464 Zoological Society : — 



we may notice one of the means employed for opening the minds of 

 the young : we mean the introduction of botany into the parish 

 school. The study was optional, but was ultimately pursued by a 

 considerable number of the elder children with very great suc- 

 cess : they took an eager delight in their botanical lessons ; and 

 one of the Inspectors of Schools states, "that the botanical lessons 

 did draw largely upon the intelligent powers of his little pupils' 

 minds there can be no question ; and that these children, who out 

 of school were much more conversable than the generality of children 

 in rural parishes, owed a considerable share of the general develop- 

 ment of their minds to the botanical lessons and the self-exercise 

 connected with them." "Neither," says another inspector, "had I 

 any reason to think that the botanical lessons interfered with a due 

 study of the usual subjects of a national school. Independently of 

 the botany, the Hitcham school ranked well among the better class 

 of rural schools in the district." 



But we must stop. We have no intention to give an abstract of 

 this book, but to show that it is well deserving of perusal. As such 

 we strongly recommend it to all our readers. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



May 13, 1862.— John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. 



Narrative of Search after Birds of Paradise. 

 By Alfred R. Wallace, F.Z.S. 



Having visited most of the islands inhabited by the Paradisece, 

 in the hope of obtaining good specimens of those extraordinary 

 birds, and some knowledge of their habits and distribution, I have 

 thought that an outline of my several voyages, with the causes that 

 have led to their only partial success, might not prove uninteresting. 



At the close of the year 1856, being then at Macassar in the island 

 of Celebes, I was introduced to the master of a prau trading to the 

 Am Islands, who assured me that two sorts of Birds of Paradise were 

 abundant there, the large yellow and the small red kinds — the Para- 

 disece apoda and regia of naturalists. 



He seemed to think there was no doubt but I could obtain them 

 either by purchase from the natives or by shooting them myself. 

 Thus encouraged, I agreed with him for a passage there and back 

 (his stay being six months), and made all my preparations to start 

 by the middle of December. 



Our vessel was a Malay prau of about 100 tons burthen, but dif- 

 fering widely from anything to be seen in European waters. The 

 deck sloped downwards towards the bows, the two rudders were hung 

 by rattans and ropes on the quarters, the masts were triangles stand- 

 ing on the decks, and the huge mat sail, considerably longer than the 

 vessel, with its yard of bamboos, rose upwards at a great angle, so as 

 to make up for the lowness of the mast. In this strange vessel, 



