I MADE but few and comparatively short visits to this large and
little known island, but obtained a considerable knowledge of its
natural history by sending first my boy Ali, and then my
assistant, Charles Allen, who stayed two or three months each in
the northern peninsula, and brought me back large collections of
birds and insects. In this chapter I propose to give a sketch of
the parts which I myself visited. My first stay was at Dodinga,
situated at the head of a deep-bay exactly opposite Ternate, and
a short distance up a little stream which penetrates a few miles
inland. The village is a small one, and is completely shut in by
low hills.
As soon as I arrived, I applied to the head man of the village
for a house to live in, but all were occupied, and there was much
difficulty in finding one. In the meantime I unloaded my baggage
on the beach and made some tea, and afterwards discovered a small
but which the owner was willing to vacate if I would pay him five
guilders for a month's rent. As this was something less than the
fee-simple value of the dwelling, I agreed to give it him for the
privilege of immediate occupation, only stipulating that he was
to make the roof water-tight. This he agreed to do, and came
every day to tally and look at me; and when I each time insisted
upon his immediately mending the roof according to contract, all
the answer I could get was, "Ea nanti," (Yes, wait a little.)
However, when I threatened to deduct a quarter guilder from the
rent for every day it was not done, and a guilder extra if any of
my things were wetted, he condescended to work for half an hour,
which did all that was absolutely necessary.
On the top of a bank, of about a hundred feet ascent from the
water, stands the very small but substantial fort erected by the
Portuguese. Its battlements and turrets have long since been
overthrown by earthquakes, by which its massive structure has
also been rent; but it cannot well be thrown down, being a solid
mass of stonework, forming a platform about ten feet high, and
perhaps forty feet square. It is approached by narrow steps under
an archway, and is now surmounted by a row of thatched hovels, in
which live the small garrison, consisting of, a Dutch corporal
and four Javanese soldiers, the sole representatives of the
Netherlands Government in the island. The village is occupied
entirely by Ternate men. The true indigenes of Gilolo, "Alfuros"
as they are here called, live on the eastern coast, or in the
interior of the northern peninsula. The distance across the
isthmus at this place is only two miles, and there, is a good
path, along which rice and sago are brought from the eastern
villages. The whole isthmus is very rugged, though not high,
being a succession of little abrupt hills anal valleys, with
angular masses of limestone rock everywhere projecting, and often
almost blocking up the pathway. Most of it is virgin forest, very
luxuriant and picturesque, and at this time having abundance of
large scarlet Ixoras in flower, which made it exceptionally gay.
I got some very nice insects here, though, owing to illness most
of the time, my collection was a small one, and my boy Ali shot
me a pair of one of the most beautiful birds of the East, Pitta
gigas, a lame ground-thrush, whose plumage of velvety black above
is relieved by a breast of pure white, shoulders of azure blue,
and belly of vivid crimson. It has very long and strong legs, and
hops about with such activity in the dense tangled forest,
bristling with rocks, as to make it very difficult to shoot.
In September 1858, after my return from New Guinea, I went to
stay some time at the village of Djilolo, situated in a bay on
the northern peninsula. Here I obtained a house through the
kindness of the Resident of Ternate, who sent orders to prepare
one for me. The first walk into the unexplored forests of a new
locality is a moment of intense interest to the naturalist, as it
is almost sure to furnish him with something curious or hitherto
unknown. The first thing I saw here was a flock of small
parroquets, of which I shot a pair, and was pleased to find a
most beautiful little long-tailed bird, ornamented with green,
red, and blue colours, and quite new to me. It was a variety of
the Charmosyna placentis, one of the smallest and most elegant of
the brush-tongued lories. My hunters soon shot me several other
fine birds, and I myself found a specimen of the rare and
beautiful day-flying moth, Cocytia d'Urvillei.
The village of Djilolo was formerly the chief residence of the
Sultans of Ternate, till about eighty years ago, when at the
request of the Dutch they removed to their present abode. The
place was then no doubt much more populous, as is indicated by
the wide extent of cleared land in the neighbourhood, now covered
with coarse high grass, very disagreeable to walk through, and
utterly barren to the naturalist. A few days' exploring showed me
that only some small patches of forest remained for miles wound,
and the result was a scarcity of insects and a very limited
variety of birds, which obliged me to change my locality. There
was another village called Sahoe, to which there was a road of
about twelve miles overland, and this had been recommended to me
as a good place for birds, and as possessing a large population
both of Mahomotans and Alfuros, which latter race I much wished
to see. I set off one morning to examine this place myself,
expecting to pass through some extent of forest on my way.
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