'214 



Mineralogy. — "On p/iosp/ioi'ite of tlie isle of Ajmr/'". By Prof. 



A. WiCHMANN. 



(Communicated in the meeting of May 29, 1915). 



The isle of Ajawi or Mies Kain'i, situated at 0°lG7j' S. Lat. and 

 J35°5' E. Long, northwest of the Schouten Islands was discovered 

 on Febr. the 15''' 1700 by Wit.liam Uampier. When he intended 

 to sail between this island and the neighbouring isle of Aifondi he 

 scarcely escaped being shipwrecked. This fortunate escape indu- 

 ced him to call this group the Providence Islands '). Though it 

 was afterwards often enough seen, Ajawi was never visited by 

 Europeans. When the New Uuinea Expedition of 1903 was on their 

 way to the Mapia Islands, they were of opinion that they should 

 not let the opportunity pass by to take likewise a view of this 

 isolated i.sland. 



After Aifondi was left in the morning of the 19"' of July by 

 the government steamer "Zeemeeuw", Ajawi was reached after 

 3'/s hours' ste£iming. Already from a distance it appeared that the 

 island, covered with forests, was low, but that the eastern part was 

 formed by rocks of a] phautastic shape. At about 2 km. distance 

 from the south-coast the ship cast anchor in 13 fathoms, whereupon 

 the yawl took all tlie participants to the south-west-corner. This part, 

 rising hardly 3 m. above the level of the sea, consists of coral sand 

 with blocks of coral besides boulders of a white rather gross-grained 

 and hard but porous limestone which contains, according to L. Rutten, 

 numerous specimens of Rotalia. They call the attention to the fact 

 that the rock must be considered as subrecent'). The ground is 

 covered by a thin forest, consisting of specimens of Pandanus, about 

 16 m. high, in which enormous flocks of the beautiful NiCobara 

 pigeons {CaJoenas nicoharica) nestle"). There were no human inhabi- 

 tants and from the absence of coconut-palms the conclusion may 

 be drawn, that permanent settlements have never existed. 



In the eastern and north-eastern part of the island compact lime- 

 stones occur, which however differ from the above-mentioned ones. 



') A Voyage to New Holland, etc. in the year 1699. A Collection of Voyages 

 'M ed. 3. London 172't, p. 195. On the map Ajawi was indicated as Little Provi- 

 dence and Aifondi as Great Providence. 



*) Foraminiferen-fiihrende Gesteine von Niederlandisch Neu-Guinea. Nova Guinea 

 6. 2. Leiden 1914, p. 30. 



^) Maatschappij ter bevordering van hel Natuurkundig Onderzoek der Neder- 

 landsche Koloniën. Bulletin No. 46. 1903, p.p. 35 — 36. — H. A. Lorentz, Eenige 

 maanden onder de Papoea's. Leiden 1905, pp. 201—202. 



