CHAPTER VIII. 



THE MURRAY ISLANDS — FRIENDLINESS OF TFIE PEOPLE 



PURCHASE OF SKULLS — SEARCH AFTER A " BARREEt" 



GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE MURRAY ISLANDS, ERROOB 

 AND CAEDHA— VOLCANIC ORIGIN — SECOND VISIT TO ERROOB 



— WAY OF USING THE BOW — DOODEGAB's SISTERS — NEW 

 GUINEA CALLED DOWDEE BY THE ERROOBIANS — NAMES OF 

 PLACES IN DOWDEE — ANCHOR OFF BRISTOW ISLAND ON THE 

 SOUTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA— LOW MUDDY SHORE — CANOES 



— MOUTH OF A LARGE RIVER — A BODY OF FIVE HUNDRED 

 NATIVES SEEN — TWO BOATS SENT AWAY — ANCHOR UNDER 

 BRAMBLE KEY— RETURN TO NEW GUINEA COAST — SHIP'S 

 CUTTER NEARLY SWAMPED — GALE OF WIND — ANXIETY FOR 

 OUR BOATS — AIRD'S HILL. 



On April the 9th, while between Anchor Key 

 and the north end of Portlocks Reefs we saw a palm 

 (apparently a sago-palm), floating on the water. It 

 was upright, with its branches standing above water, 

 so that it was at first taken for a canoe under sail. 

 It probably came from the rivers on the coast of 

 New Guinea, from which we were at this time full 

 sixty miles distant. 



April 11. — We anchored at ten this morning on 

 the north-west side of the Murray Islands, about 

 half a mile trom the shore. I was much struck 

 with the stratified appearance of the rock and the 

 highly inclined position of its beds. The island is 



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