Insects. 47 



walk, and carry heavy burdens with the greatest ease, but to 

 a booted European it is very slippery work ; and when one's 

 attention is constantly attracted by the various objects of in- 

 terest around, a few tumbles into the bog are almost inevita- 

 ble. During my first walk along this road I saw few insects 

 or birds, but noticed some very handsome orchids in flower, 

 of the genus Coelogyne, a group which I afterward found to 

 be very abundant, and characteristic of the district. On the 

 slope of the hill near its foot a patch of forest had been clear- 

 ed away, and several rude houses erected, in which were re- 

 siding Mr. Coulson, the engineer, and a number of Chinese 

 workmen. I was at first kindly accommodated in Mr. Coul- 

 son's house, but finding the spot very suitable for me and of- 

 fering great facilities for collecting, I had a small house of 

 two rooms and a veranda built for myself. Here I remained 

 nearly nine months, and made an immense collection of insects, 

 to which class of animals I devoted my chief attention, owing 

 to the circumstances being especially favorable. 



In the tropics a large proportion of the insects of all orders, 

 and especially of the large and favorite group of beetles, are 

 more or lless dependent on vegetation, and particularly on 

 timber, bar]^ and leaves in various stages of decay. In the 

 untouched virgin forest, the insects which frequent such situ- 

 ations are scattered over an immense extent of country at 

 spots where trees have fallen through decay and old age, or 

 have succumbed to the fury of the tempest ; and twenty 

 square miles of country may not contain so many fallen and 

 decayed trees as are to be found in any small clearing. The 

 quantity and the variety of beetles and of many other insects 

 that can be collected at a given time in any tropical locality 

 will depend, first upon the immediate vicinity of a great ex- 

 tent of virgin forest, and secondly upon the quantity of trees 

 that for some months past have been, and which are still being 

 cut down, and left to dry and decay upon the ground. Now, 

 during my whole twelve years' collecting in the western and 

 eastern tropics, I never enjoyed such advantages in this re- 

 spect as at the Simtinjon coal-works. For several months 

 from twenty to fifty Chinamen and Dyaks were employed al- 

 most exclusively in clearing a large space in the forest, and 

 in making a wide opening for a railroad to the Sadong River, 



