Spiders, Lizards, and Crabs. 437 



ica. For example, the palms were much more abundant 

 than I had generally found t^iem in the East, more generally 

 mingled with the other vegetation, more varied in foi-m and 

 aspect, and presenting some of those lofty and majestic 

 smooth - stemmed, pinnate - leaved species which recall the 

 TJauass^ (Attalea speciosa) of the Amazon, but which I had 

 hitherto rarely met with in the Malayan Islands. 



lu animal life the immense number and variety of spiders 

 and of lizards were circumstances that recalled the prolific 

 regions of South America, more especially the abundance and 

 varied colors of the little jumping spiders which abound on 

 flowers and foliage, and are often perfect gems of beauty. 

 The web-spinning species were also more numerous than I 

 had ever seen them, and were a great annoyance, stretching 

 their nets across the footpaths just about the height of my 

 face ; and the threads composing these are so strong and glu- 

 tinous as require much trouble to free one's self from them. 

 Then their inhabitants, great yellow-spotted monsters with 

 bodies two inches long, and legs in proportion, are not pleas- 

 ant things to run one's nose against while pursuing some 

 gorgeous butterfly, or gazing aloft in search of some strange- 

 voiced bird. I soon found it necessary not only to brush 

 away the web, but also to destroy the spinner ; for at first, 

 having cleared the path one day, I found the next morning 

 that the industrious insects had spread their nets again in 

 the very same places. 



The lizards were equally striking by their numbers, vari- 

 ety, and the situations in which they were found. The beau- 

 tiful blue-tailed species so abundant in Ke was not seen here. 

 The Aru lizards are more varied, but more sombre in their 

 colors — shades of green, gray, brown, and even black being 

 very frequently seen. Every shrub and herbaceous plant 

 was alive with them, every rotten trunk or dead branch 

 served as a station for some of these active little insect-hunt- 

 ers, who, I fear, to satisfy their gross appetites, destroy many 

 gems of the insect world, which would feast the eyes and de- 

 light the heart of our more discriminating entomologists. 

 Another curious feature of the jungle here was the multitude 

 of sea-shells everywhere met with on the ground and high 

 up on the branches and foliage, all inhabited by hermit- 



