CHAPTER XXXVII.
VOYAGE EEOM WAIGIOU TO TEENATE.
(SEPTEMBER 2 9 TO NOVEMBER 5, 1 8 6 0 .)
HAD left the old pilot at Waigiou to take care of my
house and to get the prau into sailing order—to caulk
her bottom, and to look after the upper works, thatch,
and rigging. When I returned I found it nearly ready,
and immediately began packing up and preparing for the
voyage. Our mainsail had formed one side of our house,
but the spanker and jib had been put away in the roof,
and on opening them to see if any repairs were wanted,
to our horror we found that some rats had made them
their nest, and had gnawed through them in twenty places.
We had therefore to buy matting and make new sails,
and this delayed us till the 29th of September, when
we at length left Waigiou.
It took us four days before we could get clear of the
land, having to pass along narrow straits beset with
reefs and shoals, and full of strong currents, so that an
VOL. II.
