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seen Papilio Ulysses? or a new closely-allied species, but never a chance of bim; he 

 flies high and strong, only swoopin"; down now and iben, and off again to the tree- 

 tops: fancy my agony and disgust; I fear I shall never get bim. There is a fine 

 Drusilla or Hyades abmiditut, with numerous varieties ; but the LycaBuidas and Ery- 

 cinidae are the gems ; I only wish tliere were more of them ; there are about half-a- 

 dozen species equal to ihe very finest of the little Amazonians. The Coleoptera are 

 far too few in species to please me : in two months' hard work I can only muster fifty 

 Longicornes, a number I reached in ten days in Singapore ; but Lamellicornes are the 

 most extraordinarily scarce; I have only nine species, and four of them single speci- 

 mens; there are, however, two fine Lom.iptera among them, I hope new. All other 

 grou])S are the same; Geodephaga, scarcely a dozen species, and nothing remarkable; 

 not one Cicindela ; only one Tvicondyla (T. aplera?) and one Theretes (T. labiata), 

 with not a single Colliuris; two or three fine Buprestes, however, and some remark- 

 able Curculionidfe, with the beautiful Tmesisternus mirabilis, nrnke a pretty good show. 



" On my way here we stayed six days at Ke Island, and I got there some very fine 

 beetles, two fine Cetonias, and a Buprestis the most beautiful I have seen. Of the 

 few insects I got there the greater part were different from any I have seen here, 

 though the distance is only sixty miles, the mountains of Ke being visible from Arru 

 in fine weather. 'J'bis makes me think I shall get different things at every island in 

 this part of the Archipelago. Arru is zoologically apart of New Guinea. Of the 

 birds here half are New Guinea species ; in the small island where we live many of 

 the birds of Arru never tome, such as the two species of the birds of Paradise, the 

 black cassowary, &c. I am going now to the mainland, or great Island of Arru, in 

 search of the>^e birds, but have had the usual difficulty about men and boats. 



" I have learnt here all about New Guinea ; parts are dangerous, parts not ; and 

 next year, if I live and have health, lam determined to go. I must go either to 

 Banda or Ternate first, I have not yet decided which, and shall try and go to the 

 large Island of Wargion, at the north-east of New Guinea, where are found the Epi- 

 machus maguificus, three rare species of the Paradise birds, and the glorious Orni- 

 thoptera d'Urvilliana ? The weather here is very changeable; storm, wind and sun- 

 shine alternately. I think nine-tenths of the things I am getting will be new to the 

 English collections ; with which comfort for our entomological friends, 



" I remain yours sincerely, 



"ALrRED K. Wallace." 



" Postscript. — Dobbo, May 15. — I have returned from my visit to the interior, and 

 the brig is not gone yet; so I add a postscript. Rejoice with me, for I have found 

 what I sought ; one grand hope in my visit to Arru is realized : I have got the birds 

 of Paradise (that announcement deserves a line of itself) ; one is the common species 

 of commerce, the Paradisea apoda ; all the native specimens I have seen are miserable, 

 and cannot possibly be properly mounted ; mine are magnificent. I have discovered 

 their true altitude when displaying their plumes, which I believe is quite new infor- 

 mation ; they are then so beautiful and grand that, when mounted to represent it, they 

 will make glorious specimens for show-cases, and I am sure will be in demand by 

 st\iffers. I shall describe them in n paper for the 'Annals.' The other species is the 

 king bird (Paradisfa ret/ia, Linn.), the smallest of the paradisians, but a perfect gem 

 for beauty ; of this I doubt if anv really fine specimens aie known, for I think Lesson 

 only got them from the natives ; I have a few specimens absolutely perfect. I have, 



