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

XVII.] CELEBES. 201the roads in the forest, I found the large and handsomeCicindela heros, which I had before obtained sparingly atMacassar ; but it was in the mountain torrent of the ra^-ineitself that I got my finest thing.s. On dead trunks overhangingthe water, and on the banks and foliage, I obtained three verypretty species of Cicindela, quite distinct in size, form, andcolour, but having an almost identical pattern of pale spots. Ialso found a single specimen of a most curious species with verylong antennje. But my finest discovery here was the Cicindelagloriosa, which I found on mossy stones just rising above thewater. After obtaining my first specimen of this elegant insect,I used to walk up the stream, watching carefully every mosscoveredrock and stone. It was rather shy, and would oftenlead me a long chase from stone to stone, becoming invisibleevery time it settled on the damp moss, owing to its richvelvety green colour. On some days I could only catch a fewglimpses of it, on others I got a single specimen, and on afew occasions two, but never without a more or less activepursuit. This and several other species I never saw but in thisone ravine.Among the people here I saw specimens of several types,which, with the peculiarities of the languages, gives me somenotion of their probable origin. A striking illustration of thelow state of civilization of these jDeople till quite recently, is tobe found in the great diversity of their languages. Villagesthree or four miles apart have separate dialects, and each groupof three or four such villages has a distinct language quiteunintelligible to all the rest ; so that, till the recent introductionof Malay by the Missionaries, there must have been a bar to allfree communication. These languages ofi'er many peculiarities.They contain a Celebes-Malay element and a Papuan element,along with some radical peculiarities found also in the languagesof the Siau and Sanguir islands further north, and tliereforeprobably derived from the Philippine Islands. Physicalcharacters correspond. There ai'e some of the less civilizedtribes which have semi-Papuan features and hair, while in somevillages the true Celebes or Bugis physiognomy prevails. Theplateau of Tonddno is chiefly inhabited by people nearly aswhite as the Chinese, and with very pleasing semi-Europeanfeatures. The people of Siau and Sanguir much resemblethese, and I belieA'e them to be perhaps immigrants from someof the islands of North Polynesia. The Papuan type willrepresent the remnant of the aborigines, while those of theBugis character show the extension northward of the superior!Malay races.As I was wasting valuable time at Panghu owing to the badweather and the illness of my hunters, I returned to ^Menadoafter a stay of tlu'ee weeks. Here I had a little touch of fever,and what with drying and jjacking away my collections andgetting fresh servants, it was a fortnight before I was again