197 



poorest typo of the foot-hill regions. Any mild slopes the crest of the hill beyond, carrying a fine row of 

 have been taken for tar a and sweet potato lands, and hoop pines, stood out clear against the evening sky, 

 there is in consequence little high rain forest left, with the crest of Mount Otto cowled in cloud, rising 

 There were enough species, however, to mark the type abruptly on the right. Here a path crossed the river, - 

 such as Pterocarpus indicus, Pometia pinnaia. A! stoma and a larger party of natives awaited us, and barring 

 sp., Sloanea paradisica, Cell is, Vitex, Wormia (the small the road up to the left, showed us that we were to take 

 ~~~ x1 1 - - - ■ *■ ' «' f - - the way over the bridge. This we did, and found our- 



selves in a very large sweet potato farm. It must have 

 been some 25 acres in extent, and except for some 

 women who fled shouting over the edge of the hill, it 

 was deserted. We climbed to the top of this farm land, 



enormous 



when immature). The shell pink bracts of Pongamia 

 glabra are very conspicuous at this season. 



7th April. — Left camp at 7.30 and followed by one 

 Koromo boy, we started up the Kirei once more. It 



j -i V 7 v . .j . 1 i, t „ ,-i an u men on rue euge or me ousn we set to worK to 



rained hard between midnight and 4 a.m., so the river _i i* i i_- i i i. i o non 



x , ,.,, , f A ^ ' , , - . make our camp. Jbrom here, which proved to be 3,020 



feet, I can see the valley below and Mount Otto above. 

 I am in the hoop pine belt, but alas, most of these trees 



and then on the edge of the bush we set to work to 



was up, but still manageable. At 8 a.m. a Scotch mist 

 which we had been enduring turned into solid rain, 

 which, together with the arduous rock climbing and 



. , \ ° v ,. • .. j ',, • i & ,t . have been destroyed to make farm lands, and there are 



pamlul wading, so dispirited the carriers and me that . . , , i_ A i^i- 1 * j_i 



at 10 a.m., meeting ten fearful yet combative natives 

 of Sahi, we decided to make camp. Here we lunched 

 and reconnoitred, and gave the strangers time to look us 



over. We were all cold to the m; 

 of a cup of co<x>a and a change. At noon we continued 

 our journey, accompanied in the rear by six Koromo 

 boys, who expressed by signs their entire pessimism re- 

 garding the outcome of our foolish visit to Mount Otlo, 



and the probable consequence of our venturing among 

 the Sahi was clearly a horrid death. 



certainly not enough to make this part of the country 

 interesting to timber men. I worked out the height of 

 Mount Otto at 9,500 feet, so I have 6,000 feet to climb 

 to-morrow. The natives at first kept far away in their 

 villages, which are two in number, and quite clearly 

 visible from here across the ravine. After a little while 

 they crept up, and at dusk I went out of our camp with 

 green branches and got them to tie up their arrows, and 

 some of the more venturesome men came into the camp 

 and watched our doings. The resi , instead of returning 

 to their village, made a camp 200 yards away, built a 



arrows that it affected my carriers considerably, 

 laughter cannot altogether have been sincere, for the 

 carriers held back all afternoon, and so doubled their 

 chances of misadventure. At 2 p.m. we came up with 

 the Sahi folk, now reduced to a scanty party of four. 

 They were all violently waving green leaves of the big 

 wild ginger. Green leaves are a sign of peace all over 

 the upper Eamu and all over the world as far as that 

 goes. They were obviously much alarmed, so armed 

 with a very fine specimen of Zinziberaceae, I left my 



carriers and went forward and soon made friends with 



They merely came to assist at the spectacle as it were. big fire, and made a noise all evening. Some,' however, 

 Their pantomime was so realistic as they gave repre- brought us food, and when they were paid ihey were 

 sentations of our party being one by one pierced Jry S(> pleased with the trade goods that they promised 



more to-morrow. The gnome has camped with them, 

 too. 



8th April.- — Left camp at 6.30 with Angep, two 

 carriers (theodolite and lunch) to climb Mt. Otto. 

 Found all the natives around their camp and Iried t<> 



got guides, and failed. Eventually climbed the farm 



fence and found a trail which led up hill through old 

 farm lands. We had not gone 100 yards when we 

 were Diet by four natives, who effectually barred our 

 progress by standing across the road and wiving us 

 these people. The Koromo people then came up, and back, saying at each gesture " Koromo. " It took me 

 there was the usual noise. I noticed that the Koromo, half an hour to explain by signs thai we intended no 

 Korike, and Waimeriba boys when they met actually evil to the villagers, but wished to pass quietly up I he 

 kissed;' I was surprised for I have never met kissing hill and away to the tip top of the mountain. Finally 

 among raw native people. The Koromo boys when they six boys were told off to accompany us. Holding to a 

 met the Sahi chaps did not kiss, but merely held each * * J "' ' J ' 



other round the waist and gave a nice squeeze. "\Ve 

 continued up the river in the best of spirits, and Sahi tree re-growth, Gleiehenia ferns and tree ferns. Mac a- 

 people came tumbling into the ravine from the heights ran go, and other poor types, and came into virgin forest. 

 from which they had been watching us until we had a The ascent now grew steeper, and the forest was very 



poor. I noticed Eugenia and ColophyUvm, the large 

 acorned oak. Ag&petes Moorhoiigitma and the port-wine 

 coloured trumpet creeper ( [Dichrot rich u ///). a Ifoya 



but not //. dimorpha, Elatostema, and the beautiful 

 Medinella. The Metrosideros of the Owen Stanley 



Range was common; it evidently flowers much later 

 here. At 5,000 feet mossy forest began, and it con- 



fairly straight course about soulh-weat, we rose 500 

 feet, when we left old farm lands covered with weed- 



biggish crowd of them, and I thought it best to get my 

 carriers together and distribute three police boys among 

 them while I went a little ahead ; the corporal brought 

 up the rear, separating the six Koromo folk from my 

 boys. Farther on, all but one Koromo melted away. 

 The one that was left needs special remark ? for he was 

 of such small stature as to be almost a dwarf. Round 

 his neck he had two dried human hands taken from tinned to the top, which' I reached ar 2 p.m. Tt is 



generally stated that it is easier to climb the Alps than 



a hill in New Guinea. I think D'Albertis was the first 



to start this impression. It is a myth. The last 500 



feet of Mt. Oito are almost perpendicular; its heighi 



children, probably his own. It is the custom among 

 certain Papuan tribes to thus preserve the hands of 

 departed loved ones, This gnome, with his long hair 

 and an expression of diabolical happiness, chuckled and 

 laughed and chewed betel nut all day, and seemed de- 

 lighted with some great joke of his own. I could not 

 help thinking that his joke was probably on me. At 

 5 p.m. we came to a place where the side of the gorge 

 had slipped down into the torrent. The formation was 

 shale and quartz, and large and very beautiful crystals 

 of this stone were embedded in the greenish mud made 

 by the washing of the shale debris. I had noticed these 



clear-as-glass crystals tied with fibre and worn as ear 



drops of seme of the Sahi boys, and wondered what 

 they were. Above the slip, which we had some trouble 

 getting over, was a bridge made of poles set across ihe 

 stream. There were two spans supported by an im- 

 mense central rock. The river made a bend here, and 



worked out at 10,190 feet, and in any temperate climate 

 it would have been a question of ropes, ice axes, and 

 all of the thrills of the ascent of one of Switzerland's 

 dreaded peaks. Here, although the slope was too near 



the perpendicular to carry trees, it did carry dwarf 



pandanusj and though we suffered desperately \'v m cold 

 and wet — the temperature was 42 degrees — there were 

 no BUOW avalanches or other thrills. 



A very uncomfortable climb, and I would suggest to 

 any one desirous of repeating the performance to climb 



up through Sahi, and so avoid a particularly deep gorge 



and precipice that I had to get around. As luck would 



have it, the climb was rendered rather abortive through 



