Sourabaya
Septr. 1861
"Better late than never" is a much to be admired proverb, & in accordance with its precept I now beg to thank you for the honour of my election to the "British Ornithologists Union",3 I really don’t know how long ago.
My excuses for this long forgetfulness are twofold;— 1st.. I received a printed notice of my election as Hon[orary]. Memb[er]. of the B.O.U. without the slightest clue as to what the B.O.U. was. It was only some months afterwards on receipt of the 4th. no. of the "Ibis"4 that I discovered the mystery:— 2nd. For the last four or five years I have received my correspondence in lumps,— six to 12 months at a time, on my return from some land to which the beneficent agency of the Post Office does not extend. I have at such times generally had so much to do, in cleaning[,] sorting[,] studying & packing my collections,— & so much anxiety & trouble in preparing at the same time for a fresh voyage,— hunting up men, fitting up boats, laying in stores &c. &c. that I have often been obliged to defer the calm perusal of my home news till again under weigh [sic] or till again located in some barbarous solitude.
Having begun a letter I will give you a few notes about Bouru5 where I staid two months after leaving Timor.6 From the existence of Babirusa7 in the island 8I had been somewhat doubtful whether its fauna would not prove more Celebesian9 than Moluccan.10 I was soon [2] however satisfied that it is a true Moluccan island, though a very poor one. Most of the common Amboyna11 & Ceram12 forms occurred, some absolutely identical[,] others sufficiently modified to be characterised as distinct species. The[?] Tanygnathus,13 Polychlorus,13 Eclectus,13 Geoffroyus,13 Eos13 & Trichoglossus13 as well as the Aprosmictus13 occur as in Ceram, the Tanygnathus being the only one which varies from the type, wanting the black markings in the wings. Lorius13 is altogether absent as well as Corvus[,]14 Buceros15 & Cacatua16 genera which are present in every other island from Celebes eastwards. This deficiency does not rest alone on the fact of my not having met with them, though that would be pretty good proof, they being all ubiquitous & noisy birds,— but on the universal testimony of the natives many of whom know all these birds from their visits to other islands but are quite sure their own country is destitute of them.
The flycatchers (3 — 4 sp[ecies].) seem new as well as a very common Mimeta17 near M. forsteni18 of Ceram, & a Tropidorhynchus19 I suppose the T. buruensis Q&G.20 though in "Bonaparte’s Conspectus"21 that species is given to Celebes where I never found the genus. The pigeons are mostly known species except a fine Treron22 with very brilliant yellow marked wings, & I heard of other species of the same group occasionally met with. A single specimen of Tanysiptera23 seems different from the Ceram sp[ecies]., & a Pitta24 near macklotti & celebensis but sufficiently distinct, is also unique. I was much surprised to find, besides the Ptilonopus viridis25 of Amboyna, the beautiful P. prasinorrhous. G.R.G.26 which I had just discovered in Ké,27 then found in Goram,28 afterwards in Waigiou29 & I think there can be no doubt it is also found in Ceram but birds seem so thinly scattered over that large island that it would take years to acquire a proper knowledge of its ornithology. At Bouru I shot a Glareola30 the first time I have met with the genus. I found coleoptera31 & grubs in its stomach. Its sternum shows it to be a true wader though a most curious & abnormal form.32
[3] The Cassowary33 is absent from Bouru & from every Moluccan island except Ceram yet I had been positively assured it was common in Bouru. The error has arisen thus. The people of the little island of Bouru at the W. end of Ceram often get young Cassowaries from the main island to bring up. The traders of Cajeli34 in Bouru buy these & then take them to Amboyna for sale, often in company with young Babirusas. This happened when I was there. Of course the Amboyna merchants purchasing these animals from Bouru residents & having no reason for hunting up their pedigree take it for granted that Cassowaries & Babirusas are found wild in Bouru.35 I will give you another example. 36In the Papuan island of Mysol37 the Cassowary does not exist, but last year the Rajah possessed a live Ceram Cassowary which he had bought from Wahai38 in Ceram. Now Mysol is known among the Bugis39 traders as a district of Papua, & if one of these men had bought & taken this bird to Singapore or Macassar40 he would declare it came from Papua. It thus becomes most difficult to ascertain the true locality of the Psittaci41 & Paradiseas42 which are articles of trade, & are carried about by the traders from place to place often passing through several hands before they are sold to a European. In [1 word struck through, illeg.] this manner Lorius domicella43 has come into our lists as a Papuan bird. Lesson44 I have no doubt bought a specimen at Dorey as you may often buy Celebes & Ternate45 birds in any of the trading ports of New Guinea. So Cacatua citrinocristata.46 which you have given to Timor on your list, on the authority I suppose of the Paris Museum,47 does not belong there, as you will see by my specimens which are the same as those from Lombock48 called by you C. aquatorialis.49 Here in Java50 I have [4] purchased a specimen of C. citrinocristata but can get no indication of its locality. I suspect however it may be Timor laut51 to which the beautiful Eos cyanostriata52 undoubtedly belongs, and prahuws53 from Macassar to that island often touch at Timor. Eos reticulata54 & squamata55 I do not know, but they certainly do not belong to Amboyna or Ceram. In fact Muller[,]56 Forsten57 & the other Naturalists of the Dutch Scientific Commission58 seem to have been most careless in investigating localities, or even in noting accurately the species actually shot in the several islands, so that the authority of the Leyden Museum59 can not de be depended upon for locality in any doubtful cases.
Batavia60 Septr. 20. I have just received yours of July 22.61 I know Rozenberg 62 [sic] well: he is a most lucky fellow. In one trip of a few weeks on NW. coast of N. Guinea he fell in with lots of rarer things wh[ich]. it took me years to find.. He showed me the head of the Cassowary — my assistant, Allen63 visited the same spot & staid 3 days but could not get it & in three months in Salwatty64 & the main land could never get a specimen. Young ones are however often brought to the Moluccas & Macassar & it must some day come 65to Europe. I am still doubtfull about the Aru66 species, but it must surely be one of the new sp[ecies]. lately described, as the young birds are brought thence annually by dozens! In Allen’s last coll[ectio]n. Are many rarities & some novelties, wh[ich]. I hope to have the pleasure of showing you myself next spring. He is now at Sula (Xula bessi on the Maps)67 an island of the Celebes group from which I expect many new things; I have seen a new Loriculus68 from it. I have only just received G. R. Gray’s69 list of Molucca birds[.]70 He makes plenty of n[ew]. s[pecies]. but I think is only perpetuating error by admitting in any form such birds as Buceros lunatus[,]71 Megalaima australis[,]72 Goura coronata73 & a host of others. I note upwards of 20 wh[ich]. are palpable errors either of locality or identification.
Please do not print this gossiping letter, except an extract or two.
With best wishes | I remain | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]
P. L. Sclater M.A.
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1718.1601)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1] [p. 95]
Mr. Wallace’s last letters are dated from Batavia, Sept. 20th. After leaving Timor, of which island Mr. Wallace has given us an account in our last Number (‘Ibis,’ 1861, p. 347 et seq.),1 he proceeded to Bourou, and staid2 there two months. "From the existence of the Babirusa in this island," says Mr. Wallace, "I had been somewhat doubtful whether its fauna would not prove more Celebesian than Moluccan. I was soon, however, satisfied that it is a true Moluccan island, though a very poor one. Most of the common Amboyna and Ceram forms occurred, some absolutely identical, others sufficiently modified to be characterized as distinct species. The Tanygnathus, Polychlorus, Eclectus, Geoffroius, Eos, and Trichoglossus, as well as the Aprosmictus, occur as in Ceram, the Tanygnathus being the only one which varies from the type, wanting the black markings on the wings. Lorius is altogether absent, as well as Corvus, Buceros, and Cacatua, genera which are present in every other island from Celebes eastwards. This deficiency does not rest alone on the fact of my not having met with them, though that would be pretty good proof, they being all ubiquitous and noisy birds, but on the universal testimony of the natives, many of whom know all these birds from their visits to other islands, and are quite sure that their own country is destitute of them.
"The Flycatchers (3-4 sp[ecies].) seem new, as well as a very common Mimeta, near M. forsteni of Ceram, and a Tropidorhynchus—I suppose the T. buruensis, Q. & G., though in Bonaparte’s ‘Conspectus’3 that species is given to Celebes, where I never found the genus. The Pigeons are mostly known species, except a fine Treron with very brilliant yellow-marked wings; and I heard of other species of the same group occasionally met with. A single specimen of Tanysiptera seems different from the Ceram species; and a Pitta, near P. macklotti and P. celebensis, but sufficiently distinct, is also unique. I was much surprised to find, besides the Ptilonopus viridis of Amboyna, the beautiful P. prasinorrhous, G. R. Gray, which I had first discovered in Ké, then found in Goram, afterwards in Waigiou, and I think there can [2] [p. 96] be no doubt it is also found in Ceram; but birds seem so thinly scattered over that large island, that it would take years to acquire a proper knowledge of its ornithology.
"At Bouru I shot a Glareola—the first time I have met with the genus. I found Coleoptera and grubs in its stomach. Its sternum shows it to be a true Wader, though a most curious and abnormal form.
"The Cassowary is absent from Bouru, and from every Moluccan island except Ceram; yet I had been positively assured it was common in Bouru. The error has arisen thus. The people of the little island of Bonoa, at the west end of Ceram, often get young Cassowaries from the main island to bring up. The traders of Cayeli in Bouru buy these, and then take them to Amboyna for sale, often in company with young Babirusas. This happened when I was there. Of course the Amboyna merchants purchasing these animals from Bouru residents, and having no reason for hunting up their pedigree, take it for granted that Cassowaries and Babirusas are found wild in Bouru."
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Published letter (WCP1718.7636)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP1718,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1718