namental plumes had not yet attained their full growth, but the
richness of their glossy orange colouring, and the exquisite delicacy
of the loosely waving feathers, were unsurpassable. At the same time a
great black cockatoo was brought in, as well as a fine fruit-pigeon and
several small birds, so that we were all kept hard at work skinning
till sunset. Just as we had cleared away and packed up for the night,
a strange beast was brought, which had been shot by the natives. It
resembled in size, and in its white woolly covering, a small fat
lamb, but had short legs, hand-like feet with large claws, and a long
prehensile tail. It was a Cuscus (C. maculatus), one of the curious
marsupial animals of the Papuan region, and I was very desirous to
obtain the skin. The owners, however, said they wanted to eat it; and
though I offered them a good price, and promised to give them all the
meat, there was grout hesitation. Suspecting the reason, I offered,
though it was night, to set to work immediately and get out the body for
them, to which they agreed. The creature was much hacked about, and the
two hind feet almost cut off; but it was the largest and finest specimen
of the kind I had seen; and after an hour's hard work I handed over the
body to the owners, who immediately cut it up and roasted it for supper.

As this was a very good place for birds, I determined to remain a month
longer, and took the opportunity of a native boat going to Dobbo, to
send Ali for a fresh supply of ammunition and provisions. They started
on the 10th of April, and the house was crowded with about a hundred
men, boys, women, and girls, bringing their loads of sugar-cane,
plantains, sirih-leaf, yams, &c.; one lad going from each house to sell
the produce and make purchases. The noise was indescribable. At least
fifty of the hundred were always talking at once, and that not in the
low measured tones of the apathetically polite Malay, but with loud
voices, shouts, and screaming laughter, in which the women and children
were even more conspicuous than the men. It was only while gazing at me
that their tongues were moderately quiet, because their eyes were fully
occupied. The black vegetable soil here overlying the coral rock is very
rich, and the sugar-cane was finer than any I had ever seen. The canes
brought to the boat were often ten and even twelve feet long, and thick
in proportion, with short joints throughout, swelling between the knots
with the