Page:Picturesque New Guinea.djvu/395

 following names, which will be found used in the narratives. Marco Polo, Barabas, Lucy, Scotch Lizzie, Anchises, Chandos, &c.

While in Thursday Island, we received every assistance from the Hon. Mr. John Douglas, and Mr. Bowden, of Messrs. Burns, Philp, and Co., was good enough to place their jetty at our disposal, besides assisting us in many other ways.

We left Thursday Island; I having arranged a rendezvous with the "Mavis" and "Mary" at Missionary Pass, it was intended that the "Advance" should tow the "Bonito," but an incident prevented it. But however, we all arrived at Missionary on July 17th, excepting the "Mavis," and next morning left for the Fly in tow of the "Advance." At noon the "Advance" cast us off at the mouth of the Fly, and we proceeded under steam, following the missionary lugger "Mary," and at 4 p.m. anchored off Neboo, taking our first hold of New Guinea soil. After anchoring, found the "Mavis," which, through the kindness of the Queensland Government and the Hon. John Douglas, had taken twenty tons of coal for our use, was on the other side of the island, and we made arrangements for getting her up next day.

Neboo, the first settlement made by the missionaries, is a large, low, sandy island, with an abundance of cocoa-nut and other palms growing on it. It does not appear to contain any regular inhabitants, but the natives from the neighbouring islands and villages come periodically to collect nuts and cut the nepa palm-leaves for roofing their houses. The missionary establishment is now moved from Neboo to Kewei. The anchorage is a deep channel between two islands, where a vessel can lie in smooth water. In the river, which is very wide here, a very nasty sea and swell is constantly experienced during the south-east monsoons. We remained at Neboo until Sunday morning, July 10th, when our squadron (now consisting of the "Mavis," "Mary," "Venture," and "Bonito") went over to Kewei, which is a village situated on the north side of the channel. After anchoring there, Messrs. Douglas, MacFarlane, Captain Cater, and myself, went on shore, taking four of the "Mavis" men with us. I intended to have landed a collecting party, but it was not considered wise to do so; the old chief, Duropa, having attacked the teachers of the mission a month or so previously, with a view of making bacon or "long pig" of them, wild pigs being uncommonly scarce that season. Mr. Douglas and myself landed first, and found a few natives completely naked, grouped in front of a large house, the principal of whom was an old white-headed man, intelligent looking, to whom Mr. Douglas, with his usual good nature, immediately gave a new suit of serge clothes, and assisted him to don them. This was hardly done, when up came Mr. MacFarlane,