ening had all my
things housed, and was regularly installed as an inhabitant of Dobbo.
I had brought with me a cane chair, and a few light boards, which were
soon rigged up into a table and shelves. A broad bamboo bench served as
sofa and bedstead, my boxes were conveniently arranged, my mats spread
on the floor, a window cut in the palm-leaf wall to light my table,
and though the place was as miserable and gloomy a shed as could be
imagined, I felt as contented as if I had obtained a well-furnished
mansion, and looked forward to a month's residence in it with unmixed
satisfaction.

The next morning, after an early breakfast, I set off to explore
the virgin forests of Aru, anxious to set my mind at rest as to the
treasures they were likely to yield, and the probable success of my
long-meditated expedition. A little native imp was our guide, seduced by
the gift of a German knife, value three-halfpence, and my Macassar boy
Baderoon brought his chopper to clear the path if necessary.

We had to walk about half a mile along the beach, the ground behind the
village being mostly swampy, and then turned into the forest along a
path which leads to the native village of Wamma, about three miles off
on the other side of the island. The path was a narrow one, and very
little used, often swampy and obstructed by fallen trees, so that after
about a mile we lost it altogether, our guide having turned back, and we
were obliged to follow his example. In the meantime, however, I had not
been idle, and my day's captures determined the success of my journey
in an entomological point of view. I had taken about thirty species of
butterflies, more than I had ever captured in a day since leaving the
prolific banks of the Amazon, and among them were many most rare and
beautiful insects, hitherto only known by a few specimens from New
Guinea. The large and handsome spectre butterfly, Hestia durvillei; the
pale-winged peacock butterfly, Drusilla catops; and the most brilliant
and wonderful of the clear-winged moths, Cocytia durvillei, were
especially interesting, as well, as several little "blues," equalling in
brilliancy and beauty anything the butterfly world can produce. In the
other groups of insects I was not so successful, but this was not to
be wondered at in a mere exploring ramble, when only what is most
conspicuous and novel attracts the attention. Several pretty beetles, a
superb "bug," and a few nice land-shells were obtained, and I