INA RE 
49 
THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1899. 
TRAVELS IN NEW GUINEA. 
Through New Guinea and the Cannibal Countries. 
H. Cayley Webster. Pp. xvii + 387. 
Fisher Unwin, 1898.) 
ees perusal of this book we are not able to say 
that its title is strictly descriptive of its contents. It 
s as regards New Guinea too comprehensive, and too 
vague in respect of “the Cannibal Countries.” It deals 
with adventurous cruises on the New Guinea coast, and 
among the islands from the Admiralty Group to the 
Solomons, with a land journey undertaken in German 
New Guinea. Of this our author says : 
“Tn the interior of German New Guinea I traversed a 
greater distance on foot than any white man has done 
before or since, and on that expedition I discovered the 
non-existence of a range of mountains previously 
marked on the chart.” 
By 
(London : T. 
The printing of the book is as excellent as is the paper. 
The illustrations, some three hundred and fifty in 
number, are generally good, sometimes excellent. It 
contains one map, the weakest part of the work. It 
takes no heed of latitude or longitude, makes Captain 
Webster more than half cross New Guinea, and sail 
recklessly over great islands. It is in every respect 
inferior to older maps. The style of the book is light 
and easy; the spelling of German names inaccurate. 
Captain Webster is in some ways typical of the travelling 
Englishman, ready to go anywhere, but by preference 
where there is danger to be incurred, and with a mission 
¢o put right whatever he finds wrong. We meet him 
engaged in this way at Batavia, where we take up his 
narrative. On the German steamer were many coolie 
labourers. The Government agent kicked, bullied, and 
ill-used them till Captain Webster, who was only a pas- 
senger, interfered. But our author is also an enthusiastic 
collector. He writes: 
“One of my earliest captures [in German New Guinea] 
was a magnificent specimen of the Ornzthoptera para- 
a@isea, of which only one specimen had before reached 
Europe, and I felt that it was worth the whole of my 
journey to New Guinea to see this superb insect lying 
glistening in my hand.” 
On November 9, 1893, he reached the headquarters of 
the New Guinea Company, and received every kindness 
and assistance from the Governor. A day or two after- 
wards he saw a coolie flogged for having induced some 
others to run away. He thought the terrible punish- 
ment inflicted exceeded the offence. He found the 
natives true Papuans, but wisely abstains from de- 
scribing a Papuan. Captain Webster noticed a strong 
Hebrew type running through their features, “as indeed 
I have seen throughout the whole of the country, both in 
British, German, and Dutch possessions.” Surely he did 
not find this common from Hale Sound to Kiriwina. 
He observes that they all smoke tobacco—apparently 
speaking of the natives of German New Guinea—“ which 
has been introduced into the country by Europeans.” 
He states that he has “on more than one occasion 
observed a mere infant remove the pipe from his mouth 
to refresh himself from the natural food provided by his 
NO. 1542, VOL. 60] 
mother.” 
of speech. 
The introduction and distribution of the tobacco-plant 
is, however, of real scientific interest. Romilly (“The 
Western Pacific and New Guinea,” p. 226) says of 
Astrolabe Bay, “Tobacco I should say there certainly 
was not.” He would thus appear to agree with Captain 
Webster, who carried out his explorations in that district. 
But Giglioli (p. 120, “I Viaggo del Pattore,” O. Beccari) 
quotes a letter from a Russian officer of the Vztzaz, from 
which Maclay landed in Astrolabe Bay in 1871, which 
says: “In quanto al tabacco essi [the natives] lo col- 
tivano, e,lo fumano, rivoltandolo in una foglia di banana.” 
On the other hand, we know from the British New 
Guinea Reports that seven or eight years ago it had not 
reached the low lands of the large rivers on the north- 
east coast of that colony. 
Our author also relates that he has seen a Papuan 
woman “‘nourishing her child and a small pig at the 
same time, carrying one under each arm, appearing to 
be more anxious for the welfare of the latter, in con- 
sequence of its greater market value.” We are aware 
that if a Papuan woman loses her child she sometimes 
employs a small pig to remove, and, it may be, to utilise 
the lacteal secretion. We have, however, never seen a 
Papuan woman carry her child under her arm, though 
they do carry dogs and pigs in that way. Captain 
Webster does not say where he saw this ; but at p. 29 we 
are told what he gave for a small boy. It was more than 
the market value of a young pig. 
Captain Websters only journey towards the interior 
was on the watershed of Astrolabe Bay. Romilly wrote : 
This we presume is to be regarded as a figure 
“ Astrolabe Bay has always been looked upon, for some 
reason unknown to me, as a suitable place for a party of 
adventurers to swoop down upon and take possession of.” 
The reason why travellers prefer it is that it offers 
apparent easy access to the interior. When our author 
wrote his book, the was evidently unacquainted with 
the German literature that deals with the Astrolabe Bay 
district. 
The officers of the Russian corvette Vzéiaz mapped 
it in 1871, and Guido Cora published the map in 1875. 
Maclay was in 1871 or 1872 as far inland as the top 
of the coast range (Nachrichten tiber Kaiser Wil- 
helms Land, 1896), Zéller and Lauterbach will be 
mentioned later. The Governor furnished Captain 
Webster with military police and carriers, under the 
command of Pierson, who perished later with Herr Otto 
Ehlers in an unfortunate attempt to cross New Guinea 
from north to south. It has been claimed for Captain 
Webster by his publisher that he discovered the Minjim 
River ; he asserts himself that he followed its stream to 
its source, and he has a photograph of it which purports 
to say “ Hier ist des Stromes Mutterhaus,” though it does 
not look like it. Zéller (“‘Ersteigung des Finisterre- 
Gebirges,” 1891) found that the road from two German 
plantations crossed the Minjim. It was, therefore, 
when Captain Webster arrived in the bay, well known to 
every one there except himself. Zoller forded the Minjim 
near the sea, and found it knee-deep in the dry season. 
In German writings it is sometimes termed a Bach, some- 
times a FZuss. It was in flood when Captain Webster’s 
D 
