A TRAMP BY THE SHORE 
only be made by canoes. At Port Moresby we had 
intended to put up as formerly at Sam’s house, but 
we found news of deep affliction awaiting our faithful 
head-man. His wife Heli was in terrible distress, for 
she had lost two children while her husband was with 
us in the interior. Both were boys, one of seventeen 
known as George, and the other a bright little fellow 
of ten called Foralis, who had been a great favourite 
of ours on our former visit, and who used to make 
himself very useful to us. 
Poor George’s death was a merciful release, for 
although he was so well on in his teens, he was a 
mere dwarf, and had been ill since his birth—a 
sufferer from the so-called New Guinea disease, that 
incurable and mysterious disorder which eats away 
the legs. It is believed to be a form of leprosy. 
He was a fleshless, melancholy little being, who lay 
in bed all day, hardly ever moving. He had, how- 
ever, all his senses, and it was pathetic to see him 
pursuing his only amusement, playing with the petals 
of flowers and with different coloured papers, of which 
he sometimes made strings. Sam must have missed 
Foralis very keenly, for the youngster was at a most 
attractive age, and was beginning to be very useful in 
various ways. He had become quite a bold little 
horseman, and would often ride on errands for his 
father. 
We spent five days at Port Moresby in the usual 
routine of packing for the homeward voyage, the first 
stage of which we performed on the small steamer 
Parua, which took us to Cooktown, where we were 
interested to note the relics of former mining} activity, 
286 
