altogether new to me, but they were generally so active
and shy as to render their capture a matter of great
difficulty. Almost the only good place for them was in
the dry beds of the streams in the forest, where, at damp
places, muddy pools, or even on the dry rocks, all sorts of
insects could be found. In these rocky forests dwell some
of the finest butterflies in the world. Three species of
Ornithoptera, measuring seven or eight inches across the
wings, and beautifully marked with spots or masses of
satiny yellow on a black ground, wheel through the
thickets with a strong sailing flight. About the damp
places are swarms of the beautiful blue-banded Papilios,
miletus and telephus, the superb golden green P. macedon,
and the rare little swallow-tffil Papilio rhesus, of all of
which, though very active, I succeeded in capturing fine
series of specimens.
I have rarely enjoyed myself more than during my
residence here. As I sat taking my coffee at six in the
morning, rare birds would often be seen on some tree close
by, when I would hastily sally out in my slippers, and
perhaps secure a prize I had been seeking after for weeks.
The great hornbills of Celebes (Buceros cassidix) would
often come with loud-flapping wings, and perch upon a
lofty tree just in front of m e ; and the black baboon-
monkeys, Cynopithecus nigrescens, often stared down in
astonishment at such an intrusion into their domains;
while at night herds of wild pigs roamed about the house,
devouring refuse, and obliging us to put away everything
eatable or breakable from our little cooking-house. A few
minutes’ search on the fallen trees around my house at
sunrise and sunset, would often produce me more beetles
than I would meet with in a day’s collecting, and odd
moments could be made valuable which when living in
villages or at a distance from the forest are inevitably
wasted. Where the sugar-palms were dripping with sap,
flies congregated in immense numbers, and it was by
spending half an hour at these when I had the time to
spare, that I obtained the finest and most remarkable
collection of this group of insects that I have ever made.
Then what delightful hours I passed wandering up and
down the dry river-courses, full of water-holes and rocks
and fallen trees, and overshadowed by magnificent vegetation
! I soon got to know every hole and rock and
stump, and came up to each with cautious step and bated
breath to see what treasures it would produce. At one
place I would find a little crowd of the rare butterfly
Tachyris zarinda, which would rise up at my approach,
and display their vivid orange and cinnabar-red wings,
while among them would flutter a few of the fine blue-
banded Papilios. Where leafy branches hung over the
gully, I might expect to find a grand Ornithoptera at rest
and an easy prey. At certain rotten trunks I was sure to