Іхххіу Appendix. 
to the London Missionary Society, where the unfortunate teachers, little better 
than children themselves, are left to their own resources, and are dying off 
rapidly. 
Immediately to the east of Redscar Head the outlying Barrier reef rears 
itself to the surface of the water, at a distance varying from three to eight 
miles from the shore, and guards the coast uninterruptedly as far as Hood 
Point from any rough seas. Simultaneously with the appearance of this 
guarding reef the entire features of the country change. The whole coast 
between Torres Strait and Redscar Head is, as à rule, low and swampy, and 
has probably been formed during the course of ages by the alluvial deposits of 
the numberless large streams that descend from the great Owen Stanley range. 
Here precipitous, round-topped, grassy hills, openly timbered and bearing 
a strong family likeness to each other, spring from the white coral and sand 
beach, and are backed up by higher ranges inland, while fertile valleys lie 
between. The coast is strewn with villages, always marked by a grove of 
cocoa-nut trees. The houses are built after the Malay fashion, on poles, some. 
standing far out on the shore reefs in quiet waters, while others cluster among 
plantations on the hillsides. Perhaps this singularly sudden change from a 
low, muddy, mangrove-bound coast, to boldness, coral, shells, and white sand 
is caused by the courses which the rivers from the mountains take. From 
Redscar Head to Hood Point not a single stream was seen emptying itself 
into the sea ; small trickling rivulets and water-holes were found, but no clear, 
running stream. The soil is of a peaty, black, spongy nature, and probably 
absorbs the rain as it falls, 
Close to the Fisherman Islands of Captain Stanley, the “ Basilisk” passed 
inside the Barrier reef by one of those narrow bottomless openings peculiar to 
these seas, and anchored in a fine roomy harbour within a harbour (now 
named Port Moresby and Fairfax Harbour), previously discovered by the 
boats. The ship remained here some days whilst running surveys were made 
and the coast explored. In the neighbourhood of Port Moresby the valleys 
are intensely rich and tropical in their vegetation, but the hills, of which the 
greater part of the country consisted, were perfectly Australian in their 
appearance. They had very poor soil, covered with large stones, scattered 
gum trees, and grass. On some of the hills large quantities of quartz were 
found, some specimens being impregnated with gold, but no trace of gold was 
ever discovered among the natives, 
The description of the Yule Island natives may generally be applied to the 
natives of this part of the coast, but they appear even a more harmless and 
. inoffensive race, only one having been seen armed during the month spent 
amongst them. The canoes, which trade up and down the coast for long 
distances, calling at different villages, were frequently examined and found to 
