VIII.] A CROCODILE FARM. 163 



however, where palm-leaves are plentiful, it does not take long to 

 make a habitation comfortable, provided the uprights are still 

 standing, and it would be difficult for a naturalist to tind a 

 pleasanter collecting-ground. Birds were tolerably abundant, and 

 butterflies extraordinarily so, but among the thousands that fluttered 

 around the pools we looked in vain for the large Swallow-tail 

 (P. androdes), which is one of the finest of its genus. Our time 

 was too limited for any serious collecting, and our naturalists' bag 

 was a hght one as we paddled down the Maros Eiver on our way 

 l^ack to Macassar. We had an opportunity of making a large 

 addition to it in the shape of a young crocodile, which we suddenly 

 encountered lying asleep on the bank with its mouth partially 

 open. Our bullets failed to stop it, and it instantly disappeared. 

 A good story with regard to these animals is told of a certain Dutch 

 gentleman whose name is frequently mentioned in the "Malay 

 Archipelago." The Grovernment had offered a reward of two dollars 



for every crocodile killed, and Mr. X not infrequently claimed 



it. In process of time these claims became so extraordinarily 

 numerous as to lead to an investigation, when it was discovered 

 that he had established a most successful breeding-ground by staking 

 a small reach of river at some distance from civilisation, and that 

 his stock of Saurians was nearly as profitable as an American cattle- 

 ranche appears to be in a prospectus. 



On Sunday, the 26th of August, 1883 — memorable in the 

 annals of the East Indian Archipelago as the date of the appallmg 

 eruption of Krakatau in the Straits of Sunda — we left Macassar 

 for the north of Celebes. For forty miles or more northwards from 

 the roads the coast is guarded by a complex network of islands, 

 reefs, and shoals, the navigation of which is always avoided by 

 ships, A survey of this Spermonde Archipelago, as it is called, had 

 just been completed by the Dutch, and we resolved to attempt the 

 passage. We found the charts admirable, and had no difficulty 

 whatever in getting through. The route is a great saving in point 

 of distance, and can easily be attempted by a steamer, but day- 



