Dec, 



iqtS 



Dodd, A Naturalist in New Guinea. 129 



The following day we negotiated the rest of the distance to 

 Sapphire Creek (why " Sapphire " no one seemed to know), 

 which joins the Laloki, and which we had to cross to the 

 accommodation house of Mrs. Wright, one of those hard- 

 working and self-reliant women one finds in the bush, far from 

 busy cities and towns. She has a contempt for natives, snakes, 

 thunderstorms, and men afraid to work. Quite a personality 

 is Mrs. Wright, with a bright welcome for all, and quite at home 

 with high Government officials or ordinary folk ; a good one to 

 know in times of sickness, for she has been a nurse in a hospital. 

 Here we had an interesting stay, good meals, and good beds ; 

 ascertained that Mrs. Wright was an encyclopaedia concerning 

 New Guinea ; that she took and despatched mails, looked after 

 much of the rubber from, and many of the stores to, the several 

 up-aloft plantations, we often seeing the mules being loaded 

 or unloaded, for they came down and went up the range several 

 times a week. Upon these mules our precious mails and stores 

 promptly reached us ; so much we had to thank Mrs. Wright for. 

 Upon the evening of our arrival a gentleman came in, saying 

 " Are you F. Dodd of Stawell ? " A hearty handshake, and 

 soon we were deep in conversation upon mining, cricket, and 

 trips along the tram-line to the heathy Grampians, of those days, 

 of over thirty-three years ago, which have passed all too quickly. 

 This gentleman, Mr. R. G. Prior, son of a once well-known 

 mining manager at Stawell, was in charge of the Laloki copper 

 mine, a mile or so over the not very lofty hills to the right, he 

 representing a big firm or syndicate interested in its future 

 development. He showed me a few butterflies — interesting, as 

 several were new to me. We were now seeing Lycaenidse, 

 Pieridse, and other butterflies, the beautiful Orithyia albicincta 

 being plentiful, and often almost at our feet ; it is rather finer 

 than in Queensland. Several species of small "blues" freely 

 congregated upon damp spots along the road. 



Our destination was now the top of the range, 1,800 feet, 

 up a zig-zag and often steep track, said to be three miles in 

 length, to a rest-house which the Colonial Secretary had very 

 kindly placed at our disposal. To get our property up we had 

 to requisition various blacks ; two young fellows had been 

 signed on to us at Moresby, Mr. Prior and Mrs. Wright lent us 

 others, and the latter kindly provided me with a horse, for 

 the road was long and hard. My son had gone up with our 

 boys the second day, and reported a comfortable galvanized 

 iron structure with several compartments, and two tanks, 

 some five hundred yards away to the left of the main track, 

 which went to Bisiatabu Mission Station and to the three 

 plantations further along, the last being thirty miles away — 

 lost in the wilds of New Guinea. No more whites after there 



