Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
XXXVI
Waigiou
(
JULY TO SEPTEMBER
1860)
The village of Muka, on the south coast of Waigiou, consists of a number of poor huts, partly
in the water and partly on shore, and scattered irregularly over a space of about half a mile in
a shallow bay. Around it are a few cultivated patches, and a good deal of second-growth
woody vegetation; while behind, at the distance of about half a mile, rises the virgin forest,
through which are a few paths to some houses and plantations a mile or two inland. The
country round is rather flat, and in places swampy, and there are one or two small streams
which run behind the village into the sea below it. Finding that no house could be had suit-
able to my purpose, and having so often experienced the advantages of living close to or just
within the forest, I obtained the assistance of half-a-dozen men; and having selected a spot
near the path and the stream, and close to a fine fig-tree, which stood just within the forest,
we cleared the ground and set to building a house. As I did not expect to stay here so long as
I had done at Dorey, I built a long, low, narrow shed, about seven feet high on one side and
four on the other, which required but little wood, and was put up very rapidly. Our sails, with
a few old attaps from a deserted hut in the village, formed the walls, and a quantity of 'cad-
jans,' or palm-leaf mats, covered in the roof. On the third day my house was finished, and all
my things put in and comfortably arranged to begin work, and I was quite pleased at having
got established so quickly and in such a nice situation.
It had been so far fine weather, but in the night it rained hard, and we found our mat roof
would not keep out water. It first began to drop, and then to stream over everything. I had to
get up in the middle of the night to secure my insect-boxes, rice, and other perishable articles,
and to find a dry place to sleep in, for my bed was soaked. Fresh leaks kept forming as the
rain continued, and we all passed a very miserable and sleepless night. In the morning the sun
shone brightly, and everything was put out to dry. We tried to find out why the mats leaked,
and thought we had discovered that they had been laid on upside down. Having shifted them
