They
Were Not Nearly So Voracious As Many Other Kinds, But Their
Numbers And Ubiquity Rendered It Necessary To Be Constantly On
Guard Against Them.
The flies that troubled me most were a large kind of blue-bottle
or blow-fly.
These settled in swarms on my bird skins when first
put out to dry, filling their plumage with masses of eggs, which,
if neglected, the next day produced maggots. They would get under
the wings or under the body where it rested on the drying-board,
sometimes actually raising it up half an inch by the mass of eggs
deposited in a few hours; and every egg was so firmly glued to
the fibres of the feathers, as to make it a work of much time and
patience to get them off without injuring the bird. In no other
locality have I ever been troubled with such a plague as this.
On the 29th we left Dorey, and expected a quick voyage home, as
it was the time of year when we ought to have had steady
southerly and easterly winds. Instead of these, however, we had
calms and westerly breezes, and it was seventeen days before we
reached Ternate, a distance of five hundred miles only, which,
with average winds, could have been done in five days. It was a
great treat to me to find myself back again in my comfortable
house, enjoying milk to my tea and coffee, fresh bread and
butter, and fowl and fish daily for dinner. This New Guinea
voyage had used us all up, and I determined to stay and recruit
before I commenced any fresh expeditions. My succeeding journeys
to Gilolo and Batchian have already been narrated, and if; now
only remains for me to give an account of my residence in
Waigiou, the last Papuan territory I visited in search of Birds
of Paradise.
CHAPTER XXXV.
VOYAGE FROM CERAM TO WAIGIOU.
(JUNE AND JULY 1860.)
IN my twenty-fifth chapter I have described my arrival at Wahai,
on my way to Mysol and Waigiou, islands which belong to the
Papuan district, and the account of which naturally follows after
that of my visit to the mainland of New Guinea. I now take up my
narrative at my departure from Wahai, with the intention of
carrying various necessary stores to my assistant, Mr. Allen, at
Silinta, in Mysol, and then continuing my journey to Waigiou. It
will be remembered that I was travelling in a small prau, which I
had purchased and fitted up in Goram, and that, having been
deserted by my crew on the coast of Ceram, I had obtained four
men at Wahai, who, with my Amboynese hunter, constituted my crew.
Between Ceram and Mysol there are sixty miles of open sea, and
along this wide channel the east monsoon blows strongly; so that
with native praus, which will not lay up to the wind, it requires
some care in crossing. In order to give ourselves sufficient
leeway, we sailed back from Wahai eastward, along the coast of
Ceram, with the land-breeze; but in the morning (June 18th) had
not gone nearly so far as I expected. My pilot, an old and
experienced sailor, named Gurulampoko, assured me there was a
current setting to the eastward, and that we could easily lay
across to Silinta, in Mysol. As we got out from the land the wind
increased, and there was a considerable sea, which made my short
little vessel plunge and roll about violently. By sunset -we had
not got halfway across, but could see Mysol distinctly. All night
we went along uneasily, and at daybreak, on looking out
anxiously, I found that we had fallen much to the westward during
the night, owing, no doubt, to the pilot being sleepy and not
keeping the boat sufficiently close to the wind. We could see the
mountains distinctly, but it was clear we should not reach
Silinta, and should have some difficulty in getting to the
extreme westward point of the island. The sea was now very
boisterous, and our prau was continually beaten to leeward by the
waves, and after another weary day we found w e could not get to
Mysol at all, but might perhaps reach the island called Pulo
Kanary, about ten miles to the north-west. Thence we might await
a favourable wind to reach Waigamma, on the north side of the
island, and visit Allen by means of a small boat.
About nine o'clock at night, greatly to my satisfaction, we got
under the lea of this island, into quite smooth water - for I had
been very sick and uncomfortable, and had eaten scarcely anything
since the preceding morning. We were slowly nearing the shore,
which the smooth dark water told us we could safely approach; and
were congratulating ourselves on soon being at anchor, with the
prospect of hot coffee, a good supper, and a sound sleep, when
the wind completely dropped, and we had to get out the oars to
row. We were not more than two hundred yards from the shore, when
I noticed that we seemed to get no nearer although the men were
rowing hard, but drifted to the westward, and the prau would not
obey the helm, but continually fell off, and gave us much trouble
to bring her up again. Soon a laud ripple of water told us we
were seized by one of those treacherous currents which so
frequently frustrate all the efforts of the voyager in these
seas; the men threw down the oars in despair, and in a few
minutes we drifted to leeward of the island fairly out to sea
again, and lost our last chance of ever reaching Mysol! Hoisting
our jib, we lay to, and in the morning found ourselves only a few
miles from the island, but wit, such a steady wind blowing from
its direction as to render it impossible for us to get back to
it.
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