CHAP. XXXIV.] PLAGUE OF FLIES. 329 



kinds, but their numbers and ubiquity rendered it neces- 

 sary to be constantly on guard against them. 



The flies that troubled me most were a large kind of 

 blue-bottle or blow-fly. These settled in swarms on my 

 bird skins when first put out to dry, filling their plumage 

 with masses of eggs, which, if neglected, the next day 

 produced maggots. They would get under the wings or 

 imder the body where it rested on the drying-board, some- 

 times actually raising it up half an inch by the mass of 

 eggs deposited in a few hours ; and every egg was so firmly 

 glued to the fibres of the feathers, as to make it a work of 

 much time and patience to get them off without injuring 

 the bird. In no other locality have I ever been troubled 

 with such a plague as this. 



On the 29th we left Dorey, and expected a quick 

 voyage home, as it was the time of year when we 

 ought to have had steady southerly and easterly winds. 

 Instead of these, however, we had calms and westerly 

 breezes, and it was seventeen days before we reached 

 Ternate, a distance of five hundred miles only, which, 

 with average winds, could have been done in five days. 

 It was a great treat to me to find myself back again 

 in my comfortable house, enjoying milk to my tea and 

 coffee, fresh bread and butter, and fowl and fish daily 

 for dinner. This New Guinea voyage had used us all 

 up, and I determined to stay and recruit before I com- 



