Journal of the expedition for the exploration of the Fly River / by L.M. D'Albertis.

  • Luigi D'Albertis
Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Journal of the expedition for the exploration of the Fly River / by L.M. D'Albertis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    me with all the food I may require, but I do not place much* dependence upon them.—August 19 : At 3.30 a.m. we were ready to depart, but having been told it would be dangerous to leave in the dark, I waited for daylight, but the wind increasing very mnch I was obliged to put off our departure.—August 20 : The weather still very bad. As the natives brought no provision for sale, I sent the men to get some bananas from a plantation. Some natives from the interior are soon expected at Moatta with sago. One of the men sick.—August 21 : About two hundred men and women from the interior passed this morning in sight of the Neva, going to Moatta with sago, exchanging it for cocoanuts. They left again soon after, but none could be induced to sell any to us or to come near. I observed the women wore the small grass petticoat, as at Yule Island. Mr. Wilcox ill.—August 22 to 23 : Still detained by the state of the weather.—August 24: The weather being sufficiently calm, I left at 5.30 a.m., but we soon struck on the left bank at the mouth of the river, and did not get afloat again until past 10 a.m., when we had to go back.—August 25 : As we could not start early I deferred it to the next day.—August 26 : As early this morning we had only a steam pressure of 22 lbs., I would not leave until it had a pressure of 40 lbs., which occasioned some loss of time, and with a receding tide I directed the course, and considered we were almost out of danger, when we found we were in only half a fathom of water. I gave orders to stop, but by some accident the rope of the boat got entangled in the pro- peller, which caused some delay to cut it. In the meantime the wind and the current sent us on a sandbank, on which we struck so hard as to be unable to move, and ran a great risk of filling with water from the heavy breakers ; on the tide flowing we again floated, but, being too late to leave, we had to return.—From the 27th to the 1st, the weather was too tempestuous to leave, and some difficulty in purchasing food. The men were, however, very successful in procuring a supply of game. September 1 : Nothing particular to mention from this day to the 5th, except the difficulty of purchasing a sufficient supply of food from the natives ; but this day two of the pearl shelling boats called here, and we were glad to get some biscuit and rice from them.—September 6: The pearl shell boats left this morning ; we followed them, but as soon as we were out of the river, we found that what was fine weather for the decked boats, was bad for an open heavy steam launch, and Palmer advised me to return, not- withstanding he complained a good deal of our long detention at this place.—September 7 : Finding that every day I was exposed to new difficulties respecting getting a supply of food for the crew, I considered it advisable to send the boat to brother’s Island to ask for some supply of provisions from Captain Redlich, who has a beche-de-mer station on that island. I expressed this proposal to the men, and they agreed to it, so that four of them will start at 1 a.m. to-morrow—September 8: As arranged last night, the four men left ahout 1 a.m., and we were not a little surprised to
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