148 W. Doherty — The Butf&rflies of Sumha and Sambawa, Sfc. [No. 2, 



The upland forests of Samba are less luxuriant than in Java oi' 

 Sumatra, and are singularly free from thorns and underbrush, but 

 many of the trees reach the height of a hundred feet, and some of the 

 figs are of enormous girth. The only bamboos on the island occur in 

 the dry valleys near the coast. Palms, except the lontar or palmyra, 

 and a few arecas, are exceedingly scarce. The Endinese, who import 

 cocoa-nuts, always destroy the germ of each nut, which perhaps accounts 

 for the absence of this useful tree. 



Of the animals of Sumba I can say but little. The natives think 

 there are three kinds of monkeys, but I saw only the Macacus cynomolgus, 

 which is very common and tame. A deer like the Gervus muntjac is 

 said to be common, as well as another with large branching horns, 

 which they call by the Malay name of rusa. Wild pigs abound, and a 

 wild cat. Among birds, cockatoos are so numerous that I have seen the 

 trees white with them ; the species is the common lemon-crested one. 



Among domestic animals there are pigs (wei or wawi), goats, fowls 

 {manu, a Javanese word), a few buif aloes (kalamhua, a softened form of 

 the Malay Jcribau), cats (Jcamemhu), dogs (asJiu), and pigeons. Buffaloes 

 are used chiefly for ploughing and for funeral sacrifices. They are the 

 largest animals of which the Siimbanese have any conception, and a 

 huge, ferocious kangaroo-hound, who goes about with the king of Lewa 

 as a very efiicient body-guard, has been called by the awe-struck natives 

 the " Roaring Buffalo." Fowls are used chiefly in taking auspices, and 

 pigs and mares are the animals generally employed for food. 



Horses are the most valuable product of the island, and " Sandal- 

 wood ponies " are perhaps the best in the world, and well known as far 

 as Rangoon and Hong Kong. They are called jara, a word which, 

 like the Malay huda. is derived from the Sanskrit ghora. The horses 

 live unguarded in troops of twenty or thirty, each having its own range 

 of pasture, the limits of which are carefully respected. Being very 

 curious, they used to follow me for miles over all obstacles, but never 

 dared to cross the ravine which bounded their beat. The colts generally 

 follow the leading stallion (and not their dams) in a long string, which 

 has a most absurd appearance. The mares are rarely ridden, and as in 

 Sambawa are kept for breeding and for food.* Only stallions are 

 exported. The trade is wholly in the hands of the Arabs and Bugis, 

 who carry the horses to Surabaya in their own vessels at a fixed time 

 every spring. The Sumbanese are the best rough-country riders I have 



* In Sambawa, thongli the people are Muhammadans, a man is allowed to kill a 

 mare on his birthday and make a feast for his friends. This is also done at the end 

 of Ramazan ; and even the Imams do it, though they may have made the Mecca pil- 

 grimage. The Do Donggo sacrifice mares at the time of the rice-harvest. 



