ON THE 

 NATU R AL HISTORY 



OF THE 



ARU-ISLANDS, 



BT 

 AliFBlEIY R. ^VAEiliAC^ (1). 



In December 185G, I left Macassar iii one of tlie 

 trading prows wliicli make an annual voyage to these is- 

 lands. On January Ist, 1857, we arrived at the Ké 

 Islands. Here we remained six days, while the nati- 

 ves, who are clever boat-builders , finished two small 

 vessels our captain purchased for the Aru trade. Du- 

 ring this time I made daily excursions in the forests, 

 collecting birds and insects; but the weather \vas sho- 

 wery, and the coralline-limestone rocks, which eve- 

 rywhere protrude through the thin soil, are weather- 

 worn into such sharp-edged, honey-combed, irregdar 

 surfaces, as to make any distant excursions almost 

 impossible. The great Fruit Pigeon of the Moluccos 

 {Carpophaga ozned) was abundant, its loud, hoarse 

 cooings constantly resounding through the forest. Crim- 

 son Lories of two or thrce species werealso plentiful, but 



(l) Overgenomen uit de Annals and Mogazlnc of Natural His- 

 toiy Vol. XX N°, 121 Jan. 18ri8. 



