188 



loped into a magnificent episode, and INIoron acts the 

 various incidents with dramatic effect. A spear pass- 

 ing between his legs is his latest piece of embroidery. 

 The number of the attackers is now " two fella line/ 7 



carmis were seen, and on one the beautiful creeper 

 Hoya dimorpha was growing. The seed vessel ofa 

 Pithecolobium or allied genus of tree was common in 



water-courses, but I did not find the tree. It is pour- 

 ing rain, and has rained almost continually since leav- 



ing mc gicioa ahuii v.cn^, **— ~ — p iif i 



wet. I want to leave it here and go light to Madang 



which is pidgin for quite 200 boys. I cursed the camp xrifr _„, _ 



to silence if not to sleep, and now I must think what m in g the grass knoll camp, and all our gear is sopping 

 is best to be done. We are running short of food, and 



for the supplies. 



1st March.— A sunny day and all gear was out dry- 

 ing before being packed away in the head man's 



hut. I got specimens of _ Araucaria 



botanical material of this 

 Tumurro says that Ongoruna and 



that is obviously our immediate need. 



This grass land between camp and Kohu village i 



4 exceedingly hilly, and it took me one and three-quarter 

 hours to traverse the distance. The tree that persists 

 in the grass land is Snrococepluilus sp., probably S. 

 cordatus, which is very fire resistant. Albizzia pro- 

 cera is common, as is a small tree that looks like a 

 Yerbenaceae, but is not a Clerodendron* Ground 



orchids and numerous annuals make a fine show in the 

 grass, which seems to be at the end of the season, for 

 it is all in seed. The gullies in places carry remnants 



of forest, but it was only in the immediate vicinity of 

 Kohu that really big rain forest trees were met with. 

 I found two citrus trees, the same species as I have 

 seen everywhere in Papua and New Guinea, 

 fruit, but might prove good stock for grafting. Along 

 a stream on the flats where we had lunch was a row of 



tirj/thrina with glaucous leaves with Hibiscus tilliaceus 



and Myristica as an understudy. The Erythrina I 

 could see from my camp, for the blue-grey underleavea 

 glistened in the sun with every puff of wind. 



before 



(Tumurro) 

 Klinkii and 



other 



some 



mountain silva. „ 



all it contains is mine, and anything I have with him 

 will be as safe as if I put it in my own vilage. So 

 that is all right. Rain started at 2 p.m. in torrents, 

 which seems usual in this cloud-belt country. 



2nd March.— Left Ongoruna at 6.30 a.m., and strik- 

 ing generally north-east traversed the basin of the 

 Boku, crossing its innumerable headwaters and passing 

 A nnn , the villages of Asake Kessa and Bieli, we climbed to the 

 AWa top of the Dividing Range between the Renin and the 



sea. Thence we dropped in a noi th-easterly direction 

 along a very convenient spur to the junction of the 

 two main tributaries of the Ioworo, which falls, into 



the Gori near the sea. 



This river we followed down, 



paddling our way in the swollen current, crossing and 



re-crossing it to zones of safe bank and now and then 



28th February.— The upshot of my ^thoughts was the leayinff it ft for half-an-hour to circumvent a precipitous 



x , x xl ' ^' J ~ x ^ Finally led by a little 



decision to return with the carriers to Madang to get mj 



supplies myself. To send boys back again would mean , f 



Ongoruna 



Top divide 

 Head of Iworo 

 Kwato 



that they would scatter back to the villages once they 



had crossed the range and would net return with the 



food. I did not dare leave the boys in camp and go 



up to the scene of the panic with Angep, for they 



would surely run away during my absence. To take 



them through the same route was not possible, for they Biele 



refused to go that way, and though I could have forced kunchplace 



them they might panic, and my police, except Angep, 



are unreliable. So at 7 a.m. we started back taking 



the new bottom track that will lead us to Ongoruna, 



the "Wanese guide says. We made camp for the nigh 



on the Solu, somewhere below the cam}/ on the 23rd to 



24th February. We would have made better going, 



but the path was not much better than a pig-track, 



and three boys were constantly at work opening it up. 



J wouldn't have got so far only the boys moved rapidly, 



being thoroughly frightened with "Police boy belong 



runaway," as I have christened Moron bringing up the 

 rear. The Solu where we crossed was a big river, and 

 two carriers were washed down ; fortunately the rice 

 they carried was in painted swag bags, and only the 

 top got a few cups wet, and this we cooked for lunch. 



Police boy Petini did good work rescuing the boys and 

 giving me a hand too when the river threatened to 

 carry me off my pins. The track took us through 

 islands of grass land and patches of bush rich in 



Afzelia. We are now on the edge of the great swamp 



lands of the Haimi, and will turn up to Ongoruna to- 

 morrow. 



rock cliff or short-cut a spur. 



whose father 



seven, 

 reached Kwata in the dark. 



clearing 



heights by aneroid were as follows: 



was 

 An eleven and a 



iry " 



bush, we 



half 



Th 



n 



• • 



• ■ 



1,800 

 1,600 



3,300 last headwater of Boku 



3,750 

 2,420 

 1,550 



Geologically, the country was very similar to that en- 

 countered between Keku and Nornu. Shale was very 

 much in evidence, as was sandstone. The forest be- 

 tween Ongoruna and Bieli had all been farmed. The 

 bright flowered Evodia and other weed trees were com- 

 mon. This Evodia, by the way, exudes a gum which 

 the natives use as a glue. I managed to get specimens 

 of the fruit and leaves of the palmato-leafed weed tree 

 that has been bothering me. It is one of the 



# 



and sometimes makes a lank sapling and 



On reaching Kwato I found the 



sometimes a creeper. The large acorned oak was com- 

 mon, as was S loaned paradisica. The loud pink- 

 coloured balsam was the only species_of Impatiens that 

 grows on the Divide. 



Luluai apparenly very perturbed regarding my welfare. 

 It seems that Waitim, the boy who was supposed to 

 be murdered, had arrived three days before having 

 made his way through the bush, and he had brought a 

 fearful tale with him to the effect that he was the sole 



29th February. — heft camp at 6.45, and with car- 

 riers pushing along at yesterday's pace reached the 

 Boku at noon, leaving there at 2 p.m.; reached 



survivor of our party. 



He 



o 



t to the next' village 



just as the boys carrying rice from Madang arrived. 

 These were those I sent back from Ongoruna on the 



Ongoruna at 4.30. We passed through two villages, 14th February. They promptly dumped their loads 



into a house and sat down to wait, refusing to go a 



Saleba and Kaduba, where the people were quite 

 friendly and helped with our leads. The going up to 

 Saleba had been pretty level, but from there on to the 



Boku it was very hilly, and we took to the water- 

 courses and paddling up and down them, but m.iin- 



The low-lying 

 country between the Solu and the foot h ills is much the 

 same as has been described near the Ramu. 



step further till news arrived. 



I never had much 



tabling a general north-west course. 



doubt of Waitings safety, but I thought he would 

 have pitched a better yarn. 



3rd March. — Left Kwato, and crossing a small tribu- 

 tary regained the loworro and pursued it down, cross- 

 ing and recrossing it to Adjau, where I found the boys 

 A few with the rice and a case of tobacco, and my English 

 sago palms were seen, and last night's camp huts were mails and Waitim. He stuck to his story of the fight, ' 

 thatched with the fronds of this tree. Afzelia bijvrja and gave a most graphic description of his flight, pur- 

 was common, and showed up brightly in what seemed sued by a herd of whooping savages. How much of 



the story is auto suggestion and how much fact, is hard 



a spring dress of green leaves. Some fine big Seme- 



