j^g'j Dodd, A Naturalist in New Guinea. 127 



A NATURALIST IN NEW GUINEA. 

 By F. P. Dodd. 



(Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 12th Aug., 191 8. ^ 

 It had long been my wish to visit New Guinea, if only for a few 

 months ; so, the opportunity coming last year, I duly left for 

 that naturalists' paradise in May, accompanied by my son, 

 Mr. \Y. D. Dodd, an experienced entomological and general 

 collector. Our trip was to be purely an entomological one. 

 Before we could get away we had to obtain a " permit " to 

 leave Australia, requiring sundry visits to the Customs Depart- 

 ment, the permit extending to February. Earlier it was 

 imperative to undergo vaccination — not in our interests, but 

 in those of the natives. This may be a very wise regulation, 

 but to those who had never been in a small-pox district, and 

 North Queensland having been absolutely free from any cases 

 for many years, it does seem a queer one. With passengers 

 from the North- West, Java, Japan, and elsewhere, where small- 

 pox is not rare, the matter is entirely different, but to healthy 

 residents of North Queensland it is excessively annoying to 

 have to undergo the often very unpleasant experience of 

 vaccination. To my gratification, the vaccine did not affect 

 me, so I was granted an immune certificate ; but my companion 

 suffered very much, it being painful to see his dreadfully 

 swollen arm, to note his prostration and appearance of severe 

 illness. However, we duly got away by the Morinda. On 

 board I was pleased to see Mrs. Ellis Rowan, on yet another 

 journey to carry on her splendid work of flower, and this time, 

 I believe, bird painting. She purposed going hundreds of 

 miles further on, our destination being Port Moresby. Here 

 there was little to interest an entomologist, or even a 

 botanist, for scarcely an insect did we see, and the only trees 

 noticeable were Eucalyptus platyphylla and an Angophora, 

 scarcely a shrub, a few species of introduced weeds, and several 

 coarse grasses on the hills around. Our eyes searched the hills, 

 near and far away, which were generally disappointing to look 

 at, but here and there, on several of them, were to be observed 

 dark masses of vegetation — masses usually termed scrubs, 

 which, if searched, would doubtless yield something new or 

 something beautiful. 



In Queensland and on board we had heard of the Astrolabe 

 Range, only some twenty miles from Moresby, with its fair 

 Rona Falls, a garden with tropical fruits, &c. : so upon this 

 range, more prominent than the rest, we gazed and speculated, 

 but in the blue distance nothing of its vegetation could be 

 recognized — poorly or densely wooded, we could not tell ; 

 however, that range was our objective, 



