INTRODUCTION. 9 



Directors of the East-India Company, have alleviated a disappointment, which, 

 under other circumstances, would have been peculiarly distressing and oppressive. 

 After the second season devoted to observing and delineating the Javanese Lepidop- 

 tera, it became necessary to prepare my collections for transportation to England. 



During the inquiries which I made in the early part of my residence in Java, to 

 become acquainted with the best methods for securing what I obtained in my 

 excursions, I noticed the plan described by Le Vadlant, in his travels in Africa, for 

 the preservation of his entomological collections. It is the following : boxes or 

 chests carefully made of light wood, of a convenient portable size, are provided with 

 partitions or moveable shelves, each consisting of a simple board ; these are fitted at 

 the distance of two inches one from another, in grooves in the sides of the box, 

 in which they are made to slide with accuracy and facility, and are therefore re- 

 movable at pleasure. These boards or shelves have necessarily the exact dimen- 

 sions of the ends of the chest, and are placed in a vertical position : a small 

 vacancy is preserved between their lower extremity and the floor, and any object 

 detached by accident, falls to the bottom without causing further injury. Each 

 board or shelf, lined with cork or soft wood, supplies in some measure the place 

 of a cabinet drawer. When taken out of the box and placed on a table, it rests 

 securely and affords a plane surface, upon which insects may be fixed or examined 

 with perfect ease and security : it is returned into the box in an instant, which if 

 carefully made, when closed, secures most effectually the contents. A small quantity 

 of camphor, at the bottom, spreads its influence over the whole. One large box 

 may conveniently contain fourteen boards, answering the purpose of as many 

 drawers ; and being eighteen inches square, they have a manageable size. This 

 plan I resolved to adopt. In the early period of my pursuits, the boxes which I pro- 

 vided were made of light wood, and to their use I must ascribe, in a great measure, 

 the preservation of my collections. I found that they afforded a complete protection 

 against the ants and other destructive insects which abound in the Island of Java, 

 perhaps as much as in any other tropical region. They were peculiarly useful in 

 travelling, and possessed the advantage of affording a ready access and reference to 

 the subjects. As the ultimate object of my pursuits was to provide an extensive and 

 well-conditioned collection, which might be useful and instructive in England, I 

 had, soon after receiving the patronage of the Honourable East-India Company, 

 directed my attention to the provision necessary for its safety during a voyage. My 

 residence at Surakarta afforded me peculiar advantages in this point of view. Both 

 materials and workmen are here obtained, perhaps more readdy than in any other 

 part of Java. Boxes, according to the plan described, were therefore provided, of 

 more substantial materials than those employed in travelling, in proportion to the 



c increase 



