300 A NATURALIST'S WANDERINGS 



gazing for the first time on the wooded shores of the land 

 over which there lies such a halo of romance and mystery. 

 It was with the intensest interest that we landed by scram- 

 bling up on the curious and shaky platforms which the 

 Papuan projects far out into the sea as a foundation for his 

 house, over which, on narrow planks of split bamboo and on 

 rolling tree-trunks, guarding against falling into the sea 

 through the constant vacuities, we made our way to the shore, 

 which was but a narrow strip of land a few yards wide in front 

 of high and perpendicular cliffs of rock. 



We were surrounded at once by a crowd of tall, erect, 

 frizzly-headed, well-disposed men and women, who found us 

 most curious objects apparently. It was evident that they 

 had but seldom seen white faces, for our colour interested 

 them very much. They examined our legs, arms, and faces, 

 rubbing them gently and looking at their fingers to see 

 whether the colour came off or not ; others, taking off the 

 scanty head-cloth they wore, took our hands within its folds in 



a most reverential attitude. A , probably the only white 



lady that has ever trod this northern part, was, however, the 

 object of curiosity. After looking at her very intently for some 

 time a thought suddenly seemed to strike two of their number, 

 who, dashing away towards one of the houses, returned in a 

 little leading between them an Albino woman with fair skin 

 and yellowish hair, and placing her side by side us, burst into 

 a hearty laugh, as much as to say, " We know now why your 

 skins are white." 



I observed that their dead were buried in the ground, in a 

 mound-shaped grave. One was entirely curtained above and 

 round four stakes driven into the ground ; while another was 

 surmounted by a skull. 



After touching at Ke and Aru, we bore away south by west, 

 and early on the morning of July the 13th we sighted the first 

 of the Tenimber Islands, lying between 6°35' and 8°25' N. lat. 

 and 130°30' and 132° E. longitude; these. were the higher 

 lands of Molu and Vordate, beyond which the mainland of the 

 larger island came into view as a low-lying country trending 

 away southwards, presenting to our eyes, fresh from the ma- 

 jestic forests of the western regions of the Archipelago, by no 

 means a very luxuriant vegetation. 



