NEW GUINEA EXPEDITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12856, 3 May 1905, Page 6

NEW GUINEA EXPEDITION.

VISIT TO GOABIBARL

ACTING-ADMLNISTEATOirs REPORT. ; ''

It will be remembered that in 1901 .the ' Hey. Dr. Chalmers and the Rev. S. 0. Tom. kins, missionaries connected with the L on .■'■■*■ ■'don .Missionary Society, were murdered at Goaribari, in the Gulf of Papua, British New Guinea. A punitive expedition was organised at the time, and the skull of Dr. Glial. s niei-s was recovered. A demand was also ' made for that of Mr. Tomkins, but it was not ' forthcoming: Last year an expedition, led ' by the late Dr. Robinson. Acting-Adminig. > trator, made a similar demand, but, mi. ' happily the party became involved in. aj ft affray with the natives, the circumstance. ' ; of which formed the subject of an i nqui by Ji,s Donor Judge Murray in July ] ast ; On the occasion of that affray certain natives ' were taken as hostages. Some of' them hav. sine© been kept in confinement at Daru i u the western, division, and others at Port'' Moresby, the seat of Government. Oivin/ ! ' 10 tin- situation of Goaribari it ran /' ■% visited only during the north-west monger, > tha: is practically between January an J ' March. Consequently almost a. 7 &t ffi ' had to elapse betoro tnese men could be ? turned to their homes. Captain Barton tte'v' Acting-Administrator; has iumished to ' til Federal Government an account of' ' recent visit he paid for the purpose n f restoring these men to their home? a „ f ■ promoting more peaceful relations bet»«„ the Government and the natives He ,„?, "On the 17th insr. we left Dart,, and .V' rived off Cane Blackwood on the foE; n morning.- In feeling our way among?" numerous sandbanks which border the coa,"' here, we followed a narrow, shallow 2 el, which had all the appearance of E , the one leading to our former anehSe' oft Ooanban, and it was not until late in til afternoon it was discovered we had followed- : a cul-de-sac, and would have to retrace <Z way for several miles. The shf .was an chored there, for the night, and the next dav we felt our way back, and eventual- a / chored oft the village of Donima, "About five p.m. a number of men in canoes were observed nervously watching our approach, and they disappeared Into the dense mangroves. When anchor waV „ £ the two captives climbed into the rigL ana uttered a peculiar call, whereupon there followed some movement in the' village and presently a single man glided out of the vi lage week in his dugout. The confidence shown by this man was marvellous He came boldly alongside without flinching and it was only when ho pur, down his paddle - " and caught hold of the ship's boom that one could see- he was in a tremor of excitement When those ashore saw that, all was well ( two or three other canoes pushed out and came, alongside,- while the first-comer hurried back to the village to announce the new* Not long after a larger dugout was-brought' ' and the two hostages got into it and were I paddled ashore, having been first told I ' should visit the village in the morning. Among those who came out to us was Kernel i, the man who was captured by. Sir George Le Iluute when he visited the plate immediately after the murder of Mes»r« Chalmers and Tomkins. This man was kept at Port Moresby for a year, and had net. : been seen since he returned, so giving rise to i the suspicion that he had been murdered by' his fellow villagers. " Nest morning upon landing at the village we were welcomed .ashore by our late captives, and invited to enter the big daimu (men's house). These two men were evidently quite convinced of our good intentions, but they had not, wholly succeeded in,'allay- ' ing the alarm of their fellows, who were ill- ' clined to stand somewhat aloof.. On entering the claiinu' I was shown to a mat. placed on the floor, in front of which was placed l . prepared food and a grinning skuJ. The : man who conducted me to the spot pointed ." at once to the skull, and informed me it' was that of. one of the murdered missionaries. I examined it, and have little doubt of its genuineness. The shape of it is that of a white man's, and one of the remaining upper teeth had been partially destroyed by caries. ..' It is, however, doubtful whether the lower jawbone "belongs to the skull. The cooked food was then distributed, and as soon as a couple of dozen or so of men had plucked up sufficient courage to corner near us, I made them a short speech, warning them against taking up arms against the Government, and telling them if they now behavedjj themselves properly., we would let bygones . be bygones'. They were also informed of,, the reason why the other captives were still, being detained for a while, and I assured .them \ that they would lie cared for and brought back later. Wo remained in the village for two hours, by which time the people hadgained much confidence, and then pulled back to the shin. At midday anchor was . weighed, and we left Daru. ..

" Pending the return of 111© remaining cap-1 tives, some of ; whom belong to other villages in the vicinity, I considered it advisable to:, defer visiting these latter. It would- have been impossible ..to; make explicit the reason for their detention,: and it. is better they should learn it from the. Doniama people. The two men left there will also be able to assure the relatives and friends of the absentee that the latter are alive and well. ':■• " The adjacent village of Turotere hadl been recently burnt to the ground, and from § what could be gathered, this was done by' a hostile tribe in an affray which took place there two or three months ago, during which some of the defending party were killed. The remaining Tiirotere natives were now_ living at Dopiama.'' v