on bark and rotten wood, were finer than I have seen them elsewhere. The
beautiful Longicorns were scarcer than usual, and the few butterflies were all of
tropical species. One of these, Papilio blumei, of which I obtained a few
specimens only, is among the most magnificent I have ever seen. It is a green
and gold swallow-tail, with azure-blue and spoon-shaped tails, and was often
seen flying about the village when the sun shone, but in a very shattered
condition. The great amount of wet and cloudy weather was a great drawback all
the time I was at Rurúkan.
Even in the vegetation there is very little to indicate elevation. The trees are
more covered with lichens and mosses, and the ferns and tree-ferns are finer and
more luxuriant than I had been accustomed to seeing on the low grounds, both
probably attributable to the almost perpetual moisture that here prevails.
Abundance of a tasteless raspberry, with blue and yellow compositae, have
somewhat of a temperate aspect; and minute ferns and Orchideae, with dwarf
Begonias on the rocks, make some approach to a sub-alpine vegetation. The
forest, however, is most luxuriant. Noble palms, Pandani, and tree-ferns are
abundant in it, while the forest trees are completely festooned with Orchideae,
Bromeliae, Araceae, Lycopodiums, and mosses. The ordinary stemless ferns
abound; some with gigantic fronds ten or twelve feet long, others barely an inch
high; some with entire and massive leaves, others elegantly waving their finely-
cut foliage, and adding endless variety and interest to the forest paths. The
cocoa-nut palm still produces fruit abundantly, but is said to be deficient in oil.
Oranges thrive better than below, producing abundance of delicious fruit; but the
shaddock or pumplemous (Citrus decumana) requires the full force of a tropical
sun, for it will not thrive even at Tondano a thousand feet lower. On the hilly
slopes rice is cultivated largely, and ripens well, although the temperature rarely
or never rises to 80°, so that one would think it might be grown even in England
in fine summers, especially if the young plants were raised under glass.
The mountains have an unusual quantity of earth and vegetable mould spread
over them. Even on the steepest slopes there is everywhere a covering of clays
and sands, and generally a good thickness of vegetable soil. It is this which
perhaps contributes to the uniform luxuriance of the forest, and delays the
appearance of that sub-alpine vegetation which depends almost as much on the
abundance of rocky and exposed surfaces as on difference of climate. At a much
lower elevation on Mount Ophir in Malacca, Dacrydiums and Rhododendrons
with abundance of Nepenthes, ferns, and terrestrial orchids suddenly took the
place of the lofty forest; but this was plainly due to the occurrence of an
extensive slope of bare, granitic rock at an elevation of less than 3,000 feet. The