580 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER, 
steer in, with their heads to the southeastward, keeping about half a cable outside the 
extremity of the wharf, and when the centre of it is abreast the centre part of the ship, 
let go the port anchor (which will then be dropped in about 10 fathoms), and haul in by 
means of the wooden piles placed at convenient distances along the shore. A red buoy 
is moored to the northward as an off-fast for the stern, but large vessels will require to lay 
out an anchor in addition, as the moorings of the buoy being light, the anchors “ come 
home ” with any strain. The price paid for the coal was £3 per ton, but with labour 
for coaling ship, it amounted to £3, 4s. lid. per ton. The hire of the labourers was a 
Dutch rupee, or Is. 8d. per day, but since here, as in all Dutch places, they cease work 
at 11 a.m., and do not commence again until 4 P.M., the coaling is necessarily slow and 
irritating. 
On the shore of the harbour of Amboina, coral reef rock occurs raised many hundred 
feet above sea level, forming a steep hillslope. At the summit of the ridges so formed 
the rock stands out here and there, weathered into fantastic pinnacles, with surfaces 
honeycombed by the action of rain, just as at Bermuda. The rocks collected beneath 
the coral reef rock at Amboina were serpentine, granitite, and altered diabase. 
Some of the smaller trees growing on the coral rock ridges are covered with the 
curious Epiphytes, Myrmecodia armata and Hydnophytum formicarum, belonging 
to the natural order Cinchonacese. Both are associated in their growth with certain 
species of ants ; as soon as the young plants develop a stem, the ants gnaw at the 
base of this, and the irritation produced causes the stem to swell ; the ants continuing to 
irritate and excavate the swelling, it assumes a globular form, and may become larger 
than a man’s head. The globular mass contains within a labyrinth of chambers and 
passages, which are occupied by the ants as their nest. The walls of these chambers and 
the whole mass of the inflated stem retain their vitality and thrive, continuing to 
increase in size with growth. From the surface of the rounded mass are given off small 
twigs, bearing the leaves and flowers. It appears that this curious gall-like tumour on 
the stem has become a normal condition of the plants, which cannot thrive without the 
ants. In Myrmecodia armata the globular mass is covered with spine-like excrescences. 
The trees referred to at Amboina had these curious spine-covered masses perched 
in every fork, and with them also the smooth-surfaced masses of Hydnophytum 
formicarum. 
Two Lizards ( Keneuxia smaragdina and Bronchocela cristatella ) were obtained near 
Amboina, also a new species of Orthopterous Insect (Necroscia moderata, Kirby ). 1 A 
large collection of Lepidoptera was made, including the following new species : — Vadebra 
murrayi, Gerydus boisduvalii, Terias biformis, Artaxa simulans, Pegella ichorina, and 
Spiramia funestis. 
The Moth ( Artaxa simulans) is shown in fig. 191, and is interesting as representing 
1 Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, vol. xiii. pp. 477-479, 1884. 
