CHAPTER IX. 



SEARCH AFTER THE MISSING BOATS — CRUISE IN THE FIRST 

 GIG — ENTER A RIVER — INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES AT ITS 



MOUTH — PENETRATE FIFTEEN MILES INTO THE COUNTRY 



MEET A LARGER TRIBE, AND SEE A LARGE NATIVE HOUSE — 



RETURN SHOOT A " CUSCUS " HEAVY ROLLERS ON THE 



SAND-BANKS OFF THE MOUTH OF THE OPENING RETURN 



TO THE SHIP — NO NEWS OF THE BOATS — FARTHER SEARCH 

 FOR THEM. 



May 10. — Having got no news of our boats, and 

 the coast making a remarkable bend here, so that 

 we did not know which way they might have gone, 

 it was determined that the ship should remain here 

 at anchor, with her royals loose during the day-time, 

 while the other boats and the Prince George went 

 in search of the missing ones. Mr. Pollard was 

 accordingly despatched in the cutter, with directions 

 to go along the coast, in shore, to the southward, 

 and the first gig was prepared for Captain Black- 

 wood and myself, to cruise to the northward. 



May 11. — We left the ship at seven this morning, 

 with a fresh breeze, a cloudy sky, and a heavy sea 

 rolling in ; the low land, both to the west and north 

 of us made in broken lines and headlands of wood. 

 We steered N. by E. for a bluff-looking point, the 

 summit of which seemed to be 100 feet above the 

 sea : nearly directly over it was Aird's Hill. As 



