P apua.
Papuan Illes.
eroak like ravens, and afcend tathe fuperior regions the-air. They
alight on the higheft trees, feemihg to feed on,berries, and*'according, to
fome on nutmegs and'butterflies : and ar,e either fliot with blunt arrows,,
©ncaught with bird-lime; or noofes. The bowels.and breaft bone being
extraditedj. they are dried with- fmoke and fulph-ur-, fold for- nail's or
bits of iron, and exported to Banda. Papua alfo bqaftr of »eleghnt
»parrots arnf lories while, the crowned, ©r gigantic, pigeonaltnoft equals
, a -turkey in fize.
i : Captain PoriJeftj to whom we*are indebted-for an ’interefting' voyage
in thefe feas, only, vifited the harbour of Dory in the northern part of
Papuaj fo that; our knowledge of thisdarge iflapd remains-extremely i:m-
perfedlv He obferved,. at a coafiderable diftancp, . the mountainsjiof
Arfac of a remarkable height,.; Near the. harbour of Dory he. found in
lome little ifles abundance of nutmeg trees, and there is;r©om.to*infer
that the land of Papua is not deftitutp of/tfie fame grodudhions,-arid may
perhaps alfo boaft of cloves. Now that the Spice Iflands jirereftorpd to
the-Dutch, by the treaty e f if to i ,. a fettlement in; Papua migH^^feme
an qbjedl of-&rWi cdnfideratibn; tmd by the difcovgries’ of pur ^ le
countryman. Dampier we have certainly a claim equal to 'that e£ |ny
other natiom
1* SomAofDthe' ftnalP iflands,' adjacent tothis comparative? cdtShent,
are better knowii than the main land' of Pdjrua. At the'N/'Wlffittre-
mity the chief ifles are Waijoo, andBalWatti j and * the fmSller i^les? of
Woleket, Pam-ia, Piamis, Wagiol, L'uib, Wiag, and Siang; may? 'be
added from Captain Eorreft’s-chart,- for-the fake of- fixing the boundary
between Auftralafia and the iflands in the oriental - archipelago.; Gag
and Gibbi, from - their proximity ta Gilolo,.. belonging to 'the
.latter. -
, Further to the- S. are the Papuan iflands of Arroo and-Timorlaut, the
boundary here pafling on the E. of Nila, one of the fmall ^Afiatic
ifles, among which Serro muft alfo. be clafled. On the E;,: of Banda
the boundary may pafs on the S. of Mamabek, then, winding N. W* to
.the E. of Myfol will leave Bopo in the oriental- archipelagowhile
Woleket, as already mentioned, clafles with the Papuan iflands. This
being the "only part of the diviflon between; the Afiatic iflaqds and
Auftralafia*
Auftralafia, which is/ rather intricate, thefe hints will not be found un-
o'eceflary for the fake of p-mcifioiw
^ ayo°iJ or Wadjoo, is «rifle of confiderable fize, and is faid to
contain 1 oo,p6;o inhabitants^ The-land is high,, with lo'fly mountains,
an>d on the north fide are two excellent harbours Piapls and Offak.*
Salwatti is alfo a pqpulads ifland/go^ejfne<d‘ b'y/a Raja. ’The‘people
Gf thefe two large iflands referable thofe of the main land of Papua, being
a^fm^ulai-, r^ce5 of hornbl^fappeafance, a'fld great, ferocity!' 'They Ijve
g’A fifth or turtle,' and fago, that tree aboundingr in' Papua, but tfie'
fubuanc'e is chiefly prepared‘by'the, people of Waijoo1;5 I
Tlmorlaut is andtrfer Papuan iflahd of considerable flze, but 6f Which
there Isr ’no"' particular ^ci?6uhtf TK^ Arroo^flands appear,'!m Arrow-
fmith’s j/hart, divided intp^fi’ve by inierveftlh^rft^its, and/ as already'’
mentioned, 'are'the remarkable feats'-df the birds AfParadife. ,'The‘clfllf
product is' ftfgbfind the* people make expeditions;’to’ the main-land,
-where they'feize captive's and fell thehi at Banda,’ a rfemarkable feature
in’-fhe megro charadter at this-great diftancfe from'Africk. In pohtical
geography the Arroo ifles Have been confidered, 'flrice 1623., -as belonging
to'the'-Dutch Eaft India Company, and fbbftAvient • to .t^ofe of
Banda.1’
< On the N. of the main-land of Papua aid the ifles of Myfory-ah'd-Jobi,
with feveraf others of fmaller confequelipe'; no'r'indeed affe the ldifi.
coveries fufficicntly complete to trace with precifion the northern fliores
of Papua, or the ifles adjacent.
It feems probable that the land called Louifiad by Bougainville, is
either an extenfion of-Papua, * or - iflands adjacent to it* on the’S/E. "la
either -cafe,' when it fhall have been fufficietftly explored, the defcrip-
tion will probably fall into this* divifion. '
* See Fun-eft's Voyage' and the Chart. Mr/Penqhnt, Gutl|ne?; fays off the fo u th
fide, which Forreil did not vifit. It is obferved with regret that fuch grofs inaccuracies are
frequent hi the- works of that ingenious but hafty '
,J D.c BroiTes, i. 443.
Papuan
I sl e s.
Waijoo.
Arroo.1