354 CERAM. [chap. xxv. 



reriuiins only one populous village in tlie mountains. 

 TowanJs tlie east and the extreme west are a few others, 

 with which exceptions all the inhabitants of Coram are 

 collected on tho coast. In t-he northern and eastern dis- 

 tricts they are mostly Mahometanti, while on the south- 

 west coast, nearest Amboyna, they are nominal Christians. 



In all tlds part of the Archipelago, the Dutch make 

 very prai3e\vorthy ellorts to ini|irove the condition of the 

 ahorigines hy establishing schoolmasters in every village 

 (who are mostly natives of Ambm n a or Saparna, who have 

 been instructed hy tlie resident missiouaiiea), and by em- 

 ploying native vaceinatoi's to prevent the ravages of small- 

 pox. They also encourage the settlement of Europeans, and 

 the foruuition of new pliuitations of cacao and coffee, one of 

 the best means of raising the condition of tlie natives, who 

 thus oV)tain work at fair waives, and have the opportunity 

 of acfpnring sometbing of European tastes and habits. 



My collections here did not progress much better than 

 at iny former station, except that buttertlies were a little 

 more plentiful, and souio very fine species were to be found 

 in the morning on the sea-beach, sitting so quietly on the 

 wet sand that tluw could be caught with the lingers. In 

 this way I had many fine specinaens of Papilios brought 

 me by the chddreu. Beetles, however, were scai-ce, and 

 birds still more so, and I began to think that the haud- 

 .some spocies which 1 had so often heard were found in 

 Ceram must be entirely confined to the eastern extremity 

 of the island. 



A few mUes further north, at the head of the Bay 

 of ibnahay^ is situated the village of Jlakariki, from 

 whence there is a native path qtute across the island 

 to the north coast. My friend Mr. Eoseuberg, whose 

 acqnaintauce I had made at New Guinea, and who wa.s 

 now^ the Government superinteudent of ail this part of 

 Ceram, retnrued Irom Wahai, on the north coast, after I 

 had been three weeks at Aw^atya, and showed me some 

 tine butterflies he had obtained on the mountain streams 

 in the interior. He iiidicaled a spot about the centre of 

 the island where he thought I might advantageour^ly stay 

 a few days. I accordingly visited Makariki with him the 

 Tiext day> and he instructed the chief of the village to 



