T II. THE journals recently furnished by the Society's Missionaries in New "It very soon became evident that we had dropped into a thickly-populated place. Canoes came off thick and fast, but there was no cause for fear, as the people are friendly with those at Port Moresby, and some of the chiefs had met Mr. Lawes there. Our decks were soon crowded with men, women, and children, all talking at once, as loud and fast as they could. They are a fine, healthy, strong, and active people; seemed mightily pleased with all they saw on board, urged us to go and see their villages on the morrow, and went on shore to have a big dance, and dream of beads and hoop iron. We heard the drums and singing nearly the whole of the night. "At an early hour in the morning the nine chiefs came off with a crowd of people. In order to secure a little space for breakfast, which we generally have on the skylight, we fastened a rope across the deck. It was highly amusing to see the dusky crowd pushing and fighting for good places to see the lions feeding! They seemed astonished at the set out' on the table, and I dare say some of our friends at home would have been astonished too, though from a different point of view! They were evidently in doubt about the salt beef, and asked if it was human flesh. We gave them a piece of bread, which they examined and smelt, and passed from one to the other, also a little sugar, but no one had the courage to taste; although what the taste would have been in their dirty mouths, filthy with constantly chewing the betel nut, chunam, and a kind of astringent bark, it is hard to say. At prayers they seemed bewildered, although they had evidently an idea that they ought to be quiet. We had some talk with the chiefs, some of whom could speak the Port Moresby language. Having made them a small present each, we accompanied them on shore, and were delighted to find on every side evidences of intelligence, industry, and cleanliness. We were conducted by the chiefs, and followed by a crowd of natives, through the township, which consists of nine villages connected by gardens and lanes neatly fenced in, the former being well weeded, and the latter, like the villages, cleanly swept. Although the houses and streets are overshadowed by trees, not a dead leaf or cocoanut husk is to be seen. They must be swept at least once a day. Parrots and cockatoos are great pets, and are to be seen on the verandahs of many of the houses. One part of the people devote themselves to fishing, and the other to planting, neither interfering with the special work of the other, but each returning in the evening from fishing and planting to barter their provisions. The agriculturists never try to catch fish, nor the fishermen to plant, although they live together. A large plot of land is turned over very systematically and quickly by a number of men standing in a row with a pointed stick in each hand, which they raise and plunge into the ground simultaneously, and then use them as so many levers to turn over the soil. It is surprising how quickly they can turn over an acre of soil in this way. They make and use a great number of canoes; some have outriggers, though they are mostly double-two lashed together about eighteen inches apart. We saw them at work making a number of canoes, and were surprised at the adaptability and durability of the stone axes, and their dexterity in using them. They cut very much better than many of the common axes sold to natives by Europeans. The houses of Kerepunites are well built, their canoes neatly made, their gardens carefully cultivated, their streets kept clean, everything, indeed, appears to be done decently and in order. They understand well how to drive a bargain, and may be considered a commercial people in a much higher state of civilization than many of their neighbours. The chiefs seemed delighted to walk with us arm in arm through the town carrying our umbrellas. I noticed that walking arm in arm was quite common amongst them, even, or I should perhaps say, especially with young men and women. We suppose the town to consist of not less than two. thousand inhabitants. "From the natives we learnt that a river runs into the lagoon, which takes its rise behind the Astrolabe Range, so we took our small boat and crossed the lagoon, which is about fifteen miles in circumference, and from five to nine fathoms deep at the entrance, and for more than half way across, although it has hitherto been supposed that there was no passage into it; now, however, we have found it to be a splendid anchorage, large enough to accommodate a fleet. The river bears about N.N.E. from the entrance of the lagoon; we pulled up it for a mile and a half, found it eight feet deep and about eighty yards wide, although shallow at the entrance, there not being (the way we went) more than two feet of water at low tide. At first it bore to the east, and then took a pretty sharp turn round a range of hills and bore to the N.W., running, the natives say, between the Macgillivray and Astrolabe ranges. From the account of the natives, it would appear that the Astrolabe range is the water shed, or source of this river and the Manumanu; the one running to the east and the other to the west. We have named our discovery the DUNDEE. It runs into a basin about a mile in circumference just before entering the lagoon." 2. FURTHER DISCOVERIES. In the afternoon the vessel came to anchor under the lee of COUTANCE Island. This is a convenient anchorage for vessels running along the coast, and will form a good wooding station for the Ellengowan. The mainland opposite Coutance Island was next visited, in the hope of getting the steamer into what appeared a bay or inlet, or perhaps a river. "After pulling half a mile from the bluff we opened into a lagoon about five miles in circumference, in which is the village af Aloma, consisting of about fifty houses, built over the water on piles. This lagoon is shallow in the middle and nearly three fathoms deep at the sides. Proceeding across the lagoon in a north-easterly direction, we found a passage about half a mile wide, along which we pulled for about a mile, when we opened into a beautiful lagoon four miles long and two miles wide, with a village on a sandbank nearly a mile from the eastern side, consisting of about thirty houses. On each side and before us the hills were near, though the banks of the lagoon are not well defined, as the trees grow for some distance out into the water. Pulling across this lagoon, which is only half as salt as sea water, we found what we now concluded to be a river twenty yards wide and three fathoms deep, bearing to the east. About a mile and a half farther up it branches off in two different directions, one towards the south-east, the other to the north-west. We followed the south-east arm about a mile and then returned, leaving it, no doubt, meandering among the hills. The highest point we reached was about nine miles from the bluff at the entrance, and we left the river still about twenty yards wide and three fathoms deep. For the exploration of such rivers as these a steam-launch is necessary; it is dangerous, as well as hard work, to pull a boat a long distance in such a climate. On our way back we called at the village in the large lagoon. The people were very frightened; families were in their canoes on the opposite side of the village ready for flight. There were some miserable-looking pigs running about under the houses, which seemed as much afraid as their owners, but had they known our feelings respecting them, they would have felt that there was no cause for alarm. After a short time we managed to get some of the men off in their canoes with vegetables to sell for beads, and left them on the most friendly terms. The lagoon is a most picturesque spot. We have named it MARSHALL Lagoon, and the river we have called DEVITT River, which is another known easy route to the mountains. To distinguish the bay, which has no name on the chart, we propose calling it SHALLOW Bay. It bears about north from Coutance Island. "From Shallow Bay we continued our voyage inside the barrier reef to Cloudy Bay, where we anchored between a long reef and Eugenie Islet. This islet is not in the middle of the bay, as was supposed, but near the west side. Cloudy Bay is rightly named; it has a very gloomy appearance. The clouds never seem to leave the hills in that locality, and the hills are all densely wooded, giving them a very dreary aspect. Judging from the little smoke to be seen, we suppose that the place is very thinly populated. Three miles to the N.E. of Eugenie Islet is a small island about one hundred feet high and two miles in circumference, well wooded, on the east side of which (and probably on the west too) there is a good deep channel into the inner bay. To the east of this island is another, which is low, well wooded, and about two miles and a half long; it is separated from the other by a passage of 150 yards wide, which looks deep, but we did not go through it. Between these two islands and the mainland, a distance of three miles, is a fine bay, three fathoms deep wherever we sounded, at the head of which there appeared to be a creek or river, which we did not examine. Pulling in an easterly direction past the two islands, we landed at a point opposite the opening at the east side of the low island, where there are a few cocoanut trees and oysters. From this point to the land opposite the distance is about 200 yards. Proceeding eastward, we entered a beautiful harbour bearing about north-east, three-quarters of a mile wide, and five or six miles long, and three fathoms deep, surrounded by thickly wooded hills, which slope down to the water's edge. There did not appear to be any villages on the shores of the harbour, although landing-places and native tracks appeared in several places. This harbour may be the scene of busy European life at no distant date. We have named it ROBINSON Harbour, and the two islands the SEWELL and PERCY Islands --the high one being Sewell and the low one Percy Island. We returned by the passage to the east of Percy Island, which is from three to five fathoms deep. The best entrance, both to the harbour and the bay behind the two islands, is by this passage, entering from the east side of Cloudy Bay. We went in at the west side, and left by the east. The former is rendered intricate by numerous reefs. On our return to the ship we found a large canoe close by, full of women-not a man on board-and felt sure that we were near the much-spoken- of Haine Anua, Woman's Land; and the two Rarotongan teachers had been off and learnt this fact from the women themselves. They told them that we should be back soon, and asked them to wait." 3. CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES. A village at the East head of Cloudy Bay was next visited, where it is probable white men had never been before. The village, which consists of fifteen or twenty houses, was surrounded by a strong stockade about fourteen feet high. Although at first afraid, the natives seemed satisfied of the peaceful intentions of their visitors before their departure, and asked them to come again. On the 13th of April natives from the Amazon Isles came off unarmed in canoes, begging for hoop iron, of which they have heard from their neighbours in China Strait, who obtained a supply from the Basilisk. "On the following morning we steamed out of Amazon Bay, on the east side, passing what we feel pretty sure will prove to be a large island, as we saw nearly through the passage. We noticed several villages on the hills, and smoke in many places. One of these villages was near the top of a mountain nearly a thousand feet high. From Amazon Bay to China Straits we found the coast thickly populated. We steamed along inside Dufaure Island, between which and the mainland there is good anchorage. A number of canoes came off from the island, but we did not stop to hold any intercourse with the natives, being anxious to get to the opening ahead before dark, which looked like the entrance to a lagoon or deep inlet. We kept on our way to the eastward, passed Dufaure Island, between the east side of which and the main land the passage is only about threequarters of a mile wide. Proceeding through a clear opening, about a mile wide, we entered a magnificent harbour, about eight miles long and four wide, from eight to ten fathoms deep, with a muddy bottom. On the shores of this harbour are numerous sandy beaches of considerable length, with groves of cocoanut trees and villages from which small fleets of canoes issued and fastened on to us as we passed along. Our decks were soon crowded, which, of course, we should not have allowed had there been any signs of hostility. To those acquainted with natives such designs cannot well be concealed. The natives had some spears and clubs with them, but they were evidently for defence or for sale; there were no signs, as up the Fly River, of a pre-arranged, well-planned, and determined attack. We anchored near the shore, about half way up the harbour, at what we considered would be a convenient place for cutting fuel. We were glad when the darkness led our new acquaintances to clear out for the night. They appear to be a peaceful, intelligent people. They are certainly a noisy, merry set of fellows, all wild after hoop iron. "All along the coast, between Amazon Bay and China Straits, the natives are not only more numerous, but more intelligent, and look more healthy. They dress very respectably compared with the others. The women are much the same, wearing girdles of grass or leaves down to their knees, but the men have a very decent kind of foreand-aft rig made with pandanus leaves. During the night the natives were assembling on the beach opposite our anchorage, ready for trading in the morning. They kept up a constant chatter throughout the whole night, |