384 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
Chalmers must be mentioned as one of the early pioneers 
on the south coast. Visiting the Gulf of Papua in 1877, 
he, later, established himself at Port Moresby, and has 
done much to elucidate the ethnology of the Papuans, as 
has his co-worker Mr. Lawes, and also Mr. van Hasselt 
in Dutch New Guinea. The naturalists Bernstein and 
Von Rosenberg had previously investigated the north¬ 
west peninsula, and in 1871 the Russian Miklukho 
Maklai resided for fifteen months upon the coast which 
now bears his name (“ Maclay Coast ”), under conditions 
of great hardship. In 1872, Signor d Albertis, an 
Italian naturalist, succeeded in ascending part of the 
Arfak range, and returned with rich collections of the 
insects and birds; but this exploit, successful as it was, 
was eclipsed by his exploration of the Ply River four 
years later, which he ascended for over 500 miles, thus 
penetrating to the very heart of the country. Meyer in 
1873, and Beccari in 1875, collected in North-Western 
New Guinea, the former paying special attention to the 
exploration of Geelvink Bay, and crossing, or nearly 
crossing, the island at its two narrowest points. Two 
years afterwards Mr. Wilfrid Powell made a hazardous 
voyage along the coasts of New Britain in a small vessel 
of only 15 tons burden, mapped a large area until then 
unvisited, and also visited the north coast as far as 
Humboldt Bay; and in 1883 Mr. Kettlewell’s yacht 
Marchesa cruised for some time in the waters of Dutch 
territory, visiting most of the great islands, and obtaining 
very large collections of birds and insects. The Swiss 
collector, M. Leon Laglaize, made several expeditions to 
the north-western peninsula about this period, and was 
the first to penetrate the country of the Karons. 
In 1884 the eastern portion of the island was annexed 
by Great Britain and by Germany, and since then expe- 
