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Nalural-History Collectors. 



ordinary new genus, the males of which are horned ; I have three 

 species, in two of which the horns are dilated and coloured, in the 

 other long, slender and branched ; I think this will prove one of the 

 most interesting things in my collection. One would have thought 

 Dorey would have been just the place for land shells, but none were 

 to be found, and the natives hardly seemed aware of the existence of 

 such things ; I have not half-a-dozen specimens in all. Although 

 Dorey is a miserable locality, — the low ground is all mud and swamp, 

 the hill very steep and rugged, and there are only one or two small 

 overgrown paths for a short distance, my excursions were almost 

 entirely confined to an area of about a square mile, — yet the riches in 

 species of Coleoptera, and a considerable number of fine remarkable 

 forms of which I could obtain only unique examples, sufficiently show 

 what a glorious country New Guinea would prove if we could visit the 

 interior, or even collect at some good localities near the Coast. 



You ask me if I go out to collect at night ; certainly not, and I am 

 pretty sure nothing could be got by it : many insects certainly fly at 

 night, but that is the reason why they are best caught in the day in 

 their haunts, or else by being attracted to a light in the house. Besides 

 a man who works, with hardly half an hour's intermission, from 6 a.m. 

 till 6 p.m., four or five of the hottest hours being spent entirely out of 

 doors, is very glad to spend his evenings with a book (if he has one) 

 and a cup of coffee, and be in bed soon after 8 o'clock. Night work 

 may be very well for amateurs, but not for the man who works twelve 

 hours every day at his collection. 



I am perfectly astonished at not yet meeting with a single Paussus; 

 Several are known from the Archipelago, and have been taken in 

 houses and at light, yet my four years look-out has not produced one. 

 How very scarce they must be ! You and Dr. Gray seem to imagine 

 that I neglect the mammals, or I should send more specimens, but you 

 do not know how difficult it is to get them : at Dorey I could not get 

 a single specimen, though the curious tree-kangaroos are found there, 

 but very rare : the only animal ever seen by us was the wild pig. 

 The Dutch surveying steamer bought two kangaroos at Dorey whilst 

 I was there : it lay there a month waiting for coal, and during that time 

 I could get nothing, everything being taken to the steamer. I send 

 from Dorey a number of females and young males of Paradisea papuana; 

 these females have been hitherto erroneously ascribed to P. apcda, of 

 which I am now convinced my specimen from Aru is an adult female ; 

 it is totally brown : the females of P. papuana are smaller than the 

 young males, and have the under parts of a less pure white : the bird 



