FISHING FOR SHARKS 45 



the South face of the mountain. Still further East 

 from Mount Carstensz could be seen yet other ridges, 

 apparently a continuation of the Carstensz ridge. 

 Occasionally these were covered with snow in the early 

 morning, but no other points of permanent snow could 

 be seen from the Mimika, and indeed there is no other 

 until Mount Wilhelmina is reached more than one 

 hundred miles to the East. But studying the mountains 

 with field glasses was an occupation which could only 

 be pursued for a short time, for the clouds formed 

 early on the ridges and by nine o'clock at the latest 

 all the higher mountains were hidden from view. 



During the first two days that we lay off the Mimika 

 we were visited by numbers of natives in canoes, who 

 came some to trade and some merely to stare at the 

 ship and the people on board. The articles that they 

 brought for sale consisted chiefly of fish, coconuts and 

 bananas of a very poor kind, though we afterwards 

 came to regard these latter as a delicious luxury. They 

 also brought a few young pigs, young cassowaries, and 

 other birds and they received payment in beads, scraps 

 of cloth, empty bottles and tins and pieces of metal. 

 It is worth while to record, as showing the indolence 

 of these people, that on the third day no natives came 

 to visit us. Those who had before come to look at 

 us had presumably satisfied their curiosity, while the 

 others who had come to barter were content with the 

 treasures they had won, although they might have 

 added greatly to their wealth if they had had the energy 

 to catch a few fish or pick a few more coconuts. 



Another occupation, which served to pass the time, 



