Ixxxii Ajjj^sndix. 



tlie interior of N"ew Guinea. Yule Island lies off the entrance to a' large, 

 well-sheltei-ed sheet of water, now named Kobert Hall Sound, where the 

 " Basilisk " remained several days. The island is about 550 feet in height, 

 well cultivated, and fertile. The mainland, excepting some bold headlands, 

 is one vast extent of flat swampy-ground, extending six or eight miles inland 

 to a low range of hills, which are backed up by range after range until they 

 culminate in the magnificent Owen Stanley Mountains, 12,000 to 13,000 feet 

 high. They were not successful in finding a river leading to these high lands. 

 One river, which looked capacious enough to raise their hopes greatly, proved, 

 after its sluggish course had been followed for many miles, to lead nowhere, 

 and to be merely the drainage of the immense suri'ounding fresh-water swamps. 

 A rapid river emptied itself into that just referred to, but its current was too 

 powerful to admit of the captain's six-oared galley ascending its course far. 

 It was from this latter river probably that the drift-wood seen at sea was 

 derived. The scenery on the banks was monotonous in the extreme. There 

 was a dense growth of mangroves and other moisture-loving trees. With the 

 exception of fiying-foxes and screaming, gaudy-coloiired birds, there was an 

 entire absence of animal life. Occasionally they came to ill-made native huts, 

 from which a track throiigh the swamp led to some acres of raised ground like 

 an oasis in a desert ; these were carefully cleared, and cultivated with yams, 

 tares, bananas, etc. Here also were permanent houses, built, as usual, on poles 

 some eight feet from the ground, with one room only, common to the whole 

 family. Immediately on their appearance the natives hid themselves in the 

 swamp. It aj)peared marvellous how human life could exist in siich a 

 malarious place. Even in the glare of a noon-day sun the air was thick with 

 mosquitoes. 



In Robert Hall Sound the ship was always crowded with natives, fresh 

 parties from distant parts of the coast arriving each day. They are a dark 

 copper-coloured race, combining both dark and light shades, decently clothed — 

 the men wearing a breech cloth, the women the usual ti-ti, or South Sea 

 petticoat. The men have their hair frizzled out in a mop, but the women cut 

 theirs shorty and tattoo their bodies extensively, which the men never do. 

 They ornament themselves with black, white, and red pigments, variously laid 

 on, and fasten bunches of bright flowers and the plumes of the Birds of Paradise 

 to their heads and shoulders. Occasionally the great beak of the Toucan was 

 woi-n as horns on each side of the head. The men's mouths wei-e all much 

 disfigured from the excessive use of the betel-nut. Their weapons are bows, 

 arrows, spears, and clubs made of wood and stone. They were totally 

 unacquainted with the use of iron, and infinitely preferred their own stone 

 hatchets to our axes. The barter they most liked was the polished pearl-shells 

 of Torres Strait. 



