CHAP. XXV.] A FOREST DESERT, 357 



tween their base and the stream. The whole country 

 was one dense, iinhroken, and very damp and gloomy 

 virgin forest. Just at our resting-place there was a little 

 bush-covered island in the middle of the channel, so that 

 the b peeing in the forest matle by the river was wider 

 than usual, and allowed a few gleams of sunshine to 

 penetrate. Here there were several handsome butterflies 

 flying about, the finest of which, however, escaped ine, 

 and I Tiever sa%v it again during my stay. In the two 

 days and a lialf which we remained here, I wandered 

 almost all day up and down the stream, searching aftei 

 butterflies, of which T got, in all, fifty or sixty specimens^ 

 with several species quite new to me. There were 

 many others which I saw only once, and did not capture, 

 causing me to regret that there wm no vills^e in these 

 interior valleys where T could stay a month. In the early 

 part of each mommg I went out witli my gun in searcli of 

 birds and two of my men were out almost all day after 

 deer; out we were all ecpially unsuccessful, getting abso- 

 lutely nothing the whole time we were in the forest 

 The only good bird seen was the fine Amhoyna lory, but 

 these were always too high to shoot; besides thisj the 

 great- Moluccan hombill, wliicli I did not want, was 

 almost- the only bird met with. I saw not a sin*,de ground- 

 thrush, or kingfisher, or pigeon ; and, in fact, have never 

 been in a forest so utterly desert of animal lif<^ as this 

 appeared to he. Even in all other groups of insects, 

 except butterflies, there wa.s the same poverty. I had 

 hoped to find some rare tiger beetles, as I had done in 

 similar situations in Celebes; but, though 1 searched 

 closely in forest, river-bed, and movmtain-brook, I could 

 find nothing but the two common Amboyna species. 

 Other beetles there were absolutely none. 



Tlie constant walking in water, and over rocks and 

 pebbles, quite destroyed the two pair of shoes I brought 

 with me, so that, on my return, they actually fell to 

 pieces, and the last day I had to walk in my stockings 

 very painfully, and rt^ached home quite lame. On our 

 way back from Makariki, as on our way there, we had 

 storm and rain at sea, and we arrived at Awaiya late in 

 the evening, with all our baggage drenchedj and ourselves 



