running another set of meridian distances, the position of Cape York
being now sufficiently well determined to serve as a secondary meridian,
one of the starting points of the survey. The natives learned at daylight
that we were to leave them in a few hours, so in order to make the most
of their last opportunity of getting bisiker and choka, they hauled a
large canoe across the dry sands after much trouble, and under the
direction of Baki, who affected great grief at the prospect of parting
with us, went off to the ship.

MOUNT ERNEST.

We sailed at 8 A.M. for Mount Ernest--at which place a round of
theodolite angles was required--and in the afternoon anchored off its
south-western side in nine fathoms, one mile off shore. A solitary native
was seen at work upon a canoe near the beach, but when a boat approached
the shore he withdrew. The canoe was about half finished, and close by
was a small shed of bamboo thatched with grass. After crossing a small
sandy plain covered with short grass growing in tufts, we met the native
on the edge of a brush to which he had slowly retired in order to pick up
his spears and throwing-stick, both of which were precisely similar to
those of Cape York, from which place they had probably been procured. He
was a quiet, sedate, good-natured old man, and although at first rather
shy he soon laid aside his fears on receiving assurances in the Kowrarega
language, which he understood, that markai poud Kulkalaig Nagir (the
white men are friends of the Kulkalega tribe of Mount Ernest) backed by a
present of some biscuit and a knife. On subsequent occasions, when
accompanying us from place to place, the quiet listless apathy of the old
fellow was a source of some amusement. He did what was told him, and
exhibited little curiosity, and scarcely any surprise at the many
wonderful things we showed him--such as shooting birds with a gun, and