CHAPTER X 



COLLECTING ON THE GIRIWA RIVER 



DURING my spell in Australia I was being urged by 

 the Tring Museum authorities to undertake expedi- 

 tions to certain inland places of the Solomon 

 Group. But I was rather reluctant to undertake 

 these, as the financial inducements offered did not 

 at first seem to me to be sufficient for the great 

 expense that such expeditions would involve, and 

 the serious risks that would be incidental to their 

 carrying out. My last trip to the inland part of New 

 Guinea had involved me in some financial loss, as the 

 payments made to me were by results, and the murder 

 of my two boys and the hostility generally of the 

 natives had made it necessary for me to abandon a 

 promising field, unless I had been prepared to take 

 serious risks, not so much with my own life as with 

 the lives of my followers. 



I had a long correspondence with the Tring Museum 

 on this point of expense. I pointed out that I was 

 willing to complete the insect exploration of the 

 Solomons, visiting San Christoval, Malaita, inland 

 Ysabel, inland Guadalcanar, Rossel Island, and then go 

 to Santa Cruz and New Hebrides. I was prepared 



also to penetrate into the Charles Louis Mountains 



170 



