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

242 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [(^hap.naturalist, as it is almost sure to furnish him with somethingcurious or hitherto unknown. The first thing I saw here was ailock of small parroquets, of _ which I shot a pair, and waspleased to find a most beautiful little long-tailed bird, ornamentedwith green, red, and blue colours, and quite new to me.It was a variety of the Charmosyna placentis, one of thesmallest and most elegant of the brush-tongued lories. Myhunters soon shot me several other fine birds, and I myself founda specimen of the rare and beautiful day-flying moth, Cocytiad'Urvillei.The village of Djilolo was formerly the chief residence of theSultans of Ternate, till about eighty years ago, when at therequest of the Dutch they removed to their present abode.The place was then no doubt much more populous, as isindicated by the wide extent of cleared land in the neighbourhood,now covered with coarse high grass, very disagreeable towalk through, and utterly barren to the naturalist. A fewdays' exploring showed me that only some small patches offorest remained for miles round, and the result was a scarcityof insects and a very limited variety of birds, which obliged meto change my locality. There was another village called Sahoe,to which there was a road of about twelve miles overland, andthis had been recommended to me as a good place for birds,and as possessing a large population both of Mahometans andAlfuros, which latter race I much wished to see. I set ofi" onemorning to examine this place myself, expecting to pass throughsome extent of forest on my way. In this however I was muchdisappointed, as the whole road lies through grass and scrubbythickets, and it was only after reaching the village of Sahoethat some high forest land was perceived stretching towards themountains to the north of it. About half-way we had to passa 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, Idetermined to give it a trial, and a few days afterwards obtaineda boat to carry my things by sea while I walked overland.large house on the beach belonging to the Sultan was given me.It stood alone, and was quite open on every side, so that littleprivacy could be had, but as I only intended to stay a shorttime I made it do. A very few days dispelled all hopes I mighthave entertained of making good collections in this place.Nothing was to be found in every direction but interminabletracts of reedy grass, eight or ten feet high, traversed by narrowpaths, often almost impassable. Here and there Avere clumpsof fruit trees, patches of low wood, and abundance of plantationsand rice grounds, all of which are, in tropical regions, a verydesert for the entomologist. The virgin forest that I was insearch of, existed only on the summits and on the steep rockysides of the mountains a long way off, and in inaccessiblesituations. In the suburbs of the village I found a fair numberA