good harvest of insects, and in some respects I was not
disappointed. Beetles became much more numerous, and
under a thick bed of leaves that had accumulated on some
rocks by the side of a forest stream, I found abundance of
Carabidse, a family generally scarce in the tropics. The
butterflies however disappeared. Two of my servants
were attacked with fever, dysentery, and swelled feet, just
at the time that the third had left me, and for some days
they both lay groaning in the house. When they got a
little better I was attacked myself, and as my stores were
nearly finished and everything was getting very damp, I
was obliged to prepare for my return to Macassar, especially
as the strong westerly winds would render the passage
in a small open boat disagreeable if not dangerous.
Since the rains began, numbers of huge millipedes, as
thick as one’s finger and eight or ten inches long, crawled
about everywhere, in the paths, on trees, about the house,
—and one morning when I got up I even found one in my
bed ! They were generally of a dull lead colour or of a
deep brick red, and were very nasty-looking things to be
coming everywhere in one’s way, although quite harmless.
Snakes too began to show themselves. I killed two of
a very abundant species, big-headed and of a bright green
colour, which lie coiled up on leaves and shrubs and can
scarcely be seen till one is close upon them. Brown
snakes got into my net while beating among dead leaves
for insects, and made me rather cautious about inserting
my hand till I knew what kind of game I had captured.
The fields and meadows which had been parched and
sterile, now became suddenly covered with fine long grass ;
the river-bed where I had so many times walked over
burning rocks, was now a deep and rapid stream ; and
numbers of herbaceous plants and shrubs were everywhere
springing up and bursting into flower. I found plenty
of new insects, and if I had had a good, roomy, water-and-
wind-proof house, I should perhaps have stayed during the
wet season, as I feel sure many things can then be
obtained which are to be found at 110 other time. With
my summer hut, however, this was impossible. During
the heavy rains .a fine drizzly mist penetrated into every
part of it, and I began to have ¡the greatest difficulty in
keeping my specimens dry.
Early in November I returned to Macassar, and having
packed up my collections, started in the Dutch mail
steamer for Amboyna and Ternate. Leaving this part of
my journey for the present, I will in the next chapter
conclude my account of Celebes, by describing the extreme
northern part of the island which X visited two years
later.