150 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



living in such style as I liad always fancied a rich 

 Eastern prince enjoyed. His house was in the centre 

 of a large village, and located on the side of a steep 

 hill. It covered three large terraces, and, when viewed 

 from the landing below, appeared like a temjDle. At 

 this place, besides many rare shells, I purchased 

 several large cassowary-eggs, which had been brought 

 over from Ceram. They are about as long as ostrich- 

 eggs, but somewhat less in diameter, and of a green 

 color. The bird itself belongs to the ostrich family, 

 its feathers being imperfectly developed and separate 

 from each other, and suitable only to aid it to run. 

 One sj)ecies has a spine on each wing to enable it 

 to defend itself, but the usual mode of attack is 

 by striking with the beak. In size it is twice as 

 large as a frill-grown turkey. It is not found wild 

 on any island west of Ceram, and those reported fr-om 

 Java were all undoubtedly carried there from this 

 part of the archipelago. Here also I bought of the 

 rajah a number of superb skulls of the babirusa, 

 Babirusa alfurus, literally " the hog-deer," a name 

 well chosen, for its long tusks would at once suggest 

 to these natives the antlers of the deer, the only 

 other wild animal of any considerable size found on 

 these islands. These skulls came fi-om Buni, the 

 eastern limit of this remarkable species of hog. 



For some time one of my servants kept alluding 

 to several wonderful and most valuable curiosities 

 which this wealthy rajah was so fortunate as to pos- 

 sess — curiosities indeed, according to his glowing de- 

 scriptions, compared to the shells I was continually 

 buying. At last I asked him to say to the rajah. 



