The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

82 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.Wonosalem is situated about a thousand feet above the sea,but unfortunately it is at a distance from the forest, and is surroundedby cofFee-plantations, thickets of bamboo, and coarsegi'asses. It M-as too far to walk back daily to the foi-est, and inother directions I could find no collecting ground for insects.The place was, however, famous for peacocks, and my boy soonshot several of these magnificent birds, whose flesh we found tobe tender, white, and delicate, and similar to that of a turkey.The Java peacock is a dift'erent species from that of India, tlieneck l^eing covei'ed with scale-like green feathers, and the crestof a different form ; but the eyed train is equally large andequally beautiful. It is a singular fact in geographical distributionthat the peacock sliould not be found in Sumatra orBorneo, while the superb Argus, Fire-backed, and Ocellatedpheasants of those islands are equally unknown in Java.^xactlj^ parallel is the fact that in Ceylon and Southern India,I' where the peacock abounds, there are none of the splendidLophophori and other gorgeous jiheasants which inhabitNorthern India. It would seem as if the peacock can admit ofno rivals in its domain. Were these birds rare in their nativecountry, and unknown alive in Europe, they would assuredly beconsidered as the true princes of the feathered tribes, and altogetherunrivalled for stateliness and beauty. As it is, I supposescarcely any one if asked to fix upon the most beautiful bird inthe world would name the jDeacock, any more than the Papuansavage or the Bugis trader would fix upon the bird of paradisefor the same honour.Three days after my arrival at Wonosalem, my friend Mr. Ballcame to pay me a visit. He told me that two evenings before,a boy had been killed and eaten by a tiger close to Modjo-agong.He was riding on a cart drawn by bullocks, and was cominghome about dusk on the main road ; and when not half a milefrom the tillage a tiger sprang upon him, carried him off" intothe jungle close by, and devoured him. IS^ext morning hisremains wei'e discovered, consisting only of a few mangled bones.The Waidono had got together about seven hundred men, andwas in chase of the animal, which, I afterwards heard, theyfound and killed. Tliey only use sj^ears when in pursuit of atiger in this way. They surround a large tract of country, anddraw gradually togetlier till the animal is enclosed in a compactring of armed men. When he sees there is no escape he generallymakes a spring, and is received on a dozen spears, and almostinstantly stabbed to death. The skin of an animal thus killed is,of course, Avorthless, and in this case the skull, which I hadbegged Mr. Ball to secure for me, was hacked to pieces to diAidethe teeth, which are worn as charms.After a week at Wonosalem, I returned to the foot of themountain, to a village named Djapannan, which was surroundedby several patches of forest, and seemed altogether pretty wellsuited to my pursuits. The chief of the village liad prepared