New-York tribune., 1885-07-26
AMONG THE MALAYS.
cop.r. ISLANDS AND THEIR INHABlTANrS'

~
cop.r ISLANDS AND THEIR INHABITANTS.
. v.rrpA1Jsrs wANDERINGs IN THE. THE EAsgERsS 4 9 E q
ARCHip,LL.As1a1dm Riii,an. and maps Harper & Brothers.
r,'..h ~ Forbes travelled in the region 80 ad-
-:".,,s described BY Wallace in his Malay Archi-
..,a0or the routes taken by the two explorers
rare different and the later traveller has also oeeh
...h,ea IN give for the first time, detailed ac-
.ount of the Tlmor -laut Islands. and an almost
Entirely fresh description of the interior OF iimor
His excursions In Java and Sumatra VIII prooaoy
he, full of interest too for the general reaoer, %
while those countries have been exhansei'os ~"
scribed by Ratfles and Marsden. the WORKS VI 'A
latter are out of print and difncuit u "o
aven bv collectors This whole region moreovei'
.hounds with such curious and interesting varieties
- Efa that there is no danger OF its being over
,vr;tts, for long time, and especially py such 'h'
talI,yant oh,eryers as Mr.. Forbes. His hrst Trip
10. 20 Tho Cocos- Keeling group Of islands, series
s corn, atolls set like gems in the blue sea, ana h
h.h;,od bv a race of primitive but by no means saw
aoa people. who have grown up there some "n"'
after the fashion of the population Oh ri'c"i,h
Island. These islands are governed ana partly
.,vn.d bv n Scotcbman named Ross, who lives III
,,otr;archai state among his native hencnm on,
doing n thriving business in the cocoahu's anu
other fruits of the region. The climate Is deiig"'.u
there is superabundance OF fish, nesh anu Aoi'''
The islanders are all Christians, there is no CRIME
and altogether but for the occasional oc'"I 'oio'
80 ac hurricanes which level everything fiat in
half an hour, life on these atolls would be ldea'
Even che rayages of the hurricanes. however, are
.oon renaired. and six months after every pain
tree had been blown down new growth OF groves
had sprung up
Mr.. Forbes next went to Java, of which he gives
a highly interesting account. Ihe JaVaheso no
describes as being very intelligent people AS
soon as he had learned the language enough !" con-
verse with the natives. he found that they were
amarvellously observant' in regard 10 everything
around them. Not one or two, only, put e'oiy
individual amongst them seemed equally seorou
with natural history information. There was no.
single tree or plant or minute shrub out 'ney la.
name for. and could tell the full history OF; ana
not a note in the forest but they knew from what
throat it proceeded" He Justly remarks that IN
this respect they excel lar and away the rurai
,onnlaton of our own country (Engiand amohH
whom without exaggeration scarcely one man III
hundred is able to name one tree from anotner' or
describe the color of its flower or fruit 1ar less !"
name tree from portion indiscrimina'eiy sho"n
him. Being naturalist our Traveller was coh-
stantiy looking out for new species Oh ihsec'S'
birds and plants. and he found plenty 10 in.eree'
him in this little explored country. ohe Oh MS
most interesting discoveries was case OF mim'cry
in spider of which he gives the following ac-
count:
Ibad been allured into vain chase after one OF
those aisti stieket Of tricky Paadanus hordas to
the detrimsnt of my apparel and the loss OF my
tser pursnt observed one of the Hespeide at
rest on a leaf on birds dropping; l mad oiten ,
observed small Blues at rest on a slniAr 5pt tSe
members Of such refined and beautiiuily paiHtea
family as the Licanid1 could find to ENJOY at 1000
seemingly 50 ncongruous ipr & net To- see If
nossible how the present species was engaged. IL
nermitted me to get quite close and even 10 seze
it between M @ y behind and in adherng
as thought the excreta, 1t recalled 10 my mhu
an observation of Mr.. Walaces on certain Goe1p
terra falling a prey to their nevperence by boring
in the bark OF trees in whose exudlng gum they
became unwittngly entombed ! looked Closely
at and finally touched with the UP o, HS T mHsis az
lighted astonshment found that my eyes nau
been most perfectly deceived, and that the excreta
was most artfully colored spider lying on ils
Lack With its feet crossed over and closely adj
Ths annesrance of the excreta rather recently
,ot, nn Ieaf by bird OF lizard is well known
Its central and denser portion IS OF pure white
cbalk-Iine color streaked here and there Win
black and surrounded by thin border OF tnc dried
mn more nd part, which, as the leaf IS rarely hor
zontaI often runs for little way toward tne
margin. The SPIDER, which belongs 70 ianin1'
the Tkomisds, possessing rather tnpercnlatea'
thick and prominent abdOmened bodies, Is oi gen.
cral white color; the underside, which is the one
exposed is pure chalk VIII te while the lower portions
of ifs first and second pairs OF legs and spot on
the head and on the abdomen are ie' black.
This species does not weave web OF the ordinary
kind but constructs on the surface OF some prom,
nent dark green leaf only an irregnlarly shaped
filn OF the Inest texture, drawn out toward the
sloping margin of the leaf into a narrow streak
with 81 ightly thickened termination. Ihe SPIDER
then takes it, place on its back the irregular
patch have described holding itself IN position
iy means of several strong spnes on the upper
under the fm and crosses ITS legs over It's thora1
Thus resting with its white abdomen anu DIack
LEGS as the central and dark portions OF the excreta
surrounded by its thin web-hlm representing the
marginal watery portion become dry even TO some
of IL trickling of and arrested in q thckened
Extremity such as an evaporated drop would leave,
il waits with confidence for its prey-a hving Dait
SO artfuly contrived as to deceive PAIR OF human
eyes even intently exaniungt.
All peoples have their peculiar dishes. which IRE
apt to appear anything but appetizng to strangers
but the Javanese have compound called 1ra'si
which seems to surpass in Odoriferousness the
japanese condiments which smell so loudly. This
trassi is made Of decomposed shrimps and small fish
in kind of pickle and it is used as aovoring
extract. Mr. Forbes was some time in finding this
ont but after ne had compelled his native cook to
throw away quantity of the stuff he was made to
understand that every dish he had eaten since he
came into the country had been favored by the
sayory mess.
Among the strange phenomena of Java is local
disease known as Iata thus described:
IL ia of hystercal nature, and is confined chiefly
to women, although have also seen man affected
by it, On being startled or excited suddenly. the
person becomes lata, losing the control of her will
and cannot refrain from initiating Whatever she
may hear or see done, and vii! keep calling out as
long a. the fit lasts the name-snd generally that
word alonc-of whatever has flashed through her
mind as the csnse of it He-ih-heh. matjanw p
Her rurpose will he arrested, as. If walking, she
will stop short. and on going on again will often
follow some other course The PREDATORY exclama-