264 BRUMEE ISLANDS. 



her in and broug-ht up after sunset in 35 fathoms^ 

 mud, about a mile from the shore. 



The island under which we thus anchored, is the 

 westernmost and larg-est of a group of five, the next 

 in size being- about a mile in length, moderately 

 hig-h and wooded, and the remaining- three mere 

 rocks. The large Brumer Island is long and nar- 

 row, running E.N.E. and W.S.W., two miles and 

 two-thirds in greatest width ; it is situated in lat. 

 10° 45' 30" S. and long. 150° 23' E. The whole 

 island presents a luxuriant appearance, being 

 covered with cocoa-palms and other trees, and on 

 the high ground several large fenced enclosures of 

 cultivated ground — where among other plants we 

 could distinguish the banana and sugar-cane — 

 attested the fertility of the soU. The western, and 

 at present the leeward side of the island, as viewed 

 from our anchorage exhibits the appearance of a 

 broken ridge on its southern half with several 

 eminences topped by immense detached blocks of 

 rock, partially concealed by the trees, — to this, in 

 the centre, succeeds a break occupied by a very low 

 irregular cliff behind a bay with a sandy beach, — 

 afterwards the land rises suddenly to form a hill, 

 665 feet in height, with a steep face to the north- 

 west, and a gradual slope backwards, — and beji^ond 

 this another hill, not so high (386 feet), but some- 

 what similar in form, shut out our further view in 

 that direction. The mainland of New Guinea filled 

 the back ground with a broken outline of ridges of 



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