of clay. Among these was a pretty little flower-pecker of a new species
(Prionochilus aureolimbatus), and several of the loveliest honeysuckers
I had yet seen. My general collection of birds was, however, almost at
a standstill; for though I at length obtained a man to shoot for me, he
was not good for much, and seldom brought me more than one bird a day.
The best thing he shot was the large and rare fruit-pigeon peculiar to
Northern Celebes (Carpophaga forsteni), which I had long been seeking.
I was myself very successful in one beautiful group of insects, the
tiger-beetles, which seem more abundant and varied here than anywhere
else in the Archipelago. I first met with them on a cutting in the road,
where a hard clayey bank was partially overgrown with mosses and small
ferns. Here, I found running about, a small olive-green species which
never took flight; and more rarely, a fine purplish black wingless
insect, which was always found motionless in crevices, and was
therefore, probably nocturnal. It appeared to me to form a new genus.
About the roads in the forest, I found the large and handsome Cicindela
heros, which I had before obtained sparingly at Macassar; but it was in
the mountain torrent of the ravine itself that I got my finest things.
On dead trunks overhanging the water and on the banks and foliage, I
obtained three very pretty species of Cicindela, quite distinct in size,
form, and colour, but having an almost identical pattern of pale spots.
I also found a single specimen of a most curious species with very long
antennae. But my finest discovery here was the Cicindela gloriosa, which
I found on mossy stones just rising above the water. After obtaining
my first specimen of this elegant insect, I used to walk up the stream,
watching carefully every moss-covered rock and stone. It was rather shy,
and would often lead me on a long chase from stone to stone, becoming
invisible every time it settled on the damp moss, owing to its rich
velvety green colour. On some days I could only catch a few glimpses of
it; on others I got a single specimen; and on a few occasions two, but
never without a more or less active pursuit. This and several other
species I never saw but in this one ravine.
Among the people here I saw specimens of several types, which, with the
peculiarities of the languages, gives me some notion of their probable
origin. A striking illustration of the low state of civilization
of these people, until quite recently, is to be found in the great
diversity of their languages. Villages three or four miles apart have
separate dialects, and each group of three or four such villages has a
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