vast forests of New Guinea, as these form the great natural feature which
distinguishes that country from Australia.
On June 5th, the coal-ship arrived, having been sent back from Amboyna,
with the addition of some fresh stores for the steamer. The wood, which had
been almost all taken on board, was now unladen again, the coal taken in, and on
the 17th both steamer and tender left for Humboldt Bay. We were then a little
quiet again, and got something to eat; for while the vessels were here every bit of
fish or vegetable was taken on board, and I had often to make a small parroquet
serve for two meals. My men now returned from Amberbaki, but, alas brought
me almost nothing. They had visited several villages, and even went two days'
journey into the interior, but could find no skins of Birds of Paradise to purchase,
except the common kind, and very few even of those. The birds found were the
same as at Dorey, but were still scarcer. None of the natives anywhere near the
coast shoot or prepare Birds of Paradise, which come from far in the interior
over two or three ranges of mountains, passing by barter from village to village
till they reach the sea. There the natives of Dorey buy them, and on their return
home sell them to the Bugis or Ternate traders. It is therefore hopeless for a
traveller to go to any particular place on the coast of New Guinea where rare
Paradise birds may have been bought, in hopes of obtaining freshly killed
specimens from the natives; and it also shows the scarcity of these birds in any
one locality, since from the Amberbaki district, a celebrated place, where at least
five or six species have been procured, not one of the rarer ones has been
obtained this year. The Prince of Tidore, who would certainly have got them if
any were to be had, was obliged to put up with a few of the common yellow
ones. I think it probable that a longer residence at Dorey, a little farther in the
interior, might show that several of the rarer kinds were found there, as I
obtained a single female of the fine scale-breasted Ptiloris magnificus. I was told
at Ternate of a bird that is certainly not yet known in Europe, a black King
Paradise Bird, with the curled tail and beautiful side plumes of the common
species, but all the rest of the plumage glossy black. The people of Dorey knew
nothing about this, although they recognised by description most of the otter
species.
When the steamer left, I was suffering from a severe attack of fever. In about
a week I got over this, but it was followed by such a soreness of the whole inside
of the mouth, tongue, and gums, that for many days I could put nothing solid
between my lips, but was obliged to subsist entirely on slops, although in other
respects very well. At the same time two of my men again fell ill, one with fever,
the other with dysentery, and both got very bad. I did what I could for them with