ddle of the lake. They always dispose of their dead thus,
and I suppose leave them there till they rot or dry up.

The chief food of these people seemed to be the bulbs of the
water-lilies, fish and shellfish. They catch plenty of water-fowl by
diving under them and pulling them under the water by the legs before
they have time to make any noise. By this method they do not frighten
the rest away, and this accounts for the birds' extreme tameness.

It seemed odd that we should be paddled about the lake, to shoot wild
fowl, by these people, who until to-day had never seen a white man
before and had fled from us in the morning. However, most of them
had fled and would not return until we had left their country.

There is little doubt that this part of the country is most
unhealthy. Many of our police and carriers were two days later down
with fever, and a few weeks later I had a bad attack of fever, with
which I was laid up in Samarai for some time, and which I feel sure I
got into my system in this swamp. The mosquitoes were certainly very
plentiful and vicious.

We spent the following day here, duck-shooting on the lake, and I did
a little natural-history collecting in the adjacent forest. We had
intended to try and induce two of the Agai Ambu to accompany us back to
Cape Nelson, but most unfortunately they understood that we were going
to take them forcibly away. They became alarmed and all disappeared,
and we were not able to get into communication with them again.

When Sir Francis Winter visited them about a month later they were
evidently quite friendly again, but on the second day of his visit
his native followers demanded a pig of the Agai Ambu in his, Sir
Francis's, name. At this they became alarmed and retreated to the
further village, and he was unable to see any more of them. Since
then I believe nothing more has been seen of these flat-footed people.

We returned to our old camping ground in the Baruga village on the
banks of the Barigi River, and the friendly Baruga people brought
us a big supply of pigs, sago and other native food. The next day
we continued our journey to the coast, and camped at the mouth of
the Barigi River. We had intended making an expedition into the
Hydrographer range of mountains, which we could see from here, and
which were unexplored, but Monckton and Acland were far from well, and
most of our carriers and police were down with fever, and so, greatly
to my disappointment, thi