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Borneo, Celebes, Aru
Racked with fever, virtually broke and earning a precarious living through sending back to London the plumes of beautiful birds, Wallace (1823-1913) ultimately became one of the most heroic and admirable of all scientist-explorers. Whether living with Hill Dyaks or hunting Orang-Utans or sailing on a junk to the unbelievably remote Aru islands, Wallace opens our eyes to a now long vanished world.
116 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1869
6 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Russel Wallace
562 books93 followersAlfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. He is best known for independently proposing a theory of natural selection which prompted Charles Darwin to publish his own theory.
Wallace did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace Line that divides Indonesia into two distinct parts, one in which animals closely related to those of Australia are common, and one in which the species are largely of Asian origin. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography". Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection. These included the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect, a hypothesis on how natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridization.
Wallace was strongly attracted to unconventional ideas. His advocacy of Spiritualism and his belief in a non-material origin for the higher mental faculties of humans strained his relationship with the scientific establishment, especially with other early proponents of evolution. In addition to his scientific work, he was a social activist who was critical of what he considered to be an unjust social and economic system in 19th-century Britain. His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. Wallace was a prolific author who wrote on both scientific and social issues; his account of his adventures and observations during his explorations in Indonesia and Malaysia, The Malay Archipelago, was one of the most popular and influential journals of scientific exploration published during the 19th century.
Wallace did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace Line that divides Indonesia into two distinct parts, one in which animals closely related to those of Australia are common, and one in which the species are largely of Asian origin. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography". Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection. These included the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect, a hypothesis on how natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridization.
Wallace was strongly attracted to unconventional ideas. His advocacy of Spiritualism and his belief in a non-material origin for the higher mental faculties of humans strained his relationship with the scientific establishment, especially with other early proponents of evolution. In addition to his scientific work, he was a social activist who was critical of what he considered to be an unjust social and economic system in 19th-century Britain. His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. Wallace was a prolific author who wrote on both scientific and social issues; his account of his adventures and observations during his explorations in Indonesia and Malaysia, The Malay Archipelago, was one of the most popular and influential journals of scientific exploration published during the 19th century.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 19, 2015
A great selection of excerpts taken from Wallace's The Malay Archipelago and my pick of the Penguin Great Journey books so far.
The excerpts seem particularly well chosen, and in the introduction it even states It has proved nightmarishly hard to extract sections ... as each island on which Wallace lived has its own remarkable atmosphere. If there was one book in this series I am compelled to read in full it would, so far, be this one.
Having said that it is immediately apparent that this book will be disliked by many. At the time Wallace made his journeys and researched the flora and fauna, it was common practice to 'collect' as many samples as possible. As such it is pretty heartbreaking to read how many Orangutan he shoots during his time in Borneo.
The book starts with a fairly simple explanation of his theory known as the Wallace Line. Basically a theory of which parts of southeast Asia and Australia were joined together in the past, and how recently they have parted. This is based on the dispersion and evolution of various plants and animals located on each island a the time of his investigations. It isn't a long section, and it explains it very well.
Sections on Borneo (Orangutan, then the Hill Dyaks), Celebes [now Sulewesi, Indonesia] (birds & insects, then a description of the sea voyage to the Aru Islands), and the Aru Islands [close to West Papua, Indonesia] (the bird of paradise, and living in an inland village).
I found the whole thing fascinating, well written and richly descriptive.
The excerpts seem particularly well chosen, and in the introduction it even states It has proved nightmarishly hard to extract sections ... as each island on which Wallace lived has its own remarkable atmosphere. If there was one book in this series I am compelled to read in full it would, so far, be this one.
Having said that it is immediately apparent that this book will be disliked by many. At the time Wallace made his journeys and researched the flora and fauna, it was common practice to 'collect' as many samples as possible. As such it is pretty heartbreaking to read how many Orangutan he shoots during his time in Borneo.
The book starts with a fairly simple explanation of his theory known as the Wallace Line. Basically a theory of which parts of southeast Asia and Australia were joined together in the past, and how recently they have parted. This is based on the dispersion and evolution of various plants and animals located on each island a the time of his investigations. It isn't a long section, and it explains it very well.
Sections on Borneo (Orangutan, then the Hill Dyaks), Celebes [now Sulewesi, Indonesia] (birds & insects, then a description of the sea voyage to the Aru Islands), and the Aru Islands [close to West Papua, Indonesia] (the bird of paradise, and living in an inland village).
I found the whole thing fascinating, well written and richly descriptive.
March 11, 2014
It is a mistake to approach this little book with 21st century sensibilities and expectations. To an unprepared reader the approach to investigation of fauna will seem brutal, it should be remembered that this book, taken from Wallace's larger work on the Malay Archipelago, was written in a very different age, from the perspective of a very different world view. The value of the book lies in its introduction to 19th century mentality as much as an introduction to Wallace or in it's descriptions of a historic Malaysia and the flora and fauna therein. A very readable and quite compelling little book from a wonderful series, well worth reading.
January 27, 2026
More of an advertisement for Wallace's the Malay Archipelago than anything satisfying, the work being far too short, and the selections too dissimilar, for a narrative to ferment; it was akin to reading the first half of five different short stories. Wallace is strong writer, however, and an insightful thinker, this is just a failed attempt at capturing the work of an interesting man.
July 29, 2007
Penguin publishes a travel series called Great Journeys which promises readers an around-the-world trip in twenty books. It consists of traveling excerpt of famous people in the by-gone era. Writers also vary in terms of occupation, gender and nationality. I guess in the age of travel blogs, ordinary travel books become redundant. A simple googling results in a detailed and well-written travel recommendations and stories from just about anyone, anywhere. So, when I saw the series in the bookshop, I was intrigued and quickly snapped up a few.
This book is extracted from Wallace's famous work, The Malay Archipelago. The first part of the book, which is on the Wallace Line, was rather boring. Perhaps it is too scientific for my taste. However, as the book leans toward his experience, I was slowly engaged by his eloquent and descriptive writing. I particularly love his one-page description of durian and immediately craved for one after I finished reading it.
Wallace had a keen sense of observation which I guess is important for a naturalist. He was also a great traveler: he saw what he saw. His comment on the native inhabitants were kind and non-judgmental. In one part, he even apologized for calling the natives' toilet habits as disgusting. Ironically, in those age, it was quite alright to call the non-Europeans 'savages'.
His journey was indeed done in a different time. Traveling meant on foot and by boat. Even the boats differ on occasions, too: the slim Dayak boat for the depth of Kalimantan jungle, the cleverly-designed Bugis 'prau' to cross to Pulau Aru. He had to be careful of centipedes on his bed and fought a losing battle with mosquitoes. However, I love reading about the world when it was a much different place and traveling to exotic locations meant something else. I also learnt one thing: people of Kalimantan apparently wrote poems out of their love for the king of fruits, the durians. I have yet to hear one.
This book is extracted from Wallace's famous work, The Malay Archipelago. The first part of the book, which is on the Wallace Line, was rather boring. Perhaps it is too scientific for my taste. However, as the book leans toward his experience, I was slowly engaged by his eloquent and descriptive writing. I particularly love his one-page description of durian and immediately craved for one after I finished reading it.
Wallace had a keen sense of observation which I guess is important for a naturalist. He was also a great traveler: he saw what he saw. His comment on the native inhabitants were kind and non-judgmental. In one part, he even apologized for calling the natives' toilet habits as disgusting. Ironically, in those age, it was quite alright to call the non-Europeans 'savages'.
His journey was indeed done in a different time. Traveling meant on foot and by boat. Even the boats differ on occasions, too: the slim Dayak boat for the depth of Kalimantan jungle, the cleverly-designed Bugis 'prau' to cross to Pulau Aru. He had to be careful of centipedes on his bed and fought a losing battle with mosquitoes. However, I love reading about the world when it was a much different place and traveling to exotic locations meant something else. I also learnt one thing: people of Kalimantan apparently wrote poems out of their love for the king of fruits, the durians. I have yet to hear one.
March 20, 2026
What a strange world the 19th century was. An incredibly smart and perceptive naturalist travels to the far corners of the globe, and proceeds to shoot and skin like 9 orangutans and scores of other creatures? In the name of science? It's so odd what passed for normal behavior in that distant country, The Past.
June 21, 2019
I love this series, but this volume bothers me.
It highlights the attitude that lead to rare game hunting and intrusive exploration that has resulted in mass deforestation and extinction. It was the attitude of the time, but that does not forgive them of their sin.
It highlights the attitude that lead to rare game hunting and intrusive exploration that has resulted in mass deforestation and extinction. It was the attitude of the time, but that does not forgive them of their sin.
June 7, 2021
Alfred Russel Wallance, sang naturalis besar asal Inggris penemu teori Wallance line yang hampir seumur hidupnya dihabiskan di Bumi Nusantara ini, terutama di Pulau Bornoe (Kalimantan) dan Pulau Celebes (Sulawesi). Sir Alfred masuk ke pedalaman Borneo antara November 1855 sampai Januari 1856 melakukan riset berkepanjangan dan berhasil merumuskan teori Wallance Line yang kita kenal saat ini.
Membaca buku Wallance ini seakan kita diajak bertualang berkeliling Borneo mengenal penduduk asli Suku Dayak di masa lalu, berburu orang-utan, berburu aneka burung di Sulawesi untuk dijadikan spesimen penelitian dan memahami riwayat konstruksi rumah kayu di Sulawesi karena betapa dahulu seringnya terjadi gempa berkekuatan besar di tanah Sulawesi yang mampu meratakan satu kota di Benua Eropa. Selain kedua pulau besar yang dikunjungi itu, Sirr Alfred juga berkunjung ke kepulauan Aru hanya untuk melihat secara langsung bagaimana burung surga yang kita kenal sekarang ini dengan nama burung cendrawasi di habitat alaminya. Mengambil banyak spesimennya dan mengirimnya ke Inggris yang masih bisa kita temukan di museum-museum di sana saat ini.
Sirr Alfred tidak hanya mampu menemukan teori Wallance Line berkat ketekunannya meneliti selama bertahun-tahun di kepulauan Nusantara, beliau juga menuliskan jurnalnya yang kemudian diterbitkan dalam bentuk buku yang sangat menarik “Borneo, Celebes, Aru” dan buku super tebal “The Malay Archipelago” yang sampai saat ini belum mampu kuselesaikan saking tebalnya.
Banyak hal yang bisa dipelajari dari penuturan dan penelitian Wallance tentang tempat-tempat yang dikunjunginya di Nusantara terutama di Borneo “masa lalu” yang saat itu masih terjaga dan perawan, dibandingkan dengan Borneo masa kini yang sudah penuh luka akibat pembabatan hutan yang tak terkontrol dan tambang-tambang batu bara yang semena-mena. Wallance menunjukkan dengan jelas, betapa Bornoe saat itu memiliki keaneka ragaman hayati yang tidak bisa ditemukan di belahan bumi manapun. Bagaimana reaksi Walance jika sekiranya dia melihat Borneo saat ini, mungkin dia akan menyesal di alam kubrunya sana.
Membaca buku Wallance ini seakan kita diajak bertualang berkeliling Borneo mengenal penduduk asli Suku Dayak di masa lalu, berburu orang-utan, berburu aneka burung di Sulawesi untuk dijadikan spesimen penelitian dan memahami riwayat konstruksi rumah kayu di Sulawesi karena betapa dahulu seringnya terjadi gempa berkekuatan besar di tanah Sulawesi yang mampu meratakan satu kota di Benua Eropa. Selain kedua pulau besar yang dikunjungi itu, Sirr Alfred juga berkunjung ke kepulauan Aru hanya untuk melihat secara langsung bagaimana burung surga yang kita kenal sekarang ini dengan nama burung cendrawasi di habitat alaminya. Mengambil banyak spesimennya dan mengirimnya ke Inggris yang masih bisa kita temukan di museum-museum di sana saat ini.
Sirr Alfred tidak hanya mampu menemukan teori Wallance Line berkat ketekunannya meneliti selama bertahun-tahun di kepulauan Nusantara, beliau juga menuliskan jurnalnya yang kemudian diterbitkan dalam bentuk buku yang sangat menarik “Borneo, Celebes, Aru” dan buku super tebal “The Malay Archipelago” yang sampai saat ini belum mampu kuselesaikan saking tebalnya.
Banyak hal yang bisa dipelajari dari penuturan dan penelitian Wallance tentang tempat-tempat yang dikunjunginya di Nusantara terutama di Borneo “masa lalu” yang saat itu masih terjaga dan perawan, dibandingkan dengan Borneo masa kini yang sudah penuh luka akibat pembabatan hutan yang tak terkontrol dan tambang-tambang batu bara yang semena-mena. Wallance menunjukkan dengan jelas, betapa Bornoe saat itu memiliki keaneka ragaman hayati yang tidak bisa ditemukan di belahan bumi manapun. Bagaimana reaksi Walance jika sekiranya dia melihat Borneo saat ini, mungkin dia akan menyesal di alam kubrunya sana.
November 29, 2023
what a wonderful little book! such a fascinating insight into island culture and nature when still only a few westerners had set foot on those shores! hilarious little stories that make you look at things a little differently, and paint a picture of the world as it was back then - a new scientific age of enquiry coming up against old superstitions. Also fascinating contrasts between Russell’s interest for and awe of nature, and his heedless slaughter of excessive numbers of birds, orangutans and insects, among others, to be sent to the british museum etc.!
September 2, 2025
I hate and love reading these, extreme feelings in perfect balance. It is so raw and problematic and horrifying in sections that you can’t believe what you’re reading. The orangutan murders he relates in such detail are the worst thing I’ve read in my life. Their terror, vulnerability and tenderness in the face of violence is palpable and he writes those observations down in plain language. I am glad to know what Wallace did but my opinion of him as a historical figure is irrevocably changed. What a living nightmare.
December 15, 2012
As they say, you should never meet your heroes: they will disappoint. I’d always rather liked Wallace, the more dashing and impulsive of the great founders of evolutionary theory. Whilst Darwin was cautious and plodding, fearful even of the conclusions he was being required to reach on seeing the evidence of natural selection being laid out before him, Wallace took it all full on and forced the hand of his greater correspondent to go ahead and publish.
Reading these essays we find out more about what being dashing and adventurous actually meant: wandering around the islands of the East Indies decimating the population of poor orangutans.
The scenes of a hunt are often distressing. A grazing ape peers from the treetops curious at the activity below and receives a gunshot that blows his hip off. He staggers on for a while yet, looking for branches against which he can prop himself upright, all the while taking more wounds from the gunfire. Eventually he dies, in such an inconveniently wedged position that Wallace curses him and has to engage the services of local Malay lads to prise him down. Truly a grim business.
But all this happened in the mid-19th century when science was done by gentlemen explorers who had acquired obsessions about the fauna and flora of distant parts. Through their fastidiousness they invented scientific methodology (or at least updated it from the ancient Greek ideals), examining each stem or wing shape and wondering where it fitted in with the larger schema laid out in body and plant parts in their studies.
I’m glad we’ve got our wonderful theory of evolution to help us understand our true place in the universal order. Perhaps its knowing that which makes me grieve for those poor orangutan fellows: even as he was murdering them Wallace did as much as anyone else to help us understand, in the horror of their bloody deaths, they were, after all, our cousins.
Reading these essays we find out more about what being dashing and adventurous actually meant: wandering around the islands of the East Indies decimating the population of poor orangutans.
The scenes of a hunt are often distressing. A grazing ape peers from the treetops curious at the activity below and receives a gunshot that blows his hip off. He staggers on for a while yet, looking for branches against which he can prop himself upright, all the while taking more wounds from the gunfire. Eventually he dies, in such an inconveniently wedged position that Wallace curses him and has to engage the services of local Malay lads to prise him down. Truly a grim business.
But all this happened in the mid-19th century when science was done by gentlemen explorers who had acquired obsessions about the fauna and flora of distant parts. Through their fastidiousness they invented scientific methodology (or at least updated it from the ancient Greek ideals), examining each stem or wing shape and wondering where it fitted in with the larger schema laid out in body and plant parts in their studies.
I’m glad we’ve got our wonderful theory of evolution to help us understand our true place in the universal order. Perhaps its knowing that which makes me grieve for those poor orangutan fellows: even as he was murdering them Wallace did as much as anyone else to help us understand, in the horror of their bloody deaths, they were, after all, our cousins.
October 28, 2012
2009 bookcrossing:
I got this set of 20 for Christmas. It was a good deal with the book people. Anyway, that's beside the point! I was actually disappointed to discover that this collection is just 20 books of extracts from longer books. Stupidly I thought you'd be getting the whole book. I suppose it's a nice way to get introduced to a lot of historical travel writers without having to plough through entire books, but at the same time, if you're going to read a book, why not read all of it? Anyway, I shall read them all, as they do look interesting.
This particular one I have already read. It's from the 1800s and is the travel writings of a naturalist on three islands round Indonesia way. There's a couple of chapters on each of the islands mentioned in the title, and as well as telling us a bit about the fauna and flora, there's also a bit about the native people and travelling from here to there. It is interesting, but this old school naturalism of 'kill several specimins of everything you see' does get quite depressing. How these animals live in their natural environment seem to be completely irrelevant to him in this book. It's all about killing as much as possible so he'll have plenty of stuffed examples to take back to England, and lots of skeletons to put in display cases. The chapter on orang utang hunting is particularly depressing. He is just so unfeeling and arrogant in his supposed superiority. Ok, it's a child of its time, but to be honest, I think this taster was enough for me and I wouldn't want to read his entire works.
I got this set of 20 for Christmas. It was a good deal with the book people. Anyway, that's beside the point! I was actually disappointed to discover that this collection is just 20 books of extracts from longer books. Stupidly I thought you'd be getting the whole book. I suppose it's a nice way to get introduced to a lot of historical travel writers without having to plough through entire books, but at the same time, if you're going to read a book, why not read all of it? Anyway, I shall read them all, as they do look interesting.
This particular one I have already read. It's from the 1800s and is the travel writings of a naturalist on three islands round Indonesia way. There's a couple of chapters on each of the islands mentioned in the title, and as well as telling us a bit about the fauna and flora, there's also a bit about the native people and travelling from here to there. It is interesting, but this old school naturalism of 'kill several specimins of everything you see' does get quite depressing. How these animals live in their natural environment seem to be completely irrelevant to him in this book. It's all about killing as much as possible so he'll have plenty of stuffed examples to take back to England, and lots of skeletons to put in display cases. The chapter on orang utang hunting is particularly depressing. He is just so unfeeling and arrogant in his supposed superiority. Ok, it's a child of its time, but to be honest, I think this taster was enough for me and I wouldn't want to read his entire works.
March 20, 2022
With all of the books paying homage to works that are much longer, all of the books in the Penguin series of Great Journeys {each around one hundred - one hundred and fifty pages} offer the reader a glimpse into a much longer, possibly daunting, text that they may well have never considered. I know a few of them even made me want to take a look at the book from which the abridged excerpt had been taken ... others, well, not so much.
Try as I might not to approach this book with modern sensibilities {something I alas struggled with}; I'm afraid I just couldn't get passed the killing of the many animals {the Orang Utans or the Mias as Alfred Russel Wallace refers to them in particular} that seemed destined to end up stuffed in someone's library, their skeleton in a glass display case.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry
Try as I might not to approach this book with modern sensibilities {something I alas struggled with}; I'm afraid I just couldn't get passed the killing of the many animals {the Orang Utans or the Mias as Alfred Russel Wallace refers to them in particular} that seemed destined to end up stuffed in someone's library, their skeleton in a glass display case.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry
October 1, 2013
This was terrible! I read it during my flight to Borneo thinking I would learn something about the Orang Utans or the Mias as he calls them, and learn how these majestic creatures lived before modern influence. That was not at all what this book was about. This book was about how he was able to hunt and kill the apes using locals as paid guides. He complains about how they keep getting stuck in trees once he shoots them! Well no s*** sherlock. They are apes that live in trees. It wasn't even written in an exciting dangerous way like through the eyes of James Bond, instead you see him as a crotchety old man who complains about the food and keeps getting ill. There is zero insight into nature in this book. Pass it by.
July 2, 2009
Enjoyed this one from the series, really interesting to find out how he went about doing his jobs (shooting an insane amount of orangutangs) and his impressions of the people and customs of Borneo and especially Aru. A good quick read.
September 10, 2013
enjoyed the glimpse back in time
February 12, 2014
Excerpts from the Malay Archipelago - enjoyable.
August 3, 2015
Not my kind of book. If you're into wildlife and studies of species then this might be for you.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews