Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
hear nothing of the straight-haired race which Lesson says inhabits the interior, but which
no one has ever seen, and the account of which I suspect has originated in some mistake.
The captain told me he had made a detailed survey of part of the south coast, and if the coal
arrived should go away at once to Humboldt Bay, in longitude 141° east, which is the line
up to which the Dutch claim New Guinea. On board the tender I found a brother naturalist, a
German named Rosenberg, who was draughtsman to the surveying staff. He had brought
two men with him to shoot and skin birds, and had been able to purchase a few rare skins
from the natives. Among these was a pair of the superb Paradise Pie (Astrapia nigra) in tol-
erable preservation. They were brought from the island of Jobie, which may be its native
country, as it certainly is of the rarer species of crown pigeon (Goura steursii), one of which
was brought alive and sold on board. Jobie, however, is a very dangerous place, and sailors
are often murdered there when on shore; sometimes the vessels themselves being attacked.
Wandammen, on the mainland opposite Jobie, where there are said to be plenty of birds, is
even worse, and at either of these places my life would not have been worth a week's pur-
chase had I ventured to live alone and unprotected as at Dorey. On board the steamer they
had a pair of tree-kangaroos alive. They differ chiefly from the ground-kangaroo in having a
more hairy tail, not thickened at the base, and not used as a prop; and by the powerful claws
on the fore-feet, by which they grasp the bark and branches, and seize the leaves on which
they feed. They move along by short jumps on their hind-feet, which do not seem particu-
larly well adapted for climbing trees. It has been supposed that these tree-kangaroos are a
special adaptation to the swampy, half-drowned forests of New Guinea, in place of the usual
form of the group, which is adapted only to dry ground. Mr. Windsor Earl makes much of
this theory, but, unfortunately for it, the tree-kangaroos are chiefly found in the northern
peninsula of New Guinea, which is entirely composed of hills and mountains with very little
flat land, while the kangaroo of the low flat Aru Islands (Dorcopsis asiaticus) is a ground
species. A more probable supposition seems to be, that the tree-kangaroo has been modified
to enable it to feed on foliage in the vast forests of New Guinea, as these form the great nat-
ural feature which distinguishes that country from Australia.
On June 5th, the coal-ship arrived, having been sent back from Amboyna, with the addi-
tion 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'
