登陆注册
5370200000237

第237章

It thus happened that when Mr. Allen arrived at Sorong, and explained his intention of going to seek Birds of Paradise in the interior, innumerable objections were raised. He was told it was three or four days' journey over swamps and mountains; that the mountaineers were savages and cannibals, who would certainly kill him; and, lastly, that not a man in the village could be found who dare go with him. After some days spent in these discussions, as he still persisted in making the attempt, and showed them his authority from the Sultan of Tidore to go where be pleased and receive every assistance, they at length provided him with a boat to go the first part of the journey up a river; at the same time, however, they sent private orders to the interior villages to refuse to sell any provisions, so as to compel him to return. On arriving at the village where they were to leave the river and strike inland, the coast people returned, leaving Mr. Allen to get on as he could. Here he called on the Tidore lieutenant to assist him, and procure men as guides and to carry his baggage to the villages of the mountaineers. This, however, was not so easily done. A quarrel took place, and the natives, refusing to obey the imperious orders of the lieutenant, got out their knives and spears to attack him and his soldiers; and Mr. Allen himself was obliged to interfere to protect those who had come to guard him. The respect due to a white man and the timely distribution of a few presents prevailed; and, on showing the knives, hatchets, and beads he was willing to give to those who accompanied him, peace was restored, and the next day, travelling over a frightfully rugged country, they reached the villages of the mountaineers. Here Mr. Allen remained a month without any interpreter through whom he could understand a word or communicate a want. However, by signs and presents and a pretty liberal barter, he got on very well, some of them accompanying him every day in the forest to shoot, and receiving a small present when he was successful.

In the grand matter of the Paradise Birds, however, little was done. Only one additional species was found, the Seleucides alba, of which be had already obtained a specimen in Salwatty; but he learnt that the other kinds' of which be showed them drawings, were found two or three days' journey farther in the interior.

When I sent my men from Dorey to Amberbaki, they heard exactly the same story--that the rarer sorts were only found several days' journey in the interior, among rugged mountains, and that the skins were prepared by savage tribes who had never even been seen by any of the coast people.

It seems as if Nature had taken precautions that these her choicest treasures should not be made too common, and thus be undervalued. This northern coast of New Guinea is exposed to the full swell of the Pacific Ocean, and is rugged and harbourless.

The country is all rocky and mountainous, covered everywhere with dense forests, offering in its swamps and precipices and serrated ridges an almost impassable barrier to the unknown interior; and the people are dangerous savages, in the very lowest stage of barbarism. In such a country, and among such a people, are found these wonderful productions of Nature, the Birds of Paradise, whose exquisite beauty of form and colour and strange developments of plumage are calculated to excite the wonder and admiration of the most civilized and the most intellectual of mankind, and to furnish inexhaustible materials for study to the naturalist, and for speculation to the philosopher.

Thus ended my search after these beautiful birds. Five voyages to different parts of the district they inhabit, each occupying in its preparation and execution the larger part of a year, produced me only five species out of the fourteen known to exist in the New Guinea district. The kinds obtained are those that inhabit the coasts of New Guinea and its islands, the remainder seeming to be strictly confined to the central mountain-ranges of the northern peninsula; and our researches at Dorey and Amberbaki, near one end of this peninsula, and at Salwatty and Sorong, near the other, enable me to decide with some certainty on the native country of these rare and lovely birds, good specimens of which have never yet been seen in Europe.

It must be considered as somewhat extraordinary that, during five years' residence and travel in Celebes, the Moluccas, and New Guinea, I should never have been able to purchase skins of half the species which Lesson, forty years ago, obtained during a few weeks in the same countries. I believe that all, except the common species of commerce, are now much more difficult to obtain than they were even twenty years ago; and I impute it principally to their having been sought after by the Dutch officials through the Sultan of Tidore. The chiefs of the annual expeditions to collect tribute have had orders to get all the rare sorts of Paradise Birds; and as they pay little or nothing for them (it being sufficient to say they are for the Sultan), the head men of the coast villages would for the future refuse to purchase them from the mountaineers, and confine themselves instead to the commoner species, which are less sought after by amateurs, but are a more profitable merchandise. The same causes frequently lead the inhabitants of uncivilized countries to conceal minerals or other natural products with which they may become acquainted, from the fear of being obliged to pay increased tribute, or of bringing upon themselves a new and oppressive labour.

同类推荐
  • Iphigenia in Tauris

    Iphigenia in Tauris

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Gilded Age

    The Gilded Age

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说德护长者经

    佛说德护长者经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说维摩诘经

    佛说维摩诘经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Spell of Egypt

    The Spell of Egypt

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 范军是只骆驼吗?

    范军是只骆驼吗?

    那天下午范军叫我去他那儿,我就知道其实又是为了彬炎的事。最近一阵,他心神不定,为了彬炎的事,他说二龙要翻面了。我不认识二龙,二龙是个传说。二龙的传说常常和恐惧联系在一起,提到二龙多的那一阵,范军根本不能到厂里来上班。恐惧感给了我一个印象,这个印象让我在范军门口看见二龙时,根本无法把眼前这个矮小的瘸子和传说联系在一起。我第一次看见的二龙,不光瘸腿,头上似有似无几根毛,不好用秃或不秃来说。
  • 次柳氏旧闻

    次柳氏旧闻

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 不忘流年愿相思

    不忘流年愿相思

    她志向大如天,却被他的一个愿望,坑入这繁华乱世。他本是她惜昔相印的同学,却不料再见到时却变成了这副坑人模样。也罢,当是倒霉催的,可,为何命运会如此殊途,一切都要因为这个坑货。“别想着自由。”“我不。”“那你走吧。”他冷笑一声,她被送入人间地狱。再见面时,又成了最初模样,但她不甘,“小子,这次,我不会走,你也休想逃,老子受的苦要千百倍的还给你。”“你敢。”她笑,“你看我敢不敢。”
  • 养生保健枕边书

    养生保健枕边书

    你只需要改变一个观念或生活习惯,就可以免予疾病的困扰。养生就是顺应自然,改善自身的生活和生命质量,从而达到健康长寿、益寿延年的目的,本书就是你的健康小卫士,帮你防范来自生活的侵袭,让健康伴随你一生。 本书以一种全新的养生角度让我们重新审视以往的生活态度及生活方式,从更科学、更合理的养生角度,揭示生命和健康的奥秘,其不仅沿袭了人体健康的基本法则,更是在传统预防医学的观点上做出了突破性的见解和精华性的提炼,并告诉人们人体生病的真相以及不生病的秘密。书中不仅完整、直观地剖析了以往错误的生活方式,同时又具体、科学、详实地为人们提供了正确的养生方式及不生病的对策,是一本值得认真一读的养生好书!
  • 抽刀断水流

    抽刀断水流

    云中藏剑,出鞘一刀,侠之大者,为国为民。
  • 梼杌萃编

    梼杌萃编

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 榕城考古略

    榕城考古略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 盗墓派

    盗墓派

    此传《盗墓派》以主人公手中的残书《盗墓三十六派》为引,继而展现纵横古今历史不为人知的密案,一系列来自墓穴的真相足以让观者震惊。巫葬派传人郭葬和伙伴因在古墓中一次意外,而导致了严重失忆,后在盗墓团伙头子张三臂威胁下,随一众江湖把头进入了曹操的陵墓,本以为听话照做就能挽回奶奶的骨灰盒,尽最后一分孝道,却不想扯出一连串更为诡谲的机密!其间地下奇观、墓道机括、神秘生物,和古老的种族,都渐渐揭开了盗墓派的神秘面纱。企鹅群号:***巫葬派:560683345***摸金派:466181725***发丘派:655694391
  • 只有危机感强烈的人才能生存

    只有危机感强烈的人才能生存

    危机感是企业长青的基石。企业只有树立危机意识、做到平时如战时、战时如平时,才能够轻松应对随时可能出现的危机,实现由优秀迈向卓越的突破。危机感同时也是一个人进取心的源泉,是一个人成长发展的重要动力。一个人失去了危机感,就会变得安于现状。裹足不前,等待他的只有被淘汰的命运。
  • 金云翘传

    金云翘传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。