On the 23rd appeared long stripes of a yellow mass appeared on the sea whose density increased more and more and finally covered everything around over a wide area. As the character of the mass could not be determined during the drive on board, samples of this substance were fished out and then examined with magnifying glass and finally with the microscope. It was determined that the mass which many had assumed to be spawn was actually pollen.
Land we did again not see during these days as the South-western coast of New Guinea which should have been in our field of vision is too flat to be perceived at such a great distance. As messengers from the land, however, appeared five lovely swallows, probably diverted by the storm. They were visibly tired and circled around the ship then flew on board and landed on the yards and ropes to rest. These delicate animals escorted us to the Aru islands and soon became so tame that they even flew into the officer’s mess and landed on the dinner table or on the electrical lamp of the chandelier.
The fever epidemic was still not abating during the 23rd and 24th. To the contrary, numerically it was still on the increase: On both days there were more hitherto healthy people affected by the fever while the number of re-convalescents grew but slowly.
Links
- Location: South of New Guinea
- ANNO – on 23.06.1893 in Austria’s newspapers.
- The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing „Der Meister von Palmyra“. The k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is closed from 1 June to 19 July.