This Would Undoubtedly Be A
Fatal Objection, Were There Not Abundant Evidence To Show That
Java Has Been Formerly Connected With Asia, And That The Union
Must Have Occurred At About The Epoch Required.
The most striking
proof of such a junction is, that the great Mammalia of Java, the
rhinoceros, the tiger, and the Banteng or wild ox, occur also in
Siam and Burmah, and these would certainly not have been
introduced by man.
The Javanese peacock and several other birds
are also common to these two countries; but, in the majority of
cases, the species are distinct, though closely allied,
indicating that a considerable time (required for such
modification) has elapsed since the separation, while it has not
been so long as to cause an entire change. Now this exactly
corresponds with the time we should require since the temperate
forms of plants entered Java. These are now almost distinct
species, but the changed conditions under which they are now
forced to exist, and the probability of some of them having since
died out on the continent of India, sufficiently accounts for the
Javanese species being different.
In my more special pursuits, I had very little success upon the
mountain - owing, perhaps, to the excessively unpropitious
weather and the shortness of my stay. At from 7,000 to 8,000 feet
elevation, I obtained one of almost lovely of the small Fruit
pigeons (Ptilonopus roseicollis), whose entire head and neck are
of an exquisite rosy pink colour, contrasting finely with its
otherwise blue plumage; and on the very summit, feeding on the
ground among the strawberries that have been planted there, I
obtained a dull-coloured thrush, with the form and habits of a
starling (Turdus fumidus). Insects were almost entirely absent,
owing no doubt to the extreme dampness, and I did not get a
single butterfly the whole trip; yet I feel sure that, during the
dry season, a week's residence on this mountain would well repay
the collector in every department of natural history.
After my return to Toego, I endeavoured to find another locality
to collect in, and removed to a coffee-plantation some miles to
the north, and tried in succession higher and lower stations on
the mountain; but, I never succeeded in obtaining insects in any
abundance and birds were far less plentiful than on the
Megamendong Mountan. The weather now became more rainy than ever,
and as the wet season seemed to have set in in earnest, I
returned to Batavia, packed up and sent off my collections, and
left by steamer on November 1st for Banca and Sumatra.
CHAPTER VIII.
SUMATRA.
(NOVEMBER 1861 to JANUARY 1862.)
The mail steamer from Batavia to Singapore took me to Muntok (or
as on English maps, "Minto"), the chief town and port of Banca.
Here I stayed a day or two, until I could obtain a boat to take me
across the straits, and all the river to Palembang. A few walks
into the country showed me that it was very hilly, and full of
granitic and laterite rocks, with a dry and stunted forest
vegetation; and I could find very few insects. A good-sized open
sailing-boat took me across to the mouth of the Palembang river
where, at a fishing village, a rowing-boat was hired to take me up
to Palembang - a distance of nearly a hundred miles by water.
Except when the wind was strong and favourable we could only
proceed with the tide, and the banks of the river were generally
flooded Nipa-swamps, so that the hours we were obliged to lay at
anchor passed very heavily. Reaching Palembang on the 8th of
November, I was lodged by the Doctor, to whom I had brought a
letter of introduction, and endeavoured to ascertain where I
could find a good locality for collecting. Everyone assured me
that I should have to go a very long way further to find any dry
forest, for at this season the whole country for many miles
inland was flooded. I therefore had to stay a week at Palembang
before I could determine my future movements.
The city is a large one, extending for three or four miles along
a fine curve of the river, which is as wide as the Thames at
Greenwich. The stream is, however, much narrowed by the houses
which project into it upon piles, and within these, again, there
is a row of houses built upon great bamboo rafts, which are
moored by rattan cables to the shore or to piles, and rise and
fall with the tide.
The whole riverfront on both sides is chiefly formed of such
houses, and they are mostly shops open to the water, and only
raised a foot above it, so that by taking a small boat it is easy
to go to market and purchase anything that is to be had in
Palembang. The natives are true Malays, never building a house on
dry land if they can find water to set it in, and never going
anywhere on foot if they can reach the place in a heat. A
considerable portion of the population are Chinese and Arabs, who
carry on all the trade; while the only Europeans are the civil
and military officials of the Dutch Government. The town is
situated at the head of the delta of the river, and between it
and the sea there is very little ground elevated above highwater
mark; while for many miles further inland, the banks of the main
stream and its numerous tributaries are swampy, and in the wet
season hooded for a considerable distance. Palembang is built on
a patch of elevated ground, a few miles in extent, on the north
bank of the river. At a spot about three miles from the town this
turns into a little hill, the top of which is held sacred by the
natives, shaded by some fine trees,and inhabited by a colony
of squirrels which have become half-tame.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 46 of 112
Words from 45959 to 46964
of 114260
