THE NEW GUINEA EXPEDITION.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 5401, 22 January 1886, Page 4

THE NEW GUINEA EXPEDITION.

A special correspondent telegraphs from , Brisbane to The Argus the following narrative of the expedition obtained by him from an intelligent black sailor who had been one of the crew on board the Bonito : — "When we we were going up the Fly River we saw numbers of natives. They were scraggy and thin, and wore no clothing, but were very friendly. They camo on board frequently. They got plenty of tobacco and tomahawks from us, but they seemed poorcreatures, andnotat all like the people we afterwards saw. I think the country is unproductive, and that neces- • sarily made them poor. When we got up the Fly River, we came to a river going off to the right. This was a splendid stream, and we went up it. At places it was very wide and very deep ; but at the same time, we had to be very careful in navigating it. There were many sandbanks and trunks of trees showing that the river at times was subject to great floods. The country improved as we got higher up, but there was a. pasty prickly shrub that prevented our going inland. The leaders did not care to risk our going on shore, because the natives were very numerous. The ground was so soft that when we tried to walkvWje'.'sank up to our knees, while the'natiyes seemed to experience no incon>ven|ehce.- They are splendid men, bigger ithair ordinary white. men, and unlike the ipeople down the Fly River. The men wear- nioe girdles made of grass around their, waist, whilst the women wear leaves, theiri dress extending .frem the waist to i near' the knees. We did not kill many of Jthem.r Captain Everill often^ warned U3 ; |hpt us not to shoot at them unless for our l^wn JBafety, and we did not. Of course, is severartimes we were compelled to shoot • at ptem, because they attacked us in large i riumb f efs;^but when they began to run we | firitffpver" their heads. It was very hard ! worlc'td make friends with them. WhenRe7er>w.e saw them they came only to fight. i-'Weariedto' make friends with them, but sit 'was no use. The only way we could j "make ourselves understood was by talking j ion our,fingers. Frogatt made friends with , I some of them, and got native curiosities. \ The natives never attacked us at* night. ' \ It was only during the daytime, and when : the Bonito was stuck on a sandbank. It ; isnpt true"- that a great lot of them were killed. It was very hard work In the whaleboat after the Bonito struck, but the natives were not so numerous. The reason why the whaleboat party returned was that their provisions ran out. At the Jiighest point we "got to up th 3 river there was an abundance of water. The country to the left 'appeared flat, bu'. on the right there were exceedingly high mountains. The party got some good specimens, most of which are on "board the Bonito, but I do not think they found anything new. The timber appeared to be the most valuable discovery in the country. We saw both pine and cedar, and I heard some of the "bosses" say that the timber would be very valuable for shipbuilding. I do not know anything about the mineral discoveries. I believe that some silver or copper specimens were obtained, but I do not know for certain, as the "bosses" kept all the discoveries to themselves. I do not know why they warned us not to have anything to" say about what occurred in New Guinea. If any of the natives were killed, it could not be helped. The leaders : of the .party are by no means responsible, and all through they wished to be kind to the natives. Perhaps the leaders found something which I don't v-know of, arid want to keep it quiet. The health of the whole party whs generally very good, but the country abounds in wild fruits, principally figs', and some of them ate too many of them. The conI sequence was that thejr got sick, and : * thought they were baft with fever because the climate was hot." I It is understood that Captain Everill emphatically denied the statement that

natives "were killed by the party in New Guinea. Dr Haake also indignantly denied the rumors of indiscriminate slaughter of the natives. The party were attacked, sometimes, and had to defend themselves, but the attacks were mere skirmishes, and nothing serious. Dr Haake believes that the party did not kill a single native. Captain Everill intends before leaving to wait on the Premier, and thank him for the liberality of the colony, the deep interest taken in the welfare of the expedition, and the prompt action by the Thursday Islanders in despatching a relief party.