DISAPPOINTMENTS 
small estuary about three times as wide as the Thames 
at Greenwich. It is navigable for about six miles, 
and at the furthest end it so narrows that the vessel 
could be put about only by a clever manceuvre, during 
which her bow and stern all but touched the banks. 
With a small survey boat, however, such as the eas, 
drawing from 10 to 12 feet of water, the river may 
be navigated for about 160 miles. From larger vessels 
lying in the river off the new Dutch settlement of 
Merauke, which was our point of arrival, it was usual 
to land in a small dinghy. 
A row of a few yards brought us to a primitive 
staging, built on piles, supporting a floating platform 
of logs, very slippery with the slime left by the river 
at high tide. These treacherous logs were far enough 
apart to permit of a man’s slipping easily between them 
into the unsavoury stream. Unsavoury indeed it was, 
for the waters of the Merauke are blue with a greasy 
alluvial deposit, closely resembling the “‘ blue slipper” 
so well known to geologists in the Isle of Wight. 
The Dutch Settlement lay close to the landing-stage. 
It presented a rough collection of houses and barracks 
for the Netherlands troops. The largest building was 
the barracks, a fairly well-built structure of wood, 
capable of accommodating all the Dutch troops, a 
force of about 150. The house of Mr. Kroesen, 
who was at that time the Resident, was quite 
an attractive building, with a glass roof and thin 
bamboo walls hung with a few curtains. It contained 
ten apartments, all on the ground floor. Next in 
importance was the house of the Comptroller, Myr. 
Schadee, which had only one apartment, with a large 
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