A. C. OUDEMANS. ACARI. 151 



But it is possible too that the so-called sand-fties are nothing but very small gnats, 

 related to our Simulia; this supposition is made by Prof. WlCHMANN, who wrote to Mr. van 

 DER SANDE. If this really be the case, my supposition that D'ALBERTIS may hâve observed 

 the mites, must be abandoned; so too my observation of hereabove concerning the English 

 gentlemen. 



Noticeable too is the assertion of D'ALBERTIS, which he most probably has heard 

 from the Papuas and not has observed himself, that the „sand-flies" only make an appearance 

 during the first days of a new moon." Since we know the curious phenomenons of the ap- 

 pearance of the Paloloworms, ail informations about sensibilities of animais and plants for 

 moon-phases etc. must be recorded with scrupulousness and, if possible, must be examined 

 and not been rejected as fancies. 



A. HaGA, Nederlandsch Nieuw-Guinea en de Papoesche Eilanden. Historische Bijdrage. 



± 1500 — 1S83. Batavia en 's Gravenhage, 1884. 



HaGA describes the business of the crew of the Triton and the Iris at Merkus-Oord 



in the Triton Bay, South-West-Coast of New Guinea, 1828. They intended to make room for 



the establishment of the Fortress Dubus. HaGA tells us v. 2, p. 25 : 



„Het vellen van het zware geboomte was een zeer moeilijke arbeid, die bovendien nog 



belemmerd werd door de aanwezigheid van tallooze bloedzuigers en het ontstaan eener on- 



dragelijke jeukte, welker oorzaak men niet ontdekken kon." 



HaGA does not mention the source of this account. In a foot-note he says : 



„Bij het volgend verhaal is 00k gebruik gemaakt van het reisverhaal van MODERA." 



But if we peruse the work of MODERA, entitled : Verhaal van eene reize naar en langs 



de Znid- Westknst van Nieuw Guinea gedaan in 1828 door Z. M. corvet Triton, en Z. M. 



coloniale schoener de Iris; Haarlem, 1830, we, it is true, find the passage of the establishment 



of the Fortress Dubus, where we are told (p. 96) that on the 6 th of July, 1828, the crew 



began to fell trees, and (p. 133 — 138) that many of the crew suffered of swamp-fever and 



died; but nowhere the suffering of an itch is recorded. 



Doctor SALOMON MûLLER {Reizen en Onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel, gedaan 

 op last der Nederlandsch Indische Regeering tusschen de jaren 1828 en 1856. Eerste Deel, 

 Amsterdam, 1857) is not quoted by Haga, though this scholar participated in the voyage 

 of 1828. MÛLLER too does not mention anything of the suffering of an itch of the crew, 

 engaged with the establishment of the Fortress Dubus. 



Therefore it seems that Haga drew his account from written Archives in Batavia, 

 most probably from the Report of Mr. PlERSON, surgeon and physician to the Expédition 

 of 1828. 



James Chalmers and Wyatt Gill do not mention anything of the mite-plague. 

 Their works are entitled : 



Work and adventure in New Guinea, i8jj to 1885, by James Chalmers and W. Wyatt 

 GlLL; with two maps and many illustrations from original sketches and photographs. London, 1885. 



The part of this work, written by GlLL is entitled : 



Seven weeks in New Guinea by W. Wyatt GlLL, B. A., London 1885. 



