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

296 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.could give me trustworthy information, I was referred to theLieutenant of the Burghers, who had travelled all round theisland, and was a very intelligent fellow. I asked liim to tellme if he knew of any part of Bouru where there was no " kusukusu,"as the coarse grass of the country is called. He assuredme that a good deal of the south coast was forest land, whilealong the north was almost entirely swamp and grassy hills.After minute inquiries, I found that the forest country commencedat a place called Waypoti, only a few miles beyondPelah, but that, as the coast beyond that place was exposed tothe east monsoon and dangei'ous for praus, it was necessary towalk. I immediately went to the Opzeinei', and he called theRajah. We had a consultation, and arranged for a boat to takeme the next evening but one to Pelah, whence I was to proceedon foot, the Orang-kaya going the day before to call the Alfurosto carry my baggage.The journey Avas made as arranged, and on May 19th wearrived at Waypoti, ha-ving walked about ten miles along thebeach, and through stony forest bordering the sea, with occasionalplunges of a mile or two into the interior. We found no village,but scattered houses and plantations, with hilly country prettywell covered with forest, and looking rather promising. A lowhut with a very rotten roof, sliowing the sky through in severalplaces, was the only one I could obtain. Luckily it did not rainthat night, and the next day we pulled down some of the wallsto repair the roof, which was of immediate importance, especiallyover our beds and table.About half a mile from the house was a fine mountain stream,running swiftly over a bed of rocks and pebbles, and beyondthis was a hill covered with fine forest. By carefully pickingmy way I could wade across this river without getting muchabove my knees, although I would sometimes slip off a rock andgo into a hole up to my waist, and about twice a week I wentacross it in order to explore the forest. Unfortunately therewere no paths here of any extent, and it did not prove veryproductive either in insects or birds. To add to my difiiculties,I had stupidly left my only pair of strong boots on board thesteamer, and my others wei'e by this time all dropping to pieces,so that I was obliged to walk about barefooted, and in constantfear of hurting my feet, and causing a wound which miglit layme up for weeks, as had happened in Borneo, Aru, and Dorey.Although there were numerous plantations of maize and plantains,there were no new clearings ; and as without these it isalmost impossible to find many of the best kinds of insects, Idetermined to make one myself, and with much dithculty engagedtwo men to clear a patch of forest, from which I hoped toobtain many fine beetles before I left.During tlie whole of my stay, however, insects never becameplentiful. ]\Iy clearing produced me a few fine Longicorns andBuprestidte, different from any I had befox-e seen, together with