Ye mariners, the night is gone.'
And hurried landwards far away,
Crying, 'Awake! it is the day.'
It said unto the forest, 'Shout!
Hang all your leafy banners out!'
It touched the wood-bird's folded wing,
And said, 'O, bird, awake and sing.'"
We soon swept past the South Foreland and across Milne Bay, anchoring in a small bight on its northern shores, a few miles to the westward of East Cape. Not far from here, viz. at Bentley Bay, which lies to the north-west, there are some strange-looking natives. All the men have the fully-developed breasts of a woman. This is all the more remarkable, as such a peculiarity, as far as my knowledge goes, is unknown in any other part of New Guinea.
The distance across Milne Bay, from the South Foreland to East Cape, is about ten miles, and from the mouth to the head of the bay somewhat over twenty. Its shores are lined by numbers of villages, all of them densely inhabited and in a prosperous condition. The villages are a mile or so apart, and the natives dwelling in them are of a light brown colour, some approaching in fairness to Europeans.
I was spending the night at a place called "Killerton," and after kai-kai (supper) joined a circle of young men and maidens who were seated on the ground, passing the tranquil hours of night in singing and general conversation. The conversation was hardly suited to a fashionable drawing-room reception, but from a native's point of view was modesty itself.