NEW GUINEA AND THE PAPUANS 
441 
progress made lias been considerable, and it is claimed 
by the Administrator that a very large proportion of the 
coast tribes understand that a Government has been 
established. Hundreds ask for Government interference 
when they get into trouble with their neighbours, and 
over a great part of the coast line a shipwrecked crew 
would now not only escape murder, but receive assistance. 
The great obstacles to the progress of civilisation in the 
island are the non-existence of chiefs or rulers of any 
kind; the ever-prevailing state of intertribal warfare; 
and the innumerable languages resulting from this 
isolation of tribes. The establishment of peace and 
order cannot be otherwise than a lengthy and difficult 
task. 
