the parrot tribe, and the large green nutmeg-pigeon, whose voice is either a loud
and deep boom, like two notes struck upon a very large gong, or sometimes a
harsh toad-like croak, altogether peculiar and remarkable. Only two quadrupeds
are said by the natives to inhabit the island—a wild pig and a Cuscus, or Eastern
opossum, of neither of which could I obtain specimens.
The insects were more abundant, and very interesting. Of butterflies I caught
thirty-five species, most of them new to me, and many quite unknown in
European collections. Among them was the fine yellow and black Papilio
euchenor, of which but few specimens had been previously captured, and several
other handsome butterflies of large size, as well as some beautiful little "blues,"
and some brilliant dayflying moths. The beetle tribe were less abundant, yet I
obtained some very fine and rare species. On the leaves of a slender shrub in an
old clearing I found several fine blue and black beetles of the genus Eupholus,
which almost rival in beauty the diamond beetles of South America. Some
cocoa-nut palms in blossom on the beach were frequented by a fine green floral
beetle (Lomaptera) which, when the flowers were shaken, flew off like a small
swarm of bees. I got one of our crew to climb up the tree, and he brought me a
good number in his hand; and seeing they were valuable, I sent him up again
with my net to shake the flowers into, and thus secured a large quantity. My best
capture, however, was the superb insect of the Buprestis family, already
mentioned as having been obtained from the natives, who told me they found it
in rotten trees in the mountains.
In the forest itself the only common and conspicuous coleoptera were two
tiger beetles. One, Therates labiata, was much larger than our green tiger beetle,
of a purple black colour, with green metallic glosses, and the broad upper lip of a
bright yellow. It was always found upon foliage, generally of broad-leaned
herbaceous plants, and in damp and gloomy situations, taking frequent short
flights from leaf to leaf, and preserving an alert attitude, as if always looking out
for its prey. Its vicinity could be immediately ascertained, often before it was
seen, by a very pleasant odour, like otto of roses, which it seems to emit
continually, and which may probably be attractive to the small insects on which
it feeds. The other, Tricondyla aptera, is one of the most curious forms in the
family of the Cicindelidae, and is almost exclusively confined to the Malay
islands. In shape it resembles a very large ant, more than an inch long, and of a
purple black colour. Like an ant also it is wingless, and is generally found
ascending trees, passing around the trunks in a spiral direction when approached,
to avoid capture, so that it requires a sudden run and active fingers to secure a
specimen. This species emits the usual fetid odour of the ground beetles. My