( 59 ) 



one of Doherty's letters ex])lam these pecnliarities to some extent. " In regard 

 to the Geelvink Bay, I may remark that in the east the name is applied only to 

 the area south of Jobi and Miosnom. Mafor and Biak are spoken of as being in the 

 Pacifie. The Geelvink Bay is of immense depth, being probably but little under 

 lUdil fathoms' depth as far south as Wandammen and Yaur. It is true that 

 soundings have not been taken, but the thing is obvious from the difficulty of 

 finding anchorage, the bottom generally descending almost sheer from the shore, 

 just as in the Banda Sea, the deepest enclosed water in the world. The sounding 

 4800 fathoms is not given in the latest charts, but 4200 is exceeding any part of 

 the Atlantic, except a small tract near the Bahamas. This is important, as Wallace 

 made the error of putting everything south of Mafor and Biak within the 100- 

 fathom line. The small Meosauri Islands between Ron and Jobi (I do not mean 

 Meoswar north-east of Ron !) also rise from deep sea, and on the north and south 

 coasts of Jobi the sea is also deep. To the east of Jobi, the great river Mambirarau, 

 Ciilled " Ambernoh " on tlie ma])s, has in modern times filled np the sea so as to 

 place the small island of Eurudu and the eastern end of Jobi in shallow water 

 and entirely to surround with a marshy delta at least one ancient island which I 

 saw east of Knrndn. I do not think it has any name, and this district is wholly 

 unexplored. (.)wing to the great differences between the Jobi and the Waropen 

 fauna, it is obvious that there was once deep sea over all the delta of the 

 Mambiramu or Amb(5rnoh. The whole of the Waropen coast is fairly shallow 

 for some distance from the shore, no doubt owing to the outflow of the rivers. 

 The sea between Mafor and Biak seems also deep, so that the remarkable 

 resemblance of their fauna is a curious fact.* 



" The people of Jobi are unusually handsome and, for Papuans, almost polite ; 

 but Ansns in j)articular is known for its continual massacres of foreigners. The 

 people have a hearty contempt for the Dutch. There is, as you are aware, no 

 government whatever in Dutch New Guinea — not a single Dutch official, white or 

 brown. Sorong, however, belongs to the Mohammedan Rajah of Salwatty, and the 

 Dorey Bay has been rendered safe by the missionaries, though the natural brutality 

 of the j)eople has not been altered, and, I believe, no converts have been made 

 except among the slaves bought when children by the missionaries. All the time 

 I was on Jobi the natives were fighting gaily near Dorey." 



On Jobi Mr. Doherty had the great misfortune to lose Pambu, a Lepcha, whom 

 he calls his right-hand man, who was with him since 1889, and of whom he speaks 

 in the highest terms. Poor Pamba was murdered by the savages of Jobi, either 

 by the Ansus people or the hill-tribes. The day after this murder two other of 

 Doherty's men, Ram Persad and Haidar Ali, were shot at, but escaped. Mr. 

 Doherty himself, however, was not attacked, though collecting alone and unarmed 

 in the jungle. All the Ansus men volunteered to undergo the boiling-water ordeal 

 to prove their innocence. When Doherty went to the hill-villages with a Ternate 

 trader and his armed slaves, accompanied by hundreds of armed Ansnsers, he found 

 the places deserted, and the Aususers offered successively one, two and three slaves 

 to keep the murder quiet. 



The climate of Jobi is very deadly, and it rained all the time of Doherty's stay 

 at Ansus. 



The southern shores of Geelvink Bay are interesting to ornithiilogists, but we 



* It will be seen in the course of our articles that, at least among the birds, there are not a few 

 differences between the forms from .Mafor and Biak (Sohouten Islands). (W. K. and K. H.) 



