The Only
Good Bird Seen Was The Fine Amboyna Lory, But These Were Always
Too High To Shoot; Besides This, The Great Moluccan Hornbill,
Which I Did Not Want, Was Almost The Only Bird Met With.
I saw
not a single ground-thrush, or kingfisher, or pigeon; and, in
fact, have never been in a forest so utterly desert of animal
life as this appeared to be.
Even in all other groups of insects,
except butterflies, there was the same poverty. I bad hoped to
find some rare tiger beetles, as I had done in similar situations
in Celebes; but, though I searched closely in forest, river-bed,
and mountain-brook, I could find nothing but the two common
Amboyna species. Other beetles there were absolutely none.
The constant walking in water, and over rocks and pebbles, quite
destroyed the two pair of shoes I brought with me, so that, on my
return, they actually fell to pieces, and the last day I had to
walk in my stockings very painfully, and reached home quite lame.
On our way back from Makariki, as on our way there, we had storm
and rain at sea, and we arrived at Awaiya late in the evening,
with all our baggage drenched, and ourselves thoroughly
uncomfortable. All the time I had been in Ceram I had suffered
much from the irritating bites of an invisible acarus, which is
worse than mosquitoes, ants, and every other pest, because it is
impossible to guard against them. This last journey in the forest
left me covered from head to foot with inflamed lumps, which,
after my return to Amboyna, produced a serious disease, confining
me to the house for nearly two months, a not very pleasant
memento of my first visit to Ceram, which terminated with the
year 1859.
It was not till the 24th of February, 1860, that I started again,
intending to pass from village to village along the coast,
staying where I found a suitable locality. I had a letter from
the Governor of the Moluccas, requesting all the chiefs to supply
me with boats and men to carry me on my journey. The first boat
took me in two days to Amahay, on the opposite side of the bay to
Awaiya. The chief here, wonderful to relate, did not make any
excuses for delay, but immediately ordered out the boat which was
to carry me on, put my baggage on hoard, set up mast and sails
after dark, and had the men ready that nigh; so that we were
actually on our way at five the next morning, - a display of
energy and activity I scarcely ever saw before in a native chief
on such an occasion. We touched at Cepa, and stayed for the night
at Tamilan, the first two Mahometan villages on the south coast
of Ceram. The next day, about noon, we reached Hoya, which was as
Far as my present boat and crew were going to take me. The
anchorage is about a mile east of the village, which is faced by
coral reefs, and we had to wait for the evening tide to move up
and unload the boat into the strange rotten wooden pavilion kept
for visitors.
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