forest trees, as well as a variety of ferns, caladiums, and other
undergrowth, and abundance of climbing rattan palms. Insects were
exceedingly abundant and very interesting, and every day
furnished scores of new and curious forms.

In about two months I obtained no less than 700 species of
beetles, a large proportion of which were quite new, and among
them were 130 distinct kinds of the elegant Longicorns
(Cerambycidae), so much esteemed by collectors. Almost all these
were collected in one patch of jungle, not more than a square
mile in extent, and in all my subsequent travels in the East I
rarely if ever met with so productive a spot. This exceeding
productiveness was due in part no doubt to some favourable
conditions in the soil, climate, and vegetation, and to the
season being very bright and sunny, with sufficient showers to
keep everything fresh. But it was also in a great measure
dependent, I feel sure, on the labours of the Chinese wood-
cutters. They had been at work here for several years, and during
all that time had furnished a continual supply of dry and dead
and decaying leaves and bark, together with abundance of wood and
sawdust, for the nourishment of insects and their larvae. This
had led to the assemblage of a great variety of species in a
limited space, and I was the first naturalist who had come to
reap the harvest they had prepared. In the same place, and during
my walks in other directions, I obtained a fair collection of
butterflies and of other orders of insects, so that on the whole
I was quite satisfied with these--my first attempts to gain a
knowledge of the Natural History of the Malay Archipelago.

CHAPTER III.