.VEW BRITAIN AND ITS PEOPLE. 615 



sea as surface water. Springs are not so numerous as might 

 be exjiected under the eircnnistanees, but for miles, in fact 

 everywhere along the coast, at low tide the water is seen 

 bubbling up, and one has only to scrape a hole at any time 

 close to the sea to get a supjily of good fresh water. 



A\'atersponts are frequently seen near to tlie shore and far 

 out in the channel. One gets so used to them that he can tell 

 the kind of cloud which will eventually become a waterspout, 

 and suddenly as he watches the I'ope-like connection is 

 formed between sea and cloud, and, if near shore, the whirl 

 and roar of the watersi)out is heard. 



Three large extinct volcanos, called the Mother and 

 Daughters, are on the east coast, and three others, called the 

 Father and Sons, are on the north east coast, and at the 

 time of my visit to that part they were emitting smoke. 



Pearl shell is found there, but not in any very large 

 quantity. Some of it, the " black lip," is good, but not of the 

 best kind, while the " gold lip " is of good quality, but there 

 is but little of it. Beche-de-mer is there, but of a poor 

 quality. It does not pay to cure it. Cocoa-nuts are abundant, 

 and many hundred tons are exported to Europe annually by 

 the various trading firms. A kind of cedar grows npon New 

 Ireland, but I believe it is not plentifnl. Thei*e is an abun- 

 dance of sugar-cane, but of a poor quality. It needs but 

 the introduction of a better kind to make this an article of 

 commerce. Cort'ee will grow well there. The timber is, 

 with one or two exceptions, of a soft kind, the hard being- 

 very hard, and difficult to work. 



2.— The People. 



The inhabitants of the New Britain group are Papuans. 

 In some respects they are of a lower type than some of the 

 Papuan tribes of the South Seas. On the whole, however, 

 they are industrious and intelHgent — as we understand the 

 terms when applied to savages — and when brought under 

 tuition they display considerable aptitude in acquiring 

 knowledge. They are of a chocolate colour, about five feet 

 five as an average height, and with features not nearly so 

 repulsive as the Australian black. In their habits they are 

 not nearly so clean as they might be, to put the matter 

 mildly. 



Their hair frequently hangs in a long tangled mass about 

 their eyes and ears. They are quite innocent of such articles 

 as combs, and Avhen the irritation caused by its tangled, filthy 



