468 Zoological Society ;— 



us rapidly away. One of them was our pilot ; and, without a chart or 

 any knowledge of the coasts, we had to blunder our way short-handed 

 among the rocks and reefs and innumerable islands which surround 

 the rocky coasts of Waigiou. Our little vessel was five times on the 

 rocks in the space of twenty-four hours, and a little more wind or 

 sea would in several cases have caused our destruction. On at length 

 reaching our resting-place on the south coast of Waigiou, I imme- 

 diately sent a native boat after my lost sailors, which, however, re- 

 turned in a week without them, owing to bad weather. Again they 

 were induced to make the attempt, and this time returned with them 

 in a very weak and emaciated condition, as they had lived a month 

 on a mere sand-bank, about a mile in diameter, subsisting on shell- 

 fish and the succulent shoots of a wild Bromelia. 



I now devoted myself to an investigation of the natural history of 

 Waigiou, having great expectations raised by Lesson's account, who 

 says that he purchased the three true Paradisece, as well as P. magni- 

 fied and P. sexsetacea, with Epimachus magnus and Sericulus aureus, 

 in the island, and also mentions several rare Psittaci as probably 

 found there. I soon ascertained, however, from the universal testi- 

 mony of the inhabitants, afterwards confirmed by my own observa- 

 tion, that none of these species exist on the island, except P. rubra, 

 which is the sole representative of the Paradiseidce and Epimachidce, 

 and is strictly limited to this one spot. 



With more than the usual amount of difficulties, privations, and 

 hunger, I succeeded in obtaining a good series of this beautiful and 

 extraordinary bird ; and three months' assiduous collecting produced 

 no other species at all worthy of attention. The parrots and pigeons 

 were all of known species ; and there was really nothing in the island 

 to render it worth visiting by a naturalist, except the P. rubra, which 

 can be obtained nowhere else. 



Our two expeditions to two almost unknown Papuan islands have 

 thus added but one species to the Paradisece I had before obtained 

 from Aru and Dorey. These voyages occupied us nearly a year ; for 

 we parted company in Amboyna in February, and met again at Ter- 

 nate in November, and it was not till the following January that we 

 were either of us able to start again on a fresh voyage. 



At Waigiou I learned that the Birds of Paradise all came from three 

 places on the north coast, between Salwatty and Dorey — Sorong, 

 Maas, and Amberbaki. The latter I had tried unsuccessfully from 

 Dorey ; at Maas, the natives who procured the birds were said to 

 live three days' journey in the interior, and to be cannibals ; but at 

 Sorong, which was near Salwatty, they were only about a day from 

 the coast, and were less dangerous to visit. At Mysol, Mr. Allen 

 had received somewhat similar information ; and we therefore resolved 

 he should make another attempt at Sorong, where we were assured 

 all the sorts could be obtained. The whole of that country being 

 under the jurisdiction of the Sultan of Tidore, I obtained, through 

 the Dutch resident at Ternate, a Tidore lieutenant and two soldiers 

 to accompany Mr. Allen as a protection, and to facilitate his opera- 

 tions in getting men and visiting the interior. 



