Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
I found that the rotten jack-fruits were very attractive to many beetles, and used to split
them partly open and lay them about in the forest near my house to rot. A morning's search
at these often produced me a score of species,—Staphylinidæ, Nitidulidæ, Onthophagi, and
minute Carabidæ being the most abundant. Now and then the 'sagueir' makers brought me a
fine rosechafer (Sternoplus schaumii) which they found licking up the sweet sap. Almost the
only new birds I met with for some time were a handsome ground thrush (Pitta celebensis),
and a beautiful violet-crowned dove (Ptilonopus celebensis), both very similar to birds I had
recently obtained at Aru, but of distinct species.
About the latter part of September a heavy shower of rain fell, admonishing us that we
might soon expect wet weather, much to the advantage of the baked-up country. I therefore
determined to pay a visit to the falls of the Máros river, situated at the point where it issues
from the mountains—a spot often visited by travellers and considered very beautiful. Mr. M.
lent me a horse, and I obtained a guide from a neighbouring village; and taking one of my
men with me, we started at six in the morning, and after a ride of two hours over the flat
rice-fields skirting the mountains which rose in grand precipices on our left, we reached the
river about half-way between Máros and the falls, and thence had a good bridle-road to our
destination, which we reached in another hour. The hills had closed in round us as we ad-
vanced; and when we reached a ruinous shed which had been erected for the accommoda-
tion of visitors, we found ourselves in a flat-bottomed valley about a quarter of a mile wide,
bounded by precipitous and often overhanging limestone rocks. So far the ground had been
cultivated, but it now became covered with bushes and large scattered trees.
As soon as my scanty baggage had arrived and was duly deposited in the shed, I started
off alone for the fall, which was about a quarter of a mile further on. The river is here about
twenty yards wide, and issues from a chasm between two vertical walls of limestone, over a
rounded mass of basaltic rock about forty feet high, forming two curves separated by a
slight ledge. The water spreads beautifully over this surface in a thin sheet of foam, which
curls and eddies in a succession of concentric cones till it falls into a fine deep pool below.
Close to the very edge of the fall a narrow and very rugged path leads to the river above,
and thence continues close under the precipice along the water's edge, or sometimes in the
water, for a few hundred yards, after which the rocks recede a little, and leave a wooded
bank on one side, along which the path is continued, till in about half a mile a second and
smaller fall is reached. Here the river seems to issue from a cavern, the rocks having fallen
from above so as to block up the channel and bar further progress. The fall itself can only be
reached by a path which ascends behind a huge slice of rock which has partly fallen away
from the mountain, leaving a space two or three feet wide, but disclosing a dark chasm des-
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