20 
NEW GUINEA* 
piercing yell, which jarred on the ear like bad notes in 
music. 
"ArrowSj bows, and lances, or thro wing- spears, were 
the only weapons we saw amongst them, and some of 
these we obtained from them by barter. The arrows and 
lances wei-e of reed, with points of pinang-wood hardened 
in the fire, 
* ♦ * * 
" On the afternoon of the day in which the enconnter 
took place, the Naturalists, well armed, returned to the 
creek at high water, and saw a spectacle which was also 
witnessed by those on board with the aid of telescopes ; 
namely, the trees fuU of natives of both sexes, who, with 
weapons on their backs, sprang from branch to branch 
like monkeys, making the same gestures as in the 
morning, and shouting and laughing in like manner, 
without our people being able to tempt them out of the 
trees by throwing presents towards them, so that they 
returned on board again,* 
"On the morning of the 23rd, several well-armed 
natives made their appearance on the beach, dancing, 
shouting, and making the same gestures as on the pre- 
ceding day. After them came a number of women and 
children, carrj^ing in their hands branches of trees and, 
as we supposed, fruit also. They shouted to us as loud 
as they could, probably to invite ns on shore ; but we did 
not comply with their wishes, as we weighed towards 
noon, and beat up the strait to another anchor age, "f 
* See note at the end of the chapter, 
^ Modera, " Reize/' &c., pp. 29—32. 
