at sunrise and sunset, would often produce me more beetles than I would
meet with in a day's collecting, and odd moments could be made valuable
which when living in villages or at a distance from the forest are
inevitably wasted. Where the sugar-palms were dripping with sap, flies
congregated in immense numbers, and it was by spending half an hour at
these when I had the time to spare, that I obtained the finest and most
remarkable collection of this group of insects that I have ever made.
Then what delightful hours I passed wandering up and down the dry
river-courses, full of water-holes and rocks and fallen trees, and
overshadowed by magnificent vegetation. I soon got to know every hole
and rock and stump, and came up to each with cautious step and bated
breath to see what treasures it would produce. At one place I would find
a little crowd of the rare butterfly Tachyris zarinda, which would
rise up at my approach, and display their vivid orange and cinnabar-red
wings, while among them would flutter a few of the fine blue-banded
Papilios. 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
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