Dec. 16, 1880] 



NA TV RE 



53 



Amboyna he was taken by an Italian man-of-war to 

 Sydney, making some stay at the Aru Islands and South- 

 Eastem New Guinea on the way. Thence he went 

 home by way of the Sandwich Islands, San Francisco, 

 and New York, reaching Europe in April, 1874, and thus 

 terminating his lirst voyage to the far east. 



When leaving Dorey in the end of 1872 he had deter- 

 mined to return to the north coast and to penetrate further 

 into its forest-clad mountains, but the subsequent journeys 

 of Dr. Mayer, of which he heard at Sydney, and Dr. 

 Beccari's intention to return to the same district, induced 

 him to turn his attention to the south, where he had 

 obtained from the natives the skin of a new bird of 

 paradise, and where the lofty ranges of Mount Yule and 

 Mount Stanley offered the prospect of an equally rich 

 and still less known exploring ground. Accordingly, in 

 December 1874, he reached Somerset (Cape York) by 

 way of Singapore, with the intention of settling at Yule 

 Island, which he had before fixed upon as convenient 

 head-quarters for the exploration of Southern New Guinea. 

 After some difficulty and delay he reached the island on 

 March 17, and finding the natives friendly obtained 

 permission to occupy some land and build a house. 

 Here he stayed till November, having with him a young 

 Italian, two Cing.ilese, and five Polynesians ; making 

 large collections of natural history, exploring the island 

 and the shores of the mainland, but being quite un- 

 successful in his attempts to reach even the foot of the 

 great mountains of the interior. 



This completes the first volume, which contains by far 

 the most interesting matter both to the naturalist and to 

 the general reader. The second volume is devoted to a 

 detailed journal of three successive voyages up the Fly 

 River, the first in the missionary steamer Ellaiigoiuan, 

 the two others in a small steam-launch, the Neva, lent 

 him by the Governor of New South Wales. On the 

 second and most successful of these voyages D'Albertis 

 penetrated to the very centre of the great southern mass 

 of New Guinea, reaching the hilly country, but not the 

 great central range of mountains, of which a few glimpses 

 were obtained at a considerable distance. 



The first impression produced by the careful perusal of 

 these volumes is, that Signer D'Albertis has all the best 

 qualities of an explorer — enthusiasm, boldness, and re- 

 source, a deep love of nature, great humanity, and an 

 amount of sympathy with savages which enables him to 

 read their motives and appreciate the good qualities 

 which they possess. To the character of a scientific 

 traveller he makes no claim, and those who expect to find 

 any sound generalisations from the results of his observa- 

 tions will in all probability be disappointed. Let us, 

 however, by a few examples and illustrative passages, 

 enable our author to speak for himself. 



While residing at the village of Ramoi he became 

 prostrated by fever, and was besides almost starving, for 

 the natives would sell him nothing neither would they 

 carry his baggage to enable him to return to Sorong. 

 Determining however not to die there without an effort, 

 he sent for some of the chiefs to speak to him, and then 

 gi-asping his loaded revolver assured them that unless 

 they gave him men at once to assist him to leave the 

 place not one of them should quit his hut alive. The 

 plan succeeded. One was allowed to go and fetch the 

 men, the others remaining as hostages, and the revolver 

 never left his hand till his baggage was all on board the 

 canoe. A little later when the travellers were on their 

 way to Dorey, the native crew were very insolent, and 

 boasted that when they reached their own country they 

 would kill all the white men. D'Albertis, hearing this, 

 asked the man if he dared to repeat it, and on his 

 doing so suddenly seized him by the throat and pitched 

 him overboard. He was, of course, on board again in a 

 moment, and instantly seized a bamboo to attack our 

 travellers, but they exhibited their revolvers, and so cowed 



the whole crew that they became quiet and submissive for 

 the rest of the voyage. An admirable portrait of one of 

 these Dorey Papuans (Fanduri) is given, and the present 

 writer can almost believe that he recognises in it one of 

 his own acquaintances at Dorey in 1858. 



More amusing was the way in which Signor D'Albertis 

 made use of the aneroid on his journey to Hatam. His 

 porters, who had agreed to take him there for a fixed 

 payment, stopped at a village to rest ; and on being told 

 to go on, said, " This is Hatam ; pay us our wages." He 

 knew however, both by the distance and elevation, that 

 that they were deceiving him, and told them so, but they 

 again said, "This is Hatam ; pay us. How do you know 

 that this is not Hatam ?" He then took his aneroid out 

 of his pocket, and laying his finger on a point of the scale, 

 said, " Here is Hatam ; this thing tells me where it is ; " 

 and then explained that when they got higher up the moun- 

 tain the index would move, and when they reached Hatam 

 it would come to the point he had marked. This asto- 

 nished them greatly, but they would not believe it without 



Fig. 2. — Fandun, a Dorey Papuan 



proof. So he let one of them carry it himself to the top 

 of a small hill near, when they saw that the index had 

 moved, and on coming down that it moved back againt 

 This quite satisfied them. They acknowledged that the 

 white man knew where he was going, and could not be 

 deceived, so they at once said, " Let us rest to-day ; to- 

 morrow we will go to Hatam." Of course every man 

 and woman in the village wanted to see the little thing 

 that toid the stranger where lay the most remote villages 

 of the forest; and thus the traveller's influence was 

 increased, and perhaps his personal safety secured. 



In his second journey he provided himself with dyna- 

 mite and rockets, which were very effectual in frightening 

 the savages and giving him moral power over them. At 

 Yule Island he was on excellent terms with the natives, 

 on whom he conferred many benefits. Yet during his 

 absence on an exploration his house was entered and a 

 large quantity of goods stolen. In recovering these and 

 firmly establishing his power and influence he showed 

 great ingenuity. CaUing the chiefs and other natives 



