440 NEW GUINEA. 



choring at night would be obviated by cautiously 

 approaching, at reduced speed, the reefs, the position 

 of which might be distinguished by means of a 

 powerful light at the vessel's head or bowsprit end, 

 when a course might be shaped for the next and so 

 on. As the smooth water within the shelter of the 

 Great Barrier Reefs affords facilities for steering 

 with great nicety, a steamer, with care, might effect 

 a saving of fuel as well as time by passing through 

 Torres Strait without anchoring. 



The part of New Guinea above alluded to, which 

 had often afforded us the materials of interesting 

 speculation, also formed part of the survey of Cap- 

 tain Blackwood, who writes as follows: — "On the 

 coast of New Guinea we found a delta of fine rivers, 

 and a numerous population, all indicating a rich and 

 fruitful country. It is true that we found the in- 

 habitants very hostile ; but it must be considered 

 that we were the first Europeans that they had 

 ever seen ; and I have no doubt that, on a further 

 acquaintance, and convinced of our power, they 

 might be easily conciliated. Their houses, arms, 

 and cultivation, all indicate a considerable degree 

 of civilization, and no small intelligence in the con- 

 drifting them to the northward. Fortunately, another ship was 

 in company, and saved the loss of life, but that of property was 

 great. The fact that the lives of so many souls should be placed 

 at the mercy of careless masters of ships, who run such risks, in 

 spite of the warnings of experience, deserves the serious attention 

 of Government. 



