March r, 1892.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
are in Port Moresby, but Sir William lives in the 
open air, or sleeps in a boat or under a "lly'' 
tent in the wilds of New Guinea. He is a man 
of great pbysioal endurance; hn resists all the fogs 
and fevers of that uncivilized land, and is daunted 
by no danger or difficulty. 
The little steam launch “ Merrie England," which 
was such a terror to the savages on the binks of 
the Ely River during the memorable expedition in 
1890, arrived the other day in the Brisbane 
River, bringing Sir William and Lady Mao- 
gregor (who had gone to Oooktnwn to meet her 
bus and), the Hon. M H. Moreton (his Excellency’s 
private secretary), and the Hon. F. E. Lnwos, 
Secretary for Native Affairs in New Guinea 
“ Is Sir William at home ?” I inquired of a 
bright Australian girl who answered my ring at 
St. Helen's, the residence of Lady Maogrogor, 
which stands on the bank of the Bris River. 
“ Yea, sir," and, having delivered my card, she led 
me into a room the appearance of which makes mo 
feel as if I bad been suddenly translated into one 
of the Government offices in New Guinea. Sir 
William aits at a table in the centre, stooping over 
a map of the Kiriwina group; the floor is litlered 
with papers, and the walls are hung with maps 
with unpronounceable names. Lady Maegregor and 
her little daughter are watching Sir William making 
corrections in his map of these comparatively un. 
known islands. 
New Guinea asd the Newspapers. 
Sir William spoke of England’s ignorance of 
New Guinea. " Nothing but lies I Nothing but lies ! 
Here is a paper with a leading article on ‘the terrible 
"Irooities perpetrated by Government officials in 
Papua.' ’’ And ho handed mo a journal which under- 
takes to enlighten the English people on India and 
colonial affairs, It had dropped across an item in 
the " funny ooluniir* of one of the Australian 
papers, and, taking the statement as gospel 
truth, it had written a leading article on the subjeot 
which was to tho etieot that Sir William and his 
party were shooting Blaoktellows in lieu of partridges 
in xSew Guinea I 
A Planteb’s Pabamse. 
*' But you want to know something for the Pall 
Mall about the actual state of New Guinea ? ’’ 
’• Exactly. Do you consider that it will ever be 
a good held for immigration?” “ For the small 
planter who really means work I know of no 
better opening anywhere. In the Mokeo country 
bear the middle of the ooast of New Guinea, where 
Ibe tribes have been living on such terms of 
llostility that if any one crossed from his own 
bountry into that of a neighbouring tribe he would 
*°bb his life, the only land that is available is the 
**®0tral zone between the different tribes. The small 
ettler who is willing to go there with the intenlion 
planting tobacoo or coconuts or coffee or any 
other tropical product will find abundance of 
land in the neutral zone. Between the two tribes 
bo will have the native labour at his hand. The 
native population are extremely largo, and. what 
’bOfSi they are born agrieultunstp. We wish to 
get the settlers there, too to give employment to the 
natives, to teach them what can be done by 
systematic cultivation, and to introduce among 
^em new products. But we hope the natives 
will D 6 large produoors in the course of time and 
“US orea.H an export trade from tho colony.” 
\\7k Land and Ciikap Labodh. 
Biim.K iv* labour ?"—•■ We can 
supply the oh.-apest labour in the world. S: ttlers 
n the country c.an ohtuin labqur from one end 
ho ( 1 . 1 * New Uiiiiiea. But no natives can 
be taken outside Ihe territory of tho 
so that tlie whole of tho labour 
possessiou; 
force will be 
retained for tho exolusive use of the settlers. The 
people, I think, will be good workmen, and our 
experience is that tbey abide well and honestly 
by th>ir contracts. At present they obtain their 
living by agriculture, and many of the coast 
tribes are making splendid boatmen and seamen. 
What the planter wants is cheap land and cheap 
labour These he can have in New Guinea, a 
country which haa this grand advantage — it is never 
visited by hurricanes.” 
No Room fou the Speoolatob. 
“ And atwhat price would you be willing to dispose 
of the land ? ’’ 
“ Tho purohasing price wa put on land is 
merely nominal, when it has attached to it oob- 
ditions as to improvement. Hettlers can obtain 
the land at 2a Gd an aore, on agreeing to carry 
out certain specilied improvements within a reason- 
able time." 
“Are fresh- water springs as rare there as in 
Australia, Sir William ?’’ 
“ No, the country is well watered. In regard to 
rainfall, there is a great variation in different 
districts, so that the land would be found to bo 
suitable for all the different kinds of cultivation. 
Bnt W 0 do not want the speculator,” he added 
quickly ; “we can alienate no large districts, beoanse 
the country is well peopled by the Papuans. Hence 
we do not tempt the big speculator to come to New 
Guinea. We do not intend to unsettle the Papnan 
in order to settle tho Europeans.” 
“ But the country is very large.” — " Yea ; 1 should 
think it is — larger than England and Scotland — 
and the population is not less than 450,000.” 
Fkvebs and Fj.esh-Pots. 
“What about the New Guinea diseases?” I 
said. “ A young German who was running lor 
his life from the country told me there were enough 
diseases in tbe Kaiser’s territory to eat up all 
Germany.” — " There are no diseases in the country 
worth speaking of, except fever. I speak only of 
British New Guinea. Since I went to tho posses- 
sion in 1888 only two deaths have occurred in the 
Government service — one a weakly boy, and the 
other a Polynesian. There have, of coarse, been 
many oases of fever.” 
“But there is another matter. Sir William, which 
perhaps more directly concerns the Enropean. Is 
there not a possibility of the settler waking up 
one fine morning to find himself laid out as a 
dainty dish for his dusky neighbours?” 
Osnnibalism, which was once the terrors of the 
trader and the adventurer in the islands,” he said, 
“haa been almost stamped out by the missionary 
and the Government in the country where we are 
offering to the European. In this baokwood land 
(pointing to a large blank upon the map), to which 
w« have not as yet penetrated, there may be, and 
there ar.\ no doubt, man-eaters. Tho settlor, how- 
ever, need have no fear of the flesh pots of New 
Guinea; he is almost as safe there as in Aus- 
tralia.’’ 
The Fibst Mabkki. 
“Where do you expeot to find n market for your 
produota?” — “ In Australia, wo are going to try to 
esiablii-li a subsioized lino to coniieot us with 
Onoktown and to visit all tbe northern ports and 
the southern ooast of New Guinea. The Govern- 
ment is itself cultivating a gnat many coconuts, 
and we have planted abi-nt 16,0'JO trees; we are 
trjing to get tho natives to plant largely also, so 
that we hope in a few years to bo able to export 
by direct shipment to Europe such things as 
oooonuts, coconut oil, tobaoco, lea and coffee, and 
other tropical products ; but our first market will 
be in Australia, until we have sufficient to iustitv 
a ship to Enrope." ' 7 
