He Said The Strait Was Often Very Narrow, And Wound
Among Lakes And Rocks And Islands, And That It Would Take Two
Days To Reach The Large Village Of Muka, And Three More To Get To
Waigiou.
I succeeded in hiring two men to go with us to Muka,
bringing a small boat in which to return; but we had to wait a
day for our guides, so I took my gun and made a little excursion
info the forest.
The day was wet and drizzly, and I only
succeeded in shooting two small birds, but I saw the great black
cockatoo, and had a glimpse of one or two Birds of Paradise,
whose loud screams we had heard on first approaching the coast.
Leaving the village the next morning (July 1st) with a light
wind, it took us all day to reach the entrance to the channel,
which resembled a small river, and was concealed by a projecting
point, so that it was no wonder we did not discover it amid the
dense forest vegetation which everywhere covers these islands to
the water's edge. A little way inside it becomes bounded by
precipitous rocks, after winding among which for about two miles,
we emerged into what seemed a lake, but which was in fact a deep
gulf having a narrow entrance on the south coast. This gulf was
studded along its shores with numbers of rocky islets, mostly
mushroom shaped, from the `eater having worn away the lower part
of the soluble coralline limestone, leaving them overhanging from
ten to twenty feet. Every islet was covered will strange-looping
shrubs and trees, and was generally crowned by lofty and elegant
palms, which also studded the ridges of the mountainous shores,
forming one of the most singular and picturesque landscapes I
have ever seen. The current which had brought us through the
narrow strait now ceased, and we were obliged to row, which with
our short and heavy prau was slow work. I went on shore several
times, but the rocks were so precipitous, sharp, and honeycombed,
that Ifound it impossible to get through the tangled thicket with
which they were everywhere clothed. It took us three days to get
to the entrance of the gulf, and then the wind was such as to
prevent our going any further, and we might have had to wait for
days or weeps, when, much to my surprise and gratification, a
boat arrived from Muka with one of the head men, who had in some
mysterious manner heard I was on my way, and had come to my
assistance, bringing a present of cocoa-nuts and vegetables.
Being thoroughly acquainted with the coast, and having several
extra men to assist us, he managed to get the prau along by
rowing, poling, or sailing, and by night had brought us safely
into harbour, a great relief after our tedious and unhappy
voyage. We had been already eight days among the reefs and
islands of Waigiou, coming a distance of about fifty miles, and
it was just forty days since we had sailed from Goram.
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