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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 52

Notes of a Trip to the Islands of Torres Straits and the South-east Coast of New Guinea

Notes of a Trip to the Islands of Torres Straits and the South-east Coast of New Guinea.

About the middle of May, 1877, a party left Sydney in the E. and A. Co.'s mail steamer "Normanby," for Somerset—at that time the central station of the Torres Straits pearl-shell fisheries—with the intention of there purchasing a suitable craft, and in her proceeding to the south-eastern extremity of New Guinea, having in view the several purposes of forming botanical and ethnological collections, and securing such specimens of the varied branches of natural history as we might meet with during our travels.

Four Europeans and an equal number of Kanakas comprised this little expedition, viz., Mr. A. Goldie, a botanical collector commissioned by Messrs. B. S. Williams and Sons, Holloway-place, London; accompanied by Mr. William Blunden, a collecting taxidermist, and Mr. James Henry Shaw, who officiated as draftsman, and rendered valuable services in the varied capacities for which a roving life afloat and ashore had rendered him specially qualified; and lastly Mr. A. Morton, who the Trustees of the Australian Museum had specially arranged should accompany Mr. Goldie as a collector in the interests of that Institution.

Three Loyalty Islanders, and a New Caledonian native, named Jemmy Caledonia, reputed to have been at one time the most successful coloured digger on the gold-fields of Victoria, New Zealand, and Northern Queensland, and who had considerable experience in almost every maritime occupation carried on in tropical waters, completed the muster-roll.

In due course the party arrived at Somerset, without experiencing any incident worthy of relation. There Mr. Goldie succeeded in purchasing a small lugger of about 8 tons, a good sea-boat, which being of light draught and easily handled, was specially adapted for our purpose; we christened her without the usual ceremonies, rather bombastically, "The Explorer."

We spent a few pleasant weeks cruising among the picturesque islands of both coral and volcanic formation that are dotted over the surface of the shallow and almost land-locked waters of the Straits, visiting the various fishing stations, and occasionally page 66 securing a few specimens of both flora and fauna, among which was an interesting and valuable orchid (Dendrobium sp.) of an entirely new species; and an addition to the Ethnological Department of the Museum, in the shape of a collection of skulls and skeletons, among which were represented many of the varied races inhabiting the island groups of the Pacific.

Our preparations being at length completed, on the 4th of July, early on a lovely morning, we weighed anchor, and in company with the "Mayri," a little craft of very similar construction and proportions to the "Explorer," in the service of the London Missionary Society, set sail for the mysterious islands.

Both vessels being bound for the same destination, Port Moresby, they kept company in the beat to windward and dropped anchor an hour or two before sunset in a snug berth under the lee of a coral islet, which owed its name to a grove of graceful palms, which waved their feathery fronds high above the tangled and somewhat stunted vegetation that covered its surface.

Two days after we made Darnley Island, one of the largest and most fertile in this fruitful Archipelago. An undulating sea of tropical verdure clothes lofty hills and tranquil valleys, broken only by rugged cliffs and crags of somber-tinted rock, and here and there a scanty patch of bright-foliaged bananas, paw-paws, and sugarcane, flourishing freely among the yams and taro in the rudely cultivated plantations of the miserable remnant of a once powerful tribe, whose silent and deserted villages may yet be seen nestling under the evergreen canopy of the cocoa-nut groves which fringe the small snow-white beaches dotted at frequent intervals along the reef-encircled foreshore of the island.

Since the value of the large deposits of pearl shell in the shallow waters of the Straits has brought the white man upon the scene, eager to gather the submarine treasure, civilization, in the usual shape of rum, rifles, disease, and abduction, has so well accomplished its wonted task, that of the many hundreds of healthy and prosperous islanders that Flinders found there, there now remain but sixty or seventy, many of whom are enervated cripples, and still more, aged people who, useless to the usurping and unprincipled traders, have lived to see their children wither and perish from among them, and the rapid decay of their race.

Many of the neighbouring islands, and even sparsely wooded sandbanks, a few brief years ago supported in proportion a still denser population, deriving their subsistence principally from the wonderfully fertile soil, and waters teeming with innumerable fish, their diet being varied with turtles, shell fish, and sea birds obtained from the reefs and sandbanks, and occasionally eked out with a canoe-load of crudely manufactured sago, procured in barter by these enterprising voyagers from the kindred races inhabiting the low-lying coast line of the great Papuan Bight of these smiling page 67 islets. The sole evidences of previous occupations that now meet the eye are a few worn-out canoes washed up beyond high-watermark, and half buried in the sand drifts and grassy hillocks, or scattered among the waving palms, and half hidden by the rapidly encroaching jungle of flowering vines and creepers; with here and there a broken gourd or bleaching bone.

A dead beat, in the teeth of a stiff south-easter, brought the little vessels on the following evening to an anchorage under the lee of Murray, an island smaller, but in other respects very similar to Darnley. Here we renewed our supplies of wood and water, and also obtained some fruits and vegetables from the natives, of whom there still remain some two hundred on the island.

The head-quarters of the London Mission in Torres Straits have been established here for some years; but yet it must be acknowledged that the uncongenial atmosphere of the neighbouring pearl shell fisheries has militated severely against the Society's efforts in promulgating the precepts of Christianity, and as a natural consequence, vice is in the ascendant. Four or five days being occupied in completing final arrangements, early one fine morning the boats weighed together and sailed for Port Moresby, the south-east monsoon enabling them to lie well up "full and bye" for that part of the New Guinea coast.

An unfortunate mishap delaying us in making sail, and the light breeze favouring the mission boat, the "Explorer" soon dropped astern of her consort, and the last we saw of the "Mayri," until we had almost arrived at our destination, was the glint of the setting sun on her distant sail,—the only object that met the eye on the wide expanse of the seething waste of water.

Just before dawn of the third day after leaving Murray, one of the black boys sighted, wide on our port bow, the bold outline of Mount Yule's lofty peak, one of the principal eminences of the great Owen Stanley range; and at daylight we found ourselves close in with the coast, in the immediate vicinity of Yule Island.

The beams of the rising sun rapidly dispersing the veiling mists that hung over hill and valley, we were at last rewarded by a fair view of the "Promised Land."

Unfortunately, it falling calm, we took two days to beat only about 20 miles up the picturesque coast.

On the morning of the third day, to our surprise, we again sighted the little "Mayri" close in under the land, and being presently favoured with a light breeze, late in the evening both boats entered the well-defined entrance of Port Moresby, and shortly after dropped anchor within a mile or two of the Mission settlement at Hanua-pata.

Although too late to land that evening, we were interviewed by a few natives who, returning to their villages from the fishing grounds in their canoes, and perceiving the strange sail, paddled page 68 alongside with a view of levying the customary harbour dues in the shape of tobacco, keeping up a constant clamour for "ko-ko." They appeared to be on the whole of fair physical proportions, prepossessing in appearance, and rather above medium stature, varying considerably in both the contour of their features and the colour of their skins. A bright copper tint, and other leading characteristics of the Malay race predominated in the majority of our visitors, while others were of widely opposed and apparently rather mixed origin; many of these latter being of a duskier hue and heavier in build, with heads exhibiting, more or less strongly, a type allied to the Ethiopian.

Next morning, at daybreak, we shifted our boat to a safer and more convenient anchorage near the margin of the reef fringing the shore, opposite the principal native village, and, launching our dingy, went ashore.

On landing we were hospitably welcomed by the Rev. W. G. Lawes, the resident missionary, and his assistant teacher, Rua-Toka, a fine example of a Raratonga native, who had been stationed here since the London Missionary Society had, in 1872, first commenced at this spot its labours in New Guinea; at the time of our visit their head-quarters were established here.

On ascertaining the nature of our errand, Mr. Lawes kindly placed at our disposal an unoccupied house. It was built on piles, and of somewhat similar construction to the native dwellings afterwards described. Our first steps were to unload and dismantle the boat, which being done we occupied ourselves for a few weeks in exploring the neighbourhood for specimens of natural history, and other objects of our visit, not omitting to obtain what information could be procured respecting ethnological and other interesting details that were accessible to us.

Port Moresby, named after the commander of H.M.S. "Basilisk," who first planted the Union Jack on Papuan soil, is a spacious and well sheltered haven, and although in many places obstructed by extensive shoals and patches of coral reef uncovered at neap tides, offers a good and secure anchorage to vessels of considerable burthen. The mission station and principal native villages are situated at the head of what might be termed the outer harbour, about a league in a northerly direction from the entrance, which is rather less than half a mile in width, and is marked by two lofty and rugged prominences of a very barren and uninviting appearance, scantily clothed with a coarse and wiry grass, with here and there a few stunted and straggling trees. Just beyond the settlement, where extensive reefs, and a hilly islet connected with the mainland by a neck of shingle, had considerably contracted the fairway, it again widens out for several miles in a westerly direction, till it becomes a sheet of water more spacious than the first. This is named Fairfax Harbour; no page 69 river, nor even a creek of any magnitude, empties itself into this important harbour, and although in many places the hills rise abruptly from the margin of the waters, the foreshore is almost everywhere fringed with encircling reefs and mangrove swamps; deep water frontages are unobtainable.

The country in the immediate vicinity of Port Moresby is rugged and barren, and, with the exception of a few sheltered valleys, is too arid and stony to repay even the most assiduous cultivation. On the northern shore, within a mile or two of the settlement, a deposit of plumbago exists, but it is of an inferior character, and probably valueless, except to the natives, who occasionally use it as a pigment.

The Motu and Koitapu, two distinct races, inhabit the Port Moresby district, residing in comparative harmony together, although it has been ascertained beyond doubt that the latter tribe were the original lords of the soil, and that the former, who occupy the coast line for about 40 miles, are merely usurping interlopers. Whether, however, these dusky annexers were actuated by premeditated design or force of circumstances, when or whence they came, are matters still, and perhaps will remain, shrouded in mystery, more especially as native legends, attributing the gift of speech to dogs, and determined chronologically by moons, beyond a score of which the Motu dialect fails to express a definite number, are hardly satisfactory data to convince even the most credulous ethnological or antiquarian enthusiast. Perhaps, however, the most important clue to their origin that has yet been adduced are ocular and tangible physiognomical and physical evidences of Malayan extraction.

As might be naturally inferred, the Motu are a maritime race, and depend mainly upon piscatorial pursuits for a livelihood. The labour of cultivating the plantations devolves on the females, but the sterile and stony soil in the vicinity of Port Moresby rewards their efforts with but scanty and uncertain crops of yams and bananas. Among the other duties they have to perform is carrying wood and water, which latter is carried in large spherical earthenware vessels, of which a great number are made by the women, for trading purposes. Their mode of manufacture is very ingenious, and worthy of description. The clay, which is of a peculiar nature, and only to be obtained at a considerable distance from the village, is first pounded to a powder in a wooden trough, made from a worn-out canoe; water is then added, and the mass worked to the required consistence; it is then moulded over the lower half of a pot already completed, and fashioned with the hands and a small flat stick into a hemispherical form. This shape is used principally to contain food. If, however, it is desired to manufacture the globular kind, two of the bowls are placed while still soft with their edges in contact; these are united by merely page 70 patting the joint with the wooden spatula before mentioned, until it disappears and a complete junction is effected; an aperture is then made at the top, a rim being moulded from the material extracted. The diameter of this mouth varies according to the objects for which the vessel is intended to be used, being considerably larger for cooking purposes than merely to contain water. After the required shape is obtained a fire of grass and light sticks is built round the pots; when sufficiently baked they are glazed by being dressed while hot with a decoction prepared from the bark of the mangroves.

With the exception of fishing, hunting is the only occupation that a Motu warrior does not consider it beneath his dignity to follow. Kangaroos and wild pigs are the principal objects of pursuit. Their usual method of securing the former, which are very numerous, is to surround them while feeding, stalking stealthily as near as practicable; as soon as they perceive that the game is on the alert they rush towards them on every side, uttering loud guttural cries, which frequently have the effect of arresting the flight of the alarmed and confused quarry, or driving it within easy spear-throw of one of the hunters. At certain seasons, however, when the grass is long and dry, war is waged against the kangaroo on a more extensive scale. Across the mouth of a long valley down which the prevailing monsoon is blowing, strong and large-meshed nets, about 6 or 7 feet deep, neatly made of cordage manufactured from a fibrous bark, are stretched upon stakes driven firmly into the ground, the grass being first cleared away for some distance around them. Small intervals are usually left between each of the nets, which run from 20 to 30 fathoms in length, at which are stationed expert spearsmen; the surrounding country is then beaten up by a general muster of all men, women, children, and dogs capable of taking part in the hunt, who, after driving the kangaroos into the valley, at the mouth of which the trap is situated, take up position on the surrounding hills, in order to prevent the game from breaking back; the grass is then lighted to windward with fire sticks, carried for the purpose, at several points simultaneously, and a sheet of flame rapidly sweeps down the gully, driving every living thing before it, the natives following as close as possible in the rear, shouting and yelling like fiends. In their frantic endeavours to escape, many of the kangaroos entangle themselves inextricably in the nets, and few who succeed in passing through the only exits of the barricade escape the spears of the ambush hunters. In this manner large numbers are frequently obtained.

After the battue is finished, the bodies of the slain are thrown on a large fire, and turned over and over, until the hair is scorched off; they are then rapidly disjointed and cut up with splinters of flint or quartz, in the use of which primitive knives these natives page 71 are very dexterous. The meat is then stacked on a light and hastily constructed framework, elevated about 4 feet from the ground, under which a slow fire is kept burning, until the joints are partially smoked and cooked, which process tends to avert the rapid decomposition that would otherwise take place in such a tropical climate.

The produce of the chase is carried back to the villages on poles, in the manner usually practised by the Chinese.

In hunting the wild pigs, which are rather formidable antagonists, a peculiar appliance is used which may be described as follows:—A stout frame 18 inches in diameter, formed somewhat like a horseshoe, is covered with a strong netting about 2 inches in the mesh; the pig is approached and surrounded while feeding and rooting in the tangled scrub, or sleeping in its haunts among the dense osier beds or reedy swamps; on being disturbed, finding himself hemmed in on every side, and saluted with a shower of spears and arrows, he often rushes furiously at his nearest tormentor, who boldly standing his ground receives the enraged animal's impetuous charge on this appliance, grasping it firmly in both hands by strong grips provided for the purpose on either edge of the frame. In delivering his ripping upward stroke, the boar generally entangles his long and strongly curved tusks in the meshes of the net, and while endeavouring to rid himself of this encumbrance, is set upon on every side and soon placed hors de combat.

The spear is the national weapon both for the chase and for war of the people residing in the Port Moresby district, the kind reserved for the latter purpose being of black palm wood, heavier and more highly finished than those used in hunting. Nothing answering the purpose of the womerah used by Australian natives is to be met with among them, and consequently they cannot at a long range deliver their weapons so effectually; while with the bow and arrow, which they obtain in large quantities from natives residing further to the eastward, near the head of the great Papuan Bight, they are by no means expert. The Koitapu, and occasionally the Motu, make use of curiously curved stone clubs, the heads of which resemble sharp-edged discs or stars, and are generally fashioned from serpentine or diorite, but quartz and a kind of limestone thickly studded with minute fossil shells are occasionally used.

The Koiari, a finely developed and warlike race, inhabiting the mountainous regions to the northward of Port Moresby (who, in times of peace, occasionally visit the coast tribes to obtain salt, which they prize highly, carrying back on their return journey large sections of bamboo full of sea-water) invariably use a club head much resembling in form, size, and colour, an emu's egg; a perforation through its longest diameter receives the handle, which is about 4 feet long; the small end is grasped in the hand, and the head is fastened in its place by a neatly worked mousing of strong page 72 fibre. Both the Motu and Koitapu recognize polygamy, but its practice is rather the exception than the rule, and it is very seldom that a man has more than three wives. There are no recognized chiefs among any of the various tribes that we met with during our sojourn in New Guinea, but in times of war and on other important occasions, the heads of large families and men of proved prowess and experience were invested with a certain amount of temporary authority in action and in council.

The women are, when young, rather prepossessing in form and feature, but hard labour and maternity age them very rapidly; they tattoo themselves all over the bodies and limbs with quaint hieroglyphical figures, which probably have some symbolical significance, the operation not being completed at one time.

The women are very reserved in their manner toward strangers, and differ widely from their dusky sisters inhabiting the majority of the groups of Polynesia, in being strictly virtuous. This characteristic was particularly observable among each and every of the numerous tribes or races that we became acquainted with in the course of our rambles afloat and ashore, and apparently in many instances their communities were governed by stringent, if unwritten, moral and social statutes. A short heavy skirt composed of strips of pandanus leaves or long flexible fibres, stained in stripes of different shades of red, yellow, and black, is the only garment worn by the females; both sexes have the lobes of their ears and septum of the nose pierced, generally carrying in the latter a straight or curved ornament of shell, varying in length from 2 to 8 inches, and about the thickness of a stout quill, tapering to a point at either extremity; necklaces of reed, shell, seeds, and dogs' teeth, from which hang pendants of boars' tusks and pearl shell crescents, obtained in trade from the westward, are very common; armlets of plaited fibre and human hair, strips of cane, and shell, are worn over the biceps; the armlets, cut from a species of "Trochus," are greatly prized, as specimens are rarely obtained large enough for this purpose; these, with a narrow tight girdle, and a head-dress of cassowary or other feathers, constitute the full dress costume of a "Motu beau."

The Port Moresby canoes, compared with those of natives occupying the seaboard to the eastward and westward, are rather primitive examples of naval architecture, being merely logs hollowed out with stone tomahawks and fire. The smaller ones, used for fishing, are rather lighter in construction and more shapely than the others described below; they are fitted with an outrigger of buoyant wood, to impart the requisite stability, on the poles connecting which with the dug-out is a light framework, which serves to carry such articles as would be injured by water. One or two narrow grass mat sails bent between parallel poles, which act as masts, are often set, but unless the wind is fair, they page 73 are not of much service. The paddles are very roughly fashioned, their blades being generally of an oval elongated form. When under sail the outrigger, as in all crafts so constructed, is invariably carried on the weather side, tacking being effected by altering the trim of their sails so as to reverse their action and propel the other extremity of the canoe in the desired direction.

Towards the close of the dry season, the natives of this part of the coast prepare for their annual trading voyage to the Elemma district, where they barter their earthenware pottery and surplus supplies of hoop-iron, beads, and other trade obtained from the missionaries and casual visitors, for canoes and, last but not least, large supplies of rather crudely prepared sago, which is the staple product of the low-lying, swampy region at the head of the great Papuan Bight. They also obtain a stock of native-grown tobacco. Although the leaf is of excellent quality, their method of curing it is so indifferent, the leaves being merely withered in the sun, that the natives prefer the lowest classes of American or Colonial manufacture. All the men and women, and even very young children, are confirmed smokers; so tobacco is here the principal trade, and you cannot walk through a village in the vicinity of Port Moresby without being continually pestered, even by infants scarcely able to crawl, for "bacsheesh" in the form of "ko-ko." Smoking was an honoured institution among the native races of New Guinea ages before the advent of white men. Their method of consuming the precious weed differs in many respects from that adopted by Europeans and those races to whom it has been by them introduced. It is worthy of description. The pipe, if such a term may be used, consists of a section of bamboo about 2 or 3 inches in diameter and a yard in length, closed at one extremity with the natural division. About half of an ordinary pipeful of highly dried tobacco is broken up finely and placed in a small cone, twisted out of a green leaf carried with the smoking apparatus for that purpose. The point of this funnel-shaped bowl is then inserted in a small hole bored near the closed end. The operator then places the open mouth of the tube to his lips, and applying a fire-stick to the tobacco, exhausts the air and fills the cavity with smoke; then removing with his left hand the cone of burning tobacco, he applies the small aperture to his mouth and inhales the contents of the pipe. The smoke is apparently swallowed and retained as long as possible before it is exhaled from his mouth and nostrils with a deep sigh of satisfaction. The pipe is then recharged by the same operator, and is usually handed to another member of the party, the same process being continued until the precious weed is entirely consumed.

The large canoes, used only on these expeditions, run from 40 to 50 feet long, and are a yard or so in depth and beam. Their extremities, from either of which projects a strong snout about 2 page 74 feet in length, are very bluff. Often as many as twelve or fifteen of these uncouth dugouts are lashed securely, side by side, with strong cables of rattans, Calamis Australis. Almost the entire surface of the gigantic raft thus formed, which is further extended by a light and encircling platform, is enclosed by a 7-foot wall of neatly but strongly constructed palm-leaf thatchwork. The ends of this enclosure nearest the extremities of the supporting canoes are covered in by a slightly pitched skillion roof of similar construction, under shelter of which are the stores and quarters for the numerous crew, which comprise both sexes, and several children. A small pen for live stock, in the form of pigs, occupies the centre of the court. Two masts, stepped abreast, about 18 or 20 feet high, support the large and heavy mat sails, which in general outline resemble a huge crab's claws.

The ground tackle is equally primitive, consisting of heavy stones attached to long rattan cables, which, when not in use, are coiled round the outside of the wall enclosure.

When all is ready for sailing "Westward Ho," a grand festival is held by the natives, who, on these occasions, manœuvre their unwieldly argosies about the harbour, handling them with a skill and adroitness that their unshipshape appearance little suggests, tacking backwards and forwards abreast of the principal villages, with long streamers of stained cloth manufactured from a fibrous bark, floating from the mast-heads and lofty peaks of the grotesque-shaped sails, and steered with long paddles, by men situated at the rear end of each of the several canoes that support the quaintly picturesque floating village. On the platform extending over the water, groups of young girls, attired in their gayest native dress and adorned with the bright scarlet blossoms of the "Hibiscus," dance merrily to the sound of the iguana skin covered, hourglass shaped drums, and the monotonous but not unmusical chant of the dusky warriors. As with all native fetes, a feast, for which vast requisitions have been levied on both land and water for the necessary supplies, closes the entertainment.

Before the close of the rainy season, the trading canoes return, if successful, laden with the fruits of their owners' simple commerce; the voyagers are welcomed with great rejoicings, and for some time subsequently sago is plentiful in the land; but it not unfrequently happens that serious disasters both afloat and ashore overtake the adventurous mariners, and their ranks are thinned by pestilence, or conflicts with hostile and warlike tribes, whose villages, at the mouths of the numerous rivers emptying themselves on the shores of the gulf, they are compelled to pass, as they drift before the light and uncertain breeze that prevails at this season along the low-lying mangrove-fringed mud flats that characterize the coast-line of the gulf country to the westward of Mount Yule, and the dispirited survivors returning empty-handed, page 75 are greeted with waitings and woe in place of the usual rejoicings, and fasting rather than feasting is for some time the order of the day.

The villages inhabited by the Motus are situated invariably in the vicinity of salt water, their dwellings being generally elevated about breast-high on numerous rather slender crooked piles, driven into the shingly beach a little below high-water-mark, the tide, assisted by a numerous pack of mangy half-starved curs peculiar to the island, and a few domesticated pigs, also of an indigenous species, being the principal sanitary institution.

The houses are roomy and neatly constructed, the walls and roofs being thatched with the fronds of the cocoa-nut or pandanus, the floor being composed of rough slabs, cut from the sides of worn-out unseaworthy canoes. Strips of bamboo, when procurable, are sometimes used for this purpose.

The villages, which consist as a rule of from one to three score of these dwellings, are sheltered by a dense and gloomy grove of cocoa-nut palms, under the cool shade of whose closely interwoven feathery fronds, they inter their dead in shallow graves, often marked by large shells and variegated crotons, or the broken weapons and cooking utensils of the deceased, but which emit effluvia detracting materially from the charm of their surroundings.

The communities of the Motu race, occupying the coast-line to the eastward of Point Moresby, build their villages on piles driven into sand-banks or mud-flats, at a considerable distance from the shore, selecting places well sheltered by shoal patches and the Barrier reef from the action of the waves. A too well-founded dread of the numerous hostile tribes inhabiting the fertile slopes of the Astrolabe range, which rises precipitously in their rear, renders this custom imperative, so that, returning at sunset from the chase or labour in their plantations, the natives paddle off to their Venetian residences, where they can sleep secured by an impassable natural barrier from the unwelcome nocturnal visits of their bellicose neighbours.

The dwellings of the Koitapi people are usually situated on the crests of the moderately elevated ridges in the vicinity of the sea; they are rather larger than those already described, but are similar in construction and design, which might be described as belonging to the dog-kennel order of architecture.

About a week after our arrival at Port Moresby, Mr. Blunden and myself proceeded about 12 miles inland, selecting a camp on the bank of the River Laloki, a swift-running stream of some magnitude; a few natives carried scanty impedimenta and were found excellent carriers. After traversing the long valley at the rear of the mission station, the route crosses a steep and lofty ridge dividing it from a stretch of open undulating country, sparsely timbered with a species of Eucalyptus, shut in by barren page 76 bills of flinty and altered slate formation, and intersected here and there with veins of rather hungry-looking quartz; the grass in these hollows was so very long and coarse as to render progress except by the narrow native foot-tracks almost impossible. Two or three unimportant creeks and gullies containing very fair water were passed on the way, and early in the evening we reached our destination, and pitched the tent on the summit of a grassy knoll overlooking the river, along each bank of which extended a narrow belt of dense jungle which promised to be, although rather limited in extent, a very fair collecting ground. Leaving us at this spot the rest of the party re-embarked in the "Explorer" and sailed to the eastward, anchoring in Bootless Inlet, a shallow harbour about 20 miles from Port Moresby, close to Tupuselai, one of the semi-marine Motu villages previously described. Leaving Jemmy Caledonia (one of the Kanakas) in charge of the boat, they pushed inland as far as the numerous body of well-armed natives engaged as porters could be induced to go; these shortly after entering the territory of the dreaded mountaineers dumped their packs in a rather unsuitable spot for a camp, on the bank of a swiftly running brook, whose waters falling in a series of gigantic leaps from the summit of the lofty and precipitous range, and shaded throughout their whole course by the overhanging foliage from the fierce rays of the tropical sun, were cool and bright as crystal. Mr. Goldie's party remained at this camp about a fortnight, but the fertile and highly picturesque district at the foot of the Astrolabe mountains did not prove a very renumerative field for their operations, and save in a few particulars the ornithological specimens obtained were neither numerous nor rare; one or two skeletons of the Koitapu tribe, and some other interesting ethnological curiosities, were purchased from the natives, in exchange for tomahawks, beads, tobacco, and pieces of stout hoop iron cut into lengths of about 6 or 8 inches, which the natives in every part of the island, directly or indirectly in communication with Europeans, sharpen at one end with a single bevel as in a chisel, and insert in their tomahawks, in place of the stone blades hitherto in use among them. Shortly before the party returned to the coast, Mr. Shaw, accompanied by one of the Loyalty islanders, a very experienced bushman, succeeded in ascending the highest point of the range. He describes the ascent as follows:—

"Starting at earliest dawn from the foot of one of the spurs leading towards the summit, our route at first lay along a steep grassy ridge, broken occasionally by gigantic outcrops of volcanic rocks, from a pile of which, at an altitude of about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea, a magnificent panoramic view was obtained of the whole extent of fertile country between the mountains and the ocean, extending right and left, uninterrupted by any intervening page 77 object, until fading away into obscurity among the filmy hazes that hung around the far distant horizon. So clear was the atmosphere that even our little craft lying at anchor off the village of Tupuselai could be plainly distinguished, and the Barrier reef, whose irregular but seldom broken outline skirts the coast at a distance varying from 1 to 5 miles appeared like a delicate tinted green ribbon separated from the deep blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean only by a light fringe of snow-white foam. Leaving this spot, the ascending route lay through a dense jungle of tropical vegetation; rattan and flowering creepers being interwoven so closely among the heads of the lofty trees as to in a great measure exclude the light of day; and the ascent was rendered the more arduous in consequence of the obvious necessity for avoiding the various foot-tracks frequented by the natives dwelling in the numerous little hamlets scattered along the mountain side, who would doubtless have resented in an unpleasant manner an intrusion on their domains. The utmost caution was observed in every movement, and although on at least two occasions we passed within ear-shot of hunting parties, favoured by the concealment afforded by the dense undergrowth, we succeeded in escaping an embarrassing rencontre. An hour or two's hard climbing brought us, about noon, to the foot of a precipitous and lofty cliff, which extending for many miles along the crest of the range appeared to bar further upward progress; however, after skirting the base of this obstacle for some considerable distance to the westward, a narrow cleft worn by a mountain torrent was perceived, which Jack the Kanaka pronounced to be a practicable breach. Slinging both guns over his shoulder he led the way, and after a severe tooth and nail struggle, during which numerous large boulders, dislodged from their temporary resting-places, thundered impetuously down the face of the precipice, crashing on until lost to sight and hearing, through the tangled undergrowth of ferns and creepers, we succeeded in scaling the natural fortification, and reached the summit of the range, which was merely a narrow ridge crowned with lofty and densely foliaged trees. Continuing the ascent along the ridge in a westerly direction for a mile or two, the highest peak of the range, 3,860 feet above the sea, was at last reached, and for the first time to speak of a rest was taken. Unfortunately at this elevation misty clouds almost completely obscured our view of the magnificent scene that lay far down beneath us; but Jack climbing a tree that hung in a very threatening manner over the gulf below, perceived the smoke from several native fires, and roughly determined the best route for our descent, in order to give them as wide a berth as possible. He brought with him an orchid which he found growing near the head of the tree, and which was the only memento of our visit with page 78 which we encumbered ourselves. Animal life above the region inhabited by the natives seemed as scanty as vegetable was prolific, as a single species of jungle fowl was the only living thing we met with near the summit. The descent at this spot, like that of Avernus, was comparatively easy and rapid, on the way passing through a small cluster of deserted habitations, one of which was built in the fork of a tree at a considerable elevation from the ground, access thereto being only obtained by means of a rather flimsy-looking rattan ladder. Two and even three of these aerial dwellings are sometimes constructed by the mountain natives in one large tree at different altitudes; and large quantities of heavy stones being generally stored in them to be dropped on the heads of unwelcome visitors, they serve as almost impregnable places of retreat for their owners in time of danger. Close by, exposed to the action of the weather on a low bamboo frame was a human skeleton, apparently that of an adult male, wrapped in a cloth of rough fibrous texture; hanging under one of the houses, wrapped in a piece of coarse native cloth manufactured from the bark of the paper mulberry, were the disarticulated bones of a child; no signs of recent habitation were seen about the place, and a few banana trees growing near the dwellings bore ripe fruit, upon which a requisition was levied. Continuing the descent, towards evening we arrived at a small cluster of cocoa-nut palms. Jack, whose agility in climbing rendered him quite independent of foot bands as used by all the New Guinea natives that we came across, soon secured a supply of green nuts, whose contents we found very refreshing. After a brief rest the retreat was again resumed, and about 9 p.m. we reached the camp, thoroughly worn out with fatigue, but without having met with any serious misadventure."

Leaving Bootless Inlet the "Explorer" steered towards Port Moresby, and running with a free sheet before the steady south-easter arrived off that place early in the day. Continuing her westerly course about six or seven leagues, the anchor was dropped towards nightfall in a sheltered bight off Boiona, a small village inhabited by a branch of the Motu community, which in no characteristics worth mentioning differed from those at Port Moresby; a mission station under the charge of a Raratongar native teacher named "Peri," who like his fellow teacher Ruatoka at the mission head quarters, rendered the party every assistance in communicating with the natives and carrying out their collecting operations. After remaining at this place for two or three days, a few natives were engaged as porters, and a start was made inland, Jemmy Caledonia being left behind in charge of the boat as before. For 10 or 12 miles in a north-westerly direction the route lay through rather arid and barren country, sparsely timbered and indifferently watered, but shortly after a large page 79 shallow lagoon was arrived at, on the margin of which a spot was selected for the camp.

Encircling this lake, which extended over four or five hundred acres, and two lesser sheets of water in its vicinity, was a large stretch of fertile country which proved a rich field for collectors. Among the specimens obtained here was a new species of Parra (P. novœgunica) (Ramsay), a little stilt wader, whose slender legs terminate in delicate and wide-spreading toes, which enable it to walk on the leaves of water lilies and other aquatic plants without submerging them.

An unfortunate gun accident, by which Mr. Shaw lost the first joint of his right thumb, rendered it necessary for the party to retrace their steps to the coast, without further prosecuting their researches, and return to their head-quarters at Port Moresby. On arriving there Mr. Goldie, with two of the black boys and a few natives, proceeded to our camp on the Laloki River. He found us in good health, and already in possession of a considerable collection. We reported that during our sojourn at this place we had been visited on two or three occasions by hunting parties from Port Moresby, and once by some natives of a tribe occupying a district further inland, with whom, some time previously, the Rev. Mr. Lawes had already established friendly relations. We had not, however, been molested by them in any form, and in fact the only hostile or predatory visit we received was from a crocodile which, in broad daylight, was discovered appropriating a fresh kangaroo skin that was hanging up at the rear of the tent. As soon, however, as his burglarious designs were detected, he made very rapid tracks down the little grassy hillocks on the crest of which our camp was situated, and plunging into a reedy swamp connected with the river at its base, placed himself beyond the reach of reprisals.

The following morning we struck the camp at which we had resided about a month, and packing the natives with our collections and other impedimenta, returned to Port Moresby.

After Mr. Shaw had sufficiently recovered from his accident the united party again started inland, pitching their camp at a point about 6 or 7 miles higher up the Laloki River, near the junction of an important tributary. For a considerable time this was the scene of our operations, which were fairly rewarded with a varied and interesting collection of both fauna and flora. The magnificent family of Paradise-birds was not numerously represented here, but a complete series of a species recently obtained by Signor D'Albertis (P. raggiana), and some fine examples of the King Bird of Paradise were secured. Perhaps the most remarkable of the feathered tribe was a ground pigeon (Goura D'Albertis) which was frequently met with in dense scrubs that fringe the river bank. This species, commonly called page 80 the Crown Pigeon, is the largest and perhaps the handsomest of its kind at present in existence, often attaining a weight of from 10 to 12 pounds. The flesh is very delicate, and furnished a welcome acquisition to our larder. At this camp Jemmy Caledonia, whose old mining experiences induced him to investigate the auriferous indications that existed everywhere throughout the district, obtained flaky colours of gold from the drift and gravelly deposits in the banks of the river, and also quartz specimens among the boulders with which its bed was thickly strewn. This is beyond doubt the first instance in which the precious metal had been obtained in New Guinea. Samples of quartz and black sand containing gold were forwarded to C. S. Wilkinson, Esq., Government Geologist, Sydney, the result of whose assay placed the truth of the discovery beyond question. Before the commencement of the rainy season in November, it was determined to push further inland. However, the rugged nature of the country, the dense jungle through which in many places it was necessary to cut a track, coupled with the difficulty of inducing natives to act as carriers beyond the boundaries of their own district, rendered progress very tedious and slow.

At the furthest point attained, a race of natives differing in many characteristics from those dwelling on the coast was met with, being taller and darker, but, generally speaking, having a less intelligent cast of features. They had evidently never seen white men before, and friendly relations were not established without some difficulty.

Our first introduction to these people was while en route. On rounding a bend of the river, we came suddenly upon a small party of them engaged in fishing. On perceiving us they rapidly got under cover of the dense undergrowth that fringed the river's banks. After waiting patiently for some time, two aged warriors, bolder than the rest, approached within 40 or 50 yards and spoke to us, at the same time with one hand touching their shins and abdomens alternately. Thinking that this was a sign of peace we followed suit, and by means of that and other gestures intended to express goodwill, we succeeded in dispelling the fear and distrust which had evidently been inspired among these children of nature by their first meeting with palefaces. Almost the first sentence of which we were able to interpret the meaning was from one of the old men who had evidently at one time travelled as far as the coast. In a few broken words of the Motu dialect he inquired whether we were friends of Mr. Lawes. On replying in the affirmative, they seemed very pleased, apparently accepting this statement as a guarantee of our goodwill towards them. This was the more remarkable, as we afterwards ascertained they had never seen Mr. Lawes or any other white man, and demonstrated how far the good fame of his name had page 81 penetrated, and that even among those who knew him not his mission work had not been entirely valueless. A present of a few red beads, a piece of Turkey red calico, two or three short lengths of hoop iron, and a stick of tobacco (for we found them as inveterate smokers as the coast natives) cemented the friendship; and after a brief rest, during which we were offered in return for our tobacco, which they evidently relished, refreshment in the shape of a chew of betel nut and chunam, they led us to their village, which consisted of about a dozen houses, similar in construction to those of the Koitapu. The little settlement, from which a beautiful view was obtained, was situated on the slope of a steep and lofty hill, at the foot of which ran a stream of delicious water, along whose banks were scattered the little neatly-fenced gardens of the natives, and beyond an undulating deep sea-green foliage shut in in the distance by lofty hills crowned with beetling crags. At the rear of the village immense boulders of volcanic rocks extended to the crest of the hill, which sombre background contrasted strongly with the flowering creepers and the bright scarlet blossoms of the hibiscus bushes that flourished among them. After partaking of some roasted yams we again pushed onwards, expecting to arrive before nightfall at a large village that we understood from these people was not very far ahead. However we did not come across it before it was necessary to camp. Selecting the bank of a considerable stream over which we discharged our fire-arms, naming it the Goldie River, we had barely time to broil a few pigeons and make a welcome billy of tea, before a storm which had long been brewing broke, and the conflict of the elements, as only witnessed in the region of the tropics, raged all around us, and all night long we sat huddled up together, seeking in vain the scanty shelter afforded by the overhanging trunks of trees, while the rain came down in a deluge. The further we proceeded the denser was the jungle, and the scarcer all varieties of animal life seemed to be, a result so discouraging from a collector's point of view that it was decided to return to the coast and seek a more suitable locality in which to spend the rainy season.

All along the beds of the rivers which we had yet traversed Jemmy had obtained the colour of gold, but had not obtained prospects sufficiently encouraging to make it worth our while attempting anything like systematic work in the auriferous deposits.

On arriving at Port Moresby we at once made preparations for sailing to the eastward, expecting to find at South Cape, Soo-oo, Stacey Island, where a branch of the mission had recently been established, a more suitable locality than that which we had just left. After completing our preparations and packing up securely the collections already formed, we again lifted the emblem of hope and commenced a long beat against the light monsoon. Towards page 82 nightfall we let go our anchor in an open roadstead off Kappa-Kappa (see diagram), one of the villages built on piles, at a distance from the shore already described; and the following day, after passing the large village of Hulla, whose inhabitants occupy themselves almost exclusively in fishing, found a snug anchorage in the sheltered entrance to a spacious sheet of water named Hood Lagoon, about 60 miles to the eastward of Port Moresby. At this place Kerepulin was the largest and most interesting village we had yet met with; its inhabitants number about thousand, and were beyond question the most industrious and cleanly race that had come under our notice. Their houses, the posts of which are often ornamented with flowering orchids, were larger but very similar in form and construction to those at Port Moresby, but were situated at some distance from the water's edge. That of the principal chief, who appeared to exercise rather more authority than is generally the case along the coast, was ornamented at one end with a peculiar structure somewhat in the form of a steeple. The streets were swept every morning, and were laid out with some attempt at regularity. Carefully tilled gardens, containing crotons, dracænas, and other ornamental plants and shrubs, as well as all the fruit-bearing trees and vegetables that are to be found on the island, intersected at right angles with narrow paths and fenced-in lanes, divided the main village from a portion devoted exclusively to that section of the community (probably a branch of the Hula people) who follow the occupation of fishing, in which, exposed on frames to dry, are nets of native manufacture, varying in length from a few feet to upwards of a hundred fathoms, some being large and strong enough in the mesh to catch sharks, dugong, or turtle, and others again, for use on the reefs, being only adapted for the capture of the smallest varieties of the finny tribe. Floats of light wood take the place of the corks commonly used in more civilized countries, and the lower edge of the seines are weighted with shells and lumps of coral. This portion of the people, viz., the fishermen, do not cultivate, their time being occupied altogether in fishing and mending their nets; they barter their fishes to their neighbours, getting in return yams, taro, and other produce grown by their neighbours. Another portion of the men are constantly employed cutting out canoes with the rude stone tomahawk (as per diagram), bartering their canoes to their neighbours the fishermen and other tribes along the coast. The other section attends most assiduously to cultivating the land. Laziness is unknown among them. A great number of cockatoos and the larger-sized parrots are tamed by this tribe, but the unfortunate birds have anything but a pleasant existence, being merely kept to supply the natives with head-dresses of feathers; periodically they are stripped of any feathers that their owners think may page 83 be of any use to adorn them. Without exception the people at this village appeared to be the happiest and jolliest lot of natives we had as yet met with. Love, peace, and harmony seemed to be the order of the clay. The country round this district did not offer us any inducement to stay; so after spending Christmas-day at this place we proceeded on our trip to Stacey Island, passing along the coast miles of cocoa-nut groves and many large villages. When within a clay or two's sail from South Cape a sail was sighted close in under the land. Altering our course, as soon as we were sufficiently near, we made out the stranger to be the mission lugger "Mayri." Her master, Captain Charles Dudfield (afterwards captain of the mission steamer "Ellangowan") was on board, seriously wounded in four or five places. A treacherous attack had been made upon the little vessel by the natives of Soo-oo, Stacey Island, while lying at anchor, and near the newly-formed mission station. The determined resistance of Captain Dudfield and a Darnley islander, the only member of his crew on board at the time, compelled, however, the pirates to beat a retreat, coming decidedly second best out of the encounter, leaving behind them the body of one of their stoutest warriors. In consequence of the unsettled state of affairs that existed at that place, and the impossibility of deserting the "Mayri" while Mr. Dudfield was in such a critical state, the two boats returned to Port Moresby in company, arriving there two or three days subsequently.

As soon as Captain Dudfield had sufficiently recovered from his severe injuries he made preparations for sailing to Torres Straits, in order to renew necessary stores and provisions.

As I had no further occasion to remain at Port Moresby, where there was little more to be collected than had already been obtained, I decided to accompany him; so after bidding farewell to my companions, who purposed to give the south-east coast a further trial after the rainy season, I sailed in the "Mayri." It being the season for N.W. monsoons, for sixteen days, with alternate storms and calms, we were knocked about in the Gulf of Papua. The little boat being only of about 5 tons, and our provisions running low, we had anything but a pleasant time of it; but at last we succeeded in safely reaching our destination, Thursday Island, which had lately been officially gazetted as the Government settlement, and consequently the head-quarters of the pearl-shelling industry in the Straits. After a short stay I transhipped myself and collection on board the mail steamer, bound south, and in clue course arrived in Sydney without any-serious misadventure, save an attack of fever and ague.

In conclusion, I desire to express my thanks to Messrs. G. H. Barron, William Blunden, and J. H. Shaw: to the former for the diagrams which illustrate so lucidly what without their aid would page 84 otherwise doubtless seem vague and devoid of interest, and to the latter for notes and memoranda connected with those portions of this, I fear, rather rambling and crude narrative, of which, being absent from the main party at the time, I was not actually a witness.

Before concluding this paper, I might state that shortly after my return to Sydney, the members of the party who remained in New Guinea made another voyage to the south-eastward, collecting at many points along the coast. On this occasion they spent two or three weeks among the net-work of reefs and islands that comprise the Louisade Archipelago. While there they suffered great distress for want of water, being becalmed for many days without that necessary element. However, after encountering many hardships and privations they returned to Port Moresby, not very much the worse for their seven or eight weeks' cruise, and about two months subsequently sailed for the Straits. After a rapid although boisterous passage, the old "Explorer" once more anchored in Queensland waters; there the party disbanded; the members, with the exception of Mr. Goldie and two of the black boys, returning to Sydney.