"
GEORGE. "Papa, it is your turn again.--Pelew Isles."
MR. WILTON. "They are chiefly known from the accounts of Captain
Wilson, who was wrecked on them in 1783. He describes the
inhabitants as hospitable, friendly, and humane; and they are a gay
and comparatively innocent people; but they do not appear to have
any form of religion, although they conceive that the soul survives
the body. These islands are covered with close woods. Ebony grows
in the forests. Bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees are in abundance.
Cattle, goats, poultry, &c., have been sent there and thrive well.
The Pelews have a considerable trade with China.
"Now it seems to me that we had better cross the equator with all
expedition, for there are so many islands up here, we cannot
possibly go to all, and I think we have noticed the most important."
DORA. "South Polynesia then. Papua or New Guinea is my portion, and
it happens to lie near the Pelew Isles. It is supposed to be the
first part of Australia discovered by Europeans, and is the favorite
residence of the superb and singular birds of paradise, of which
there are ten or twelve kinds. There are three kinds reckoned the
most gorgeous: viz., the King, which has two detached feathers
parallel to the tail, ending in an elegant curl with a tuft: the
Magnificent, which has also two detached feathers of the same length
with the body, very slender, and ending in a tuft: the Golden
Throat, which has three long and straight feathers proceeding from
each side of the head.
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