O f f a k . are to be found to the north-eaft o f that of Offak, and among
A b d o n .
them is Manouanan *, an iiland o f a .middling, height, precipitous
on the fidesy
I s i e s o f Y o w l , T j i e group of ,the little ifles o f Aiou or Yoivl, are .in about
Lat. o° 38' north, at fome diftance to the north-north-eaft o f
Manouanan, and inclofed in regular reefs + the number of
iilands is iixteen. * In the leffer clufter is included Aiou Baba, or
pat her Aiou., the largeft o f the whole, and o f the height o f more
than five hundred feet, and about five miles in circumference ;
all the other iilands, except Abdon and Konikar, are low. ,
In the. greater group are Al)dpn,FLonibar, aud-feveral others o f
lefier note.: the reef here forms a very,cpnfiderable bed, running
from north to fouth, hut the reef itfelf rauft be pafled in
prder to get,at the ifles.. Apdon is in Lat..0° ¡36' north. The foil
on this, iiland and Aiou Baba is rich, and rudely planted with
Papaws trees, or C.arica Papaya \, lime trees, or Citrus limon, and
Capficum, or Cayenne,pepper ; Kopibar with yams» potatoes, and
fugar c.anes,, On Aiqu Baba is a pool o f freih water; that article
is to be found by digging, eyen pn .the low grounds., The
feas abound with fifh, turtle, and Suailo, which the Papuans fell
to the Chinefe, who mull always-be furniihed with Dutch .paffes.
Let me not Jeave thefe.Jijtle ifles, without faying that, Mr. For-
reft met with.the utmoft hofpitality.from the natives, and from
the Moodoos, or chieftains, even .a fpecies o f poljtenefs. Thefe
iilands command a view o f the lofty mountains o f the land o f
Papuas, or New Guinea.
H e r e t h e r e a d e r .m a y b e t o l d t h a t th i s c o u n t r y w a s d i f c o y e r e d
* Forreft,62. tab. 3ti. f Forreft, tab..7. % Rumph. i. 145. tab. 50. 51.
in
L a n d of
F a p u a s .
W hen d is -
COVEH&D.
iff 1528, on the day of the Bpipbany, by Don Alvar de Saavedra
who failed from a port in Mexico, by order o f the great Ferdi-
nando Cortex, who was mitigated- to it by an ecclefiaftic of the
name of Juan d'Arragzaga, in order to promote, a farther know-
lege o f the fpicy ifles. He reached the Moluccas, where he'
found, fome remains o f the fleet of Magellan ; from Pidor, he
took his departure on his return to .Mexico, and fell in with the
Papuan ides,, and the land o f Papua itfelf, which he called New
Guinea, on the miftaken opinion that it lay, in the fame meridian
circle as the African Guinea.
T h e firft remarkable place on this part of that vaft iiland is Cape of
' . _ . ' ...................... G o o d H o p e . the cape or Good Hope % lying, very nearly under the -equator, it
is to be feen at the diftance of thirty-fix miles, Hoping down to
the very water. Abundance.of drift wood was obferved, not
only here, but about New Britain, and- all the iilands to the
north-.
T h e w h o l e c o a f t c o n t in u e s * v e r y lo f t y , - a n d t h e la n d a v a f t fu c -
c e f i io n o f m o u n t a in a b o v e m o u n t a in , r i c h l y c lo a th e d w i t h w o o d s .
The little iile of Torary, in. Lat. o° 15' fouth, Long. 130° 45' eaft, I s l e o f Y o w r y .
has behind it a fafe harbor, and on it the nutmeg tree ;; farther
is the land of Dory, with a. fmail hooked promontory of the fame
name, and within that, in Lat. o '21'fouth, Long. 131? eaft, is the
harbor, of an appearance moft uncommonly beautiful and picturefque,
bounded by ranges o f mountains riling above each
ether, to amazing heights, and finely wooded. Thoie o f Arfack Mountai«*
are the moft diftant from the coaft, and* appear to foar above °r Areack-
* Eorreft, p. 92, and plate at p. 150.
the