantly heard late into the night and long before daybreak in the +morning. The eggs are all of a rusty red colour, and very large for the +size of the bird, being generally three or three and a quarter inches +long, by two or two and a quarter wide. They are very good eating, and +are much sought after by the natives. + +Another large and extraordinary bird is the Cassowary, which inhabits +the island of Ceram only. It is a stout and strong bird, standing five +or six feet high, and covered with long coarse black hair-like feathers. +The head is ornamented with a large horny calque or helmet, and the bare +skin of the neck is conspicuous with bright blue and red colours. The +wings are quite absent, and are replaced by a group of horny black +spines like blunt porcupine quills. + +These birds wander about the vast mountainous forests that cover the +island of Ceram, feeding chiefly on fallen fruits, and on insects or +crustacea. The female lays from three to five large and beautifully +shagreened green eggs upon a bed of leaves, the male and female sitting +upon them alternately for about a month. This bird is the helmeted +cassowary (Casuarius galeatus) of naturalists, and was for a long time +the only species known. Others have since been discovered in New Guinea, +New Britain, and North Australia. + +It was in the Moluccas that I first discovered undoubted cases of +"mimicry" among birds, and these are so curious that I must briefly +describe them. It will be as well, however, first to explain what is +meant by mimicry in natural history. At page 205 of the first volume of +this work, I have described a butterfly which, when at rest, so closely +resembles a dead leaf, that it thereby escape the attacks of its +enemies. This is termed a "protective resemblance." If however the +butterfly, being itself savoury morsel to birds, had closely resembled +another butterfly which was disagreeable to birds, and therefore never +eaten by them, it would be as well protected as if it resembled a leaf; +and this is what has been happily termed "mimicry" by Mr. Bates, who +first discovered the object of these curious external imitations of one +insect by another belonging to a distinct genus or family, and sometimes +even to a distinct order. The clear-winged moth which resemble wasps and +hornets are the best examples of "mimicry" in our own country. + +For a long time all the known cases of exact resemblance of one creature +to quite a different one were confined to insects, and it was therefore +with great pleasure that I discovered in the island of Bouru two birds +which I constantly mistook for each other, and which yet belonged to two +distinct and somewhat distant families. One of these is a honeysucker +named Tropidorhynchus bouruensis, and the other a kind of oriole, which +has been called Mimeta bouruensis. The oriole resembles the honeysucker +in the following particulars: the upper and under surfaces of the +two birds are exactly of the same tints of dark and light brown; the +Tropidorhynchus has a large bare black patch round the eyes; this is +copied in the Mimeta by a patch of black feathers. The top of the +head of the Tropidorhynchus has a scaly appearance from the narrow +scale-formed feathers, which are imitated by the broader feathers of +the Mimeta having a dusky line down each. The Tropidorhynchus has a pale +ruff formed of curious recurved feathers on the nape (which has given +the whole genus the name of Friar birds); this is represented in the +Mimeta by a pale band in the same position. Lastly, the bill of the +Tropidorhynchus is raised into a protuberant keel at the base, and the +Mimeta has the same character, although it is not a common one in the +genus. The result is, that on a superficial examination the birds are +identical, although they leave important structural differences, and +cannot be placed near each other in any natural arrangement. + +In the adjacent island of Ceram we find very distinct species of both +these genera, and, strange to say, these resemble each other quite as +closely as do those of Bouru The Tropidorhynchus subcornutus is of an +earthy brown colour, washed with ochreish yellow, with bare orbits, +dusky: cheeks, and the usual recurved nape-ruff: The Mimeta forsteni +which accompanies it, is absolutely identical in the tints of every +part of the body, and the details are copied just as minutely as in the +former species. + +We have two kinds of evidence to tell us which bird in this case is the +model, and which the copy. The honeysuckers are coloured in a manner +which is very general in the whole family to which they belong, while +the orioles seem to have departed from the gay yellow tints so common +among their allies. We should therefore conclude that it is the latter +who mimic the former. If so, however, they must derive some advantage +from the imitation, and as they are certainly weak birds, with small +feet and claws, they may require it. Now the Tropidorhynchi are very +strong and active birds, having powerful grasping claws, and long, +curved, sharp beaks. They assemble together in groups and small flocks, +and they haw a very loud bawling note which can be heard at a great +distance, and serves to collect a number together in time of danger. +They are very plentiful and very pugnacious, frequently driving away +crows and even hawks, which perch on a tree where a few of them are +assembled. It is very probable, therefore, that the smaller birds of +prey have learnt to respect these birds and leave them alone, and it may +thus be a great advantage for the weaker and less courageous Mimetas +to be mistaken for them. This being case, the laws of Variation and +Survival of the Fittest, will suffice to explain how the resemblance has +been brought about, without supposing any voluntary action on the part +of the birds themselves; and those who have read Mr. Darwin's "Origin of +Species" will have no difficulty in comprehending the whole process. + +The insects of the Moluccas are pre-eminently beautiful, even when +compared with the varied and beautiful productions of other parts of the +Archipelago. The grand bird-winged butterflies (Ornithoptera) here reach +their maximum of size and beauty, and many of the Papilios, Pieridae +Danaidae, and Nymphalidae are equally preeminent. There is, perhaps, no +island in the world so small as Amboyna where so many grand insects are +to be found. Here are three of the very finest Ornithopterae--priamus, +helena, and remiss; three of the handsomest and largest +Papilios--ulysses, deiphobus, and gambrisius; one of the handsomest +Pieridae, Iphias leucippe; the largest of the Danaidae, Hestia idea; +and two unusually large and handsome Nymphalidae--Diadema pandarus, +and Charaxes euryalus. Among its beetles are the extraordinary Euchirus +longimanus, whose enormous legs spread over a space of eight inches, +and an unusual number of large and handsome Longicorns, Anthribidae, and +Buprestidae. + +The beetles figured on the plate as characteristic of the Moluccas are: +1. A small specimen of the Euchirus longimanus, or Long-armed Chafer, +which has been already mentioned in the account of my residence at +Amboyna (Chapter XX.). The female has the fore legs of moderate length. +2. A fine weevil, (an undescribed species of Eupholus,) of rich blue and +emerald green colours, banded with black. It is a native of Ceram and +Goram, and is found on foliage. 3. A female of Xenocerus semiluctuosus, +one of the Anthribidae of delicate silky white and black colours. It +is abundant on fallen trunks and stumps in Ceram and Amboyna. 4. An +undescribed species of Xenocerus; a male, with very long and curious +antenna, and elegant black and white markings. It is found on fallen +trunks in Batchian. 5. An undescribed species of Arachnobas, a curious +genus of weevils peculiar to the Moluccas and New Guinea, and remarkable +for their long legs, and their habit of often sitting on leaves, and +turning rapidly round the edge to the under-surface when disturbed. It +was found in Gilolo. All these insects are represented of the natural +size. + +Like the birds, the insects of the Moluccas show a decided affinity +with those of New Guinea rather than with the productions of the great +western islands of the Archipelago, but the difference in form and +structure between the productions of the east and west is not nearly +so marked here as in birds. This is probably due to the more immediate +dependence of insects on climate and vegetation, and the greater +facilities for their distribution in the varied stages of egg, pupa, and +perfect insect. This has led to a general uniformity in the insect-life +of the whole Archipelago, in accordance with the general uniformity +of its climate and vegetation; while on the other hand the great +susceptibility of the insect organization to the action of external +conditions has led to infinite detailed modifications of form and +colour, which have in many cases given a considerable diversity to the +productions of adjacent islands. + +Owing to the great preponderance among the birds, of parrots, pigeons, +kingfishers, and sunbirds, almost all of gay or delicate colours, and +many adorned with the most gorgeous plumage, and to the numbers of very +large and showy butterflies which are almost everywhere to be met with, +the forests of the Moluccas offer to the naturalist a very striking +example of the luxuriance and beauty of animal life in the tropics. Yet +the almost entire absence of Mammalia, and of such wide-spread groups of +birds as woodpeckers, thrushes, jays, tits, and pheasants, must convince +him that he is in a part of the world which has, in reality but little +in common with the great Asiatic continent, although an unbroken chain +of islands seems to link them to it. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS IN A NATIVE PRAU. + +(DECEMBER, 1856.) + +IT was the beginning of December, and the rainy season at Macassar had +just set in. For nearly three months had beheld the sun rise daily above +the palm-groves, mount to the zenith, and descend like a globe of fire +into the ocean, unobscured for a single moment of his course. Now dark +leaden clouds had gathered over the whole heavens, and seemed to have +rendered him permanently invisible. The strong east winds, warm and dry +and dust-laden, which had hitherto blown as certainly as the sun had +risen, were now replaced by variable gusty breezes and heavy rains, +often continuous for three days and nights together; and the parched +and fissured rice stubbles which during the dry weather had extended in +every direction for miles around the town, were already so flooded as +to be only passable by boats, or by means of a labyrinth of paths on the +top of the narrow banks which divided the separate properties. + +Five months of this kind of weather might be expected in Southern +Celebes, and I therefore determined to seek some more favourable climate +for collecting in during that period, and to return in the next dry +season to complete my exploration of the district. Fortunately for me +I was in one of the treat emporiums of the native trade of the +archipelago. Rattans from Borneo, sandal-wood and bees'-was from Flores +and Timor, tripang from the Gulf of Carpentaria, cajputi-oil from Bouru, +wild nutmegs and mussoi-bark from New Guinea, are all to be found in the +stores of the Chinese and Bugis merchants of Macassar, along with the +rice and coffee which are the chief products of the surrounding country. +More important than all these however is the trade to Aru, a group of +islands situated on the south-west coast of New Guinea, and of which +almost the whole produce comes to Macassar in native vessels. These +islands are quite out of the track of all European trade, and are +inhabited only by black mop-headed savages, who yet contribute to the +luxurious tastes of the most civilized races. Pearls, mother-of-pearl, +and tortoiseshell find their way to Europe, while edible birds' nests +and "tripang" or sea-slug are obtained by shiploads for the gastronomic +enjoyment of the Chinese. + +The trade to these islands has existed from very early times, and it +is from them that Birds of Paradise, of the two kinds known to Linnaeus +were first brought The native vessels can only make the voyage once a +year, owing to the monsoons. They leave Macassar in December or January +at the beginning of the west monsoon, and return in July or August +with the full strength of the east monsoon. Even by the Macassar people +themselves, the voyage to the Aru Islands is looked upon as a rather +wild and romantic expedition, fall of novel sights and strange +adventures. He who has made it is looked up to as an authority, and it +remains with many the unachieved ambition of their lives. I myself had +hoped rather than expected ever to reach this "Ultima Thule" of the +East: and when I found that I really could do so now, had I but courage +to trust myself for a thousand miles' voyage in a Bugis prau, and for +six or seven months among lawless traders and ferocious savages, I felt +somewhat as I did when, a schoolboy, I was for the first time allowed +to travel outside the stage-coach, to visit that scene of all that is +strange and new and wonderful to young imaginations-London! + +By the help of some kind friends I was introduced to the owner of one +of the large praus which was to sail in a few days. He was a Javanese +half-caste, intelligent, mild, and gentlemanly in his manners, and had +a young and pretty Dutch wife, whom he was going to leave behind during +his absence. When we talked about passage money he would fix no sum, but +insisted on leaving it entirely to me to pay on my return exactly what +I liked. "And then," said he, "whether you give me one dollar or a +hundred, I shall be satisfied, and shall ask no more." + +The remainder of my stay was fully occupied in laying in stores, +engaging servants, and making every other preparation for an absence of +seven months from even the outskirts of civilization. On the morning of +December 13th, when we went on board at daybreak, it was raining hard. +We set sail and it came on to blow. Our boat was lost astern, our sails +damaged, and the evening found us hack again in Macassar harbour. We +remained there four days longer, owing to its raining all the time, thus +rendering it impossible to dry and repair the huge mat sails. All these +dreary days I remained on board, and during the rare intervals when it +didn't rain, made myself acquainted with our outlandish craft, some of +the peculiarities of which I will now endeavour to describe. + +It was a vessel of about seventy tons burthen, and shaped something like +a Chinese junk. The deck sloped considerably downward to the bows, which +are thus the lowest part of the ship. There were two large rudders, +but instead of being planed astern they were hung on the quarters from +strong cross beams, which projected out two or three feet on each side, +and to which extent the deck overhung the sides of the vessel amidships. +The rudders were not hinged but hung with slings of rattan, the friction +of which keeps them in any position in which they are placed, and thus +perhaps facilitates steering. The tillers were not on deck, but entered +the vessel through two square openings into a lower or half deck about +three feet high, in which sit the two steersmen. In the after part of +the vessel was a low poop, about three and a half feet high, which +forms the captain's cabin, its furniture consisting of boxes, mats, and +pillows. In front of the poop and mainmast was a little thatched house +on deck, about four feet high to the ridge; and one compartment of this, +forming a cabin six and a half feet long by five and a half wide, I had +all to myself, and it was the snuggest and most comfortable little place +I ever enjoyed at sea. It was entered by a low sliding door of thatch +on one side, and had a very small window on the other. The floor was of +split bamboo, pleasantly elastic, raised six inches above the deck, +so as to be quite dry. It was covered with fine cane mats, for the +manufacture of which Macassar is celebrated; against the further wall +were arranged my guncase, insect-boxes, clothes, and books; my mattress +occupied the middle, and next the door were my canteen, lamp, and little +store of luxuries for the voyage; while guns, revolver, and hunting +knife hung conveniently from the roof. During these four miserable days +I was quite jolly in this little snuggery more so than I should have +been if confined the same time to the gilded and uncomfortable saloon of +a first-class steamer. Then, how comparatively sweet was everything +on board--no paint, no tar, no new rope, (vilest of smells to the +qualmish!) no grease, or oil, or varnish; but instead of these, bamboo +and rattan, and coir rope and palm thatch; pure vegetable fibres, which +smell pleasantly if they smell at all, and recall quiet scenes in the +green and shady forest. + +Our ship had two masts, if masts they can be called c which were great +moveable triangles. If in an ordinary ship you replace the shrouds and +backstay by strong timbers, and take away the mast altogether, you have +the arrangement adopted on board a prau. Above my cabin, and resting on +cross-beams attached to the masts, was a wilderness of yards and spars, +mostly formed of bamboo. The mainyard, an immense affair nearly a +hundred feet long, was formed of many pieces of wood and bamboo bound +together with rattans in an ingenious manner. The sail carried by this +was of an oblong shape, and was hung out of the centre, so that when the +short end was hauled down on deck the long end mounted high in the air, +making up for the lowness of the mast itself. The foresail was of the +same shape, but smaller. Both these were of matting, and, with two jibs +and a fore and aft sail astern of cotton canvas, completed our rig. + +The crew consisted of about thirty men, natives of Macassar and the +adjacent coasts and islands. They were mostly young, and were short, +broad-faced, good-humoured looking fellows. Their dress consisted +generally of a pair of trousers only, when at work, and a handkerchief +twisted round the head, to which in the evening they would add a thin +cotton jacket. Four of the elder men were "jurumudis," or steersmen, who +had to squat (two at a time) in the little steerage before described, +changing every six hours. Then there was an old man, the "juragan," +or captain, but who was really what we should call the first mate; he +occupied the other half of the little house on deck. There were about +ten respectable men, Chinese or Bugis, whom our owner used to call "his +own people." He treated them very well, shared his meals with them, and +spoke to them always with perfect politeness; yet they were most of them +a kind of slave debtors, bound over by the police magistrate to work +for him at mere nominal wages for a term of years till their debts were +liquidated. This is a Dutch institution in this part of the world, and +seems to work well. It is a great boon to traders, who can do nothing +in these thinly-populated regions without trusting goods to agents +and petty dealers, who frequently squander them away in gambling and +debauchery. The lower classes are almost all in a chronic state of debt. +The merchant trusts them again and again, till the amount is something +serious, when he brings them to court and has their services allotted to +him for its liquidation. The debtors seem to think this no disgrace, but +rather enjoy their freedom from responsibility, and the dignity of their +position under a wealthy and well-known merchant. They trade a little on +their own account, and both parties seem to get on very well together. +The plan seems a more sensible one than that which we adopt, of +effectually preventing a man from earning anything towards paying his +debts by shutting him up in a jail. + +My own servants were three in number. Ali, the Malay boy whom I had +picked up in Borneo, was my head man. He had already been with me a +year, could turn his hand to anything, and was quite attentive and +trustworthy. He was a good shot, and fond of shooting, and I had taught +him to skin birds very well. The second, named Baderoon, was a Macassar +lad; also a pretty good boy, but a desperate gambler. Under pretence of +buying a house for his mother, and clothes, for himself, he had received +four months' wages about a week before we sailed, and in a day or two +gambled away every dollar of it. He had come on board with no clothes, +no betel, or tobacco, or salt fish, all which necessary articles I was +obliged to send Ali to buy for him. These two lads were about sixteen, I +should suppose; the third was younger, a sharp little rascal named Baso, +who had been with me a month or two, and had learnt to cook tolerably. +He was to fulfil the important office of cook and housekeeper, for +I could not get any regular servants to go to such a terribly remote +country; one might as well ask a chef de cuisine to go to Patagonia. + +On the fifth day that I had spent on board (Dec. 15th) the rain ceased, +and final preparations were made for starting. Sails were dried and +furled, boats were constantly coming and going, and stores for the +voyage, fruit, vegetables, fish, and palm sugar, were taken on board. +In the afternoon two women arrived with a large party of friends and +relations, and at parting there was a general noserubbing (the Malay +kiss), and some tears shed. These were promising symptoms for our +getting off the next day; and accordingly, at three in the morning, the +owner came on board, the anchor was immediately weighed, and by four we +set sail. Just as we were fairly off and clear of the other praus, the +old juragan repeated some prayers, all around responding with "Allah il +Allah," and a few strokes on a gong as an accompaniment, concluding with +all wishing each other "Salaamat jalan," a safe and happy journey. +We had a light breeze, a calm sea, and a fine morning, a prosperous +commencement of our voyage of about a thousand miles to the far-famed +Aru Islands. + +The wind continued light and variable all day, with a calm in the +evening before the land breeze sprang up, were then passing the island +of "Tanakaki" (foot of the land), at the extreme south of this part of +Celebes. There are some dangerous rocks here, and as I was standing by +the bulwarks, I happened to spit over the side; one of the men begged I +would not do so just now, but spit on deck, as they were much afraid +of this place. Not quite comprehending, I made him repeat his request, +when, seeing he was in earnest, I said, "Very well, I suppose there are +'hantus' (spirits) here." "Yes," said he, "and they don't like anything +to be thrown overboard; many a prau has been lost by doing it." Upon +which I promised to be very careful. At sunset the good Mahometans +on board all repeated a few words of prayer with a general chorus, +reminding me of the pleasing and impressive "Ave. Maria" of Catholic +countries. + +Dec. 20th.-At sunrise we were opposite the Bontyne mountain, said to be +one of the highest in Celebes. In the afternoon we passed the Salayer +Straits and had a little squall, which obliged us to lower our huge +mast, sails, and heavy yards. The rest of the evening we had a fine west +wind, which carried us on at near five knots an hour, as much as our +lumbering old tub can possibly go. + +Dec. 21st.-A heavy swell from the south-west rolling us about most +uncomfortably. A steady wind was blowing however, and we got on very +well. + +Dec. 22d.-The swell had gone down. We passed Boutong, a large island, +high, woody, and populous, the native place of some of our crew. A small +prau returning from Bali to the island of Goram overtook us. The nakoda +(captain) was known to our owner. They had been two years away, but were +full of people, with several black Papuans on board. At 6 P.M. we passed +Wangiwangi, low but not flat, inhabited and subject to Boutong. We had +now fairly entered the Molucca Sea. After dark it was a beautiful +sight to look down on our rudders, from which rushed eddying streams of +phosphoric light gemmed with whirling sparks of fire. It resembled (more +nearly than anything else to which I can compare it) one of the large +irregular nebulous star-clusters seen through a good telescope, with the +additional attraction of ever-changing form and dancing motion. + +Dec. 23d.-Fine red sunrise; the island we left last evening barely +visible behind us. The Goram prau about a mile south of us. They have +no compass, yet they have kept a very true course during the night. +Our owner tells me they do it by the swell of the sea, the direction of +which they notice at sunset, and sail by it during the night. In these +seas they are never (in fine weather) more than two days without seeing +land. Of course adverse winds or currents sometimes carry them away, +but they soon fall in with some island, and there are always some old +sailors on board who know it, and thence take a new course. Last night +a shark about five feet long was caught, and this morning it was cut up +and cooked. In the afternoon they got another, and I had a little fried, +and found it firm and dry, but very palatable. In the evening the sun +set in a heavy bank of clouds, which, as darkness came on, assumed a +fearfully black appearance. According to custom, when strong wind or +rain is expected, our large sails-were furled, and with their yards let +down on deck, and a small square foresail alone kept up. The great mat +sails are most awkward things to manage in rough weather. The yards +which support them are seventy feet long, and of course very heavy, and +the only way to furl them being to roll up the sail on the boom, it is +a very dangerous thing to have them standing when overtaken by a squall. +Our crew; though numerous enough for a vessel of 700 instead of one of +70 tons, have it very much their own way, and there seems to be seldom +more than a dozen at work at a time. When anything important is to +be done, however, all start up willingly enough, but then all think +themselves at liberty to give their opinion, and half a dozen voices are +heard giving orders, and there is such a shrieking and confusion that it +seems wonderful anything gets done at all. + +Considering we have fifty men of several tribes and tongues onboard, +wild, half-savage looking fellows, and few of them feeling any of the +restraints of morality or education, we get on wonderfully well. There +is no fighting or quarrelling, as there would certainly be among the +same number of Europeans with as little restraint upon their actions, +and there is scarcely any of that noise and excitement which might be +expected. In fine weather the greater part of them are quietly enjoying +themselves--some are sleeping under the shadow of the sails; others, +in little groups of three or four, are talking or chewing betel; one is +making a new handle to his chopping-knife, another is stitching away +at a new pair of trousers or a shirt, and all are as quiet and +well-conducted as on board the best-ordered English merchantman. Two or +three take it by turns to watch in the bows and see after the braces +and halyards of the great sails; the two steersmen are below in the +steerage; our captain, or the juragan, gives the course, guided partly +by the compass and partly by the direction of the wind, and a watch of +two or three on the poop look after the trimming of the sails and call +out the hours by the water-clock. This is a very ingenious contrivance, +which measures time well in both rough weather and fine. It is simply +a bucket half filled with water, in which floats the half of a +well-scraped cocoa-nut shell. In the bottom of this shell is a very +small hole, so that when placed to float in the bucket a fine thread of +water squirts up into it. This gradually fills the shell, and the size +of the hole is so adjusted to the capacity of the vessel that, exactly +at the end of an hour, plump it goes to the bottom. The watch then cries +out the number of hours from sunrise and sets the shell afloat again +empty. This is a very good measurer of time. I tested it with my watch +and found that it hardly varied a minute from one hour to another, nor +did the motion of the vessel have any effect upon it, as the water in +the bucket of course kept level. It has a great advantage for a rude +people in being easily understood, in being rather bulky and easy +to see, and in the final submergence being accompanied with a little +bubbling and commotion of the water, which calls the attention to it. It +is also quickly replaced if lost while in harbour. + +Our captain and owner I find to be a quiet, good-tempered man, who seems +to get on very well with all about him. When at sea he drinks no wine or +spirits, but indulges only in coffee and cakes, morning and afternoon, +in company with his supercargo and assistants. He is a man of some +little education, can read and write well both Dutch and Malay, uses a +compass, and has a chart. He has been a trader to Aru for many years, +and is well known to both Europeans and natives in this part of the +world. + +Dec. 24th.-Fine, and little wind. No land in sight for the first time +since we left Macassar. At noon calm, with heavy showers, in which our +crew wash their clothes, anti in the afternoon the prau is covered with +shirts, trousers, and sarongs of various gay colours. I made a discovery +to-day which at first rather alarmed me. The two ports, or openings, +through which the tillers enter from the lateral rudders are not more +than three or four feet above the surface of the water, which thus has +a free entrance into the vessel. I of course had imagined that this +open space from one side to the other was separated from the hold by +a water-tight bulkhead, so that a sea entering might wash out at the +further side, and do no more harm than give the steersmen a drenching. +To my surprise end dismay, however, I find that it is completely open to +the hold, so that half-a-dozen seas rolling in on a stormy night would +nearly, or quite, swamp us. Think of a vessel going to sea for a month +with two holes, each a yard square, into the hold, at three feet above +the water-line,-holes, too, which cannot possibly be closed! But our +captain says all praus are so; and though he acknowledges the danger, +"he does not know how to alter it--the people are used to it; he does +not understand praus so well as they do, and if such a great alteration +were made, he should be sure to have difficulty in getting a crew!" This +proves at all events that praus must be good sea-boats, for the captain +has been continually making voyages in them for the last ten years, and +says he has never known water enough enter to do any harm. + +Dec.25th.-Christmas-day dawned upon us with gusts of wind, driving rain, +thunder and lightning, added to which a short confused sea made our +queer vessel pitch and roll very uncomfortably. About nine o'clock, +however, it cleared up, and we then saw ahead of us the fine island of +Bouru, perhaps forty or fifty miles distant, its mountains wreathed with +clouds, while its lower lands were still invisible. The afternoon was +fine, and the wind got round again to the west; but although this is +really the west monsoon, there is no regularity or steadiness about it, +calms and breezes from every point of the compass continually occurring. +The captain, though nominally a Protestant, seemed to have no idea of +Christmas-day as a festival. Our dinner was of rice and curry as usual, +and an extra glass of wine was all I could do to celebrate it. + +Dec. 26th.--Fine view of the mountains of Bouru, which we have now +approached considerably. Our crew seem rather a clumsy lot. They do not +walk the deck with the easy swing of English sailors, but hesitate +and stagger like landsmen. In the night the lower boom of our mainsail +broke, and they were all the morning repairing it. It consisted of two +bamboos lashed together, thick end to thin, and was about seventy feet +long. The rigging and arrangement of these praus contrasts strangely +with that of European vessels, in which the various ropes and spars, +though much more numerous, are placed so as not to interfere with each +other's action. Here the case is quite different; for though there are +no shrouds or stays to complicate the matter, yet scarcely anything can +be done without first clearing something else out of the way. The large +sails cannot be shifted round to go on the other tack without first +hauling down the jibs, and the booms of the fore and aft sails have to +be lowered and completely detached to perform the same operation. Then +there are always a lot of ropes foul of each other, and all the sails +can never be set (though they are so few) without a good part of their +surface having the wind kept out of them by others. Yet praus are much +liked even by those who have had European vessels, because of their +cheapness both in first cost and in keeping up; almost all repairs can +be done by the crew, and very few European stores are required. + +Dec. 28th.--This day we saw the Banda group, the volcano first +appearing,--a perfect cone, having very much the outline of the Egyptian +pyramids, and looking almost as regular. In the evening the smoke rested +over its summit like a small stationary cloud. This was my first view +of an active volcano, but pictures and panoramas have so impressed +such things on one's mind, that when we at length behold them they seem +nothing extraordinary. + +Dec. 30th.--Passed the island of Teor, and a group near it, which are +very incorrectly marked on the charts. Flying-fish were numerous to-day. +It is a smaller species than that of the Atlantic, and more active and +elegant in its motions. As they skim along the surface they turn on +their sides, so as fully to display their beautiful fins, taking a +flight of about a hundred yards, rising and falling in a most graceful +manner. At a little distance they exactly resemble swallows, and no one +who sees them can doubt that they really do fly, not merely descend in +an oblique direction from the height they gain by their first spring. In +the evening an aquatic bird, a species of booby (Sula fiber.) rested on +our hen-coop, and was caught by the neck by one of my boys. + +Dec. 31st--At daybreak the Ke Islands (pronounced Kay) were in sight, +where we are to stay a few days. About noon we rounded the northern +point, and endeavoured to coast along to the anchorage; but being now +on the leeward side of the island, the wind came in violent irregular +gusts, and then leaving us altogether, we were carried back by a strong +current. Just then two boats-load of natives appeared, and our owner +having agreed with them to tow us into harbour, they tried to do so, +assisted by our own boat, but could make no way. We were therefore +obliged to anchor in a very dangerous place on a rocky bottom, and we +were engaged till nearly dark getting hawsers secured to some rocks +under water. The coast of Ke along which we had passed was very +picturesque. Light coloured limestone rocks rose abruptly from the water +to the height of several hundred feet, everywhere broken into jutting +peaks and pinnacles, weather-worn into sharp points and honeycombed +surfaces, and clothed throughout with a most varied and luxuriant +vegetation. The cliffs above the sea offered to our view screw-pines +and arborescent Liliaceae of strange forms, mingled with shrubs and +creepers; while the higher slopes supported a dense growth of forest +trees. Here and there little bays and inlets presented beaches of +dazzling whiteness. The water was transparent as crystal, and tinged +the rock-strewn slope which plunged steeply into its unfathomable depths +with colours varying from emerald to lapis-lazuli. The sea was calm as a +lake, and the glorious sun of the tropics threw a flood of golden light +over all. The scene was to me inexpressibly delightful. I was in a new +world, and could dream of the wonderful productions hid in those rocky +forests, and in those azure abysses. But few European feet had ever +trodden the shores I gazed upon its plants, and animals, and men were +alike almost unknown, and I could not help speculating on what my +wanderings there for a few days might bring to light. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. THE KE ISLANDS. + +(JANUARY 1857) + +THE native boats that had come to meet us were three or four in number, +containing in all about fifty men. + +They were long canoes, with the bow and stern rising up into a beak +six or night feet high, decorated with shells and waving plumes of +cassowaries hair. I now had my first view of Papuans in their own +country, and in less than five minutes was convinced that the opinion +already arrived at by the examination of a few Timor and New Guinea +slaves was substantially correct, and that the people I now had an +opportunity of comparing side by side belonged to two of the most +distinct and strongly marked races that the earth contains. Had I been +blind, I could have been certain that these islanders were not Malays. +The loud, rapid, eager tones, the incessant motion, the intense vital +activity manifested in speech and action, are the very antipodes of the +quiet, unimpulsive, unanimated Malay These Ke men came up singing and +shouting, dipping their paddles deep in the water and throwing up clouds +of spray; as they approached nearer they stood up in their canoes and +increased their noise and gesticulations; and on coming alongside, +without asking leave, and without a moment's hesitation, the greater +part of them scrambled up on our deck just as if they were come to take +possession of a captured vessel. Then commenced a scene of indescribable +confusion. These forty black, naked, mop-headed savages seemed +intoxicated with joy and excitement. Not one of them could remain still +for a moment. Every individual of our crew was in turn surrounded and +examined, asked for tobacco or arrack, grinned at and deserted for +another. All talked at once, and our captain was regularly mobbed by +the chief men, who wanted to be employed to tow us in, and who begged +vociferously to be paid in advance. A few presents of tobacco made their +eyes glisten; they would express their satisfaction by grins and shouts, +by rolling on deck, or by a headlong leap overboard. Schoolboys on an +unexpected holiday, Irishmen at a fair, or mid-shipmen on shore, would +give but a faint idea of the exuberant animal enjoyment of these people. + +Under similar circumstances Malays could not behave as these Papuans +did. If they came on board a vessel (after asking permission), not a +word would be at first spoken, except a few compliments, and only after +some time, and very cautiously, world any approach be made to business. +One would speak at a time, with a low voice and great deliberation, +and the mode of making a bargain would be by quietly refusing all your +offers, or even going away without saying another word about the matter, +unless advanced your price to what they were willing to accept. +Our crew, many of whom had not made the voyage before, seemed quite +scandalized at such unprecedented bad manners, and only very gradually +made any approach to fraternization with the black fellows. They +reminded me of a party of demure and well-behaved children suddenly +broken in upon by a lot of wild romping, riotous boys, whose conduct +seems most extraordinary and very naughty. These moral features are +more striking and more conclusive of absolute diversity than oven +the physical contrast presented by the two races, though that is +sufficiently remarkable. The sooty blackness of the skin, the mop-like +head of frizzly hair, and, most important of all, the marked form of +countenance of quite a different type from that of the Malay, are +what we cannot believe to result from mere climatal or other modifying +influences on one and the same race. The Malay face is of the Mongolian +type, broad and somewhat flat. The brows are depressed, the mouth wide, +but not projecting, and the nose small and well formed but for the great +dilatation of the nostrils. The face is smooth, and rarely develops the +trace of a beard; the hair black, coarse, and perfectly straight. The +Papuan, on the other hand, has a face which we may say is compressed and +projecting. The brows are protuberant and overhanging, the mouth +large and prominent, while the nose is very large, the apex elongated +downwards, the ridge thick, and the nostrils large. It is an obtrusive +and remarkable feature in the countenance, the very reverse of what +obtains in the Malay face. The twisted beard and frizzly hair complete +this remarkable contrast. Hero then I had reached a new world, inhabited +by a strange people. Between the Malayan tribes, among whom I had for +some years been living, and the Papuan races, whose country I had now +entered, we may fairly say that there is as much difference, both +moral and physical, as between the red Indians of South America and the +negroes of Guinea on the opposite side of the Atlantic. + +Jan. 1st, 1857.-This has been a day of thorough enjoyment. I have +wandered in the forests of an island rarely seen by Europeans. Before +daybreak we left our anchorage, and in an hour reached the village of +Har, where we were to stay three or four days. The range of hills here +receded so as to form a small bay, and they were broken up into peaks +and hummocks with intervening flats and hollows. A broad beach of +the whitest sand lined the inner part of the bay, backed by a mass of +cocoa-nut palms, among which the huts were concealed, and surmounted by +a dense and varied growth of timber. Canoes and boats of various sizes +were drawn up on the beach and one or two idlers, with a few children +and a dog, gazed at our prau as we came to an anchor. + +When we went on shore the first thing that attracted us was a large and +well-constructed shed, under which a long boat was being built, while +others in various stages of completion were placed at intervals along +the beach. Our captain, who wanted two of moderate size for the trade +among the islands at Aru, immediately began bargaining for them, and in +a short tine had arranged the nuns number of brass guns, gongs, sarongs, +handkerchiefs, axes, white plates, tobacco, and arrack, which he was to +give for a hair which could be got ready in four days. We then went +to the village, which consisted only of three or four huts, situated +immediately above the beach on an irregular rocky piece of ground +overshadowed with cocoa-nuts, palms, bananas, and other fruit trees. +The houses were very rude, black, and half rotten, raised a few feet on +posts with low sides of bamboo or planks, and high thatched roofs. They +had small doors and no windows, an opening under the projecting gables +letting the smoke out and a little light in. The floors were of strips +of bamboo, thin, slippery, and elastic, and so weak that my feet were +in danger of plunging through at every step. Native boxes of +pandanus-leaves and slabs of palm pith, very neatly constructed, mats +of the same, jars and cooking pots of native pottery, and a few European +plates and basins, were the whole furniture, and the interior was +throughout dark and smoke-blackened, and dismal in the extreme. + +Accompanied by Ali and Baderoon, I now attempted to make some +explorations, and we were followed by a train of boys eager to see what +we were going to do. The most trodden path from the beach led us into a +shady hollow, where the trees were of immense height and the undergrowth +scanty. From the summits of these trees came at intervals a deep booming +sound, which at first puzzled us, but which we soon found to proceed +from some large pigeons. My boys shot at them, and after one or two +misses, brought one down. It was a magnificent bird twenty inches long, +of a bluish white colour, with the back wings and tail intense metallic +green, with golden, blue, and violet reflexions, the feet coral red, +and the eyes golden yellow. It is a rare species, which I have named +Carpophaga concinna, and is found only in a few small islands, where, +however, it abounds. It is the same species which in the island of Banda +is called the nutmeg-pigeon, from its habit of devouring the fruits, +the seed or nutmeg being thrown up entire and uninjured. Though these +pigeons have a narrow beak, yet their jaws and throat are so extensible +that they can swallow fruits of very large size. I had before shot a +species much smaller than this one, which had a number of hard globular +palm-fruits in its crop, each more than an inch in diameter. + +A little further the path divided into two, one leading along the beach, +and across mangrove and sago swamps the other rising to cultivated +grounds. We therefore returned, and taking a fresh departure from +the village, endeavoured to ascend the hills and penetrate into the +interior. The path, however, was a most trying one. Where there was +earth, it was a deposit of reddish clay overlying the rock, and was worn +so smooth by the attrition of naked feet that my shoes could obtain no +hold on the sloping surface. A little farther we came to the bare rock, +and this was worse, for it was so rugged and broken, and so honeycombed +and weatherworn into sharp points and angles, that my boys, who had +gone barefooted all their lives, could not stand it. Their feet began to +bleed, and I saw that if I did not want them completely lamed it would +be wise to turn lack. My own shoes, which were rather thin, were but a +poor protection, and would soon have been cut to pieces; yet our little +naked guides tripped along with the greatest ease and unconcern, and +seemed much astonished at our effeminacy in not being able to take a +walk which to them was a perfectly agreeable one. During the rest of our +stay in the island we were obliged to confine ourselves to the vicinity +of the shore and the cultivated grounds, and those more level portions +of the forest where a little soil had accumulated and the rock had been +less exposed to atmospheric action. + +The island of Ke (pronounced exactly as the letter K, but erroneously +spelt in our maps Key or Ki) is long and narrow, running in a north and +south direction, and consists almost entirely of rock and mountain. It +is everywhere covered with luxuriant forests, and in its bays and inlets +the sand is of dazzling whiteness, resulting from the decomposition of +the coralline limestone of which it is entirely composed. In all the +little swampy inlets and valleys sago trees abound, and these supply the +main subsistence of the natives, who grow no rice, and have scarcely any +other cultivated products but cocoa-nuts, plantains, and yams. From the +cocoa-nuts, which surround every hut, and which thrive exceedingly on +the porous limestone soil and under the influence of salt breezes, oil +is made which is sold at a good price to the Aru traders, who all touch +here to lay in their stuck of this article, as well as to purchase boats +and native crockery. Wooden bowls, pans, and trays are also largely made +here, hewn out of solid blocks of wood with knife and adze; and these +are carried to all parts of the Moluccas. But the art in which the +natives of Ke pre-eminently excel is that of boat building. Their +forests supply abundance of fine timber, though, probably not more +so than many other islands, and from some unknown causes these remote +savages have come to excel in what seems a very difficult art. Their +small canoes are beautifully formed, broad and low in the centre, but +rising at each end, where they terminate in high-pointed beaks more +or less carved, and ornamented with a plume of feathers. They are not +hollowed out of a tree, but are regularly built of planks running from +ego to end, and so accurately fitted that it is often difficult to find +a place where a knife-blade can be inserted between the joints. The +larger ones are from 20 to 30 tons burthen, and are finished ready for +sea without a nail or particle of iron being used, and with no other +tools than axe, adze, and auger. These vessels are handsome to look at, +good sailers, and admirable sea-boats, and will make long voyages with +perfect safety, traversing the whole Archipelago from New Guinea to +Singapore in seas which, as every one who has sailed much in them can +testify, are not so smooth and tempest-free as word-painting travellers +love to represent them. + +The forests of Ke produce magnificent timber, tall, straight, and +durable, of various qualities, some of which are said to be superior +to the best Indian teak. To make each pair of planks used in the +construction of the larger boats an entire tree is consumed. It is +felled, often miles away from the shore, cut across to the proper +length, and then hewn longitudinally into two equal portions. Each of +these forms a plank by cutting down with the axe to a uniform thickness +of three or four inches, leaving at first a solid block at each end to +prevent splitting. Along the centre of each plank a series of projecting +pieces are left, standing up three or four inches, about the same width, +and a foot long; these are of great importance in the construction of +the vessel. When a sufficient number of planks have been made, they are +laboriously dragged through the forest by three or four men each to the +beach, where the boat is to be built. A foundation piece, broad in the +middle and rising considerably at each end, is first laid on blocks and +properly shored up. The edges of this are worked true and smooth with +the adze, and a plank, properly curved and tapering at each end, is held +firmly up against it, while a line is struck along it which allows it to +be cut so as to fit exactly. A series of auger holes, about as large as +one's finger, are then bored along the opposite edges, and pins of very +hard wood are fitted to these, so that the two planks are held firmly, +and can be driven into the closest contact; and difficult as this seems +to do without any other aid than rude practical skill in forming each +edge to the true corresponding curves, and in poring the holes so as +exactly to match both in position and direction, yet so well is it +done that the best European shipwright cannot produce sounder or +closer-fitting joints. The boat is built up in this way by fitting plank +to plank till the proper height and width are obtained. We have now a +skin held together entirely by the hardwood pins connecting the edges of +the planks, very strong and elastic, but having nothing but the adhesion +of these pins to prevent the planks gaping. In the smaller boats seats, +in the larger ones cross-beams, are now fixed. They are sprung into +slight notches cut to receive them, and are further secured to the +projecting pieces of the plank below by a strong lashing of rattan. Ribs +are now formed of single pieces of tough wood chosen and trimmed so as +exactly to fit on to the projections from each plank, being slightly +notched to receive them, and securely bound to them by rattans passed +through a hole in each projecting piece close to the surface of the +plank. The ends are closed against the vertical prow and stern posts, +and further secured with pegs and rattans, and then the boat is +complete; and when fitted with rudders, masts, and thatched covering, +is ready to do battle with, the waves. A careful consideration of the +principle of this mode of construction, and allowing for the strength +and binding qualities of rattan (which resembles in these respects wire +rather than cordage), makes me believe that a vessel carefully built +in this manner is actually stronger and safer than one fastened in the +ordinary way with nails. + +During our stay here we were all very busy. Our captain was daily +superintending the completion of his two small praus. All day long +native boats were coming with fish, cocoa-nuts, parrots and lories, +earthen pans, sirip leaf, wooden bowls, and trays, &c. &e., which every +one of the fifty inhabitants of our prau seemed to be buying on his own +account, till all available and most unavailable space of our vessel +was occupied with these miscellaneous articles: for every man on board +a prau considers himself at liberty to trade, and to carry with him +whatever he can afford to buy. + +Money is unknown and valueless here--knives, cloth, and arrack forming +the only medium of exchange, with tobacco for small coin. Every +transaction is the subject of a special bargain, and the cause of much +talking. It is absolutely necessary to offer very little, as the natives +are never satisfied till you add a little more. They are then far better +pleased than if you had given them twice the amount at first and refused +to increase it. + +I, too, was doing a little business, having persuaded some of the +natives to collect insects for me; and when they really found that I +gave them most fragrant tobacco for worthless black and green beetles, I +soon had scores of visitors, men, women, and children, bringing bamboos +full of creeping things, which, alas! too frequently had eaten each +other into fragments during the tedium of a day's confinement. Of one +grand new beetle, glittering with ruby and emerald tints, I got a large +quantity, having first detected one of its wing-cases ornamenting the +outside of a native's tobacco pouch. It was quite a new species, and had +not been found elsewhere than on this little island. It is one of the +Buprestidae, and has been named Cyphogastra calepyga. + +Each morning after an early breakfast I wandered by myself into the +forest, where I found delightful occupation in capturing the large and +handsome butterflies, which were tolerably abundant, and most of them +new to me; for I was now upon the confines of the Moluccas and New +Guinea,--a region the productions of which were then among the most +precious and rare in the cabinets of Europe. Here my eyes were feasted +for the first time with splendid scarlet lories on the wing, as well +as by the sight of that most imperial butterfly, the "Priamus" of +collectors, or a closely allied species, but flying so high that I did +not succeed in capturing a specimen. One of them was brought me in a +bamboo, bored up with a lot of beetles, and of course torn to pieces. +The principal drawback of the place for a collector is the want of good +paths, and the dreadfully rugged character of the surface, requiring +the attention to be so continually directed to securing a footing, as to +make it very difficult to capture active winged things, who pass out of +reach while one is glancing to see that the next step may not plunge one +into a chasm or over a precipice. Another inconvenience is that there +are no running streams, the rock being of so porous a nature that the +surface-water everywhere penetrates its fissures; at least such is the +character of the neighbourhood we visited, the only water being small +springs trickling out close to the sea-beach. + +In the forests of Ke, arboreal Liliaceae and Pandanaceae abound, and +give a character to the vegetation in the more exposed rocky places. +Flowers were scarce, and there were not many orchids, but I noticed +the fine white butterfly-orchis, Phalaenopsis grandiflora, or a species +closely allied to it. The freshness and vigour of the vegetation was +very pleasing, and on such an arid rocky surface was a sure indication +of a perpetually humid climate. Tall clean trunks, many of them +buttressed, and immense trees of the fig family, with aerial roots +stretching out and interlacing and matted together for fifty or a +hundred feet above the ground, were the characteristic features; and +there was an absence of thorny shrubs and prickly rattans, which would +have made these wilds very pleasant to roam in, had it not been for +the sharp honeycombed rocks already alluded to. In damp places a fine +undergrowth of broadleaved herbaceous plants was found, about which +swarmed little green lizards, with tails of the most "heavenly blue," +twisting in and out among the stalks and foliage so actively that I +often caught glimpses of their tails only, when they startled me by +their resemblance to small snakes. Almost the only sounds in these +primeval woods proceeded from two birds, the red lories, who utter +shrill screams like most of the parrot tribe, and the large green +nutmeg-pigeon, whose voice is either a loud and deep boom, like two +notes struck upon a very large gong, or sometimes a harsh toad-like +croak, altogether peculiar and remarkable. Only two quadrupeds are +said by the natives to inhabit the island--a wild pig and a Cuscus, or +Eastern opossum, of neither of which could I obtain specimens. + +The insects were more abundant, and very interesting. Of butterflies +I caught thirty-five species, most of them new to me, and many quite +unknown in European collections. Among them was the fine yellow and +black Papilio euchenor, of which but few specimens had been previously +captured, and several other handsome butterflies of large size, as well +as some beautiful little "blues," and some brilliant dayflying moths. +The beetle tribe were less abundant, yet I obtained some very fine and +rare species. On the leaves of a slender shrub in an old clearing I +found several fine blue and black beetles of the genus Eupholus, which +almost rival in beauty the diamond beetles of South America. Some +cocoa-nut palms in blossom on the beach were frequented by a fine green +floral beetle (Lomaptera) which, when the flowers were shaken, flew off +like a small swarm of bees. I got one of our crew to climb up the +tree, and he brought me a good number in his hand; and seeing they were +valuable, I sent him up again with my net to shake the flowers into, and +thus secured a large quantity. My best capture, however, was the +superb insect of the Buprestis family, already mentioned as having been +obtained from the natives, who told me they found it in rotten trees in +the mountains. + +In the forest itself the only common and conspicuous coleoptera were +two tiger beetles. One, Therates labiata, was much larger than our green +tiger beetle, of a purple black colour, with green metallic glosses, +and the broad upper lip of a bright yellow. It was always found upon +foliage, generally of broad-leaned herbaceous plants, and in damp and +gloomy situations, taking frequent short flights from leaf to leaf, and +preserving an alert attitude, as if always looking out for its prey. Its +vicinity could be immediately ascertained, often before it was seen, +by a very pleasant odour, like otto of roses, which it seems to emit +continually, and which may probably be attractive to the small insects +on which it feeds. The other, Tricondyla aptera, is one of the +most curious forms in the family of the Cicindelidae, and is almost +exclusively confined to the Malay islands. In shape it resembles a very +large ant, more than an inch long, and of a purple black colour. Like an +ant also it is wingless, and is generally found ascending trees, passing +around the trunks in a spiral direction when approached, to avoid +capture, so that it requires a sudden run and active fingers to secure +a specimen. This species emits the usual fetid odour of the ground +beetles. My collections during our four days' stay at Ke were as +follow:--Birds, 13 species; insects, 194 species; and 3 kinds of +land-shells. + +There are two kinds of people inhabiting these islands--the indigenes, +who have the Papuan characters strongly marked, and who are pagans; and +a mixed race, who are nominally Mahometans, and wear cotton clothing, +while the former use only a waist cloth of cotton or bark. These +Mahometans are said to have been driven out of Banda by the early +European settlers. They were probably a brown race, more allied to the +Malays, and their mixed descendants here exhibit great variations of +colour, hair, and features, graduating between the Malay and Papuan +types. It is interesting to observe the influence of the early +Portuguese trade with these countries in the words of their language, +which still remain in use even among these remote and savage islanders. +"Lenco" for handkerchief, and "faca" for knife, are here used to the +exclusion of the proper Malay terms. The Portuguese and Spaniards were +truly wonderful conquerors and colonizers. They effected more rapid +changes in the countries they conquered than any other nations of modern +times, resembling the Romans in their power of impressing their own +language, religion, and manners on rode and barbarous tribes. + +The striking contrast of character between these people and the Malays +is exemplified in many little traits. One day when I was rambling in the +forest, an old man stopped to look at me catching an insect. He stood +very quiet till I had pinned and put it away in my collecting box, when +he could contain himself no longer, but bent almost double, and enjoyed +a hearty roar of laughter. Every one will recognise this as a true negro +trait. A Malay would have stared, and asked with a tone of bewilderment +what I was doing, for it is but little in his nature to laugh, never +heartily, and still less at or in the presence of a stranger, to whom, +however, his disdainful glances or whispered remarks are less agreeable +than the most boisterous open expression of merriment. The women here +were not so much frightened at strangers, or made to keep themselves so +much secluded as among the Malay races; the children were more merry and +had the "nigger grin," while the noisy confusion of tongues among the +men, and their excitement on very ordinary occasions, are altogether +removed from the general taciturnity and reserve of the Malay. + +The language of the Ke people consists of words of one, two, or three +syllables in about equal proportions, and has many aspirated and a +few guttural sounds. The different villages have slight differences of +dialect, but they are mutually intelligible, and, except in words +that have evidently been introduced during a long-continued commercial +intercourse, seem to have no affinity whatever with the Malay languages. + +Jan. 6th.-The small boats being finished, we sailed for Aru at 4 P.M., +and as we left the shores of Ke had a line view of its rugged and +mountainous character; ranges of hills, three or four thousand feet +high, stretching southwards as far as the eye could reach, everywhere +covered with a lofty, dense, and unbroken forest. We had very light +winds, and it therefore took us thirty hours to make the passage of +sixty miles to the low, or flat, but equally forest-covered Aru Islands, +where we anchored in the harbour of Dobbo at nine in the evening of the +next day. + +My first voyage in a prau being thus satisfactorily terminated, I must, +before taking leave of it for some months, bear testimony to the merits +of the queer old-world vessel. Setting aside all ideas of danger, which +is probably, after all, not more than in any other craft, I must declare +that I have never, either before or since, made a twenty days' voyage +so pleasantly, or perhaps, more correctly speaking, with so little +discomfort. This I attribute chiefly to having my small cabin on deck, +and entirely to myself, to having my own servants to wait upon me, and +to the absence of all those marine-store smells of paint, pitch, tallow, +and new cordage, which are to me insupportable. Something is also to be +put down to freedom from all restraint of dress, hours of meals, &c., +and to the civility and obliging disposition of the captain. I had +agreed to have my meals with him, but whenever I wished it I had them in +my own berth, and at what hours I felt inclined. The crew were all civil +and good-tempered, and with very little discipline everything went on +smoothly, and the vessel was kept very clean and in pretty good order, +so that on the whole I was much delighted with the trip, and was +inclined to rate the luxuries of the semi-barbarous prau as surpassing +those of the most magnificent screw-steamer, that highest result of our +civilisation. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. THE ARU ISLANDS--RESIDENCE IN DOBBO + +(JANUARY TO MARCH 1857.) + +On the 8th of January, 1857, I landed at Dobbo, the trading settlement +of the Bugis and Chinese, who annually visit the Aru Islands. It +is situated on the small island of Wamma, upon a spit of sand which +projects out to the north, and is just wide enough to contain three rows +of houses. Though at first sight a most strange and desolate-looking +place to build a village on, it has many advantages. There is a clear +entrance from the west among the coral reefs that border the land, and +there is good anchorage for vessels, on one side of the village or the +other, in both the east and west monsoons. Being fully exposed to the +sea-breezes in three directions it is healthy, and the soft sandy heath +offers great facilities for hauling up the praus, in order to secure +them from sea-worms and prepare them for the homeward voyage. At its +southern extremity the sand-bank merges in the beach of the island, +and is backed by a luxuriant growth of lofty forest. The houses are of +various sizes, but are all built after one pattern, being merely large +thatched sheds, a small portion of which, next the entrance, is used as +a dwelling, while the rest is parted oft; and often divided by one or +two floors, in order better to stow away merchandise and native produce. + +As we had arrived early in the season, most of the houses were +empty, and the place looked desolate in the extreme--the whole of +the inhabitants who received us on our landing amounting to about +half-a-dozen Bugis and Chinese. Our captain, Herr Warzbergen, had +promised to obtain a house for me, but unforeseen difficulties presented +themselves. One which was to let had no roof; and the owner, who was +building it on speculation, could not promise to finish it in less +than a month. Another, of which the owner was dead, and which I might +therefore take undisputed possession of as the first comer, wanted +considerable repairs, and no one could be found to do the work, +although about four times its value was offered. The captain, therefore, +recommended me to take possession of a pretty good house near his own, +whose owner was not expected for some weeks; and as I was anxious to be +on shore, I immediately had it cleared out, and by evening had all my +things housed, and was regularly installed as an inhabitant of Dobbo. +I had brought with me a cane chair, and a few light boards, which were +soon rigged up into a table and shelves. A broad bamboo bench served as +sofa and bedstead, my boxes were conveniently arranged, my mats spread +on the floor, a window cut in the palm-leaf wall to light my table, +and though the place was as miserable and gloomy a shed as could be +imagined, I felt as contented as if I had obtained a well-furnished +mansion, and looked forward to a month's residence in it with unmixed +satisfaction. + +The next morning, after an early breakfast, I set off to explore +the virgin forests of Aru, anxious to set my mind at rest as to the +treasures they were likely to yield, and the probable success of my +long-meditated expedition. A little native imp was our guide, seduced by +the gift of a German knife, value three-halfpence, and my Macassar boy +Baderoon brought his chopper to clear the path if necessary. + +We had to walk about half a mile along the beach, the ground behind the +village being mostly swampy, and then turned into the forest along a +path which leads to the native village of Wamma, about three miles off +on the other side of the island. The path was a narrow one, and very +little used, often swampy and obstructed by fallen trees, so that after +about a mile we lost it altogether, our guide having turned back, and we +were obliged to follow his example. In the meantime, however, I had not +been idle, and my day's captures determined the success of my journey +in an entomological point of view. I had taken about thirty species of +butterflies, more than I had ever captured in a day since leaving the +prolific banks of the Amazon, and among them were many most rare and +beautiful insects, hitherto only known by a few specimens from New +Guinea. The large and handsome spectre butterfly, Hestia durvillei; the +pale-winged peacock butterfly, Drusilla catops; and the most brilliant +and wonderful of the clear-winged moths, Cocytia durvillei, were +especially interesting, as well, as several little "blues," equalling in +brilliancy and beauty anything the butterfly world can produce. In the +other groups of insects I was not so successful, but this was not to +be wondered at in a mere exploring ramble, when only what is most +conspicuous and novel attracts the attention. Several pretty beetles, a +superb "bug," and a few nice land-shells were obtained, and I returned +in the afternoon well satisfied with my first trial of the promised +land. + +The next two days were so wet and windy that there was no going out; but +on the succeeding one the sun shone brightly, and I had the good fortune +to capture one of the most magnificent insects the world contains, the +great bird-winged butterfly, Ornithoptera Poseidon. I trembled with +excitement as I saw it coming majestically towards me, and could hardly +believe I had really succeeded in my stroke till I had taken it out +of the net and was gazing, lost in admiration, at the velvet black and +brilliant green of its wings, seven inches across, its bolder body, and +crimson breast. It is true I had seen similar insects in cabinets at +home, but it is quite another thing to capture such oneself-to feel it +struggling between one's fingers, and to gaze upon its fresh and living +beauty, a bright gem shirring out amid the silent gloom of a dark and +tangled forest. The village of Dobbo held that evening at least one +contented man. + +Jan. 26th.--Having now been here a fortnight, I began to understand a +little of the place and its peculiarities. Praus continually arrived, +and the merchant population increased almost daily. Every two or three +days a fresh house was opened, and the necessary repairs made. In every +direction men were bringing in poles, bamboos, rattans, and the leaves +of the nipa palm to construct or repair the walls, thatch, doors, and +shutters of their houses, which they do with great celerity. Some of the +arrivals were Macassar men or Bugis, but more from the small island of +Goram, at the east end of Ceram, whose inhabitants are the petty traders +of the far East. Then the natives of Aru come in from the other side of +the islands (called here "blakang tana," or "back of the country") with +the produce they have collected during the preceding six months, and +which they now sell to the traders, to some of whom they are most likely +in debt. + +Almost all, or I may safely say all, the new arrivals pay me a visit, +to see with their own eyes the unheard-of phenomenon of a person come to +stay at Dobbo who does not trade! They have their own ideas of the uses +that may possibly be made of stuffed birds, beetles, and shells which +are not the right shells--that is, "mother-of-pearl." They every day +bring me dead and broken shells, such as I can pick up by hundreds on +the beach, and seem quite puzzled and distressed when I decline them. +If, however, there are any snail shells among a lot, I take them, and +ask for more--a principle of selection so utterly unintelligible to +them, that they give it up in despair, or solve the problem by imputing +hidden medical virtue to those which they see me preserve so carefully. + +These traders are all of the Malay race, or a mixture of which Malay is +the chef ingredient, with the exception of a few Chinese. The natives of +Aru, on the other hand, are, Papuans, with black or sooty brown skims, +woolly or frizzly hair, thick-ridged prominent noses, and rather slender +limbs. Most of them wear nothing but a waist-cloth, and a few of them +may be seen all day long wandering about the half-deserted streets of +Dobbo offering their little bit of merchandise for sale. + +Living in a trader's house everything is brought to me as well as to +the rest,--bundles of smoked tripang, or "beche de mer," looking like +sausages which have been rolled in mud and then thrown up the chimney; +dried sharks' fins, mother-of-pearl shells, as well as birds of +Paradise, which, however, are so dirty and so badly preserved that I +have as yet found no specimens worth purchasing. When I hardly look at +the articles, and make no offer for them, they seem incredulous, and, +as if fearing they have misunderstood me, again offer them, and declare +what they want in return--knives, or tobacco, or sago, or handkerchiefs. +I then have to endeavour to explain, through any interpreter who may be +at hand, that neither tripang nor pearl oyster shells have any charms +for me, and that I even decline to speculate in tortoiseshell, but that +anything eatable I will buy--fish, or turtle, or vegetables of any sort. +Almost the only food, however, that we can obtain with any regularity, +are fish and cockles of very good quality, and to supply our daily +wants it is absolutely necessary to be always provided with four +articles--tobacco, knives, sago-cakes, and Dutch copper doits--because +when the particular thing asked for is not forthcoming, the fish pass +on to the next house, and we may go that day without a dinner. It +is curious to see the baskets and buckets used here. The cockles are +brought in large volute shells, probably the Cymbium ducale, while +gigantic helmet-shells, a species of Cassis, suspended by a rattan +handle, form the vessels in which fresh water is daily carried past my +door. It is painful to a naturalist to see these splendid shells with +their inner whorls ruthlessly broken away to fit them for their ignoble +use. + +My collections, however, got on but slowly, owing to the unexpectedly +bad weather, violent winds with heavy showers having been so continuous +as only to give me four good collecting days out of the first sixteen I +spent here. Yet enough had been collected to show me that with time and +fine weather I might expect to do something good. From the natives I +obtained some very fine insects and a few pretty land-shells; and of +the small number of birds yet shot more than half were known New Guinea +species, and therefore certainly rare in European collections, while the +remainder were probably new. In one respect my hopes seemed doomed to +be disappointed. I had anticipated the pleasure of myself preparing fine +specimens of the Birds of Paradise, but I now learnt that they are all +at this season out of plumage, and that it is in September and October +that they have the long plumes of yellow silky feathers in full +perfection. As all the praus return in July, I should not be able to +spend that season in Aru without remaining another whole year, which +was out of the question. I was informed, however, that the small +red species, the "King Bird of Paradise," retains its plumage at all +seasons, and this I might therefore hope to get. + +As I became familiar with the forest scenery of the island, I perceived +it to possess some characteristic features that distinguished it +from that of Borneo and Malacca, while, what is very singular and +interesting, it recalled to my mind the half-forgotten impressions of +the forests of Equatorial America. For example, the palms were much more +abundant than I had generally found them in the East, more generally +mingled with the other vegetation, more varied in form and aspect, +and presenting some of those lofty and majestic smooth-stemmed, +pinnate-leaved species which recall the Uauassu (Attalea speciosa) of +the Amazon, but which I had hitherto rarely met with in the Malayan +islands. + +In animal life the immense number and variety of spiders and of lizards +were circumstances that recalled the prolific regions of south America, +more especially the abundance and varied colours of the little jumping +spiders which abound on flowers and foliage, and are often perfect gems +of beauty. The web-spinning species were also more numerous than I had +ever seen them, and were a great annoyance, stretching their nets +across the footpaths just about the height of my face; and the threads +composing these are so strong and glutinous as to require much trouble +to free oneself from them. Then their inhabitants, great yellow-spotted +monsters with bodies two inches long, and legs in proportion, are +not pleasant to o run one's nose against while pursuing some gorgeous +butterfly, or gazing aloft in search of some strange-voiced bird. I soon +found it necessary not only to brush away the web, but also to destroy +the spinner; for at first, having cleared the path one day, I found the +next morning that the industrious insects had spread their nets again in +the very same places. + +The lizards were equally striking by their numbers, variety, and the +situations in which they were found. The beautiful blue-tailed species +so abundant in Ke was not seen here. The Aru lizards are more varied +but more sombre in their colours--shades of green, grey, brown, and even +black, being very frequently seen. Every shrub and herbaceous plant was +alive with them, every rotten trunk or dead branch served as a station +for some of these active little insect-hunters, who, I fear, to satisfy +their gross appetites, destroy many gems of the insect world, which +would feast the eyes and delight the heart of our more discriminating +entomologists. Another curious feature of the jungle here was the +multitude of sea-shells everywhere met with on the ground and high up on +the branches and foliage, all inhabited by hermit-crabs, who forsake the +beach to wander in the forest. I lave actually seen a spider carrying +away a good-sized shell and devouring its (probably juvenile) tenant. On +the beach, which I had to walls along every morning to reach the forest, +these creatures swarmed by thousands. Every dead shell, from the largest +to the most minute, was appropriated by them. They formed small social +parties of ten or twenty around bits of stick or seaweed, but dispersed +hurriedly at the sound of approaching footsteps. After a windy night, +that nasty-looking Chinese delicacy the sea-slug was sometimes thrown +up on the beach, which was at such times thickly strewn with some of the +most beautiful shells that adorn our cabinets, along with fragments +and masses of coral and strange sponges, of which I picked up more than +twenty different sorts. In many cases sponge and coral are so much +alike that it is only on touching them that they can be distinguished. +Quantities of seaweed, too, are thrown up; but strange as it may seem, +these are far less beautiful and less varied than may be found on any +favourable part of our own coasts. + +The natives here, even those who seem to be of pare Papuan race, were +much more reserved and taciturn than those of Ke. This is probably +because I only saw them as yet among strangers and in small parties, +One must see the savage at home to know what he really is. Even here, +however, the Papuan character sometimes breaks out. Little boys sing +cheerfully as they walk along, or talk aloud to themselves (quite a +negro characteristic); and try all they can, the men cannot conceal +their emotions in the true Malay fashion. A number of them were one day +in my house, and having a fancy to try what sort of eating tripang would +be, I bought a couple, paying for them with such an extravagant quantity +of tobacco that the seller saw I was a green customer. He could not, +however, conceal his delight, but as he smelt the fragrant weed, and +exhibited the large handful to his companions, he grinned and twisted +and gave silent chuckles in a most expressive pantomime. I had often +before made the same mistake in paying a Malay for some trifle. In no +case, however, was his pleasure visible on his countenance--a dull and +stupid hesitation only showing his surprise, which would be exhibited +exactly in the same way whether he was over or under paid. These little +moral traits are of the greatest interest when taken in connexion with +physical features. They do not admit of the same ready explanation by +external causes which is so frequently applied to the latter. Writers +on the races of mankind have too often to trust to the information of +travellers who pass rapidly from country to country, and thus have few +opportunities of becoming acquainted with peculiarities of national +character, or even of ascertaining what is really the average physical +conformation of the people. Such are exceedingly apt to be deceived +in places where two races have long, intermingled, by looking on +intermediate forms and mixed habits as evidences of a natural transition +from one race to the other, instead of an artificial mixture of two +distinct peoples; and they will be the more readily led into this error +if, as in the present case, writers on the subject should have been in +the habit of classing these races as mere varieties of one stock, as +closely related in physical conformation as from their geographical +proximity one might suppose they ought to be. So far as I have yet seen, +the Malay and Papuan appear to be as widely separated as any two human +races that exist, being distinguished by physical, mental, and moral +characteristics, all of the most marked and striking kind. + +Feb 5th.--I took advantage of a very fine calm day to pay a visit to the +island of Wokan, which is about a mile from us, and forms part of the +"canna busar," or mainland of Aru. This is a large island, extending +from north to south about a hundred miles, but so low in many parts as +to be intersected by several creeks, which run completely through it, +offering a passage for good-sized vessels. On the west side, where we +are, there are only a few outlying islands, of which ours (Wamma) is +the principal; but on the east coast are a great number of islands, +extending some miles beyond the mainland, and forming the "blakang +tang," or "back country," of the traders, being the principal seat of +the pearl, tripang, and tortoiseshell fisheries. To the mainland many of +the birds and animals of the country are altogether confined; the +Birds of paradise, the black cockatoo, the great brush-turkey, and +the cassowary, are none of them found on Wamma or any of the detached +islands. I did not, however, expect in this excursion to see any decided +difference in the forest or its productions, and was therefore agreeably +surprised. The beach was overhung with the drooping branches of lame +trees, loaded with Orchideae, ferns, and other epiphytal plants. In the +forest there was more variety, some parts being dry, and with trees of +a lower growth, while in others there were some of the most beautiful +palms I have ever seen, with a perfectly straight, smooth, slender stem, +a hundred feet high, and a crown of handsome drooping leaves. But +the greatest novelty and most striking feature to my eyes were the +tree-ferns, which, after seven years spent in the tropics, I now saw in +perfection for the first time. All I had hitherto met with were slender +species, not more than twelve feet high, and they gave not the least +idea of the supreme beauty of trees bearing their elegant heads +of fronds more than thirty feet in the air, like those which were +plentifully scattered about this forest. There is nothing in tropical +vegetation so perfectly beautiful. + +My boys shot five sorts of birds, none of which we had obtained during +a month's shooting in Wamma. Two were very pretty flycatchers, already +known from New Guinea; one of them (Monarcha chrysomela), of brilliant +black and bright orange colours, is by some authors considered to be the +most beautiful of all flycatchers; the other is pure white and velvety +black, with a broad fleshy ring round the eye of are azure blue colour; +it is named the "spectacled flycatcher" (Monarcha telescopthalma), +and was first found in New Guinea, along with the other, by the French +naturalists during the voyage of the discovery-ship Coquille. + +Feb. 18th.--Before leaving Macassar, I had written to the Governor of +Amboyna requesting him to assist me with the native chiefs of Aru. I now +received by a vessel which had arrived from Amboyna a very polite answer +informing me that orders had been sent to give me every assistance that +I might require; and I was just congratulating myself on being at +length able to get a boat and men to go to the mainland and explore +the interior, when a sudden check came in the form of a piratical +incursion. A small prau arrived which had been attacked by pirates and +had a man wounded. They were said to have five boats, but more were +expected to be behind and the traders were all in consternation, fearing +that their small vessels sent trading to the "blakang tana" would be +plundered. The Aru natives were of course dreadfully alarmed, as these +marauders attack their villages, burn and murder, and carry away women +and children for slaves. Not a man will stir from his village for some +time, and I must remain still a prisoner in Dobbo. The Governor of +Amboyna, out of pure kindness, has told the chiefs that they are to be +responsible for my safety, so that they have au excellent excuse for +refusing to stir. + +Several praus went out in search of the pirates, sentinels were +appointed, and watch-fires lighted on the beach to guard against the +possibility of a night attack, though it was hardly thought they would +be bold enough to attempt to plunder Dobbo. The next day the praus +returned, and we had positive information that these scourges of the +Eastern seas were really among us. One of Herr Warzbergen's small praus +also arrived in a sad plight. It had been attacked six days before, just +as it was returning, from the "blakang tana." The crew escaped in +their small boat and hid in the jungle, while the pirates came up +and plundered the vessel. They took away everything but the cargo of +mother-of-pearl shell, which was too bulky for them. All the clothes and +boxes of the men, and the sails and cordage of the prau, were cleared +off. They had four large war boats, and fired a volley of musketry as +they came up, and sent off their small boats to the attack. After they +had left, our men observed from their concealment that three had stayed +behind with a small boat; and being driven to desperation by the sight +of the plundering, one brave fellow swam off armed only with his parang, +or chopping-knife, and coming on them unawares made a desperate attack, +killing one and wounding the other two, receiving himself numbers of +slight wounds, and then swimming off again when almost exhausted. Two +other prams were also plundered, and the crew of one of them murdered to +a man. They are said to be Sooloo pirates, but have Bugis among them. +On their way here they have devastated one of the small islands east of +Ceram. It is now eleven years since they have visited Aru, and by thus +making their attacks at long and uncertain intervals the alarm +dies away, and they find a population for the most part unarmed and +unsuspicious of danger. None of the small trading vessels now carry +arms, though they did so for a year or two after the last attack, which +was just the time when there was the least occasion for it. A week later +one of the smaller pirate boats was captured in the "blakang tana." +Seven men were killed and three taken prisoners. The larger vessels have +been often seen but cannot be caught, as they have very strong crews, +and can always escape by rowing out to sea in the eye of the wind, +returning at night. They will thus remain among the innumerable islands +and channels, till the change of the monsoon enables them to sail +westward. + +March 9th.-For four or five days we have had a continual gale of wind, +with occasional gusts of great fury, which seem as if they would send +Dobbo into the sea. Rain accompanies it almost every alternate hour, so +that it is not a pleasant time. During such weather I can do little, but +am busy getting ready a boat I have purchased, for an excursion into +the interior. There is immense difficulty about men, but I believe the +"Orang-kaya," or head man of Wamma, will accompany me to see that I +don't run into danger. + +Having become quite an old inhabitant of Dobbo, I will endeavour to +sketch the sights and sounds that pervade it, and the manners and +customs of its inhabitants. The place is now pretty full, and the +streets present a far more cheerful aspect than when we first arrived. +Every house is a store, where the natives barter their produce for +what they are most in need of. Knives, choppers, swords, guns, tobacco, +gambier, plates, basins, handkerchiefs, sarongs, calicoes, and arrack, +are the principal articles wanted by the natives; but some of the stores +contain also tea, coffee, sugar, wine, biscuits, &c., for the supply +of the traders; and others are full of fancy goods, china ornaments, +looking-glasses, razors, umbrellas, pipes, and purses, which take the +fancy of the wealthier natives. Every fine day mats are spread before +the doors and the tripang is put out to dry, as well as sugar, +salt, biscuit, tea, cloths, and other things that get injured by +an excessively moist atmosphere. In the morning and evening, spruce +Chinamen stroll about or chat at each other's doors, in blue trousers, +white jacket, and a queue into which red silk is plaited till it reaches +almost to their heels. An old Bugis hadji regularly takes an evening +stroll in all the dignity of flowing green silk robe and gay turban, +followed by two small boys carrying his sirih and betel boxes. + +In every vacant space new houses are being built, and all sorts of odd +little cooking-sheds are erected against the old ones, while in some +out-of-the-way corners, massive log pigsties are tenanted by growing +porkers; for how can the Chinamen exist six months without one feast of +pig? + +Here and there are stalls where bananas are sold, and every morning +two little boys go about with trays of sweet rice and crated cocoa-nut, +fried fish, or fried plantains; and whichever it may be, they have +but one cry, and that is "Chocolat-t--t!" This must be a Spanish or +Portuguese cry, handed down for centuries, while its meaning has been +lost. The Bugis sailors, while hoisting the main sail, cry out, "Vela a +vela,--vela, vela, vela!" repeated in an everlasting chorus. As "vela" +is Portuguese a sail, I supposed I had discovered the origin of this, +but I found afterwards they used the same cry when heaving anchor, and +often chanted it to "hela," which is so much an universal expression +of exertion and hard breathing that it is most probably a mere +interjectional cry. + +I daresay there are now near five hundred people in Dobbo of various +races, all met in this remote corner of the East, as they express it, +"to look for their fortune;" to get money any way they can. They are +most of them people who have the very worst reputation for honesty as +well as every other form of morality,--Chinese, Bugis, Ceramese, and +half-caste Javanese, with a sprinkling of half-wild Papuans from Timor, +Babber, and other islands, yet all goes on as yet very quietly. This +motley, ignorant, bloodthirsty, thievish population live here without +the shadow of a government, with no police, no courts, and no lawyers; +yet they do not cut each other's throats, do not plunder each other day +and night, do not fall into the anarchy such a state of things might be +supposed to lead to. It is very extraordinary! It puts strange thoughts +into one's head about the mountain-load of government under which people +exist in Europe, and suggests the idea that we may be over-governed. +Think of the hundred Acts of Parliament annually enacted to prevent us, +the people of England, from cutting each other's throats, or from doing +to our neighbour as we would not be done by. Think of the thousands of +lawyers and barristers whose whole lives are spent in telling us what +the hundred Acts of Parliament mean, and one would be led to infer that +if Dobbo has too little law England has too much. + +Here we may behold in its simplest form the genius of Commerce at the +work of Civilization. Trade is the magic that keeps all at peace, and +unites these discordant elements into a well-behaved community. All +are traders, and know that peace and order are essential to successful +trade, and thus a public opinion is created which puts down all +lawlessness. Often in former year, when strolling along the Campong Glam +in Singapore, I have thought how wild and ferocious the Bugis sailors +looked, and how little should like to trust myself among them. But now I +find them to be very decent, well-behaved fellows; I walk daily unarmed +in the jungle, where I meet them continually; I sleep in a palm-leaf +hut, which any one may enter, with as little fear and as little +danger of thieves or murder as if I were under the protection of the +Metropolitan police. It is true the Dutch influence is felt here. The +islands are nominally under the government of the Moluccas, which the +native chiefs acknowledge; and in most years a commissioner arrives from +Amboyna, who makes the tour of the islands, hears complaints, settle +disputes, and carries away prisoner any heinous offender. This year he +is not expected to come, as no orders have yet been received to prepare +for him; so the people of Dobbo will probably be left to their own +devices. One day a man was caught in the act of stealing a piece of +iron from Herr Warzbergen's house, which he had entered by making a hole +through the thatch wall. In the evening the chief traders of the place, +Bugis and Chinese, assembled, the offender was tried and found guilty, +and sentenced to receive twenty lashes on the spot. They were given +with a small rattan in the middle of the street, not very severely, +the executioner appeared to sympathise a little with the culprit. The +disgrace seemed to be thought as much of as the pain; for though any +amount of clever cheating is thought rather meritorious than otherwise, +open robbery and housebreaking meet with universal reprobation. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. THE ARU ISLANDS.--JOURNEY AND RESIDENCE IN THE INTERIOR. + +(MARCH TO MAY 1857.) + +MY boat was at length ready, and having obtained two men besides my own +servants, after an enormous amount of talk and trouble, we left Dobbo on +the morning of March 13th, for the mainland of Aru. By noon we reached +the mouth of a small river or creek, which we ascended, winding among +mangrove, swamps, with here and there a glimpse of dry land. In two +hours we reached a house, or rather small shed, of the most miserable +description, which our steersman, the "Orang-kaya" of Wamma, said was +the place we were to stay at, and where he had assured me we could get +every kind of bird and beast to be found in Aru. The shed was occupied +by about a dozen men, women, and children; two cooking fires were +burning in it, and there seemed little prospect of my obtaining +any accommodation. I however deferred inquiry till I had seen the +neighbouring forest, and immediately started off with two men, net, and +guns, along a path at the back of the house. In an hour's walk I saw +enough to make me determine to give the place a trial, and on my return, +finding the "Orang-kaya" was in a strong fever-fit and unable to do +anything, I entered into negotiations with the owner of the house for +the use of a slip at one end of it about five feet wide, for a week, +and agreed to pay as rent one "parang," or chopping-knife. I then +immediately got my boxes and bedding out of the boat, hung up a shelf +for my bird-skins and insects, and got all ready for work next morning. +My own boys slept in the boat to guard the remainder of my property; a +cooking place sheltered by a few mats was arranged under a tree close +by, and I felt that degree of satisfaction and enjoyment which I always +experience when, after much trouble and delay, I am on the point of +beginning work in a new locality. + +One of my first objects was to inquire for the people who are accustomed +to shoot the Paradise birds. They lived at some distance in the jungle, +and a man was sent to call them. When they arrived, we had a talk by +means of the "Orang-kaya" as interpreter, and they said they thought +they could get some. They explained that they shoot the birds with a bow +and arrow, the arrow having a conical wooden cap fitted to the end as +large as a teacup, so as to kill the bird by the violence of the blow +without making any wound or shedding any blood. The trees frequented +by the birds are very lofty; it is therefore necessary to erect a small +leafy covering or hut among the branches, to which the hunter mounts +before daylight in the morning and remains the whole day, and whenever +a bird alights they are almost sure of securing it. (See Frontispiece.) +They returned to their homes the same evening, and I never saw anything +more of them, owing, as I afterwards found, to its being too early to +obtain birds in good plumage. + +The first two or three days of our stay here were very wet, and I +obtained but few insects or birds, but at length, when I was beginning +to despair, my boy Baderoon returned one day with a specimen which +repaid me for months of delay and expectation. It was a small bird a +little less than a thrush. The greater part of its plumage was of an +intense cinnabar red, with a gloss as of spun glass. On the head the +feathers became short and velvety, and shaded into rich orange. Beneath, +from the breast downwards, was pure white, with the softness and gloss +of silk, and across the breast a band of deep metallic green separated +this colour from the red of the throat. Above each eye was a round spot +of the same metallic green; the bill was yellow, and the feet and legs +were of a fine cobalt oille, strikingly contrasting with all the other +parts of the body. Merely in arrangement of colours and texture of +plumage this little bird was a gem of the first water, yet there +comprised only half its strange beauty. Springing from each side of +the breast, and ordinarily lying concealed under the wings, were little +tufts of greyish feathers about two inches long, and each terminated by +a broad band of intense emerald green. These plumes can be raised at the +will of the bird, and spread out into a pair of elegant fans when the +wings are elevated. But this is not the only ornament. The two middle +feathers of the tail are in the form of slender wires about five inches +long, and which diverge in a beautiful double curve. About half an inch +of the end of this wire is webbed on the outer side only, awe coloured +of a fine metallic green, and being curled spirally inwards form a pair +of elegant glittering buttons, hanging five inches below the body, and +the same distance apart. These two ornaments, the breast fans and the +spiral tipped tail wires, are altogether unique, not occurring on any +other species of the eight thousand different birds that are known to +exist upon the earth; and, combined with the most exquisite beauty of +plumage, render this one of the most perfectly lovely of the many lovely +productions of nature. My transports of admiration and delight quite +amused my Aru hosts, who saw nothing more in the "Burong raja" than we +do in the robin of the goldfinch. + +Thus one of my objects in coming to the far fast was accomplished. I +had obtained a specimen of the King Bird of Paradise (Paradisea regia), +which had been described by Linnaeus from skins preserved in a mutilated +state by the natives. I knew how few Europeans had ever beheld the +perfect little organism I now gazed upon, and how very imperfectly +it was still known in Europe. The emotions excited in the minds of a +naturalist, who has long desired to see the actual thing which he has +hitherto known only by description, drawing, or badly-preserved external +covering--especially when that thing is of surpassing rarity and beauty, +require the poetic faculty fully to express them. The remote island in +which I found myself situated, in an almost unvisited sea, far from +the tracks of merchant fleets and navies; the wild luxuriant tropical +forest, which stretched far away on every side; the rude uncultured +savages who gathered round me,--all had their influence in determining +the emotions with which I gazed upon this "thing of beauty." I thought +of the long ages of the past, during which the successive generations of +this little creature had run their course--year by year being born, and +living and dying amid these dark and gloomy woods, with no intelligent +eye to gaze upon their loveliness; to all appearance such a wanton waste +of beauty. Such ideas excite a feeling of melancholy. It seems sad, that +on the one hand such exquisite creatures should live out their lives and +exhibit their charms only in these wild inhospitable regions, doomed for +ages yet to come to hopeless barbarism; while on the other hand, +should civilized man ever reach these distant lands, and bring moral, +intellectual, and physical light into the recesses of these virgin +forests, we may be sure that he will so disturb the nicely-balanced +relations of organic and inorganic nature as to cause the disappearance, +and finally the extinction, of these very beings whose wonderful +structure and beauty he alone is fitted to appreciate and enjoy. This +consideration must surely tell us that all living things were _not_ +made for man. Many of them have no relation to him. The cycle of their +existence has gone on independently of his, and is disturbed or broken +by every advance in man's intellectual development; and their happiness +and enjoyment, their loves and hates, their struggles for existence, +their vigorous life and early death, would seem to be immediately +related to their own well-being and perpetuation alone, limited only by +the equal well-being and perpetuation of the numberless other organisms +with which each is more or less intimately connected. + +After the first king-bird was obtained, I went with my men into the +forest, and we were not only rewarded with another in equally perfect +plumage, but I was enabled to see a little of the habits of both it +and the larger species. It frequents the lower trees of the less dense +forests: and is very active, flying strongly with a whirring sound, +and continually hopping or flying from branch to branch. It eats hard +stone-bearing fruits as large as a gooseberry, and often flutters its +wings after the manner of the South American manakins, at which time +it elevates and expands the beautiful fans with which its breast is +adorned. The natives of Aru call it "Goby-goby." + +One day I get under a tree where a number of the Great Paradise birds +were assembled, but they were high up in the thickest of the foliage, +and flying and jumping about so continually that I could get no good +view of them. At length I shot one, but it was a young specimen, and was +entirely of a rich chocolate-brown colour, without either the metallic +green throat or yellow plumes of the full-grown bird. All that I had yet +seen resembled this, and the natives told me that it would be about +two months before any would be found in full plumage. I still hoped, +therefore, to get some. Their voice is most extraordinary. At early +morn, before the sun has risen, we hear a loud cry of "Wawk-wawk-wawk, +wok-wok-wok," which resounds through the forest, changing its direction +continually. This is the Great Bird of Paradise going to seek his +breakfast. Others soon follow his example; lories and parroquets cry +shrilly, cockatoos scream, king-hunters croak and bark, and the various +smaller birds chirp and whistle their morning song. As I lie listening +to these interesting sounds, I realize my position as the first European +who has ever lived for months together in the Aru islands, a place which +I had hoped rather than expected ever to visit. I think how many besides +my self have longed to reach these almost fairy realms, and to see with +their own eyes the many wonderful and beautiful things which I am daily +encountering. But now Ali and Baderoon are up and getting ready their +guns and ammunition, and little Brio has his fire lighted and is boiling +my coffee, and I remember that I had a black cockatoo brought in late +last night, which I must skin immediately, and so I jump up and begin my +day's work very happily. + +This cockatoo is the first I have seen, and is a great prize. It has +a rather small and weak body, long weak legs, large wings, and an +enormously developed head, ornamented with a magnificent crest, and +armed with a sharp-pointed hoofed bill of immense size and strength. The +plumage is entirely black, but has all over it the curious powdery white +secretion characteristic of cockatoo. The cheeks are bare, and of an +intense blood-red colour. Instead of the harsh scream of the white +cockatoos, its voice is a somewhat plaintive whistle. The tongue is a +curious organ, being a slender fleshy cylinder of a deep red colour, +terminated by a horny black plate, furrowed across and somewhat +prehensile. The whole tongue has a considerable extensile power. I will +here relate something of the habits of this bird, with which I have +since become acquainted. It frequents the lower parts of the forest, and +is seen singly, or at most two or three together. It flies slowly and +noiselessly, and may be killed by a comparatively slight wound. It eats +various fruits and seeds, but seems more particularly attached to the +kernel of the kanary-nut, which grows on a lofty forest tree (Canarium +commune), abundant in the islands where this bird is found; and the +manner in which it gets at these seeds shows a correlation of structure +and habits, which would point out the "kanary" as its special food. The +shell of this nut is so excessively hard that only a heavy hammer will +crack it; it is somewhat triangular, and the outside is quite smooth. +The manner in which the bird opens these nuts is very curious. Taking +one endways in its bill and keeping it firm by a pressure of the tongue, +it cuts a transverse notch by a lateral sawing motion of the sharp-edged +lower mandible. This done, it takes hold of the nut with its foot, and +biting off a piece of leaf retains it in the deep notch of the upper +mandible, and again seizing the nut, which is prevented from slipping by +the elastic tissue of the leaf, fixes the edge of the lower mandible in +the notch, and by a powerful nip breaks of a piece of the shell, again +taking the nut in its claws, it inserts the very long and sharp point +of the bill and picks out the kernel, which is seized hold of, morsel +by morsel, by the extensible tongue. Thus every detail of form and +structure in the extraordinary bill of this bird seems to have its use, +and we may easily conceive that the black cockatoos have maintained +themselves in competition with their more active and more numerous white +allies, by their power of existing on a kind of food which no other bird +is able to extract from its stony shell. The species is the Microglossum +aterrimum of naturalists. + +During the two weeks which I spent in this little settlement, I had good +opportunities of observing the natives at their own home, and living in +their usual manner. There is a great monotony and uniformity in everyday +savage life, and it seemed to me a more miserable existence than when it +had the charm of novelty. To begin with the most important fact in +the existence of uncivilized peoples--their food--the Aru men have no +regular supply, no staff of life, such as bread, rice, mandiocca, maize, +or sago, which are the daily food of a large proportion of mankind. +They have, however, many sorts of vegetables, plantains, yams, sweet +potatoes, and raw sago; and they chew up vast quantities of sugar-cane, +as well as betel-nuts, gambir, and tobacco. Those who live on the coast +have plenty of fish; but when inland, as we are here, they only go to +the sea occasionally, and then bring home cockles and other shell-fish +by the boatload. Now and then they get wild pig or kangaroo, but too +rarely to form anything like a regular part of their diet, which is +essentially vegetable; and what is of more importance, as affecting +their health, green, watery vegetables, imperfectly cooked, and even +these in varying and often in sufficient quantities. To this diet may be +attributed the prevalence of skin diseases, and ulcers on the legs and +joints. The scurfy skin disease so common among savages has a close +connexion with the poorness and irregularity of their living. The +Malays, who are never without their daily rice, are generally free from +it; the hill-Dyaks of Borneo, who grow rice and live well, are clean +skinned while the less industrious and less cleanly tribes, who live for +a portion of the year on fruits and vegetables only, are very subject to +this malady. It seems clear that in this, as in other respects, man +is not able to make a beast of himself with impunity, feeding like the +cattle on the herbs and fruits of the earth, and taking no thought of +the morrow. To maintain his health and beauty he must labour to prepare +some farinaceous product capable of being stored and accumulated, so as +to give him a regular supply of wholesome food. When this is obtained, +he may add vegetables, fruits, and meat with advantage. + +The chief luxury of the Aru people, besides betel and tobacco, is arrack +(Java rum), which the traders bring in great quantities and sell very +cheap. A day's fishing or rattan cutting will purchase at least a +half-gallon bottle; and when the tripang or birds' nests collected +during a season are sold, they get whole boxes, each containing fifteen +such bottles, which the inmates of a house will sit round day and night +till they have finished. They themselves tell me that at such bouts they +often tear to pieces the house they are in, break and destroy everything +they can lay their hands on, and make such an infernal riot as is +alarming to behold. + +The houses and furniture are on a par with the food. A rude shed, +supported on rough and slender sticks rather than posts, no walls, +but the floor raised to within a foot of the eaves, is the style of +architecture they usually adopt. Inside there are partition walls of +thatch, forming little boxes or sleeping places, to accommodate the +two or three separate families that usually live together. A few mats, +baskets, and cooking vessels, with plates and basins purchased from the +Macassar traders, constitute their whole furniture; spears and bows +are their weapons; a sarong or mat forms the clothing of the women, a +waistcloth of the men. For hours or even for days they sit idle in their +houses, the women bringing in the vegetables or sago which form their +food. Sometimes they hunt or fish a little, or work at their houses or +canoes, but they seem to enjoy pure idleness, and work as little as they +can. They have little to vary the monotony of life, little that can be +called pleasure, except idleness and conversation. And they certainly +do talk! Every evening there is a little Babel around me: but as I +understand not a word of it, I go on with my book or work undisturbed. +Now and then they scream and shout, or laugh frantically for variety; +and this goes on alternately with vociferous talking of men, women, and +children, till long after I am in my mosquito curtain and sound asleep. + +At this place I obtained some light on the complicated mixture of +races in Aru, which would utterly confound an ethnologist. Many of the +natives, though equally dark with the others, have little of the Papuan +physiognomy, but have more delicate features of the European type, with +more glossy, curling hair: These at first quite puzzled me, for they +have no more resemblance to Malay than to Papuan, and the darkness of +skin and hair would forbid the idea of Dutch intermixture. Listening to +their conversation, however, I detected some words that were familiar +to me. "Accabo" was one; and to be sure that it was not an accidental +resemblance, I asked the speaker in Malay what "accabo" meant, and +was told it meant "done or finished," a true Portuguese word, with its +meaning retained. Again, I heard the word "jafui" often repeated, and +could see, without inquiry, that its meaning was "he's gone," as in +Portuguese. "Porco," too, seems a common name, though the people have no +idea of its European meaning. This cleared up the difficulty. I at once +understood that some early Portuguese traders had penetrated to these +islands, and mixed with the natives, influencing their language, +and leaving in their descendants for many generations the visible +characteristics of their race. If to this we add the occasional mixture +of Malay, Dutch, and Chinese with the indigenous Papuans, we have +no reason to wonder at the curious varieties of form and feature +occasionally to be met with in Aru. In this very house there was a +Macassar man, with an Aru wife and a family of mixed children. In Dobbo +I saw a Javanese and an Amboyna man, each with an Aru wife and family; +and as this kind of mixture has been going on for at least three hundred +years, and probably much longer, it has produced a decided effect on the +physical characteristics of a considerable portion of the population of +the islands, more especially in Dobbo and the parts nearest to it. + +March 28th.--The "Orang-kaya" being very ill with fever had begged to go +home, and had arranged with one of the men of the house to go on with me +as his substitute. Now that I wanted to move, the bugbear of the pirates +was brought up, and it was pronounced unsafe to go further than the next +small river. This world not suit me, as I had determined to traverse the +channel called Watelai to the "blakang-tana;" but my guide was firm +in his dread of pirates, of which I knew there was now no danger, as +several vessels had gone in search of them, as well as a Dutch gunboat +which had arrived since I left Dobbo. I had, fortunately, by this time +heard that the Dutch "Commissie" had really arrived, and therefore +threatened that if my guide did not go with me immediately, I would +appeal to the authorities, and he would certainly be obliged to gig +a back the cloth which the "Orang-kaya" had transferred to him in +prepayment. This had the desired effect; matters were soon arranged, and +we started the next morning. The wind, however, was dead against us, +and after rowing hard till midday we put in to a small river where +there were few huts, to cook our dinners. The place did not look very +promising, but as we could not reach our destination, the Watelai river, +owing to the contrary wind, I thought we might as well wait here a day +or two. I therefore paid a chopper for the use of a small shed, and +got my bed and some boxes on shore. In the evening, after dark, we were +suddenly alarmed by the cry of "Bajak! bajak!" (Pirates!) The men all +seized their bows and spears, and rushed down to the beach; we got hold +of our guns and prepared for action, but in a few minutes all came back +laughing and chattering, for it had proved to be only a small boat and +some of their own comrades returned from fishing. When all was quiet +again, one of the men, who could speak a little Malay, came to me and +begged me not to sleep too hard. "Why?" said I. "Perhaps the pirates may +really come," said he very seriously, which made me laugh and assure him +I should sleep as hard as I could. + +Two days were spent here, but the place was unproductive of insects or +birds of interest, so we made another attempt to get on. As soon as we +got a little away from the land we had a fair wind, and in six hours' +sailing reached the entrance of the Watelai channel, which divides the +most northerly from the middle portion of Aru. At its mouth this was +about half a mile wide, but soon narrowed, and a mile or two on it +assumed entirely the aspect of a river about the width of the Thames at +London, winding among low but undulating and often hilly country. +The scene was exactly such as might be expected in the interior of +a continent. The channel continued of a uniform average width, with +reaches and sinuous bends, one bank being often precipitous, or even +forming vertical cliffs, while the other was flat and apparently +alluvial; and it was only the pure salt-water, and the absence of any +stream but the slight flux and reflux of the tide, that would enable a +person to tell that he was navigating a strait and not a river. The +wind was fair, and carried us along, with occasional assistance from our +oars, till about three in the afternoon, when we landed where a little +brook formed two or three basins in the coral rock, and then fell in a +miniature cascade into the salt water river. Here we bathed and cooked +our dinner, and enjoyed ourselves lazily till sunset, when we pursued +our way for two hours snore, and then moored our little vessel to an +overhanging tree for the night. + +At five the next morning we started again, and in an hour overtook four +large praus containing the "Commissie," who had come from Dobbo to make +their official tour round the islands, and had passed us in the eight. I +paid a visit to the Dutchmen, one of whom spoke a little English, but +we found that we could get on much better with Malay. They told me that +they had been delayed going after the pirates to one of the northern +islands, and had seen three of their vessels but could not catch them, +because on being pursued they rowed out in the wind's eye, which they +are enabled to do by having about fifty oars to each boat. Having had +some tea with thorn, I bade them adieu, and turned up a narrow channel +which our pilot said would take us to the village of Watelai, on the +west side of Are. After going some miles we found the channel nearly +blocked up with coral, so that our boat grated along the bottom, +crunching what may truly be called the living rock. Sometimes all hands +had to get out and wade, to lighten the vessel and lift it over the +shallowest places; but at length we overcame all obstacles and reached a +wide bay or estuary studded with little rocks and islets, and opening +to the western sea and the numerous islands of the "blakang-tuna." I now +found that the village we were going to was miles away; that we should +have to go out to sea, and round a rocky point. A squall seemed coming +on, and as I have a horror of small boats at sea, and from all I could +learn Watelai village was not a place to stop at (no birds of Paradise +being found there), I determined to return and go to a village I had +heard of up a tributary of the Watelai river, and situated nearly in the +centre of the mainland of Aru. The people there were said to be good, +and to be accustomed to hunting and bird-catching, being too far inland +to get any part of their food from the sea. While I was deciding this +point the squall burst upon us, and soon raised a rolling sea in the +shallow water, which upset an oil bottle and a lamp, broke some of my +crockery, and threw us all into confusion. Rowing hard we managed to get +back into the main river by dusk, and looked out for a place to cook +our suppers. It happened to be high water, and a very high tide, so that +every piece of sand or beach was covered, and it was with the greatest +difficulty, and after much groping in the dark, that we discovered a +little sloping piece of rock about two feet square on which to make a +fire and cook some rice. The next day we continued our way back, and +on the following day entered a stream on the south side of the Watelai +river, and ascending to where navigation ceased found the little village +of Wanumbai, consisting of two large houses surrounded by plantations, +amid the virgin forests of Aru. + +As I liked the look of the place, and was desirous of staying some time, +I sent my pilot to try and make a bargain for house accommodation. The +owner and chief man of the place made many excuses. First, he was afraid +I would not like his house, and then was doubtful whether his son, +who was away, would like his admitting me. I had a long talk with him +myself, and tried to explain what I was doing, and how many things I +would buy of them, and showed him my stock of heads, and knives, and +cloth, and tobacco, all of which I would spend with his family and +friends if he would give me house-room. He seemed a little staggered at +this, and said he, would talk to his wife, and in the meantime I went +for a little walk to see the neighbourhood. When I came back, I again +sent my pilot, saying that I would go away if he would not dive me part +of his house. In about half an hour he returned with a demand for about +half the cost of building a house, for the rent of a small portion of it +for a few weeks. As the only difficulty now was a pecuniary one, I got +out about ten yards of cloth, an axe, with a few beads and some tobacco, +and sent them as my final offer for the part of the house which I had +before pointed out. This was accepted after a little more talk, and I +immediately proceeded to take possession. + +The house was a good large one, raised as usual about seven feet on +posts, the walls about three or four feet more, with a high-pitched +roof. The floor was of bamboo laths, and in the sloping roof way an +immense shutter, which could be lifted and propped up to admit light +and air. At the end where this was situated the floor was raised about a +foot, and this piece, about ten feet wide by twenty long, quite open to +the rest of the house, was the portion I was to occupy. At one end of +this piece, separated by a thatch partition, was a cooking place, with +a clay floor and shelves for crockery. At the opposite end I had my +mosquito curtain hung, and round the walls we arranged my boxes and +other stores, fated up a table and seat, and with a little cleaning and +dusting made the place look quite comfortable. My boat was then hauled +up on shore, and covered with palm-leaves, the sails and oars brought +indoors, a hanging-stage for drying my specimens erected outside the +house and another inside, and my boys were set to clean their gnus and +get all ready for beginning work. + +The next day I occupied myself in exploring the paths in the immediate +neighbourhood. The small river up which we had ascended ceases to be +navigable at this point, above which it is a little rocky brook, which +quite dries up in the hot season. There was now, however, a fair stream +of water in it; and a path which was partly in and partly by the side of +the water, promised well for insects, as I here saw the magnificent +blue butterfly, Papilio ulysses, as well as several other fine species, +flopping lazily along, sometimes resting high up on the foliage which +drooped over the water, at others settling down on the damp rock or on +the edges of muddy pools. A little way on several paths branched off +through patches of second-growth forest to cane-fields, gardens, and +scattered houses, beyond which again the dark wall of verdure striped +with tree-trunks, marked out the limits of the primeval forests. The +voices of many birds promised good shooting, and on my return I found +that my boys had already obtained two or three kinds I had not seen +before; and in the evening a native brought me a rare and beautiful +species of ground-thrush (Pitta novaeguinaeae) hitherto only known from +New Guinea. + +As I improved my acquaintance with them I became much interested in +these people, who are a fair sample of the true savage inhabitants of +the Aru Islands, tolerably free from foreign admixture. The house I +lived in contained four or five families, and there were generally +from six to a dozen visitors besides. They kept up a continual row +from morning till night--talking, laughing, shouting, without +intermission--not very pleasant, but interesting as a study of national +character. My boy Ali said to me, "Banyak quot bitchara Orang Aru" (The +Aru people are very strong talkers), never having been accustomed to +such eloquence either in his own or any other country he had hitherto +visited. Of an evening the men, having got over their first shyness, +began to talk to me a little, asking about my country, &c., and in +return I questioned them about any traditions they had of their own +origin. I had, however, very little success, for I could not possibly +make them understand the simple question of where the Aru people first +came from. I put it in every possible way to them, but it was a subject +quite beyond their speculations; they had evidently never thought of +anything of the kind, and were unable to conceive a thing so remote and +so unnecessary to be thought about, as their own origin. Finding this +hopeless, I asked if they knew when the trade with Aru first began, when +the Bugis and Chinese and Macassar men first came in their praus to buy +tripang and tortoise-shell, and birds' nests, and Paradise birds? + +This they comprehended, but replied that there had always been the same +trade as long as they or their fathers recollected, but that this was +the first time a real white man had come among them, and, said they, +"You see how the people come every day from all the villages round to +look at you." This was very flattering, and accounted for the great +concourse of visitors which I had at first imagined was accidental. A +few years before I had been one of the gazers at the Zoolus, and the +Aztecs in London. Now the tables were turned upon me, for I was to these +people a new and strange variety of man, and had the honour of affording +to them, in my own person, an attractive exhibition, gratis. + +All the men and boys of Aru are expert archers, never stirring without +their bows and arrows. They shoot all sorts of birds, as well as pigs +and kangaroos occasionally, and thus have a tolerably good supply of +meat to eat with their vegetables. The result of this better living is +superior healthiness, well-made bodies, and generally clear skins. They +brought me numbers of small birds in exchange for beads or tobacco, but +mauled them terribly, notwithstanding my repeated instructions. When +they got a bird alive they would often tie a string to its leg, and keep +it a day or two, till its plumage was so draggled and dirtied as to be +almost worthless. One of the first things I got from there was a living +specimen of the curious and beautiful racquet-tailed kingfisher. Seeing +how much I admired it, they afterwards brought me several more, which +wore all caught before daybreak, sleeping in cavities of the rocky banks +of the stream. My hunters also shot a few specimens, and almost all +of them had the red bill more or less clogged with mud and earth. This +indicates the habits of the bird, which, though popularly a king-fisher, +never catches fish, but lives on insects and minute shells, which it +picks up in the forest, darting down upon them from its perch on some +low branch. The genus Tanysiptera, to which this bird belongs, is +remarkable for the enormously lengthened tail, which in all other +kingfishers is small and short. Linnaeus named the species known to +him "the goddess kingfisher" (Alcedo dea), from its extreme grace and +beauty, the plumage being brilliant blue and white, with the bill red, +like coral. Several species of these interesting birds are now known, +all confined within the very limited area which comprises the Moluccas, +New Guinea, and the extreme North of Australia. They resemble each other +so closely that several of them can only be distinguished by careful +comparison. One of the rarest, however, which inhabits New Guinea, is +very distinct from the rest, being bright red beneath instead of white. +That which I now obtained was a new one, and has been named Tanysiptera +hydrocharis, but in general form and coloration it is exactly similar to +the larger species found in Amboyna, and figured at page 468 of my first +volume. + +New and interesting birds were continually brought in, either by my own +boys or by the natives, and at the end of a week Ali arrived triumphant +one afternoon with a fine specimen of the Great Bird of Paradise. +The ornamental plumes had not yet attained their full growth, but the +richness of their glossy orange colouring, and the exquisite delicacy +of the loosely waving feathers, were unsurpassable. At the same time a +great black cockatoo was brought in, as well as a fine fruit-pigeon and +several small birds, so that we were all kept hard at work skinning +till sunset. Just as we had cleared away and packed up for the night, +a strange beast was brought, which had been shot by the natives. It +resembled in size, and in its white woolly covering, a small fat +lamb, but had short legs, hand-like feet with large claws, and a long +prehensile tail. It was a Cuscus (C. maculatus), one of the curious +marsupial animals of the Papuan region, and I was very desirous to +obtain the skin. The owners, however, said they wanted to eat it; and +though I offered them a good price, and promised to give them all the +meat, there was grout hesitation. Suspecting the reason, I offered, +though it was night, to set to work immediately and get out the body for +them, to which they agreed. The creature was much hacked about, and the +two hind feet almost cut off; but it was the largest and finest specimen +of the kind I had seen; and after an hour's hard work I handed over the +body to the owners, who immediately cut it up and roasted it for supper. + +As this was a very good place for birds, I determined to remain a month +longer, and took the opportunity of a native boat going to Dobbo, to +send Ali for a fresh supply of ammunition and provisions. They started +on the 10th of April, and the house was crowded with about a hundred +men, boys, women, and girls, bringing their loads of sugar-cane, +plantains, sirih-leaf, yams, &c.; one lad going from each house to sell +the produce and make purchases. The noise was indescribable. At least +fifty of the hundred were always talking at once, and that not in the +low measured tones of the apathetically polite Malay, but with loud +voices, shouts, and screaming laughter, in which the women and children +were even more conspicuous than the men. It was only while gazing at me +that their tongues were moderately quiet, because their eyes were fully +occupied. The black vegetable soil here overlying the coral rock is very +rich, and the sugar-cane was finer than any I had ever seen. The canes +brought to the boat were often ten and even twelve feet long, and thick +in proportion, with short joints throughout, swelling between the knots +with the abundance of the rich juice. At Dobbo they get a high price +for it, 1d. to 3d. a stick, and there is an insatiable demand among the +crews of the praus and the Baba fishermen. Here they eat it continually. +They half live on it, and sometimes feed their pigs with it. Near every +house are great heaps of the refuse cane; and large wicker-baskets +to contain this refuse as it is produced form a regular part of the +furniture of a house. Whatever time of the day you enter, you are sure +to find three or four people with a yard of cane in one hand, a knife +in the other, and a basket between their legs, hacking, paring, chewing, +and basket-filling, with a persevering assiduity which reminds one of a +hungry cow grazing, or of a caterpillar eating up a leaf. + +After five days' absence the boats returned from Dobbo, bringing Ali and +all the things I had sent for quite safe. A large party had assembled to +be ready to carry home the goods brought, among which were a good many +cocoa-nut, which are a great luxury here. It seems strange that they +should never plant them; but the reason simply is, that they cannot +bring their hearts to bury a good nut for the prospective advantage of +a crop twelve years hence. There is also the chance of the fruits being +dug up and eaten unless watched night and day. Among the things I had +sent for was a box of arrack, and I was now of course besieged with +requests for a little drop. I gave them a flask (about two bottles), +which was very soon finished, and I was assured that there were many +present who had not had a taste. As I feared my box would very soon be +emptied if I supplied all their demands, I told them I had given them +one, but the second they must pay for, and that afterwards I must have +a Paradise bird for each flask. They immediately sent round to all the +neighbouring houses, and mustered up a rupee in Dutch copper money, got +their second flask, and drunk it as quickly as the first, and were then +very talkative, but less noisy and importunate than I had expected. Two +or three of them got round me and begged me for the twentieth time to +tell them the name of my country. Then, as they could not pronounce it +satisfactorily, they insisted that I was deceiving them, and that it +was a name of my own invention. One funny old man, who bore a ludicrous +resemblance, to a friend of mine at home, was almost indignant. +"Ung-lung! "said he, "who ever heard of such a name?--ang +lang--anger-lung--that can't be the name of your country; you are +playing with us." Then he tried to give a convincing illustration. "My +country is Wanumbai--anybody can say Wanumbai. I'm an orang-Wanumbai; +but, N-glung! who ever heard of such a name? Do tell us the real name of +your country, and then when you are gone we shall know how to talk about +you." To this luminous argument and remonstrance I could oppose nothing +but assertion, and the whole party remained firmly convinced that I +was for some reason or other deceiving them. They then attacked me on +another point--what all the animals and birds and insects and shells +were preserved so carefully for. They had often asked me this before, +and I had tried to explain to them that they would be stuffed, and made +to look as if alive, and people in my country would go to look at them. +But this was not satisfying; in my country there must be many better +things to look at, and they could not believe I would take so much +trouble with their birds and beasts just for people to look at. They did +not want to look at them; and we, who made calico and glass and knives, +and all sorts of wonderful things, could not want things from Aru to +look at. They had evidently been thinking about it, and had at length +got what seemed a very satisfactory theory; for the same old man said to +me, in a low, mysterious voice, "What becomes of them when you go on to +the sea?" "Why, they are all packed up in boxes," said I "What did you +think became of them?" "They all come to life again, don't they?" said +he; and though I tried to joke it off, and said if they did we should +have plenty to eat at sea, he stuck to his opinion, and kept repeating, +with an air of deep conviction, "Yes, they all come to life again, +that's what they do--they all come to life again." + +After a little while, and a good deal of talking among themselves, he +began again--"I know all about it--oh yes! Before you came we had rain +every day--very wet indeed; now, ever since you have been here, it is +fine hot weather. Oh, yes! I know all about it; you can't deceive me." +And so I was set down as a conjurer, and was unable to repel the charge. +But the conjurer was completely puzzled by the next question: "What," +said the old man, "is the great ship, where the Bugis and Chinamen go to +sell their things? It is always in the great sea--its name is Jong; tell +us all about it." In vain I inquired what they knew about it; they knew +nothing but that it was called "Jong," and was always in the sea, +and was a very great ship, and concluded with, "Perhaps that is your +country?" Finding that I could not or would not tell them anything about +"Jong," there came more regrets that I would not tell them the real name +of my country; and then a long string of compliments, to the effect that +I was a much better sort of a person than the Bugis and Chinese, who +sometimes came to trade with them, for I gave them things for nothing, +and did not try to cheat them. How long would I stop? was the next +earnest inquiry. Would I stay two or three months? They would get me +plenty of birds and animals, and I might soon finish all the goods I had +brought, and then, said the old spokesman, "Don't go away, but send for +more things from Dobbo, and stay here a year or two." And then again the +old story, "Do tell us the name of your country. We know the Bugis men, +and the Macassar men, and the Java men, and the China men; only you, +we don't know from what country you come. Ung-lung! it can't be; I know +that is not the name of your country." Seeing no end to this long talk, +I said I was tired, and wanted to go to sleep; so after begging--one a +little bit of dry fish for his supper, and another a little salt to eat +with his sago--they went off very quietly, and I went outside and took +a stroll round the house by moonlight, thinking of the simple people +and the strange productions of Aru, and then turned in under my mosquito +curtain; to sleep with a sense of perfect security in the midst of these +good-natured savages. + +We now had seven or eight days of hot and dry weather, which reduced the +little river to a succession of shallow pools connected by the smallest +possible thread of trickling water. If there were a dry season like that +of Macassar, the Aru Islands would be uninhabitable, as there is no part +of them much above a hundred feet high; and the whole being a mass of +porous coralline rock, allows the surface water rapidly to escape. +The only dry season they have is for a month or two about September +or October, and there is then an excessive scarcity of water, so that +sometimes hundreds of birds and other animals die of drought. The +natives then remove to houses near the sources of the small streams, +where, in the shady depths of the forest, a small quantity of water +still remains. Even then many of them have to go miles for their water, +which they keep in large bamboos and use very sparingly. They assure +me that they catch and kill game of all kinds, by watching at the water +holes or setting snares around them. That would be the time for me +to make my collections; but the want of water would be a terrible +annoyance, and the impossibility of getting away before another whole +year had passed made it out of the question. + +Ever since leaving Dobbo I had suffered terribly from insects, who +seemed here bent upon revenging my long-continued persecution of their +race. At our first stopping-place sand-flies were very abundant at +night, penetrating to every part of the body, and producing a more +lasting irritation than mosquitoes. My feet and ankles especially +suffered, and were completely covered with little red swollen specks, +which tormented me horribly. On arriving here we were delighted to find +the house free from sand-flies or mosquitoes, but in the plantations +where my daily walks led me, the day-biting mosquitoes swarmed, and +seemed especially to delight in attaching my poor feet. After a month's +incessant punishment, those useful members rebelled against such +treatment and broke into open insurrection, throwing out numerous +inflamed ulcers, which were very painful, and stopped me from walking. +So I found myself confined to the house, and with no immediate prospect +of leaving it. Wounds or sores in the feet are especially difficult to +heal in hot climates, and I therefore dreaded them more than any other +illness. The confinement was very annoying, as the fine hot weather was +excellent for insects, of which I had every promise of obtaining a fine +collection; and it is only by daily and unremitting search that the +smaller kinds, and the rarer and more interesting specimens, can be +obtained. When I crawled down to the river-side to bathe, I often +saw the blue-winged Papilio ulysses, or some other equally rare and +beautiful insect; but there was nothing for it but patience, and +to return quietly to my bird-skinning, or whatever other work I had +indoors. The stings and bites and ceaseless irritation caused by these +pests of the tropical forests, would be borne uncomplainingly; but to be +kept prisoner by them in so rich and unexplored a country where rare and +beautiful creatures are to be met with in every forest ramble--a country +reached by such a long and tedious voyage, and which might not in the +present century be again visited for the same purpose--is a punishment +too severe for a naturalist to pass over in silence. + +I had, however, some consolation in the birds my boys brought home +daily, more especially the Paradiseas, which they at length obtained in +full plumage. It was quite a relief to my mind to get these, for I could +hardly have torn myself away from Aru had I not obtained specimens. + +But what I valued almost as much as the birds themselves was the +knowledge of their habits, which I was daily obtaining both from the +accounts of my hunters, and from the conversation of the natives. The +birds had now commenced what the people here call their "sacaleli," or +dancing-parties, in certain trees in the forest, which are not fruit +trees as I at first imagined, but which have an immense tread of +spreading branches and large but scattered leaves, giving a clear space +for the birds to play and exhibit their plumes. On one of these trees +a dozen or twenty full-plumaged male birds assemble together, raise +up their wings, stretch out their necks, and elevate their exquisite +plumes, keeping them in a continual vibration. Between whiles they fly +across from branch to branch in great excitement, so that the whole tree +is filled with waving plumes in every variety of attitude and motion. +(See Frontispiece.) The bird itself is nearly as large as a crow, and +is of a rich coffee brown colour. The head and neck is of a pure straw +yellow above and rich metallic green beneath. The long plumy tufts of +golden orange feathers spring from the sides beneath each wing, and when +the bird is in repose are partly concealed by them. At the time of its +excitement, however, the wings are raised vertically over the back, the +head is bent down and stretched out, and the long plumes are raised up +and expanded till they form two magnificent golden fans, striped with +deep red at the base, and fading off into the pale brown tint of +the finely divided and softly waving points. The whole bird is then +overshadowed by them, the crouching body, yellow head, and emerald green +throat forming but the foundation and setting to the golden glory which +waves above. When seen in this attitude, the Bird of Paradise really +deserves its name, and must be ranked as one of the most beautiful and +most wonderful of living things. I continued also to get specimens +of the lovely little king-bird occasionally, as well as numbers of +brilliant pigeons, sweet little parroquets, and many curious small +birds, most nearly resembling those of Australia and New Guinea. + +Here, as among most savage people I have dwelt among, I was delighted +with the beauty of the human form-a beauty of which stay-at-home +civilized people can scarcely have any conception. What are the finest +Grecian statues to the living, moving, breathing men I saw daily around +me? The unrestrained grace of the naked savage as he goes about +his daily occupations, or lounges at his ease, must be seen to be +understood; and a youth bending his bow is the perfection of manly +beauty. The women, however, except in extreme youth, are by no means so +pleasant to look at as the men. Their strongly-marked features are very +unfeminine, and hard work, privations, and very early marriages soon +destroy whatever of beauty or grace they may for a short time possess. +Their toilet is very simple, but also, I am sorry to say, very coarse, +and disgusting. It consists solely of a mat of plaited strips of palm +leaves, worn tight round the body, and reaching from the hips to the +knees. It seems not to be changed till worn out, is seldom washed, and +is generally very dirty. This is the universal dress, except in a few +cases where Malay "sarongs" have come into use. Their frizzly hair is +tied in a bench at the back of the head. They delight in combing, or +rather forking it, using for that purpose a large wooden fork with four +diverging prongs, which answers the purpose of separating and arranging +the long tangled, frizzly mass of cranial vegetation much better than +any comb could do. The only ornaments of the women are earrings and +necklaces, which they arrange in various tasteful ways. The ends of a +necklace are often attached to the earrings, and then looped on to +the hair-knot behind. This has really an elegant appearance, the beads +hanging gracefully on each side of the head, and by establishing a +connexion with the earrings give an appearance of utility to those +barbarous ornaments. We recommend this style to the consideration of +those of the fair sex who still bore holes in their ears and hang rings +thereto. Another style of necklace among these Papuan belles is to wear +two, each hanging on one side of the neck and under the opposite arm, so +as to cross each other. This has a very pretty appearance, in part due +to the contrast of the white beads or kangaroo teeth of which they are +composed with the dark glossy skin. The earrings themselves are formed +of a bar of copper or silver, twisted so that the ends cross. The men, +as usual among savages, adorn themselves more than the women. They wear +necklaces, earrings, and finger rings, and delight in a band of plaited +grass tight round the arm just below the shoulder, to which they attach +a bunch of hair or bright coloured feathers by way of ornament. The +teeth of small animals, either alone, or alternately with black or white +beads, form their necklaces, and sometimes bracelets also. For +these latter, however, they prefer brass wire, or the black, horny, +wing-spines of the cassowary, which they consider a charm. Anklets of +brass or shell, and tight plaited garters below the knee, complete their +ordinary decorations. + +Some natives of Kobror from further south, and who are reckoned the +worst and least civilized of the Aru tribes, came one day to visit us. +They have a rather more than usually savage appearance, owing to the +greater amount of ornaments they use--the most conspicuous being a +large horseshoe-shaped comb which they wear over the forehead, the ends +resting on the temples. The back of the comb is fastened into a piece of +wood, which is plated with tin in front, and above is attached a plume +of feathers from a cock's tail. In other respects they scarcely differed +from the people I was living with. They brought me a couple of birds, +some shells and insects; showing that the report of the white man and +his doing had reached their country. There was probably hardly a man in +Aru who had not by this time heard of me. + +Besides the domestic utensils already mentioned, the moveable property +of a native is very scanty. He has a good supply of spears and bows +and arrows for hunting, a parang, or chopping-knife, and an axe-for the +stone age has passed away here, owing to the commercial enterprise of +the Bugis and other Malay races. Attached to a belt, or hung across +his shoulder, he carries a little skin pouch and an ornamented +bamboo, containing betel-nut, tobacco, and lime, and a small German +wooden-handled knife is generally stuck between his waist-cloth of bark +and his bare shin. Each man also possesses a "cadjan," or sleeping-mat, +made of the broad leaves of a pandanus neatly sewn together in three +layers. This mat is abort four feet square, and when folded has one end +sewn up, so that it forms a kind of sack open at one side. In the closed +corner the head or feet can be placed, or by carrying it on the head +in a shower it forms both coat and umbrella. It doubles up ix a small +compass for convenient carriage, and then forms a light and elastic +cushion, so that on a journey it becomes clothing, house, bedding, and +furniture, all in one. + +The only ornaments in an Aru horse are trophies of the chase--jaws of +wild pigs, the heads and backbones of cassowaries, and plumes made from +the feathers of the Bird of Paradise, cassowary, and domestic fowl. +The spears, shields, knife-handles, and other utensils are more or less +carved in fanciful designs, and the mats and leaf boxes are painted or +plaited in neat patterns of red, black, and yellow colours. I must not +forget these boxes, which are most ingeniously made of the pith of +a balm leaf pegged together, lined inside with pandanus leaves, and +outside with the same, or with plaited grass. All the joints and angles +are coffered with strips of split rattan sewn neatly on. The lid is +covered with the brown leathery spathe of the Areca palm, which is +impervious to water, and the whole box is neat, strong, and well +finished. They are made from a few inches to two or three feet long, and +being much esteemed by the Malay as clothes-boxes, are a regular article +of export from Aru. The natives use the smaller ones for tobacco or +betel-nut, but seldom have clothes enough to require the larger ones, +which are only made for sale. + +Among the domestic animals which may generally be seen in native houses, +are gaudy parrots, green, red, and blue, a few domestic fowls, which +have baskets hung for them to lay in under the eaves, and who sleep on +the ridge, and several half-starved wolfish-baking dogs. Instead of rats +and mice there are curious little marsupial animals about the same size, +which run about at night and nibble anything eatable that may be left +uncovered. Four or five different kinds of ants attack everything not +isolated by water, and one kind even swims across that; great spiders +lurk in baskets and boxes, or hide in the folds of my mosquito curtain; +centipedes and millepedes are found everywhere. I have caught them under +my pillow and on my bead; while in every box, and under every hoard +which has lain for some days undisturbed, little scorpions are sure to +be found snugly ensconced, with their formidable tails quickly turned +up ready for attack or defence. Such companions seem very alarming +and dangerous, but all combined are not so bad as the irritation of +mosquitoes, or of the insect pests often found at home. These latter are +a constant and unceasing source of torment and disgust, whereas you +may live a long time among scorpions, spiders, and centipedes, ugly and +venomous though they are, and get no harm from them. After living twelve +years in the tropics, I have never yet been bitten or stung by either. + +The lean and hungry dogs before mentioned were my greatest enemies, +and kept me constantly on the watch. If my boys left the bird they +were skinning for an instant, it was sure to be carried off. Everything +eatable had to be hung up to the roof, to be out of their reach. Ali +had just finished skinning a fine King Bird of Paradise one day, when +he dropped the skin. Before he could stoop to pick it up, one of this +famished race had seized upon it, and he only succeeded in rescuing +it from its fangs after it was torn to tatters. Two skins of the +large Paradisea, which were quite dry and ready to pack away, were +incautiously left on my table for the night, wrapped up in paper. The +next morning they were gone, and only a few scattered feathers indicated +their fate. My hanging shelf was out of their reach; but having stupidly +left a box which served as a step, a full-plumaged Paradise bird was +next morning missing; and a dog below the house was to be seen still +mumbling over the fragments, with the fine golden plumes all trampled +in the mud. Every night, as soon as I was in bed, I could hear them +searching about for what they could devour, under my table, and all +about my boxes and baskets, keeping me in a state of suspense till +morning, lest something of value might incautiously have been left +within their read. They would drink the oil of my floating lamp and eat +the wick, and upset or break my crockery if my lazy boys had neglected +to wash away even the smell of anything eatable. Bad, however, as they +are here, they were worse in a Dyak's house in Borneo where I was once +staying, for there they gnawed off the tops of my waterproof boots, +ate a large piece out of an old leather game-bag, besides devouring a +portion of my mosquito curtain! + +April 28th.--Last evening we had a grand consultation, which had +evidently been arranged and discussed beforehand. A number of the +natives gathered round me, and said they wanted to talk. Two of the best +Malay scholars helped each other, the rest putting in hints and ideas +in their own language. They told me a long rambling story; but, partly +owing to their imperfect knowledge of Malay, partly through my ignorance +of local terms, and partly through the incoherence of their narrative, I +could not make it out very clearly. It was, however, a tradition, and +I was glad to find they had anything of the kind. A long time ago, they +said, some strangers came to Aru, and came here to Wanumbai, and the +chief of the Wanumbai people did not like them, and wanted them to go +away, but they would not go, and so it came to fighting, and many Aru +men were killed, and some, along with the chief, were taken prisoners, +and carried away by the strangers. Some of the speakers, however, said +that he was not carried away, but went away in his own boat to escape +from the foreigners, and went to the sea and never came back again. But +they all believe that the chief and the people that went with him still +live in some foreign country; and if they could but find out where, they +would send for them to come back again. Now having some vague idea that +white men must know every country beyond the sea, they wanted to know +if I had met their people in my country or in the sea. They thought they +must be there, for they could not imagine where else they could be. They +had sought for them everywhere, they said--on the land and in the sea, +in the forest and on the mountains, in the air and in the sky, and could +not find them; therefore, they must be in my country, and they begged +me to tell them, for I must surely know, as I came from across the +great sea. I tried to explain to them that their friends could not have +reached my country in small boats; and that there were plenty of islands +like Aru all about the sea, which they would be sure to find. Besides, +as it was so long ago, the chief and all the people must be dead. But +they quite laughed at this idea, and said they were sure they were +alive, for they had proof of it. And then they told me that a good many +years ago, when the speakers were boys, some Wokan men who were out +fishing met these lost people in the sea, and spoke to them; and the +chief gave the Wokan men a hundred fathoms of cloth to bring to the men +of Wanumbai, to show that they were alive and would soon come back to +them, but the Wokan men were thieves, and kept the cloth, and they only +heard of it afterwards; and when they spoke about it, the Wokan men +denied it, and pretended they had not received the cloth;--so they were +quite sure their friends were at that time alive and somewhere in the +sea. And again, not many years ago, a report came to them that some +Bugis traders had brought some children of their lost people; so they +went to Dobbo to see about it, and the owner of the house, who was now +speaking to me, was one who went; but the Bugis man would not let them +see the children, and threatened to kill them if they came into his +house. He kept the children shut up in a large box, and when he went +away he took them with him. And at the end of each of these stories, +they begged me in an imploring tone to tell them if I knew where their +chief and their people now were. + +By dint of questioning, I got some account of the strangers who had +taken away their people. They said they were wonderfully strong, and +each one could kill a great many Aru men; and when they were wounded, +however badly, they spit upon the place, and it immediately became well. +And they made a great net of rattans, and entangled their prisoners in +it, and sunk them in the water; and the next day, when they pulled +the net up on shore, they made the drowned men come to life again, and +carried them away. + +Much more of the same kind was told me, but in so confused and rambling +a manner that I could make nothing out of it, till I inquired how long +ago it was that all this happened, when they told me that after their +people were taken away the Bugis came in their praus to trade in Aru, +and to buy tripang and birds' nests. It is not impossible that something +similar to what they related to me really happened when the early +Portuguese discoverers first came to Aru, and has formed the foundation +for a continually increasing accumulation of legend and fable. I have +no doubt that to the next generation, or even before, I myself shall be +transformed into a magician or a demigod, a worker of miracles, and +a being of supernatural knowledge. They already believe that all the +animals I preserve will come to life again; and to their children it +will be related that they actually did so. An unusual spell of fine +weather setting in just at my arrival has made them believe I can +control the seasons; and the simple circumstance of my always walking +alone in the forest is a wonder and a mystery to them, as well as my +asking them about birds and animals I have not yet seen, and showing +an acquaintance with their form, colours, and habits. These facts are +brought against me when I disclaim knowledge of what they wish me to +tell them. "You must know," say they; "you know everything: you make the +fine weather for your men to shoot, and you know all about our birds and +our animals as well as we do; and you go alone into the forest and +are not afraid." Therefore every confession of ignorance on my part is +thought to be a blind, a mere excuse to avoid telling them too much. My +very writing materials and books are to them weird things; and were I to +choose to mystify them by a few simple experiments with lens and magnet, +miracles without end would in a few years cluster about me; and future +travellers, penetrating to Wanumbai, world h hardly believe that a poor +English naturalist, who had resided a few months among them, could have +been the original of the supernatural being to whom so many marvels were +attributed. + +Far some days I had noticed a good deal of excitement, and many +strangers came and went armed with spears and cutlasses, bows and +shields. I now found there was war near us--two neighbouring villages +having a quarrel about some matter of local politics that I could not +understand. They told me it was quite a common thing, and that they are +rarely without fighting somewhere near. Individual quarrels are taken up +by villages and tribes, and the nonpayment of the stipulated price for a +wife is one of the most frequent causes of bitterness and bloodshed. One +of the war shields was brought me to look at. It was made of rattans +and covered with cotton twist, so as to be both light, strong, and very +tough. I should think it would resist any ordinary bullet. Abort the +middle there was au arm-hole with a shutter or flap over it. This +enables the arm to be put through and the bow drawn, while the body +and face, up to the eyes, remain protected, which cannot be done if +the shield is carried on the arm by loops attached at the back in the +ordinary way. A few of the young men from our house went to help their +friends, but I could not bear that any of them were hurt, or that there +was much hard fighting. + +May 8th.-I had now been six weeks at Wanumbai, but for more than half +the time was laid up in the house with ulcerated feet. My stores being +nearly exhausted, and my bird and insect boxes full, and having no +immediate prospect of getting the use of my legs again, I determined +on returning to Dobbo. Birds had lately become rather scarce, and the +Paradise birds had not yet become as plentiful as the natives assured me +they would be in another month. The Wanumbai people seemed very sorry +at my departure; and well they might be, for the shells and insects they +picked up on the way to and from their plantations, and the birds the +little boys shot with their bows and arrows, kept them all well supplied +with tobacco and gambir, besides enabling them to accumulate a stock +of beads and coppers for future expenses. The owner of the house was +supplied gratis with a little rice, fish, or salt, whenever he asked for +it, which I must say was not very often. On parting, I distributed among +them my remnant stock of salt and tobacco, and gave my host a flask +of arrack, and believe that on the whole my stay with these simple +and good-natured people was productive of pleasure and profit to +both parties. I fully intended to come back; and had I known that +circumstances would have prevented my doing so, shoed have felt some +sorrow in leaving a place where I had first seen so many rare and +beautiful living things, and bad so fully enjoyed the pleasure which +fills the heart of the naturalist when he is so fortunate as to discover +a district hitherto unexplored, and where every day brings forth new and +unexpected treasures. We loaded our boat in the afternoon, and, starting +before daybreak, by the help of a fair wind reached Dobbo late the same +evening. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. THE ARU ISLANDS.--SECOND RESIDENCE AT DOBBO. + +(MAY AND JUNE 1857.) + +DOBBO was full to overflowing, and I was obliged to occupy the +court-house where the Commissioners hold their sittings. They had now +left the island, and I found the situation agreeable, as it was at the +end of the village, with a view down the principal street. It was a mere +shed, but half of it had a roughly boarded floor, and by putting up a +partition and opening a window I made it a very pleasant abode. In one +of the boxes I had left in charge of Herr Warzbergen, a colony of small +ants had settled and deposited millions of eggs. It was luckily a fine +hot day, and by carrying the box some distance from the house, and +placing every article in the sunshine for an hour or two, I got rid of +them without damage, as they were fortunately a harmless species. + +Dobbo now presented an animated appearance. Five or six new houses +had been added to the street; the praus were all brought round to the +western side of the point, where they were hauled up on the beach, and +were being caulked and covered with a thick white lime-plaster for the +homeward voyage, making them the brightest and cleanest looking +things in the place. Most of the small boats had returned from the +"blakang-tana" (back country), as the side of the islands towards New +Guinea is called. Piles of firewood were being heaped up behind the +houses; sail-makers and carpenters were busy at work; mother-of-pearl +shell was being tied up in bundles, and the black and ugly smoked +tripang was having a last exposure to the sun before loading. The spare +portion of the crews were employed cutting and squaring timber, and +boats from Ceram and Goram were constantly unloading their cargoes of +sago-cake for the traders' homeward voyage. The fowls, ducks, and goats +all looked fat and thriving on the refuse food of a dense population, +and the Chinamen's pigs were in a state of obesity that foreboded early +death. Parrots and Tories and cockatoos, of a dozen different binds, +were suspended on bamboo perches at the doors of the houses, with +metallic green or white fruit-pigeons which cooed musically at noon and +eventide. Young cassowaries, strangely striped with black and brown, +wandered about the houses or gambolled with the playfulness of kittens +in the hot sunshine, with sometimes a pretty little kangaroo, caught in +the Aru forests, but already tame and graceful as a petted fawn. + +Of an evening there were more signs of life than at the time of my +former residence. Tom-toms, jews'-harps, and even fiddles were to be +heard, and the melancholy Malay songs sounded not unpleasantly far into +the night. Almost every day there was a cock-fight in the street. The +spectators make a ring, and after the long steel spurs are tied on, +and the poor animals are set down to gash and kill each other, the +excitement is immense. Those who lave made bets scream and yell and jump +frantically, if they think they are going to win or lose, but in a very +few minutes it is all over; there is a hurrah from the winners, the +owners seize their cocks, the winning bird is caressed and admired, the +loser is generally dead or very badly wounded, and his master may often +be seen plucking out his feathers as he walks away, preparing him for +the cooking pot while the poor bird is still alive. + +A game at foot-ball, which generally took place at sunset, was, however, +much more interesting to me. The ball used is a rather small one, and is +made of rattan, hollow, light, and elastic. The player keeps it dancing +a little while on his foot, then occasionally on his arm or thigh, till +suddenly he gives it a good blow with the hollow of the foot, and sends +it flying high in the air. Another player runs to meet it, and at its +first bound catches it on his foot and plays in his turn. The ball must +never be touched with the hand; but the arm, shoulder, knee, or +thigh are used at pleasure to rest the foot. Two or three played very +skilfully, keeping the ball continually flying about, but the place was +too confined to show off the game to advantage. One evening a quarrel +arose from some dispute in the game, and there was a great row, and +it was feared there would be a fight about it--not two men only, but a +party of a dozen or twenty on each side, a regular battle with knives +and krisses; but after a large amount of talk it passed off quietly, and +we heard nothing about it afterwards. + +Most Europeans being gifted by nature with a luxuriant growth of hair +upon their faces, think it disfigures them, and keep up a continual +struggle against her by mowing down every morning the crop which has +sprouted up flaring the preceding twenty-four hours. Now the men of +Mongolian race are, naturally, just as many of us want to he. They +mostly pass their lives with faces as smooth and beardless as an +infant's. But shaving seems an instinct of the human race; for many of +these people, having no hair to take off their faces, shave their heads. +Others, however, set resolutely to work to force nature to give them a +beard. One of the chief cock-fighters at Dobbo was a Javanese, a sort of +master of the ceremonies of the ring, who tied on the spars and acted as +backer-up to one of the combatants. This man had succeeded, by assiduous +cultivation, in raising a pair of moustaches which were a triumph of +art, for they each contained about a dozen hairs more than three inches +long, and which, being well greased and twisted, were distinctly visible +(when not too far off) as a black thread hanging down on each side of +his mouth. But the beard to match was the difficulty, for nature had +cruelly refused to give him a rudiment of hair on his chin, and the most +talented gardener could not do much if he had nothing to cultivate. +But true genius triumphs over difficulties. Although there was no hair +proper on the chin; there happened to be, rather on one side of it, a +small mole or freckle which contained (as such things frequently do) a +few stray hairs. These had been made the most of. They had reached four +or five inches in length, and formed another black thread dangling +from the left angle of the chin. The owner carried this as if it +were something remarkable (as it certainly was); he often felt it +affectionately, passed it between his fingers, and was evidently +extremely proud of his moustaches and beard! + +One of the most surprising things connected with Aru was the excessive +cheapness of all articles of European or native manufacture. We +were here two thousand miles beyond Singapore and Batavia, which are +themselves emporiums of the "far east," in a place unvisited by, and +almost unknown to, European traders; everything reached us through at +least two or three hands, often many more; yet English calicoes and +American cotton cloths could be bought for 8s. the piece, muskets for +15s., common scissors and German knives at three-halfpence each, and +other cutlery, cotton goods, and earthenware in the same proportion. +The natives of this out-of-the-way country can, in fact, buy all these +things at about the same money price as our workmen at home, but in +reality very much cheaper, for the produce of a few hours' labour +enables the savage to purchase in abundance what are to him luxuries, +while to the European they are necessaries of life. The barbarian is no +happier and no better off for this cheapness. On the contrary, it has +a most injurious effect on him. He wants the stimulus of necessity to +force him to labour; and if iron were as dear as silver, and calico as +costly as satin, the effect would be beneficial to him. As it is, he +has more idle hours, gets a more constant supply of tobacco, and can +intoxicate himself with arrack more frequently and more thoroughly; for +your Aru man scorns to get half drunk-a tumbler full of arrack is but a +slight stimulus, and nothing less than half a gallon of spirit will make +him tipsy to his own satisfaction. + +It is not agreeable to reflect on this state of things. At least half +of the vast multitudes of uncivilized peoples, on whom our gigantic +manufacturing system, enormous capital, and intense competition force +the produce of our looms and workshops, would be not a whit worse off +physically, and would certainly be improved morally, if all the articles +with which w e supply them were double or treble their present prices. +If at the same time the difference of cost, or a large portion of +it, could find its way into the pockets of the manufacturing workmen, +thousands would be raised from want to comfort, from starvation to +health, and would be removed from one of the chief incentives to crime. +It is difficult for an Englishman to avoid contemplating with pride our +gigantic and ever-increasing manufactures and commerce, and thinking +everything good that renders their progress still more rapid, either +by lowering the price at which the articles can be produced, or by +discovering new markets to which they may be sent. If, however, the +question that is so frequently asked of the votaries of the less popular +sciences were put here--"Cui bono?"--it would be found more difficult to +answer than had been imagined. The advantages, even to the few who reap +them, would be seen to be mostly physical, while the wide-spread moral +and intellectual evils resulting from unceasing labour, low wages, +crowded dwellings, and monotonous occupations, to perhaps as large a +number as those who gain any real advantage, might be held to show +a balance of evil so great, as to lead the greatest admirers of our +manufactures and commerce to doubt the advisability of their further +development. It will be said: "We cannot stop it; capital must be +employed; our population must be kept at work; if we hesitate a moment, +other nations now hard pressing us will get ahead, and national ruin +will follow." Some of this is true, some fallacious. It is undoubtedly a +difficult problem which we have to solve; and I am inclined to think it +is this difficulty that makes men conclude that what seems a necessary +and unalterable state of things must be good-that its benefits must be +greater than its evils. This was the feeling of the American advocates +of slavery; they could not see an easy, comfortable way out of it. In +our own case, however, it is to be hoped, that if a fair consideration +of the matter in all its hearings shows that a preponderance of evil +arises from the immensity of our manufactures and commerce-evil which +must go on increasing with their increase-there is enough both of +political wisdom and true philanthropy in Englishmen, to induce them to +turn their superabundant wealth into other channels. The fact that has +led to these remarks is surely a striking one: that in one of the most +remote corners of the earth savages can buy clothing cheaper than the +people of the country where it is made; that the weaver's child should +shiver in the wintry wind, unable to purchase articles attainable by the +wild natives of a tropical climate, where clothing is mere ornament or +luxury, should make us pause ere we regard with unmixed admiration the +system which has led to such a result, and cause us to look with some +suspicion on the further extension of that system. It must be remembered +too that our commerce is not a purely natural growth. It has been ever +fostered by the legislature, and forced to an unnatural luxuriance by +the protection of our fleets and armies. The wisdom and the justice of +this policy have been already doubted. So soon, therefore, as it is seen +that the further extension of our manufactures and commerce would be an +evil, the remedy is not far to seek. + +After six weeks' confinement to the house I was at length well, and +could resume my daily walks in the forest. I did not, however, find it +so productive as when I had first arrived at Dobbo. There was a damp +stagnation about the paths, and insects were very scarce. In some of my +best collecting places I now found a mass of rotting wood, mingled with +young shoots, and overgrown with climbers, yet I always managed to +add something daily to my extensive collections. I one day met with +a curious example of failure of instinct, which, by showing it to be +fallible, renders it very doubtful whether it is anything more than +hereditary habit, dependent on delicate modifications of sensation. Some +sailors cut down a good-sized tree, and, as is always my practice, I +visited it daily for some time in search of insects. Among other +beetles came swarms of the little cylindrical woodborers (Platypus, +Tesserocerus, &c.), and commenced making holes in the bark. After a day +or two I was surprised to find hundreds of them sticking in the holes +they had bored, and on examination discovered that the milky sap of the +tree was of the nature of gutta-percha, hardening rapidly on exposure to +the air, and glueing the little animals in self-dug graves. The habit +of boring holes in trees in which to deposit their eggs, was not +accompanied by a sufficient instinctive knowledge of which trees were +suitable, and which destructive to them. If, as is very probable, these +trees have an attractive odour to certain species of borers, it might +very likely lead to their becoming extinct; while other species, to whom +the same odour was disagreeable, and who therefore avoided the dangerous +trees, would survive, and would be credited by us with an instinct, +whereas they would really be guided by a simple sensation. + +Those curious little beetles, the Brenthidae, were very abundant in Aru. +The females have a pointed rostrum, with which they bore deep holes in +the bark of dead trees, often burying the rostrum up to the eyes, and +in these holes deposit their eggs. The males are larger, and have the +rostrum dilated at the end, and sometimes terminating in a good-sized +pair of jaws. I once saw two males fighting together; each had a +fore-leg laid across the neck of the other, and the rostrum bent quite +in an attitude of defiance, and looking most ridiculous. Another time, +two were fighting for a female, who stood close by busy at her boring. +They pushed at each other with their rostra, and clawed and thumped, +apparently in the greatest rage, although their coats of mail must +have saved both from injury. The small one, however, soon ran away, +acknowledging himself vanquished. In most Coleoptera the female is +larger than the male, and it is therefore interesting, as bearing on the +question of sexual selection, that in this case, as in the stag-beetles +where the males fight together, they should be not only better armed, +but also much larger than the females. Just as we were going away, a +handsome tree, allied to Erythrina, was in blossom, showing its masses +of large crimson flowers scattered here and there about the forest. +Could it have been seen from an elevation, it would have had a fine +effect; from below I could only catch sight of masses of gorgeous colour +in clusters and festoons overhead, about which flocks of blue and orange +lories were fluttering and screaming. + +A good many people died at Dobbo this season; I believe about twenty. +They were buried in a little grove of Casuarinas behind my house. Among +the traders was a. Mahometan priest, who superintended the funerals, +which were very simple. The body was wrapped up in new white cotton +cloth, and was carried on a bier to the grave. All the spectators sat +down on the ground, and the priest chanted some verses from the Koran. +The graves were fenced round with a slight bamboo railing, and a little +carved wooden head-post was put to mark the spot. There was also in the +village a small mosque, where every Friday the faithful went to pray. +This is probably more remote from Mecca than any other mosque in +the world, and marks the farthest eastern extension of the Mahometan +religion. The Chinese here, as elsewhere, showed their superior wealth +and civilization by tombstones of solid granite brought from Singapore, +with deeply-cut inscriptions, the characters of which are painted in +red, blue, and gold. No people have more respect for the graves of +their relations and friends than this strange, ubiquitous, money-getting +people. + +Soon after we had returned to Dobbo, my Macassar boy, Baderoon, took his +wages and left me, because I scolded him for laziness. He then occupied +himself in gambling, and at first had some luck, and bought ornaments, +and had plenty of money. Then his luck turned; he lost everything, +borrowed money and lost that, and was obliged to become the slave of his +creditor till he had worked out the debt. He was a quick and active lad +when he pleased, but was apt to be idle, and had such an incorrigible +propensity for gambling, that it will very likely lead to his becoming a +slave for life. + +The end of June was now approaching, the east monsoon had set +in steadily, and in another week or two Dobbo would be deserted. +Preparations for departure were everywhere visible, and every sunny day +(rather rare now) the streets were as crowded and as busy as +beehives. Heaps of tripang were finally dried and packed up in sacks; +mother-of-pearl shell, tied up with rattans into convenient bundles, was +all day long being carried to the beach to be loaded; water-casks were +filled, and cloths and mat-sails mended and strengthened for the run +home before the strong east wind. Almost every day groups of natives +arrived from the most distant parts of the islands, with cargoes of +bananas and sugar-cane to exchange for tobacco, sago, bread, and other +luxuries, before the general departure. The Chinamen killed their fat +pig and made their parting feast, and kindly sent me some pork, and a +basin of birds' nest stew, which had very little more taste than a dish +of vermicelli. My boy Ali returned from Wanumbai, where I had sent him +alone for a fortnight to buy Paradise birds and prepare the skins; he +brought me sixteen glorious specimens, and had he not been very ill with +fever and ague might have obtained twice the number. He had lived +with the people whose house I had occupied, and it is a proof of their +goodness, if fairly treated, that although he took with him a quantity +of silver dollars to pay for the birds they caught, no attempt was made +to rob him, which might have been done with the most perfect impunity. +He was kindly treated when ill, and was brought back to me with the +balance of the dollars he had not spent. + +The Wanumbai people, like almost all the inhabitants of the Aru Islands, +are perfect savages, and I saw no signs of any religion. There are, +however, three or four villages on the coast where schoolmasters from +Amboyna reside, and the people are nominally Christians, and are to some +extent educated and civilized. I could not get much real knowledge of +the customs of the Aru people during the short time I was among them, +but they have evidently been considerably influenced by their long +association with Mahometan traders. They often bury their dead, although +the national custom is to expose the body an a raised stage till it +decomposes. Though there is no limit to the number of wives a man may +have, they seldom exceed one or two. A wife is regularly purchased from +the parents, the price being a large assortment of articles, always +including gongs, crockery, and cloth. They told me that some of the +tribes kill the old men and women when they can no longer work, but I +saw many very old and decrepid people, who seemed pretty well attended +to. No doubt all who have much intercourse with the Bugis and Ceramese +traders gradually lose many of their native customs, especially as these +people often settle in their villages and marry native women. + +The trade carried on at Dobbo is very considerable. This year there were +fifteen large praus from Macassar, and perhaps a hundred small boats +from Ceram, Goram, and Ke. The Macassar cargoes are worth about L1,000. +each, and the other boats take away perhaps about L3,000, worth, so that +the whole exports may be estimated at L18,000. per annum. The largest +and most bulky items are pearl-shell and tripang, or "beche-de-mer," +with smaller quantities of tortoise-shell, edible birds' nests, pearls, +ornamental woods, timber, and Birds of Paradise. These are purchased +with a variety of goods. Of arrack, about equal in strength to ordinary +West India rum, 3,000 boxes, each containing fifteen half-gallon +bottles, are consumed annually. Native cloth from Celebes is much +esteemed for its durability, and large quantities are sold, as well as +white English calico and American unbleached cottons, common crockery, +coarse cutlery, muskets, gunpowder, gongs, small brass cannon, and +elephants' tusks. These three last articles constitute the wealth of the +Aru people, with which they pay for their wives, or which they hoard +up as "real property." Tobacco is in immense demand for chewing, and +it must be very strong, or an Aru man will not look at it. Knowing +how little these people generally work, the mass of produce obtained +annually shows that the islands must be pretty thickly inhabited, +especially along the coasts, as nine-tenths of the whole are marine +productions. + +It was on the 2d of July that we left Aru, followed by all the Macassar +praus, fifteen in number, who had agreed to sail in company. We passed +south of Banda, and then steered due west, not seeing land for three +days, till we sighted some low islands west of Bouton. We had a strong +and steady south-east wind day and night, which carried us on at about +five knots an hour, where a clipper ship would have made twelve. The sky +was continually cloudy, dark, and threatening, with occasional drizzling +showers, till we were west of Bouru, when it cleared up and we enjoyed +the bright sunny skies of the dry season for the rest of our voyage. +It is about here, therefore that the seasons of the eastern and western +regions of the Archipelago are divided. West of this line from June to +December is generally fine, and often very dry, the rest of the year +being the wet season. East of it the weather is exceedingly uncertain, +each island, and each side of an island, having its own peculiarities. +The difference seems to consist not so much in the distribution of the +rainfall as in that of the clouds and the moistness of the atmosphere. +In Aru, for example, when we left, the little streams were all dried up, +although the weather was gloomy; while in January, February, and March, +when we had the hottest sunshine and the finest days, they were always +flowing. The driest time of all the year in Aru occurs in September and +October, just as it does in Java and Celebes. The rainy seasons agree, +therefore, with those of the western islands, although the weather is +very different. The Molucca sea is of a very deep blue colour, quite +distinct from the clear light blue of the Atlantic. In cloudy and dull +weather it looks absolutely black, and when crested with foam has a +stern and angry aspect. The wind continued fair and strong during our +whole voyage, and we reached Macassar in perfect safety on the evening +of the 11th of July, having made the passage from Aru (more than a +thousand miles) in nine and a half days. + +My expedition to the Aru Islands had been eminently successful. Although +I had been for months confined to the house by illness, and had lost +much time by the want of the means of locomotion, and by missing the +right season at the right place, I brought away with me more than nine +thousand specimens of natural objects, of about sixteen hundred distinct +species. I had made the acquaintance of a strange and little-known race +of men; I had become familiar with the traders of the far East; I had +revelled in the delights of exploring a new fauna and flora, one of the +most remarkable and most beautiful and least-known in the world; and +I had succeeded in the main object for which I had undertaken the +journey-namely, to obtain fine specimens of the magnificent Birds of +Paradise, and to be enabled to observe them in their native forests. By +this success I was stimulated to continue my researches in the Moluccas +and New Guinea for nearly five years longer, and it is still the portion +of my travels to which I look back with the most complete satisfaction. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. THE ARU ISLANDS--PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND ASPECTS OF +NATURE. + +IN this chapter I propose to give a general sketch of the physical +geography of the Aru Islands, and of their relation to the surrounding +countries; and shall thus be able to incorporate the information +obtained from traders, and from the works of other naturalists with +my own observations in these exceedingly interesting and little-known +regions. + +The Aru group may be said to consist of one very large central island +with a number of small ones scattered round it. The great island is +called by the natives and traders "Tang-busar" (great or mainland), to +distinguish it as a whole from Dobbo, or any of the detached islands. It +is of an irregular oblong form, about eighty miles from north to south, +and forty or fifty from east to west, in which direction it is traversed +by three narrow channels, dividing it into four portions. These channels +are always called rivers by the traders, which puzzled me much till I +passed through one of them, and saw how exceedingly applicable the +name was. The northern channel, called the river of Watelai, is about +a quarter of a mile wide at its entrance, but soon narrows to abort the +eighth of a mile, which width it retains, with little variation, during +its whole, length of nearly fifty miles, till it again widens at its +eastern mouth. Its course is moderately winding, and the hanks are +generally dry and somewhat elevated. In many places there are low cliffs +of hard coralline limestone, more or less worn by the action of water; +while sometimes level spaces extend from the banks to low ranges of +hills a little inland. A few small streams enter it from right and left, +at the mouths of which are some little rocky islands. The depth is +very regular, being from ten to fifteen fathoms, and it has thus every +feature of a true river, but for the salt water and the absence of a +current. The other two rivers, whose names are Vorkai and Maykor, are +said to be very similar in general character; but they are rather near +together, and have a number of cross channels intersecting the flat +tract between them. On the south side of Maykor the banks are +very rocky, and from thence to the southern extremity of Aru is +an uninterrupted extent of rather elevated and very rocky country, +penetrated by numerous small streams, in the high limestone cliffs +bordering which the edible birds' nests of Aru are chiefly obtained. +All my informants stated that the two southern rivers are larger than +Watelai. + +The whole of Aru is low, but by no means so flat as it has been +represented, or as it appears from the sea. Most of it is dry rocky +ground, with a somewhat undulating surface, rising here and there +into abrupt hillocks, or cut into steep and narrow ravines. Except the +patches of swamp which are found at the mouths of most of the small +rivers, there is no absolutely level ground, although the greatest +elevation is probably not more than two hundred feet. The rock which +everywhere appears in the ravines and brooks is a coralline limestone, +in some places soft and pliable, in others so hard and crystalline as to +resemble our mountain limestone. + +The small islands which surround the central mass are very numerous; +but most of them are on the east side, where they form a fringe, often +extending ten or fifteen miles from the main islands. On the west there +are very few, Wamma and Palo Pabi being the chief, with Ougia, and +Wassia at the north-west extremity. On the east side the sea is +everywhere shallow, and full of coral; and it is here that the +pearl-shells are found which form one of the chief staples of Aru trade. +All the islands are covered with a dense and very lofty forest. + +The physical features here described are of peculiar interest, and, as +far as I am aware, are to some extent unique; for I have been unable +to find any other record of an island of the size of Aru crossed +by channels which exactly resemble true rivers. How these channels +originated were a complete puzzle to me, till, after a long +consideration of the whole of the natural phenomena presented by +these islands, I arrived at a conclusion which I will now endeavour to +explain. There are three ways in which we may conceive islands which +are not volcanic to have been formed, or to have been reduced to their +present condition, by elevation, by subsidence, or by separation from +a continent or larger island. The existence of coral rock, or of raised +beaches far inland, indicates recent elevation; lagoon coral-islands, +and such as have barrier or encircling reefs, have suffered subsidence; +while our own islands, whose productions are entirely those of the +adjacent continent, have been separated from it. Now the Aru Islands are +all coral rock, and the adjacent sea is shallow and full of coral, it is +therefore evident that they have been elevated from beneath the ocean +at a not very distant epoch. But if we suppose that elevation to be the +first and only cause of their present condition, we shall find ourselves +quite unable to explain the curious river-channels which divide them. +Fissures during upheaval would not produce the regular width, the +regular depth, or the winding curves which characterise them; and the +action of tides and currents during their elevation might form straits +of irregular width and depth, but not the river-like channels which +actually exist. If, again, we suppose the last movement to have been +one of subsidence, reducing the size of the islands, these channels +are quite as inexplicable; for subsidence would necessarily lead to +the flooding of all low tracts on the banks of the old rivers, and thus +obliterate their courses; whereas these remain perfect, and of nearly +uniform width from end to end. + +Now if these channels have ever been rivers they must have flowed from +some higher regions, and this must have been to the east, because on the +north and west the sea-bottom sinks down at a short distance from the +shore to an unfathomable depth; whereas on the east, a shallow sea, +nowhere exceeding fifty fathoms, extends quite across to New Guinea, a +distance of about a hundred and fifty miles. An elevation of only three +hundred feet would convert the whole of this sea into moderately high +land, and make the Aru Islands a portion of New Guinea; and the rivers +which have their mouths at Utanata and Wamuka, might then have flowed on +across Aru, in the channels which are now occupied by salt water. +Then the intervening land sunk down, we must suppose the land that +now constitutes Aru to have remained nearly stationary, a not very +improbable supposition, when we consider the great extent of the +shallow sea, and the very small amount of depression the land need have +undergone to produce it. + +But the fact of the Aru Islands having once been connected with New +Guinea does not rest on this evidence alone. There is such a striking +resemblance between the productions of the two countries as only exists +between portions of a common territory. I collected one hundred species +of land-birds in the Aru Islands, and about eighty of them, have been +found on the mainland of New Guinea. Among these are the great wingless +cassowary, two species of heavy brush turkeys, and two of short winged +thrushes; which could certainly not have passed over the 150 miles of +open sea to the coast of New Guinea. This barrier is equally effectual +in the case of many other birds which live only in the depths of the +forest, as the kinghunters (Dacelo gaudichaudi), the fly-catching wrens +(Todopsis), the great crown pigeon (Goura coronata), and the small wood +doves (Ptilonopus perlatus, P. aurantiifrons, and P. coronulatus). +Now, to show the real effect of such barrier, let us take the island of +Ceram, which is exactly the same distance from New Guinea, but separated +from it by a deep sea. Cut of about seventy land-birds inhabiting Ceram, +only fifteen are found in New Guinea, and none of these are terrestrial +or forest-haunting species. The cassowary is distinct; the kingfishers, +parrots, pigeons, flycatchers, honeysuckers, thrushes, and cuckoos, are +almost always quite distinct species. More than this, at least twenty +genera, which are common to New Guinea and Aru, do not extend into +Ceram, indicating with a force which every naturalist will appreciate, +that the two latter countries have received their faunas in a radically +different manner. Again, a true kangaroo is found in Aru, and the same +species occurs in Mysol, which is equally Papuan in its productions, +while either the same, or one closely allied to it, inhabits New Guinea; +but no such animal is found in Ceram, which is only sixty miles from +Mysol. Another small marsupial animal (Perameles doreyanus) is common +to Aru and New Guinea. The insects show exactly the same results. The +butterflies of Aru are all either New Guinea species, or very slightly +modified forms; whereas those of Ceram are more distinct than are the +birds of the two countries. + +It is now generally admitted that we may safely reason on such facts +as those, which supply a link in the defective geological record. The +upward and downward movements which any country has undergone, and the +succession of such movements, can be determined with much accuracy; +but geology alone can tell us nothing of lands which have entirely +disappeared beneath the ocean. Here physical geography and the +distribution of animals and plants are of the greatest service. By +ascertaining the depth of the seas separating one country from another, +we can form some judgment of the changes which are taking place. If +there are other evidences of subsidence, a shallow sea implies a former +connexion of the adjacent lands; but if this evidence is wanting, or if +there is reason to suspect a rising of the land, then the shallow +sea may be the result of that rising, and may indicate that the two +countries will be joined at some future time, but not that they have +previously been so. The nature of the animals and plants inhabiting +these countries will, however, almost always enable us to determine this +question. Mr. Darwin has shown us how we may determine in almost every +case, whether an island has ever been connected with a continent or +larger land, by the presence or absence of terrestrial Mammalia and +reptiles. What he terms "oceanic islands" possess neither of these +groups of animals, though they may have a luxuriant vegetation, and a +fair number of birds, insects, and landshells; and we therefore conclude +that they have originated in mid-ocean, and have never been connected +with the nearest masses of land. St. Helena, Madeira, and New Zealand +are examples of oceanic islands. They possess all other classes of life, +because these have means of dispersion over wide spaces of sea, which +terrestrial mammals and birds have not, as is fully explained in Sir +Charles Lyell's "Principles of Geology," and Mr. Darwin's "Origin of +Species." On the other hand, an island may never have been actually +connected with the adjacent continents or islands, and yet may possess +representatives of all classes of animals, because many terrestrial +mammals and some reptiles have the means of passing over short distances +of sea. But in these cases the number of species that have thus migrated +will be very small, and there will be great deficiencies even in birds +and flying insects, which we should imagine could easily cross over. +The island of Timor (as I have already shown in Chapter XIII) bears this +relation to Australia; for while it contains several birds and insects +of Australian forms, no Australian mammal or reptile is found in it, +and a great number of the most abundant and characteristic forms of +Australian birds and insects are entirely absent. Contrast this with the +British Islands, in, which a large proportion of the plants, insects, +reptiles, and Mammalia of the adjacent parts of the continent are fully +represented, while there are no remarkable deficiencies of extensive +groups, such as always occur when there is reason to believe there has +been no such connexion. The case of Sumatra, Borneo, and Java, and the +Asiatic continent is equally clear; many large Mammalia, terrestrial +birds, and reptiles being common to all, while a large number more +are of closely allied forms. Now, geology has taught us that this +representation by allied forms in the same locality implies lapse of +time, and we therefore infer that in Great Britain, where almost +every species is absolutely identical with those on the Continent, the +separation has been very recent; while in Sumatra and Java, where a +considerable number of the continental species are represented by allied +forms, the separation was more remote. + +From these examples we may see how important a supplement to geological +evidence is the study of the geographical distribution of animals and +plants, in determining the former condition of the earth's surface; and +how impossible it is to understand the former without taking the latter +into account. The productions of the Aru Islands offer the strangest +evidence, that at no very distant epoch they formed a part of New +Guinea; and the peculiar physical features which I have described, +indicate that they must have stood at very nearly the same level then as +they do now, having been separated by the subsidence of the great plain +which formerly connected them with it. + +Persons who have formed the usual ideas of the vegetation of the tropics +who picture to themselves the abundance and brilliancy of the flowers, +and the magnificent appearance of hundreds of forest trees covered with +masses of coloured blossoms, will be surprised to hear, that though +vegetation in Aru is highly luxuriant and varied, and would afford +abundance of fine and curious plants to adorn our hothouses, yet bright +and showy flowers are, as a general rule, altogether absent, or so very +scarce as to produce no effect whatever on the general scenery. To give +particulars: I have visited five distinct localities in the islands, I +have wandered daily in the forests, and have passed along upwards of a +hundred miles of coast and river during a period of six months, much of +it very fine weather, and till just as I was about to leave, I never saw +a single plant of striking brilliancy or beauty, hardly a shrub equal to +a hawthorn, or a climber equal to a honeysuckle! It cannot be said that +the flowering season had not arrived, for I saw many herbs, shrubs, +and forest trees in flower, but all had blossoms of a green or +greenish-white tint, not superior to our lime-trees. Here and there on +the river banks and coasts are a few Convolvulaceae, not equal to our +garden Ipomaeas, and in the deepest shades of the forest some fine +scarlet and purple Zingiberaceae, but so few and scattered as to be +nothing amid the mass of green and flowerless vegetation. Yet the noble +Cycadaceae and screw-pines, thirty or forty feet high, the elegant tree +ferns, the lofty palms, and the variety of beautiful and curious plants +which everywhere meet the eye, attest the warmth and moisture of the +tropics, and the fertility of the soil. + +It is true that Aru seemed to me exceptionally poor in flowers, but +this is only an exaggeration of a general tropical feature; for my +whole experience in the equatorial regions of the west and the east has +convinced me, that in the most luxuriant parts of the tropics, flowers +are less abundant, on the average less showy, and are far less effective +in adding colour to the landscape than in temperate climates. I have +never seen in the tropics such brilliant masses of colour as even +England can show in her furze-clad commons, her heathery mountain-sides, +her glades of wild hyacinths, her fields of poppies, her meadows of +buttercups and orchises--carpets of yellow, purple, azure-blue, and +fiery crimson, which the tropics can rarely exhibit. We, have smaller +masses of colour in our hawthorn and crab trees, our holly and +mountain-ash, our boom; foxgloves, primroses, and purple vetches, which +clothe with gay colours the whole length and breadth of our land, These +beauties are all common. They are characteristic of the country and the +climate; they have not to be sought for, but they gladden the eye at +every step. In the regions of the equator, on the other hand, whether it +be forest or savannah, a sombre green clothes universal nature. You may +journey for hours, and even for days, and meet with nothing to break the +monotony. Flowers are everywhere rare, and anything at all striking is +only to be met with at very distant intervals. + +The idea that nature exhibits gay colours in the tropics, and that the +general aspect of nature is there more bright and varied in hue than +with us, has even been made the foundation of theories of art, and we +have been forbidden to use bright colours in our garments, and in the +decorations of our dwellings, because it was supposed that we should be +thereby acting in opposition to the teachings of nature. The argument +itself is a very poor one, since it might with equal justice be +maintained, that as we possess faculties for the appreciation of +colours, we should make up for the deficiencies of nature and use the +gayest tints in those regions where the landscape is most monotonous. +But the assumption on which the argument is founded is totally false, +so that even if the reasoning were valid, we need not be afraid of +outraging nature, by decorating our houses and our persons with +all those gay hues which are so lavishly spread over our fields and +mountains, our hedges, woods, and meadows. + +It is very easy to see what has led to this erroneous view of the nature +of tropical vegetation. In our hothouses and at our flower-shows we +gather together the finest flowering plants from the most distant +regions of the earth, and exhibit them in a proximity to each other +which never occurs in nature. A hundred distinct plants, all with +bright, or strange, or gorgeous flowers, make a wonderful show when +brought together; but perhaps no two of these plants could ever be seen +together in a state of nature, each inhabiting a distant region or a +different station. Again, all moderately warm extra-European countries +are mixed up with the tropics in general estimation, and a vague idea +is formed that whatever is preeminently beautiful must come from +the hottest parts of the earth. But the fact is quite the contrary. +Rhododendrons and azaleas are plants of temperate regions, the grandest +lilies are from temperate Japan, and a large proportion of our most +showy flowering plants are natives of the Himalayas, of the Cape, of the +United States, of Chili, or of China and Japan, all temperate regions. +True, there are a great number of grand and gorgeous flowers in the +tropics, but the proportion they bear to the mass of the vegetation is +exceedingly small; so that what appears an anomaly is nevertheless a +fact, and the effect of flowers on the general aspect of nature is far +less in the equatorial than in the temperate regions of the earth. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. NEW GUINEA.--DOREY. + +(MARCH TO JULY 1858.) + +AFTER my return from Gilolo to Ternate, in March 1858, I made +arrangements for my long-wished-for voyage to the mainland of New +Guinea, where I anticipated that my collections would surpass those +which I had formed at the Aru Islands. The poverty of Ternate in +articles used by Europeans was shown, by my searching in vain +through all the stores for such common things as flour, metal spoons, +wide-mouthed phials, beeswax, a penknife, and a stone or metal pestle +and mortar. I took with me four servants: my head man Ali, and a Ternate +lad named Jumaat (Friday), to shoot; Lahagi, a steady middle-aged man, +to cut timber and assist me in insect-collecting; and Loisa, a Javanese +cook. As I knew I should have to build a house at Dorey, where I was +going, I took with me eighty cadjans, or waterproof mats, made of +pandanus leaves, to cover over my baggage on first landing, and to help +to roof my house afterwards. + +We started on the 25th of March in the schooner Hester Helena, belonging +to my friend Mr. Duivenboden, and bound on a trading voyage along the +north coast of New Guinea. Having calms and light airs, we were three +days reaching Gane, near the south end of Gilolo, where we stayed to +fill up our water-casks and buy a few provisions. We obtained fowls, +eggs, sago, plantains, sweet potatoes, yellow pumpkins, chilies, fish, +and dried deer's meat; and on the afternoon of the 29th proceeded on our +voyage to Dorey harbour. We found it, however, by no means easy to get +along; for so near to the equator the monsoons entirely fail of their +regularity, and after passing the southern point of Gilolo we had calms, +light puffs of wind, and contrary currents, which kept us for five days +in sight of the same islands between it and Poppa. A squall them +brought us on to the entrance of Dampier's Straits, where we were again +becalmed, and were three more days creeping through them. Several native +canoes now came off to us from Waigiou on one side, and Batanta on the +other, bringing a few common shells, palm-leaf mats, cocoa-nuts, and +pumpkins. They were very extravagant in their demands, being accustomed +to sell their trifles to whalers and China ships, whose crews will +purchase anything at ten times its value. My only purchases were a float +belonging to a turtle-spear, carved to resemble a bird, and a very well +made palm-leaf box, for which articles I gave a copper ring and a yard +of calico. The canoes were very narrow and furnished with an outrigger, +and in some of them there was only one man, who seemed to think nothing +of coming out alone eight or ten miles from shore. The people were +Papuans, much resembling the natives of Aru. + +When we had got out of the Straits, and were fairly in the great Pacific +Ocean, we had a steady wind for the first time since leaving Ternate, +but unfortunately it was dead ahead, and we had to beat against it, +tacking on and off the coast of New Guinea. I looked with intense +interest on those rugged mountains, retreating ridge behind ridge into +the interior, where the foot of civilized man had never trod. There +was the country of the cassowary and the tree-kangaroo, and those dark +forests produced the most extraordinary and the most beautiful of the +feathered inhabitants of the earth--the varied species of Birds of +Paradise. A few days more and I hoped to be in pursuit of these, and of +the scarcely less beautiful insects which accompany them. We had still, +however, for several days only calms and light head-winds, and it was +not till the 10th of April that a fine westerly breeze set in, followed +by a squally night, which kept us off the entrance of Dorey harbour. +The next morning we entered, and came to anchor off the small island +of Mansinam, on which dwelt two German missionaries, Messrs. Otto and +Geisler. The former immediately came on board to give us welcome, +and invited us to go on shore and breakfast with him. We were then +introduced to his companion who was suffering dreadfully from an abscess +on the heel, which had confined him to the house for six months--and +to his wife, a young German woman, who had been out only three months. +Unfortunately she could speak no Malay or English, and had to guess at +our compliments on her excellent breakfast by the justice we did to it. + +These missionaries were working men, and had been sent out, as being +more useful among savages than persons of a higher class. They had +been here about two years, and Mr. Otto had already learnt to speak the +Papuan language with fluency, and had begun translating some portions of +the Bible. The language, however, is so poor that a considerable number +of Malay words have to be used; and it is very questionable whether it +is possible to convey any idea of such a book, to a people in so low a +state of civilization. The only nominal converts yet made are a few of +the women; and some few of the children attend school, and are being +taught to read, but they make little progress. There is one feature of +this mission which I believe will materially interfere with its moral +effect. The missionaries are allowed to trade to eke out the very small +salaries granted them from Europe, and of course are obliged to carry +out the trade principle of buying cheap and selling dear, in order to +make a profit. Like all savages the natives are quite careless of the +future, and when their small rice crops are gathered they bring a large +portion of it to the missionaries, and sell it for knives, beads, axes, +tobacco, or any other articles they may require. A few months later, in +the wet season, when food is scarce, they come to buy it back again, and +give in exchange tortoiseshell, tripang, wild nutmegs, or other produce. +Of course the rice is sold at a much higher rate than it was bought, as +is perfectly fair and just--and the operation is on the whole thoroughly +beneficial to the natives, who would otherwise consume and waste their +food when it was abundant, and then starve--yet I cannot imagine that +the natives see it in this light. They must look upon the trading +missionaries with some suspicion, and cannot feel so sure of their +teachings being disinterested, as would be the case if they acted like +the Jesuits in Singapore. The first thing to be done by the missionary +in attempting to improve savages, is to convince them by his actions +that lie comes among them for their benefit only, and not for any +private ends of his own. To do this he must act in a different way from +other men, not trading and taking advantage of the necessities of those +who want to sell, but rather giving to those who are in distress. It +would be well if he conformed himself in some degree to native customs, +and then endeavoured to show how these customs might be gradually +modified, so as to be more healthful and more agreeable. A few energetic +and devoted men acting in this way might probably effect a decided moral +improvement on the lowest savage tribes, whereas trading missionaries, +teaching what Jesus said, but not doing as He did, can scarcely be +expected to do more than give them a very little of the superficial +varnish of religion. + +Dorey harbour is in a fine bay, at one extremity of which an elevated +point juts out, and, with two or three small islands, forms a sheltered +anchorage. The only vessel it contained when we arrived was a Dutch +brig, laden with coals for the use of a war-steamer, which was expected +daily, on an exploring expedition along the coasts of New Guinea, for +the purpose of fixing on a locality for a colony. In the evening we paid +it a visit, and landed at the village of Dorey, to look out for a place +where I could build my house. Mr. Otto also made arrangements for me +with some of the native chiefs, to send men to cut wood, rattans, and +bamboo the next day. + +The villages of Mansinam and Dorey presented some features quite new +to me. The houses all stand completely in the water, and are reached by +long rude bridges. They are very low, with the roof shaped like a large +boat, bottom upwards. The posts which support the houses, bridges, and +platforms are small crooked sticks, placed without any regularity, and +looking as if they were tumbling down. The floors are also formed of +sticks, equally irregular, and so loose and far apart that I found it +almost impossible to walls on them. The walls consist of bits of boards, +old boats, rotten mats, attaps, and palm-leaves, stuck in anyhow here +and there, and having altogether the most wretched and dilapidated +appearance it is possible to conceive. Under the eaves of many of the +houses hang human skulls, the trophies of their battles with the +savage Arfaks of the interior, who often come to attack them. A large +boat-shaped council-house is supported on larger posts, each of which +is grossly carved to represent a naked male or female human figure, and +other carvings still more revolting are placed upon the platform before +the entrance. The view of an ancient lake-dweller's village, given as +the frontispiece of Sir Charles Lyell's "Antiquity of Man," is chiefly +founded on a sketch of this very village of Dorey; but the extreme +regularity of the structures there depicted has no place in the +original, any more than it probably had in the actual lake-villages. + +The people who inhabit these miserable huts are very similar to the Ke +and Aru islanders, and many of them are very handsome, being tall and +well-made, with well-cut features and large aquiline noses. Their +colour is a deep brown, often approaching closely to black, and the fine +mop-like heads of frizzly hair appear to be more common than elsewhere, +and are considered a great ornament, a long six-pronged bamboo fork +being kept stuck in them to serve the purpose of a comb; and this is +assiduously used at idle moments to keep the densely growing mass from +becoming matted and tangled. The majority have short woolly hair, which +does not seem capable of an equally luxuriant development. A growth of +hair somewhat similar to this, and almost as abundant, is found among +the half-breeds between the Indian and Negro in South America. Can this +be an indication that the Papuans are a mixed race? + +For the first three days after our arrival I was fully occupied from +morning to night building a house, with the assistance of a dozen +Papuans and my own men. It was immense trouble to get our labourers to +work, as scarcely one of them could speak a word of Malay; and it was +only by the most energetic gesticulations, and going through a regular +pantomime of what was wanted, that we could get them to do anything. If +we made them understand that a few more poles were required, which two +could have easily cut, six or eight would insist upon going together, +although we needed their assistance in other things. One morning ten of +them came to work, bringing only one chopper between them, although they +knew I had none ready for use. + +I chose a place about two hundred yards from the beach, on an elevated +ground, by the side of the chief path from the village of Dorey to +the provision-grounds and the forest. Within twenty yards was a little +stream; which furnished us with excellent water and a nice place to +bathe. There was only low underwood to clear away, while some fine +forest trees stood at a short distance, and we cut down the wood for +about twenty yards round to give us light and air. The house, about +twenty feet by fifteen; was built entirely of wood, with a bamboo floor, +a single door of thatch, and a large window, looking over the sea, at +which I fixed my table, and close beside it my bed, within a little +partition. I bought a number of very large palm-leaf mats of the +natives, which made excellent walls; while the mats I had brought myself +were used on the roof, and were covered over with attaps as soon as we +could get them made. Outside, and rather behind, was a little hut, used +for cooking, and a bench, roofed over, where my men could sit to skin +birds and animals. When all was finished, I had my goods and stores +brought up, arranged them conveniently inside, and then paid my Papuans +with knives and choppers, and sent them away. The next day our schooner +left for the more eastern islands, and I found myself fairly established +as the only European inhabitant of the vast island of New Guinea. + +As we had some doubt about the natives, we slept at first with loaded +guns beside us and a watch set; but after a few days, finding the people +friendly, and feeling sure that they would not venture to attack five +well-armed men, we took no further precautions. We had still a day or +two's work in finishing up the house, stopping leaks, putting up our +hanging shelves for drying specimens inside and out, and making the path +down to the water, and a clear dry space in front of the horse. + +On the 17th, the steamer not having arrived, the coal-ship left, having +lain here a month, according to her contract; and on the same day +my hunters went out to shoot for the first time, and brought home a +magnificent crown pigeon and a few common birds. The next day they were +more successful, and I was delighted to see them return with a Bird +of Paradise in full plumage, a pair of the fine Papuan lories (Lorius +domicella), four other lories and parroquets, a grackle (Gracula +dumonti), a king-hunter (Dacelo gaudichaudi), a racquet-tailed +kingfisher (Tanysiptera galatea), and two or three other birds of less +beauty. + +I went myself to visit the native village on the hill behind Dorey, and +took with me a small present of cloth, knives, and beads, to secure the +good-will of the chief, and get him to send some men to catch or shoot +birds for me. The houses were scattered about among rudely cultivated +clearings. Two which I visited consisted of a central passage, on each +side of which opened short passages, admitting to two rooms, each of +which was a house accommodating a separate family. They were elevated at +least fifteen feet above the ground, on a complete forest of poles, +and were so rude and dilapidated that some of the small passages had +openings in the floor of loose sticks, through which a child might fall. +The inhabitants seemed rather uglier than those at Dorey village. They +are, no doubt, the true indigenes of this part of New Guinea, living in +the interior, and subsisting by cultivation and hunting. The Dorey men, +on the other hand, are shore-dwellers, fishers and traders in a small +way, and have thus the character of a colony who have migrated from +another district. These hillmen or "Arfaks" differed much in physical +features. They were generally black, but some were brown like Malays. +Their hair, though always more or less frizzly, was sometimes short and +matted, instead of being long, loose, and woolly; and this seemed to +be a constitutional difference, not the effect of care and cultivation. +Nearly half of them were afflicted with the scurfy skin-disease. The +old chief seemed much pleased with his present, and promised (through +an interpreter I brought with me) to protect my men when they came +there shooting, and also to procure me some birds and animals. While +conversing, they smoked tobacco of their own growing, in pipes cut from +a single piece of wood with a long upright handle. + +We had arrived at Dorey about the end of the wet season, when the whole +country was soaked with moisture The native paths were so neglected as +to be often mere tunnels closed over with vegetation, and in such places +there was always a fearful accumulation of mud. To the naked Papuan this +is no obstruction. He wades through it, and the next watercourse makes +him clean again; but to myself, wearing boots and trousers, it was a +most disagreeable thing to have to go up to my knees in a mud-hole every +morning. The man I brought with me to cut wood fell ill soon after +we arrived, or I would have set him to clear fresh paths in the worst +places. For the first ten days it generally rained every afternoon and +all night r but by going out every hour of fine weather, I managed to +get on tolerably with my collections of birds and insects, finding most +of those collected by Lesson during his visit in the Coquille, as well +as many new ones. It appears, however, that Dorey is not the place for +Birds of Paradise, none of the natives being accustomed to preserve +them. Those sold here are all brought from Amberbaki, about a hundred +miles west, where the Doreyans go to trade. + +The islands in the bay, with the low lands near the coast, seem to have +been formed by recently raised coral reef's, and are much strewn with +masses of coral but little altered. The ridge behind my house, which +runs out to the point, is also entirely coral rock, although there are +signs of a stratified foundation in the ravines, and the rock itself is +more compact and crystalline. It is therefore, probably older, a more +recent elevation having exposed the low grounds and islands. On the +other side of the bay rise the great mass of the Arfak mountains, +said by the French navigators to be about ten thousand feet high, and +inhabited by savage tribes. These are held in great dread by the Dorey +people, who have often been attacked and plundered by them, and have +some of their skulls hanging outside their houses. If I was seem going +into the forest anywhere in the direction of the mountains, the little +boys of the village would shout after me, "Arfaki! Arfaki?" just as they +did after Lesson nearly forty years before. + +On the 15th of May the Dutch war-steamer Etna arrived; but, as the coals +had gone, it was obliged to stay till they came back. The captain knew +when the coalship was to arrive, and how long it was chartered to stay +at Dorey, and could have been back in time, but supposed it would wait +for him, and so did not hurry himself. The steamer lay at anchor just +opposite my house, and I had the advantage of hearing the half-hourly +bells struck, which was very pleasant after the monotonous silence +of the forest. The captain, doctor, engineer, and some other of the +officers paid me visits; the servants came to the brook to wash clothes, +and the son of the Prince of Tidore, with one or two companions, to +bathe; otherwise I saw little of them, and was not disturbed by visitors +so much as I had expected to be. About this time the weather set in +pretty fine, but neither birds nor insects became much more abundant, +and new birds-were very scarce. None of the Birds of Paradise except the +common one were ever met with, and we were still searching in vain for +several of the fine birds which Lesson had obtained here. Insects were +tolerably abundant, but were not on the average so fine as those of +Amboyna, and I reluctantly came to the conclusion that Dorey was not a +good collecting locality. Butterflies were very scarce, and were mostly +the same as those which I had obtained at Aru. + +Among the insects of other orders, the most curious and novel were +a group of horned flies, of which I obtained four distinct species, +settling on fallen trees and decaying trunks. These remarkable insects, +which have been described by Mr. W. W. Saunders as a new genus, under +the name of Elaphomia or deer-flies, are about half an inch long, +slender-bodied, and with very long legs, which they draw together so as +to elevate their bodies high above the surface they are standing upon. +The front pair of legs are much shorter, and these are often stretched +directly forwards, so as to resemble antenna. The horns spring from +beneath the eye, and seem to be a prolongation of the lower part of +the orbit. In the largest and most singular species, named Elaphomia +cervicornis or the stag-horned deer-fly, these horns are nearly as +long as the body, having two branches, with two small snags near their +bifurcation, so as to resemble the horns of a stag. They are black, with +the tips pale, while the body and legs are yellowish brown, and the eyes +(when alive) violet and green. The next species (Elaphomia wallacei) is +of a dark brown colour, banded and spotted with yellow. The horns +are about one-third the length of the insect, broad, flat, and of an +elongated triangular foam. They are of a beautiful pink colour, edged +with black, and with a pale central stripe. The front part of the head +is also pink, and the eyes violet pink, with a green stripe across them, +giving the insect a very elegant and singular appearance. The third +species (Elaphomia alcicornis, the elk-horned deer-fly) is a little +smaller than the two already described, but resembling in colour +Elaphomia wallacei. The horns are very remarkable, being suddenly +dilated into a flat plate, strongly toothed round the outer margin, +and strikingly resembling the horns of the elk, after which it has been +named. They are of a yellowish colour, margined with brown, and tipped +with black on the three upper teeth. The fourth species (Elaphomia +brevicornis, the short-horned deer-fly) differs considerably from the +rest. It is stouter in form, of a nearly black colour, with a yellow +ring at the base of the abdomen; the wings have dusky stripes, and the +head is compressed and dilated laterally, with very small flat horns; +which are black with a pale centre, and look exactly like the rudiment +of the horns of the two preceding species. None of the females have any +trace of the horns, and Mr. Saunders places in the same genus a species +which has no horns in either sex (Elaphomia polita). It is of a shining +black colour, and resembles Elaphomia cervicornis in form, size, and +general appearance. The figures above given represent these insects of +their natural size and in characteristic attitudes. + +The natives seldom brought me anything. They are poor creatures, and, +rarely shoot a bird, pig, or kangaroo, or even the sluggish opossum-like +Cuscus. The tree-kangaroos are found here, but must be very scarce, +as my hunters, although out daily in the forest, never once saw them. +Cockatoos, lories, and parroquets were really the only common +birds. Even pigeons were scarce, and in little variety, although we +occasionally got the fine crown pigeon, which was always welcome as an +addition to our scantily furnished larder. + +Just before the steamer arrived I had wounded my ankle by clambering +among the trunks and branches of fallen trees (which formed my best +hunting grounds for insects), and, as usual with foot wounds in this +climate, it turned into an obstinate ulcer, keeping me in the house +for several days. When it healed up it was followed by an internal +inflammation of the foot, which by the doctor's advice I poulticed +incessantly for four or five days, bringing out a severe inflamed +swelling on the tendon above the heel. This had to be leeched, and +lanced, and doctored with ointments and poultices for several weeks, +till I was almost driven to despair,--for the weather was at length +fine, and I was tantalized by seeing grand butterflies flying past my +door, and thinking of the twenty or thirty new species of insects that +I ought to be getting every day. And this, too, in New Guinea--a country +which I might never visit again,--a country which no naturalist had ever +resided in before,--a country which contained more strange and new +and beautiful natural objects than any other part of the globe. The +naturalist will be able to appreciate my feelings, sitting from morning +to night in my little hut, unable to move without a crutch, and my only +solace the birds my hunters brought in every afternoon, and the few +insects caught by my Ternate man, Lahagi, who now went out daily in my +place, but who of course did not get a fourth part of what I should have +obtained. To add to my troubles all my men were more or less ill, some +with fever, others with dysentery or ague; at one time there were three +of them besides myself all helpless, the coon alone being well, and +having enough to do to wait upon us. The Prince of Tidore and the +Resident of Panda were both on board the steamer, and were seeking Birds +of Paradise, sending men round in every direction, so that there was +no chance of my getting even native skins of the rarer kinds; and any +birds, insects, or animals the Dorey people had to sell were taken on +board the steamer, where purchasers were found for everything, and where +a larger variety of articles were offered in exchange than I had to +show. + +After a month's close confinement in the house I was at length able to +go out a little, and about the same time I succeeded in getting a boat +and six natives to take Ali and Lahagi to Amberbaki, and to bring them +back at the end of a month. Ali was charged to buy all the Birds of +Paradise he could get, and to shoot and skin all other rare or new +birds; and Lahagi was to collect insects, which I hoped might be more +abundant than at Dorey. When I recommenced my daily walks in search +of insects, I found a great change in the neighbourhood, and one very +agreeable to me. All the time I had been laid up the ship's crew and the +Javanese soldiers who had been brought in a tender (a sailing ship +which had arrived soon after the Etna), had been employed cutting down, +sawing, and splitting large trees for firewood, to enable the steamer to +get back to Amboyna if the coal-ship did not return; and they had also +cleared a number of wide, straight paths through the forest in various +directions, greatly to the astonishment of the natives, who could not +make out what it all meant. I had now a variety of walks, and a good +deal of dead wood on which to search for insects; but notwithstanding +these advantages, they were not nearly so plentiful as I had found them +at Sarawak, or Amboyna, or Batchian, confirming my opinion that Dorey +was not a good locality. It is quite probable, however, that at a +station a few miles in the interior, away from the recently elevated +coralline rocks and the influence of the sea air, a much more abundant +harvest might be obtained. + +One afternoon I went on board the steamer to return the captain's visit, +and was shown some very nice sketches (by one of the lieutenants), made +on the south coast, and also at the Arfak mountain, to which they had +made an excursion. From these and the captain's description, it appeared +that the people of Arfak were similar to those of Dorey, and I could +hear nothing of the straight-haired race which Lesson says inhabits the +interior, but which no one has ever seen, and the account of which I +suspect has originated in some mistake. The captain told me he had made +a detailed survey of part of the south coast, and if the coal arrived +should go away at once to Humboldt Pay, in longitude 141 deg. east, which is +the line up to which the Dutch claim New Guinea. On board the tender +I found a brother naturalist, a German named Rosenberg, who was +draughtsman to the surveying staff. He had brought two men with him to +shoot and skin birds, and had been able to purchase a few rare skins +from the natives. Among these was a pair of the superb Paradise Pie +(Astrapia nigra) in tolerable preservation. They were brought from the +island of Jobie, which may be its native country, as it certainly is +of the rarer species of crown pigeon (Goura steursii), one of which was +brought alive and sold on board. Jobie, however, is a very dangerous +place, and sailors are often murdered there when on shore; sometimes the +vessels themselves being attacked. Wandammen, on the mainland opposite +Jobie, inhere there are said to be plenty of birds, is even worse, and +at either of these places my life would not have been worth a week's +purchase had I ventured to live alone and unprotected as at Dorey. On +board the steamer they had a pair of tree kangaroos alive. They differ +chiefly from the ground-kangaroo in having a more hairy tail, not +thickened at the base, and not used as a prop; and by the powerful claws +on the fore-feet, by which they grasp the bark and branches, and seize +the leaves on which they feed. They move along by short jumps on their +hind-feet, which do not seem particularly well adapted for climbing +trees. It has been supposed that these tree-kangaroos are a special +adaptation to the swampy, half-drowned forests of, New Guinea, in place +of the usual form of the group, which is adapted only to dry ground. Mr. +Windsor Earl makes much of this theory, but, unfortunately for it, +the tree-kangaroos are chiefly found in the northern peninsula of New +Guinea, which is entirely composed of hills and mountains with very +little flat land, while the kangaroo of the low flat Aru Islands +(Dorcopsis asiaticus) is a ground species. A more probable supposition +seems to lie, that the tree-kangaroo has been modified to enable it to +feed on foliage in the vast forests of New Guinea, as these form the +great natural feature which distinguishes that country from Australia. + +On June 5th, the coal-ship arrived, having been sent back from Amboyna, +with the addition of some fresh stores for the steamer. The wood, which +had been almost all taken on board, was now unladen again, the coal +taken in, and on the 17th both steamer and tender left for Humboldt Bay. +We were then a little quiet again, and got something to eat; for while +the vessels were here every bit of fish or vegetable was taken on board, +and I had often to make a small parroquet serve for two meals. My men +now returned from Amberbaki, but, alas brought me almost nothing. They +had visited several villages, and even went two days' journey into the +interior, but could find no skins of Birds of Paradise to purchase, +except the common kind, and very few even of those. The birds found +were the same as at Dorey, but were still scarcer. None of the natives +anywhere near the coast shoot or prepare Birds of Paradise, which come +from far in the interior over two or three ranges of mountains, passing +by barter from village to village till they reach the sea. There the +natives of Dorey buy them, and on their return home sell them to the +Bugis or Ternate traders. It is therefore hopeless for a traveller to go +to any particular place on the coast of New Guinea where rare Paradise +birds may have been bought, in hopes of obtaining freshly killed +specimens from the natives; and it also shows the scarcity of these +birds in any one locality, since from the Amberbaki district, a +celebrated place, where at least five or six species have been procured, +not one of the rarer ones has been obtained this year. The Prince of +Tidore, who would certainly have got them if any were to be had, was +obliged to put up with a few of the common yellow ones. I think it +probable that a longer residence at Dorey, a little farther in the +interior, might show that several of the rarer kinds were found there, +as I obtained a single female of the fine scale-breasted Ptiloris +magnificus. I was told at Ternate of a bird that is certainly not yet +known in Europe, a black King Paradise Bird, with the curled tail and +beautiful side plumes of the common species, but all the rest of the +plumage glossy black. The people of Dorey knew nothing about this, +although they recognised by description most of the otter species. + +When the steamer left, I was suffering from a severe attack of fever. In +about a week I got over this, but it was followed by such a soreness of +the whole inside of the mouth, tongue, and gums, that for many days +I could put nothing solid between my lips, but was obliged to subsist +entirely on slops, although in other respects very well. At the same +time two of my men again fell ill, one with fever, the other with +dysentery, and both got very bad. I did what I could for them with my +small stock of medicines, but they lingered on for some weeks, till +on June 26th poor Jumaat died. He was about eighteen years of age, a +native, I believe, of Bouton, and a quiet lad, not very active, but +doing his work pretty steadily, and as well as he was able. As my men +were all Mahometans, I let them bury him in their own fashion, giving +them some new cotton cloth for a shroud. + +On July 6th the steamer returned from the eastward. The weather was +still terribly wet, when, according to rule, it should have been fine +and dry. We had scarcely anything to eat, and were all of us ill. +Fevers, colds, and dysentery were continually attacking us, and made me +long I-o get away from New Guinea, as much as ever I had longed to +come there. The captain of the Etna paid me a visit, and gave me a very +interesting account of his trip. They had stayed at Humboldt Bay several +days, and found it a much more beautiful and more interesting place +than Dorey, as well as a better harbour. The natives were quite +unsophisticated, being rarely visited except by stray whalers, and they +were superior to the Dorey people, morally and physically. They went +quite naked. Their houses were some in the water and some inland, and +were all neatly and well built; their fields were well cultivated, +and the paths to them kept clear and open, in which respects Dorey is +abominable. They were shy at first, and opposed the boats with hostile +demonstrations, beading their bows, and intimating that they would shoot +if an attempt was made to land. Very judiciously the captain gave way, +but threw on shore a few presents, and after two or three trials they +were permitted to land, and to go about and see the country, and were +supplied with fruits and vegetables. All communication was carried on +with them by signs--the Dorey interpreter, who accompanied the steamer, +being unable to understand a word of their language. No new birds or +animals were obtained, but in their ornaments the feathers of Paradise +birds were seen, showing, as might be expected, that these birds range +far in this direction, and probably all over New Guinea. + +It is curious that a rudimental love of art should co-exist with such +a very low state of civilization. The people of Dorey are great carvers +and painters. The outsides of the houses, wherever there is a plank, are +covered with rude yet characteristic figures. The high-peaked prows of +their boats are ornamented with masses of open filagree work, cut out +of solid blocks of wood, and often of very tasteful design, As a +figurehead, or pinnacle, there is often a human figure, with a head +of cassowary feathers to imitate the Papuan "mop." The floats of their +fishing-lines, the wooden beaters used in tempering the clay for their +pottery, their tobacco-boxes, and other household articles, are covered +with carving of tasteful and often elegant design. Did we not already +know that such taste and skill are compatible with utter barbarism, we +could hardly believe that the same people are, in other matters, utterly +wanting in all sense of order, comfort, or decency. Yet such is the +case. They live in the most miserable, crazy, and filthy hovels, which +are utterly destitute of anything that can be called furniture; not a +stool, or bench, or board is seen in them, no brush seems to be known, +and the clothes they wear are often filthy bark, or rags, or sacking. +Along the paths where they daily pass to and from their provision +grounds, not an overhanging bough or straggling briar ever seems to be +cut, so that you have to brush through a rank vegetation, creep under +fallen trees and spiny creepers, and wade through pools of mud and mire, +which cannot dry up because the sun is not allowed to penetrate. Their +food is almost wholly roots and vegetables, with fish or game only as +an occasional luxury, and they are consequently very subject to various +skin diseases, the children especially being often miserable-looking +objects, blotched all over with eruptions and sores. If these people are +not savages, where shall we find any? Yet they have all a decided love +for the fine arts, and spend their leisure time in executing works whose +good taste and elegance would often be admired in our schools of design! + +During the latter part of my stay in New Guinea the weather was very +wet, my only shooter was ill, and birds became scarce, so that my only +resource was insect-hunting. I worked very hard every hour of fine +weather, and daily obtained a number of new species. Every dead tree +and fallen log was searched and searched again; and among the dry and +rotting leaves, which still hung on certain trees which had been cut +down, I found an abundant harvest of minute Coleoptera. Although I never +afterwards found so many large and handsome beetles as in Borneo, yet +I obtained here a great variety of species. For the first two or three +weeks, while I was searching out the best localities, I took about 30 +different kinds of beetles n day, besides about half that number of +butterflies, and a few of the other orders. But afterwards, up to the +very last week, I averaged 49 species a day. On the 31st of May, I took +78 distinct sorts, a larger number than I had ever captured before, +principally obtained among dead trees and under rotten bark. A good long +walk on a fine day up the hill, and to the plantations of the natives, +capturing everything not very common that came in my way, would produce +about 60 species; but on the last day of June I brought home no less +than 95 distinct kinds of beetles, a larger number than I ever obtained +in one day before or since. It was a fine hot day, and I devoted it to +a search among dead leaves, beating foliage, and hunting under rotten +bark, in all the best stations I had discovered during my walks. I was +out from ten in the morning till three in the afternoon, and it took +me six hours' work at home to pin and set out all the specimens, and +to separate the species. Although T had already been working this shot +daily for two months and a half, and had obtained over 800 species +of Coleoptera, this day's work added 32 new ones. Among these were 4 +Longicorns, 2 Caribidae, 7 Staphylinidae, 7 Curculionidae, 2 Copridae, 4 +Chrysomelidae, 3 Heteromera, 1 Elates, and 1 Buprestis. Even on the last +day I went out, I obtained 10 new species; so that although I collected +over a thousand distinct sorts of beetles in a space not much exceeding +a square mile during the three months of my residence at Dorey, I cannot +believe that this represents one half the species really inhabiting the +same spot, or a fourth of what might be obtained in an area extending +twenty miles in each direction. + +On the 22d of July the schooner Hester Helena arrived, and five days +afterwards we bade adieu to Dorey, without much regret, for in no place +which I have visited have I encountered more privations and annoyances. +Continual rain, continual sickness, little wholesome food, with a plague +of ants and files, surpassing anything I had before met with, required +all a naturalist's ardour to encounter; and when they were uncompensated +by great success in collecting, became all the more insupportable. This +long thought-of and much-desired voyage to New Guinea had realized none +of my expectations. Instead of being far better than the Aru Islands, it +was in almost everything much worse. Instead of producing several of +the rarer Paradise birds, I had not even seen one of them, and had +not obtained any one superlatively fine bird or insect. I cannot deny, +however, that Dorey was very rich in ants. One small black kind was +excessively abundant. Almost every shrub and tree was more or less +infested with it, and its large papery nests were everywhere to be seen. +They immediately took possession of my house, building a large nest +in the roof, and forming papery tunnels down almost every post. They +swarmed on my table as I was at work setting out my insects, carrying +them off from under my very nose, and even tearing them from the cards +on which they were gummed if I left them for an instant. They crawled +continually over my hands and face, got into my hair, and roamed at will +over my whole body, not producing much inconvenience till they began +to bite, which they would do on meeting with any obstruction to their +passage, and with a sharpness which made me jump again and rush to +undress and turn out the offender. They visited my bed also, so that +night brought no relief from their persecutions; and I verily believe +that during my three and a half months' residence at Dorey I was never +for a single hour entirely free from them. They were not nearly so +voracious as many other kinds, but their numbers and ubiquity rendered +it necessary to be constantly on guard against them. + +The flies that troubled me most were a large kind of blue-bottle or +blow-fly. These settled in swarms on my bird skins when first put out to +dry, filling their plumage with masses of eggs, which, if neglected, the +next day produced maggots. They would get under the wings or under the +body where it rested on the drying-board, sometimes actually raising it +up half an inch by the mass of eggs deposited in a few hours; and every +egg was so firmly glued to the fibres of the feathers, as to make it +a work of much time and patience to get them off without injuring the +bird. In no other locality have I ever been troubled with such a plague +as this. + +On the 29th we left Dorey, and expected a quick voyage home, as it was +the time of year when we ought to have had steady southerly and easterly +winds. Instead of these, however, we had calms and westerly breezes, +and it was seventeen days before we reached Ternate, a distance of five +hundred miles only, which, with average winds, could have been done in +five days. It was a great treat to me to find myself back again in my +comfortable house, enjoying milk to my tea and coffee, fresh bread and +butter, and fowl and fish daily for dinner. This New Guinea voyage had +used us all up, and I determined to stay and recruit before I commenced +any fresh expeditions. My succeeding journeys to Gilolo and Batchian +have already been narrated, and if; now only remains for me to give an +account of my residence in Waigiou, the last Papuan territory I visited +in search of Birds of Paradise. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. VOYAGE FROM CERAM TO WAIGIOU. + +(JUNE AND JULY 1860.) + +IN my twenty-fifth chapter I have described my arrival at Wahai, on my +way to Mysol and Waigiou, islands which belong to the Papuan district, +and the account of which naturally follows after that of my visit to the +mainland of New Guinea. I now take up my narrative at my departure from +Wahai, with the intention of carrying various necessary stores to my +assistant, Mr. Allen, at Silinta, in Mysol, and then continuing my +journey to Waigiou. It will be remembered that I was travelling in a +small prau, which I had purchased and fitted up in Goram, and that, +having been deserted by my crew on the coast of Ceram, I had obtained +four men at Wahai, who, with my Amboynese hunter, constituted my crew. + +Between Ceram and Mysol there are sixty miles of open sea, and along +this wide channel the east monsoon blows strongly; so that with native +praus, which will not lay up to the wind, it requires some care in +crossing. In order to give ourselves sufficient leeway, we sailed back +from Wahai eastward, along the coast of Ceram, with the land-breeze; but +in the morning (June 18th) had not gone nearly so far as I expected. +My pilot, an old and experienced sailor, named Gurulampoko, assured me +there was a current setting to the eastward, and that we could easily +lay across to Silinta, in Mysol. As we got out from the land the wind +increased, and there was a considerable sea, which made my short little +vessel plunge and roll about violently. By sunset we had not got +halfway across, but could see Mysol distinctly. All night we went along +uneasily, and at daybreak, on looking out anxiously, I found that we had +fallen much to the westward during the night, owing, no doubt, to the +pilot being sleepy and not keeping the boat sufficiently close to the +wind. We could see the mountains distinctly, but it was clear we should +not reach Silinta, and should have some difficulty in getting to the +extreme westward point of the island. The sea was now very boisterous, +and our prau was continually beaten to leeward by the waves, and after +another weary day we found w e could not get to Mysol at all, but might +perhaps reach the island called Pulo Kanary, about ten miles to the +north-west. Thence we might await a favourable wind to reach Waigamma, +on the north side of the island, and visit Allen by means of a small +boat. + +About nine o'clock at night, greatly to my satisfaction, we got under +the lea of this island, into quite smooth water--for I had been very +sick and uncomfortable, and had eaten scarcely anything since the +preceding morning. We were slowly nearing the shore, which the smooth +dark water told us we could safely approach; and were congratulating +ourselves on soon being at anchor, with the prospect of hot coffee, a +good supper, and a sound sleep, when the wind completely dropped, and we +had to get out the oars to row. We were not more than two hundred yards +from the shore, when I noticed that we seemed to get no nearer although +the men were rowing hard, but drifted to the westward, and the prau +would not obey the helm, but continually fell off, and gave us much +trouble to bring her up again. Soon a laud ripple of water told us we +were seized by one of those treacherous currents which so frequently +frustrate all the efforts of the voyager in these seas; the men threw +down the oars in despair, and in a few minutes we drifted to leeward +of the island fairly out to sea again, and lost our last chance of ever +reaching Mysol! Hoisting our jib, we lay to, and in the morning found +ourselves only a few miles from the island, but wit, such a steady wind +blowing from its direction as to render it impossible for us to get back +to it. + +We now made sail to the northward, hoping soon to get a more southerly +wind. Towards noon the sea was much smoother, and with a S.S.E. wind we +were laying in the direction of Salwatty, which I hoped to reach, as +I could there easily get a boat to take provisions and stores to my +companion in Mysol. This wind did not, however, last long, but died away +into a calm; and a light west wind springing up, with a dark bank of +clouds, again gave us hopes of reaching Mysol. We were soon, however, +again disappointed. The E.S.E. wind began to blow again with violence, +and continued all night in irregular gusts, and with a short cross sea +tossed us about unmercifully, and so continually took our sails aback, +that we were at length forced to run before it with our jib only, to +escape being swamped by our heavy mainsail. After another miserable and +anxious night, we found that we had drifted westward of the island of +Poppa, and the wind being again a little southerly, we made all sail +in order to reach it. This we did not succeed in doing, passing to the +north-west, when the wind again blew hard from the E.S.E., and our last +hope of finding a refuge till better weather was frustrated. This was a +very serious matter to me, as I could not tell how Charles Allen might +act, if, after waiting in vain for me, he should return to Wahai, and +find that I had left there long before, and had not since been heard +of. Such an event as our missing an island forty miles long would hardly +occur to him, and he would conclude either that our boat had foundered, +or that my crew had murdered me and run away with her. However, as it +was physically impossible now for me to reach him, the only thing to be +done was to make the best of my way to Waigiou, and trust to our meeting +some traders, who might convey to him the news of my safety. + +Finding on my map a group of three small islands, twenty-five miles +north of Poppa, I resolved, if possible, to rest there a day or two. We +could lay our boat's head N.E. by N.; but a heavy sea from the eastward +so continually beat us off our course, and we made so much leeway, +that I found it would be as much as we could do to reach them. It was a +delicate point to keep our head in the best direction, neither so close +to the wind as to stop our way, or so free as to carry us too far to +leeward. I continually directed the steersman myself, and by incessant +vigilance succeeded, just at sunset, in bringing our boat to an anchor +under the lee of the southern point of one of the islands. The anchorage +was, however, by no means good, there being a fringing coral reef, dry +at low water, beyond which, on a bottom strewn with masses of coral, we +were obliged to anchor. We had now been incessantly tossing about for +four days in our small undecked boat, with constant disappointments +and anxiety, and it was a great comfort to have a night of quiet and +comparative safety. My old pilot had never left the helm for more than +an hour at a time, when one of the others would relieve him for a little +sleep; so I determined the next morning to look out for a secure and +convenient harbour, and rest on shore for a day. + +In the morning, finding it would be necessary for us to get round a +rocky point, I wanted my men to go on shore and cut jungle-rope, by +which to secure us from being again drafted away, as the wind was +directly off shore. I unfortunately, however, allowed myself to be +overruled by the pilot and crew, who all declared that it was the +easiest thing possible, and that they would row the boat round the point +in a few minutes. They accordingly got up the anchor, set the jib, and +began rowing; but, just as I had feared, we drifted rapidly off shore, +and had to drop anchor again in deeper water, and much farther off. The +two best men, a Papuan and a Malay now swam on shore, each carrying a +hatchet, and went into the jungle to seek creepers for rope. After +about an hour our anchor loosed hold, and began to drag. This alarmed +me greatly, and we let go our spare anchor, and, by running out all our +cable, appeared tolerably secure again. We were now most anxious for the +return of the men, and were going to fire our muskets to recall them, +when we observed them on the beach, some way off, and almost immediately +our anchors again slipped, and we drifted slowly away into deep water. +We instantly seized the oars, but found we could not counteract the wind +and current, and our frantic cries to the men were not heard till we had +got a long way off; as they seemed to be hunting for shell-fish on +the beach. Very soon, however, they stared at us, and in a few minutes +seemed to comprehend their situation; for they rushed down into the +water, as if to swim off, but again returned on shore, as if afraid to +make the attempt. We had drawn up our anchors at first not to check our +rowing; but now, finding we could do nothing, we let them both hang down +by the full length of the cables. This stopped our way very much, and we +drifted from shore very slowly, and hoped the men would hastily form a +raft, or cut down a soft-wood tree, and paddle out, to us, as we were +still not more than a third of a mile from shore. They seemed, however, +to have half lost their senses, gesticulating wildly to us, running +along the beach, then going unto the forest; and just when we thought +they had prepared some mode of making an attempt to reach us, we saw +the smoke of a fire they had made to cook their shell-fish! They had +evidently given up all idea of coming after us, and we were obliged to +look to our own position. + +We were now about a mile from shore, and midway between two of the +islands, but we were slowly drifting out, to sea to the westward, and +our only chance of yet saving the men was to reach the opposite shore. +We therefore sot our jib and rowed hard; but the wind failed, and we +drifted out so rapidly that we had some difficulty in reaching the +extreme westerly point of the island. Our only sailor left, then +swam ashore with a rope, and helped to tow us round the point into a +tolerably safe and secure anchorage, well sheltered from the wind, but +exposed to a little swell which jerked our anchor and made us rather +uneasy. We were now in a sad plight, having lost our two best men, and +being doubtful if we had strength left to hoist our mainsail. We had +only two days' water on board, and the small, rocky, volcanic island +did not promise us much chance of finding any. The conduct of the men on +shore was such as to render it doubtful if they would make any serious +attempt to reach us, though they might easily do so, having two good +choppers, with which in a day they could male a small outrigger raft on +which they could safely cross the two miles of smooth sea with the wind +right aft, if they started from the east end of the island, so as to +allow for the current. I could only hope they would be sensible enough +to make the attempt, and determined to stay as long as I could to give +them the chance. + +We passed an anxious night, fearful of again breaking our anchor or +rattan cable. In the morning (23d), finding all secure, I waded on shore +with my two men, leaving the old steersman and the cook on board, with +a loaded musketto recall us if needed. We first walked along the beach, +till stopped by the vertical cliffs at the east end of the island, +finding a place where meat had been smoked, a turtle-shell still greasy, +and some cut wood, the leaves of which were still green, showing that +some boat had been here very recently. We then entered the jungle, +cutting our way up to the top of the hill, but when we got there could +see nothing, owing to the thickness of the forest. Returning, we cut +some bamboos, and sharpened them to dig for water in a low spot where +some sago-trees were growing; when, just as we were going to begin, Hoi, +the Wahai man, called out to say he had found water. It was a deep hole +among the Sago trees, in stiff black clay, full of water, which was +fresh, but smelt horribly from the quantity of dead leaves and sago +refuse that had fallen in. Hastily concluding that it was a spring, or +that the water had filtered in, we baled it all out as well as a dozen +or twenty buckets of mud and rubbish, hoping by night to have a good +supply of clean water. I then went on board to breakfast, leaving my two +men to make a bamboo raft to carry us on shore and back without wading. +I had scarcely finished when our cable broke, and we bumped against +the rocks. Luckily it was smooth and calm, and no damage was done. We +searched for and got up our anchor, and found teat the cable had been +cut by grating all night upon the coral. Had it given way in the night, +we might have drifted out to sea without our anchor, or been seriously +damaged. In the evening we went to fetch water from the well, when, +greatly to our dismay, we found nothing but a little liquid mud at the +bottom, and it then became evident that the hole was one which had been +made to collect rain water, and would never fill again as long as the +present drought continued. As we did not know what we might suffer for +want of water, we filled our jar with this muddy stuff so that it might +settle. In the afternoon I crossed over to the other side of the island, +and made a large fire, in order that our men might see we were still +there. + +The next day (24th) I determined to have another search for water; and +when the tide was out rounded a rocky point and went to the extremity of +the island without finding any sign of the smallest stream. On our way +back, noticing a very small dry bed of a watercourse, I went up it to +explore, although everything was so dry that my men loudly declared it +was useless to expect water there; but a little way up I was rewarded by +finding a few pints in a small pool. We searched higher up in every hole +and channel where water marks appeared, but could find not a drop more. +Sending one of my men for a large jar and teacup, we searched along the +beach till we found signs of another dry watercourse, and on ascending +this were so fortunate as to discover two deep sheltered rock-holes +containing several gallons of water, enough to fill all our jars. When +the cup came we enjoyed a good drink of the cool pure water, and before +we left had carried away, I believe, every drop on the island. + +In the evening a good-sized prau appeared in sight, making apparently +for the island where our men were left, and we had some hopes they might +be seen and picked up, but it passed along mid-channel, and did not +notice the signals we tried to make. I was now, however, pretty easy as +to the fate of the men. There was plenty of sago on our rocky island, +and there world probably be some on the fiat one they were left on. They +had choppers, and could cut down a tree and make sago, and would most +likely find sufficient water by digging. Shell-fish were abundant, +and they would be able to manage very well till some boat should touch +there, or till I could send and fetch them. The next day we devoted to +cutting wood, filling up our jars with all the water we could find, +and making ready to sail in the evening. I shot a small lory closely +resembling a common species at Ternate, and a glossy starling +which differed from the allied birds of Ceram and Matabello. Large +wood-pigeons and crows were the only other birds I saw, but I did not +obtain specimens. + +About eight in the evening of June 25th we started, and found that with +all hands at work we could just haul up our mainsail. We had a fair wind +during the night and sailed north-east, finding ourselves in the morning +about twenty miles west of the extremity of Waigiou with a number of +islands intervening. About ten o'clock we ran full on to a coral reef, +which alarmed us a good deal, but luckily got safe off again. About two +in the afternoon we reached an extensive coral reef, and were sailing +close alongside of it, when the wind suddenly dropped, and we drifted on +to it before we could get in our heavy mainsail, which we were obliged +to let run down and fall partly overboard. We had much difficulty in +getting off, but at last got into deep water again, though with reefs +and islands all around us. At night we did not know what to do, as no +one on board could tell where we were or what dangers might surround us, +the only one of our crew who was acquainted with the coast of Waigiou +having been left on the island. We therefore took in all sail and +allowed ourselves to drift, as we were some miles from the nearest +land. A light breeze, however, sprang up, and about midnight we found +ourselves again bumping over a coral reef. As it was very dark, and we +knew nothing of our position, we could only guess how to get off again, +and had there been a little more wind we might have been knocked to +pieces. However, in about half an hour we did get off, and then thought +it best to anchor on the edge of the reef till morning. Soon after +daylight on the 7th, finding our prau had received no damage, we sailed +on with uncertain winds and squalls, threading our way among islands +and reefs, and guided only by a small map, which was very incorrect +and quite useless, and by a general notion of the direction we ought +to take. In the afternoon we found a tolerable anchorage under a small +island and stayed for the night, and I shot a large fruit-pigeon new to +me, which I have since named Carpophaga tumida. I also saw and shot at +the rare white-headed kingfisher (Halcyon saurophaga), but did not kill +it. The next morning we sailed on, and having a fair wind reached the +shores of the large island of Waigiou. On rounding a point we again ran +full on to a coral reef with our mainsail up, but luckily the wind had +almost died away, and with a good deal of exertion we managed get safely +off. + +We now had to search for the narrow channel among islands, which we knew +was somewhere hereabouts, and which leads to the villages on the south +side of Waigiou. Entering a deep bay which looked promising, we got to +the end of it, but it was then dusk, so we anchored for the night, and +having just finished all our water could cook no rice for supper. Next +morning early (29th) we went on shore among the mangroves, and a little +way inland found some water, which relieved our anxiety considerably, +and left us free to go along the coast in search of the opening, or of +some one who could direct us to it. During the three days we had now +been among the reefs and islands, we had only seen a single small canoe, +which had approached pretty near to us, and then, notwithstanding our +signals, went off in another direction. The shores seemed all desert; +not a house, or boat, or human being, or a puff of smoke was to be seen; +and as we could only go on the course that the ever-changing wind would +allow us (our hands being too few to row any distance), our prospects of +getting to our destination seemed rather remote and precarious. Having +gone to the eastward extremity of the deep bay we had entered, without +finding any sign of an opening, we turned westward; and towards evening +were so fortunate as to find a small village of seven miserable houses +built on piles in the water. Luckily the Orang-kaya, or head man, could +speak a little. Malay, and informed us that the entrance to the strait +was really in the bay we had examined, but that it was not to be seen +except when close inshore. He said the strait was often very narrow, and +wound among lakes and rocks and islands, and that it would take two days +to reach the large village of Muka, and three more to get to Waigiou. I +succeeded in hiring two men to go with us to Muka, bringing a small boat +in which to return; but we had to wait a day for our guides, so I took +my gun and made a little excursion info the forest. The day was wet and +drizzly, and I only succeeded in shooting two small birds, but I saw the +great black cockatoo, and had a glimpse of one or two Birds of Paradise, +whose loud screams we had heard on first approaching the coast. Leaving +the village the next morning (July 1st) with a light wind, it took us +all day to reach the entrance to the channel, which resembled a small +river, and was concealed by a projecting point, so that it was no wonder +we did not discover it amid the dense forest vegetation which everywhere +covers these islands to the water's edge. A little way inside it becomes +bounded by precipitous rocks, after winding among which for about two +miles, we emerged into what seemed a lake, but which was in fact a deep +gulf having a narrow entrance on the south coast. This gulf was studded +along its shores with numbers of rocky islets, mostly mushroom shaped, +from the `eater having worn away the lower part of the soluble coralline +limestone, leaving them overhanging from ten to twenty feet. Every islet +was covered will strange-looping shrubs and trees, and was generally +crowned by lofty and elegant palms, which also studded the ridges of +the mountainous shores, forming one of the most singular and picturesque +landscapes I have ever seen. The current which had brought us through +the narrow strait now ceased, and we were obliged to row, which with our +short and heavy prau was slow work. I went on shore several times, but +the rocks were so precipitous, sharp, and honeycombed, that I found +it impossible to get through the tangled thicket with which they were +everywhere clothed. It took us three days to get to the entrance of the +gulf, and then the wind was such as to prevent our going any further, +and we might have had to wait for days or weeps, when, much to my +surprise and gratification, a boat arrived from Muka with one of the +head men, who had in some mysterious manner heard I was on my way, +and had come to my assistance, bringing a present of cocoa-nuts and +vegetables. Being thoroughly acquainted with the coast, and having +several extra men to assist us, he managed to get the prau along by +rowing, poling, or sailing, and by night had brought us safely into +harbour, a great relief after our tedious and unhappy voyage. We had +been already eight days among the reefs and islands of Waigiou, coming +a distance of about fifty miles, and it was just forty days since we had +sailed from Goram. + +Immediately on our arrival at Muka, I engaged a small boat and three +natives to go in search of my lost men, and sent one of my own men with +them to make sure of their going to the right island. In ten days they +returned, but to my great regret and disappointment, without the men. +The weather had been very bad, and though they had reached an island +within sight of that in which the men were, they could get no further. +They had waited there six days for better weather, and then, having no +more provisions, and the man I had sent with them being very ill and +not expected to live, they returned. As they now knew the island, I was +determined they should make another trial, and (by a liberal payment of +knives, handkerchiefs, and tobacco, with plenty of provisions) persuaded +them to start back immediately, and make another attempt. They did not +return again till the 29th of July, having stayed a few days at their +own village of Bessir on the way; but this time they had succeeded and +brought with them my two lost men, in tolerable health, though thin and +weak. They had lived exactly a month on the island had found water, +and had subsisted on the roots and tender flower-stalks of a species of +Bromelia, on shell-fish and on a few turtles' eggs. Having swum to the +island, they had only a pair of trousers and a shirt between them, but +had made a hut of palm-leaves, and had altogether got on very well. They +saw that I waited for them three days at the opposite island, but had +been afraid to cross, lest the current should have carried them out to +sea, when they would have been inevitably lost. They had felt sure I +would send for them on the first opportunity, and appeared more grateful +than natives usually are for my having done so; while I felt much +relieved that my voyage, though sufficiently unfortunate, had not +involved loss of life. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. WAIGIOU. + +(JULY TO SEPTEMBER 1860.) + +THE village of Muka, on the south coast of Waigiou, consists of a number +of poor huts, partly in the water and partly on shore, and scattered +irregularly over a space of about half a mile in a shallow bay. Around +it are a few cultivated patches, and a good deal of second-growth woody +vegetation; while behind, at the distance of about half a mile, rises +the virgin forest, through which are a few paths to some houses and +plantations a mile or two inland. The country round is rather flat, +and in places swampy, and there are one or two small streams which run +behind the village into the sea below it. Finding that no house could +be had suitable to my purpose, and hawing so often experienced the +advantages of living close to or just within the forest, I obtained the +assistance of half-a-dozen men; and having selected a spot near the path +and the stream, and close to a fine fig-tree, which stood just within +the forest, we cleared the ground and set to building a house. As I did +not expect to stay here so long as I had done at Dorey, I built a long, +low, narrow shed, about seven feet high on one side and four on the +other, which required but little wood, and was put up very rapidly. Our +sails, with a few old attaps from a deserted but in the village, formed +the walls, and a quantity of "cadjans," or palm-leaf mats, covered in +the roof. On the third day my house was finished, and all my things put +in and comfortably arranged to begin work, and I was quite pleased at +having got established so quickly and in such a nice situation. + +It had been so far fine weather, but in the night it rained hard, and we +found our mat roof would not keep out water. It first began to drop, +and then to stream over everything. I had to get up in the middle of the +night to secure my insect-boxes, rice, and other perishable articles, +and to find a dry place to sleep in, for my bed was soaked. Fresh leaks +kept forming as the rain continued, and w e all passed a very miserable +and sleepless night. In the morning the sun shone brightly, and +everything was put out to dry. We tried to find out why the mats leaked, +and thought we had discovered that they had been laid on upside down. +Having shifted there all, and got everything dry and comfortable by the +evening, we again went to bed, and before midnight were again awaked by +torrent of rain and leaks streaming in upon us as bad as ever. There +was no more sleep for us that night, and the next day our roof was again +taken to pieces, and we came to the conclusion that the fault was a want +of slope enough in the roof for mats, although it would be sufficient +for the usual attap thatch. I therefore purchased a few new and some old +attaps, and in the parts these would not cover we put the mats double, +and then at last had the satisfaction of finding our roof tolerably +water-tight. + +I was now able to begin working at the natural history of the island. +When I first arrived I was surprised at being told that there were no +Paradise Birds at Muka, although there were plenty at Bessir, a place +where the natives caught them and prepared the skins. I assured the +people I had heard the cry of these birds close to the village, but they +world not believe that I could know their cry. However, the very first +time I went into the forest I not only heard but saw them, and was +convinced there were plenty about; but they were very shy, and it was +some time before we got any. My hunter first shot a female, and I one +day got very close to a fine male. He was, as I expected, the rare red +species, Paradisea rubra, which alone inhabits this island, and is found +nowhere else. He was quite low down, running along a bough searching +for insects, almost like a woodpecker, and the long black riband-like +filaments in his tail hung down in the most graceful double curve +imaginable. I covered him with my gun, and was going to use the barrel +which had a very small charge of powder and number eight shot, so as +not to injure his plumage, but the gun missed fire, and he was off in an +instant among the thickest jungle. Another day we saw no less than eight +fine males at different times, and fired four times at them; but though +other birds at the same distance almost always dropped, these all got +away, and I began to think we were not to get this magnificent species. +At length the fruit ripened on the fig-tree close by my house, and many +birds came to feed on it; and one morning, as I was taking my coffee, a +male Paradise Bird was seen to settle on its top. I seized my gun, ran +under the tree, and, gazing up, could see it flying across from branch +to branch, seizing a fruit here and another there, and then, before I +could get a sufficient aim to shoot at such a height (for it was one of +the loftiest trees of the tropics), it was away into the forest. They +now visited the tree every morning; but they stayed so short a time, +their motions were so rapid, and it was so difficult to see them, owing +to the lower trees, which impeded the view, that it was only after +several days' watching, and one or two misses, that I brought down my +bird--a male in the most magnificent plumage. + +This bird differs very much from the two large species which I had +already obtained, and, although it wants the grace imparted by their +long golden trains, is in many respects more remarkable and more +beautiful. The head, back, and shoulders are clothed with a richer +yellow, the deep metallic green colour of the throat extends further +over the head, and the feathers are elongated on the forehead into two +little erectile crests. The side plumes are shorter, but are of a +rich red colour, terminating in delicate white points, and the middle +tail-feathers are represented by two long rigid glossy ribands, which +are black, thin, and semi-cylindrical, and droop gracefully in a +spiral curve. Several other interesting birds were obtained, and about +half-a-dozen quite new ones; but none of any remarkable beauty, except +the lovely little dove, Ptilonopus pulchellus, which with several +other pigeons I shot on the same fig-tree close to my house. It is of +a beautiful green colour above, with a forehead of the richest crimson, +while beneath it is ashy white and rich yellow, banded with violet red. + +On the evening of our arrival at Muka I observed what appeared like a +display of Aurora Borealis, though I could hardly believe that this was +possible at a point a little south of the equator. The night was clear +and calm, and the northern sky presented a diffused light, with a +constant succession of faint vertical flashings or flickerings, exactly +similar to an ordinary aurora in England. The next day was fine, but +after that the weather was unprecedentedly bad, considering that it +ought to have been the dry monsoon. For near a month we had wet weather; +the sun either not appearing at all, or only for an hour or two about +noon. Morning and evening, as well as nearly all night, it rained or +drizzled, and boisterous winds, with dark clouds, formed the daily +programme. With the exception that it was never cold, it was just such +weather as a very bad English November or February. + +The people of Waigiou are not truly indigenes of the island, which +possesses no "Alfuros," or aboriginal inhabitants. They appear to be +a mixed race, partly from Gilolo, partly from New Guinea. Malays and +Alfuros from the former island have probably settled here, and many of +them have taken Papuan wives from Salwatty or Dorey, while the influx of +people from those places, and of slaves, has led to the formation of a +tribe exhibiting almost all the transitions from a nearly pure Malayan +to an entirely Papuan type. The language spoken by them is entirely +Papuan, being that which is used on all the coasts of Mysol, Salwatty, +the north-west of New Guinea, and the islands in the great Geelvink +Bay,--a fact which indicates the way in which the coast settlements have +been formed. The fact that so many of the islands between New Guinea and +the Moluccas--such as Waigiou, Guebe, Poppa, Obi, Batchian, as well as +the south and east peninsulas of Gilolo--possess no aboriginal tribes, +but are inhabited by people who are evidently mongrels and wanderers, is +a remarkable corroborative proof of the distinctness of the Malayan and +Papuan races, and the separation of the geographical areas they inhabit. +If these two great races were direct modifications, the one of +the other, we should expect to find in the intervening region some +homogeneous indigenous race presenting intermediate characters. For +example, between the whitest inhabitants of Europe and the black Klings +of South India, there are in the intervening districts homogeneous races +which form a gradual transition from one to the other; while in America, +although there is a perfect transition from the Anglo-Saxon to the +negro, and from the Spaniard to the Indian, there is no homogeneous +race forming a natural transition from one to the other. In the Malay +Archipelago we have an excellent example of two absolutely distinct +races, which appear to have approached each other, and intermingled in +an unoccupied territory at a very recent epoch in the history of man; +and I feel satisfied that no unprejudiced person could study them on +the spot without being convinced that this is the true solution of the +problem, rather than the almost universally accepted view that they are +but modifications of one and the same race. + +The people of Muka live in that abject state of poverty that is almost +always found where the sago-tree is abundant. Very few of them take the +trouble to plant any vegetables or fruit, but live almost entirely on +sago and fish, selling a little tripang or tortoiseshell to buy the +scanty clothing they require. Almost all of them, however, possess one +or more Papuan slaves, on whose labour they live in almost absolute +idleness, just going out on little fishing or trading excursions, as an +excitement in their monotonous existence. They are under the rule of the +Sultan of Tidore, and every year have to pay a small tribute of Paradise +birds, tortoiseshell, or sago. To obtain these, they go in the fine +season on a trading voyage to the mainland of New Guinea, and getting a +few goods on credit from some Ceram or Bugis trader, make hard bargains +with the natives, and gain enough to pay their tribute, and leave a +little profit for themselves. + +Such a country is not a very pleasant one to live in, for as there are +no superfluities, there is nothing to sell; and had it not been for a +trader from Ceram who was residing there during my stay, who had a small +vegetable garden, and whose men occasionally got a few spare fish, I +should often have had nothing to eat. Fowls, fruit, and vegetables are +luxuries very rarely to be purchased at Muka; and even cocoa-nuts, so +indispensable for eastern cookery, are not to be obtained; for though +there are some hundreds of trees in the village, all the fruit is eaten +green, to supply the place of the vegetables the people are too lazy +to cultivate. Without eggs, cocoa-nuts, or plantains, we had very short +commons, and the boisterous weather being unpropitious for fishing, we +had to live on what few eatable birds we could shoot, with an occasional +cuscus, or eastern opossum, the only quadruped, except pigs, inhabiting +the island. + +I had only shot two male Paradiseas on my tree when they ceased visiting +it, either owing to the fruit becoming scarce, or that they were wise +enough to know there was danger. We continued to hear and see them in +the forest, but after a month had not succeeded in shooting any more; +and as my chief object in visiting Waigiou was to get these birds, I +determined to go to Bessir, where there are a number of Papuans who +catch and preserve them. I hired a small outrigger boat for this +journey, and left one of my men to guard my house and goods. We had +to wait several days for fine weather, and at length started early +one morning, and arrived late at night, after a rough and disagreeable +passage. The village of Bessir was built in the water at the point of +a small island. The chief food of the people was evidently shell-fish, +since great heaps of the shells had accumulated in the shallow water +between the houses and the land, forming a regular "kitchen-midden" for +the exploration of some future archeologist. We spent the night in the +chief's house, and the next morning went over to the mainland to look +out for a place where I could reside. This part of Waigiou is really +another island to the south of the narrow channel we had passed through +in coming to Muka. It appears to consist almost entirely of raised +coral, whereas the northern island contains hard crystalline rocks. The +shores were a range of low limestone cliffs, worn out by the water, so +that the upper part generally overhung. At distant intervals were little +coves and openings, where small streams came down from the interior; and +in one of these we landed, pulling our boat up on a patch of white sandy +beach. Immediately above was a large newly-made plantation of yams and +plantains, and a small hot, which the chief said we might have the use +of, if it would do for me. It was quite a dwarf's house, just eight feet +square, raised on posts so that the floor was four and a half feet above +the ground, and the highest part of the ridge only five feet above the +flour. As I am six feet and an inch in my stockings, I looked at this +with some dismay; but finding that the other houses were much further +from water, were dreadfully dirty, and were crowded with people, I at +once accepted the little one, and determined to make the best of it. +At first I thought of taking out the floor, which would leave it high +enough to walk in and out without stooping; but then there would not be +room enough, so I left it just as it was, had it thoroughly cleaned out, +and brought up my baggage. The upper story I used for sleeping in, and +for a store-room. In the lower part (which was quite open all round) I +fixed up a small table, arranged my boxes, put up hanging-shelves, laid +a mat on the ground with my wicker-chair upon it, hung up another mat on +the windward side, and then found that, by bending double and carefully +creeping in, I could sit on my chair with my head just clear of the +ceiling. Here I lived pretty comfortably for six weeks, taking all my +meals and doing all my work at my little table, to and from which I had +to creep in a semi-horizontal position a dozen times a day; and, after +a few severe knocks on the head by suddenly rising from my chair, learnt +to accommodate myself to circumstances. We put up a little sloping +cooking-but outside, and a bench on which my lads could skin their +birds. At night I went up to my little loft, they spread their mats on +the floor below, and we none of us grumbled at our lodgings. + +My first business was to send for the men who were accustomed to catch +the Birds of Paradise. Several came, and I showed them my hatchets, +beads, knives, and handkerchiefs; and explained to them, as well as I +could by signs, the price I would give for fresh-killed specimens. It is +the universal custom to pay for everything in advance; but only one man +ventured on this occasion to take goods to the value of two birds. The +rest were suspicious, and wanted to see the result of the first bargain +with the strange white man, the only one who had ever come to their +island. After three days, my man brought me the first bird--a very fine +specimen, and alive, but tied up in a small bag, and consequently its +tail and wing feathers very much crushed and injured. I tried to explain +to him, and to the others that came with him, that I wanted them as +perfect as possible, and that they should either kill them, or keep +them on a perch with a string to their leg. As they were now apparently +satisfied that all was fair, and that I had no ulterior designs upon +them, six others took away goods; some for one bird, some for more, and +one for as many as six. They said they had to go a long way for them, +and that they would come back as soon as they caught any. At intervals +of a few days or a week, some of them would return, bringing me one or +more birds; but though they did not bring any more in bags, there was +not much improvement in their condition. As they caught them a long way +off in the forest, they would scarcely ever come with one, but would +tie it by the leg to a stick, and put it in their house till they caught +another. The poor creature would make violent efforts to escape, would +get among the ashes, or hang suspended by the leg till the limb was +swollen and half-putrefied, and sometimes die of starvation and worry. +One had its beautiful head all defiled by pitch from a dammar torch; +another had been so long dead that its stomach was turning green. +Luckily, however, the skin and plumage of these birds is so firm and +strong, that they bear washing and cleaning better than almost any other +sort; and I was generally able to clean them so well that they did not +perceptibly differ from those I had shot myself. + +Some few were brought me the same day they were caught, and I had an +opportunity of examining them in all their beauty and vivacity. As soon +as I found they were generally brought alive, I set one of my men to +make a large bamboo cage with troughs for food and water, hoping to be +able to keep some of them. I got the natives to bring me branches of +a fruit they were very fond of, and I was pleased to find they ate it +greedily, and would also take any number of live grasshoppers I gave +them, stripping off the legs and wings, and then swallowing them. They +drank plenty of water, and were in constant motion, jumping about the +cage from perch to perch, clinging on the top and sides, and rarely +resting a moment the first day till nightfall. The second day they were +always less active, although they would eat as freely as before; and on +the morning of the third day they were almost always found dead at the +bottom of the cage, without any apparent cause. Some of them ate boiled +rice as well as fruit and insects; but after trying many in succession, +not one out of ten lived more than three days. The second or third +day they would be dull, and in several cases they were seized with +convulsions, and fell off the perch, dying a few hours afterwards. +I tried immature as well as full-plumaged birds, but with no better +success, and at length gave it up as a hopeless task, and confined my +attention to preserving specimens in as good a condition as possible. + +The Red Birds of Paradise are not shot with blunt arrows, as in the Aru +Islands and some parts of New Guinea, but are snared in a very ingenious +manner. A large climbing Arum bears a red reticulated fruit, of which +the birds are very fond. The hunters fasten this fruit on a stout forked +stick, and provide themselves with a fine but strong cord. They then +seep out some tree in the forest on which these birds are accustomed to +perch, and climbing up it fasten the stick to a branch and arrange the +cord in a noose so ingeniously, that when the bird comes to eat the +fruit its legs are caught, and by pulling the end of the cord, which +hangs down to the ground, it comes free from the branch and brings down +the bird. Sometimes, when food is abundant elsewhere, the hunter sits +from morning till night under his tree with the cord in his hand, and +even for two or three whole days in succession, without even getting a +bite; while, on the other hand, if very lucky, he may get two or three +birds in a day. There are only eight or ten men at Bessir who practise +this art, which is unknown anywhere else in the island. I determined, +therefore, to stay as long as possible, as my only chance of getting a +good series of specimens; and although I was nearly starved, everything +eatable by civilized man being scarce or altogether absent, I finally +succeeded. + +The vegetables and fruit in the plantations around us did not suffice +for the wants of the inhabitants, and were almost always dug up or +gathered before they were ripe. It was very rarely we could purchase +a little fish; fowls there were none; and we were reduced to live upon +tough pigeons and cockatoos, with our rice and sago, and sometimes we +could not get these. Having been already eight months on this voyage, my +stock of all condiments, spices and butter, was exhausted, and I found +it impossible to eat sufficient of my tasteless and unpalatable food +to support health. I got very thin and weak, and had a curious disease +known (I have since heard) as brow-ague. Directly after breakfast every +morning an intense pain set in on a small spot on the right temple. It +was a severe burning ache, as bad as the worst toothache, and lasted +about two hours, generally going off at noon. When this finally ceased, +I had an attack of fever, which left me so weak and so unable to eat our +regular food, that I feel sure my life was saved by a couple of tins of +soup which I had long reserved for some such extremity. I used often to +go out searching after vegetables, and found a great treasure in a lot +of tomato plants run wild, and bearing little fruits about the size of +gooseberries. I also boiled up the tops of pumpkin plants and of ferns, +by way of greens, and occasionally got a few green papaws. The natives, +when hard up for food, live upon a fleshy seaweed, which they boil till +it is tender. I tried this also, but found it too salt and bitter to be +endured. + +Towards the end of September it became absolutely necessary for me to +return, in order to make our homeward voyage before the end of the east +monsoon. Most of the men who had taken payment from me had brought the +birds they had agreed for. One poor fellow had been so unfortunate +as not to get one, and he very honestly brought back the axe he had +received in advance; another, who had agreed for six, brought me the +fifth two days before I was to start, and went off immediately to the +forest again to get the other. He did not return, however, and we loaded +our boat, and were just on the point of starting, when he came running +down after us holding up a bird, which he handed to me, saying with +great satisfaction, "Now I owe you nothing." These were remarkable and +quite unexpected instances of honesty among savages, where it would have +been very easy for them to have been dishonest without fear of detection +or punishment. + +The country round about Bessir was very hilly and rugged, bristling with +jagged and honey-combed coralline rocks, and with curious little chasms +and ravines. The paths often passed through these rocky clefts, which in +the depths of the forest were gloomy and dark in the extreme, and +often full of fine-leaved herbaceous plants and curious blue-foliaged +Lycopodiaceae. It was in such places as these that I obtained many of +my most beautiful small butterflies, such as Sospita statira and Taxila +pulchra, the gorgeous blue Amblypodia hercules, and many others. On the +skirts of the plantations I found the handsome blue Deudorix despoena, +and in the shady woods the lovely Lycaena wallacei. Here, too, I +obtained the beautiful Thyca aruna, of the richest orange on the upper +side; while below it is intense crimson and glossy black; and a superb +specimen of a green Ornithoptera, absolutely fresh and perfect, and +which still remains one of the glories of my cabinet. + +My collection of birds, though not very rich in number of species, was +yet very interesting. I got another specimen of the rare New Guinea +kite (Henicopernis longicauda), a large new goatsucker (Podargus +superciliaris), and a most curious ground-pigeon of an entirely new +genus, and remarkable for its long and powerful bill. It has been named +Henicophaps albifrons. I was also much pleased to obtain a fine series +of a large fruit-pigeon with a protuberance on the bill (Carpophaga +tumida), and to ascertain that this was not, as had been hitherto +supposed, a sexual character, but was found equally in male and female +birds. I collected only seventy-three species of birds in Waigiou, but +twelve of them were entirely new, and many others very rare; and as I +brought away with me twenty-four fine specimens of the Paradisea rubra, +I did not regret my visit to the island, although it had by no means +answered my expectations. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. VOYAGE FROM WAIGIOU TO TERNATE. + +(SEPTEMBER 29 To NOVEMBER 5, 1860.) + +I HAD left the old pilot at Waigiou to take care of my house and to get +the prau into sailing order--to caulk her bottom, and to look after +the upper works, thatch, and ringing. When I returned I found it nearly +ready, and immediately began packing up and preparing for the voyage. +Our mainsail had formed one side of our house, but the spanker and jib +had been put away in the roof, and on opening them to see if any repairs +were wanted, to our horror we found that some rats had made them their +nest, and had gnawed through them in twenty places. We had therefore +to buy matting and make new sails, and this delayed us till the 29th of +September, when we at length left Waigiou. + +It took us four days before we could get clear of the land, having +to pass along narrow straits beset with reefs and shoals, and full of +strong currents, so that an unfavourable wind stopped us altogether. One +day, when nearly clear, a contrary tide and head wind drove us ten miles +back to our anchorage of the night before. This delay made us afraid of +running short of water if we should be becalmed at sea, and we therefore +determined, if possible, to touch at the island where our men had +been lost, and which lay directly in our proper course. The wind was, +however, as usual, contrary, being S.S.W. instead of S.S.E., as it +should have been at this time of the year, and all we could do was to +reach the island of Gagie, where we came to an anchor by moonlight under +bare volcanic hills. In the morning we tried to enter a deep bay, at +the head of which some Galela fishermen told us there was water, but a +head-wind prevented us. For the reward of a handkerchief, however, +they took us to the place in their boat, and we filled up our jars and +bamboos. We then went round to their camping-place on the north coast +of the island to try and buy something to eat, but could only get smoked +turtle meat as black and as hard as lumps of coal. A little further on +there was a plantation belonging to Guebe people, but under the care +of a Papuan slave, and the next morning we got some plantains and a few +vegetables in exchange for a handkerchief and some knives. On leaving +this place our anchor had got foul in some rock or sunken log in very +deep water, and after many unsuccessful attempts, we were forced to +cut our rattan cable and leave it behind us. We had now only one anchor +left. + +Starting early, on the 4th of October, the same S.S.W wind continued, +and we began to fear that we should hardly clear the southern point +of Gilolo. The night of the 5th was squally, with thunder, but after +midnight it got tolerably fair, and we were going along with a light +wind and looking out for the coast of Gilolo, which we thought we +must be nearing, when we heard a dull roaring sound, like a heavy surf, +behind us. In a short time the roar increased, and we saw a white line +of foam coming on, which rapidly passed us without doing any harm, as +our boat rose easily over the wave. At short intervals, ten or a +dozen others overtook us with bleat rapidity, and then the sea became +perfectly smooth, as it was before. I concluded at once that these must +be earthquake waves; and on reference to the old voyagers we find +that these seas have been long subject to similar phenomena. Dampier +encountered them near Mysol and New Guinea, and describes them as +follows: "We found here very strange tides, that ran in streams, making +a great sea, and roaring so loud that we could hear them before they +came within a mile of us. The sea round about them seemed all broken, +and tossed the ship so that she would not answer her helm. These +ripplings commonly lasted ten or twelve minutes, and then the sea became +as still and smooth as a millpond. We sounded often when in the midst of +them, but found no ground, neither could we perceive that they drove us +any way. We had in one night several of these tides, that came mostly +from the west, and the wind being from that quarter we commonly heard +them a long time before they came, and sometimes lowered our topsails, +thinking it was a gust of wind. They were of great length, from north to +south, but their breadth not exceeding 200 yards, and they drove a great +pace. For though we had little wind to move us, yet these world +soon pass away, and leave the water very smooth, and just before we +encountered them we met a great swell, but it did not break." Some time +afterwards, I learnt that an earthquake had been felt on the coast of +Gilolo the very day we had encountered these curious waves. + +When daylight came, we saw the land of Gilolo a few miles off, but the +point was unfortunately a little to windward of us. We tried to brace up +all we could to round it, but as we approached the shore we got into a +strong current setting northward, which carried us so rapidly with it +that we found it necessary to stand off again, in order to get out of +its influence. Sometimes we approached the point a little, and our hopes +revived; then the wind fell, and we drifted slowly away. Night found +us in nearly the same position as we had occupied in the morning, so +we hung down our anchor with about fifteen fathoms of cable to prevent +drifting. On the morning of the 7th we were however, a good way up +the coast, and we now thought our only chance would be to got close +in-shore, where there might be a return current, and we could then row. +The prau was heavy, and my men very poor creatures for work, so that it +took us six hours to get to the edge of the reef that fringed the shore; +and as the wind might at any moment blow on to it, our situation was a +very dangerous one. Luckily, a short distance off there was a sandy bay, +where a small stream stopped the growth of the coral; and by evening we +reached this and anchored for the night. Here we found some Galela men +shooting deer and pigs; but they could not or would not speak Malay, and +we could get little information from them. We found out that along shore +the current changed with the tide, while about a mile out it was always +one way, and against us; and this gave us some hopes of getting back to +the point, from which we were now distant twenty miles. Next morning we +found that the Galela men had left before daylight, having perhaps some +vague fear of our intentions, anal very likely taking me for a pirate. +During the morning a boat passed, and the people informed us that, at +a short distance further towards the point, there was a much better +harbour, where there were plenty of Galela men, from whom we, might +probably get some assistance. + +At three in the afternoon, when the current turned, we started; but +having a head-wind, made slow progress. At dusk we reached the entrance +of the harbour, but an eddy and a gust of wind carried us away and out +to sea. After sunset there was a land breeze, and we sailed a little to +the south-east. It then became calm, and we hung down our anchor forty +fathoms, to endeavour to counteract the current; but it was of little +avail, and in the morning we found ourselves a good way from shore, and +just opposite our anchorage of the day before, which we again reached by +hard rowing. I gave the men this day to rest and sleep; and the next day +(Oct. 10th) we again started at two in the morning with a land breeze. +After I had set them to their oars, and given instructions to keep +close in-shore, and on no account to get out to sea, I went below, being +rather unwell. At daybreak I found, to my great astonishment, that +we were again far off-shore, and was told that the wind had gradually +turned more ahead, and had carried us out--none of them having the sense +to take down the sail and row in-shore, or to call me. As soon as it was +daylight, we saw that we had drifted back, and were again opposite our +former anchorage, and, for the third time, had to row hard to get to it. +As we approached the shore, I saw that the current was favourable to us, +and we continued down the coast till we were close to the entrance to +the lower harbour. Just as we were congratulating ourselves on having at +last reached it, a strong south-east squall came on, blowing us back, +and rendering it impossible for us to enter. Not liking the idea of +again returning, I determined on trying to anchor, and succeeded in +doing so, in very deep water and close to the reefs; but the prevailing +winds were such that, should we not hold, we should have no difficulty +in getting out to sea. By the time the squall had passed, the current +had turned against us, and we expected to have to wait till four in the +afternoon, when we intended to enter the harbour. + +Now, however, came the climax of our troubles. The swell produced by the +squall made us jerk our cable a good deal, and it suddenly snapped +low down in the water. We drifted out to sea, and immediately set our +mainsail, but we were now without any anchor, and in a vessel so poorly +manned that it could not be rowed against the most feeble current or the +slightest wind, it word be madness to approach these dangerous shores +except in the most perfect calm. We had also only three days' food left. +It was therefore out of the question making any further attempts to get +round the point without assistance, and I at once determined to run +to the village of Gani-diluar, about ten miles further north, where we +understood there was a good harbour, and where we might get provisions +and a few more rowers. Hitherto winds and currents load invariably +opposed our passage southward, and we might have expected them to +be favourable to us now we had turned our bowsprit in an opposite +direction. But it immediately fell calm, and then after a time a +westerly land breeze set in, which would not serve us, and we had to +row again for hours, and when night came had not reached the village. We +were so fortunate, however, as to find a deep sheltered cove where the +water was quite smooth, and we constructed a temporary anchor by filling +a sack with stones from our ballast, which being well secured by a +network of rattans held us safely during the night. The next morning +my men went on shore to cut wood suitable for making fresh anchors, +and about noon, the current turning in our favour, we proceeded to the +village, where we found an excellent and well-protected anchorage. + +On inquiry, we found that the head men resided at the other Gani on the +western side of the peninsula, and it was necessary to send messengers +across (about half a day's journey) to inform them of my arrival, and +to beg them to assist me. I then succeeded in buying a little sago, some +dried deer-meat and cocoa-nuts, which at once relieved our immediate +want of something to eat. At night we found our bag of atones still held +us very well, and we slept tranquilly. + +The next day (October 12th), my men set to work making anchors and oars. +The native Malay anchor is ingeniously constructed of a piece of tough +forked timber, the fluke being strengthened by twisted rattans binding +it to the stem, while the cross-piece is formed of a long flat +stone, secured in the same manner. These anchors when well made, hold +exceedingly arm, and, owing to the expense of iron, are still almost +universally used on board the smaller praus. In the afternoon the head +men arrived, and promised me as many rowers as I could put on the +prau, and also brought me a few eggs and a little rice, which were very +acceptable. On the 14th there was a north wind all day, which would +have been invaluable to us a few days earlier, but which was now only +tantalizing. On the 16th, all being ready, we started at daybreak with +two new anchors and ten rowers, who understood their work. By evening we +had come more than half-way to the point, and anchored for the night in +a small bay. At three the next morning I ordered the anchor up, but the +rattan cable parted close to the bottom, having been chafed by rocks, +and we then lost our third anchor on this unfortunate voyage. The day +was calm, and by noon we passed the southern point of Gilolo, which had +delayed us eleven days, whereas the whole voyage during this monsoon +should not have occupied more than half that time. Having got round the +point our course was exactly in the opposite direction to what it had +been, and now, as usual, the wind changed accordingly, coming from the +north and north-west,--so that we still had to row every mile up to the +village of Gani, which we did not reach till the evening of the 18th. A +Bugis trader who was residing there, and the Senaji, or chief, were +very kind; the former assisting me with a spare anchor and a cable, and +making me a present of some vegetables, and the latter baking fresh sago +cakes for my men; and giving rue a couple of fowls, a bottle of oil, and +some pumpkins. As the weather was still very uncertain, I got four +extra men to accompany me to Ternate, for which place we started on the +afternoon of the 20th. + +We had to keep rowing all night, the land breezes being too weak to +enable us to sail against the current. During the afternoon of the 21st +we had an hour's fair wind, which soon changed into a heavy squall with +rain, and my clumsy men let the mainsail get taken aback and nearly +upset us, tearing the sail; and, what was worse, losing an hour's fair +wind. The night was calm, and we made little progress. + +On the 22d we had light head-winds. A little before noon we passed, with +the assistance of our oars, the Paciencia Straits, the narrowest part +of the channel between Batchian and Gilolo. These were well named by the +early Portuguese navigators, as the currents are very strong, and there +are so many eddies, that even with a fair wind vessels are often quite +unable to pass through them. In the afternoon a strong north wind (dead +ahead) obliged us to anchor twice. At nigh it was calm, and we crept +along slowly with our oars. + +On the 23d we still had the wind ahead, or calms. We then crossed over +again to the mainland of Gilolo by the advice of our Gani men, who knew +the coast well. Just as we got across we had another northerly squall +with rain, and had to anchor on the edge of a coral reef for the night. +I called up my men about three on the morning of the 24th, but there was +no wind to help us, and we rowed along slowly. At daybreak there was a +fair breeze from the south, but it lasted only an hour. All the rest of +the day we had nothing but calms, light winds ahead, and squalls, and +made very little progress. + +On the 25th we drifted out to the middle of the channel, but made no +progress onward. In the afternoon we sailed and rowed to the south end +of Kaioa, and by midnight reached the village. I determined to stay here +a few days to rest and recruit, and in hopes of getting better weather. +I bought some onions and other vegetables, and plenty of eggs, and my +men baked fresh sago cakes. I went daily to my old hunting-ground in +search of insects, but with very poor success. It was now wet, squally +weather, and there appeared a stagnation of insect life. We Staved five +days, during which time twelve persons died in the village, mostly from +simple intermittent fever, of the treatment of which the natives are +quite ignorant. During the whole of this voyage I had suffered greatly +from sunburnt lips, owing to having exposed myself on deck all day to +loon after our safety among the shoals and reefs near Waigiou. The +salt in the air so affected them that they would not heal, but became +excessively painful, and bled at the slightest touch, and for a long +time it was with great difficulty I could eat at all, being obliged +to open my mouth very wide, and put in each mouthful with the greatest +caution. I kept them constantly covered with ointment, which was itself +very disagreeable, and they caused me almost constant pain for more than +a month, as they did not get well till I had returned to Ternate, and +was able to remain a week indoors. + +A boat which left for Ternate, the day after we arrived, was obliged to +return the next day, on account of bad weather. On the 31st we went out +to the anchorage at the mouth of the harbour, so as to be ready to start +at the first favourable opportunity. + +On the 1st of November I called up my men at one in the morning, and we +started with the tide in our favour. Hitherto it had usually been calm +at night, but on this occasion we had a strong westerly squall with +rain, which turned our prau broadside, and obliged us to anchor. When it +had passed we went on rowing all night, but the wind ahead counteracted +the current in our favour, and we advanced but little. Soon after +sunrise the wind became stronger and more adverse, and as we had a +dangerous lee-shore which we could not clear, we had to put about +and get an offing to the W.S.W. This series of contrary winds and bad +weather ever since we started, not having had a single day of fair wind, +was very remarkable. My men firmly believed there was something unlucky +in the boat, and told me I ought to have had a certain ceremony gone +through before starting, consisting of boring a hole in the bottom and +pouring some kind of holy oil through it. It must be remembered that +this was the season of the south-east monsoon, and yet we had not had +even half a day's south-east wind since we left Waigiou. Contrary winds, +squalls, and currents drifted us about the rest of the day at their +pleasure. The night was equally squally and changeable, and kept us hard +at work taking in and making sail, and rowing in the intervals. + +Sunrise on the 2d found us in the middle of the ten-mile channel between +Kaioa and Makian. Squalls and showers succeeded each other during the +morning. At noon there was a dead calm, after which a light westerly +breeze enabled us to reach a village on Makian in the evening. Here I +bought some pumelos (Citrus decumana), kanary-nuts, and coffee, and let +my men have a night's sleep. + +The morning of the 3d was fine, and we rowed slowly along the coast of +Makian. The captain of a small prau at anchor, seeing me on deck and +guessing who I was, made signals for us to stop, and brought me a letter +from Charles Allen, who informed me he had been at Ternate twenty days, +and was anxiously waiting my arrival. This was good news, as I was +equally anxious about him, and it cheered up my spirits. A light +southerly wind now sprung up, and we thought we were going to have fine +weather. It soon changed, however, to its old quarter, the west; dense +clouds gathered over the sky, and in less than half an hour we had the +severest squall we had experienced during our whole voyage. Luckily we +got our great mainsail down in time, or the consequences might have been +serious. It was a regular little hurricane, and my old Bugis steersman +began shouting out to "Allah! il Allah!" to preserve us. We could only +keep up our jib, which was almost blown to rags, but by careful handling +it kept us before the wind, and the prau behaved very well. Our small +boat (purchased at Gani) was towing astern, and soon got full of water, +so that it broke away and we saw no more of it. In about an hour the +fury of the wind abated a little, and in two more we were able to hoist +our mainsail, reefed and half-mast high. Towards evening it cleared up +and fell calm, and the sea, which had been rather high, soon went down. +Not being much of a seaman myself I had been considerably alarmed, and +even the old steersman assured me he had never been in a worse squall +all his life. He was now more than ever confirmed in his opinion of the +unluckiness of the boat, and in the efficiency of the holy oil which all +Bugis praus had poured through their bottoms. As it was, he imputed +our safety and the quick termination of the squall entirely to his own +prayers, saying with a laugh, "Yes, that's the way we always do on board +our praus; when things are at the worst we stand up and shout out our +prayers as loud as we can, and then Tuwan Allah helps us." + +After this it took us two days more to reach Ternate, having our usual +calms, squalls, and head-winds to the very last; and once having to +return back to our anchorage owing to violent gusts of wind just as we +were close to the town. Looking at my whole voyage in this vessel from +the time when I left Goram in May, it will appear that rely experiences +of travel in a native prau have not been encouraging. My first crew +ran away; two men were lost for a month on a desert island; we were +ten times aground on coral reefs; we lost four anchors; the sails were +devoured by rats; the small boat was lost astern; we were thirty-eight +days on the voyage home, which should not have taken twelve; we were +many times short of food and water; we had no compass-lamp, owing to +there not being a drop of oil in Waigiou when we left; and to crown all, +during the whole of our voyages from Goram by Ceram to Waigiou, and from +Waigiou to Ternate, occupying in all seventy-eight days, or only +twelve days short of three months (all in what was supposed to be the +favourable season), we had not one single day of fair wind. We were +always close braced up, always struggling against wind, tide, and +leeway, and in a vessel that would scarcely sail nearer than eight +points from the wind. Every seaman will admit that my first voyage in my +own boat was a most unlucky one. + +Charles Allen had obtained a tolerable collection of birds and insects +at Mysol, but far less than he would have done if I had not been so +unfortunate as to miss visiting him. After waiting another week or two +till he was nearly starved, he returned to Wahai in Ceram, and heard, +much to his surprise, that I had left a fortnight before. He was delayed +there more than a month before he could get back to the north side of +Mysol, which he found a much better locality, but it was not yet the +season for the Paradise Birds; and before he had obtained more than a +few of the common sort, the last prau was ready to leave for Ternate, +and he was obliged to take the opportunity, as he expected I would be +waiting there for him. + +This concludes the record of my wanderings. I next went to Timor, and +afterwards to Bourn, Java, and Sumatra, which places have already been +described. Charles Allen made a voyage to New Guinea, a short account of +which will be given in my next chapter on the Birds of Paradise. On +his return he went to the Sula Islands, and made a very interesting +collection which served to determine the limits of the zoological group +of Celebes, as already explained in my chapter on the natural history of +that island. His next journey was to Flores and Solor, where he obtained +some valuable materials, which I have used in my chapter on the natural +history of the Timor group. He afterwards went to Coti on the east coast +of Borneo, from which place I was very anxious to obtain collections, +as it is a quite new locality as far as possible from Sarawak, and I +had heard very good accounts of it. On his return thence to Sourabaya in +Java, he was to have gone to the entirely unknown Sumba or Sandal-wood +Island. Most unfortunately, however, he was seized with a terrible fever +on his arrival at Coti, and, after lying there some weeks, was taken to +Singapore in a very bad condition, where he arrived after I had left for +England. When he recovered he obtained employment in Singapore, and I +lost his services as a collector. + +The three concluding chapters of my work will treat of the birds of +Paradise, the Natural History of the Papuan Islands, and the Races of +Man in the Malay Archipelago. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE BIRDS OF PARADISE. + +AS many of my journeys were made with the express object of obtaining +specimens of the Birds of Paradise, and learning something of their +habits and distribution; and being (as far as I am aware) the only +Englishman who has seen these wonderful birds in their native forests, +and obtained specimens of many of them, I propose to give here, in a +connected form, the result of my observations and inquiries. + +When the earliest European voyagers reached the Moluccas in search of +cloves and nutmegs, which were then rare and precious spices, they were +presented with the dried shins of birds so strange and beautiful as to +excite the admiration even of those wealth-seeking rovers. The Malay +traders gave them the name of "Manuk dewata," or God's birds; and the +Portuguese, finding that they had no feet or wings, and not being able +to learn anything authentic about then, called them "Passaros de Col," +or Birds of the Sun; while the learned Dutchmen, who wrote in Latin, +called them "Avis paradiseus," or Paradise Bird. John van Linschoten +gives these names in 1598, and tells us that no one has seen these birds +alive, for they live in the air, always turning towards the sun, and +never lighting on the earth till they die; for they have neither feet +nor wings, as, he adds, may be seen by the birds carried to India, and +sometimes to Holland, but being very costly they were then rarely seen +in Europe. More than a hundred years later Mr. William Funnel, who +accompanied Dampier, and wrote an account of the voyage, saw specimens +at Amboyna, and was told that they came to Banda to eat nutmegs, which +intoxicated them and made them fall down senseless, when they were +killed by ants. Down to 1760, when Linnaeus named the largest species, +Paradisea apoda (the footless Paradise Bird), no perfect specimen had +been seen in Europe, and absolutely nothing was known about them. And +even now, a hundred years later, most books state that they migrate +annually to Ternate, Banda, and Amboyna; whereas the fact is, that they +are as completely unknown in those islands in a wild state as they are +in England. Linnaeus was also acquainted with a small species, which he +named Paradisea regia (the King Bird of Paradise), and since then nine +or ten others have been named, all of which were first described from +skins preserved by the savages of New Guinea, and generally more or less +imperfect. These are now all known in the Malay Archipelago as "Burong +coati," or dead birds, indicating that the Malay traders never saw them +alive. + +The Paradiseidae are a group of moderate-sized birds, allied in +their structure and habits to crows, starlings, and to the Australian +honeysuckers; but they are characterised by extraordinary developments +of plumage, which are unequalled in any other family of birds. In +several species large tufts of delicate bright-coloured feathers spring +from each side of the body beneath the wings, forming trains, or fans, +or shields; and the middle feathers of the tail are often elongated into +wires, twisted into fantastic shapes, or adorned with the most brilliant +metallic tints. In another set of species these accessory plumes spring +from the head, the back, or the shoulders; while the intensity of colour +and of metallic lustre displayed by their plumage, is not to be equalled +by any other birds, except, perhaps, the humming-birds, and is not +surpassed even by these. They have been usually classified under +two distinct families, Paradiseidae and Epimachidae, the latter +characterised by long and slender beaks, and supposed to be allied to +the Hoopoes; but the two groups are so closely allied in every essential +point of structure and habits, that I shall consider them as forming +subdivisions of one family. I will now give a short description of each +of the known species, and then add some general remarks on their natural +history. + +The Great Bird of Paradise (Paradisea apoda of Linnaeus) is the largest +species known, being generally seventeen or eighteen inches from the +beak to the tip of the tail. The body, wings, and tail are of a rich +coffee-brown, which deepens on the breast to a blackish-violet or +purple-brown. The whole top of the head and neck is of an exceedingly +delicate straw-yellow, the feathers being short and close set, so as +to resemble plush or velvet; the lower part of the throat up to the eye +clothed with scaly feathers of an emerald, green colour, and with a rich +metallic gloss, and velvety plumes of a still deeper green extend in +a band across the forehead and chin as far as the eye, which is bright +yellow. The beak is pale lead blue; and the feet, which are rather large +and very strong and well formed, are of a pale ashy-pink. The two middle +feathers of the tail have no webs, except a very small one at the base +and at the extreme tip, forming wire-like cirrhi, which spread out in +an elegant double curve, and vary from twenty-four to thirty-four inches +long. From each side of the body, beneath the wings, springs a dense +tuft of long and delicate plumes, sometimes two feet in length, of the +most intense golden-orange colour and very glossy, but changing towards +the tips into a pale brown. This tuft of plumage cam be elevated and +spread out at pleasure, so as almost to conceal the body of the bird. + +These splendid ornaments are entirely confined to the male sex, while +the female is really a very plain and ordinary-looking bird of a uniform +coffee-brown colour which never changes, neither does she possess the +long tail wires, nor a single yellow or green feather about the dead. +The young males of the first year exactly resemble the females, so that +they can only be distinguished by dissection. The first change is the +acquisition of the yellow and green colour on the head and throat, and +at the same time the two middle tail feathers grow a few inches longer +than the rest, but remain webbed on both sides. At a later period these +feathers are replaced by the long bare shafts of the full length, as +in the adult bird; but there is still no sign of the magnificent orange +side-plumes, which later still complete the attire of the perfect +male. To effect these changes there must be at least three successive +moultings; and as the birds were found by me in all the stages about the +same time, it is probable that they moult only once a year, and that +the full plumage is not acquired till the bird is four years old. It +was long thought that the fine train of feathers was assumed for a short +time only at the breeding season, but my own experience, as well as the +observation of birds of an allied species which I brought home with +me, and which lived two years in this country, show that the complete +plumage is retained during the whole year, except during a short period +of moulting as with most other birds. + +The Great Bird of Paradise is very active and vigorous and seems to be +in constant motion all day long. It is very abundant, small flocks +of females and young male being constantly met with; and though the +full-plumaged birds are less plentiful, their loud cries, which are +heard daily, show that they also are very numerous. Their note is, +"Wawk-wawk-wawk-Wok-wok-wok," and is so loud and shrill as to be heard a +great distance, and to form the most prominent and characteristic animal +sound in the Aru Islands. The mode of nidification is unknown; but the +natives told me that the nest was formed of leaves placed on an ant's +nest, or on some projecting limb of a very lofty tree, and they believe +that it contains only one young bird. The egg is quite unknown, and the +natives declared they had never seen it; and a very high reward offered +for one by a Dutch official did not meet with success. They moult about +January or February, and in May, when they are in full plumage, the +males assemble early in the morning to exhibit themselves in the +singular manner already described at p. 252. This habit enables the +natives to obtain specimens with comparative ease. As soon as they find +that the birds have fled upon a tree on which to assemble, they build a +little shelter of palm leaves in a convenient place among the branches, +and the hunter ensconces himself in it before daylight, armed with his +bow and a number of arrows terminating in a round knob. A boy waits +at the foot of the tree, and when the birds come at sunrise, and a +sufficient number have assembled, and have begun to dance, the hunter +shoots with his blunt arrow so strongly as to stun the bird, which drops +down, and is secured and killed by the boy without its plumage being +injured by a drop of blood. The rest take no notice, and fall one after +another till some of them take the alarm. (See Frontispiece.) + +The native mode of preserving them is to cut off the wings and feet, and +then skin the body up to the beak, taking out the skull. A stout stick +is then run up through the specimen coming out at the mouth. Round this +some leaves are stuffed, and the whole is wrapped up in a palm spathe +and dried in the smoky hut. By this plan the head, which is really +large, is shrunk up almost to nothing, the body is much reduced and +shortened, and the greatest prominence is given to the flowing plumage. +Some of these native skins are very clean, and often have wings and feet +left on; others are dreadfully stained with smoke, and all hive a most +erroneous idea of the proportions of the living bird. + +The Paradisea apoda, as far as we have any certain knowledge, is +confined to the mainland of the Aru Islands, never being found in the +smaller islands which surround the central mass. It is certainly not +found in any of the parts of New Guinea visited by the Malay and Bugis +traders, nor in any of the other islands where Birds of Paradise are +obtained. But this is by no means conclusive evidence, for it is only in +certain localities that the natives prepare skins, and in other places +the same birds may be abundant without ever becoming known. It is +therefore quite possible that this species may inhabit the great +southern mass of New Guinea, from which Aru has been separated; +while its near ally, which I shall next describe, is confined to the +north-western peninsula. + +The Lesser Bird of Paradise (Paradisea papuana of Bechstein), "Le petit +Emeraude" of French authors, is a much smaller bird than the preceding, +although very similar to it. It differs in its lighter brown colour, not +becoming darker or purpled on the breast; in the extension of the yellow +colour all over the upper part of the back and on the wing coverts; +in the lighter yellow of the side plumes, which have only a tinge of +orange, and at the tips are nearly pure white; and in the comparative +shortness of the tail cirrhi. The female differs remarkably front +the same sex in Paradisea apoda, by being entirely white on the under +surface of the body, and is thus a much handsomer bird. The young males +are similarly coloured, and as they grow older they change to brown, +and go through the same stages in acquiring the perfect plumage as has +already been described in the allied species. It is this bird which is +most commonly used in ladies' head-dresses in this country, and also +forms an important article of commerce in the East. + +The Paradisea papuana has a comparatively wide range, being the common +species on the mainland of New Guinea, as well as on the islands of +Mysol, Salwatty, Jobie, Biak and Sook. On the south coast of New +Guinea, the Dutch naturalist, Muller, found it at the Oetanata river in +longitude 136 deg. E. I obtained it myself at Dorey; and the captain of the +Dutch steamer Etna informed me that he had seen the feathers among the +natives of Humboldt Bay, in 141 deg. E. longitude. It is very probable, +therefore, that it ranges over the whole of the mainland of New Guinea. + +The true Paradise Birds are omnivorous, feeding on fruits and +insects--of the former preferring the small figs; of the latter, +grasshoppers, locusts, and phasmas, as well as cockroaches and +caterpillars. When I returned home, in 1862, I was so fortunate as to +find two adult males of this species in Singapore; and as they seemed +healthy, and fed voraciously on rice, bananas, and cockroaches, I +determined on giving the very high price asked for them--L100.--and to +bring them to England by the overland route under my own care. On my way +home I stayed a week at Bombay, to break the journey, and to lay in a +fresh stock of bananas for my birds. I had great difficulty, however, +in supplying them with insect food, for in the Peninsular and Oriental +steamers cockroaches were scarce, and it was only by setting traps in +the store-rooms, and by hunting an hour every night in the forecastle, +that I could secure a few dozen of these creatures,--scarcely enough +for a single meal. At Malta, where I stayed a fortnight, I got plenty +of cockroaches from a bake-house, and when I left, took with me several +biscuit-tins' full, as provision for the voyage home. We came through +the Mediterranean in March, with a very cold wind; and the only place on +board the mail-steamer where their large cage could be accommodated was +exposed to a strong current of air down a hatchway which stood open day +and night, yet the birds never seemed to feel the cold. During the night +journey from Marseilles to Paris it was a sharp frost; yet they arrived +in London in perfect health, and lived in the Zoological Gardens for +one, and two years, often displaying their beautiful plumes to the +admiration of the spectators. It is evident, therefore, that the +Paradise Birds are very hardy, and require air and exercise rather +than heat; and I feel sure that if a good sized conservators` could +be devoted to them, or if they could be turned loose in the tropical +department of the Crystal Palace or the Great Palm House at Kew, they +would live in this country for many years. + +The Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisea rubra of Viellot), though allied to +the two birds already described, is much more distinct from them than +they are from each other. It is about the same size as Paradisea papuana +(13 to 14 inches long), but differs from it in many particulars. The +side plumes, instead of being yellow, are rich crimson, and only extend +about three or four inches beyond the end of the tail; they are somewhat +rigid, and the ends are curved downwards and inwards, and are tipped +with white. The two middle tail feathers, instead of being simply +elongated and deprived of their webs, are transformed into stiff black +ribands, a quarter of an inch wide, but curved like a split quill, and +resembling thin half cylinders of horn or whalebone. When a dead bird +is laid on its back, it is seen that these ribands take a curve or set, +which brings them round so as to meet in a double circle on the neck +of the bird; but when they hang downwards, during life, they assume a +spiral twist, and form an exceedingly graceful double curve. They are +about twenty-two inches long, and always attract attention as the most +conspicuous and extraordinary feature of the species. The rich metallic +green colour of the throat extends over the front half of the head to +behind the eyes, and on the forehead forms a little double crest of +scaly feathers, which adds much to the vivacity of the bird's aspect. +The bill is gamboge yellow, and the iris blackish olive. (Figure at p. +353.) + +The female of this species is of a tolerably uniform coffee-brown +colour, but has a blackish head, and the nape neck, and shoulders +yellow, indicating the position of the brighter colours of the male. The +changes of plumage follow the same order of succession as in the other +species, the bright colours of the head and neck being first developed, +then the lengthened filaments of the tail, and last of all, the red side +plumes. I obtained a series of specimens, illustrating the manner in +which the extraordinary black tail ribands are developed, which is very +remarkable. They first appear as two ordinary feathers, rather shorter +than the rest of the tail; the second stage would no doubt be that shown +in a specimen of Paradisea apoda, in which the feathers are moderately +lengthened, and with the web narrowed in the middle; the third stage is +shown by a specimen which has part of the midrib bare, and terminated +by a spatulate web; in another the bare midrib is a little dilated +and semi-cylindrical, and the terminal web very small; in a fifth, the +perfect black horny riband is formed, but it bears at its extremity +a brown spatulate web, while in another a portion of the black riband +itself bears, for a portion of its length, a narrow brown web. It is +only after these changes are fully completed that the red side plumes +begin to appear. + +The successive stages of development of the colours and plumage of the +Birds of Paradise are very interesting, from the striking manner in +which they accord with the theory of their having been produced by the +simple action of variation, and the cumulative power of selection by the +females, of those male birds which were more than usually ornamental. +Variations of _colour_ are of all others the most frequent and the +most striking, and are most easily modified and accumulated by man's +selection of them. We should expect, therefore, that the sexual +differences of _colour_ would be those most early accumulated and fixed, +and would therefore appear soonest in the young birds; and this is +exactly what occurs in the Paradise Birds. Of all variations in the +_form_ of birds' feathers, none are so frequent as those in the head and +tail. These occur more, or less in every family of birds, and are easily +produced in many domesticated varieties, while unusual developments of +the feathers of the body are rare in the whole class of birds, and have +seldom or never occurred in domesticated species. In accordance with +these facts, we find the scale-formed plumes of the throat, the crests +of the head, and the long cirrhi of the tail, all fully developed before +the plumes which spring from the side of the body begin to mane their +appearance. If, on the other hand, the male Paradise Birds have not +acquired their distinctive plumage by successive variations, but have +been as they are mow from the moment they first appeared upon the earth, +this succession becomes at the least unintelligible to us, for we can +see no reason why the changes should not take place simultaneously, or +in a reverse order to that in which they actually occur. + +What is known of the habits of this bird, and the way in which it is +captured by the natives, have already been described at page 362. + +The Red Bird of Paradise offers a remarkable case of restricted +range, being entirely confined to the small island of Waigiou, off the +north-west extremity of New Guinea, where it replaces the allied species +found in the other islands. + +The three birds just described form a well-marked group, agreeing in +every point of general structure, in their comparatively large size, +the brown colour of their bodies, wings, and tail, and in the peculiar +character of the ornamental plumage which distinguishes the male bird. +The group ranges nearly over the whole area inhabited by the family of +the Paradiseidae, but each of the species has its own limited region, +and is never found in the same district with either of its close allies. +To these three birds properly belongs the generic title Paradisea, or +true Paradise Bird. + +The next species is the Paradisea regia of Linnaeus, or Ding Bird of +Paradise, which differs so much from the three preceding species as +to deserve a distinct generic name, and it has accordingly been called +Cicinnurus regius. By the Malays it is called "Burong rajah," or King +Bird, and by the natives of the Aru Islands "Goby-goby." + +This lovely little bird is only about six and a half inches long, partly +owing to the very short tail, which does not surpass the somewhat square +wings. The head, throat, and entire upper surface are of the richest +glossy crimson red, shading to orange-crimson on the forehead, where the +feathers extend beyond the nostrils more than half-way down the beak. +The plumage is excessively brilliant, shining in certain lights with a +metallic or glassy lustre. The breast and belly are pure silky white, +between which colour and the red of the throat there is a broad band of +rich metallic green, and there is a small spot of the same colour close +above each eye. From each side of the body beneath the wing, springs +a tuft of broad delicate feathers about an inch and a half long, of an +ashy colour, but tipped with a broad band of emerald green, bordered +within by a narrow line of buff: These plumes are concealed beneath the +wing, but when the bird pleases, can be raised and spread out so as to +form an elegant semicircular fan on each shoulder. But another ornament +still more extraordinary, and if possible more beautiful, adorns this +little bird. The two middle tail feathers are modified into very slender +wirelike shafts, nearly six inches long, each of which bears at the +extremity, on the inner side only, a web of an emerald green colour, +which is coiled up into a perfect spiral disc, and produces a most +singular and charming effect. The bill is orange yellow, and the feet +and legs of a fine cobalt blue. (See upper figure on the plate at the +commencement of this chapter.) + +The female of this little gem is such a plainly coloured bird, that it +can at first sight hardly be believed to belong to the same species. The +upper surface is of a dull earthy brown, a slight tinge of orange red +appearing only on the margins of the quills. Beneath, it is of a paler +yellowish brown, scaled and banded with narrow dusky markings. The young +males are exactly like the female, and they no doubt undergo a series of +changes as singular as those of Paradisea rubra; but, unfortunately, I +was unable to obtain illustrative specimens. + +This exquisite little creature frequents the smaller trees in the +thickest parts of the forest, feeding on various fruits; often of a very +large size for so small a bird. It is very active both on its wings and +feet, and makes a whirring sound while flying, something like the +South American manakins. It often flutters its wings and displays the +beautiful fan which adorns its breast, while the star-bearing tail wires +diverge in an elegant double curve. It is tolerably plentiful in the +Aru Islands, which led to it, being brought to Europe at an early period +along with Paradisea apoda. It also occurs in the island of Mysol and in +every part of New Guinea which has been visited by naturalists. + +We now come to the remarkable little bird called the "Magnificent," +first figured by Buffon, and named Paradisea speciosa by Boddaert, +which, with one allied species, has been formed into a separate genus +by Prince Buonaparte, under the name of Diphyllodes, from the curious +double mantle which clothes the back. + +The head is covered with short brown velvety feathers, which advance on +the back so as to cover the nostrils. From the nape springs a dense mass +of feathers of a straw-yellow colour, and about one and a half inches +long, forming a mantle over the upper part of the back. Beneath this, +and forming a band about one-third of an inch beyond it, is a second +mantle of rich, glossy, reddish-brown fathers. The rest of the bath is +orange-brown, the tail-coverts and tail dark bronzy, the wings light +orange-buff: The whole under surface is covered with an abundance of +plumage springing from the margins of the breast, and of a rich deep +green colour, with changeable hues of purple. Down the middle of the +breast is a broad band of scaly plumes of the same colour, while the +chin and throat are of a rich metallic bronze. From the middle of the +tail spring two narrow feathers of a rich steel blue, and about ten +inches long. These are webbed on the inner side only, and curve outward, +so as to form a double circle. + +From what we know of the habits of allied species, we may be sure that +the greatly developed plumage of this bird is erected and displayed in +some remarkable manner. The mass of feathers on the under surface are +probably expanded into a hemisphere, while the beautiful yellow mantle +is no doubt elevated so as to give the bird a very different appearance +from that which it presents in the dried and flattened skins of the +natives, through which alone it is at present known. The feet appear to +be dark blue. + +This rare and elegant little bird is found only on the mainland of New +Guinea, and in the island of Mysol. + +A still more rare and beautiful species than the last is the Diphyllodes +wilsoni, described by Mr. Cassin from a native skin in the rich museum +of Philadelphia. The same bird was afterwards named "Diphyllodes +respublica" by Prince Buonaparte, and still later, "Schlegelia calva," +by Dr. Bernstein, who was so fortunate as to obtain fresh specimens in +Waigiou. + +In this species the upper mantle is sulphur yellow, the lower one and +the wings pure red, the breast plumes dark green, and the lengthened +middle tail feathers much shorter than in the allied species. The most +curious difference is, however, that the top of the head is bald, the +bare skin being of a rich cobalt blue, crossed by several lines of black +velvety feathers. + +It is about the same size as Diphyllodes speciosa, and is no doubt +entirely confined to the island of Waigiou. The female, as figured and +described by Dr. Bernstein, is very like that of Cicinnurus regius, +being similarly banded beneath; and we may therefore conclude that its +near ally, the "Magnificent," is at least equally plain in this sex, of +which specimens have not yet been obtained. + +The Superb Bird of Paradise was first figured by Buffon, and was +named by Boddaert, Paradisea atra, from the black ground colour of its +plumage. It forms the genus Lophorina of Viellot, and is one of the +rarest and most brilliant of the whole group, being only known +front mutilated native skins. This bird is a little larger than the +Magnificent. The ground colour of the plumage is intense black, but with +beautiful bronze reflections on the neck, and the whole head scaled with +feathers of brilliant metallic green and blue. Over its breast it bears +a shield formed of narrow and rather stiff feathers, much elongated +towards the sides, of a pure bluish-green colour, and with a satiny +gloss. But a still more extraordinary ornament is that which springs +from the back of the neck,--a shield of a similar form to that on the +breast, but much larger, and of a velvety black colour, glossed with +bronze and purple. The outermost feathers of this shield are half +an inch longer than the wing, and when it is elevated it must, in +conjunction with the breast shield, completely change the form and whole +appearance of the bird. The bill is black, and the feet appear to be +yellow. + +This wonderful little bird inhabits the interior of the northern +peninsula of New Guinea only. Neither I nor Mr. Allen could hear +anything of it in any of the islands or on any part of the coast. It is +true that it was obtained from the coast-natives by Lesson; but when +at Sorong in 1861, Mr. Allen learnt that it is only found three days' +journey in the interior. Owing to these "Black Birds of Paradise," as +they are called, not being so much valued as articles of merchandise, +they now seem to be rarely preserved by the natives, and it thus +happened that during several years spent on the coasts of New Guinea +and in the Moluccas I was never able to obtain a skin. We are therefore +quite ignorant of the habits of this bird, and also of its female, +though the latter is no doubt as plain and inconspicuous as in all the +other species of this family. + +The Golden, or Six-shafted, Paradise Bird, is another rare species, +first figured by Buffon, and never yet obtained in perfect condition. It +was named by Boddaert, Paradisea sexpennis, and forms the genus +Parotia of Viellot. This wonderful bird is about the size of the female +Paradisea rubra. The plumage appear, at first sight black, but it glows +in certain light with bronze and deep purple. The throat and breast are +scaled with broad flat feathers of an intense golden hue, changing to +green and blue tints in certain lights. On the back of the head is a +broad recurved band of feathers, whose brilliancy is indescribable, +resembling the sheen of emerald and topaz rather than any organic +substance. Over the forehead is a large patch of pure white feathers, +which shine like satin; and from the sides of the head spring the six +wonderful feathers from which the bird receives its name. These are +slender wires, six inches long, with a small oval web at the extremity. +In addition to these ornaments, there is also an immense tuft of soft +feathers on each side of the breast, which when elevated must entirely +hide the wings, and give the bird au appearance of being double its real +bulk. The bill is black, short, and rather compressed, with the feathers +advancing over the nostrils, as in Cicinnurus regius. This singular and +brilliant bird inhabits the same region as the Superb Bird of Paradise, +and nothing whatever is known about it but what we can derive from an +examination of the skins preserved by the natives of New Guinea. + +The Standard Wing, named Semioptera wallacei by Mr. G. R. Gray, is +an entirely new form of Bird of Paradise, discovered by myself in the +island of Batchian, and especially distinguished by a pair of long +narrow feathers of a white colour, which spring from among the short +plumes which clothe the bend of the wing, and are capable of being +erected at pleasure. The general colour of this bird is a delicate +olive-brown, deepening to a loud of bronzy olive in the middle of the +back, and changing to a delicate ashy violet with a metallic gloss, on +the crown of the head. The feathers, which cover the nostrils and extend +half-way down the beak, are loose and curved upwards. Beneath, it is +much more beautiful. The scale-like feathers of the breast are margined +with rich metallic blue-green, which colour entirely covers the throat +and sides of the neck, as well as the long pointed plumes which spring +from the sides of the breast, and extend nearly as far as the end of the +wings. The most curious feature of the bird, however, and one altogether +unique in the whole class, is found in the pair of long narrow delicate +feathers which spring from each wing close to the bend. On lifting the +wing-coverts they are seen to arise from two tubular horny sheaths, +which diverge from near the point of junction of the carpal bones. As +already described at p. 41, they are erectile, and when the bird +is excited are spread out at right angles to the wing and slightly +divergent. They are from six to six and a half inches long, the upper +one slightly exceeding the lower. The total length of the bird is eleven +inches. The bill is horny olive, the iris deep olive, and the feet +bright orange. + +The female bird is remarkably plain, being entirely of a dull pale +earthy brown, with only a slight tinge of ashy violet on the head to +relieve its general monotony; and the young males exactly resemble her. +(See figures at p. 41.) + +This bird, frequents the lower trees of the forests, and, like most +Paradise Birds, is in constant motion--flying from branch to branch, +clinging to the twigs and even to the smooth and vertical trunks almost +as easily as a woodpecker. It continually utters a harsh, creaking note, +somewhat intermediate between that of Paradisea apoda, and the more +musical cry of Cicinnurus regius. The males at short intervals open and +flutter their wings, erect the long shoulder feathers, and spread out +the elegant green breast shields. + +The Standard Wing is found in Gilolo as well as in Batchian, and all +the specimens from the former island have the green breast shield rather +longer, the crown of the head darker violet, and the lower parts of the +body rather more strongly scaled with green. This is the only Paradise +Bird yet found in the Moluccan district, all the others being confined +to the Papuan Islands and North Australia. + +We now come to the Epimachidae, or Long-billed Birds of Paradise, which, +as before stated, ought not to be separated from the Paradiseidae by the +intervention of any other birds. One of the most remarkable of these is +the Twelve-wired Paradise Bird, Paradises alba of Blumenbach, but now +placed in the genus Seleucides of Lesson. + +This bird is about twelve inches long, of which the compressed and +curved beak occupies two inches. The colour of the breast and upper +surface appears at first sight nearly black, but a close examination +shows that no part of it is devoid of colour; and by holding it in +various lights, the most rich and glowing tints become visible. The +head, covered with short velvety feathers, which advance on the chic +much further than on the upper part of the beak, is of a purplish bronze +colour; the whole of the back and shoulders is rich bronzy green, while +the closed wings and tail are of the most brilliant violet purple, all +the plumage having a delicate silky gloss. The mass of feathers which +cover the breast is really almost black, with faint glosses of green +and purple, but their outer edges are margined with glittering bands of +emerald green. The whole lower part of the body is rich buffy yellow, +including the tuft of plumes which spring from the sides, and extend an +inch and a half beyond the tail. When skins are exposed to the light +the yellow fades into dull white, from which circumstance it derived its +specific name. About six of the innermost of these plumes on each side +have the midrib elongated into slender black wires, which bend at right +angles, and curve somewhat backwards to a length of about ten inches, +forming one of those extraordinary and fantastic ornaments with which +this group of birds abounds. The bill is jet black, and the feet +bright yellow. (See lower figure on the plate at the beginning of this +chapter). + +The female, although not quite so plain a bird as in some other species, +presents none of the gay colours or ornamental plumage of the male. The +top of the head and back of the neck are black, the rest of the upper +parts rich reddish brown; while the under surface is entirely yellowish +ashy, somewhat blackish on the breast, and crossed throughout with +narrow blackish wavy bands. + +The Seleucides alba is found in the island of Salwatty, and in the +north-western parts of New Guinea, where it frequents flowering trees, +especially sago-palms and pandani, sucking the flowers, round and +beneath which its unusually large and powerful feet enable it to cling. +Its motions are very rapid. It seldom rests more than a few moments on +one tree, after which it flies straight off, and with great swiftness, +to another. It has a loud shrill cry, to be heard a long way, consisting +of "Cah, cah," repeated five or six times in a descending scale, and at +the last note it generally flies away. The males are quite solitary in +their habits, although, perhaps, they assemble at pertain times like the +true Paradise Birds. All the specimens shot and opened by my assistant +Mr. Allen, who obtained this fine bird during his last voyage to New +Guinea, had nothing in their stomachs but a brown sweet liquid, +probably the nectar of the flowers on which they had been feeding. They +certainly, however, eat both fruit and insects, for a specimen which +I saw alive on board a Dutch steamer ate cockroaches and papaya fruit +voraciously. This bird had the curious habit of resting at noon with the +bill pointing vertically upwards. It died on the passage to Batavia, and +I secured the body and formed a skeleton, which shows indisputably that +it is really a Bird of Paradise. The tongue is very long and extensible, +but flat and little fibrous at the end, exactly like the true +Paradiseas. + +In the island of Salwatty, the natives search in the forests till they +find the sleeping place of this bird, which they know by seeing its +dung upon the ground. It is generally in a low bushy tree. At night they +climb up the trap, and either shoot the birds with blunt arrows, or even +catch them alive with a cloth. In New Guinea they are caught by placing +snares on the trees frequented by them, in the same way as the Red +Paradise birds are caught in Waigiou, and which has already been +described at page 362. + +The great Epimaque, or Long-tailed Paradise Bird (Epimachus magnus), is +another of these wonderful creatures, only known by the imperfect skins +prepared by the natives. In its dark velvety plumage, glowed with bronze +and purple, it resembles the Seleucides alba, but it bears a magnificent +tail more than two feet long, glossed on the upper surface with the most +intense opalescent blue. Its chief ornament, however, consists in the +group of broad plumes which spring from the sides of the breast, and +which are dilated at the extremity, and banded with the most vivid +metallic blue and green. The bill is long and curved, and the feet +black, and similar to those of the allied forms. The total length of +this fine bird is between three and four feet. + +This splendid bird inhabits the mountains of New Guinea, in the same +district with the Superb and the Six-shafted Paradise Birds, and I was +informed is sometimes found in the ranges near the coast. I was several +times assured by different natives that this bird makes its nest in +a hole under ground, or under rocks, always choosing a place with two +apertures, so that it may enter at one and go out at the other. This is +very unlike what we should suppose to be the habits of the bird, but it +is not easy to conceive how the story originated if it is not true; +and all travellers know that native accounts of the habits of animals, +however strange they may seem, almost invariably turn out to be correct. + +The Scale-breasted Paradise Bird (Epimachus magnificus of Cuvier) is now +generally placed with the Australian Rifle birds in the genus Ptiloris. +Though very beautiful, these birds are less strikingly decorated with +accessory plumage than the other species we have been describing, their +chief ornament being a more or less developed breastplate of stiff +metallic green feathers, and a small tuft of somewhat hairy plumes on +the sides of the breast. The back and wings of this species are of +an intense velvety black, faintly glossed in certain lights with rich +purple. The two broad middle tail feathers are opalescent green-blue +with a velvety surface, and the top of the head is covered with feathers +resembling scales of burnished steel. A large triangular space covering +the chin, throat, and breast, is densely scaled with feathers, having a +steel-blue or green lustre, and a silky feel. This is edged below with +a narrow band of black, followed by shiny bronzy green, below which the +body is covered with hairy feathers of a rich claret colour, deepening +to black at the tail. The tufts of side plumes somewhat resemble those +of the true Birds of Paradise, but are scanty, about as long as the +tail, and of a black colour. The sides of the head are rich violet, and +velvety feathers extend on each side of the beak over the nostrils. + +I obtained at Dorey a young male of this bird, in a state of plumage +which is no doubt that of the adult female, as is the case in all the +allied species. The upper surface, wings, and tail are rich reddish +brown, while the under surface is of a pale ashy colour, closely barred +throughout with narrow wavy black bands. There is also a pale banded +stripe over the eye, and a long dusky stripe from the gape down each +side of the neck. This bird is fourteen inches long, whereas the native +skins of the adult male are only about ten inches, owing to the way +in which the tail is pushed in, so as to give as much prominence as +possible to the ornamental plumage of the breast. + +At Cape York, in North Australia, there is a closely allied species, +Ptiloris alberti, the female of which is very similar to the young male +bird here described. The beautiful Rifle Birds of Australia, which +much resemble those Paradise Birds, are named Ptiloris paradiseus +and Ptiloris victories, The Scale-breasted Paradise Bird seems to be +confined to the mainland of New Guinea, and is less rare than several of +the other species. + +There are three other New Guinea birds which are by some authors classed +with the Birds of Paradise, and which, being almost equally remarkable +for splendid plumage, deserve to be noticed here. The first is the +Paradise pie (Astrapia nigra of Lesson), a bird of the size of Paradises +rubra, but with a very long tail, glossed above with intense violet. +The back is bronzy black, the lower parts green, the throat and neck +bordered with loose broad feathers of an intense coppery hue, while on +the top of the head and neck they are glittering emerald green, All the +plumage round the head is lengthened and erectile, and when spread out +by the living bird must lave an effect hardly surpassed by any of the +true Paradise birds. The bill is black and the feet yellow. The Astrapia +seems to me to be somewhat intermediate between the Paradiseidae and +Epimachidae. + +There is an allied species, having a bare carunculated head, which has +been called Paradigalla carunculata. It is believed to inhabit, with the +preceding, the mountainous, interior of New Guinea, but is exceedingly +rare, the only known specimen being in the Philadelphia Museum. + +The Paradise Oriole is another beautiful bird, which is now sometimes +classed with the Birds of Paradise. It has been named Paradises aurea +and Oriolus aureus by the old naturalists, and is now generally +placed in the same genus as the Regent Bird of Australia (Sericulus +chrysocephalus). But the form of the bill and the character of the +plumage seem to me to be so different that it will have to form a +distinct genus. This bird is almost entirely yellow, with the exception +of the throat, the tail, and part of the wings and back, which are +black; but it is chiefly characterised by a quantity of long feathers of +an intense glossy orange colour, which cover its neck down to the middle +of the back, almost like the hackles of a game-cock. + +This beautiful bird inhabits the mainland of New Guinea, and is also +found in Salwatty, but is so rare that I was only able to obtain one +imperfect native skin, and nothing whatever is known of its habits. + +I will now give a list of all the Birds of Paradise yet known, with the +places they are believed to inhabit. + +1. Paradisea apoda (The Great Paradise Bird). Aru Islands. + +2. Paradisea papuana (The Lesser Paradise Bird). New Guinea. Mysol, +Jobie. + +3. Paradisea rubra (The Red Paradise Bird). Waigiou. + +4. Cicinnurus regius (The King Paradise Bird). New Guinea, Aru Islands, +Mysol, Salwatty. + +5. Diphyllodes speciosa (The Magnificent). New Guinea, Mysol, Salwatty. + +6. Diphyllodes wilsoni (The Red Magnificent). Waigiou. + +7. Lophorina atra (The Superb). New Guinea. + +8. Parotia sexpennis (The Golden Paradise Bird). New Guinea. + +9. Semioptera wallacei (The Standard Wing). Batchian, Gilolo. + +10. Epimachus magnus (The Long-tailed Paradise Bird). New Guinea + +11. Seleucides albs (The Twelve-wired Paradise Bird).New Guinea, +Salwatty. + +12. Ptiloris magnifica (The Scale-breasted Paradise Bird). New Guinea. + +13. Ptiloris alberti (Prince Albert's Paradise Bird). North Australia. + +14. Ptiloris Paradisea (The Rifle Bird). East Australia. + +15. Ptiloris victoriae (The Victorian Rifle Bird). North-East Australia. + +16. Astrapia nigra (The Paradise Pie). New Guinea. + +17. Paradigalla carunculata (The Carunculated Paradise Pie). New Guinea. + +18. (?) Sericulus aureus (The Paradise Oriole). New Guinea, Salwatty. + +We see, therefore, that of the eighteen species which seem to deserve a +place among the Birds of Paradise, eleven are known to inhabit the great +island of New Guinea, eight of which are entirely confined to it and the +hardly separated island of Salwatty. But if we consider those islands +which are now united to New Guinea by a shallow sea to really form a +part of it, we shall find that fourteen of the Paradise Birds belong +to that country, while three inhabit the northern and eastern parts +of Australia, and one the Moluccas. All the more extraordinary and +magnificent species are, however, entirely confined to the Papuan +region. + +Although I devoted so much time to a search after these wonderful birds, +I only succeeded myself in obtaining five species during a residence +of many months in the Aru Islands, New Guinea, and Waigiou. Mr. Allen's +voyage to Mysol did not procure a single additional species, but we +both heard of a place called Sorong, on the mainland of New Guinea, +near Salwatty, where we were told that all the kinds we desired could be +obtained. We therefore determined that he should visit this place, and +endeavour to penetrate into the interior among the natives, who actually +shoot and skin the Birds of Paradise. He went in the small prau I +had fitted up at Goram, and through the kind assistance of the Dutch +Resident at Ternate, a lieutenant and two soldiers were sent by the +Sultan of Tidore to accompany and protect him, and to assist him in +getting men and in visiting the interior. + +Notwithstanding these precautions, Mr. Allen met with difficulties in +this voyage which we had neither of us encountered before. To understand +these, it is necessary to consider that the Birds of Paradise are an +article of commerce, and are the monopoly of the chiefs of the coast +villages, who obtain them at a low rate from the mountaineers, and sell +them to the Bugis traders. A portion is also paid every year as tribute +to the Sultan of Tidore. The natives are therefore very jealous of a +stranger, especially a European, interfering in their trade, and above +all of going into the interior to deal with the mountaineers themselves. +They of course think he will raise the prices in the interior, and +lessen the supply on the coast, greatly to their disadvantage; they also +think their tribute will be raised if a European takes back a quantity +of the rare sorts; and they have besides a vague and very natural dread +of some ulterior object in a white man's coming at so much trouble and +expense to their country only to get Birds of Paradise, of which they +know he can buy plenty (of the common yellow ones which alone they +value) at Ternate, Macassar, or Singapore. + +It thus happened that when Mr. Allen arrived at Sorong, and explained +his intention of going to seek Birds of Paradise in the interior, +innumerable objections were raised. He was told it was three or four +days' journey over swamps and mountains; that the mountaineers were +savages and cannibals, who would certainly kill him; and, lastly, that +not a man in the village could be found who dare go with him. After some +days spent in these discussions, as he still persisted in making the +attempt, and showed them his authority from the Sultan of Tidore to go +where he pleased and receive every assistance, they at length provided +him with a boat to go the first part of the journey up a river; at the +same time, however, they sent private orders to the interior villages +to refuse to sell any provisions, so as to compel him to return. On +arriving at the village where they were to leave the river and strike +inland, the coast people returned, leaving Mr. Allen to get on as +he could. Here he called on the Tidore lieutenant to assist him, and +procure men as guides and to carry his baggage to the villages of the +mountaineers. This, however, was not so easily done. A quarrel took +place, and the natives, refusing to obey the imperious orders of the +lieutenant, got out their knives and spears to attack him and his +soldiers; and Mr. Allen himself was obliged to interfere to protect +those who had come to guard him. The respect due to a white man and the +timely distribution of a few presents prevailed; and, on showing +the knives, hatchets, and beads he was willing to give to those who +accompanied him, peace was restored, and the next day, travelling over +a frightfully rugged country, they reached the villages of the +mountaineers. Here Mr. Allen remained a month without any interpreter +through whom he could understand a word or communicate a want. However, +by signs and presents and a pretty liberal barter, he got on very well, +some of them accompanying him every day in the forest to shoot, and +receiving a small present when he was successful. + +In the grand matter of the Paradise Birds, however, little was done. +Only one additional species was found, the Seleucides alba, of which +he had already obtained a specimen in Salwatty; but he learnt that the +other kinds' of which he showed them drawings, were found two or three +days' journey farther in the interior. When I sent my men from Dorey to +Amberbaki, they heard exactly the same story--that the rarer sorts +were only found several days' journey in the interior, among rugged +mountains, and that the skins were prepared by savage tribes who had +never even been seen by any of the coast people. + +It seems as if Nature had taken precautions that these her choicest +treasures should not be made too common, and thus be undervalued. This +northern coast of New Guinea is exposed to the full swell of the Pacific +Ocean, and is rugged and harbourless. The country is all rocky and +mountainous, covered everywhere with dense forests, offering in its +swamps and precipices and serrated ridges an almost impassable barrier +to the unknown interior; and the people are dangerous savages, in the +very lowest stage of barbarism. In such a country, and among such a +people, are found these wonderful productions of Nature, the Birds +of Paradise, whose exquisite beauty of form and colour and strange +developments of plumage are calculated to excite the wonder and +admiration of the most civilized and the most intellectual of mankind, +and to furnish inexhaustible materials for study to the naturalist, and +for speculation to the philosopher. + +Thus ended my search after these beautiful birds. Five voyages to +different parts of the district they inhabit, each occupying in its +preparation and execution the larger part of a year, produced me only +five species out of the fourteen known to exist in the New Guinea +district. The kinds obtained are those that inhabit the coasts of New +Guinea and its islands, the remainder seeming to be strictly confined +to the central mountain-ranges of the northern peninsula; and our +researches at Dorey and Amberbaki, near one end of this peninsula, and +at Salwatty and Sorong, near the other, enable me to decide with some +certainty on the native country of these rare and lovely birds, good +specimens of which have never yet been seen in Europe. + +It must be considered as somewhat extraordinary that, during five years' +residence and travel in Celebes, the Moluccas, and New Guinea, I should +never have been able to purchase skins of half the species which Lesson, +forty years ago, obtained during a few weeks in the same countries. I +believe that all, except the common species of commerce, are now much +more difficult to obtain than they were even twenty years ago; and I +impute it principally to their having been sought after by the Dutch +officials through the Sultan of Tidore. The chiefs of the annual +expeditions to collect tribute have had orders to get all the rare sorts +of Paradise Birds; and as they pay little or nothing for them (it being +sufficient to say they are for the Sultan), the head men of the +coast villages would for the future refuse to purchase them from the +mountaineers, and confine themselves instead to the commoner species, +which are less sought after by amateurs, but are a more profitable +merchandise. The same causes frequently lead the inhabitants of +uncivilized countries to conceal minerals or other natural products with +which they may become acquainted, from the fear of being obliged to pay +increased tribute, or of bringing upon themselves a new and oppressive +labour. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PAPUAN ISLANDS. + +NEW GUINEA, with the islands joined to it by a shallow sea, constitute +the Papuan group, characterised by a very close resemblance in their +peculiar forms of life. Having already, in my chapters on the Aru +Islands and on the Birds of Paradise, given some details of the natural +history of this district, I shall here confine myself to a general +sketch of its animal productions, and of their relations to those of the +rest of the world. + +New Guinea is perhaps the largest island on the globe, being a little +larger than Borneo. It is nearly fourteen hundred miles long, and in the +widest part four hundred broad, and seems to be everywhere covered with +luxuriant forests. Almost everything that is yet known of its natural +productions comes from the north-western peninsula, and a few islands +grouped around it. These do not constitute a tenth part of the area of +the whole island, and are so cut off from it, that their fauna may well +he somewhat different; yet they have produced us (with a very partial +exploration) no less than two hundred and fifty species of land birds, +almost all unknown elsewhere, and comprising some of the most curious +and most beautiful of the feathered tribes. It is needless to say how +much interest attaches to the far larger unknown portion of this +great island, the greatest terra incognita that still remains for the +naturalist to explore, and the only region where altogether new and +unimagined forms of life may perhaps be found. There is now, I am +happy to say, some chance that this great country will no longer +remain absolutely unknown to us. The Dutch Government have granted +well-equipped steamer to carry a naturalist (Mr. Rosenberg, already +mentioned in this work) and assistants to New Guinea, where they are +to spend some years in circumnavigating the island, ascending its +large rivers a< far as possible into the interior, and making extensive +collections of its natural productions. + +The Mammalia of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, yet discovered, +are only seventeen in number. Two of these are bats, one is a pig of a +peculiar species (Sus papuensis), and the rest are all marsupials. The +bats are, no doubt, much more numerous, but there is every reason to +believe that whatever new land Mammalia man be discovered will belong +to the marsupial order. One of these is a true kangaroo, very similar +to some of middle-sized kangaroos of Australia, and it is remarkable as +being the first animal of the kind ever seen by Europeans. It inhabits +Mysol and the Aru Islands (an allied species being found in New Guinea), +and was seen and described by Le Brun in 1714, from living specimens at +Batavia. A much more extraordinary creature is the tree-kangaroo, two +species of which are known from New Guinea. These animals do not differ +very strikingly in form from the terrestrial kangaroos, and appear to be +but imperfectly adapted to an arboreal life, as they move rather slowly, +and do not seem to have a very secure footing on the limb of a tree. The +leaping power of the muscular tail is lost, and powerful claws have been +acquired to assist in climbing, but in other respects the animal seems +better adapted to walls on terra firma. This imperfect adaptation may +be due to the fact of there being no carnivore in New Guinea, and no +enemies of any kind from which these animals have to escape by rapid +climbing. Four species of Cuscus, and the small flying opossum, also +inhabit New Guinea; and there are five other smaller marsupials, one of +which is the size of a rat, and takes its place by entering houses and +devouring provisions. + +The birds of New Guinea offer the greatest possible contrast to the +Mammalia, since they are more numerous, more beautiful, and afford more +new, curious, and elegant forms than those of any other island on the +globe. Besides the Birds of Paradise, which we have already sufficiently +considered, it possesses a number of other curious birds, which in the +eyes of the ornithologist almost serves to distinguish it as one of the +primary divisions of the earth. Among its thirty species of parrots are +the Great Pluck Cockatoo, and the little rigid-tailed Nasiterna, the +giant and the dwarf of the whole tribe. The bare-headed Dasyptilus +is one of the most singular parrots known; while the beautiful little +long-tailed Charmosyna, and the great variety of gorgeously-coloured +lories, have no parallels elsewhere. Of pigeons it possesses about forty +distinct species, among which are the magnificent crowned pigeons, now +so well known in our aviaries, and pre-eminent both for size and beauty; +the curious Trugon terrestris, which approaches the still more strange +Didunculus of Samoa; and a new genus (Henicophaps), discovered by +myself, which possesses a very long and powerful bill, quite unlike that +of any other pigeon. Among its sixteen kingfishers, it possesses the +carious hook-billed Macrorhina, and a red and blue Tanysiptera, the most +beautiful of that beautiful genus. Among its perching birds are the fine +genus of crow-like starlings, with brilliant plumage (Manucodia); the +carious pale-coloured crow (Gymnocorvus senex); the abnormal red and +black flycatcher (Peltops blainvillii); the curious little boat-billed +flycatchers (Machaerirhynchus); and the elegant blue flycatcher-wrens +(Todopsis). + +The naturalist will obtain a clearer idea of the variety and interest of +the productions of this country, by the statement, that its land birds +belong to 108 genera, of which 20 are exclusively characteristic of it; +while 35 belong to that limited area which includes the Moluccas and +North Australia, and whose species of these genera have been entirely +derived from New Guinea. About one-half of the New Guinea genera are +found also in Australia, about one-third in India and the Indo-Malay +islands. + +A very curious fact, not hitherto sufficiently noticed, is the +appearance of a pure Malay element in the birds of New Guinea. We +find two species of Eupetes, a curious Malayan genus allied to the +forked-tail water-chats; two of Alcippe, an Indian and Malay wren-like +form; an Arachnothera, quite resembling the spider-catching honeysuckers +of Malacca; two species of Gracula, the Mynahs of India; and a curious +little black Prionochilus, a saw-billed fruit pecker, undoubtedly allied +to the Malayan form, although perhaps a distinct genus. Now not one +of these birds, or anything allied to them, occurs in the Moluccas, or +(with one exception) in Celebes or Australia; and as they are most of +them birds of short flight, it is very difficult to conceive how or when +they could have crossed the space of more than a thousand miles, which +now separates them from their nearest allies. Such facts point to +changes of land and sea on a large scale, and at a rate which, measured +by the time required for a change of species, must be termed rapid. +By speculating on such changes, we may easily see how partial waves +of immigration may have entered New Guinea, and how all trace of their +passage may have been obliterated by the subsequent disappearance of the +intervening land. + +There is nothing that the study of geology teaches us that is more +certain or more impressive than the extreme instability of the earth's +surface. Everywhere beneath our feet we find proofs that what is land +has been sea, and that where oceans now spread out has once been land; +and that this change from sea to land, and from land to sea, has taken +place, not once or twice only, but again and again, during countless +ages of past time. Now the study of the distribution of animal life upon +the present surface of the earth, causes us to look upon this constant +interchange of land and sea--this making and unmaking of continents, +this elevation and disappearance of islands--as a potent reality, which +has always and everywhere been in progress, and has been the main agent +in determining the manner in which living things are now grouped and +scattered over the earth's surface. And when we continually come upon +such little anomalies of distribution as that just now described, we +find the only rational explanation of them, in those repeated elevations +and depressions which have left their record in mysterious, but still +intelligible characters on the face of organic nature. + +The insects of New Guinea are less known than the birds, but they seem +almost equally remarkable for fine forms and brilliant colours. The +magnificent green and yellow Ornithopterae are abundant, and have most +probably spread westward from this point as far as India. Among the +smaller butterflies are several peculiar genera of Nymphalidae and +Lycaenidae, remarkable for their large size, singular markings, or +brilliant coloration. The largest and most beautiful of the clear-winged +moths (Cocytia d'urvillei) is found here, as well as the large and +handsome green moth (Nyctalemon orontes). The beetles furnish us with +many species of large size, and of the most brilliant metallic lustre, +among which the Tmesisternus mirabilis, a longicorn beetle of a golden +green colour; the excessively brilliant rose-chafers, Lomaptera wallacei +and Anacamptorhina fulgida; one of the handsomest of the Buprestidae, +Calodema wallacei; and several fine blue weevils of the genus Eupholus, +are perhaps the most conspicuous. Almost all the other orders furnish us +with large or extraordinary forms. The curious horned flies have already +been mentioned; and among the Orthoptera the great shielded grasshoppers +are the most remarkable. The species here figured (Megalodon ensifer) +has the thorax covered by a large triangular horny shield, two and a +half inches long, with serrated edges, a somewhat wavy, hollow surface, +and a faun median line, so as very closely to resemble a leaf. The +glossy wing-coverts (when fully expanded, more than nine inches across) +are of a fine green colour and so beautifully veined as to imitate +closely some of the large shining tropical leaves. The body is short, +and terminated in the female by a long curved sword-like ovipositor (not +seen in the cut), and the legs are all long and strongly-spined. These +insects are sluggish in their motions, depending for safety on their +resemblance to foliage, their horny shield and wing-coverts, and their +spiny legs. + +The large islands to the east of New Guinea are very little known, but +the occurrence of crimson lories, which are quite absent from Australia, +and of cockatoos allied to those of New Guinea and the Moluccas, shows +that they belong to the Papuan group; and we are thus able to define the +Malay Archipelago as extending eastward to the Solomon's Islands. New +Caledonia and the New Hebrides, on the other hand, seem more nearly +allied to Australia; and the rest of the islands of the Pacific, though +very poor in all forms of life, possess a few peculiarities which +compel us to class them as a separate group. Although as a matter +of convenience I have always separated the Moluccas as a distinct +zoological group from New Guinea, I have at the same time pointed out +that its fauna was chiefly derived from that island, just as that +of Timor was chiefly derived from Australia. If we were dividing the +Australian region for zoological purposes alone, we should form three +great groups: one comprising Australia, Timor, and Tasmania; another +New Guinea, with the islands from Bouru to the Solomon's group; and the +third comprising the greater part of the Pacific Islands. + +The relation of the New Guinea fauna to that of Australia is very close. +It is best marked in the Mammalia by the abundance of marsupials, and +the almost complete absence of all other terrestrial forms. In birds +it is less striking, although still very clear, for all the remarkable +old-world forms which are absent from the one are equally so from the +other, such as Pheasants, Grouse, Vultures, and Woodpeckers; while +Cockatoos, Broad-tailed Parrots, Podargi, and the great families of the +Honeysuckers and Brush-turkeys, with many others, comprising no less +than twenty-four genera of land-birds, are common to both countries, and +are entirely confined to them. + +When we consider the wonderful dissimilarity of the two regions in all +those physical conditions which were once supposed to determine the +forms of life-Australia, with its open plains, stony deserts, dried up +rivers, and changeable temperate climate; New Guinea, with its luxuriant +forests, uniformly hot, moist, and evergreen--this great similarity in +their productions is almost astounding, and unmistakeably points to +a common origin. The resemblance is not nearly so strongly marked in +insects, the reason obviously being, that this class of animals are much +more immediately dependent on vegetation and climate than are the +more highly organized birds and Mammalia. Insects also have far more +effective means of distribution, and have spread widely into every +district favourable to their development and increase. The giant +Ornithopterae have thus spread from New Guinea over the whole +Archipelago, and as far as the base of the Himalayas; while the elegant +long-horned Anthribidae have spread in the opposite direction from +Malacca to New Guinea, but owing to unfavourable conditions have not +been able to establish themselves in Australia. That country, on the +other hand, has developed a variety of flower-haunting Chafers and +Buprestidae, and numbers of large and curious terrestrial Weevils, +scarcely any of which are adapted to the damp gloomy forests of New +Guinea, where entirely different forms are to be found. There are, +however, some groups of insects, constituting what appear to be the +remains of the ancient population of the equatorial parts of the +Australian region, which are still almost entirely confined to it. Such +are the interesting sub-family of Longicorn coleoptera--Tmesisternitae; +one of the best-marked genera of Buprestidae--Cyphogastra; and the +beautiful weevils forming the genus Eupholus. Among butterflies we have +the genera Mynes, Hypocista, and Elodina, and the curious eye-spotted +Drusilla, of which last a single species is found in Java, but in no +other of the western islands. + +The facilities for the distribution of plants are still greater than +they are for insects, and it is the opinion of eminent botanists, +that no such clearly-defined regions pan be marked out in botany as in +zoology. The causes which tend to diffusion are here most powerful, and +have led to such intermingling of the floras of adjacent regions that +none but broad and general divisions can now be detected. These remarks +have an important bearing on the problem of dividing the surface of the +earth into great regions, distinguished by the radical difference of +their natural productions. Such difference we now know to be the direct +result of long-continued separation by more or less impassable barriers; +and as wide oceans and great contrast: of temperature are the most +complete barriers to the dispersal of all terrestrial forms of life, +the primary divisions of the earth should in the main serve for all +terrestrial organisms. However various may be the effects of climate, +however unequal the means of distribution; these will never altogether +obliterate the radical effects of long-continued isolation; and it is my +firm conviction, that when the botany and the entomology of New Guinea +and the surrounding islands become as well known as are their mammals +and birds, these departments of nature will also plainly indicate the +radical distinctions of the Indo-Malayan and Austro-Malayan regions of +the great Malay Archipelago. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. THE RACES OF MAN IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. + +PROPOSE to conclude this account of my Eastern travels, with a short +statement of my views as to the races of man which inhabit the +various parts of the Archipelago, their chief physical and mental +characteristics, their affinities with each other and with surrounding +tribes, their migrations, and their probable origin. + +Two very strongly contrasted races inhabit the Archipelago--the Malays, +occupying almost exclusively the larger western half of it, and the +Papuans, whose headquarters are New Guinea and several of the adjacent +islands. Between these in locality, are found tribes who are also +intermediate in their chief characteristics, and it is sometimes a nice +point to determine whether they belong to one or the other race, or have +been formed by a mixture of the two. + +The Malay is undoubtedly the most important of these two races, as it +is the one which is the most civilized, which has come most into contact +with Europeans, and which alone has any place in history. What may +be called the true Malay races, as distinguished from others who +have merely a Malay element in their language, present a considerable +uniformity of physical and mental characteristics, while there are very +great differences of civilization and of language. They consist of four +great, and a few minor semi-civilized tribes, and a number of others who +may be termed savages. The Malays proper inhabit the Malay peninsula, +and almost all the coast regions of Borneo and Sumatra. They all +speak the Malay language, or dialects of it; they write in the Arabic +character, and are Mahometans in religion. The Javanese inhabit Java, +part of Sumatra, Madura, Bali, and Bart of Lombock. They speak the +Javanese and Kawi languages, which they write in a native character. +They are now Mahometans in Java, but Brahmins in Bali and Lombock. The +Bugis are the inhabitants of the greater parts of Celebes, and there +seems to be an allied people in Sumbawa. They speak the Bugis and +Macassar languages, with dialects, and have two different native +characters in which they write these. They are all Mahometans. The +fourth great race is that of the Tagalas in the Philippine Islands, +about whom, as I did not visit those Islands, I shall say little. Many +of them are now Christians, and speak Spanish as well as their native +tongue, the Tagala. The Moluccan-Malays, who inhabit chiefly Ternate, +Tidore, Batchian, and Amboyna, may be held to form a fifth division of +semi-civilized Malays. They are all Mahometans, but they speak a variety +of curious languages, which seem compounded of Bugis and Javanese, with +the languages of the savage tribes of the Moluccas. + +The savage Malays are the Dyaks of Borneo; the Battaks and other wild +tribes of Sumatra; the Jakuns of the Malay Peninsula; the aborigines of +Northern Celebes, of the Sula island, and of part of Bouru. + +The colour of all these varied tribes is a light reddish brown, with +more or less of an olive tinge, not varying in any important degree +over an extent of country as large as all Southern Europe. The hair is +equally constant, being invariably black and straight, and of a rather +coarse texture, so that any lighter tint, or any wave or curl in it, is +an almost certain proof of the admixture of some foreign blood. The face +is nearly destitute of beard, and the breast and limbs are free from +hair. The stature is tolerably equal, and is always considerably below +that of the average European; the body is robust, the breast well +developed, the feet small, thick, and short, the hands small and rather +delicate. The face is a little broad, and inclined to be flat; the +forehead is rather rounded, the brows low, the eyes black and very +slightly oblique; the nose is rather small, not prominent, but straight +and well-shaped, the apex a little rounded, the nostrils broad and +slightly exposed; the cheek-bones are rather prominent, the mouth large, +the lips broad and well cut, but not protruding, the chin round and +well-formed. + +In this description there seems little to object to on the score of +beauty, and yet on the whole the Malays are certainly not handsome. In +youth, however, they are often very good-looking, and many of the boys +and girls up to twelve or fifteen years of age are very pleasing, and +some have countenances which are in their way almost perfect. I am +inclined to think they lose much of their good looks by bad habits +and irregular living. At a very early age they chew betel and tobacco +almost incessantly; they suffer much want and exposure in their +fishing and other excursions; their lives are often passed in alternate +starvation and feasting, idleness and excessive labour,--and this +naturally produces premature old age and harshness of features. + +In character the Malay is impassive. He exhibits a reserve, diffidence, +and even bashfulness, which is in some degree attractive, and leads the +observer to thinly that the ferocious and bloodthirsty character imputed +to the race must be grossly exaggerated. He is not demonstrative. His +feelings of surprise, admiration, or fear, are never openly manifested, +and are probably not strongly felt. He is slow and deliberate in speech, +and circuitous in introducing the subject he has come expressly to +discuss. These are the main features of his moral nature, and exhibit +themselves in every action of his life. + +Children and women are timid, and scream and run at the unexpected sight +of a European. In the company of men they are silent, and are generally +quiet and obedient. When alone the Malay is taciturn; he neither +talks nor sings to himself. When several are paddling in a canoe, they +occasionally chant a monotonous and plaintive song. He is cautious of +giving offence to his equals. He does not quarrel easily about money +matters; dislikes asking too frequently even for payment of his just +debts, and will often give them up altogether rather than quarrel with +his debtor. Practical joking is utterly repugnant to his disposition; +for he is particularly sensitive to breaches of etiquette, or any +interference with the personal liberty of himself or another. As an +example, I may mention that I have often found it very difficult to get +one Malay servant to waken another. He will call as loud as he can, but +will hardly touch, much less shake his comrade. I have frequently had to +waken a hard sleeper myself when on a land or sea journey. + +The higher classes of Malays are exceedingly polite, and have all +the quiet ease and dignity of the best-bred Europeans. Yet this is +compatible with a reckless cruelty and contempt of human life, which +is the dark side of their character. It is not to be wondered at, +therefore, that different persons give totally opposite accounts of +them--one praising them for their soberness, civility, and good-nature; +another abusing them for their deceit, treachery, and cruelty. The old +traveller Nicolo Conti, writing in 1430, says: "The inhabitants of Java +and Sumatra exceed every other people in cruelty. They regard killing a +man as a mere jest; nor is any punishment allotted for such a deed. If +any one purchase a new sword, and wish to try it, he will thrust it +into the breast of the first person he meets. The passers-by examine the +wound, and praise the skill of the person who inflicted it, if he thrust +in the weapon direct." Yet Drake says of the south of Java: "The people +(as are their kings) are a very loving, true, and just-dealing people;" +and Mr. Crawfurd says that the Javanese, whom he knew thoroughly, are "a +peaceable, docile, sober, simple, and industrious people." Barbosa, on +the other hand, who saw them at Malacca about 1660, says: "They are +a people of great ingenuity, very subtle in all their dealings; very +malicious, great deceivers, seldom speaking the truth; prepared to do +all manner of wickedness, and ready to sacrifice their lives." + +The intellect of the Malay race seems rather deficient. They are +incapable of anything beyond the simplest combinations of ideas, and +have little taste or energy for the acquirement of knowledge. Their +civilization, such as it is, does not seem to be indigenous, as it +is entirely confined to those nations who have been converted to the +Mahometan or Brahminical religions. + +I will now give an equally brief sketch of the other great race of the +Malay Archipelago, the Papuan. + +The typical Papuan race is in many respects the very opposite of the +Malay, and it has hitherto been very imperfectly described. The colour +of the body is a deep sooty-brown or black, sometimes approaching, but +never quite equalling, the jet-black of some negro races. It varies +in tint, however, more than that of the Malay, and is sometimes a +dusky-brown. The hair is very peculiar, being harsh, dry, and frizzly, +growing in little tufts or curls, which in youth are very short and +compact, but afterwards grow out to a considerable length, forming the +compact frizzled mop which is the Papuans' pride and glory. The face is +adorned with a beard of the same frizzly nature as the hair of the head. +The arms, legs, and breast are also more or less clothed with hair of a +similar nature. + +In stature the Papuan decidedly surpasses the Malay, and is perhaps +equal, or even superior, to the average of Europeans. The legs are long +and thin, and the hands and feet larger than in the Malays. The face is +somewhat elongated, the forehead flatfish, the brows very prominent; +the nose is large, rather arched and high, the base thick, the nostrils +broad, with the aperture hidden, owing to the tip of the nose being +elongated; the mouth is large, the lips thick and protuberant. The face +has thus an altogether more European aspect than in the Malay, owing +to the large nose; and the peculiar form of this organ, with the more +prominent brows and the character of the hair on the head, face, +and body, enable us at a glance to distinguish the two races. I have +observed that most of these characteristic features are as distinctly +visible in children of ten or twelve years old as in adults, and the +peculiar form of the nose is always shown in the figures which they +carve for ornaments to their houses, or as charms to wear round their +necks. + +The moral characteristics of the Papuan appear to me to separate him as +distinctly from the Malay as do his form and features. He is impulsive +and demonstrative in speech and action. His emotions and passions +express themselves in shouts and laughter, in yells and frantic +leapings. Women and children take their share in every discussion, and +seem little alarmed at the sight of strangers and Europeans. + +Of the intellect of this race it is very difficult to judge, but I +am inclined to rate it somewhat higher than that of the Malays, +notwithstanding the fact that the Papuans have never yet made any +advance towards civilization. It must be remembered, however, that for +centuries the Malays have been influenced by Hindoo, Chinese, and Arabic +immigration, whereas the Papuan race has only been subjected to the very +partial and local influence of Malay traders. The Papuan has much more +vital energy, which would certainly greatly assist his intellectual +development. Papuan slaves show no inferiority of intellect, compared +with Malays, but rather the contrary; and in the Moluccas they are +often promoted to places of considerable trust. The Papuan has a greater +feeling for art than the Malay. He decorates his canoe, his house, and +almost every domestic utensil with elaborate carving, a habit which is +rarely found among tribes of the Malay race. + +In the affections and moral sentiments, on the other hand, the Papuans +seem very deficient. In the treatment of their children they are often +violent and cruel; whereas the Malays are almost invariably kind and +gentle, hardly ever interfering at all with their children's pursuits +and amusements, and giving them perfect liberty at whatever age they +wish to claim it. But these very peaceful relations between parents +and children are no doubt, in a great measure, due to the listless and +apathetic character of the race, which never leads the younger members +into serious opposition to the elders; while the harsher discipline of +the Papuans may be chiefly due to that greater vigour and energy of +mind which always, sooner or later, leads to the rebellion of the +weaker against the stronger,--the people against their rulers, the slave +against his master, or the child against its parent. + +It appears, therefore, that, whether we consider their physical +conformation, their moral characteristics, or their intellectual +capacities, the Malay and Papuan races offer remarkable differences +and striking contrasts. The Malay is of short stature, brown-skinned, +straight-haired, beardless, and smooth-bodied. The Papuan is taller, is +black-skinned, frizzly-haired, bearded, and hairy-bodied. The former +is broad-faced, has a small nose, and flat eyebrows; the latter is +long-faced, has a large and prominent nose, and projecting eyebrows. The +Malay is bashful, cold, undemonstrative, and quiet; the Papuan is bold, +impetuous, excitable, and noisy. The former is grave and seldom laughs; +the latter is joyous and laughter-loving,--the one conceals his +emotions, the other displays them. + +Having thus described in some detail, the great physical, intellectual, +and moral differences between the Malays and Papuans, we have to +consider the inhabitants of the numerous islands which do not agree very +closely with either of these races. The islands of Obi, Batchian, and +the three southern peninsulas of Gilolo, possess no true indigenous +population; but the northern peninsula is inhabited by a native race, +the so-called Alfuros of Sahoe and Galela. These people are quite +distinct from the Malays, and almost equally so from the Papuans. They +are tall and well-made, with Papuan features, and curly hair; they are +bearded and hairy-limbed, but quite as light in colour as the Malays. +They are an industrious and enterprising race, cultivating rice and +vegetables, and indefatigable in their search after game, fish, tripang, +pearls, and tortoiseshell. + +In the great island of Ceram there is also an indigenous race very +similar to that of Northern Gilolo. Bourn seems to contain two distinct +races,--a shorter, round-faced people, with a Malay physiognomy, who may +probably have come from Celebes by way of the Sula islands; and a taller +bearded race, resembling that of Ceram. + +Far south of the Moluccas lies the island of Timor, inhabited by tribes +much nearer to the true Papuan than those of the Moluccas. + +The Timorese of the interior are dusky brown or blackish, with bushy +frizzled hair, and the long Papuan nose. They are of medium height, +and rather slender figures. The universal dress is a long cloth twisted +round the waist, the fringed ends of which hang below the knee. The +people are said to be great thieves, and the tribes are always at war +with each other, but they are not very courageous or bloodthirsty. The +custom of "tabu," called here "pomali," is very general, fruit trees, +houses, crop, and property of all kinds being protected from depredation +by this ceremony, the reverence for which is very great. A palm branch +stuck across an open door, showing that the house is tabooed, is a more +effectual guard against robbery than any amount of locks and bars. The +houses in Timor are different from those of most of the other islands; +they seem all roof, the thatch overhanging the low walls and reaching +the ground, except where it is cut away for an entrance. In some parts +of the west end of Timor, and on the little island of Semau, the houses +more resemble those of the Hottentots, being egg-shaped, very small, and +with a door only about three feet high. These are built on the ground, +while those of the eastern districts art, raised a few feet on posts. +In their excitable disposition, loud voices, and fearless demeanour, the +Timorese closely resemble the people of New Guinea. + +In the islands west of Timor, as far as Flores and Sandalwood Island, a +very similar race is found, which also extends eastward to Timor-laut, +where the true Papuan race begins to appear. The small islands of +Savu and Rotti, however, to the west of Timor, are very remarkable +in possessing a different and, in some respects, peculiar race. These +people are very handsome, with good features, resembling in many +characteristics the race produced by the mixture of the Hindoo or Arab +with the Malay. They are certainly distinct from the Timorese or Papuan +races, and must be classed in the western rather than the eastern +ethnological division of the Archipelago. + +The whole of the great island of New Guinea, the Ke and Aru Islands, +with Mysol, Salwatty, and Waigiou, are inhabited almost exclusively by +the typical Papuans. I found no trace of any other tribes inhabiting the +interior of New Guinea, but the coast people are in some places mixed +with the browner races of the Moluccas. The same Papuan race seems to +extend over the islands east of New Guinea as far as the Fijis. + +There remain to be noticed the black woolly-haired races of the +Philippines and the Malay peninsula, the former called "Negritos," and +the latter "Semangs." I have never seen these people myself, but from +the numerous accurate descriptions of them that have been published, +I have had no difficulty in satisfying myself that they have little +affinity or resemblance to the Papuans, with which they have been +hitherto associated. In most important characters they differ more from +the Papuan than they do from the Malay. They are dwarfs in stature, only +averaging four feet six inches to four feet eight inches high, or eight +inches less than the Malays; whereas the Papuans are decidedly taller +than the Malays. The nose is invariably represented as small, flattened, +or turned up at the apex, whereas the most universal character of the +Papuan race is to have the nose prominent and large, with the apex +produced downwards, as it is invariably represented in their own rude +idols. The hair of these dwarfish races agrees with that of the Papuans, +but so it does with that of the negroes of Africa. The Negritos and the +Semangs agree very closely in physical characteristics with each other +and with the Andaman Islanders, while they differ in a marked manner +from every Papuan race. + +A careful study of these varied races, comparing them with those of +Eastern Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Australia, has led me to adopt a +comparatively simple view as to their origin and affinities. + +If we draw a line (see Physical Map, Vol. 1. p. 14), commencing to +the east of the Philippine Islands, thence along the western coast of +Gilolo, through the island of Bouru, and curving round the west end of +Mores, then bending back by Sandalwood Island to take in Rotti, we +shall divide the Archipelago into two portions, the races of which have +strongly marked distinctive peculiarities. This line will separate the +Malayan and all the Asiatic races, from the Papuans and all that inhabit +the Pacific; and though along the line of junction intermigration and +commixture have taken place, yet the division is on the whole almost as +well defined and strongly contrasted, as is the corresponding zoological +division of the Archipelago, into an Indo-Malayan and Austro-Malayan +region. + +I must briefly explain the reasons that have led me to consider this +division of the Oceanic races to be a true and natural one. The Malayan +race, as a whole, undoubtedly very closely resembles the East Asian +populations, from Siam to Mandchouria. I was much struck with this, when +in the island of Bali I saw Chinese traders who had adopted the costume +of that country, and who could then hardly be distinguished from Malays; +and, on the other hand, I have seen natives of Java who, as far as +physiognomy was concerned, would pass very well for Chinese. Then, +again, we have the most typical of the Malayan tribes inhabiting a +portion of the Asiatic continent itself, together with those great +islands which, possessing the same species of large Mammalia with +the adjacent parts of the continent, have in all probability formed a +connected portion of Asia during the human period. The Negritos are, no +doubt, quite a distinct race from the Malay; but yet, as some of them +inhabit a portion of the continent, and others the Andaman Islands +in the Bay of Bengal, they must be considered to have had, in all +probability, an Asiatic rather than a Polynesian origin. + +Now, turning to the eastern parts of the Archipelago, I find, by +comparing my own observations with those of the most trustworthy +travellers and missionaries, that a race identical in all its chief +features with the Papuan, is found in all the islands as far east as the +Fijis; beyond this the brown Polynesian race, or some intermediate type, +is spread everywhere over the Pacific. The descriptions of these latter +often agree exactly with the characters of the brown indigenes of Gilolo +and Ceram. + +It is to be especially remarked that the brown and the black Polynesian +races closely resemble each other. Their features are almost identical, +so that portraits of a New Zealander or Otaheitan will often serve +accurately to represent a Papuan or Timorese, the darker colour and more +frizzly hair of the latter being the only differences. They are both +tall races. They agree in their love of art and the style of +their decorations. They are energetic, demonstrative, joyous, and +laughter-loving, and in all these particulars they differ widely from +the Malay. + +I believe, therefore, that the numerous intermediate forms that occur +among the countless islands of the Pacific, are not merely the result of +a mixture of these races, but are, to some extent, truly intermediate or +transitional; and that the brown and the black, the Papuan, the natives +of Gilolo and Ceram, the Fijian, the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands +and those of New Zealand, are all varying forms of one great Oceanic or +Polynesian race. + +It is, however, quite possible, and perhaps probable, that the brown +Polynesians were originally the produce of a mixture of Malays, or +some lighter coloured Mongol race with the dark Papuans; but if so, +the intermingling took place at such a remote epoch, and has been +so assisted by the continued influence of physical conditions and of +natural selection, leading to the preservation of a special type suited +to those conditions, that it has become a fixed and stable race with no +signs of mongrelism, and showing such a decided preponderance of Papuan +character, that it can best be classified as a modification of the +Papuan type. The occurrence of a decided Malay element in the Polynesian +languages, has evidently nothing to do with any such ancient physical +connexion. It is altogether a recent phenomenon, originating in the +roaming habits of the chief Malay tribes; and this is proved by the fact +that we find actual modern words of the Malay and Javanese languages in +use in Polynesia, so little disguised by peculiarities of pronunciation +as to be easily recognisable--not mere Malay roots only to be detected +by the elaborate researches of the philologist, as would certainly have +been the case had their introduction been as remote as the origin of +a very distinct race--a race as different from the Malay in mental and +moral, as it is in physical characters. + +As bearing upon this question it is important to point out the harmony +which exists, between the line of separation of the human races of the +Archipelago and that of the animal productions of the same country, +which I have already so fully explained and illustrated. The dividing +lines do not, it is true, exactly agree; but I think it is a remarkable +fact, and something more than a mere coincidence, that they should +traverse the same district and approach each other so closely as they +do. If, however, I am right in my supposition that the region where the +dividing line of the Indo-Malayan and Austro-Malayan regions of zoology +can now be drawn, was formerly occupied by a much wider sea than at +present, and if man existed on the earth at that period, we shall see +good reason why the races inhabiting the Asiatic and Pacific areas +should now meet and partially intermingle in the vicinity of that +dividing line. + +It has recently been maintained by Professor Huxley, that the Papuans +are more closely allied to the negroes of Africa than to any other race. +The resemblance both in physical and mental characteristics had often +struck myself, but the difficulties in the way of accepting it as +probable or possible, have hitherto prevented me front giving full +weight to those resemblances. Geographical, zoological, and ethnological +considerations render it almost certain, that if these two races ever +had a common origin, it could only have been at a period far more remote +than any which has yet been assigned to the antiquity of the human race. +And even if their lenity could be proved, it would in no way affect my +argument for the close affinity of the Papuan and Polynesian races, and +the radical distinctness of both from the Malay. + +Polynesia is pre-eminently an area of subsidence, and its great +widespread groups of coral-reefs mark out the position of former +continents and islands. The rich and varied, yet strangely isolated +productions of Australia and New Guinea, also indicate an extensive +continent where such specialized forms were developed. The races of +men now inhabiting these countries are, therefore, most probably the +descendants of the races which inhabited these continents and islands. +This is the most simple and natural supposition to make. And if we find +any signs of direct affinity between the inhabitants of any other part +of the world and those of Polynesia, it by no means follows that the +latter were derived from the former. For as, when a Pacific continent +existed, the whole geography of the earth's surface would probably be +very different from what it now is, the present continents may not then +have risen above the ocean, and, when they were formed at a subsequent +epoch, may have derived some of their inhabitants from the Polynesian +area itself. It is undoubtedly true that there are proofs of extensive +migrations among the Pacific islands, which have led to community of +language from the sandwich group to New Zealand; but there are no proofs +whatever of recent migration from any surrounding country to Polynesia, +since there is no people to be found elsewhere sufficiently resembling +the Polynesian race in their chief physical and mental characteristics. + +If the past history of these varied races is obscure and uncertain, +the future is no less so. The true Polynesians, inhabiting the farthest +isles of the Pacific, are no doubt doomed to an early extinction. +But the more numerous Malay race seems well adapted to survive as the +cultivator of the soil, even when his country and government have passed +into the hands of Europeans. If the tide of colonization should be +turned to New Guinea, there can be little doubt of the early extinction +of the Papuan race. A warlike and energetic people, who will not submit +to national slavery or to domestic servitude, must disappear before the +white man as surely as do the wolf and the tiger. + +I have now concluded my task. I have given, in more or less detail, +a sketch of my eight years' wanderings among the largest and the most +luxuriant islands which adorn our earth's surface. I have endeavoured to +convey my impressions of their scenery, their vegetation, their animal +productions, and their human inhabitants. I have dwelt at some length on +the varied and interesting problems they offer to the student of nature. +Before bidding my reader farewell, I wish to make a few observations +on a subject of yet higher interest and deeper importance, which the +contemplation of savage life has suggested, and on which I believe that +the civilized can learn something from the savage man. + +We most of us believe that we, the higher races have progressed and +are progressing. If so, there must be some state of perfection, some +ultimate goal, which we may never reach, but to which all true progress +must bring nearer. What is this ideally perfect social state towards +which mankind ever has been, and still is tending? Our best thinkers +maintain, that it is a state of individual freedom and self-government, +rendered possible by the equal development and just balance of the +intellectual, moral, and physical parts of our nature,--a state in which +we shall each be so perfectly fitted for a social existence, by knowing +what is right, and at the same time feeling an irresistible impulse to +do what we know to be right., that all laws and all punishments shall +be unnecessary. In such a state every man would have a sufficiently +well-balanced intellectual organization, to understand the moral law in +all its details, and would require no other motive but the free impulses +of his own nature to obey that law. + +Now it is very remarkable, that among people in a very low stage of +civilization, we find some approach to such a perfect social state. I +have lived with communities of savages in South America and in the East, +who have no laws or law courts but the public opinion of the village +freely expressed. Each man scrupulously respects the rights of his +fellow, and any infraction of those rights rarely or never takes place. +In such a community, all are nearly equal. There are cone of those wide +distinctions, of education and ignorance, wealth and poverty, master +and servant, which are the product of our civilization; there is none of +that wide-spread division of labour, which, while it increases +wealth, products also conflicting interests; there is not that severe +competition and struggle for existence, or for wealth, which the dense +population of civilized countries inevitably creates. All incitements to +great crimes are thus wanting, and petty ones are repressed, partly by +the influence of public opinion, but chiefly by that natural sense of +justice and of his neighbour's right, which seems to be, in some degree, +inherent in every race of man. + +Now, although we have progressed vastly beyond the savage state in +intellectual achievements, we have not advanced equally in morals. It +is true that among those classes who have no wants that cannot be easily +supplied, and among whom public opinion has great influence; the rights +of others are fully respected. It is true, also, that we have vastly +extended the sphere of those rights, and include within them all the +brotherhood of man. But it is not too much to say, that the mass of our +populations have not at all advanced beyond the savage code of morals, +and have in many cases sunk below it. A deficient morality is the +great blot of modern civilization, and the greatest hindrance to true +progress. + +During the last century, and especially in the last thirty years, our +intellectual and material advancement has been too quickly achieved for +us to reap the full benefit of it. Our mastery over the forces of mature +has led to a rapid growth of population, and a vast accumulation of +wealth; but these have brought with them such au amount of poverty and +crime, and have fostered the growth of so much sordid feeling and so +many fierce passions, that it may well be questioned, whether the mental +and moral status of our population has not on the average been lowered, +and whether the evil has not overbalanced the good. Compared with our +wondrous progress in physical science and its practical applications, +our system of government, of administering justice, of national +education, and our whole social and moral organization, remains in a +state of barbarism. [See note next page.] And if we continue to devote +our chief energies to the utilizing of our knowledge the laws of nature +with the view of still further extending our commerce and our wealth, +the evils which necessarily accompany these when too eagerly pursued, +may increase to such gigantic dimensions as to be beyond our power to +alleviate. + +We should now clearly recognise the fact, that the wealth and knowledge +and culture of the few do not constitute civilization, and do not of +themselves advance us towards the "perfect social state." Our vast +manufacturing system, our gigantic commerce, our crowded towns and +cities, support and continually renew a mass of human misery and +crime absolutely greater than has ever existed before. They create and +maintain in life-long labour an ever-increasing army, whose lot is the +more hard to bear, by contrast with the pleasures, the comforts, and the +luxury which they see everywhere around them, but which they can never +hope to enjoy; and who, in this respect, are worse off than the savage +in the midst of his tribe. + +This is not a result to boast of, or to be satisfied with; and, +until there is a more general recognition of this failure of our +civilization--resulting mainly from our neglect to train and develop +more thoroughly the sympathetic feelings and moral faculties of +our nature, and to allow them a larger share of influence in our +legislation, our commerce, and our whole social organization--we shall +never, as regards the whole community, attain to any real or important +superiority over the better class of savages. + +This is the lesson I have been taught by my observations of uncivilized +man. I now bid my readers--Farewell! + + +NOTE. + +THOSE who believe that our social condition approaches perfection, will +think the above word harsh and exaggerated, but it seems to me the only +word that can be truly applied to us. We are the richest country in the +world, and yet cue-twentieth of our population are parish paupers, and +one-thirtieth known criminals. Add to these, the criminals who escape +detection; and the poor who live mainly on private charity, (which, +according to Dr. Hawkesley, expends seven millions sterling annually +is London alone,) and we may be sure that more than ONE-TENTH of our +population are actually Paupers and Criminals. Both these classes we +keep idle or at unproductive labour, and each criminal costs us annually +in our prisons more than the wages of an honest agricultural labourer. +We allow over a hundred thousand persons known to have no means +of subsistence but by crime, to remain at large and prey upon the +community, and many thousand children to grow up before our eyes in +ignorance and vice, to supply trained criminals for the next generation. +This, in a country which boasts of its rapid increase in wealth, of its +enormous commerce and gigantic manufactures, of its mechanical skill +and scientific knowledge, of its high civilization and its pure +Christianity,--I can but term a state of social barbarism. We also boast +of our love of justice, and that the law protects rich and poor alike, +yet we retain money fines as a punishment, and make the very first +steps to obtain justice a matter of expense--in both cases a barbarous +injustice, or denial of justice to the poor. Again, our laws render it +possible, that, by mere neglect of a legal form, and contrary to his own +wish and intention, a man's property may all go to a stranger, and his +own children be left destitute. Such cases have happened through the +operation of the laws of inheritance of landed property; and that such +unnatural injustice is possible among us, shows that we are in a state +of social barbarism. One more example to justify my use of the term, and +I have done. We permit absolute possession of the soil of our country, +with no legal rights of existence on the soil, to the vast majority +who do not possess it. A great landholder may legally convert his whole +property into a forest or a hunting-ground, and expel every human being +who has hitherto lived upon it. In a thickly-populated country like +England, where every acre has its owner and its occupier, this is a +power of legally destroying his fellow-creatures; and that such a +power should exist, and be exercised by individuals, in however small a +degree, indicates that, as regards true social science, we are still in +a state of barbarism. + + + + + +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 2539.txt or 2539.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/3/2539/ + +Produced by Martin Adamson + +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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