572 



THE BIRDS OF PJRdUiSE, 



[CB. XXXVI u. 



they sent private orders to the iutei-ior villages to refuse 

 to sell any provisions, so aa to comptil him to retiira On 

 annving at the village where they wei*e to leave the river 

 and strike itdaiid, the coast people returned, leaviag Mr. 

 Allen to get on as lie could Here ho called ou the 

 Tidore lieutenant to assist him, and procure men as 

 guides and to carry his baggage to the villages of tlie 

 mount aineei^. This, however, was not so easily done. A 

 quarrel took place, and the natives, refusing to obey the 

 imperious orders of the lieutenant, got out their knives 

 and spears to Attack hiui and his soldiers ; ami Air Allen 

 himself was obliged to interfere to protect those who had 

 come to guard him. Tlie respect due to a white man and 

 tlie timely distribution of a few presents prevailed ; and, 

 on showing the knives, hatchets, and beads Le was wiUing 

 to give to those \vho accompanied him, peace was restored, 

 and the next day, travelling over a frightfully rugged 

 country, tbey reached the villages of the mountaineei-s. 

 Here Mr Alien remained a month without any inter- 

 preter through whom he could understand a word or 

 communicate a want. Ho\\'ever, by signs and presents 

 and a pretty liberal barter, he got ou very well, some 

 of them accompanying hiin every day in the forest to 

 shoot, and receiving a small present when he was suc- 

 cessfiiL 



In the grand matter of the Paradise Birds, however, 

 little was done. Only one additional species was tbund, 

 the Seleucides alba, of wluch he had already obtained a 

 specimen in Salwatty ; but he learnt that the other kinds, 

 of which he showed them drawings, were found two or 

 three days' journey farther in the Ulterior. When I seat; 

 my men from Dorey to Amberbaki, they heard exactly the 

 same story— that the mrer sorts were oiily found several 

 days' journey in the interior, among rugged mountains, 

 and that tiie skins were prepared by savage tribes 

 who had never even been seen by any of the coast 

 peopla 



It seems as if Jfature had taken precautious that these 

 her choicest treasures should not be made too common, 

 and thus be undervalued. This northern coast of New 

 Guinea is exposed to tlie full swell of the Pacific 



