194 



from Ma dang to here. 



con- 



passed this way. The white missionary has his station 

 at Azera, some two days further up the Ramu, and I 

 sent him and my friends at the mission at Finsch-hafen 

 notes to tell them what a comparatively easy trek it is 



With the pushing forward of 

 mission work to, say, Amage on this side, and to Kohu 

 from the Madang controlled mission at Keku, 

 nexion could be made. During the dry season a horse 

 could be used from Kohu to the mouth of the Markham, 

 and only ihree days of foot work over the hills would 

 be necessary. On foot all the way, and with loads, I 

 reckon the journey from Madang to Lae, at the mouth 

 of the Markham, should take 



hours, 1 day. 



Madang to Bogadjim — 7 



Bogadjim to Kwato — 6 J hours, 1 day. 

 Kwato to Boroai — 7 hours, 1 dav. 

 Boroai to Kohu — 6 hours, 1 day. 



Kohu to Amage 



6 hours. 1 dav. 



%/ 



Amage to- Entapotowup — 6 hours, 1 day 



Entapotowup to Azera 



Azera to Lae— 



2 days. 



3 da j 



s. 



These would be dry-season times. 



mails could be got through successfully without delay, 

 the IMimea being the only river up here thai is really 

 difficult. A white man travelling with loads must ex- 

 pect some difficulty and possibly a hold-up for some 

 days at this river when it is in flood. 



ef the Mimea where the Ramu narrows to 30 yards. 

 The average width up to there is over 400 yards, and in 

 places it widens to 900 yards. 



28th March.— Collecting all the way we reached Kohu 

 without incident. We were delayed a little owing to 

 the Ramu having risen, and we had in consequence to 

 take to the tall wild sugar beiwen the ^losea and Mene 

 Rivers. I found everything correct in cam]), and the 

 two police-boys, Petine and Morunga, reported tha 

 the people had brought them food, and had not 

 attempted to interfere with the goods in the store tent. 

 I found three young boys in the village — a good sign, 

 for up to now they have kept the youths out of sight 

 fearing recruitment. 



29th March. — Developed photographs, washed clothes, 

 and made and mended. Went over collection; one tree 

 bearing a walnut is interesting; this must be the .J ug- 

 lans reported by German travellers in New Guinea. I 

 am afraid it is no JuglanSacea, however. I have the 

 latitude now of the main points along the Ramu, and 

 while the boys are building a canoe to cross the river— 

 In the wet season f° r ^ ^ as ra *her come up than gone down — I will make 



a trianguiation. Possibly by the time 1 get back from 

 the Bismarck s the spare valve will arrive, and I will 

 be able to fix this place in longitude. 



30th March. — Sent corporal, one police boy, and in- 

 terpreter to vuw ford. They returned in the after- 



27th March.— The night was a dreadful one, the noon reporting that they could not cross, so 1 started on 



rapacity of the Entapotowup flea being greater than 



any pules I have encountered in the three continents 

 I have travelled in. Had great difficulty in starting off, 

 as. all the natives who were crowding round me last 

 night have vanished, healing that instead of going on 

 to Azera I was going bark to Koromo. They have pre- 

 cisely the same opinion of the Koromo people as the 

 Koromo people have o-f them: — Anthropophagi of the 



most bloodthirsty kind sums it Up. 

 ferent race, I think 



They are of a clif- 



smaller built red with different 



architecture, but whether they aie Papuan or Mela- 

 nesia n or a mixture 1 leave to others to say. Anyway 

 the young men bolted, and we had to rope in the older 

 men to take some of the loads. My own six boys could 



but I had the Mimea to cross, and we 



have done it 



wanted all the help we could get there. The mission 

 teacher was very anxious to- help, but it was quite clear 

 that his influence was not yet strong enough to make 

 the boys volunteer. In the end we had four men with 

 as, and taking the direct road down the bank of the 

 Ramu we 



the canoe, felling a nice Ociomeles for the purpose. 



Picked out my base line and points C. D. and E. of 

 trianguiation, 



31st March. — Went up to Ilanep and fixed that 

 ridge and made friends with people. There is not 

 enough native food coming in, and the Hanep crowd 

 promised to bring some in. Collected specimens from 

 a new tree and some good material of undergrowth 

 species. A small Gaarcinia, with fruits as large as a 

 cherry and as green as a greengage, and tasting rather 

 nice, was new to< me. The nights have been too cloudy 

 for Azimuth. It has rained every afternoon and all 

 night. The village of Kohu is like a ccwyard, deep in 

 mud. The mosquitoes are more persistent than ever, 

 and there is a lot of fever anion » the bovs. 



Tuesday, 1st April. — The canoe is progressing well. 

 I went off with a couple of boys and fixed point F. at 

 Koaki. Managed at last to* get Azimuth observation 

 for Kohu. Four observations — two east and two west 



were soon up to our waists in mud, and 



water, splashing down the shallowest parts of the side 



w The reason for 



the detour ysterday was now apparent, for the Eamu 

 ii' the dry season is the roadway and the upper track 

 the wet 



stars — gave me a good mean. 



ncl 2. 



streams and bilabongs we could find. 



\pril. — I was awakened at 4.30 a.m. by an in- 

 vasion of small black ants, who took possession of my 

 bunk and evicted me very suddenly It was a wonder- 

 fully clear night, and I got some further observations 

 _ _ _ which altered my Azimuth of point I), by 17 seconds. 



reached the bank of the Mimea about°| mile below our S .° T sha11 have to g et scme ™ ore stars - The blue ll! g hl 



old camp. Fortunately, ii was down, and we crossed "?» paling to dawn, was a very wonderful sight, and 



with only one casualty — a boy lost his footing and was 



swept down some distance before we could pull him 

 out. Luckily he was only cairying a bag of taro, which 



However, we got through all right, and 



I do not think I have ever seen Mt. Otto look so sharp 

 and precipitous. 



he let go of 



The canoe is nearly finished. The outrigger and 

 paddles are ready, and there now remains but the 

 making of holes to take the lashings Curious how 



once natives have taken to our tools how utterly lost 

 are their old methods. The making of holes through 

 the gunwales (if canoes may be said to possess such 

 things) beat my boys entirely. I presume the native 

 in his raw state used a small stone axe for the job 

 Dozens of them are to be found in the Kohu huts, for 

 and except for one lady, who must have been deaf, and the people about here are quite primitive stone-age 



folk. When I suggested to my sophisticated corporal 

 that the tool his father used was just the thing for 



Once across all but the mission boy and 

 one old man, who had accompanied us all yesterday, 

 ran back. We made Koromo in one and three-quarter 

 hours and found the place deserted. The mission teacher 

 did not want to go any further, so I said good-bye to 

 him. diviner him mv mail for Finsch-haf en . and 



giving 



y 



set 



As we 



out for Amage, which we reached in one hour. 



got near we heard the hills echoing with warning shouts, 



was busily filling her bamboo jug in the river, and who 

 took to her heels screaming when she saw us, there 



We camped there again. 

 The shallows so distinctly marked on the old German 



was not a soul in Amage. 



and some of the British maps as only extending for a 

 few miles opposite Kohu, really extend with one con- 

 traction up to Entapototwup and beyond. How far 



the job, he was quite definite that he could not use it, 

 so I made a poor substitute for a mortising chisel out 

 of an 8-inch file. It is curious that the people of the 

 Ramu do not know canoes. The old men sit all 

 day round ours and watch every stroke of the adzes, 



beyond I cannot say. The only gut is at the junction of which I have kept five going. Food is scarce, and 



