BOUUGA STRAIT, 
It seems probable that the natives themselves are only 
periodical visitors to the coast^ perhaps during the eeason 
best suited for fishing, for Lieutenant Kolff, who disco- 
vered the strait two years before, saw no traces of inha- 
bitants on its shores ^ indeed, the only people met witli in 
the immediate neighbourhood were seen on the onter 
coast near Cape Vatsehe, where, as Mr, Kolff states, 
" while the boats were rowing as usual along the mud- 
bank, smoke was seen to arise from the shore, and on 
nearing the spot, a number of people were seen climbing 
up in the trees, who fled into the forest as the boats 
approached,"* 
lliOi^e who are acquainted with the characteristics of 
the aboriginal Australians, especially of those of the 
north coast, wnVl at once perceive how closely Mr. 
Modera's description of these Fa]>uans and their imple- 
merits would apply to many Australian tribes, excepting 
only the bows (not the arrows, for they are pure Austra- 
lian darts,) and the crisp hair ; but, indeedj the latter 
feature is not uncommon among the tribes of Moreton 
Bay and the north-east coast. As Mr. Modera had never 
seen and perhaps heard little of the Australians before 
Ms voyage to New Guinea, and he is perfectly innocent 
of all ethnological theories, his evidence must be con-> 
sidered incontestible. These circumstances^ coupled with 
the fact of his account having been published imme- 
diately after the return of the New Guinea expedition, 
have led roe to prefer Mr. Modera's plain narrative to 
the more scientific pages of Temminck and Miiller in 
• " Tovagfi of the * Dourga* to Kew Guinea and the Moluccas,** 
p. 321, London. lBiO,—TraniIaiwn. 
