The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online
The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online
92 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.though not identical with those of European mountains, belongto the same genera, and are said by botanists to represent them ;and most of these could not exist in the -warm intervening plains.Mr. Darwin believed that this class of facts can be explained inthe same way ;for, during the greatest severity of the glacialepoch, temperate forms of plants will have extended to the confinesof the tropics, and on its departure, will have retreated upthese .southern mountains, as well as northward to the plainsand hills of Europe. But in this case, the time elapsed, and thegreat change of conditions, have allowed many of these plants tobecome so "modified that we now consider them to be distinctspecies. A vai-iety of other facts of a similar nature, have ledhim to believe that the depression of temperature was at onetime sufiicient to allow a few north-temperate plants to crossthe Equator (by the most elevated routes) and to reach tlie Antarcticregions, where they are now found. The evidence onwhich this belief rests, will be found in the latter part ofChapter II. of the Or'ujin of Sj)ecies ; and, accepting it for thepresent as an hypothesis, it enables us to account for thepresence of a flora of European type on the volcanoes of Java.It will, however, naturally be objected that there is a wideexpanse of sea between Java and the continent, which wouldhave eftectually prevented the immigration of temperate formsof plants dui'ing the glacial ej^och. This would undoubtedly bea fatal objection, were there not abundant e\idence to showthat Java has been formerly connected vnth Asia, and that theunion must have occurred at about the epoch required. Themost striking proof of such a junction is, that the great Mammaliaof Java, the I'hiiioceros, the tiger, and the Banteng orwild ox, occur also in Siam and Burmah, and these wouldcertainly not have been introduced by man. The Javanesepeacock and several other birds are also common to these twocountries ; but, in the majority of cases, the species are distinct,thougli closely allied, indicating that a considerable time (requiredfor such modification) has elapsed since the separation,while it has not been so long as to cause an entire change. Nowthis exactly corresponds with the time we should require sincethe temperate forms of plants entered Java. These are almostall now distinct species ; but the changed conditions underwhich tliey are now forced to exist, and the probability of someof them liaving since died out on the continent of India,sufiiciently accounts for the Javanese species being difierent.^In my more special pursuits, I liad very little success uponthe mountain, o-s^ang, perhaps, to the excessively unpropitiousweather and the shortness of my staJ^ At from 7,000 to 8,000feet elevation, I obtained one of the most lovely of the smallfruit pigeons (Ptilonopus roseicollis), whose entire head and1 I have DOW arrived at another explanation of these and analogous facts, and onewhich seems to me more complete and less improbable. (See my Island Life, chap,xxiii., and Darwi7iism, pp. 362-373.)
VIII. 1 SUMATRA. 93neck are of an exquisite rosy jjink colour, contrasting finelywith its otlierwise green plumage ;and on the very summit,feeding on the ground among the strawberries that have Ijeeuplanted there, I obtained a dull-coloured thrush, with the formand habits of a starling (Turdus fumidus). Insects were almostentirely absent, owing no doubt to the extreme dampness, andI did not get a single butterfly the whole trip ;yet I feel surethat, during the dry season, a week's residence on this mountainwould well repay the collector in every department of naturalhistory.After my return to Toego, I endeavoured to find anotherlocality to collect in, and removed to a cofiee-plantation somemiles to the north, and ti'ied in succession higher and lowerstations on the mountain ; but I never succeeded in obtaininginsects in anj^ abundance, and birds were far less plentiful thanon the Megamendong Mountain. The weather now becamemore rainy than ever, and as the wet season seemed to have setin in earnest, I returned to Batavia, packed up and sent off mycollections, and left by steamer on November 1st for Banca andSumatra.CHAPTER VIII.SUMATRA.(NOVEMBER 1861 TO JANTJAEY 1862.)The mail steamer froni Batavia to Singapore took me toMuntok (or as on English maps, "Minto"), the chief town andport of Banca. Here I stayed a daj^ or two, till I could obtaina boat to take me across the straits, and up the river to Palembang.A few walks into the country showed me that it wasvery hilly, and full of granitic and laterite rocks, with a dryand stunted forest vegetation ;and I could find very few insects.A good-sized ojien sailing-boat took me across to the mouth ofthe Palembang Paver, where at a fishing village, a I'owing-boatwas hired to take nie ujd to Palembang, a distance of nearlj^ ahundred miles by water. Except when the wind was strong andfavourable we could only ]3roceed with the tide, and the banksof the river were genei'ally flooded Nipa-swamps, so that thehours we were obliged to lie at anchor passed very heavily.Beaching Palembang on the 8th of November, I was lodged bythe Doctor, to whom I had brought a letter of introduction, andendeavoured to ascertain where I could find a good locality forcollecting. Every one assured me that I should have to go avery long way further to find any dry forest, for at this seasontheVhole country for many miles inland was flooded. I there-
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VIII. 1 SUMATRA. 93neck are <strong>of</strong> an exquisite rosy jjink colour, contrasting finelywith its otlierwise green plumage ;and on <strong>the</strong> very summit,feeding on <strong>the</strong> ground among <strong>the</strong> strawberries that have Ijeeuplanted <strong>the</strong>re, I obtained a dull-coloured thrush, with <strong>the</strong> formand habits <strong>of</strong> a starling (Turdus fumidus). Insects were almostentirely absent, owing no doubt to <strong>the</strong> extreme dampness, andI did not get a single butterfly <strong>the</strong> whole trip ;yet I feel surethat, during <strong>the</strong> dry season, a week's residence on this mountainwould well repay <strong>the</strong> collector in every department <strong>of</strong> naturalhistory.After my return to Toego, I endeavoured to find ano<strong>the</strong>rlocality to collect in, and removed to a c<strong>of</strong>iee-plantation somemiles to <strong>the</strong> north, and ti'ied in succession higher and lowerstations on <strong>the</strong> mountain ; but I never succeeded in obtaininginsects in anj^ abundance, and birds were far less plentiful thanon <strong>the</strong> Megamendong Mountain. <strong>The</strong> wea<strong>the</strong>r now becamemore rainy than ever, and as <strong>the</strong> wet season seemed to have setin in earnest, I returned to Batavia, packed up and sent <strong>of</strong>f mycollections, and left by steamer on November 1st for Banca andSumatra.CHAPTER VIII.SUMATRA.(NOVEMBER 1861 TO JANTJAEY 1862.)<strong>The</strong> mail steamer froni Batavia to Singapore took me toMuntok (or as on English maps, "Minto"), <strong>the</strong> chief town andport <strong>of</strong> Banca. Here I stayed a daj^ or two, till I could obtaina boat to take me across <strong>the</strong> straits, and up <strong>the</strong> river to Palembang.A few walks into <strong>the</strong> country showed me that it wasvery hilly, and full <strong>of</strong> granitic and laterite rocks, with a dryand stunted forest vegetation ;and I could find very few insects.A good-sized ojien sailing-boat took me across to <strong>the</strong> mouth <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> Palembang Paver, where at a fishing village, a I'owing-boatwas hired to take nie ujd to Palembang, a distance <strong>of</strong> nearlj^ ahundred miles by water. Except when <strong>the</strong> wind was strong andfavourable we could only ]3roceed with <strong>the</strong> tide, and <strong>the</strong> banks<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> river were genei'ally flooded Nipa-swamps, so that <strong>the</strong>hours we were obliged to lie at anchor passed very heavily.Beaching Palembang on <strong>the</strong> 8th <strong>of</strong> November, I was lodged by<strong>the</strong> Doctor, to whom I had brought a letter <strong>of</strong> introduction, andendeavoured to ascertain where I could find a good locality forcollecting. Every one assured me that I should have to go avery long way fur<strong>the</strong>r to find any dry forest, for at this season<strong>the</strong>Vhole country for many miles in<strong>land</strong> was flooded. I <strong>the</strong>re-
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