Chap, xvii.] HUMBOLDT BAY. 375 



A large flock of the very widely spread bird, the Phalarope 

 {Phalaropus hyperboreus), was seen flying over the drift-wood. 

 The birds no doubt follow the timber out from shore, and 

 roost on it. In England we consider this bird as one of our 

 visitors from the far north. It seems strange to meet with 

 it at New Guinea. It was previously known from the Aru 

 Islands. Some specimens shot had small surface Crustacea 

 in their stomachs. 



The various smaller animals no doubt congregate about the 

 drift-wood because it seems to act as a sort of sieve or screen, 

 and to concentrate amongst it the surface animals on which 

 they feed. 



The Charles Louis Mountains seem to be one of the most 

 promising fields in the world yet remaining unexplored by the 

 naturalist. They no doubt contain an Alpine flora which 

 might prove allied to that of New Zealand, since the great 

 mountain of Kini Ballu in Borneo has southern forms of plants 

 at its top ; probably there will also be found on these high 

 mountains allies of the New Zealand Parrots of the genus 

 Nestor, one species of which {Nestor notabite) is Alpine in its 

 range. There is a Nestor in Norfolk Island, and the genus 

 Dasyptilus of New Guinea is allied to Nestor. 



"Talok Lintju " or Humboldt Bay, February 23rd and 24th, 

 1875.— We sighted the New Guinea Coast as a dark purple 

 line along the horizon, with its upper margin hidden in banks 

 of mist, at about mid-day. On February 23rd, as we approached 

 nearer, in the afternoon, the misty clouds lifted somewhat, and 

 the sharp peak, the highest point of the Cyclops Mountains, 

 6,200 feet in height, lying just to the north of our destina- 

 tion, Humboldt Bay, showed out isolated and clear above the 

 banic of cloud which concealed all the lower parts of the 

 range. 



The opening into Humboldt Bay, between Cape Caillie on 

 the north-west, and Cape Bonpland on the south-east, both 

 precipitous and rocky, became gradually well defined. The 

 coast appeared far nearer to us than it was, and its distance 

 was judged at six miles when it in reality was at least 25 

 miles. 



Between 5 and 6 o'clock, the mist lifted almost entirely 

 from the Cyclops Mountains, and they were seen to consist of 

 a series of irregular peaks and sinuous sharp ridges culminating 

 in the one simple terminal peak, which had been seen before 

 above the clouds. The mountain is thickly wooded to the 

 very apex, as could plainly be seen with a telescope. The 

 lines of trees which showed out against the sky along the out- 

 line of the mountain and its ridges showed few or no Palms. 



