Written in the hope of
exciting an interest in the various questions connected with the
origin of species and their geographical distribution. In some
cases I have been able to explain my views in detail; while in
others, owing to the greater complexity of the subject, I have
thought it better to confine myself to a statement of the more
interesting facts of the problem, whose solution is to be found
in the principles developed by Mr. Darwin in his various works.
The numerous illustrations will, it is believed, add much to the
interest and value of the book. They have been made from my own
sketches, from photographs, or from specimens - and such, only
subjects that would really illustrate the narrative or the
descriptions, have been chosen.
I have to thank Messrs. Walter and Henry Woodbury, whose
acquaintance I had the pleasure of making in Java, for a number
of photographs of scenery and of natives, which have been of the
greatest assistance to me. Mr. William Wilson Saunders has kindly
allowed me to figure the curious horned flies; and to Mr. Pascoe
I am indebted for a loan of two of the very rare Longicorns which
appear in the plate of Bornean beetles. All the other specimens
figured are in my own collection.
As the main object of all my journeys was to obtain specimens of
natural history, both for my private collection and to supply
duplicates to museums and amateurs, I will give a general
statement of the number of specimens I collected, and which
reached home in good condition. I must premise that I generally
employed one or two, and sometimes three Malay servants to assist
me; and for nearly half the time had the services of an English
lad, Charles Allen. I was just eight years away from England, but
as I travelled about fourteen thousand miles within the
Archipelago, and made sixty or seventy separate journeys, each
involving some preparation and loss of time, I do not think that
more than six years were really occupied in collecting.
I find that my Eastern collections amounted to:
310 specimens of Mammalia.
100 specimens of Reptiles.
8,050 specimens of Birds.
7,500 specimens of Shells.
13,100 specimens of Lepidoptera.
83,200 specimens of Coleoptera.
13,400 specimens of other Insects.
125,660 specimens of natural history in all.
It now only remains for me to thank all those friends to whom I
am indebted for assistance or information. My thanks are more
especially due to the Council of the Royal Geographical Society,
through whose valuable recommendations I obtained important aid
from our own Government and from that of Holland; and to Mr.
William Wilson Saunders, whose kind and liberal encouragement in
the early portion of my journey was of great service to me.
