CHAPTER IV 
WE STRIKE INLAND 
WE left Yule Island at Io a.M. in a small boat, 
accompanied by two Mission Fathers. Our baggage 
came on with us at the same time in a rough boat. 
We reached the mouth of the river at noon, and 
found some natives there fishing. They were very 
friendly and gave us some fish. At that point the 
entrance to the river was about half a mile broad, 
but across it there was a big bar. At 2 P.M. we 
had entered the Bioto Creek, where we suffered tre- 
mendously from mosquitoes. Here, in fact, they are 
quite a terror, and this is believed to be the very 
worst place for mosquitoes in all New Guinea. During 
the first night that we halted there I had not fixed 
my net properly, so I slept very little owing to the 
annoyance of these insects. It is an unhealthy spot, 
and fever rages. ‘The village is very small, containing 
only nineteen houses for the regular inhabitants, and 
two houses, one at each end, for visitors. This pro- 
vision for the stranger within their gates is a general 
custom in every Papuan village. Despite this form 
of hospitality, however, the Bioto people are not very 
amiable, and I found them extremely greedy. The 
region is a perfect one for game, especially for duck 
and pigeon. Every evening one sees clouds of 
pigeons flying over the sea from the mainland to 
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