470 Zoological Society : — 



of which he had already obtained a specimen on the island of Sal- 

 watty on his way to Sorong ; so that at this much- vaunted place in 

 the mountains, and among the bird-catching natives, nothing fresh 

 was obtained. The P. magnificat they said, was found there, but was 

 rare ; the Sericulus aureus also rare ; Epimachus magnus, Astrapia 

 nigra, Parotia sexsetacea, and Lophorina superba not found there, 

 but only much further in the interior, as well as the lovely little 

 Lory, Charmosyna papuana. Moreover, neither at Sorong nor at 

 Salwatty could he obtain a single native skin of the rarer species. 



Thus ended my search after these beautiful birds. Five voyages 

 to different parts of the district they inhabit, each occupying in its 

 preparation and execution the larger part of a year, have produced 

 me only five species out of the thirteen known to exist in New Guinea. 

 The kinds obtained are those that inhabit the districts near the coasts 

 of New Guinea and its islands, the remainder seeming to be strictly 

 confined to the central mountain-ranges of the northern peninsula ; 

 and our researches at Dorey and Amberbaki, near one end of this 

 peninsula, and at Salwatty and Sorong, near the other, enable me 

 to decide with some certainty on the native country of these rare 

 and lovely birds, good specimens of which have never yet been seen 

 in Europe. It must be considered as somewhat extraordinary that 

 during five years* residence and travel in Celebes, the Moluccas, and 

 New Guinea I should never have been able to purchase skins of half 

 the species which Lesson, forty years ago, obtained during a few 

 weeks in the same countries. I believe that all, except the common 

 species of commerce, are now much more difficult to obtain than 

 they were even twenty years ago ; and I impute it principally to 

 their having been sought after by the Dutch officials through the 

 Sultan of Tidore. llie chiefs of the annual expeditions to collect 

 tribute, have had orders to get all the rare sorts of Paradise- 

 Birds ; and as they pay little or nothing for them (it being suffi- 

 cient to say they are for the Sultan), the head men of the coast 

 villages would for the future refuse to purchase them from the 

 mountaineers, and confine themselves instead to the commoner spe- 

 cies, which are less sought after by amateurs, but are to them a 

 profitable merchandise. The same causes frequently lead the inha- 

 bitants of uncivilized countries to conceal any minerals or other na- 

 tural products with which they may become acquainted, from the 

 fear of being obliged to pay increased tribute, or of bringing upon 

 themselves a new and oppressive labour. 



I have given this short sketch of my search after the Birds of 

 Paradise, barely touching on the many difficulties and dangers I 

 experienced, because I fear that the somewhat scanty results of my 

 exertions may have led to the opinion that they failed for want of 

 judgment or perseverance. I trust, however, that the mere enume- 

 ration of my voyages will show that patience and perseverance were 

 not altogether wanting; but I must plead guilty to having been 

 misled, first by Lesson and then by all the native traders, it never 

 having occurred to me (and I think it would notjhave occurred to any 

 one), that in scarcely a single instance would the birds be found to 



