and Amboyna. The Japanese collection was especially
interesting, containing both the fine Carabi of northern
countries and the gorgeous Buprestidae and Longicorns of
the tropics. The doctor made the voyage to Jeddo by
land from Nagasaki, and is well acquainted with the
character, manners, and customs of the people of Japan,
and with the geology, physical features, and natural
history of the country. He showed me collections of
cheap woodcuts printed in colours, which are sold at less
than a farthing each, and comprise an endless variety of
sketches of Japanese scenery and manners. Though rude,
they are very characteristic, and often exhibit touches of
great humour. He also possesses a large collection of
coloured sketches. of the plants of Japan, made by a
Japanese lady, which are the most masterly things I have
ever seen. Every stem, twig, and leaf is produced by
single touches of the brush, the character and perspective
of very complicated plants being admirably given, and the
articulations of stem and leaves shown in a most scientific
manner.
Having made arrangements to stay for three weeks at a
small hut, on a newly cleared plantation in the interior of
the northern half of the island, I with some difficulty
obtained a boat and men to take me across the water;
for the Amboynese are dreadfully lazy. Passing up the
harbour, in appearance like a fine river, the clearness of
the water afforded me one of the most astonishing and
beautiful sights I have ever beheld. The bottom was
absolutely hidden by a continuous series of corals, sponges,
actiniæ, and other marine productions, of magnificent
dimensions, varied forms, and brilliant colours. The depth
varied from about twenty to fifty feet, and the bottom was
very uneven, rocks and chasms and little hills and valleys,
offering a variety of stations for the growth of these animal
forests. In and out among them, moved numbers of blue
and red and yellow fishes, spotted and banded and striped
in the most striking manner, while great orange or rosy
transparent medusae floated along néar the surface. It was
a sight to gaze at for hours, and no description can do justice
to its surpassing beauty and interest. For once, the
reality exceeded the most glowing accounts I had ever
read of the wonders of a coral sea. There is perhaps no
spot in the world richer in marine productions, corals,
shells and fishes, than the harbour of Amboyna.
From the north side of the harbour, a good broad path
passes through swamp clearing and forest, over hill and
valley, to the farther side of the island; the coralline
rock constantly protruding through the deep red earth
which fills all the hollows, and is more or less spread over
the plains and hill-sides. The forest vegetation is here
of the most luxuriant character ; ferns and palms abound,
and the climbing rattans were more abundant than I had