XIV.] DOBBO. 337 



We left the harbour by the eastern entrance on the night of 

 December 1st, and set our course east by south so as to pass to the 

 north of the Xusa Tello Islands, a little-known group lying west- 

 ward of the Ke Islands. Two islands — Topper's Hoedje and Little 

 Fortune — were marked in the English chart as lying in our track, 

 but we passed almost over their assigned position without sighting 

 them, and there is no doubt that they do not exist. On the 

 morning of the 3rd we made the Aru Islands, and little more than 

 an hour later came to anchor in Dobbo Harbour. 



The Aru Islands, which are connected by shoal water with 

 New Guinea and have a strictly Papuan fauna, are very numerous, 

 although closely grouped together. They run north and south 

 Ijetween the 5th and 8th parallels of S. latitude, and have an 

 average breadth perhaps of thirty or forty miles. As we neared 

 our destination the low flat land was seen stretching away on 

 either hand as far as the eye could reach, thickly clothed with 

 lofty forest -trees. Dobbo is placed at the northern end of the 

 small island of Wamma, and rounding the point we found a good 

 anchorage between it and Wokan, the largest of the northern 

 group. Except to the north-west, from which direction we had 

 entered, the monotonous line of heavy jungle surrounded us on 

 every side. The surface of the water was without a ripple, and 

 the lifeless, steamy air reminded us of the climate of Ansus, whose 

 gloomy, mangrove -lined creeks and oppressive heat had already 

 reduced our stock of energy to a minimum. 



The Posthouder, who came off to visit us shortly after we had 

 anchored, had little or nothing to say in favour of the place. He 

 was suffering from fever, and told us that he considered the islands 

 to be most unhealthy for Europeans. The water is deficient both in 

 quantity and quality, and, during the annual influx of traders, cases 

 of Beri-beri are very common, — so common, indeed, that seventy- 

 three persons had died in the season of 1883. The Posthouder 

 was going through the process of acclimatisation, having arrived 

 but a short time l^efore, — the first Dutch official sent to Aru. We 

 VOL. II. z 



