which were soon rigged up into a table and shelves. A
broad bamboo bench served as sofa and bedstead, my
boxes were conveniently arranged, my mats spread on the
floor, a window cut in the palm-leaf wall to light my
table, and though the place was as miserable and gloomy
a shed as could be imagined, I felt as contented as if I
had obtained a well-furnished mansion, and looked forward
to a month’s residence in it with unmixed satisfaction.
The next morning, after an early breakfast, I set off to
explore the virgin forests of Aru, anxious to set my mind
at rest as to the treasures they were likely to yield, and
the probable success of my long-meditated expedition. A
little native imp was our guide, seduced by the gift of a
German knife, value three-halfpence, and my Macassar
boy Baderoon brought his chopper to clear, the path if
necessary.
We had to walk about half a mile along the beach, the
ground behind the village being mostly swampy, and then
turned into the forest along a path which leads to the
native village of Wamma, about three miles off on the
other side of the island. The path was a narrow one, and
very little used, often swampy and obstructed by fallen
trees, so that after about a mile we lost it altogether, our
guide having turned back, and we were obliged to follow
his example. In the meantime, however, I had not been
idle, and my day’s captures determined the success of my
journey in an entomological point of view. I had taken
about thirty species of butterflies, more than I had ever
captured in a day since leaving the prolific banks of the
Amazon, and among them were many most rare and
beautiful insects, hitherto only known by a few specimens
from Hew Guinea. The large and handsome spectre-
butterfly, Hestia durvillei; the pale-winged peacock
butterfly, Drusilla catops; and the most brilliant and
wonderful of the clear-winged moths, Cocytia durvillei,
were especially interesting, as well as several little
“ blues,” equalling in brilliancy and beauty anything the
butterfly world can produce. In the other groups of
insects I was not so successful, but this was not to be
wondered at in a mere exploring ramble, when only what
is most conspicuous and novel attracts the attention.
Several pretty beetles, a superb “ bug,” and a few nice
land-shells were obtained, and I returned in the afternoon
well satisfied with my first trial of the promised land.
The next two days were so wet and windy that there
was no going out; but on the succeeding one the sun shone
brightly, and I had the good fortune to capture one of the
most magnificent insects the world contains, the great birdwinged
butterfly, Ornithoptera poseidon. I trembled with
excitement as I saw it coming majestically towards me,
and could hardly believe I had really succeeded in my
stroke till I had taken it out of the net and was gazing,