Where Leafy
Branches Hung Over The Gully, I Might Expect To Find A Grand
Ornithoptera At Rest And An Easy Prey.
At certain rotten trunks I
was sure to get the curious little tiger beetle, Therates
flavilabris.
In the denser thickets I would capture the small
metal-blue butterflies (Amblypodia) sitting on the leaves, as
well as some rare and beautiful leaf-beetles of the families
Hispidae and Chrysomelidae.
I found that the rotten jack-fruits were very attractive to many
beetles, and used to split them partly open and lay them about in
the forest near my house to rot. A morning's search at these
often produced me a score of species - Staphylinidae, Nitidulidae,
Onthophagi, and minute Carabidae, being the most abundant. Now
and then the "sagueir" makers brought me a fine rosechafer
(Sternoplus schaumii) which they found licking up the sweet sap.
Almost the only new birds I met with for some time were a
handsome ground thrush (Pitta celebensis), and a beautiful
violet-crowned dove (Ptilonopus celebensis), both very similar to
birds I had recently obtained at Aru, but of distinct species.
About the latter part of September a heavy shower of rain fell,
admonishing us that we might soon expect wet weather, much to the
advantage of the baked-up country. I therefore determined to pay
a visit to the falls of the Maros river, situated at the point
where it issues from the mountains - a spot often visited by
travellers and considered very beautiful. Mr. M. lent me a horse,
and I obtained a guide from a neighbouring village; and taking
one of my men with me, we started at six in the morning, and
after a ride of two hours over the flat rice-fields skirting the
mountains which rose in grand precipices on our left, we readied
the river about half-way between Maros and the falls, and thence
had a good bridle-road to our destination, which we reached. in
another hour. The hills had closed in around us as we advanced;
and when we reached a ruinous shed which had been erected for the
accommodation of visitors, we found ourselves in a flat-bottomed
valley about a quarter of a mile wide, bounded by precipitous and
often overhanging limestone rocks. So far the ground had been
cultivated, but it now became covered with bushes and large
scattered trees.
As soon as my scanty baggage had arrived and was duly deposited
in the shed, I started off alone for the fall, which was about a
quarter of a mile further on. The river is here about twenty
yards wide, and issues from a chasm between two vertical walls of
limestone, over a rounded mass of basaltic rock about forty feet
high, forming two curves separated by a slight ledge. The water
spreads beautifully over this surface in a thin sheet of foam,
which curls and eddies in a succession of concentric cones until
it falls into a fine deep pool below. Close to the very edge of
the fall a narrow and very rugged path leads to the river above,
and thence continues close under the precipice along the water's
edge, or sometimes in the water, for a few hundred yards, after
which the rocks recede a little, and leave a wooded bank on one
side, along which the path is continued, until in about half a
mile, a second and smaller fall is reached. Here the river seems
to issue from a cavern, the rocks having fallen from above so as to
block up the channel and bar further progress. The fall itself
can only be reached by a path which ascends behind a huge slice
of rock which has partly fallen away from the mountain, leaving a
space two or three feet wide, but disclosing a dark chasm
descending into the bowels of the mountain, and which, having
visited several such, I had no great curiosity to explore.
Crossing the stream a little below the upper fall, the path
ascends a steep slope for about five hundred feet, and passing
through a gap enters a narrow valley, shut in by walls of rock
absolutely perpendicular and of great height. Half a mile further
this valley turns abruptly to the right, and becomes a mere rift
in the mountain. This extends another half mile, the walls
gradually approaching until they are only two feet apart, and the
bottom rising steeply to a pass which leads probably into another
valley, but which I had no time to explore. Returning to where
this rift had begun the main path turns up to the left in a sort
of gully, and reaches a summit over which a fine natural arch of
rock passes at a height of about fifty feet. Thence was a steep
descent through thick jungle with glimpses of precipices and
distant rocky mountains, probably leading into the main river
valley again. This was a most tempting region to explore, but
there were several reasons why I could go no further. I had no
guide, and no permission to enter the Bugis territories, and as
the rains might at any time set in, I might be prevented from
returning by the flooding of the river. I therefore devoted
myself during the short time of my visit to obtaining what
knowledge I could of the natural productions of the place.
The narrow chasms produced several fine insects quite new to me,
and one new bird, the curious Phlaegenas tristigmata, a large
ground pigeon with yellow breast and crown, and purple neck.
This rugged path is the highway from Maros to the Bugis country
beyond the mountains. During the rainy season it is quite impassable,
the river filling its bed and rushing between perpendicular
cliffs many hundred feet high. Even at the time of my visit it
was most precipitous and fatiguing, yet women and children came
over it daily, and men carrying heavy loads of palm sugar (of very
little value). It was along the path between the lower and the
upper falls, and about the margin of the upper pool, that I found
most insects.
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