Vol. xxix.] 10 



Mr. A. F. R. WoLLASTON, who acted as Medical Officer, 

 Entomologist, and Botanist to the B. O. U. Expedition to 

 New Guinea, made the following remarks : — 



" Mr. Chairman o£ the B. O. C, Mr. President of the 

 B. O. U., and Gentlemen, — You have already heard from 

 Mr. Goodfellow a good deal about the birds, and from the 

 cinematograph and lantern-slides you will kno\v about the 

 natives, pygmies, and others that we met, so I will make 

 a ievf remarks about the conditions of travel in Southern 

 Dutch New Guinea. 



"In addition to the physical and climatic disadvantages 

 of the country, you find yourself confronted with two very 

 serious obstacles. One of these is the lack of native labour 

 and means of transport in the country itself, which necessi- 

 tates importing coolies at immense cost from outside. It is 

 true that we occasionally employed as carriers some of the 

 natives who lived near the lulls, but they would never go 

 more than three days' journey from their village : often we 

 had to wait several days before they would condescend to 

 start at all, and they were not to be depended on in any 

 way. 



"The coolies that we employed — three batches of about fifty 

 men in each — came from Amboyna, Baud a, and Macassar. 

 Like the majority of the Malay races, these people were 

 not very strenuous — the average load they carried was about 

 30 lbs. — and they quickly succumbed to the combined effects 

 of the climate and of their food, which was necessarily rather 

 rough. We know now from our own experience and from that 

 of Dr. Lorentz that the only people of the Malay Islands who 

 are likely to withstand the hardships of such an expedition 

 are the Dyaks of Borneo. Our Gurkhas kept in better 

 health than any others in the expedition, and it would 

 probably be better to take coolies from Northern India ; 

 but this is perhaps a counsel of perfection. 



" The other great drawback to travelling in this part of 

 New Guinea is the total lack of food : there are no villages 

 with well-stored granaries to draw upon, no deer or antelopes 



