15

A.—s

several New Guinea natives in Queensland whose term of service expires shortly, and that there are probably a large number of cases of non-compensation for deceased natives. As this principle of compensation was not only admitted, but put in practice to a great extent, it is likely that aboriginals who have gone without a present, besides losing a relative, will be doubly incensed, and prove a dangerous element in the future, unless they realise that a firm and undeviating control is intended. From records at command I find that 648 natives have been recruited for the Queensland labour trade, and 404 returned on the voyage of the "Victoria." Not more than thirty of those remaining will probably be returned finally; thus 194 relatives of deceased islanders became entitled to compensation. The Queensland allowance for this object was exceedingly liberal, from a native point of view, and included the following articles and values, viz. : — £ s. d. 1 axe ... ... ... ... ... 0 4 7 1 double blanket ... ... ... ... 0 9 0 12 yards turkey-red ... ... ... ...054 12H.K.F.S ... ... ... ... ... 0 3 3 2 hatchets ... ... ... ... ... 0 6 0 Hong knife ... ... ... ... ... 0 2 0 1 short knife ... ... ... ... ... 0 1 6 2 Ib. tobacco ... ... ... ... ... 0 3 0 1 waterproof bag ... ... ... ...030 £1 17 8 I am unaware of the exact number of the above " bundles of trade," as they were called, which were given away on the cruise ; but I feel morally sure, from reading the printed reports, that not half of 194 were so presented. It was, I venture to think, an unfortunate omission that all our natives were not returned here at the same time. The Queensland Government had strictly prohibited further "recruiting" in New Guinea and adjacent islands. All recruits from New Guinea were understood to have been irregularly obtained in the first instance, and, consistently with a fair and humane policy, it was decided to replace them in their homes. The mortality, according to the report of the Commissioners, had already been great, and it was likely that considerable further loss by death would occur amongst those left behind. Nor would survivors finally be returned under the same favourable conditions. To return four-fifths of the number and leave one-fifth therefore looks like a failure to complete a public action otherwise most salutary to the native impressions in the Protectorate. I accompanied the s.s. " Victoria " to this place, landing at Port Moresby on the 17th June last year. 5. A few days after my arrival the Eev. Mr. Lawes called my notice to a case of dispute and assault upon a native of Tatana, a village situated in the upper part of the harbour. The assault was by a Malay, a beche-de-mer fisher. The latter urged theft of a piece of his boat-fittings, and that the native resisted its return when claimed. The native explained that he found the piece of wood floating about and took possession, or it might have been lost by the tide. The Malay had been living for some time at the village, being married to one of the women, and he owned the only boat at the village. There was no doubt, therefore, that the native knew thoroughly well that he was appropriating the Malay's property. I cautioned the native against interfering with anything which he had not bought or which had not been given to him ; and I warned the Malay against taking the law into his own hands for the future, but to refer to Government authority. This is a trifling incident in itself, but it illustrates a class of cases likely to become numerous on the coast. Hitherto petty thefts have been dealt with rather summarily by the wronged individual. Shooting pigs and pulling down native cottages have been the means resorted to by missionary teachers as well as small traders on the coast, while there are also instances of the rifle being used in this district of Moresby for the same reasons. 6. From the 17th June to the 31st October I was a guest at the mission head-quarters here, and received great kindness and hospitality from the Eev. W. G. Lawes and Mrs. Lawes, and I thus had ample opportunities for studying the relations of this branch of the London Missionary Society with the natives, the class of South Sea Island teachers employed by them, and of forming an estimate of the civilising and evangelising results alleged to have been achieved at their centre of influence and effort. I also visited villages within a day's ride of the Mission-station, was present at some of the large hunting parties, and interested myself generally in the habits and customs of our aboriginal population. At the end of July I accompanied the Eev. J. Chalmers on a trip in a whaleboat with a native crew to the subdistricts of Dora and Kabadi, touching at all the principal intermediate coast villages. I received a distinct impression from this journey—namely, that the influence of the mission in checking intertribal robberies and feuds even in their oldest sphere of action, Eedscar Bay, has been greatly exaggerated, and that Government intervention was indispensable to effect any real and permanent reform. The village of Manumanu, in Eedscar Bay, at the mouth of Galley Eeach, occupies a somewhat important, although most unhealthy, position. It was the first point at which a London Missionary Society teacher (of this branch of the mission) was placed in 1872, or fourteen years ago. Its people formerly owned and occupied another village, gardens, and a cocoanut grove four or five miles further to the west. A blood-feud with the neighbouring Kabadians compelled flight, and they squatted on the foul and miserable sandbank where they live, nearly surrounded by dense and pestilential mangroves. The advantage in the present position is the water-boundary of