CHAPTER XXXI. 



THE ARU ISLANDS.— JOUKNEY AND RESIDENCE IN 

 THE INTERIOR. 



(march to may 1857.) 



II TY boat was at length ready, and having obtained two 

 men besides my own servants, after an enormous 

 amount of talk and trouble, we left Dobbo on the morninsr 

 of March 13th, for the mainland of Aru. By noon we 

 reached the mouth of a small river or creek, which we 

 ascended, winding among mangrove swamps, with here 

 and there a glimpse of dry land. In two hours we reached 

 a house, or rather small shed, of the most miserable de- 

 scription, which our steersman, the " Orang-kaya " of 

 Wamma, said was the place we were to stay at, and where 

 he had assured me we could get every kind of bird and 

 beast to be found in Aru. The shed' was occupied by 

 about a dozen men, women, and children ; two cooking 

 fires were burning in it, and there seemed little prospect 

 of my obtaining any accommodation. I however deferred 



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