The Malay Archipelago Volume 1

b >> by Alfred Russell Wallace >> The Malay Archipelago Volume 1

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As the southern part of Sumatra extended eastward and formed the
narrow straits of Banca, many birds and insects and some Mammalia
would cross from one to the other, and thus produce a general
similarity of productions, while a few of the older inhabitants
remained, to reveal by their distinct forms, their different
origin. Unless we suppose some such changes in physical geography
to have occurred, the presence of peculiar species of birds and
mammals in such an island as Banca is a hopeless puzzle; and I
think I have shown that the changes required are by no means so
improbable as a mere glance at the map would lead us to suppose.

For our next example let us take the great islands of Sumatra and
Java. These approach so closely together, and the chain of
volcanoes that runs through them gives such an air of unity to
the two, that the idea of their having been recently dissevered
is immediately suggested. The natives of Java, however, go
further than this; for they actually have a tradition of the
catastrophe which broke them asunder, and fix its date at not
much more than a thousand years ago. It becomes interesting,
therefore, to see what support is given to this view by the
comparison of their animal productions.

The Mammalia have not been collected with sufficient completeness
in both islands to make a general comparison of much value, and
so many species have been obtained only as live specimens in
captivity, that their locality has often been erroneously given,
the island in which they were obtained being substituted for that
from which they originally came. Taking into consideration only
those whose distribution is more accurately known, we learn that
Sumatra is, in a zoological sense, more neatly related to Borneo
than it is to Java. The great man-like apes, the elephant, the
tapir, and the Malay bear, are all common to the two former
countries, while they are absent from the latter. Of the three
long-tailed monkeys (Semnopithecus) inhabiting Sumatra, one
extends into Borneo, but the two species of Java are both
peculiar to it. So also the great Malay deer (Rusa equina), and
the small Tragulus kanchil, are common to Sumatra and Borneo, but
do not extend into Java, where they are replaced by Tragulas
javanicus. The tiger, it is true, is found in Sumatra and Java,
but not in Borneo. But as this animal is known to swim well, it
may have found its way across the Straits of Sunda, or it may
have inhabited Java before it was separated from the mainland,
and from some unknown cause have ceased to exist in Borneo.

In Ornithology there is a little uncertainty owing to the birds
of Java and Sumatra being much better known than those of Borneo;
but the ancient separation of Java as an island is well
exhibited by the large number of its species which are not found
in any of the other islands. It possesses no less than seven
pigeons peculiar to itself, while Sumatra has only one. Of its
two parrots one extends into Borneo, but neither into Sumatra. Of
the fifteen species of woodpeckers inhabiting Sumatra only four
reach Java, while eight of them are found in Borneo and twelve in
the Malay peninsula. The two Trogons found in Java are peculiar
to it, while of those inhabiting Sumatra at least two extend to
Malacca and one to Borneo. There are a very large number of
birds, such as the great Argus pheasant, the fire-backed and
ocellated pheasants, the crested partridge (Rollulus coronatus),
the small Malacca parrot (Psittinus incertus), the great helmeted
hornbill (Buceroturus galeatus), the pheasant ground-cuckoo
(Carpococcyx radiatus), the rose-crested bee-eater (Nyctiornis
amicta), the great gaper (Corydon sumatranus), and the green-
crested gaper (Calyptomena viridis), and many others, which are
common to Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo, but are entirely absent
from Java. On the other hand we have the peacock, the green
jungle cock, two blue ground thrushes (Arrenga cyanea and
Myophonus flavirostris), the fine pink-headed dove (Ptilonopus
porphyreus), three broad-tailed ground pigeons (Macropygia), and
many other interesting birds, which are found nowhere in the
Archipelago out of Java.

Insects furnish us with similar facts wherever sufficient data
are to be had, but owing to the abundant collections that have
been made in Java, an unfair preponderance may be given to that
island. This does not, however, seem to be the case with the true
Papilionidae or swallow-tailed butterflies, whose large size and
gorgeous colouring has led to their being collected more frequently
than other insects. Twenty-seven species are known from Java,
twenty-nine from Borneo, and only twenty-one from Sumatra. Four are
entirely confined to Java, while only two are peculiar to Borneo and
one to Sumatra. The isolation of Java will, however, be best shown by
grouping the islands in pairs, and indicating the number of species
common to each pair. Thus:--

Borneo . . . . . 29 species
Sumatra . . . . . 21 do. 20 species common to both islands.

Borneo . . . . . 29 do.
Java . . . . . . 27 do. 20 do. do.

Sumatra . . . . . 21 do.
Java . . . . . . 27 do. 11 do. do.

Making some allowance for our imperfect knowledge of the Sumatran
species, we see that Java is more isolated from the two larger
islands than they are from each other, thus entirely confirming
the results given by the distribution of birds and Mammalia, and
rendering it almost certain that the last-named island was the
first to be completely separated from the Asiatic continent, and
that the native tradition of its having been recently separated
from Sumatra is entirely without foundation.

We are now able to trace out with some probability the course
of events. Beginning at the time when the whole of the Java sea,
the Gulf of Siam, and the Straits of Malacca were dry land,
forming with Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, a vast southern
prolongation of the Asiatic continent, the first movement would
be the sinking down of the Java sea, and the Straits of Sunda,
consequent on the activity of the Javanese volcanoes along the
southern extremity of the land, and leading to the complete
separation of that island. As the volcanic belt of Java and
Sumatra increased in activity, more and more of the land was
submerged, until first Borneo, and afterwards Sumatra, became
entirely severed. Since the epoch of the first disturbance,
several distinct elevations and depressions may have taken place,
and the islands may have been more than once joined with each
other or with the main land, and again separated. Successive
waves of immigration may thus have modified their animal
productions, and led to those anomalies in distribution which are
so difficult to account for by any single operation of elevation
or submergence. The form of Borneo, consisting of radiating
mountain chains with intervening broad alluvial valleys, suggests
the idea that it has once been much more submerged than it is at
present (when it would have somewhat resembled Celebes or Gilolo
in outline), and has been increased to its present dimensions by
the filling up of its gulfs with sedimentary matter, assisted by
gradual elevation of the land. Sumatra has also been evidently
much increased in size by the formation of alluvial plains along
its northeastern coasts.

There is one peculiarity in the productions of Java that is very
puzzling:--the occurrence of several species or groups
characteristic of the Siamese countries or of India, but which do
not occur in Borneo or Sumatra. Among Mammals the Rhinoceros
javanicus is the most striking example, for a distinct species
is found in Borneo and Sumatra, while the Javanese species occurs
in Burma and even in Bengal. Among birds, the small ground-dove,
Geopelia striata, and the curious bronze-coloured magpie,
Crypsirhina varians, are common to Java and Siam; while there are
in Java species of Pteruthius, Arrenga, Myiophonus, Zoothera,
Sturnopastor, and Estrelda, the near allies of which are found in
various parts of India, while nothing like them is known to
inhabit Borneo or Sumatra.

Such a curious phenomenon as this can only be understood by
supposing that, subsequent to the separation of Java, Borneo
became almost entirely submerged, and on its re-elevation was for
a time connected with the Malay peninsula and Sumatra, but not
with Java or Siam. Any geologist who knows how strata have been
contorted and tilted up, and how elevations and depressions must
often have occurred alternately, not once or twice only, but
scores and even hundreds of times, will have no difficulty in
admitting that such changes as have been here indicated, are not
in themselves improbable. The existence of extensive coal-beds in
Borneo and Sumatra, of such recent origin that the leaves which
abound in their shales are scarcely distinguishable from those of
the forests which now cover the country, proves that such changes
of level actually did take place; and it is a matter of much
interest, both to the geologist and to the philosophic
naturalist, to be able to form some conception of the order of
those changes, and to understand how they may have resulted in
the actual distribution of animal life in these countries; a
distribution which often presents phenomena so strange and
contradictory, that without taking such changes into
consideration we are unable even to imagine how they could have
been brought about.

CHAPTER X.

BALI AND LOMBOCK.

(JUNE, JULY, 1856.)

THE islands of Bali and Lombock, situated at the eastern end of
Java, are particularly interesting. They are the only islands of
the whole Archipelago in which the Hindu religion still
maintains itself--and they form the extreme points of the two
great zoological divisions of the Eastern hemisphere; for
although so similar in external appearance and in all physical
features, they differ greatly in their natural productions. It
was after having spent two years in Borneo, Malacca and
Singapore, that I made a somewhat involuntary visit to these
islands on my way to Macassar. Had I been able to obtain a
passage direct to that place from Singapore, I should probably
never have gone near them, and should have missed some of the
most important discoveries of my whole expedition the East.

It was on the 13th of June, 1856, after a twenty days' passage
from Singapore in the "Kembang Djepoon" (Rose of Japan), a
schooner belonging to a Chinese merchant, manned by a Javanese
crew, and commanded by an English captain, that we cast anchor in
the dangerous roadstead of Bileling on the north side of the
island of Bali. Going on shore with the captain and the Chinese
supercargo, I was at once introduced to a novel and interesting
scene. We went first to the house of the Chinese Bandar, or chief
merchant, where we found a number of natives, well dressed, and
all conspicuously armed with krisses, displaying their large
handles of ivory or gold, or beautifully grained and polished wood.

The Chinamen had given up their national costume and adopted the
Malay dress, and could then hardly be distinguished from the
natives of the island--an indication of the close affinity of the
Malayan and Mongolian races. Under the thick shade of some mango-
trees close by the house, several women-merchants were selling
cotton goods; for here the women trade and work for the benefit
of their husbands, a custom which Mahometan Malays never adopt.
Fruit, tea, cakes, and sweetmeats were brought to us; many questions
were asked about our business and the state of trade in
Singapore, and we then took a walk to look at the village. It was
a very dull and dreary place; a collection of narrow lanes
bounded by high mud walls, enclosing bamboo houses, into some of
which we entered and were very kindly received.

During the two days that we remained here, I walked out into the
surrounding country to catch insects, shoot birds, and spy out
the nakedness or fertility of the land. I was both astonished and
delighted; for as my visit to Java was some years later, I had
never beheld so beautiful and well cultivated a district out of
Europe. A slightly undulating plain extends from the seacoast
about ten or twelve miles inland, where it is bounded by a wide
range of wooded and cultivated hills. Houses and villages, marked
out by dense clumps of cocoa-nut palms, tamarind and other fruit
trees, are dotted about in every direction; while between then
extend luxuriant rice-grounds, watered by an elaborate system of
irrigation that would be the pride of the best cultivated parts
of Europe. The whole surface of the country is divided into
irregular patches, following the undulations of the ground, from
many acres to a few perches in extent, each of which is itself
perfectly level, but stands a few inches or several feet above or
below those adjacent to it. Every one of these patches can be
flooded or drained at will by means of a system of ditches and
small channels, into which are diverted the whole of the streams
that descend from the mountains. Every patch now bore crops in
various stages of growth, some almost ready for cutting, and all
in the most flourishing condition and of the most exquisite green
tints.

The sides of the lanes and bridle roads were often edged with
prickly Cacti and a leafless Euphorbia, but the country being so
highly cultivated there was not much room for indigenous
vegetation, except upon the sea-beach. We saw plenty of the fine
race of domestic cattle descended from the Bos banteng of Java,
driven by half naked boys, or tethered in pasture-grounds. They
are large and handsome animals, of a light brown colour, with
white legs, and a conspicuous oval patch behind of the same
colour. Wild cattle of the same race are said to be still found
in the mountains. In so well-cultivated a country it was not to
be expected that I could do much in natural history, and my
ignorance of how important a locality this was for the
elucidation of the geographical distribution of animals, caused
me to neglect obtaining some specimens which I never met with
again. One of these was a weaver bird with a bright yellow head,
which built its bottle-shaped nests by dozens on some trees near
the beach. It was the Ploceus hypoxantha, a native of Java; and
here, at the extreme limits of its range westerly, I shot and
preserved specimens of a wagtail-thrush, an oriole, and some
starlings, all species found in Java, and some of them peculiar
to that island. I also obtained some beautiful butterflies,
richly marked with black and orange on a white ground, and which
were the most abundant insects in the country lanes. Among these
was a new species, which I have named Pieris tamar.

Leaving Bileling, a pleasant sail of two days brought us to
Ampanam in the island of Lombock, where I proposed to remain till
I could obtain a passage to Macassar. We enjoyed superb views of
the twin volcanoes of Bali and Lombock, each about eight thousand
feet high, which form magnificent objects at sunrise and sunset,
when they rise out of the mists and clouds that surround their
bases, glowing with the rich and changing tints of these the most
charming moments in a tropical day.

The bay or roadstead of Ampanam is extensive, and being at this
season sheltered from the prevalent southeasterly winds, was as
smooth as a lake. The beach of black volcanic sand is very steep,
and there is at all times, a heavy surf upon it, which during
spring-tides increases to such an extent that it is often
impossible for boats to land, and many serious accidents have
occurred. Where we lay anchored, about a quarter of a mile from
the shore, not the slightest swell was perceptible, but on
approaching nearer undulations began, which rapidly increased, so
as to form rollers which toppled over onto the beach at regular
intervals with a noise like thunder. Sometimes this surf
increases suddenly during perfect calms to as great a force and
fury as when a gale of wind is blowing, beating to pieces all
boats that may not have been hauled sufficiently high upon the
beach, and carrying away uncautious natives. This violent surf is
probably in some way dependent upon the swell of the great
southern ocean and the violent currents that flow through the
Straits of Lombock. These are so uncertain that vessels preparing
to anchor in the bay are sometimes suddenly swept away into the
straits, and are not able to get back again for a fortnight.

What seamen call the "ripples" are also very violent in the
straits, the sea appearing to boil and foam and dance like the
rapids below a cataract; vessels are swept about helplessly, and
small ones are occasionally swamped in the finest weather and
under the brightest skies.

I felt considerably relieved when all my boxes and myself had
passed in safety through the devouring surf, which the natives
look upon with some pride, saying, that "their sea is always
hungry, and eats up everything it can catch." I was kindly
received by Mr. Carter, an Englishman, who is one of the Bandars
or licensed traders of the port, who offered me hospitality and
every assistance during my stay. His house, storehouses, and
offices were in a yard surrounded by a tall bamboo fence, and
were entirely constructed of bamboo with a thatch of grass, the
only available building materials. Even these were now very
scarce, owing to the great consumption in rebuilding the place
since the great fire some months before, which in an hour or two
had destroyed every building in the town.

The next day I went to see Mr. S., another merchant to whom I had
brought letters of introduction, and who lived about seven miles
off. Mr. Carter kindly lent me a horse, and I was accompanied by
a young Dutch gentleman residing at Ampanam, who offered to be my
guide. We first passed through the town and suburbs along a
straight road bordered by mud walls and a fine avenue of lofty
trees; then through rice-fields, irrigated in the same manner as
I had seen them at Bileling; and afterwards over sandy pastures
near the sea, and occasionally along the beach itself. Mr. S.
received us kindly, and offered me a residence at his house
should I think the neighbourhood favourable for my pursuits.
After an early breakfast we went out to explore, taking guns and
insect nets. We reached some low hills which seemed to offer the
most favourable ground, passing over swamps, sandy flats
overgrown with coarse sedges, and through pastures and cultivated
grounds, finding however very little in the way of either birds
or insects. On our way we passed one or two human skeletons,
enclosed within a small bamboo fence, with the clothes, pillow,
mat, and betel-box of the unfortunate individual, who had been
either murdered or executed. Returning to the house, we found a
Balinese chief and his followers on a visit. Those of higher rank
sat on chairs, the others squatted on the floor. The chief very
coolly asked for beer and brandy, and helped himself and his
followers, apparently more out of curiosity than anything else as
regards the beer, for it seemed very distasteful to them, while
they drank the brandy in tumblers with much relish.

Returning to Ampanam, I devoted myself for some days to shooting
the birds of the neighbourhood. The fine fig-trees of the
avenues, where a market was held, were tenanted by superb orioles
(Oriolus broderpii) of a rich orange colour, and peculiar to this
island and the adjacent ones of Sumbawa and Flores. All round the
town were abundance of the curious Tropidorhynchus timoriensis,
allied to the Friar bird of Australia. They are here called
"Quaich-quaich," from their strange loud voice, which seems to
repeat these words in various and not unmelodious intonations.

Every day boys were to be seen walking along the roads and by the
hedges and ditches, catching dragonflies with birdlime. They
carry a slender stick, with a few twigs at the end well annointed,
so that the least touch captures the insect, whose wings are
pulled off before it is consigned to a small basket. The dragon-
flies are so abundant at the time of the rice flowering that
thousands are soon caught in this way. The bodies are fried in
oil with onions and preserved shrimps, or sometimes alone, and
are considered a great delicacy. In Borneo, Celebes, and many
other islands, the larvae of bees and wasps are eaten, either
alive as pulled out of the cells, or fried like the dragonflies.
In the Moluccas the grubs of the palm-beetles (Calandra) are
regularly brought to market in bamboos and sold for food; and
many of the great horned Lamellicorn beetles are slightly roasted
on the embers and eaten whenever met with. The superabundance of
insect life is therefore turned to some account by these
islanders.

Finding that birds were not very numerous, and hearing much of
Labuan Tring at the southern extremity of the bay, where there
was said to be much uncultivated country and plenty of birds as
well as deer and wild pigs, I determined to go there with my two
servants, Ali, the Malay lad from Borneo, and Manuel, a Portuguese
of Malacca accustomed to bird-skinning. I hired a native boat with
outriggers to take us with our small quantity of luggage, on a day's
rowing and tracking along the shore brought us to the place.

I had a note of introduction to an Amboynese Malay, and obtained
the use of part of his house to live and work in. His name was
"Inchi Daud" (Mr. David), and he was very civil; but his
accommodations were limited, and he could only hire me part of
his reception-room. This was the front part of a bamboo house
(reached by a ladder of about six rounds very wide apart), and
having a beautiful view over the bay. However, I soon made what
arrangements were possible, and then set to work. The country
around was pretty and novel to me, consisting of abrupt volcanic
hills enclosing flat valleys or open plains. The hills were
covered with a dense scrubby bush of bamboos and prickly trees
and shrubs, the plains were adorned with hundreds of noble palm-
trees, and in many places with a luxuriant shrubby vegetation.
Birds were plentiful and very interesting, and I now saw for the
first time many Australian forms that are quite absent from the
islands westward. Small white cockatoos were abundant, and their
loud screams, conspicuous white colour, and pretty yellow crests,
rendered them a very important feature in the landscape. This is
the most westerly point on the globe where any of the family are
to be found. Some small honeysuckers of the genus Ptilotis, and
the strange moundmaker (Megapodius gouldii), are also here first
met with on the traveller's journey eastward. The last mentioned
bird requires a fuller notice.

The Megapodidae are a small family of birds found only in
Australia and the surrounding islands, but extending as far as
the Philippines and Northwest Borneo. They are allied to the
gallinaceous birds, but differ from these and from all others in
never sitting upon their eggs, which they bury in sand, earth, or
rubbish, and leave to be hatched by the heat of the sun or by
fermentation. They are all characterised by very large feet and
long curved claws, and most of the species of Megapodius rake and
scratch together all kinds of rubbish, dead leaves, sticks,
stones, earth, rotten wood, etc., until they form a large mound,
often six feet high and twelve feet across, in the middle of
which they bury their eggs. The natives can tell by the condition
of these mounds whether they contain eggs or not; and they rob
them whenever they can, as the brick-red eggs (as large as those
of a swan) are considered a great delicacy. A number of birds are
said to join in making these mounds and lay their eggs together,
so that sometimes forty or fifty may be found. The mounds are to
be met with here and there in dense thickets, and are great
puzzles to strangers, who cannot understand who can possibly have
heaped together cartloads of rubbish in such out-of-the-way
places; and when they inquire of the natives they are but little
wiser, for it almost always appears to them the wildest romance
to be told that it is all done by birds. The species found in
Lombock is about the size of a small hen, and entirely of dark
olive and brown tints. It is a miscellaneous feeder, devouring
fallen fruits, earthworms, snails, and centipedes, but the flesh
is white and well-flavoured when properly cooked.

The large green pigeons were still better eating, and were much
more plentiful. These fine birds, exceeding our largest tame
pigeons in size, abounded on the palm-trees, which now bore huge
bunches of fruits--mere hard globular nuts, about an inch in
diameter, and covered with a dry green skin and a very small
portion of pulp. Looking at the pigeon's bill and head, it would
seem impossible that it could swallow such large masses, or that
it could obtain any nourishment from them; yet I often shot these
birds with several palm-fruits in the crop, which generally burst
when they fell to the ground. I obtained here eight species of
Kingfishers; among which was a very beautiful new one, named by
Mr. Gould, Halcyon fulgidus. It was found always in thickets,
away from water, and seemed to feed on snails and insects picked
up from the ground after the manner of the great Laughing Jackass
of Australia. The beautiful little violet and orange species
(Ceyx rufidorsa) is found in similar situations, and darts
rapidly along like a flame of fire. Here also I first met with
the pretty Australian Bee-eater (Merops ornatus). This elegant
little bird sits on twigs in open places, gazing eagerly around,
and darting off at intervals to seize some insect which it sees
flying near; returning afterwards to the same twig to swallow it.
Its long, sharp, curved bill, the two long narrow feathers in its
tail, its beautiful green plumage varied with rich brown and
black and vivid blue on the throat, render it one of the most
graceful and interesting objects a naturalist can see for the
first time.

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