1 81 1 



to know. I still think it was a flock of cockatoos that number of species, Hibiscus sp., Sloanea paradisiea. 



The pretty clematis C. Pickering?/, that I had not seen 

 since leaving Papua, was common, as was the large- 

 leafed raspberry, liubus muluccensis. Mistletoe w T as 



common, as were the many epiphytes that form the 



characteristic aerial gardens of these forests. 



panicked the crowd. When asked why he spread the 

 story that all the boys and I had been killed, he re- 

 plied that that was what natives always did to strangers. 

 We pursued our journey down the Ioworro, crossing 

 and recrossing it, and narrowly escaped being washed 

 down. Peter, the herbarium expert, is one of those 

 gorilla-like Rabaul natives, all belly and reach, and a 

 perfect fool in water. I had to wait for him at all 

 crossings, as the others took a delight in letting him 

 down in the worst places. One crosses the river eighteen 

 times in all, and shorts and gymnasium shoes are the 

 only kit for this march. Arrived at Erema plantation 

 that afternoon. The diary goes on to relate how 1 

 reached Madang next day, and gives the details of sup- 

 plies, and recounts the usual little trouble over getting tion, the product'has no value. 



A gutta- 



Unfortunately, it was not in 



percha tree was well known to the natives, the German 

 administration having made a definite expedition from 

 here to the Ramu to explore the range and available 

 quantities of this tree. 



flower, but it was evidently the same as the common 

 Sapotaceous tree I found growing near Finsch-hafen 

 and all over the lowlands and foothills of Papua. It 

 may be a Payena, according to Mr. White. At present 

 prices, and taking the lack of collectors into considera- 



new carriers. 



15th March. — Left Mabeluba at 



6.45, and crossing 



Tuesday, 11th March, saw all ready, and my goods the mile of flat land,, reached the Miiidjiin, which 

 on the cutter Madang. The Rev. Blume, of Madang, though a foot down was still too high to use as a high- 



was kind enough to call on me and warn me of the 

 country I was visiting. According to him, all those 

 who had tried to get across the Ramu at the Kassowai 

 crossing had either got scuppered by the natives on 

 the other side or else had to make tracks for the hills, 

 leaving their gear in the hands of the Kassowai. lie 

 had 



grew 

 We 



a particularly dramatic story of a German who 

 crossed successfully, and was met by apparently friendly 

 people, who shook him by the hand with such warmth 

 that they did not let go, holding him fast while others 

 axed his head off. I left Police-boy Moran behind, and 

 took another boy instead, also a corporal of police, 

 whom it was thought would exercise some authority 



with carriers and police boys, and so prevent a repeti- an d high enough to be safe from Hood. 1 hoped, 

 tion of the panic which I have related. I had now the 

 largest force of police boys that has ever accompanied 

 me 



way. There was nothing for it but to zig-zag up it, 

 taking advantage of every beach and crossing, follow- 

 ing the tortuous river course. Soon the banks 

 precipitous and rock faces closed in the valley. 



had then to clamber up the sides of the ravine and 

 cross to the next bend, letting ourselves down on 

 roughly improvised rattan ladders to the next promising 

 beach, only to find after reaching the next bend, that 

 our gravel beach was at an end, and precipitous rock 

 walls faced us. By midday we had gone, I reckoned, 3 

 miles, and every one was done up, and two boys were 



injured, having slipped down a rock face, so I camped 



on a rocky bank which was wide enough to take us all, 



, viz., four and a corporal. 



12th March. — Left Madang at 7 a.m. in the auxiliary 



cutter Madang, and steered south to Bogadjim. 



My 



intention this time was to cross the Dividing Range by 



the 



going 



ascending the Mindjim, thus 



trail which the carriers should have 



not been scared into bolting 



along 



back. 



back 



taken had they 



We arrived at 



At 3 p.m. it came on to rain again, and by 5 p.m. 

 the river was up 4A feet, and rising. We were now cm 



off from below, and the outlook upstream was by no 

 means cheering. To climb the mountains and rteer 

 south by compass was, according to the guide and oilier 

 cognoscenti, to court disaster, for up there were preci- 

 pices, and the tops were all rocks. I wonder. Anv 

 way, I will give this water trail another day's trial. I 

 wore out a pair of boots in six days on the trail from 

 Keku to the Ramu and back to i he hills, but these 



Eogadjim at noon, and it was 1 o'clock before every- gyiimasilini slloeg stam , lhe wat( ,,. ail( , sto ,,,i excellently. 



thing was ashore and safe. I decided not to push on 

 to-day, it being late and the river up. 



13th March. — Leaving Bogadgini at 6.30 I retraced 



my journey up the loworo, through Adjau, and then on 

 to Kwato. Leaving Kwato at 2 n.m. I went on to 



midnight 



Yauri, three quarters of a mile farther on, and 900 



feet higher 



2,400 feet. 



and I 



It came on to rain hard, 

 decided to camp there rather than start tent 



work that night. 



16th March. — The rivef came down a banker, and was 

 a fine sight in the flashes of lightning, lij 

 the rain had ceased, and by dawn the water had abated 

 to 3 feet above yesterday's level. After a desperate 

 march up the river, which we found we could not cross 

 anywhere, and so could not take advantage of the short 

 lengths of beaches that occurred at times on the other 

 side, we reached a widening in the valley and found a 



good camping ground in a thicket of Casuarinn. The 



14th March.— It rained hard all night, and I was river ig now ; vlder ai]( , J( . ss rapidj am i 0](|lOSlto j s a hill 



awakened several times by the roar of the river below. 



At dawn the Tul-tul of the village brought news that bourhood. 



on which a taro patch advertises a village in the neigh- 

 Two boys came down to see us, and told us 

 the name was Tamani. 



Monday, 17th. — Yesterday's march was not more 



the Mindjim was up in full flood, and that we could 

 not possibly get up it. I went on to see, and leaving 



my loads at a little hamlet called Mabelubu on a con- ^J^&^ 'so weV^i^Ton early Vday i'<7try and 



fluent, I crossed a mile of flat lands and came to the m$ke for lost lmi(i We k ( ^ the ' ri ht J bank 



Mindjim, which is a bed of stones loO yards wide with thereby avoiding a gorge, and after three-quarters of 



a boiling torrent 20 yards wide, tearing clown the a mile ^ came to a vag( €XR>nt of tunib]ed rocks am ; 



middle. It was far too swift for us to cross it, but it boulders. There had been a great landslip, and half a 



was going down, and to-morrow, if we have no ram, we im)imta in, quite 2,500 feet high, had slid into the valley. 



should be able to start up it. 



The forest on each side of Yauri is fair rain forest, 

 and I noticed a few new species, but they were not in 

 flower. I spent the day surveying the area, and the 



following trees* were noted : 



Afzelia bijnga, Oct oaf 



full 



swncetrana, Pometia pinnata, Spondtas (tains in 



fruit, Wormia sp., Sterculia — three species— and Klein- 

 ho via, Vitex cofassus, SarcoecphaliW, Canariam 



Elaeocarjms — several species 



DysoxyJon sp., 



sp. , Celtis ph ilippinensis , A 1st on >a 



sp., 

 Eugi nia 



scholar is. Terw<- 



So the boys were right in dissuading me for leaving the 



valley of the Mindjim. After crossing this we came to 



where the valley widened still more, and wide sandy 

 beaches were exposed to view. Ibre we crossed, and 

 from the other side looked back on that vast cut in 



lhe mountain side from crest to valley and the great 



mass of tumbled boulders. The river here makes a biff 

 bend, coming as it does from a gorge to the S.E., or 

 even 8.8.E. We left it and followed up a tributary 

 called Kolebi. It was a small river, but at an i€ 8 '* 



nalia sp., near T. okari C.T.W., Svodia sp., Ficus—a bend, where two rock masses confined the stream in a 



TVv - + , . I ,, flf nn +hn RQtnn narrow deep channel, it was necessary to get rattan and 



* 1 he survey of the forest was lost on the Uamu. r > j t> *-**" uuu 



