A TRAMP BY THE SHORE 
to sleep, although the sand-flies were a great torment. 
From Issu we went on to Manu-Manu, a stretch of 
eighteen miles, and as we went we saw many sharks, 
who followed us close inshore and kept pace with 
us for a considerable distance, hoping in vain that 
we would be unwise enough to bathe. Some natives, 
who had followed us from Giabada, tried to kill them 
by throwing sticks. 
Manu-Manu was our last halt before taking a 
canoe for Port Moresby. At the former place we 
found some men to assist us, and after spending 
the night there, and the best part of the following 
day in preparation, we embarked. At the mouth of 
the Manu-Manu River the crocodiles swarmed in 
the brackish water. This is the point where there 
occurred the fight between the natives and the croco- 
diles which I described in one of my earlier chapters. 
The canoe voyage that we made at this time was one 
that was only possible in fine weather, for there were 
many nasty headlands to round. The bays were very 
deep, and at the middle of the crossing from point 
to point we would often be ten miles off the land. 
Often, too, there were treacherous reefs to avoid, but 
fortunately we had moonlight after 2 a.m.; and so, 
sometimes sailing and sometimes paddling, we passed 
the villages of Boira and Borepada and reached Port 
Moresby at five on the evening of the day after we 
had left Manu-Manu. We arrived at the Govern- 
ment station just about the same time as the ketch 
which was bearing the bulk of our baggage. 
We entered Port Moresby by the western entrance, 
which is not deep enough for large ships, and can 
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