150 SCLA.TEB, ON THE ZOOLOGY OF NEW GUINEA. 



figured by Sonnerat were provided with scientific names by Sco- 

 poli in tbe second part of his ' Deliciae Faunae et Florae Insubricae' 

 (fol. Ticini, 1786) ; and these authors are therefore our earliest 

 authorities on Papuan ornithology. 



In 1818 MM. Quoy and Gaimard, in the French discovery-ship 

 ' Uranie,' visited Guebe, Waigiou and Rawak, and in the " Zoo- 

 logy" of their voyage described three or four species of birds from 

 these islands, but do not appear to have brought anything from 

 the main coast of New Guinea. 



The next era in the scientific exploration of this country is one 

 of considerable importance. From the 26th of July to the 9th of 

 August, 1824, the French discovery-ship ' Coquille,' remained at 

 anchor in a harbour in the north-eastern part of the Bay of Geel- 

 vink, named by the French " Havre-Dorey." The well-known 

 naturalist Lesson was attached to this expedition, as also M. 

 Garnot. During their twelve days' stay they procured, amongst 

 other objects of natural history, about fifty species of birds, the 

 greater part of which were quite new to science and were after- 

 wards described by them in their joint work upon the zoology of 

 the expedition. M. Lesson's other works, his ' Traite ' and ' Manuel 

 d'Ornithologie,' and ' Histoire des Paradisiers,' &c, likewise 

 contain many interesting notices arising from observations made 

 during his sojourn on this spot. 



Three years afterwards, in 1827, a second French discovery- 

 ship, the Astrolabe, under the command of Dumont d'Urville, 

 passed another twelve days in the same place. MM. Quoy and 

 Gaimard, who were again the naturalists of this expedition, ob- 

 tained, on this occasion, twelve additional novelties in ornithology, 

 which they afterwards described and figured in the ' Zoology of 

 the Voyage of the Astrolabe.' 



The next event to be recorded in the scientific history of Papua 

 sprang from the energy of a different people. A few months 

 after this, in the beginning of 1828, the Government of Holland 

 sent the corvette 'Triton ' and schooner ' Iris ' from Batavia to found 

 a settlement on the west coast of New Guinea. The expedition 

 had on board a royal commissioner and several members of the 

 scientific commission which was then engaged in tbe exploration of 

 the Dutch possessions in the East Indies. They first explored the 

 Dourga Strait on the southern coast, and thence returning north- 

 wards, discovered in the district called Lobo, what they de- 

 scribed as a deep and spacious bay shut in by elevated land, and 

 of a picturesque aspect. There they commenced their establish- 



