The Papuan Type Will Represent The Remnant Of The
Aborigines, While Those Of The Bugis Character Show The Extension
Northward Of The Superior Malay Races.
As I was wasting valuable time at Panghu, owing to the bad weather
and the illness of my hunters, I returned to Menado after a stay
of three weeks.
Here I had a little touch of fever, and what with
drying and packing all of my collections and getting fresh
servants, it was a fortnight before I was again ready to start. I
now went eastward over an undulating country skirting the great
volcano of Klabat, to a village called Lempias, situated close to
the extensive forest that covers the lower slopes of that
mountain. My baggage was carried from village to village by
relays of men; and as each change involved some delay, I did not
reach my destination (a distance of eighteen miles) until sunset.
I was wet through, and had to wait for an hour in an uncomfortable
state until the first installment of my baggage arrived, which
luckily contained my clothes, while the rest did not come in until
midnight.
This being the district inhabited by that singular annual the
Babirusa (Hog-deer), I inquired about skulls and soon obtained
several in tolerable condition, as well as a fine one of the rare
and curious "Sapiutan" (Anoa depressicornis. Of this animal I had
seen two living specimens at Menado, and was surprised at their
great resemblance to small cattle, or still more to the Eland of
South Africa. Their Malay name signifies "forest ox," and they
differ from very small highbred oxen principally by the low-
hanging dewlap, and straight, pointed horns which slope back over
the neck. I did not find the forest here so rich in insects as I
had expected, and my hunters got me very few birds, but what they
did obtain were very interesting. Among these were the rare
forest Kingfisher (Cittura cyanotis), a small new species of
Megapodius, and one specimen of the large and interesting Maleo
(Megacephalon rubripes), to obtain which was one of my chief
reasons for visiting this district. Getting no more, however,
after ten days' search, I removed to Licoupang, at the extremity
of the peninsula, a place celebrated for these birds, as well as
for the Babirusa and Sapiutan. I found here Mr. Goldmann, the
eldest son of the Governor of the Moluccas, who was
superintending the establishment of some Government salt-works.
This was a better locality, and I obtained some fine butterflies
and very good birds, among which was one more specimen of the
rare ground dove (Phlegaenas tristigmata), which I had first
obtained near the Maros waterfall in South Celebes.
Hearing what I was particularly in search of, Mr. Goldmann kindly
offered to make a hunting-party to the place where the "Maleos"
are most abundant, a remote and uninhabited sea-beach about
twenty miles distant. The climate here was quite different from
that on the mountains; not a drop of rain having fallen for four
months; so I made arrangements to stay on the beach a week, in
order to secure a good number of specimens. We went partly by
boat and partly through the forest, accompanied by the Major or
head-man of Licoupang, with a dozen natives and about twenty
dogs. On the way they caught a young Sapi-utan and five wild
pigs. Of the former I preserved the head. This animal is entirely
confined to the remote mountain forests of Celebes and one or two
adjacent islands which form part of the same group. In the adults
the head is black, with a white mark over each eye, one on each
cheek and another on the throat. The horns are very smooth and
sharp when young, but become thicker and ridged at the bottom
with age. Most naturalists consider this curious animal to be a
small ox, but from the character of the horns, the fine coat of
hair and the descending dewlap, it seemed closely to approach the
antelopes.
Arrived at our destination, we built a but and prepared for a stay
of some days - I to shoot and skin "Maleos", and Mr. Goldmann and
the Major to hunt wild pigs, Babirusa, and Sapi-utan. The place is
situated in the large bay between the islands of Limbe and Banca,
and consists of steep beach more than a mile in length, of deep
loose and coarse black volcanic sand (or rather gravel), very
fatiguing to walk over. It is bounded at each extremity by a
small river with hilly ground beyond, while the forest behind
the beach itself is tolerably level and its growth stunted. We
probably have here an ancient lava stream from the Klabat
volcano, which has flowed down a valley into the sea, and the
decomposition of which has formed the loose black sand. In
confirmation of this view, it may be mentioned that the beaches
beyond the small rivers in both directions are of white sand.
It is in this loose, hot, black sand that those singular birds,
the "Maleos" deposit their eggs. In the months of August and
September, when there is little or no rain, they come down in
pairs from the interior to this or to one or two other favourite
spots, and scratch holes three or four feet deep, just above
high-water mark, where the female deposits a single large egg,
which she covers over with about a foot of sand - and then returns
to the forest. At the end of ten or twelve days she comes again
to the same spot to lay another egg, and each female bird is
supposed to lay six or eight eggs during the season. The male
assists the female in making the hole, coming down and returning
with her. The appearance of the bird when walking on the beach is
very handsome. The glossy black and rosy white of the plumage,
the helmeted head and elevated tail, like that of the common
fowl, give a striking character, which their stately and somewhat
sedate walk renders still more remarkable.
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