Are received in A friendly manner.

My old friend Siwai, with whom I had gone through the ceremony of exchanging names nearly five years ago, showed much joy at seeing me again, and made many enquiries regarding Jukes and others then in the Fly.  But these five years have sadly altered him—­he now presents the appearance of a feeble emaciated man prematurely old, with a short cough and low voice—­his back is bowed down, and even with the aid of a stick he can scarcely totter along.  He is now the man in most authority in the island, his rival Mamus having been killed in New Guinea in company with several other Darnley Islanders whose names were mentioned to me; they had been on a visit to a friendly tribe, one of whose quarrels they espoused, and only a few returned to Errub to tell the tale.  The natives wished us to stay at Kiriam, but as the principal object of the ship’s coming to the island was to procure water, we were anxious to know whether it could be obtained in sufficient quantity at Bikar, where the Fly and Bramble had watered before.  As Siwai told us that there was none at Bikar, but plenty at Mogor—­his own village—­we pulled along to the latter place, accompanied by himself and three of his sons.  In passing along the south-west side of the island, we were struck with the superior richness of vegetation and apparent fertility, compared with what we had seen in New Guinea and the Louisiade Archipelago during the previous part of the cruise.  Some portions reminded one of English park scenery—­gently sloping, undulating, grassy hills, with scattered clumps and lines of trees.

Unable to find water.

On landing at the village, which consists of two or three houses only, we were taken a quarter of a mile—­by a path leading along a small valley through a grove of coconut-trees, bananas, and various cultivated plants (among which I observed the Mango in full bearing) to a pool of water in the dried-up bed of a small rivulet.  But the quantity of water was not enough for our purpose, even had it been situated in a place more easy of access.  Some magnificent Sago palms overhung the water with their large spreading fronds; these we were told had been brought from Dowde or New Guinea, many years ago.  Siwai and his sons, at their own urgent request, were allowed a passage with us to the ship, and remained all night there, sleeping among the folds of a sail upon the poop.

December 12th.

In the morning a party landed at Bikar (abreast of the ship) to look for water, but the pool which on several occasions supplied the Fly, Bramble, and Prince George, was now dry.  At this season too, during the prevalence of North-West winds, landing is difficult on account of the surf, and we had much trouble in keeping our guns dry while up to the waist in water.  In the afternoon both cutters were sent to Mogor to procure vegetables for the ship’s company by