EXPERIENCES WITH THE NATIVES 169 



playful practices (when they make a prisoner) as 

 cutting off a man's leg and tying it up again to prevent 

 his bleeding to death, and eating him a bit at a time. 

 I think it quite likely, though, that I might make a 

 good collection there, especially if I could manage to 

 encounter a decent crowd of natives to stop with. 

 When I speak of the north-east coast I do not, of 

 course, mean east of Cape Nelson. That would 

 indeed be an easy contract. I mean anywhere 

 between Cape Nelson and the German boundary. 



" In Australia I see that the Commonwealth are 

 trying to establish state control of liquor in New 

 Guinea. I should be glad if it proves true. It is 

 mostly grog that has given New Guinea such a bad 

 name, and the fever gets blamed for its work." 



I had designed to complete a collection in the 

 Solomons before the end of the year (1906), but my 

 two South Sea shooting boys left me without their 

 wages, rather than complete their agreement, and 

 all my skilled boys were disposed to clear out. This 

 last trip to the mountains had rather got on their 

 nerves, and it was quite natural that they longed for 

 a spell, especially as they had good cheques to spend. 

 I made up my mind therefore to sell out in Cooktown 

 and to go down to the cattle stations outside Rock- 

 hampton, until the winter was over, and take a trip 

 home early the next year ; returning later to complete 

 my Solomon Islands collections. But that intention 

 was not carried out. In 1907 I was again on the trail. 



