March 1, 1899.1 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
617 
BRITISH NEW GUINEA. 
TJiN YKARS' PROOEE S-LAXD FOE COFFEE, &c. 
Sir Win. Macsiregoi's final Report on his Ad- 
ministration of 'British New Guinea is a very full 
and interesting document. He first gives a .'-ketch 
of the Legislation of 1897 98, and one ordmauce 
passed to"re«;ulate the collecting of wild birds 
ou?ht to be of interest to the local Game Pro- 
tection Society. A collector of birds has now to 
takeout a license of £5 and one of £1 for each 
native shooting; assistant. Sir William considers, 
however, that very soon it will be necessary to 
limit tlie number of birds of certain species 
that any one collector may kill, as otherwise the 
rare birds of the paradise family will become ex- 
tinct. The final ordinance was one lo enable certain 
persons to acquire and occupy Crown lands up 
to 250,000 acres. This measure has not yet been 
sanctioned in view of tlie protest made aoaiust 
the syndicate by certain Australian colonies. 
Sir William next deals with the administra- 
tion of justice and finds it very satisfactory that 
no European has been charged with murder, 
although lamenting,' that 128 natives have been 
convicted of this crime during the ten years 
that the Colony has existed. He regards the 
manner in which the Papuans are falling into 
the use of courts of law as very grati.'ying. 
A great part of the Report is taken up with 
visits of inspection which really mean exploration 
touts, for much of the country traversed, including 
elevations of 7,000 to 9,000 feet, has been surveyed 
and filled in for the first time for geographers. 
Frequent reference is maile to good forestland 
with rich soil, often on the banks of a river or 
in hilly districts, suitable for growing tea and 
cofi'ee. The coast carriers were found useless on 
account of the cold when an altitude of 9,000 feet 
was attained. More than once a stubborn fight 
had to be offered to opposing warriers of inland 
tribes who refused to be conciliated, and had long 
been a menace to the peace of the surrounding 
country. But the native cor.staliulary with their 
rifles speedily disposed of any eneiny. The follow- 
ing refers to one trip thus dealt with :— 
Tht-v lived on the oidiuary form? of native food, 
but without any coconuts. The pLice of this latter 
art,icle wna taken, by a species of p^mdanus, cultivated 
and fenced iu on the faso of the mountains, at alti- 
tudes of 3,000 to 4,n00 feet. The sec-ds are smoke- 
dried and strung on strii'gs. They seem to contain 
a large quantitv of oil. This district consists of 
de'-ply excavated gleus, the sides of which are covered 
by grass to an altitude of -1.000 to 6,000 feet. They 
are steep and narrow. Villages are generally not far 
below the edge of the forest that covers the tops of the 
great mourtain ranges. At an altitude of about .5,000 
feet the temperature in the early morning was as low 
as 55 degrees Fab. At midday it rose to 8i degrees. 
At an altitude of 0,500 feet ihe early niormng tempera- 
ture was 58, the noon temperature 78, degrees. The 
lesser temperature at the lower camp was probably 
caused by the damp fog ihat rose from the river there, 
and was not present at the upper camp. It seemed 
a very healthy country, and miglit be used by 
Europeans, were ib not so inaccessible. No doubt 
many rf the products of temperate climates could be 
grov.'n there. , , r 1 1 
In other cases we are told of gold prospectors 
being at work and getting a fair show of the 
precious metal, of good coffee being grown, of 
coconuts growiiij; well, of imported I'rnit trees 
C'voring 2-> i-.cres, "so that i ice had not been 
used ai7 the stations for six months. " One gen- 
tleman is planting coconuts on the CtuHict group 
of islands, wdiich are without people, and the 
fsirms are doing remarkably well, sn belying the 
oUl proverb about the coconut and the human voice. 
The mo.st advanced island is Samarai, which is 
all planted in cojonuts and is the seat of a good 
deal of business. The Government will soon 
have a plantation of about 7,000 palms on Gesila 
island. 
The armed constabulary, all Papuans, number 
110 men, paiil 10 shillings a month the tirst 
year and £1 afterwards ; a very valuable body 
of men. In one case where a European cflicial, 
Mr. Green, was treacherously murdered, a native 
corporal who had got clear and could have 
escaped, returned to die with his officer rather 
than desert him. Besides the constabulary, a 
large body of village ijolioemen is gradually being 
created. They already number 202 ar d are con- 
tent with £1 a year and suitable uniform. Ten 
years ago there was not a sinele native in the 
employment of the Government ; in the next ten 
years the number is likely to be quadiupled. 
In fact, the Ceylon village Vidana system is 
likely to be spread all over New Guinea. Sir 
William bears full testimony to the splendid 
work done by the iMissiona,ries, more especially 
by the London ^lissionary Society, which began 
there in 1871, the two great Missionaries being the 
Rev. Dr. W. G. Lawes, typically a man of 
thought and a great linguist, and the Rev. Jas. 
Chalmers, a man of action. Both are still at 
work and the Mission has 10,000 native adherents, 
with 3,630 native boys and girls at school. 
Ne.\;t came the Roman Catholic Sacred Heart Mis- 
sion, in 1885, and the Weslejan and Anglican 
Missions, followed in 1S91. The lady v.xrkers of 
the Missions also come in for great praise. Here 
is a paragraph of special value from a man of 
Sir Wm, Macgregor's standiiu' and experience : — 
The lapse of time has steadily streiigthened the con- 
viction that mission labour is of immense value and 
importance iu the possession. It has been pointed 
out that the constabulary and the prisons are effec- 
tive training institutions. This applies, however, al- 
most exclusively to adults. The training and educa- 
ting of children and of youth is practically entirely 
in the hands of the missions. The figures given above 
will give a fair idea of the extent to which this very 
important task is attended to. Tha example of the 
regular and upright life of the missionary is of itself 
au object lesson of great significance. The humanity 
they practise iu regard to tlie sick, the castaway, and 
the abandoned child ; the nioral force by which they 
exercise, restraint over many bad characters, and their 
sympathy with the weak aud suffering, are all soften- 
ing and amelioratiiig ii.flaences that could not other- 
wise be supplied to the natives. 
As regard the climate the following paragraph 
speaks volumes: — 
With the exercise of reasonable care there is no 
doubt that a healthy person may remain in the Pos- 
session for an iadefiniio time in active employment. 
For exxmple, the oldest missionaries in the country, 
the Rev. Dr. Lawes aud ibe Bev. James Clialmers. 
will, RS regards physique, compare favourably with 
men of the same age in any country, and thsy have 
each performed a vast amount of work. 
The total tra:le of the Colony has developed 
from £17,000 in lSSS-9to close on £100,|;00 in 1S97-8. 
Tlij exports make rather more than half, ar.d the 
gold value is one half of the export total. Ne<it 
come pearl shells, over liii.i lon.s vaiue at, £8,0U0; 
300 to 400 tons of copra v.iUi- d at £S a ton ; 
L") tons of 1 nili:'.nibber. £240 a ton; :Q) tons 
sandalwood, £9 per ton ; 37 tons he. he-de-mer at 
Ic.-^s than £100 per ton. 'Ihe total revenue of tlie 
Colony is ab .u £10,000. wiih an exi.enduure of 
£l'),06i\ the dillereiK'P being made up by C^uceua- 
lami, New South Wales ami Victoria. 
