418 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
cotton are said to have been obtained from 25 acres. At 
all the stations yams, mountain taro, mandioca, and 
sweet potatoes are cultivated in sufficient quantities to 
support the natives employed on the plantations. It has 
not always been found easy to procure labour, nor is the 
Papuan at first a good labourer, but after patient instruc¬ 
tion he greatly improves, if away from his home. Many 
of the men are drawn from Mioko in the Bismarck Archi¬ 
pelago and from Eook Island, the Company assigning 
labourers to private settlers. The hire varies from 4 to 
10 marks per month. In spite of the limited number of 
hands available, the introduction of Chinese and Indian 
coolies has been opposed by the Company. Hitherto copra 
has proved the most lucrative article of trade, but there 
are various valuable natural products which have been 
little exploited, among them massoi-bark and phosphate 
of lime, the latter being found in some quantity on the 
Purdy Islands, which lie between the mainland and the 
Admiralty group. Of the introduced vegetables, pump¬ 
kins, beans, tomatoes, and maize have been very suc¬ 
cessful, the latter being remarkably productive, and 
greatly valued by the natives. At Ealum, in New 
Britain, there are 500 acres under coffee and cotton 
cultivation, the owner being a half-caste Samoan; and at 
Mioko the Hamburg Plantation Company also grow 
coffee, apparently with success. Nevertheless, it cannot 
be said that the outlook is very promising. The diffi¬ 
culties which such experiments must always meet with 
are still further increased by the remoteness and insalu¬ 
brity of the country. 
British New Guinea .—The British flag has been 
hoisted at various times and in various places in Eastern 
New Guinea without further steps having been taken 
towards actual possession. A more formal act of incor- 
