2 NOTES ON A TRIP TO NEW GUINEA ; 
Drawings of South American Palms, from Mr, L. A. 
Bernays. 
The following Papers were read :— 
NOTES ON A TRIP TO NEW GUINEA? 
BY 
}.oW.. POTTS, Esa 
(Read on 8th Fanuary, 1886.) 
THE interest at this time associated with any statements 
relating to New Guinea makes it not improbable that the 
following brief account of a short visit to that country, 
from which indeed I have only lately returned, will be ac- 
ceptable to the members of the Society. 
Having been long occupied in compiling a map of New 
Guinea, which should embody all the authentic information 
obtainable from the British, Dutch, and French Admiralties, 
and from the works of explorers and missionaries generally 
on the subject, I had for a considerable time contemplated 
such a trip as described. Accordingly, on the 1oth 
September, 1885, I left Brisbane, in the steamer Elamang, 
for Thursday Island, with the intention, on arrival there, of 
embracing the first opportunity of reaching the New Guinea 
coast. Having gained then this starting point I took an 
early opportunity of calling on the Hon. John Douglas, 
C.M.G., who afforded me such information as might be of 
immediate service to me. From Thursday Island I crossed 
over to Prince of Wales Island, a large island some ten or 
twelve miles square, lying immediately to the south-west. 
Here I camped for a week, examining the island by 
travelling across and around it. I found the coast to 
be generally rugged, though containing several small sandy 
bays. The country itself appeared to be of volcanic origin, 
and very barren—a considerable part being composed of 
rock and loose stones, with intervening salt-marsh flats. 
At a distance of some miles from the coast, and 298 feet 
