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347 pages

English

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Fans of geography and travel writing should definitely spend some time with Alfred Russell Wallace's fascinating volume The Malay Archipelago. Compiled through decades of research, this book provides an exhaustive account of Wallace's experiences and observations on the large group of islands situated between Australia and Southeast Asia, including his interactions with the indigenous people and theories about the development of the flora and fauna of the region.

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Geography

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Publié par	The Floating Press
Date de parution	01 juillet 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781776580736
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0134€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO
* * *
ALFRED RUSSELL WALLACE

*
The Malay Archipelago First published in 1869 Epub ISBN 978-1-77658-073-6 Also available: PDF ISBN 978-1-77658-074-3 © 2014 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Preface VOLUME I Chapter I - Physical Geography Chapter II - Singapore Chapter III - Malacca and Mount Ophir Chapter IV - Borneo—The Orangutan Chapter V - Borneo—Journey into the Interior Chapter VI - Borneo—The Dyaks Chapter VII - Java Chapter VIII - Sumatra Chapter IX - Natural History of the Indo-Malay Islands Chapter X - Bali and Lombock Chapter XI - Lombock: Manners and Customs of the People Chapter XII - Lombock: How the Rajah Took the Census Chapter XIII - Timor Chapter XIV - The Natural History of the Timor Group Chapter XV - Celebes Chapter XVI - Celebes Chapter XVII - Celebes Chapter XVIII - Natural History of Celebes Chapter XIX - Banda Chapter XX - Amboyna VOLUME II Chapter XXI - The Moluccas—Ternate Chapter XXII - Gilolo Chapter XXIII - Ternate to the Kaioa Islands and Batchian Chapter XXIV - Batchian Chapter XXV - Ceram, Goram, and the Matabello Islands Chapter XXVI - Bouru Chapter XXVII - The Natural History of the Moluccas Chapter XXVIII - Macassar to the Aru Islands in a Native Prau Chapter XXIX - The Ke Islands Chapter XXX - The Aru Islands—Residence in Dobbo Chapter XXXI - The Aru Islands—Journey and Residence in the Interior Chapter XXXII - The Aru Islands—Second Residence at Dobbo Chapter XXXIII - The Aru Islands—Physical Geography and Aspects ofNature Chapter XXXIV - New Guinea—Dorey Chapter XXXV - Voyage from Ceram to Waigiou Chapter XXXVI - Waigiou Chapter XXXVII - Voyage from Waigiou to Ternate Chapter XXXVIII - The Birds of Paradise Chapter XXXIX - The Natural History of the Papuan Islands Chapter XL - The Races of Man in the Malay Archipelago
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The land of the orang-utan, and the bird of paradise.
A narrative of travel, with sketches of man and nature.
*
To CHARLES DARWIN,
AUTHOR OF "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES,"
I dedicate this book, Not only as a token of personal esteem and friendship But also To express my deep admiration For His genius and his works.
Preface
*
My readers will naturally ask why I have delayed writing this bookfor six years after my return; and I feel bound to give them fullsatisfaction on this point.
When I reached England in the spring of 1862, I found myself surroundedby a room full of packing cases containing the collections that I had,from time to time, sent home for my private use. These comprised nearlythree thousand bird-skins of about one thousand species, at least twentythousand beetles and butterflies of about seven thousand species, andsome quadrupeds and land shells besides. A large proportion of theseI had not seen for years, and in my then weakened state of health, theunpacking, sorting, and arranging of such a mass of specimens occupied along time.
I very soon decided that until I had done something towards naming anddescribing the most important groups in my collection, and had workedout some of the more interesting problems of variation and geographicaldistribution (of which I had had glimpses while collecting them), Iwould not attempt to publish my travels. Indeed, I could have printedmy notes and journals at once, leaving all reference to questions ofnatural history for a future work; but, I felt that this would be asunsatisfactory to myself as it would be disappointing to my friends, anduninstructive to the public.
Since my return, up to this date, I have published eighteen papersin the "Transactions" or "Proceedings of the Linnean Zoological andEntomological Societies", describing or cataloguing portions of mycollections, along with twelve others in various scientific periodicalson more general subjects connected with them.
Nearly two thousand of my Coleoptera, and many hundreds of mybutterflies, have been already described by various eminent naturalists,British and foreign; but a much larger number remains undescribed. Amongthose to whom science is most indebted for this laborious work, I mustname Mr. F. P. Pascoe, late President of the Entomological Society ofLondon, who had almost completed the classification and descriptionof my large collection of Longicorn beetles (now in his possession),comprising more than a thousand species, of which at least nine hundredwere previously undescribed and new to European cabinets.
The remaining orders of insects, comprising probably more than twothousand species, are in the collection of Mr. William Wilson Saunders,who has caused the larger portion of them to be described by goodentomologists. The Hymenoptera alone amounted to more than nine hundredspecies, among which were two hundred and eighty different kinds ofants, of which two hundred were new.
The six years' delay in publishing my travels thus enables me to givewhat I hope may be an interesting and instructive sketch of the mainresults yet arrived at by the study of my collections; and as thecountries I have to describe are not much visited or written about, andtheir social and physical conditions are not liable to rapid change, Ibelieve and hope that my readers will gain much more than they willlose by not having read my book six years ago, and by this time perhapsforgotten all about it.
I must now say a few words on the plan of my work.
My journeys to the various islands were regulated by the seasons andthe means of conveyance. I visited some islands two or three times atdistant intervals, and in some cases had to make the same voyage fourtimes over. A chronological arrangement would have puzzled my readers.They would never have known where they were, and my frequent referencesto the groups of islands, classed in accordance with the peculiaritiesof their animal productions and of their human inhabitants, would havebeen hardly intelligible. I have adopted, therefore, a geographical,zoological, and ethnological arrangement, passing from island to islandin what seems the most natural succession, while I transgress the orderin which I myself visited them, as little as possible.
I divide the Archipelago into five groups of islands, as follows:
I. THE INDO-MALAY ISLANDS: comprising the Malay Peninsula and Singapore,Borneo, Java, and Sumatra.
II. THE TIMOR GROUP: comprising the islands of Timor, Flores, Sumbawa,and Lombock, with several smaller ones.
III. CELEBES: comprising also the Sula Islands and Bouton.
IV. THE MOLUCCAN GROUP: comprising Bouru, Ceram, Batchian, Gilolo,and Morty; with the smaller islands of Ternate, Tidore, Makian, Kaióa,Amboyna, Banda, Goram, and Matabello.
V. THE PAPUAN GROUP: comprising the great island of New Guinea, withthe Aru Islands, Mysol, Salwatty, Waigiou, and several others. The KeIslands are described with this group on account of their ethnology,though zoologically and geographically they belong to the Moluccas.
The chapters relating to the separate islands of each of these groupsare followed by one on the Natural History of that group; and the workmay thus be divided into five parts, each treating one of the naturaldivisions of the Archipelago.
The first chapter is an introductory one, on the Physical Geography ofthe whole region; and the last is a general sketch of the races of manin the Archipelago and the surrounding countries. With this explanation,and a reference to the maps which illustrate the work, I trust that myreaders will always know where they are, and in what direction they aregoing.
I am well aware that my book is far too small for the extent of thesubjects it touches upon. It is a mere sketch; but so far as it goes,I have endeavoured to make it an accurate one. Almost the whole of thenarrative and descriptive portions were written on the spot, andhave had little more than verbal alterations. The chapters on NaturalHistory, as well as many passages in other parts of the work, have beenwritten in the hope of exciting an interest in the various questionsconnected with the origin of species and their geographicaldistribution. In some cases I have been able to explain my views indetail; while in others, owing to the greater complexity of the subject,I have thought it better to confine myself to a statement of the moreinteresting facts of the problem, whose solution is to be found in theprinciples developed by Mr. Darwin in his various works. The numerousillustrations will, it is believed, add much to the interest and valueof the book. They have been made from my own sketches, from photographs,or from specimens—and such, only subjects that would really illustratethe narrative or the descriptions, have been chosen.
I have to thank Messrs. Walter and Henry Woodbury, whose acquaintanceI had the pleasure of making in Java, for a number of photographs ofscenery and of natives, which have been of the greatest assistance tome. Mr. William Wilson Saunders has kindly allowed me to figure thecurious horned flies; and to Mr. Pascoe I am indebted for a loan oftwo of the very rare Longicorns which appear in the plate of Borneanbeetles. All the other specimens figured are in my own collection.
As the main object of all my journeys was to obtain specimens of naturalhistory, both for my private collection and to supply duplicates tomuseums and amateurs, I will give a general statement of the number ofspecimens I collected, and which reached home in good condition. I mustpremise that I generally employed one or two