forms or brilliant colours, and almost all entirely new to me. Only the
entomologist can appreciate the delight with which I hunted about for
hours in the hot sunshine, among the branches and twigs and bark of the
fallen trees, every few minutes securing insects which were at that time
almost all rare or new to European collections.
In the shady forest paths were many fine butterflies, most conspicuous
among which was the shining blue Papilio ulysses, one of the princes of
the tribe, though at that time so rare in Europe, I found it absolutely
common in Amboyna, though not easy to obtain in fine condition, a large
number of the specimens being found when captured to have the wings torn
or broken. It flies with a rather weak undulating motion, and from its
large size, its tailed wings and brilliant colour, is one of the most
tropical-looking insects the naturalist can gaze upon.
There is a remarkable contrast between the beetles of Amboyna and those
of Macassar, the latter generally small and obscure, the former large
and brilliant. On the whole, the insects here most resemble those of the
Aru islands, but they are almost always of distinct species, and when
they are most nearly allied to each other, the species of Amboyna are
of larger size and more brilliant colours, so that one might be led to
conclude that in passing east and west into a less favourable soil and
climate, they had degenerated into less striking forms.
Of an evening I generally sat reading in the verandah, ready to capture
any insects that were attracted to the light. One night about nine
o'clock, I heard a curious noise and rustling overhead, as if some heavy
animal were crawling slowly over the thatch. The noise soon ceased, and
I thought no more about it and went to bed soon afterwards. The next
afternoon just before dinner, being rather tired with my day's work, I
was lying on the couch with a book in my hand, when gazing upwards I
saw a large mass of something overhead which I had not noticed before.
Looking more carefully I could see yellow and black marks, and thought
it must be a tortoise-shell put up there out of the way between the
ridge-pole and the roof. Continuing to gaze, it suddenly resolved itself
into a large snake, compactly coiled up in a kind of knot; and I could
detect his head and his bright eyes in the very centre of the folds. The
noise of the evening before was now explained. A python had climbed up
one of the posts of the house, and had made his way under the thatch
within a yard of my head, and taken up a comfortable position in the
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