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. macnlatus), 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 i t ; and though I offered them a good price, and
promised to give them all the meat, there was great
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 sugarcane,
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
abundance of the rich juice. At Dobbo they get a high
price for it, Id. to 3d. a stick, and there is an insatiable
demand among the crews of the praus and the Baba fishermen.
Here they eat it continually. They half live on it,
and sometimes feed their pigs with it. Near every house are
great heaps of the refuse cane ; and large wicker-baskets to ,
contain this refuse as it is produced form a regular part of
the furniture of a house. Whatever time of the day you
enter, you are sure to find three or four people with a yard
of cane in one hand, a knife in the other, and a basket
between their legs, hacking, paring, chewing, and basket-
filling, with a persevering assiduity which reminds one of
a hungry cow grazing, or of a caterpillar eating up a leaf.
After five days’ absence the boats returned from Dobbo,
bringing Ali and all the things I had sent for quite safe.
A large party had assembled to be ready to carry home the