418 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TKAVEL 



cotton are said to have been obtained from 25 acres. At 

 all the stations yams, mountain taro, mandioca, and 

 sweet potatoes are cultivated in sufficient quantities to 

 support the natives employed on the plantations. It has 

 not always been found easy to procure labour, nor is the 

 Papuan at first a good labourer, but after patient instruc- 

 tion he greatly improves, if away from his home. Many 

 of the men are drawn from Mioko in the Bismarck Archi- 

 pelago and from Eook Island, the Company assigning 

 labourers to private settlers. The hire varies from 4 to 

 1 marks per month. In spite of the limited number of 

 hands available, the introduction of Chinese and Indian 

 coolies has been opposed by the Company. Hitherto copra 

 has proved the most lucrative article of trade, but there 

 are various valuable natural products which have been 

 little exploited, among them massoi-bark and phosphate 

 of lime, the latter being found in some quantity on the 

 Purdy Islands, which lie between the mainland and the 

 Admiralty group. Of the introduced vegetables, pump- 

 kins, beans, tomatoes, and maize have been very suc- 

 cessful, the latter being remarkably productive, and 

 greatly valued by the natives. At Ealum, in New 

 Britain, there are 500 acres under coffee and cotton 

 cultivation, the owner being a half-caste Samoan ; and at 

 Mioko the Hamburg Plantation Company also grow 

 coffee, apparently with success. Nevertheless, it cannot 

 be said that the outlook is very promising. The diffi- 

 culties which such experiments must always meet with 

 are still further increased by the remoteness and insalu- 

 brity of the country. 



British New Guinea. — The British flag has been 

 hoisted at various times and in various places in Eastern 

 New Guinea without further steps having been taken 

 towards actual possession. A more formal act of incor- 



