PROCEEDINOS Or SECTION E. 529 



circumnavigated the island and made a very adventurous voyage. 

 We beat up the wide bay seeking for an anchorage, but did not find one 

 until about 4 p.m. I noticed near the anchorage some large dead trees 

 standing in the water some little distance from the shore. These cer- 

 tainly seemed to indicate that there was a subsidence of the coastline 

 at this place. There were no signs of natives about. All those beautiful 

 islands, and nearly the whole of the shores of the sound, were quite un- 

 inhabited, and, indeed, with the exception of a few villages near the 

 north and south ends and some inland villages, the whole of that fine 

 island of Ysabel, which was teeming with population 334 years pre- 

 viously, when the Spaniards first discovered the group, was then without 

 inhabitants. The head-hunters of New Georgia are responsible for this 

 to a considerable extent, but there must, I think, have been some other 

 reasons for this great decrease. 



Next day — June 15th — we got under way about 9 a.m., biit found 

 it quite impossible to make any headway against the strong tide which 

 was rushing through the sound, and we were glad to find a spot in which 

 we could drop anchor. At 2 p.m. we made a fresh start and got to 

 anchor at the village of Kia, near Port Praslin. One part of Mr. 

 Mahaffy's duties was to find and, if possible, arrest two men who had 

 committed a murder near Kusagi Point, on New Georgia. At Kia he 

 found that the two criminals had called there, but had gone to another 

 place on the coast about 40 miles away. They took a boy with them 

 when they left New Georgia, but came there without him, and there was 

 little doubt that they murdered the poor lad on the way and probably 

 ate him. Mr. Mahaffy offered a reward for their apprehension, but this 

 was all he could do. At night we went ashore and got some water near 

 the large canoe houses. The water was brought down from the hill- 

 sides in pipes made of bamboo, so we got it pure and clear, and there 

 was no difficulty in filling the bags. Next day — June 16th — we left the 

 anchorage and sailed for about two miles, and then out to sea up a very 

 fine passage. We cleared the passage at 8 a.m., and had a very fine run 

 the most of the day. Towards night the wind freshened, and from 

 many signs some of us were of the opinion that we were going to have 

 rough weather, and the Lahloo was hove to under close reefs with main- 

 sail stowed most of the night. Some on board no doubt managed to 

 get a little sleep from time to time, but I was on the weather side, and 

 the sofa had no lee-boards, and after the Lahloo had several times 

 rolled the bed, pillows, books, clothes, and everything which usually 

 get piled up on a bunk — including the drowsy passenger — under the 

 table or amongst the boxes on the cabin floor, I decided to camp down 

 on the floor itself. Next dav— June 17th — we had a strong easterly 

 wind and a heavy sea, which got rougher as the day advanced. We 

 were close hauled until we sighted the atoll, and as soon as our exact 

 position was obtained the captain decided to run for a passage to leeward, 

 as we could not reach the windward passage without beating, and, with 

 the heavy sea running, that would have been a very uncomfortable 

 operation. Captain Potts and Captain Perry went up aloft as we neared 

 the reef, for the work of piloting a smart schooner running before a stiff 

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