186 



to the Bogadjim. "More or less civilized as is that little down the Boku to "the Ramu, and then returned. I do 

 community, they proved just as prelogieal* as my hope he did it in the dry season, poor man. This camp 



is 1,!U0 feet high. Between Ongoruna nnd the Boku 

 the forest is fair in places, but alter that the slopes are 

 far too steep to carry big timber. The large Eugenia, 

 with the armadillo bark, was common, also the follow- 



ing: — The mountain Albizzia, Casuarbia 



fl 



Quercus spicata, Q. lamponga, two Colophyllum, the 



mountain Freyc'metia, Bamboos, Elaeocarpus, &c. The 

 Araitcaria occurred in rare clumps, and always on the 



friends at Hombogede, Ionomba, and Kiri. They had 



never heard of these places, and denied the presence of 



any track except the one leading to the sea, and in the 



same breath pointed out the various places on the 



plain which shone below us in the sun, and traced the 



track we had followed all yesterday. They still held 



that there was no communication to the south-east, and 



all the hills to the south were uninhabited. I went out 



in search of a high point from which I could view the sharpest ridges. 



country to the south and south-east, and found a splen- 

 did little grassed peak with a precipitous slope falling 24th February.— Left camp at 7 a.m., and caught 



down to the Boku head waters. This river makes a glimpse of Mount Otto across the Kamu, bearing 200 



degrees Mag.; dropped precipitately down to the Haile 

 River, where she tumbles over a fall of 100 feet. This 

 waterfall I had heard roaring in the night, and taken 

 for the main river the boys call the Solu, and which we 

 found a little beyond. It is a strong running stream 

 that would be hard to cross in flood, but easy to-day, 



We then climbed a 45-degree 



tremendous bend round into these hills, and the grass 

 peak is situated on the south-west side of its mountain 

 basin. I got a good round of angles to a number of 

 villages, and was able to get the natives who accom- 

 panied me to admit that there was communication to 

 these places. Daguba and Doriba are situated on the 

 hilltops to the south-east, and through these hamlets I 

 propose travelling till I get high enough up the Kamu 

 to be above the swamp land. This swamp area was 

 clearly visible, and it is little wonder I was unable to 

 force my way along the river bank. Further up it 

 seems to divide into many streams with islands be- 



being only thigh-deep, 

 slope to Doriba, which we 



found, if possible, more 



squalid than Doguba. Six hovels, scarcely 5 feet high, 

 with their grass thatch down to< the mud all round, 

 and a hole blocked with bark as door. All around the 

 mud was calf-deep, and the whole place gave one the 



tion. and 



ignoring his desire to lead us 



all north- 



west to the sea, 



south-east 



going 



had been 



induced 

 along 



him 

 the 



t o show 

 range. 



us a 

 The 



trail 



tween. The whole width of the waterway must be 1,000 most dismal idea of the people. These had run away 

 yards there. Probably this is the swelling marked in into the bush, except a few old men. I took the oldest, 

 the old German maps which has always intrigued me. who years ago in German times had worked on a planta- 

 The mist came down early and blotted out the view, 

 but I saw enough to convince me that there was a trail 

 up the Ramu. The forests of these mountains are of 

 the foothill to the mid-mountain type. The small and 

 large acorned oak occur, and both Araucarias (.4. (Jun- 



ninghamii and A. Klinh'ii). I was surprised to see no 



Quercus Juhghuhnii. Several "Eugenia and Guttif rae the Solu, and then using that as our roadway made up 



exceedingly bad 



now, 



g° :n g 

 and it 



11]) to 



seemed impossible for it to be worse; yet when we 

 left Doriba we clambered down a precipice to 



of the mountain species were met with, but no Podo- 

 carps. Evidently the only conifers that grow as low as 



this torrent, which was running half flood between high 

 walls of rock. It started raining heavily, and I won- 



2,500 feet are the Araucarias. The cultivation of the dereel what would happen if the river rose any more; 

 Boku basin is extending, and with the advent of peace- 



ful conditions which would follow Government control, 



already the carriers were having difficulty in stemming 

 the current, so 1 was very glad when I found a ledge 



one may expect to see a larger population in these hills. some 50 



At present, they go in fear of their lives, and are afraid there I camped. The boys had done six hours, but it 



feet deep well above high-water mark, and 



to venture into a village a day's march away. 



'>*>,. 



3rd February. — Leaving Ongoruna at 7 a.m., we 



Struck south-east along 



a very poor trail, and rising 



had been such arduous travelling that they were unable 

 to go much farther. From last night's camp we have 

 not done more than 6 miles. The height of this camp, 



to the Araucaria ridge at about 2,500 feet we dropped which I call Solu camp, is 1,564 feet. The valley rock 



switchback fashion over the spurs of the range till we 

 met the Boku. This we crossed at 0.30 a.m., and rising 

 abruptly on the other side, reached Doguba at 11 a.m. 

 A few hovels with their eaves down to the mud con- °f note to-day. 



cliffs have an almost vertical dip and a south-east to 

 north-west strike. They appear to be a hard granite. 



Except for Araucaria on the skyline, I saw no timber 



stituted the hamlet, and the population took to the 

 bush, fearing I had come to recruit them, I suppose 



Monday, 25th February. — Leaving camp in pouring 



tw^'v.! iW,/^,, \ "" Iu***4f cv \"T"i" xu c "wi. * .' l i'i' wov " ra j n at 6.45, we went up the Solu for half a mile, then 



two had been to work, lorunately, and they induced , . ... ' . Cj f. i i i i n i \ -i 



cr „,r, „v *r\,~ f v. j i i "1 'xi. leaving it on our leit, climbed and paddled up a tribu- 



some ot the others to return, and so we went on with , ,f ,» L. -i i • - -j. i l j* 



' tary bearing south-east, then leaving it and ascending a 



very sharp rise, we reached a group of huts called 



Wanese. Four boys from this hamlet had been to work, 



and stood their ground while the remainder of the vil- 



u went bush." With these four boys to help carry 



and act as interpreters, we pushed on, ignoring their 



protests that there was only one road, and that led to 



the sea. We followed a small well-beaten track that led 



the new men as guides. One was painted a nice terra- 

 cotta red, and had a very ornamental bone stuck 

 through the septum of his nose. We continued south- 

 east. The bush was dense, but every now and again 

 a sharp spur or some fallen trees opened the view to 

 the plain. We were approaching the river more and 

 more, and the valley here cannot be more than 12 

 miles across. Mt. Orto showed up very clearly to ihe 

 south, and later on I caught a glimpse of the Ramu, a 



lage 



»-J v_- tA • ? V **S i- V^ J. -* \s 1¥ V VI C4/ Ol 1 1 CA XX > > V^ J. A if \_/ CA V. \*s XX \J ±. *Ai V* XV fll *-* V 



us through another tiny hamlet, all deserted, called 



mass of silver ribbons threading grassed islands, while ^^T^71 V ^ d °^ ^ "!? £_ ^J^JSl 

 the country rolled down to the water in pure savannah- 

 covered foothills. Still switehbacking up and down 

 along a pig track of a trail, with three boys cuttin 



ahead to enable the carriers to 



it 



dropped down on the south side into the Ramu valley 

 proper. All was covered in mist, so I got no view, but 

 from the direction we were travelling: the Ramu lav 

 before us. Soon we reached streamlets all flowing south- 



aneaa to enaoie tne carriers to get their loads througn, " ~ . . , ^ 7 



we reached a good camping ground, and there pitched West > and P ad(ilm g down one, came to a larger river 



our tents at 4 p.m. m a downpour of rain. We have 

 been travelling all day, but the trail was so bad that 

 we have not done more than 10 miles. On questioning 

 the boys, I learnt that a German D.O. had cut his way 



* Prof. r Lucien l.rvy -Uriihl, in his Prim tire MmU'ilitu, uses this temi to 



denote fche mind which is capable of believing two contradictory stati ments at 



t he satin" time. 



called the Giagolo. This we followed down a little way, 

 crossed and climbed up into artificially-created grass 

 land to a ridge, where we camped. The rain ceased, 

 and the mist rose sufficiently to give me a wonderful 

 view of the valley. Such a splendid sight one rarely 

 nets in the tropics, where dense vegetation as a rule 

 blocks the vision. Here there was nothing to obstruct 



O 



