182 WHITE—A Sketch of the Life of Samuel White. 



of the crew landed him and came back with the boat. My 

 father and Andrews remained on board to barter with the 

 natives, and cure the specimens, but they had far too much to 

 do for the natives came in with a good number of birds, 

 amongst these some great birds of Paradise, and two "Goby, 

 Goby's" (Paradisea regia). The great birds were not all fully 

 plumed, some were young males and others females. Cocke- 

 rell returned with several birds, one a large Manucode or fruit 

 crow. In some brief notes my father wrote on that day. 

 "The natives have been coming and going all day, and my 

 patience has been put to a severe trial, these fellows are so 

 persistent, and so troublesome, and it iwill not do to fall out 

 with them, as they may then not come at all, it is amusing to 

 see some of them when they bring a "Buring Matti" (Great 

 Bird of Paradise) for sale. 



They know not w'hat to ask, but will sit or stand for the 

 first hour and refuse all offers, then perhaps they will name 

 over a long list of things required; then alter their minds and 

 name over another list, "Sopie," (spirits) often included, thus 

 they remain to my great annoyance blocking up every inch of 

 space to such an extent that we cannot move. I have 

 had too much of them to-day, the skinning room has been full 

 all day, and my dusky visitors have been talking incessantly, 

 and at the top of their voices, making so much noise that we 

 cannot hear ourselves speak. This afternoon a good number 

 of beetles came in, bugs tied up in leaves, caterpillars and 

 beetles tied in green leaves, large longicorns with their legs 

 tied up to keep them from running away, or tied in bunches by 

 the antennae. 



This evening for the first time a quantity of sweet 

 potatoes was 'brought on board (about half a bushel), and I 

 purchased them for ten times their value. A man came off 

 this afternoon with two Great Birds of Paradise in such a state 

 of putrification that their feathers were falling off them, and 

 these birds are very far gone when the feathers come off, for 

 I have frequently skinned them when they were quite green, 

 and full of maggots, and the skin is exceedingly tough, and 

 the feathers well set. These itwo birds had been rolled in 

 ashes to absorb the moisture which was coming out through 

 the feathers, and their beautiful plumes were soiled from end 

 to end. The fellow must have kept them a week or more. 

 He was very persistent in asking for guns, and seemed hardly 

 to realise the fact that the birds were useless. He had pos- 

 sibly been out in the scrub for weeks — perhaps covered in 



