very interesting. Among these were the rare forest Kingfisher (Cittura cyanotis),
a small new species of Megapodius, and one specimen of the large and
interesting Maleo (Megacephalon rubripes), to obtain which was one of my chief
reasons for visiting this district. Getting no more, however, after ten days' search,
I removed to Licoupang, at the extremity of the peninsula, a place celebrated for
these birds, as well as for the Babirusa and Sapi-utan. I found here Mr.
Goldmann, the eldest son of the Governor of the Moluccas, who was
superintending the establishment of some Government salt-works. This was a
better locality, and I obtained some fine butterflies and very good birds, among
which was one more specimen of the rare ground dove (Phlegaenas tristigmata),
which I had first obtained near the Maros waterfall in South Celebes.
Hearing what I was particularly in search of, Mr. Goldmann kindly offered to
make a hunting-party to the place where the "Maleos" are most abundant, a
remote and uninhabited sea-beach about twenty miles distant. The climate here
was quite different from that on the mountains; not a drop of rain having fallen
for four months; so I made arrangements to stay on the beach a week, in order to
secure a good number of specimens. We went partly by boat and partly through
the forest, accompanied by the Major or head-man of Licoupang, with a dozen
natives and about twenty dogs. On the way they caught a young Sapi-utan and
five wild pigs. Of the former I preserved the head. This animal is entirely
confined to the remote mountain forests of Celebes and one or two adjacent
islands which form part of the same group. In the adults the head is black, with a
white mark over each eye, one on each cheek and another on the throat. The
horns are very smooth and sharp when young, but become thicker and ridged at
the bottom with age. Most naturalists consider this curious animal to be a small
ox, but from the character of the horns, the fine coat of hair and the descending
dewlap, it seemed closely to approach the antelopes.
Arrived at our destination, we built a but and prepared for a stay of some days
—I to shoot and skin "Maleos", and Mr. Goldmann and the Major to hunt wild
pigs, Babirusa, and Sapi-utan. The place is situated in the large bay between the
islands of Limbe and Banca, and consists of steep beach more than a mile in
length, of deep loose and coarse black volcanic sand (or rather gravel), very
fatiguing to walk over. It is bounded at each extremity by a small river with hilly
ground beyond, while the forest behind the beach itself is tolerably level and its
growth stunted. We probably have here an ancient lava stream from the Klabat
volcano, which has flowed down a valley into the sea, and the decomposition of
which has formed the loose black sand. In confirmation of this view, it may be
mentioned that the beaches beyond the small rivers in both directions are of