X.] THE WEDA ISLANDS. 247 



outlying reefs, and the deep blue water ran up to the very edge 

 of the coral. "We sought for an anchorage in vain. For some 

 time we obtained no bottom at one hundred fathoms, and as our 

 best cast only offered us a depth of fifty-two fathoms within a few 

 yards of the reef, we had to be content to land for a few hours, 

 while the yacht remained under way a mile or two off the coast. 



The little archipelago extended to the west and north ; a nest 

 of low and thickly -wooded islands with belts of yellow sand 

 surrounding them. That on which we landed was of no great 

 breadth, and on crossing to the farther shore we found that a reef, 

 just flush with the water, ran apparently for an interminable 

 distance to the eastwards, dotted here and there with tiny islets. 

 Three or four miles away a faint white line was \dsible, and a dull 

 roar as of distant thunder told us — the chart to the contrary not- 

 withstanding — that it indicated the limit of the group in that 

 direction. There is always a strong element of fascination about 

 an uninhabited island, more especially if it be unknown or nearly so, 

 and our ramble was a very enjoyable one, although hardly as 

 productive as might have been expected. We did not find a 

 single specimen of Caloenas, as we had hoped, but other pigeons 

 were extremely abundant. iSTotable among these was a Cari:)0^1iaga 

 of large size and shining gTcen plumage (C. myristicivorci), interest- 

 ing from the fact that it has liitherto been supposed to be confined to 

 New Guinea and the true Papuan Islands. We shot two specimens 

 of a cuckoo almost identical with our own well-known bird — its 

 Eastern representative, in fact — but our chief prize was a new 

 scarlet lory of great beauty, closely allied to Eos riciniata of the 

 Moluccas, and intermediate between the latter and a bird of the 

 same genus discovered by Mr. Wallace in Waigiou.^ With this 

 single novelty we had to be content, for without an anchorage a 

 longer stay on the islands was impracticable. We therefore re- 

 embarked and sailed the same evening, setting our course between 

 Popa and the Kommerust group for the islands of New Guinea. 

 1 Vide frontispiece, vol. ii. 



