44 AEE RECEIVED IN A FRIENDLY MANNER. 



the tribe to which he beloiig-ed^ a matter which had 

 frequently puzzled me before. In the afternoon the 

 Bramble— as told us by the natives — appeared in 

 sig'ht^ but we could not reach Darnley Island^ so 

 anchored after dark in forty-five fathoms, mud, 

 seven miles to the northward of it. 



Dec. 11th.— A light air from the N.W. carried us 

 up to the anchorage in Treacherous Bay about 

 noon. A canoe from the village of Kiriam came 

 off to us, and lay under our stern bartering tortoise- 

 shell for knives, axes, and tobacco, and when we 

 shoved off in the first cutter to communicate with 

 the shore, one of the natives, on being asked to 

 accompany us, jumped into the water without a 

 moment's hesitation, and swam to the boat. We 

 landed at Kiriam, and were received by a crowd 

 of people on the rocks and in the water. My old 

 fi'iend SiAvai, with whom I had gone through the 

 ceremony of exchanging* names nearly five years 

 ago, shewed much joy at seeing me again, and 

 made many inquiries regarding* Jukes and others 

 then in the Fly. But these five years have sadly 

 altered him,— he now presents the appearance of a 

 feeble emaciated man prematurely old, Avith a short 

 cough and low voice, — his back is bowed down, and 

 even with the aid of a stick he can scarcely totter 

 along. He is now the man in most authority in 

 the island, his rival Mamus having been killed in 

 New Guinea in company with several other Darnley 

 Islanders whose names were mentioned to me ] they 



