W HITFjA Sketch of the Life of Samuel White. 



cockatoos and parrots of the most brilliant plumage, and evpry 

 conceivable hue were brought to me, generaly tied by the h^g 

 to a piece of bamboo bent into the shape of a triangle, and it 

 is surprising how tame they appear. This is no doubt due to the 

 training they get. The natives are continually mauling every 

 thing they have, either dead or alive, and are often very cruel 

 to them ; indeed they have neither thought nor feeling for them. 

 J*oor wounded birds are tied by the legs to a stick and kei)t 

 hanging and tluttering till the leg mortifies, or they die of star- 

 vation. The do.us they have about them are diminutive, ill look- 

 ing, half-starved mangy curs, and can be useful for nothing but 

 making a noise. The brutes are a })est and source of constant 

 anxiety. When I camp near a village, they ijrowl about 

 all night, and if anything is left within their reach they 

 are sure to carry it off. I know not what religious 

 views the Aru people possess, or if they have any. 

 All the natives have canoes, and the larger prau is 

 plentiful, the former being a mere "dug-out", made 

 out of a solid log hollowed out in the centre, and they are 

 from IS to 30 feet long, by 12 to IS inches wide, well-formed, 

 sharp at both ends, and have a good shear. Some have a couple 

 of cross beams projecting over each side 4 to 5 feet, and have a 

 piece of bamboo or cocoanut fastened fore and aft, with rattan 

 to form an outrigger, and give the craft more stability. These 

 boats will liold 8 or 4 or even B to S men who propel them with 

 short spade-like paddles at a good pace. The larger vessels 

 are much better craft, they are regularly and ingeniously built 

 (►n a keel, which does not add much to the draft of the craft. 

 Every plaidi is hewn out of a solid log, and cleats are left every 

 two feet in the solid wdod; these cleats when the planks are in 

 their places, come opposit'^ to each other, and form rows from 

 keel to gunwale. These, after they have been boarded ver- 

 ticalh% are fitted with bent pieces of wood made to fit and 

 touch everv cleat, and are laced down to them with rattan, 

 these form the timbers of the shi]), and the planks ai--e hewn to 

 an inch or an inch and a half in thickness with the cleats about 

 two or three inches deep. The scarfs are generally curved, 

 and about a foot long, the plank being laced to the keel, the lat- 

 ter in some instances beinu' continued at one end to S or 10 feet 

 above the craft, and ornamented at the top. The planks are 

 bevelled one edge to the other as well as being laced, 

 and the whole is made tight by caulking with cocoa 

 nut fibiv. These boats usually have a deck of split bam- 

 boo lashed down with rattan, and a small neat house built on 



