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

XXIV.] BATCHIAX. 259Butterflies were not abundant, but I obtained a few more ofthe line blue Papilio, and a number of beautiful little Lyca^nidse,as well as a single specimen of the very rare Papilio Wallacei,of wliich I had taken the hithei'to unique specimen in the AruIslands.The most interesting birds I obtained here were the beautifulblue kingfisher, Todiramphus diops ; the tine green and purpledoves, Ptilonopus superbus and P. iogaster, and several newbirds of small size. My shooters still brought me in sioecimensof the Semioptera Wallacei, and I was greatly excited by thepositive statements of several of the native hunters that anotherspecies of this bird existed, much handsomer and more remarkable.They declared that the plumage was glossy black, withmetallic green breast as in my siDecies, but that the whiteshoulder plumes were twice as long, and hung down far belowthe body of the bird. They declared that when hunting pigs ordeer far in the forest they occasionally saw this bird, but thatit was I'are. I immediately offered twelve guilders (a pound)for a specimen ; but all in vain, and I am to this day uncertainwhether such a bird exists. Since I left, the German naturalist,Dr. Bernstein, stayed many months in the island with a largestaff of hunters collecting for the Leyden Museum; and as hevv^as not more successful than myself, we must consider eitherthat the bird is very rare, or is altogether a myth.Batchian is remarkable as being the most eastern point onthe globe inhabited by any of the Quadrumana. A lai'ge blackbaboon-monkey (Cynopithecus nigrescens) is abundant in someparts of the forest. This animal has bare red callosities, and arudimentary tail about an inch long—a mere fleshy tubercle,which may be very easily overlooked. It is the same siDeciesthat is found all over the forests of Celebes, and as none of theother Mammalia of that island extend into Batchian I aminclined to suppose that this species has been accidentallyintroduced by the roaming Malays, who often carry about withthem tame monkeys and other animals. This is rendered moreprobable 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 andunoccupied island such an animal would multiply rapidly. Theonly other mammals obtained were an Eastern opossum, whichDr. Gray has described as Cuscus oniatus ; the little flyingopossum, Belideus ariel ; a Civet cat, Viverra zebetha ; and ninespecies of bats, most of the smaller ones being caught in thedusk with my butterfly net as they flew about before the house.After much delay, owing to bad weather and the illness ofone of my men, I determined to visit Kasserota (formerly thechief village), situated up a small stream, on an island close tothe north coast of Batcliian, where I was told that many rarebirds were found. After my boat was loaded and everythingready, three days of heavy squalls prevented our starting, and