# Alfred Russel Wallace on the Aru Islands

Alfred Russel Wallace visited the Aru Islands (off the southwest coast of New Guinea, in present-day Indonesia) from January to July 1857, during his eight-year expedition through the Malay Archipelago (1854-1862). His time there was one of the most productive and personally significant periods of his entire journey.

## Journey and Arrival

Wallace traveled from Macassar (Makassar) on Sulawesi aboard a native trading prau, arriving at Dobbo (now Dobo) on the small island of Wamar on January 8, 1857. Dobbo was the trading hub of the Aru group, where Bugis, Chinese, and Macassar traders gathered seasonally to exchange goods for trepang (sea cucumber), pearl shell, tortoiseshell, edible birds' nests, and bird-of-paradise plumes.

## Primary Goals

Wallace's main objective was to obtain specimens of the Greater Bird of Paradise (*Paradisaea apoda*), which he eventually achieved—he was among the first Europeans to observe and shoot these birds in their native habitat and to describe their behavior in detail. He also wanted to document the islands' biogeography, as Aru's fauna had close affinities with that of New Guinea and Australia.

## Locations and Activities

After spending time at Dobbo collecting in the surrounding forest, Wallace traveled inland to a village called Wanumbai on the larger island of Aru proper. There he stayed in a longhouse with local people for several weeks, collecting birds, insects, and mammals despite suffering from infected sores on his legs (likely from insect bites that became ulcerated), which eventually forced him to return to Dobbo.

## Major Collections and Discoveries

Wallace's Aru collections were spectacular:
- About 9,000 specimens overall
- Multiple species of birds of paradise, including the King Bird of Paradise (*Cicinnurus regius*)
- Tree kangaroos and cuscuses (marsupials demonstrating the islands' Australasian affinities)
- Many new species of butterflies and beetles, including the magnificent *Ornithoptera poseidon* birdwing butterfly
- Numerous parrots, cockatoos, and other distinctive birds

## Biogeographical Significance

Wallace's observations on Aru were crucial to his developing ideas about biogeography. He noted that despite Aru being separated from New Guinea by a deep-looking strait, the fauna was essentially identical—suggesting former land connections. The presence of marsupials, cassowaries, and birds of paradise, with no monkeys, cats, or other typically Asian mammals, helped him formulate the concept of distinct faunal regions. This work contributed to what would become known as "Wallace's Line."

## Personal Hardships

Wallace endured considerable difficulties: tropical ulcers that confined him for weeks, fevers, the constant struggle to preserve specimens in humid conditions, and occasional encounters with pirates that threatened the trading community at Dobbo.

## Published Account

Wallace devoted several chapters of his classic 1869 book *The Malay Archipelago* to the Aru Islands. His descriptions of the bird of paradise displays, the trading culture at Dobbo, and the indigenous Aruese people are considered some of the finest natural history writing of the Victorian era. He also published scientific papers on his Aru observations in journals like the *Annals and Magazine of Natural History*.

The Aru visit was particularly meaningful to Wallace personally—he wrote with genuine emotion about finally seeing the birds of paradise, creatures that had fascinated him since childhood and which existed nowhere else on Earth.
