Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/232

186 thought so too; but he said nothing was known of it, or of any one being there or having been there. I wonder if it really was a house, and, if so, how came it to be there, and who dwells in it? (Perhaps the missing archduke!)

We passed Lesson Isle and many others I, however, confuse them all of this being most beautiful, even fascinating.

Then a most extraordinary effect was caused by the waters of the great Kaiserin Augusta River which, 20 miles from land, rolled out in a broad, green flood, clearly denned against the blue of the sea, and actually the green waters were raised above the sea. Giant logs and trees torn from their place far inland were being dashed about like corks; enormous shoals of very large fish were leaping out of the water; whilst above hovered flocks of birds. There was also a shoal of small whales. The Stettin, on entering this flood, swayed about like a cork herself. Truly it was a strange and impressive sight.

This great river has been traced by the Germans to within a few miles of the supposed source of the Fly River, which flows through British New Guinea into the sea in the south, and is navigable for 500 or 600 miles. The Kaiserin Augusta, of course, has its exit into the sea in the north. Some gold miners have been prospecting about the Kaiserin Augusta and have found gold. It and the Raimu or Ottélie River are navigable for small steamboats. Exploring expeditions under Hauptmann Dallman, Von Schleinitz, and others in 1886-1887, and under Dr. Baumbach in 1896 and Herr Tappenbeck in 1898, have been made about this part. There are, or were, a few trading stations about the Raimu—the landing-place for which is Potsdamhafen—but that means one white man here or there.