INTRODUCTION. 



which gradually led to skill in collecting, and to what is of greater importance in a 

 tropical country, to experience in preserving. I was, at the commencement, in 

 want of almost every convenience for the latter purpose. But these deficiencies were, 

 in a great measure, compensated by the richness of the districts through which I 

 travelled at this period ; and my early excursions afforded me many subjects which, 

 in subsequent periods, I sought in vain. I still observe, in the series arranged 

 in the Honourable Company's Museum at the India House, rare and solitary speci- 

 mens, which were obtained at the very commencement of my entomological career. 

 This I may date from Surabaya, the capital of what is called the north-east coast of 

 Java : and as this place will always be memorable to me in an entomological point 

 of view, I record it in these introductory remarks with grateful reminiscence. From 

 Surabaya I passed successively through the districts of Passuruwang, Malang, 

 Lamadjang, Pugar, and Blambangan ; districts which aggregately form the eastern 

 extremity of Java. From the capital of the last-mentioned province, Banyuwangi, 

 I made a short excursion to the island of Bali. The hills, mountains, and unculti- 

 vated plains of these extensive districts, contain inexhaustible entomological treasures; 

 and I have frequently, in the latter periods of my research, regretted my want of 

 leisure, skill, and facilities for collecting, at this period. During the present calm 

 review of my early peregrinations through Java, my imagination frequently returns 

 to these remote, and, at the period of my visit to them, happy districts, combining 

 the grandest natural scenery with the most delightful retreats of rural tranquillity 

 and comfort. 



In the island of Madura, which extends parallel to the districts of Passuruwang 

 and Blambangan, I continued my research ; and here first observed several of the 

 more splendid oriental Papiliones, among which the most remarkable were P.Peranthns 

 and P. Agamemnon. But it is not my intention, on this occasion, to notice all the 

 places in the eastern extremity of Java which were interesting and productive, in 

 this point of view : several, however, may be recorded here with propriety, as 

 they will occasionally be referred to in the descriptive parts of the work. Having 

 terminated my researches in the neighbourhood of Surabaya, I gradually pro- 

 ceeded, in a western direction, to Samarang, the capital of the entire eastern por- 

 tion of the island, denominated by the Dutch, Java's north coast, or simply Java, 

 in contradistinction to Batavia. The geographical situation of Samarang is in 

 the middle of the island, at an equal distance from the eastern and western ex- 

 tremity. The Prowotto hills, about twenty miles south of this capital, belong- 

 to the most important entomological stations. I devoted a large portion of the 

 rainy season of 1809 to an examination of these hills, and increased both my 

 botanical and entomological collections. I next proceeded to the southern coast of 



central 



