The Malay Archipelago, vol 2 | Page 8

bristling with rocks, as to make it very difficult to shoot.
In September 1858, after my return from New Guinea, I went to stay
some time at the village of Djilolo, situated in a bay on the northern
peninsula. Here I obtained a house through the kindness of the Resident
of Ternate, who sent orders to prepare one for me. The first walk into
the unexplored forests of a new locality is a moment of intense interest
to the naturalist, as it is almost sure to furnish him with something
curious or hitherto unknown. The first thing I saw here was a flock of
small parroquets, of which I shot a pair, and was pleased to find a most
beautiful little long-tailed bird, ornamented with green, red, and blue
colours, and quite new to me. It was a variety of the Charmosyna
placentis, one of the smallest and most elegant of the brush-tongued
lories. My hunters soon shot me several other fine birds, and I myself
found a specimen of the rare and beautiful day-flying moth, Cocytia
d'Urvillei.
The village of Djilolo was formerly the chief residence of the Sultans
of Ternate, till about eighty years ago, when at the request of the Dutch
they removed to their present abode. The place was then no doubt much
more populous, as is indicated by the wide extent of cleared land in the

neighbourhood, now covered with coarse high grass, very disagreeable
to walk through, and utterly barren to the naturalist. A few days'
exploring showed me that only some small patches of forest remained
for miles wound, and the result was a scarcity of insects and a very
limited variety of birds, which obliged me to change my locality. There
was another village called Sahoe, to which there was a road of about
twelve miles overland, and this had been recommended to me as a good
place for birds, and as possessing a large population both of
Mahomotans and Alfuros, which latter race I much wished to see. I set
off one morning to examine this place myself, expecting to pass
through some extent of forest on my way. In this however I was much
disappointed, as the whole road lies through grass and scrubby thickets,
and it was only after reaching the village of Sahoe that some high forest
land was perceived stretching towards the mountains to the north of it.
About half-way we dad to pass a deep river on a bamboo raft, which
almost sunk beneath us. This stream was said to rise a long way off to
the northward.
Although Sahoe did not at all appear what I expected, I determined to
give it a trial, and a few days afterwards obtained a boat to carry my
things by sea while I walked overland. A large house on the beach
belonging to the Sultan was given me. It stood alone, and was quite
open on every side, so that little privacy could be had, but as I only
intended to stay a short time I made it do. Avery, few days dispelled all
hopes I might have entertained of making good collections in this place.
Nothing was to be found in every direction but interminable tracts of
reedy grass, eight or ten feet high, traversed by narrow baths, often
almost impassable. Here and there were clumps of fruit trees, patches
of low wood, and abundance of plantations and rice grounds, all of
which are, in tropical regions, a very desert for the entomologist. The
virgin forest that I was in search of, existed only on the summits and on
the steep rocky sides of the mountains a long way off, and in
inaccessible situations. In the suburbs of the village I found a fair
number of bees and wasps, and some small but interesting beetles. Two
or three new birds were obtained by my hunters, and by incessant
inquiries and promises Í succeeded in getting the natives to bring me
some land shells, among which was a very fine and handsome one,

Helix pyrostoma. I was, however, completely wasting my time here
compared with what I might be doing in a good locality, and after a
week returned to Ternate, quite disappointed with my first attempts at
collecting in Gilolo.
In the country round about Sahoe, and in the interior, there is a large
population of indigenes, numbers of whom came daily into the village,
bringing their produce for sale, while others were engaged as labourers
by the Chinese and Ternate traders. A careful examination convinced
me that these people are radically distinct from all the Malay races.
Their stature and their features, as well as their disposition and habits,
are almost the same as those of the Papuans; their hair is
semi-Papuan-neither straight, smooth, and glossy, like all