PAPUA VALLEYS

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 April 1937, Page 12

PAPUA VALLEYS

NOT AS RICH AS THOUGHT.

CANBERRA, April '5.

The grass valley territory of northwestern Papua, discovered by Messrs Hides and O’Malley in 1935, is not as 'thickly populated or as productive as AVas'at first believed, according to the conclusion reached by Mr Ivan Champion, who last year spent nearly nine months in extending the exploration of the same territory.

, Mr Champion’s report to the Commonwealth Government, which was made available to-day, states: — “There appears to be a general belief’that the grass valley systems are rich agricultural areas, peopled by thousands upon thousands of natives/ :It is quite wrong. Looking down on any 'of the valleys from a height, one gets the impression that there is a far greater population than actually exists. ' The manner in which these natives live in scattered houses surrounded by little gardens all tend to give this impression. I estimate the population .at 25,000. ;. “The soil is poor, and the. methods of: agriculture are different from the ordinary Papuan, and approach the European style. Gardens are laid out in squares, \and potatoes, the staple ;diet, are planted in straight rows of .raised circular bedsdto prevent erosion. The natives have had to cultivate every acre, so that the grass valleys are denuded of timber, except for the copses of capuarina trees planted by the natives. Even the little pockets of earth far up on the limestone ranges ares cultivated, and T gat the impression that hard work was necessary to get sufficient food for their needs. “Their manner of living indicates that there is little warfare. SUGGESTED HEADQUARTERS. “If the country is to be brought under Government control, 1 suggest that at the beginning, Lake Kutubu would be the best position for the main camp. A seaplane can land on the lake, and it is impossible to maintain a camp except by aerial transport. I saw no natural landinggrounds in the grass valleys, and only by a great deal of labour could any be made. Lake Kutubu has several advantages over the grasslands. It has a good climate,. plenty of timber and garden ground. The, natives are friendly, so that a large police force iis not necessary at the main camp, and should communication be cut off by air, there is a, probable route to Kikori by way of the Mubi River.” Mr Champion, for whose safety fears were developing before his return, was accompanied by. Air C. T. .1. Anderson, and chose as his bearers for the expedition a party of 30 prisoners from the Port, Moresby Gaol, partly because other bearers were difficult to obtain, and partly because he believed that prisoners would be superior to recruited porters.* He warmly praises the willingness, loyalty, and co-operation of those who were selected. For the determination of longitude, the party relied on radio lime signals picked up each evening on a portable receiver from San Francisco.

Mr Champion's relations with the natives, even in the valley in which an attack bat, been made on the Hides inirty. were uniformly good. The firearms of the party were a source of constant awe to the natives.

Mr Champion recalls that, on one occasion, when a headman asked an excessive price for pigs, he poured a quantity of methylated spirits on to the ground and lighted it. The headman abandoned the impious business of bargaining with a man who could make water burn. Throughout the expedition the territory traversed was prospected by Mr 'Anderson, but the only minerals of possible commercial value found were tiaces of coal and lignite, veins of which were found in gorges on the upper Kikuri River ami between this river and Lake Kutueu.