410 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



in the middle of an intensely dark night from 

 the shore and in canoes. The assailants were 

 on the point of boarding the steamer when 

 D'Albertis awoke. He was obliged to fire 

 upon the savages in order to save his life and 

 that of his crew. Continuing to ascend the 

 river, he spent two months in making collec- 

 tions, the few inhabitants whom they encoun- 

 tered fleeing at their approach. The insubor- 

 dination of the crew now gave the explorer 

 trouble, and finally obliged him to return. The 

 Chinamen deserted, and the three South-Sea 

 Islanders mutinied. Moreover, the drought 

 had greatly reduced the volume of the river, 

 and made it probably impossible to carry out 

 his plans. After chasing the Chinamen down 

 the river, he attempted to ascend again to the 

 point where a bar of pebbles had stopped the 

 passage, and there wait until the rains came. 

 The natives attacked them, and he was reluc- 

 tantly obliged to use guns to frighten them off. 

 In a tropical thunderstorm the boat was driven 

 upon a sand-bank and left high and dry by the 

 receding tide, while the natives, summoned by 

 horns and drums, assembled from far and near 

 and were dancing their war-dances a few rods 

 away. They did not attack, however, before 

 the next tide carried the boat off. Two of his 

 sailors deserted; and the remaining one and 

 the engineer were both sick, and D'Albertis 

 himself in a low condition, when they made 

 the perilous return voyage across Torres Straits 

 again to Thursday Island. The highest point 

 reached in this third voyage up the Fly River 

 was 475 miles from the mouth, or 45 to 50 

 miles this side of the farthest point touched in 

 the preceding year's voyage. There are prob- 

 ably other large streams emptying into the 

 delta of the Fly River. This part of New 

 Guinea does not appear promising as a field 

 for colonization, on account of the slight ele- 

 vation of the vast plain of which it is made up, 

 which is covered with interminable forests and 

 grassy meadow-lands, and is to a large extent 

 submerged during the wet season. Although 

 very fertile, the lowlands at the mouth of the 

 river would probably never do for the abode of 

 white settlers. The depth and length of the Fly 

 River adapt it admirably for navigation, and 

 the mountainous regions toward its source, be- 

 tween 5 and 6 south latitude, are probably 

 wholesome and are rich in many natural prod- 

 ucts; yet it is questionable whether, unless 

 valuable minerals should be discovered there, 

 it would prove a profitable field for either col- 

 onization or 'commerce. Its products, as far 

 as is known, are vegetable substances, several 

 of them quite valuable. There are numerous 

 commercial woods ; the nutmeg grows in abun- 

 dance, and gums and resins of value are found 

 in the woods. The fauna of New Guinea is 

 yet far from being fully known. Large ani- 

 mals are of course absent. 



D'Albertis recommends Yule Island and the 

 neighboring coast as the most favorable spot 

 to plant a colony the island on account of 



the salubrity of the climate, its convenient sit- 

 uation, and its harbor ; the adjacent mainland 

 on account of its well-watered lands and its 

 intelligent, well-conditioned, and industrious 

 inhabitants. From a hill-top about 1,200 feet 

 high, a level plain sprinkled with lagoons, 

 through the middle of which courses the 

 Amama or Hilda River, which flows from the 

 north into the Nicura a short distance above 

 its mouth, carpeted with succulent grasses, 

 stretches out as far as the eye can reach. The 

 Amama is deep enough for navigation, but ia 

 rendered impassable by innumerable snags. 

 The rivers and lagoons abound in fish of many 

 kinds, and some of them of large size. These 

 form the principal nourishment of the inhab- 

 itants of the villages on their banks, who also 

 pursue diligently the cultivation of bananas, 

 yams, and taro (Arum). Breadfruit-trees are 

 also abundant. The inhabitants of the village 

 of Bioto, containing four or five hundred souls, 

 were the finest-looking and strongest people 

 that he saw in all New Guinea. They were 

 very good-natured, and exceedingly garrulous, 

 chattering the whole night through. A few 

 miles away is another large village, containing 

 forty or fifty houses bordering a long street, 

 in the midst of extensive plantations of ba- 

 nanas. In the middle of the village are two 

 roomy mareas facing each other. These are 

 the reception-houses in which the hospitalities 

 of the village are exercised, and belong to the 

 four chiefs, who eat their meals therein. The 

 village bachelors sleep in these large huts ; and 

 they also serve as places of reunion, where the 

 talkative villagers gossip away many an hour. 

 Their walls are hung with nets, weapons, and 

 old shields. The toilet of the young men is a 

 long process : their hair is carefully combed, 

 their faces stained with black, red, or yellow 

 colors, and their ornaments carefully arranged. 

 The houses are built on the stumps of trees, 

 with their floors about ten feet above the 

 ground ; their walls are of wood, and their 

 roofs of the leaves of the nipa palm. They are 

 lower in the rear than in front, and present 

 the appearance of inverted boots cut in two. 

 After dressing, the men spend the cool hours 

 of the morning in twisting cords for their nets, 

 and the women in cleaning the huts and cook- 

 ing the early meal. Four meals a day are eat- 

 en. Their food consists of bananas, yams, taro, 

 sago, and breadfruit, the flesh of the emu and 

 the kangaroo, and fish ; but, notwithstanding 

 the abundance of these articles, they eat also 

 snakes, frogs, fresh-water turtles, and the lar- 

 vse of different insects. They are very fond 

 of a fresh-water mussel called ebe, whose shells 

 furnish a variety of implements; with these 

 they clear their path in the forest, cutting 

 down a thick bamboo-stalk as quickly as with 

 a hatchet ; with them they clean the fiber of 

 which they make the cords for their fish-nets ; 

 they use them for spoons ; and with pieces of 

 them they bore holes in wood, or with great 

 dexterity draw out splinters and thorns. The 



