EXPLORATION IN NEW GUINEA

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1474, 24 November 1884, Page 2

EXPLORATION IN NEW GUINEA

Mr 11. 0. Forbes, who has spent several years in exploring the M ilay Archipelago, is al>oat to undertake an expedition to Mount Owen Stanley, in New Guinea. lie and his devoted wife, who accomp uiied him ii all his wanderings, visited MoOluer Inlet in June, 1882, and he then became p«»s sessed with a desire to discover more of the wonderful secrets that lie con-c-aled in tiiis laud of romance and mystery. They were objects of great curiosity to a crowd of native men and women, who exuniued their legs arms and faces, rubbing them gently and looking at their fingers as if to soe whether the. color came, off 01 nor.. O.i this occasion Mr Forbes and iiis wiie could not linger in New Guinea, as the.} 7 were about to explore the Timor Laut or Te. limber Islands. They spent three months in this hitherto unknown group, and brought luck to London collections which, in .ditied the views that had so long prevailed as to the absolute restrictions of the flora and f.nuifi of Australia to th;it continent and Tasmania. Now Mr Forbes proposes to visit South- ftasfe "it Now Guinea, and to penetrate the Owen Stanley Range, with a view to examining the fauna and ilmi and yung-apli i<;al features of that region. The Council of the rtoy;'l G( o-jrapliii-al Society, believing Mr Fmbas isjust ths mm to succeed in such an enterprise, have voted him £2/50 towards the £1,503 required to equip the exp-'ditiou.

Mr. G. vj . Griffiths, on Aug. IS, read a paper before tin* Geographical Society nf Anstralasiafjia, in M"lliourne, on " Now Guinea as a H • •1 cl for <3[**o;^ra.j»s - ical recearcl.." After reviewing tin*. principal results ac.hivcd by explorers wlio had visited "New Gu.nea dnriMg the first quarter of a century, Mr. tirrififitlis adverted to the stron, rlymarked Australian Charucfc'-r of the New Guinea faun; 1 ., ifc being very isolated, and in some departments o'Z li c vny rich. The kn iwii mammalia nuinlii-Ted only 17 species, and of these 14 wero nunsunials. Among its kangaroos was the treecliml>ing variety, which isadapted t > its peculiar mode, of lift? by b.-iug furnished with great gripping claws. It was suggested that this liahit, with its adjusted structural peculiarities, had been developed by a life spoilt unionist vast forest swamps, were the. ordinary means of locomotion were impracti.ilile. But as Wallace had pointed out, it, was more likely that the development was due to the scarcity of wholesome herbage in these dark and dank fore,st3, and tin* abundance of edible foliage. The island was said to l>e. but sparsely populated, and Chalmers, who was probably the man best qualified incite, had estimated the number at 2, 500,000. The Papuans spoke a tongue, which was quite distinct from that of the other islands of the Archipelago. ! It was harsher than the Malay, and it was also richer in words. It was equally distinct from the tougU'; 8 oken i in Northern Australia. Tne differences | were radical, being found in the coni stmction of their idioms, the one race usiny prefix formations, and the other suffix. But while the language, of the Papuans was characterised bysiruufrnral peculiai'ities which strongly diffji euti;it.ed itfrom all the la ■■Kjna^e sspoken in the npighboiiring lan Is, it If split up into a vast number of local dialects. Upon th<± south-east coast alone above 25 different tomrues were known to Europeans, although our acquaintance w ; th the country was very superficial. Mr Griffit-lis thought they knew enough of New Guinea to make them feel th.it, with such a rich field for res -arch at their doors, the Geographical Society of Australasia would be unworthy of its name if it were to fold its arms at the present time. It wsts now too late, in the season to despatch a party, liut it should be possiblo to organise one to operate during the healthy season, which would commence in March next yeai*. Were a strong exploration committee to be formed, and \vr re it to commence liy securing the leadership of some explorer of proved capacity, such as Mr Giles, he Relieved the remnining stages would by easy. Victoiia, New South Wales, and South Australia bad each promised £1,000, and private liberality was seldom backward when the cause was worthy and in good hands. Captain Straclmn, who had recently visited New Guinea, expressed bis opinion that the interior of the island w.is really uninhabited. According to the. Washington Post, an American New Guinea expedition is in contemplation. That journal states that Mr J. W. Buel, who explored Russia and Siberia, and who ha 3 written n work on Russian Nihilism, recently visited the .^fcate department, in company with Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, to ask the protection of the Government in a proposed exploration of New Guinea. He stated that hn would like to be commissioned without

pay, the idea been to use the cotnmis sion as a credential. It was finally arranged that Mr Buel should go as the accredited representative of the S.nithsonian Institute. Mr liuel asserts that the expedition will leave next spring its expenses being borne by a Ne York millionaire, whose name will not be known until the expedition departs A schooner will be bought, chartered, and fully equipped. There will be about 50 men in the paity, including

scientists. He adds, " I expect to bw gone about eighteen months. I have Selected New Guinea for exolorafioiij iirst, for so li;tL' is known oi i;. ; a;id secondly, because it will not be. many years before it will he a centre of interest. It was iirst claimed by the Dutch, but r,heir garrison died ot" malarial fever, and now England and France have their eyes upon it. But I think it will be annexed to Australia, and make a part of the i outii bea Republic, which will be formed when the Australian colonies revolt and cut loose, as the United States did, from the mother country.