G BARBOUR: ZOOGEOGRAPHY. 



whence we proceeded to Buitenzorg. Here I had the assistance of many in- 

 fluential persons, by whose aid several excellent Javanese helpers were got. 

 These men were especially useful from the fact that either they had been on the 

 Siboga expedition, or had otherwise acquired useful training. After arranging 

 for the collecting and preserving of Javan material, we proceeded by rail to 

 Sourabaya, and boarded there the S. S. Both of the Koninklijke Paketvaart 

 Maatschappi j . This small steamer was accustomed to make three trips a year 

 through the islands to New Guinea. It is impossible to express adequately my 

 feelings of obhgation for the kindness of the officials of the line and the officers 

 of the ship in forwarding our aims. To accommodate our needs the ship was 

 delayed and her regular itinerary changed, but with no word of complaint from 

 any source. The kindness of the chief agent of the Company in Batavia in 

 regard to the whole expense of the trip showed how widespread is the desire to 

 forward the scientific examination of the fauna of these colonies. 



In some ports arrangements were made to leave a collector who was to be 

 picked up again on the return trip. In other cases it was possible to arrange 

 with the people to have them assemble material for purchase on our return. 

 In many cases the fact that the ship made calls at a number of near by ports 

 on the same island made it possible to see a large part of some of these various 

 localities. Most of the steaming was done at night, and there were but few days 

 on the voyage, which lasted more than two months, when it was impossible 

 for all hands to be at work ashore, generally with a very large and useful follow- 

 ing of local natives. This method of collecting would of course avail little in 

 an intensive study of the fauna of an island as regards a single group of animals, 

 but for the taking of reptiles and amphibians it works very well. Ten people 

 working together will, I think, take more in one day than a single person will 

 take in the same locality in ten days. On the island of Halmahera ten persons 

 worked at six localities for eleven days. On New Guinea stays of one to three 

 days were made at nine locaUties, as well as a couple of days each at Saonek on 

 the neighboring island of Waigiu, and at the island of Mapia between New Guinea 

 and the Carolines. Thus it was possible to do far more shore collecting than 

 would be possible for a naturalist attached to one of the regular vessels employed 

 in deep sea or other scientific research. Both Malays and Papuans can be 

 taught to collect, and do so eagerly; the pay in the case of the Papuans being 

 tobacco, brass wire cut into short lengths, and red cloth. A popular account 

 of the natives, etc., of the part of New Guinea visited has been published in the 

 National geographic magazine for July and August, 1908. 



