get the curious little tiger beetle, Therates flavilabris.
In the denser thickets I would capture the small metallic
blue butterflies (Amblypodia) sitting on the leaves,
as well as some rare and beautiful leaf-beetles of the
families Hispidse and Chrysomelidse.
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,
—Staphylinidae, Nitidulidse, Onthophagi, and minute Cara-
bidae being the most abundant. How 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 1 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
Maros 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
Maros 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 advanced; and when
we reached a ruinous shed which had been erected for the
accommodation 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