breast as in my species, but that the white shoulder plumes were
twice as long, and hung down far below the body of the bird. They
declared that when hunting pigs or deer far in the forest they
occasionally saw this bird, but that it was rare. I immediately
offered twelve guilders (a pound) for a specimen; but all in
vain, and I am to this day uncertain whether such a bird exists.
Since I left, the German naturalist, Dr. Bernstein, stayed many
months in the island with a large staff of hunters collecting for
the Leyden Museum; and as he was not more successful than myself,
we must consider either that the bird is very rare, or is
altogether a myth.

Batchian is remarkable as being the most eastern point on the
globe inhabited by any of the Quadrumana. A large black baboon-
monkey (Cynopithecus nigrescens) is abundant in some parts of the
forest. This animal has bare red callosities, and a rudimentary
tail about an inch long--a mere fleshy tubercle, which may be
very easily overlooked. It is the same species that is found all
over the forests of Celebes, and as none of the other Mammalia of
that island extend into Batchian I am inclined to suppose that
this species has been accidentally introduced by the roaming
Malays, who often carry about with them tame monkeys and other
animals. This is rendered more probable by the fact that the
animal is not found in Gilolo, which is only separated from
Batchian by a very narrow strait. The introduction may have been
very recent, as in a fertile and unoccupied island such an animal
would multiply rapidly. The only other mammals obtained were an
Eastern opossum, which Dr. Gray has described as Cuscus ornatus;
the little flying opossum, Belideus ariel; a Civet cat, Viverra
zebetha; and nice species of bats, most of the smaller ones being