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, inhere 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
purchase 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 particularly 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 lie, 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 natural feature which distinguishes that country from Australia.

On June 5th, the coal-ship arrived, having been sent back from Amboyna,
with the addition 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' journey into the
interior, but could find no skins of Birds of Paradise to purchase,
except the common kind, and very few even of those. The