- I took advantage of a very fine calm day to pay a visit
to the island of Wokan, which is about a mile from us, and forms
part of the "canna busar," or mainland of Aru.
This is a large
island, extending from north to south about a hundred miles, but
so low in many parts as to be intersected by several creeks,
which run completely through it, offering a passage for good-
sized vessels. On the west side, where we are, there are only a
few outlying islands, of which ours (Wamma) is the principal; but
on the east coast are a great number of islands, extending some
miles beyond the mainland, and forming the "blakang tang," or
"back country," of the traders, being the principal seat of the
pearl, tripang, and tortoiseshell fisheries. To the mainland many
of the birds and animals of the country are altogether confined;
the Birds of paradise, the black cockatoo, the great brush-
turkey, and the cassowary, are none of them found on Wamma or any
of the detached islands. I did not, however, expect in this
excursion to see any decided difference in the forest or its
productions, and was therefore agreeably surprised. The beach was
overhung with the drooping branches of lame trees, loaded with
Orchideae, ferns, and other epiphytal plants. In the forest there
was more variety, some parts being dry, and with trees of a lower
growth, while in others there were some of the most beautiful
palms I have ever seen, with a perfectly straight, smooth,
slender stem, a hundred feet high, and a crown of handsome
drooping leaves.
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