of Dobbo. I had brought with me a cane chair, and a few light boards, which
were soon rigged up into a table and shelves. A broad bamboo bench served as
sofa and bedstead, my boxes were conveniently arranged, my mats spread on the
floor, a window cut in the palm-leaf wall to light my table, and though the place
was as miserable and gloomy a shed as could be imagined, I felt as contented as
if I had obtained a well-furnished mansion, and looked forward to a month's
residence in it with unmixed satisfaction.
The next morning, after an early breakfast, I set off to explore the virgin
forests of Aru, anxious to set my mind at rest as to the treasures they were likely
to yield, and the probable success of my long-meditated expedition. A little
native imp was our guide, seduced by the gift of a German knife, value three-
halfpence, and my Macassar boy Baderoon brought his chopper to clear the path
if necessary.
We had to walk about half a mile along the beach, the ground behind the
village being mostly swampy, and then turned into the forest along a path which
leads to the native village of Wamma, about three miles off on the other side of
the island. The path was a narrow one, and very little used, often swampy and
obstructed by fallen trees, so that after about a mile we lost it altogether, our
guide having turned back, and we were obliged to follow his example. In the
meantime, however, I had not been idle, and my day's captures determined the
success of my journey in an entomological point of view. I had taken about
thirty species of butterflies, more than I had ever captured in a day since leaving
the prolific banks of the Amazon, and among them were many most rare and
beautiful insects, hitherto only known by a few specimens from New Guinea.
The large and handsome spectre butterfly, Hestia durvillei; the pale-winged
peacock butterfly, Drusilla catops; and the most brilliant and wonderful of the
clear-winged moths, Cocytia durvillei, were especially interesting, as well, as
several little "blues," equalling in brilliancy and beauty anything the butterfly
world can produce. In the other groups of insects I was not so successful, but this
was not to be wondered at in a mere exploring ramble, when only what is most
conspicuous and novel attracts the attention. Several pretty beetles, a superb
"bug," and a few nice land-shells were obtained, and I returned in the afternoon
well satisfied with my first trial of the promised land.
The next two days were so wet and windy that there was no going out; but on
the succeeding one the sun shone brightly, and I had the good fortune to capture
one of the most magnificent insects the world contains, the great bird-winged
butterfly, Ornithoptera Poseidon. I trembled with excitement as I saw it coming
majestically towards me, and could hardly believe I had really succeeded in my