HARBOURS INSIDE THE BARRIER REEF. 61 



below^ probably of debris^ while the flat top slopes 

 backwards with a very g*entle declivity. Owen 

 Stanley B-ang-e ag-ain presented quite a different as- 

 pect as seen on the occasion alluded to, when nearly 

 one half of its whole leng-th (300 miles) from Mount 

 Yule to Heath Bay was in full view : the outline was 

 irreg'ular but never suddenly so, and no peaks or 

 other remarkable points were seen. 



I may mention here in relation to this part of 

 New Guinea, thoug-h not in continuance of the nar- 

 rative, that the Barrier Keef, beginning" (or ending*), 

 at Low Island, is continued to the southward and 

 eastward for 150 miles, as far as Cape Colombier, 

 g-enerally following the tread of the coast, at a dis- 

 tance off it of from three to fifteen miles. A long- 

 strip of apparently navigable water is thus enclosed 

 between the reef and the shore, with numerous pas- 

 sag-es, many of which appeared to be clear to Lieut. 

 Yule as he passed along" close to the outer marg-in 

 of the reef. Some g'ood harbours doubtless exist 

 here ; the Bramble passed throug-h Roundhead 

 Entrance and found g"ood anchorag'e in fifteen 

 fathoms immediately inside. The v/hole of this 

 extent of coast appeared to be well peopled. On 

 the western side of Mount Astrolabe, for instance, 

 numerous villag-es and patches of cultivated land 

 were seen from the Bramble. 



Both in Redscar Ba}"^ and for the first two or 

 three days after leaving- it numbers of sag'o palms, 

 some quite recent, were observed on the water, occa- 



