Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1894-08-31

tion. His expenses are to be borne jointly
by the museum and by the New York Her
aid. All the specimens Of the fora and fau-
of Sumatra that are gathered are to go to
the museum in New York, while, under q
contract that has been entered into with
the Philadelphia museum, all specimens of
shells are to go to that institution.
1.-THE Garden Of Asia, /" as Sumatra has
been called because Of it's remarkable
beauty and surprising fertility, is an is.
land Of an area almost equal to that of
Texas and 13 times as great as that of
Holland. Its length is 1,047 miles, and as
it is bisected by the equator almost exactly |
half way between it's northern and south
ern extremities, it is distinctively a trop-
ical land. 1t is separated from the Malay
peninsula by q narrow strait and from
Java by a still narrower one. Like this
more famous island, it abounds in volca-
noes, several of which are more or less ao-
tive, and when Java received the awful
volcanic and seismic visitation known
in the records as the Krakatoa outburst
Sumatra suffered with her island neighbor.
Mr.. Weber, who Is a native Of Switzer-
land, has already left America, but 1t will
be some time before he reaches Sumatra.
From New York he went to Leyden, where
he proposes to remain for q month or so
examining Samaritan specimens in the ex-
cellent museum there. When he has sufi-
GENTLY fortified himself with the knowl-
edge he can obtain at Leyden, he will go
direct to Sumatra, via the Suez canal,
Ceylon and Singapore. AS soon a. he lands
upon Samaritan soil he will engage a force
of natives, to whom he will delegate the
hunting, fishing and trapping that are
necessary parts of the expeditions work.
This plan will leave him free to devote
most Of his own time to the classification
Of his specimens and their preparation for
shipment to America.
It is stated Of both the animal and vege-
table life of Sumatra that it is not only
extremely luxuriant, but very characteris-
tic as well. That is to say, the types there
found are many Of them unlike those that
are indigenous anywhere else o~nthosurface
Of the ball which we call the earth. It is
argued from this that the separation of
the island from tho mainland must have
taken place at a very remote period Other
wise there would not have been sufficient
time for the evolution of such pronounced
~ distinct types.
A short time before he sailed away Mr..
Weber spoke at some length, through the
medium Of a newspaper interviewer, upon
the expedition and the characteristics of
Java. 1t contains a larger variety of
monkeys than are to be found in any other
land. Its fauna generally exhibits a great
er tendency toward the forms of antiquity
than are to be met with elsewhere. There
are very many varieties of animals of ex-
traordinary size. The pachydermata
(thick skinned beasts) are largely repre-
sented, including a distinct variety of ele-
plants. The rhinoceros Of Sumatra is
also peculiar, though not unique, from the
fact that it Is furnished with two horns,
like the rhinoceros Of Africa and unlike
that Of Java, which it would be supposed
to more nearly resemble. Although the
wild boar is found in the Malayan penin-
sula and the island Of Java, both very near
neighbors, it does not seem to exist at all
in Sumatra. The variety Of bats is ex-
traordinary. The flying cat" and the Ely
ing fox" are found In great numbers.
There are alligators and other great she'll
ed reptiles in profusion, almost endless
sorts of snakes both vast and venomous
and tigers and the like almost without end.
Far more interesting and important
than any of these, however, are the hui
mans Of Sumatra. There Is not space to
speak of the various races, many of them
Of evident Malay origin, nor of their GU
rious customs and speech, both spoken and
written. The population is believed to In
olude q tribe of hairy wild men, which
may be found on close examination to be
nearer the primitive type than any that has
yet been studied. individuals Of this tribe
have been often seen in the jungles, but
never approached closely. They are said
to be without tails, to walk upright inva-
riably and to carry clubs and lances. Nj.
Weber will investigate them as thoroughly
as possible. $S
Mr.. Weber has an idea that perhaps
there are also to be found In the interior
Of the island tribes of cave jewellers, and
he will search for these with patience and
eagerness.