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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