# Alfred Russel Wallace in the Aru Islands

Alfred Russel Wallace spent approximately **six months** (January-July 1857) in the Aru Islands (now part of Indonesia's Maluku province), one of the most productive and significant periods of his eight-year exploration of the Malay Archipelago.

## The Journey and Motivation

Wallace traveled to Aru specifically to collect birds of paradise, which were highly prized specimens virtually unknown to science. The islands were remote and rarely visited by Europeans. He arrived with his young Malay assistant Ali and several local helpers.

## Major Discoveries and Collections

**Birds of Paradise**: Wallace successfully collected multiple species, including:
- The Great Bird of Paradise (*Paradisaea apoda*)
- The King Bird of Paradise
- The Red Bird of Paradise

His specimens were the first complete examples with feet intact to reach Europe (the local trade had traditionally removed the feet, leading to myths that the birds were footless and never landed).

**Other significant collections**:
- Thousands of insect specimens, including spectacular butterflies
- Various other bird species
- He amassed one of his largest and most valuable collections during this stay

## Living Conditions and Observations

Wallace lived in native villages, primarily at Dobbo (the main trading settlement) and Wanumbai. He described:
- The annual trading season when Bugis and Chinese traders arrived
- Local customs and daily life of the Aru people
- The unique flat, forested geography of the islands
- Dense forests and challenging collecting conditions

## Scientific Significance

The Aru experience was crucial for Wallace's developing biogeographical theories:
- He noted the strong Australian affinity of Aru's fauna (the islands lie on the Sahul Shelf)
- This contrasted sharply with the Asian character of fauna just to the west
- These observations contributed to his understanding of zoogeographical boundaries (later formalized as the Wallace Line)

## The "Species Problem"

During his Aru stay, Wallace was actively thinking about the origin of species. This period came just before his famous 1858 insights at Ternate. The biological diversity and distribution patterns he observed in Aru fed directly into his theoretical work.

## Writings

Wallace devoted several vivid chapters to Aru in his classic book **"The Malay Archipelago"** (1869), describing:
- His first sight of Birds of Paradise in the wild (which he called one of the great moments of his life)
- Hunting and collecting experiences
- Interactions with local people and traders
- Natural history observations

His accounts of witnessing displaying Birds of Paradise are considered among the finest nature writing of the Victorian era.

## Legacy

The Aru expedition demonstrated Wallace's:
- Courage and endurance as an explorer
- Skill as a collector
- Keen observational abilities
- Ability to work effectively in remote, challenging conditions

The specimens he collected contributed significantly to European museums and helped fund his continued explorations. The journey remains one of the most celebrated episodes in the history of natural history exploration.
