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

384 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.dark brown colour, banded and spotted with yellow. The hornsare about one-third the length of the insect, broad, flat, and ofan elongated triangular form. They are of a beautiful pinkcolour, edged with black, and with a pale central stripe. Thefront i^art of the head is also pink, and the eyes violet pink,with a green stripe across them, giving tlie insect a very elegantand singular appearance. The third species (Elaphomia alcicornis,the elk-horned deer-fly) is a little smaller than the twoalready described, but resembling in colour Elaphomia wallacei.The horns are very remarkable, being suddenly dilated into aflat plate, strongly toothed round the outer margin, andstrikingly resembling the horns of the elk, after which it hasbeen named. They are of a yellowish colour margined withbrown, and tipped with black on the three upper teeth. Thefourth species (Elaphomia brevicornis, the short-horned deerfly)differs considerably from the rest. It is stouter in form, ofa nearly black colour, with a yellow ring at the base of theabdomen ; the wings have dusky stripes, and the head is compressedand dilated laterally, with very small flat horns, which areblack with a pale centre, and look exactly like the rudiment ofthe horns of the two preceding species. None of the femaleshave any trace of the horns, and Mr. Saunders places in thesame genus a species which has no horns in either sex (Elaphomiapolita). It is of a shining black colour, and resemblesElaphomia cervicornis in form, size, and general appearance.The figures above given represent these insects of their naturalsi^ and in charactei'istic attitudes.The natives seldom brought me anything. They are poorcreatures, and rarely shoot a bird, pig, or kangaroo, or even thesluggish opossum-like Cuscus. The tree-kangaroos are foundhere, but must be very scarce, as my hunters, although outdaily in the forest, never once saw them. Cockatoos, lories, andparroquets were really tlie only common birds. Even pigeonswere scarce, and in little variety, although we occasionally gotthe fine crown pigeon, whicli was always welcome as an additionto our scantily furnished larder.Just before the steamer arrived I had wounded my ankle byclambering among the trunks and branches of fallen trees(which foi'med my best hunting grounds for insects), and, asusual with foot wounds in this climate, it turned into an obstinateulcer, keeping me in the house for several days. When ithealed up it was followed by an internal inflammation of thefoot, which by the doctoi^'s advice I jjoulticed incessantly forfour or five days, bringing out a severe inflamed swelling on thetendon above the heel. This had to be leeched, and lanced, anddoctored with ointments and poultices for several weeks, till Iwas almost driven to despair—for the weather was at lengthfine, and I was tantalized by seeing grand butterflies flying pastmy door, and thinking of the twenty or thirty new species ofinsects that I ought to be getting every day.And this, too, in