, and appear identical
with those of the Louisiade and Australia.

No fresh water was found here. Some recent traces of natives were met
with--including two fireplaces where turtle and fish had been cooked on a
framework of sticks over a fire--precisely similar to one of large size,
formerly seen on the Duchateau Islands. I saw many places where turtle
eggs had been dug out of the sand behind the beach, where besides were
numerous burrows of a maritime crab (Ocypode cursor) which also appeared
to feed upon the eggs--judging from the quantity of empty shells about
the holes of those creatures.

Of the two remaining islands of the group, one, less than a quarter of a
mile long, is covered with trees, probably a Bombax or Erythrina--at this
time destitute of leaves--on the other is a high bare rock with three
other small detached, needle-shaped ones lying off it. The observations
with the theodolite having been completed we obtained some soundings and
returned to the ship.

The view we had today from the Pariwara Islands was not so interesting as
I had expected. The shores of the bay stretching to the northward of
Redscar Head for many miles are low and covered with tall trees behind a
strip of sandy beach. At the back of the point in the corner of the bay,
we saw an opening two hundred yards wide, with tall mangroves on the
northern bank, apparently one of the mouths of a river traversing the
great extent of low wooded country behind. A very large fire two or three
miles behind the beach, sending up great volumes of smoke, might have
been intended for a signal, but neither canoes nor natives were seen
during our absence from the ship.

NATIVES COME OFF.

September 24th.

A canoe with twelve young men and lads came off from the shore, and
approached within two hundred yards of the ship, but although tempted by
the exhibition of a large piece of red cloth, they would come no closer.
Their visit was apparently prompted by mere curiosity as they had nothing
to barter with. These natives closely resembled the other Papuans seen to
the eastward, but were smaller in stature, and wore the hair frizzled up
into a mop projecting backwards, nor had I before seen in one canoe so
many handsome faces. As a breech-cloth they wore a narrow strip of white
cloth passing between the legs and secured to a string round the waist,
but this was too narrow to serve as a fig-leaf. Among their ornaments we
saw necklaces of small white cowri