that distinguished it from that of Borneo and Malacca,
while, what is very singular and interesting, it recalled to
my mind the half-forgotten impressions of the forests of
Equatorial America. For example, the palms were much
more abundant than I had generally found them in the
East, more generally mingled with the other vegetation,
more varied in form and aspect, and presenting some of
those lofty and majestic smooth-stemmed, pinnate-leaved
species which recall the Uauassu (Attalea speciosa) of the
Amazon, hut which I had hitherto rarely met with in
the Malayan islands.
In animal life the immense number and variety of
spiders and of lizards were circumstances that recalled
the prolific regions of South America, more especially the
abundance and varied colours of the little jumping spiders
which abound on flowers and foliage, and are often perfect
gems of beauty. The web-spinning species were also
more numerous than I had ever seen them, and were a
great annoyance, stretching their nets across the footpaths
just about the height of my face; and the threads composing
these are so strong and glutinous as to require
much trouble to free oneself from them. Then their
inhabitants, great yellow-spotted monsters with bodies two
inches long, and legs in proportion^ are not pleasant things
to run one’s nose against while pursuing some gorgeous
butterfly, or gazing aloft in search of some strange-voiced
bird. I soon found it necessary not only to brush away
the web, but also to destroy the spinner; for at first, having
cleared the path one day, I found the next morning that
the industrious insects had spread their nets again in the
very same places.
The lizards were equally striking by their numbers,
variety, and the situations in which they were found. The
beautiful blue-tailed species so abundant in Ke, was not
seen here. The Aru lizards are more varied but more
sombre in their colours—shades of green, grey, brown, and
even black, being very frequently seen. Every shrub and
herbaceous plant was alive with them, every rotten trunk
or dead branch served as a station for some of these active
little insect-hunters, who, I fear, to satisfy their gross,
appetites, destroy many gems of the insect world, which
would feast the eyes and delight the heart of our more
discriminating entomologists. Another curious feature of
the jungle here was the multitude of sea-shells everywhere
met with on the ground and high up on the branches
and foliage, all inhabited by hermit-crabs, who forsake the
beach to wander in the forest. I have actually seen a
spider carrying away a good-sized shell and devouring its
(probably juvenile) tenant. On the beach, which I had to
walk along every morning to reach the forest, these creatures
swarmed by thousands. Every dead shell, from the
largest to the most minute, was appropriated by them.