XXviii ITINERARY. 



recoo-nition of the work on the house and the entertainment of the men. 

 As it happened, we had not made use of the house ourselves, as it was 

 an open shelter covered over with the same sort of small leaves appa- 

 rently as the last, and built on a sandy waste shut oft' from any breeze, 

 but under the full blaze of the sun and excessively hot. After an 

 explanation we had cannped in the open forest close to the creek, and 

 below the settlement, which was on a slight elevation farther back. 



Our guides left us at this place, but others readily came on to the 

 next settlement, Avhich we reached after leaving the Aruparu cieek, 

 the branch opening on the I'ight bank of the Kako. The creeks are 

 small compared with the IMazaruni, and the forest on these higher 

 rocky areas much less gnvnd and imposing. Still there was plenty of 

 bir<l life — ducklars {Anhinga) especially — to be seen, and insects were 

 numerous and more easily observed ; and the frecpiant windings, with 

 both banks under close observation at times, gave a special character to 

 the scenery, as in the illustration in Vol. I. 



The water had fallen a good deal since the wet season, and numerous 

 nnsty snags of submerged trees, which had been uprooted along the 

 banks, made a very close watch necessary lest our bark canoe should 

 be bored by one of these very hard and sharp points, often just below 

 the surface. On the Aruparu we barely escaped being swamped from 

 an accident of this kind. McConnell had just shot two muscovy ducks, 

 right and left, one of which we left to be picked up by the boat behind, 

 and were racing after the other which had been slightly winged and 

 was fluttering to the bush-lined bank, when there was a hai'd scrape 

 and jar on the bottom of the canoe, and water began pouring in from 

 a l)ad rip. Luckily Ave had pace on and were already not far from the 

 si«le, so that by stuffing a cloth quickly to the hole we managed to 

 reach a clear space to beach the boat in time. Otherwise the woodskin 

 would have gone to the bottom, and many of our things with it, though 

 some of them would have floated for a time and been secured by the 

 other boats. We were glad to know afterwards that the duck had been 

 found, as it had been the cause of our accident. 



It did not take long to make repairs, for the hole, though rather large, 

 had not seriously damaged the boat. We filled up the rip with tar 

 and oakum and tacked on sheets from a paraffin-tin, both in and out, and 

 were as secure as ever, if not more so. It had been a different proposition 

 with the long split up the middle of the other boat at the start. 



We could hardly blame our bowman for the accident, though Ritchie 

 gave him a few directions, as he called them. We had been so taken 

 up with the duck, lest it should escape, that snags were quite forgotten. 

 It was a sharp warning, howevei*, to all, and one well borne in mind on 

 the still lower streams on our return : we met with no other mischance 

 of the kind. 



After three days on the water, we reached the landing-place to the 

 settlement. Here we had to secure the canoes by hauling them up 

 into the forest, where it was very swampy, that they might be safe 

 from wood-ants and other insects. The iiaddles we carried with us, to 

 be left at the house with the headman. We soon came upon an open 

 house, Avith one man in it, whom we charged to look after the 

 woodskins till our return, Avhen M'e would give him good payment 



