( 18 ) ON THE BIllDS COLLECTED ON THE TUKANG-BESI ISLANDS AND BUTON, SOUTH-EAST OE CELEBES, BY MR. HEINRICH KUHN. By ERNST HARTERT. BKINO particularly interesterl in the ornithology of the Celebes group, wlience we had received such tine collections from Everett and Doherty, Mr. Walter Kothschild and I have for a long time been trying to induce collectors to go to the entirely unexplored Tukang-Besi Islands and Buton, south-east of Celebes, but in vain. Dohertv had no inclination to go there, and Everett was unable to obtain the required i)erniission from the Dutch authorities. The Tukang-Besi Islands belong to the Sultan of the island of Huton, which is a free tributary state of Holland. The Dutch have no power nor even any influence on Buton and the Tukang-Besi, Toekan-Besi, or Token-Besi Islands, which can only lie visited by white men with the consent of the Dutch authorities at .Makassar, after the Sultan of Buton has given formal permission. Mr. Kiihn succeeded in obtaining these permissions, started for the islands in the autumn of 1901, and collected there in November and December 1901 and Jnnuary 1902, though the permissions were apparently given somewhat reluctantly, for a limited time only, and not without restrictions aud conditions. Mr. Kiihn had to take four men of high rank from Buton, who travelled with him on his prau at his expense. They were a source of trouble to him, being constantly about him and doing their best, evidently by order of the Sultan, to keep the native population away from him. On the boat they filled the air with the unpleasant odour of their oiiium pipes, which they smoked most of the time. In addition to the four officials from Buton, a prau with thirteen men followed him everywhere. These people were, of course, a great bother, and were very troublesome when he was collecting, on account of their constant inquisitiveness and obtrusiveness. From Wantjee (Wangi, Wangi-Wangi) Mr. Kiihn was at first turned back to Buton, and the return journey to Wantjee was one of nine days' beating against the wind. The Tukang-Besi (Toekan-Besi, Token-Besi, or Toecambaro) Islands form an e.ttensive but almost unknown archipelago to the eastward of Buton. They are of moderate ele\atiou, with numerous rocks and reefs around and among them. ]Mr. Kiihn visited Wantjee, Kalidupa, Tomia, and Binongka. Wantjee (Wangi-Wangi, Wangi, Wantyi) is the largest and nearest to Buton. Though only eighteen miles eastward of the east jioint of Buton, a depth of 1070 fathoms has been found in the channel between them. The island is high, being visible for about twenty to twenty-five miles. The natives here and on the other islands always walk about with one or two kris in the belt, and on Wantjee they were in.snlent and in no way afraid of the Butonese oflKcials. Binongka, or Binungku, is a geologically young, thickly populated island, which does not produce enough to feed its population, so that every year hundreds of men are obliged to emigi-ate toAmboina, Banda, and Celebes to trade or to work. There is no forest, or hardly anything that deserves the name ; where\er the rugged and sharp coral limestone admits it, the
BioStor
