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

XXXVIII.] THE BIRDS OF PARADISE. 419which he found a much better locality, but it was not yet theseason foi* tlie Paradise Birds ; and l^efore he had obtained nioi'ethan a few of the common sort, the last prau was ready toleave for Ternate, and he was obliged to take the oi^portunity,as he expected I would be waiting there for him.This concludes the record of my wanderings. I next went toTimor, and afterwards to Bouru, Java, and Sumatra, whichplaces have already been described. Charles Allen made avoyage to New Guinea, a short account of which will be givenin my next chapter on the Birds of Paradise. On his return hewent to the Sula Islands, and made a very interesting collection,which served to determine the limits of the zoological group ofCelebes, as already explained in my chapter on the naturalhistory of that island. His next journey was to Flores andSolor, where he obtained some valuable materials, wliicli I haveused in my chapter on the natural history of the Timor group.He afterwards went to Coti on the east coast of Borneo, fromwhich place I was very anxious to obtain collections, as it is aquite new locality as far as i^ossible from Sarawak, and I hadheard very good accounts of it. On his return thence to Sourabayain Java, he was to have gone to the entirely unknownSumba or Sandal-wood Island. Most unfortunately, however,he was seized with a terrible fever on his arrival at Coti, and,after lying there some weeks, was taken to SingaiDore in a verybad condition, where he arrived after I had left for England.When he recovered he obtained employment in Singapore, andI lost his services as a collector.The three concluding chapters of my work will treat of theBirds of Paradise, the Natural History of the Pajjuan Islands,and the Races of Man in the Malay Archipelago.CHAPTER XXXVIII.THE BIRDS OF PARADISE.As many of my journeys were made with the express objectof obtaining specimens of the Birds of Paradise, and learningsomething of their habits and distribution ;and being (as far asI am aware) the only Englishman who has seen these wonderfulbirds in their native forests, and obtained specimens of many ofthem, I propose to give here, in a connected form, the result ofmy observations and inquiries.When the earliest Euroj^ean voyagers reached the Moluccasin search of cloves and nutmegs, wliieh were tlien rare andprecious spices, they were presented with the dried skins ofbirds so strange and beautiful as to excite the admiration evenof those wealth-seeking lovers. The Malay traders gave themE E 2