Macassar
Sept[embe]r 27th. 1856
My dear Mr. Stevens
At length I am in Celebes [Sulawesi]! I have been here about three weeks & as yet have not done much except explore the nakedness of the land. And it is indeed naked. I have never seen a more uninviting country than the neighbourhood of Macassar [Makassar]. For miles around there is nothing but flat land which for half the year is covered with water & the other half is an expanse of baked mud (its present state) with scarcely an apology for vegetation. Scattered about it are numerous villages which from their being imbedded in fruit trees have the appearance of woods & forests but which in fact are little more productive to the insect collector than the paddy fields themselves. Insects in fact in all this district there are absolutely none. I have got a bamboo house near one of these villages about two miles from the town which does very well for my head quarters. To get into the Country is difficult as it belongs to native princes & there is no accommodation whatever for Europeans. There is however a patch or two of forest about 6-8 miles off & to it I have made several excursions & got some birds & butterflies but no beetles which at this season seem altogether absent. I cannot help comparing the facilities for the collector on the Amazon with the difficulties here. Whether at Pará, Santarem [,]Barra, Obidos or Ega [Tefé] or any other town or village you may always find good forest collecting ground within a few minutes or half an hours walk of the places.— You can live in the town & collect in the country round. In no place in the East that I have yet seen can this be done. Miles of cultivated ground absolutely barren for the Naturalist, extend round every town & village; & to get in the country with any amount of [2] necessary luggage is most difficult & expensive. When there too the necessaries of life have all to be brought from the town which renders living very expensive dear. The only way of moving is by means of porters or small carriages the cost of which is about ten times that of boat hire, and in may cases you must expose yourself to risk of life & property being beyond the sphere of any civilized government.
However I hope here soon to make arrangements for a small house near the forest I have spoken of, where I can stay a week at a time & then bring home & store my collections at my house near Macassar. Already I see that I shall get a pretty good collection of birds. Raptorial birds are abundant; (the first place I have found them so in the Archipelago;) I have already seven species, one or two of which I have no doubt are new. Of the forty species of Birds I have already collected, none are handsome, but several I think are new. Among them are a Cinnyris & a Pigeon. The rare parrot Prioniturus platurus is not uncommon here though I have obtained as yet only one specimen. Among my few butterflies are two Pierides handsome & quite new, and two or three Danaidae which I do not remember to have seen. I have as yet got no Papilios but do not despair of soon obtaining some fine ones. The place where I hope to do best is Bontyne [Bantaeng] about 60 miles from here. There is a road or path overland but it would be very difficult to take all the luggage I require by that route, and by water sea at the present time owing to the winds being contrary the voyage often takes from a fortnight to a month! In about January however the wind will be fair & the trip is then only 24 hours, when I shall probably go there, as I am informed there is plenty of forest & the highest mountains in the island are close by.
The people here have some peculiar practices— "Amok" or as we [3] say "running a muck" is common here. There was one last week; a debt of a few dollars was claimed of a man who could not pay it[,] so he murdered his creditor, & then knowing he could be found out & punished he "run a muck" killed four people wounded four more & died what the natives consider an honorable death! A friend here seeing I had my mattrass1 on the floor of a bamboo house which is open beneath, told me it was very dangerous, as there were many bad people about who might come at night & push their spear up through me from below, so he kindly lent me a sofa to sleep on, which however I never use as it is too hot in this country.
On reading what I have written so far it may perhaps do for Newman.2,3 I have received here your letters of May & June.4 I was astounded to hear that the Custom house would make you pay duty for the orang spirit.5 My fishes from Para, Bates6 fishes &c. never paid any duty, & I think that precedent should be urged, as had I known I should have used brine instead of spirit. Surely my character & yours ought to be sufficient, & I have no doubt an application to the Government with recommendations from some scientific men would be sufficient: however you will of course have arranged it some how before this reaches you; & as I see by this mail that the "Water Lily"7 has arrived [,] I hope by next mail to hear from you all about the whole lot, what Owen8 thinks of the new species, &c. &c — &c. I told you long ago that you might dispose of all the Orang skins & skeletons as you could to the best advantage. Get Owen[']s advice, & represent the scarcity of good skins in spirits to enhance the price.9
If you have not yet paid another £100 to Harvey Brand & Co.10 on my account do so now, & send the order to pay me the amount to Hamilton Gray & Co.,11 not to me here. I told you some time since not to send any parcel to me yet [4] as I shall probably want more arsenic, plaster of Paris & other things after leaving here which can all come together when anything is sent. The place you mention as the locality for Euchirus appears to me to be a village in Amboyna [Ambon], there is no island near of the name. M. Pfeiffer[’]s account12 of the mountains &c. in Borneo can not be relied on; by the route she went there are no mountains more than 2-3 thousand feet high, & the men who were sent by Capt[ai]n Brooke13 to accompany her into the Dutch territories said that she never once got from under the cover of her canoe all the voyage & could therefore see nothing whatever of the country or the people!
A friend of mine here who has done me many favours,14 wishes much for an English Rifle, so I promised to get you to order & send it. By this or the next mail you will receive a bill of Exchange for £40. with a note from me, giving the particulars of the Rifle which you can order of Blisset 221 High Holborn15 if he will do it for the price— if not London16 will do it I have no doubt.
The rifle complete is not to be more than £35. with ornaments &c as directed. The other five pounds is for packing case carriage & for your time & expenses. It is to be sent overland directed to:
W[illem]. Mesman Esq. Macassar17
care of A[lexander]. L[aurie]. Johnston & Co. Singapore18 & to be finished as soon as possible.
{ Any surplus cash to be spent on a riding whip & put in the case.
____________________
Tell London to get my small double barrel gun, 80 bore, which I ordered a month since, done as soon as possible, as persons here are waiting to see it to send him further orders— Order two spare ramrods for it of whalebone, & get him to take off a discount for ready money.
I must now remain in haste | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R Wallace [signature]
Samuel Stevens Esq.
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1704.1586)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1]1 [p. 5559]
Mr. Alfred R. Wallace.—"Macassar, September 27, 1856. At length I am in Celebes! I have been here about three weeks, and as yet have not done much, except explored the nakedness of the land,—and it is indeed naked,—I have never seen a more uninteresting country than the neighbourhood of Macassar: for miles around there is nothing but flat land, which, for half the year, is covered with water, and the other half is an expanse of baked mud (its present state), with scarcely an apology for vegetation; scattered about it are numerous villages, which, from their being imbedded in fruit trees, have the appearance of woods and forests, but which, in fact, are little more productive to the insect collector than the paddy-fields themselves. Insects, in fact, in all this district there are absolutely none. I have got a bamboo-house near one of these villages, about two miles from the town, which does very well for my head-quarters: to get into the country is difficult, as it belongs to native princes, and there is no accommodation whatever for Europeans: there is, however, a patch or two of forest about six or eight miles off, and to it I have made several excursions, and got some birds and butterflies, but no beetles, which, at this season, seem altogether absent. I cannot help comparing the facilities of the collector on the Amazon with the difficulties here: whether at Parà, Santarem, Barra, Obidos or Ega, or any other town or village, you may always find good forest collecting-ground within a few minutes’ or half-an-hour’s walk of the place,—you can live in the town, and collect in the country round. In no place in the East that I have yet seen can this be done: miles of cultivated ground absolutely barren for the naturalist extend round every town and [2] [p. 5560] village, and to get into the country with any amount of necessary luggage is most difficult and expensive: then, too, the necessaries of life, have all to be brought from the town, which renders living very dear; the only way of moving is by means of porters or small carriages, the cost of which is about ten times that of boat hire, and in many cases you must expose yourself to the risk of life and property, being beyond the sphere of any civilized government. However, I hope soon to make arrangements for a small house near the forest I have spoken of, where I can stay a week at a time, and then bring home and store my collections at my house near Macassar: already I can see that I shall get a pretty good collection of birds. Raptorial birds are abundant (the first place I have seen them so in the Archipelago); I have already seven species, one or two of which I have no doubt are new: of the forty species of birds I have already collected none are handsome, but several, I think, are new, among them a Cinnyris and a pigeon; the rare parrot, Prionitus platurus, is not uncommon here, though I have only obtained as yet only one specimen. Among my few butterflies are two Pieridae, handsome and quite new, and two or three Danaidae which I do not remember to have seen: I have as yet got no Papilios, but do not despair of soon obtaining some fine ones. The place where I hope to do best is Bontyne, about sixty miles from here: there is a road or path overland, but it would be very difficult to take all the luggage I require by that route, and by the sea, at the present time, owing to the wind being contrary, often takes from a fortnight to a month. In about January, however, the wind will be fair, and the trip is then only twenty-four hours, when I shall probably go there, as I am informed there is plenty of forest, and the highest mountains in the island are close by.
"The people here have some peculiar practices. ‘Amok,’ or, as we say, ‘running a-muck,’ is common here; there was one last week: a debt of a few dollars was claimed by a man of one who could not pay it, so he murdered his creditor, and then, knowing he would be found out and punished, he ‘run a-muck,’ killed four persons and wounded four more, and died what the natives consider an honourable death! A friend here, seeing I had my mattrass on the floor of a bamboo-house, which is open beneath, told me it was very dangerous, as there were many bad people about, who might come at night and push their spears up through me from below, so he kindly lent me a sofa to sleep on, which, however, I never used, as it is too hot in this country.
"Alfred R. Wallace."
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1704.4376)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP1704,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1704