Here There
Were Several Handsome Butterflies Flying About, The Finest Of
Which, However, Escaped Me, And I Never Saw It Again During My
Stay.
In the two days and a half which we remained here, I
wandered almost all day up and down the stream, searching after
butterflies, of which I got, in all, fifty or sixty specimens,
with several species quite new to me.
There were many others
which I saw only once, and did not capture, causing me to regret
that there was no village in these interior valleys where I could
stay a month. In the early part of each morning I went out with
my gun in search of birds, and two of my men were out almost all
day after deer; but we were all equally unsuccessful, getting
absolutely nothing the whole time we were in the forest. The only
good bird seen was the fine Amboyna lory, but these were always
too high to shoot; besides this, the great Moluccan hornbill,
which I did not want, was almost the only bird met with. I saw
not a single ground-thrush, or kingfisher, or pigeon; and, in
fact, have never been in a forest so utterly desert of animal
life as this appeared to be. Even in all other groups of insects,
except butterflies, there was the same poverty. I bad hoped to
find some rare tiger beetles, as I had done in similar situations
in Celebes; but, though I searched closely in forest, river-bed,
and mountain-brook, I could find nothing but the two common
Amboyna species.
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