Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cupy was situated in a large clearing of about a hundred acres, part of which was already
planted with young cacao-trees and plantains to shade them, while the rest was covered with
dead and half-burnt forest trees; and on one side there was a tract where the trees had been
recently felled and were not yet burnt. The path by which I had arrived continued along one
side of this clearing, and then again entering the virgin forest passed over hill and dale to the
northern side of the island.
My abode was merely a little thatched hut, consisting of an open verandah in front and a
small dark sleeping-room behind. It was raised about five feet from the ground, and was
reached by rude steps to the centre of the verandah. The walls and floor were of bamboo,
and it contained a table, two bamboo chairs, and a couch. Here I soon made myself comfort-
able, and set to work hunting for insects among the more recently felled timber, which
swarmed with fine Curculionidæ, Longicorns, and Buprestidæ, most of them remarkable for
their elegant forms or brilliant colours, and almost all entirely new to me. Only the entomo-
logist can appreciate the delight with which I hunted about for hours in the hot sunshine,
among the branches and twigs and bark of the fallen trees, every few minutes securing in-
sects which were at that time almost all rare or new to European collections.
In the shady forest paths were many fine butterflies, most conspicuous among which was
the shining blue Papilio ulysses, one of the princes of the tribe. Though at that time so rare
in Europe, I found it absolutely common in Amboyna, though not easy to obtain in fine con-
dition, a large number of the specimens being found when captured to have the wings torn
or broken. It flies with a rather weak undulating motion, and from its large size, its tailed
wings and brilliant colour, is one of the most tropical-looking insects the naturalist can gaze
upon.
There is a remarkable contrast between the beetles of Amboyna and those of Macassar,
the latter generally small and obscure, the former large and brilliant. On the whole, the in-
sects here most resemble those of the Aru islands, but they are almost always of distinct spe-
cies, and when they are most nearly allied to each other the species of Amboyna are of lar-
ger size and more brilliant colours, so that one might be led to conclude that, in passing east
and west into a less favourable soil and climate, they had degenerated into less striking
forms.
Of an evening I generally sat reading in the verandah, ready to capture any insects that
were attracted to the light. One night about nine o'clock, I heard a curious noise and rustling
overhead, as if some heavy animal were crawling slowly over the thatch. The noise soon
ceased, and I thought no more about it and went to bed soon afterwards. The next afternoon
just before dinner, being rather tired with my day's work, I was lying on the couch with a
