representatives of the Netherlands Government in the island. The village is
occupied entirely by Ternate men. The true indigenes of Gilolo, "Alfuros" as
they are here called, live on the eastern coast, or in the interior of the northern
peninsula. The distance across the isthmus at this place is only two miles, and
there, is a good path, along which rice and sago are brought from the eastern
villages. The whole isthmus is very rugged, though not high, being a succession
of little abrupt hills anal valleys, with angular masses of limestone rock
everywhere projecting, and often almost blocking up the pathway. Most of it is
virgin forest, very luxuriant and picturesque, and at this time having abundance
of large scarlet Ixoras in flower, which made it exceptionally gay. I got some
very nice insects here, though, owing to illness most of the time, my collection
was a small one, and my boy Ali shot me a pair of one of the most beautiful
birds of the East, Pitta gigas, a lame ground-thrush, whose plumage of velvety
black above is relieved by a breast of pure white, shoulders of azure blue, and
belly of vivid crimson. It has very long and strong legs, and hops about with
such activity in the dense tangled forest, bristling with rocks, as to make it very
difficult to shoot.
In September 1858, after my return from New Guinea, I went to stay some
time at the village of Djilolo, situated in a bay on the northern peninsula. Here I
obtained a house through the kindness of the Resident of Ternate, who sent
orders to prepare one for me. The first walk into the unexplored forests of a new
locality is a moment of intense interest to the naturalist, as it is almost sure to
furnish him with something curious or hitherto unknown. The first thing I saw
here was a flock of small parroquets, of which I shot a pair, and was pleased to
find a most beautiful little long-tailed bird, ornamented with green, red, and blue
colours, and quite new to me. It was a variety of the Charmosyna placentis, one
of the smallest and most elegant of the brush-tongued lories. My hunters soon
shot me several other fine birds, and I myself found a specimen of the rare and
beautiful day-flying moth, Cocytia d'Urvillei.
The village of Djilolo was formerly the chief residence of the Sultans of
Ternate, till about eighty years ago, when at the request of the Dutch they
removed to their present abode. The place was then no doubt much more
populous, as is indicated by the wide extent of cleared land in the
neighbourhood, now covered with coarse high grass, very disagreeable to walk
through, and utterly barren to the naturalist. A few days' exploring showed me
that only some small patches of forest remained for miles wound, and the result
was a scarcity of insects and a very limited variety of birds, which obliged me to
change my locality. There was another village called Sahoe, to which there was