346 



NATURE 



[February 9, 1893 



that officer as to every reader of Mr. Thomson's book. 

 In this "noble employment," however, we hope that our 

 historiographer for Papua may reap the reward hoped 

 for by his prototype. 



The next two chapters deal with Sir William Macgregor's 

 explorations in the Louisiade and D'Entrecasteaux archi- 

 pelagoes. In Chapter IV. is an account of the pursuit and 

 punishment of the natives of Chads and Cloudy bays for 

 the murder of European traders visiting their shores. The 



noisy with the "joyous shouts" of "merry children"! 

 It is difficult to comprehend why Australian writers on 

 New Guinea will so persistently — for Mr. Thomson is 

 not the only author who thus sins, nor have we quoted 

 the only specimen of this style of writing in his book — 

 overland the capabilities and "the vast natural and artificial 

 resources" of the country, heedless whether they may 

 induce their too trustful readers to embark in hopeless 

 enterprises in this "never, never land." 



-Highlanders of Mount Musgrave. 



country lying to the south-east and north-west of Port 

 Moresby forms the subject of the following two chapters. 

 Speaking of that portion to the south-east Mr. Thomson 

 says, " It may not be altogether unreasonable to assume 

 that in the future . . . fields once the scene of battle and 

 feudal strife may be beautified by sites of local industry 

 and manufacture, and enlivened by the joyous shouts of 

 merry children and the harmonious peals of village bells." 



The seventh chapter, containing an account of Sir 

 William Macgregor's splendid feat of the ascent of Mount 

 Owen Stanley, is naturally the most interesting portion of 

 the book. During this expedition almost if not the only 

 native bridge yet known in New Guinea was met with. 

 It was suspended from trees on each bank, and is 

 very similar in every respect to those built by the Malays 

 of Sumatra and the Dyaks of Borneo. How elegant 



Fig. 3. — Fly River niitives. 



Quite forgetful of this happy picture, which he thinks is 

 reasonable to expect, he sums up in the closing lines of his 

 recapitulatory chapter the climatic aspects of the posses- 

 sion as " of an exceptional character, and their influence 

 on Europeans so severe that very few constitutions can 

 withstand their eff"ect, a feature which will always be a 

 great hindrance to settlement and a constant menace to 

 life " — quite the region likely to produce European homes 



NO. 12 15, VOL. 47] 



and picturesque a construction it is may be seen by the 

 illustration on page 345. 



On Mount Musgrave friendly relations were estabUshed 

 with the highland tribes, and a photograph of great 

 interest and value, which we are personally in a position to 

 pronounce very characteristic, was obtained by Mr. Good- 

 win. This also, through the courtesy of the publishers, 

 we are enabled to reproduce here (Fig. 2). Sir William 



