WHITE— A Sketch of the Life of Samuel White. 215 



stuff. I purchased platted and coloured mats, cocoanuts, 

 fish, and many other things, like the rest of Aru's things they 

 are very dear. I had to give a flat cake of tobacco for every 

 four nuts, one cake of tobacco for three small fish. The men 

 who came on board to-day had a very feminine appearance, 

 both in features, and the way they dressed their hair. Many 

 of them tied up their hair in a bunch behind, and adorned it 

 with beads, and wore ear-rings. As soon as all was clear and 

 straight I gave orders to get the anchor up, and then gave 

 the master his course, and told him to keep on the one course 

 till such times as I gave orders to alter it. I wonder if he 

 guesses that I am returning, but I am determined to return 

 and refit, and reman my vessel before visiting New Guinea. I 

 find that my officers, crew, and staff are altogether unfit for 

 this kind of work. The master is especially a beastly fellow, 

 and quite unfit for his position. At dark we were still in 

 sight of the island we had left at mid-day, for the wind was 

 very light. So the land of the Aru's and 600 miles of a nasty 

 choppy sea between us and Australia, thus for a time (it 

 was the last), and once again I must bid farewell to the land 

 of the "Bur-ong Mattee" (Great Bird of Paradise), and the 

 "Gooby Gooby" (King Bird of Paradise), an out of the way 

 corner of the earth that few Europeans ever visit. I know of 

 only three Englishmen who have ever been there. They are 

 all "Cranky bird or bug hunters." In this land some of the 

 most singular and beautiful of God's creatures live and die 

 amongst a wonderful tropical scrub. My stay has been short, 

 and the first voyage will terminate much sooner than I 

 anticipated, for I intended to have been out two years at 

 least. I am determined to re-fit, for I cannot put up with 

 insolence and bad manners on my own boat. The collecting 

 in the islands has exceeded all my expectations, and had I 

 gone the route and time I expected, and had been as success- 

 ful all the way my collection would have been a very large 

 one. As it is I have a nice little collection of birds, about 800 

 to 1,000, besides other things. A list of the birds I will make 

 out when I have had time and an opportunity to compare and 

 examine them. v It seems that my father gave the sailing mas- 

 ter his course, but upon going on deck before morning he 

 found the yacht heading for the New Guinea coast. An en- 

 counter followed, of which I have no record, but from that 

 time on Samuel White mostly steered the ship himself, and 

 watched day and night, a strain in fearfully bad weather 

 tfdiich was encountered, and there is no doubt all that upon a 

 man who had over-worked himself in a tropical country, was 



