340 



BATCBUN, 



[chap. XXIV. 



otliors tliere are no open pathways nr clearings, as Lere. 

 At Batch iau there are only two tolerahle colleutiiig places, 

 — the road to the coal mines, and the new clearings made 

 by the Tomorii people, the latter being by far the most 

 productive, I bt;lieve the fact to be that insects are pretty 

 uniformly distribnted over these countries (where the 

 forests have not been cleared away), and are so scarce in 

 any one spot that searching for them is almost nseless. 

 If the forest is all cleared away, almost all tlxe insects 

 disappear with it ; but when small clearings and paths are 

 made, the fallen trees in various stages of drying and 

 decay, the irjttuig leaves, the loosening bark iind the fun- 

 goid growths upon it, together with the flowers that appear 

 in much greater abimdance where the hght is admitted, 

 are so many attnictions to the itisects for miles arovnid, and 

 cause a wonderful accumulation of species and individuals. 

 \Vheu the entomologist can discover such a spot, he does 

 more in a month than lie could possibly do by a year's 

 eearch in the depths of the undisturbed forest. 



The next morning ^ve left early, and reached the month 

 of the little river in about an hoio'. It Hows through a 

 perfectly tlat alluvial plain, but there are hills which 

 approach it near the mouth. Towards tlie lower part, in 

 a swamp where the salt-water must entc;r at high tides, 

 were a numl>er of elegant tree-ferns from eight to hfteen 

 feet high. These are generally considered to be mountain 

 plants, and rai-ely to occur on the equator at an elevation 

 of less than one or two thousand feet. In Borneo, in the 

 Aru Islamis, and on the bants uf the Amazon, I have 

 ol)served them at the level of the sea, and think it pro- 

 bable that the altitude supposed to be retpiiaite for them 

 nuiy have been deduced Jroni facts observed in countries 

 where tlie plains and lowlands are largely cultivated, ami 

 most of the iudigenous vegetation destmyed. Such is the 

 case in most parts of Java, India, Jamaica, and Brazd, where 

 the vegetation of the tropics has been most fully explored. 



Coming out to sea we turned northwards, and in about 

 two hours' sail reached a few huts, called Langundi, where 

 some Galela men had estiUilishwi tlieniselves as collectors 

 of gum-dammar, with whicli they made torches for the 

 supply of the Ternate market About a hundred yards 



