New Guinea.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXII, Issue 6791, 16 January 1897, Page 4

New Guinea.

A WARNING TO MINERS.

Mr E. C. Lobb. who, after successfully mining in the Cooktown district, proceeded some few years ago to New Gaines, and was the discoverer of gold in Woodlark Island, one of the outlying islands, and is now entrusted by the New Guinea Administration with the supervision of the hiring and employment of native labor in three of the groups of islands ofi the mainland, is now in Otago, being on a visit to his father, who resides in the Taieri district. Mr Lobb is a justice of the peace for New Guinea, and also acts as interpreter for the south-east possession. In the course of a conversation with a Daily Times reporter, he expressed a desire to emphatically warn people—especially people in the southern climates—against going to New Guinea, and that on account of the climate of the place and of the malarial fever that prevails. " You are always," Mr Lobb declared, "living in a vapor there. It rains on about 300 days out of the 365 in a year, especially on the coast of the mainland. The normal heat is over 90deg., and the heat of the sun on the damp ground causes a kind of vapor. On seme very hot days, when the temperature is 100 in the shade, you can almost look at the sun owing to the existence of the vapor. The climate has killed about 500 men already on the few little bits of goldfields on the Islands. Forty-four men went down to a little island named named Duan in 1833, and 11 of these, including myself, are now alive. The rest died within 12 months of the time they went there. We have buried 60 men now on a little island called Sadest, or Tuggla according to the natives, although there have never been more than 160 men there at one time in the last five years. St. Agnan or Missima, has also been very unhealthy. B id as the islands are though, the mainland is a thousand times worse if possible. There will be a lot of gold found there yet, and the people here will be bound to hear of It, but if they will take my advice they will not go for a year or two. Lot the old hands open up roads to the fields first. " About five years ago I left Cooktown with the intention of going prospecting on the New Guinea mainland. At that time Sir William Macgregor, tho Administrator, was opposed to miners' expeditions, and I went trading instead. In Felraary of last year I came upon gold in Woodlark Island (called Muti'tc by the natives), which lies about 170 miles off the mainland, to the north east. The island is 45 miles long by 15 mile? broad ; but the two ends of it are of coral formation, and the old gold-bearing country is tho central portion, an area of about 14 miles square. I and a mate worked at the field for some time before anyone else came, bnt in July of last year I reported the discovery to the Government, and got the usual concession of 20 men's ground as the reward. When I lefc the island the other day tbere were 325 men all told, including storekeepers, on the field. My mate and myself have the best claim, and make about 20oz a week. That docs not represent the results of our own labor. We employ a lot of natives, whom we import from New Guinea. There are plenty of natives on the island, but it is no use trying to get work out of a native on his own island. After putting in a day or two he will get tired of it, and run away. If you bring natives from another island they cannon run away, and will work all right. The New Guinea natives make very good laborers after they are broken in, but we are considerably hampered by the regulations in regard to their employment. We cannot engage a New Guinea native for more than 12 months, so that just as he is becoming really useful his time is up, and he has to go home again. If we could get them for another 12 months we would make money out of theoi. " Bat I want to give a word of warning to miners about going to the mainland. I hear that there will be a terrible rush there during 1897. I heard about it all down the Australian coast as I came on to Sydney. It's a mad idea, and I only wish I could put the case strongly enough to prevent people going there. You cannot say anything too strong, if only it will deter men from going for at least another year or two. There is undoubtedly plenty of gold in New Guinea, for DOOoz wa3 got by Nelson and Hudson about 160 miles inland, up the Matnbare River. Simpson was the actual leader of the party which found the gold. The trouble is that there is no moans of communication, no roads of any kind, between the coast and the interior. A number are now prospecting around what is called tho police camp, about 45 miles up the Mambare River, where Mr Green is in charge and acting as warden. Gold was being got there,' but at the time I left there was nothing payable. There is 4ft of water up to the police camp, and steam launches can got up that far, but they cannot get up any farther. There are less than 30 miners on the mainland. ] Plenty of rations are to be got at the' c»mp, as a Mr Whitton has a store there, bat it is a fearfully sickly plac?. Until a road is made It i 3 almost impossible to get much further into tho interior. People can have no conception of the character of the country. From the coast to where the gold was got is nothing but mountain ranges running nearly parallel with the coast, and varying in height from 14,000 ft downward*. You cannot follow a spur when you get to the top of a range. You have to climb up the mountain on one side, then descend it on the other into a deep unhealthy valley, then rise the next range and go down into another valley. My belief is that the only practicable road will begot from Collingwood Bay, about 150 miles along the coast. A fairly easy route, following the sides of the mountains and over saddles might be got from there. But it will take more than a year to open up a road. "Hudson and Nelson were exceptionally fortunate in many respects, and thf y struck a good time of the year at which to go inland. Each man of the party got 15 or 16 natives to carry rations and they rushed right through, and at once sent the boys back. I have beard that some parties talk of taking horses or mules to the coast for the purpose of overcoming the difficulty of taking in supplies. This is utter folly. Even if the anima's could get over the country, which I very much dtobt, there is not a vestige of fodder to be got along the whole of the route. The country is covered with scrab, there is nothing in it that a donkey would eat. The only way to get In is by the way that Hadaon and Nelson managed it, and that la by employing a large number of natives to carry supplies. If a number of men go to the place there will, of course, not be sufficient natives available. The men would find themselves dumped down on the beach, and they would die off there wholesale. It is a low mangrove coast. If a trading vessel remains many days on the coast the crew suffer from fever, although they are living all the while at sea. The Memo England, which is used to take the Governor round the coast, to carry supplies, to remove prisoners to the penal settlement, and so on, brought back six men of a party to Cooktown the day after I Itft there, and they were all more dead than alive. Two have since died, and two others of the party—West Australian men—were left dead cp the river. They were all very bad with fever and dysentery. " Ultimately there >. ill be some good fields opened up in New Guinea, but my advice to Australian miners is that they should wait for another year or so. The only men who cm stand the life at present are miners from North Queensland, who bare become in a manner acclimatised to s tropical country. My advice to

people thinking of going there is to wait; There are a good number of Queensland men there now. Let them do the pioneering work. It will be time enough for others to go when these others have opened up the country. People who go next wi'l be in plenty of time. New Guinea ii an immense place, and there will be room enough for everybody. As far as I can judge, the formation found at Woodlark Island runs right through the British part of the mainland, and probably through German New Guinea as well. If there is a rush during 1897, I am convinced that 50 per cent, of the men will never return alive. " Yes, I am going back : but I intend to confine myself to the islands. Let the madmen go to the mainland. I have purchased the ketch Galatea, and I am going to take a party of 20 men, and prospect all the islands at the eastern end. I know of two islands whore there is gold. I will put a party of prospectors on each of the islands. I'll put one party on Pannaetti, in the Louisiade group, and another party on Dawson Island. This is a small uninhabited plice, and I have got the color there myself. Another party I will put on Baoilaki, just at the extremity of New Guinea. This is a large island, and just before I left it was reported thac gold had been found there by a native. Other parties will be landed on Duau, Fergusson, and Goodenough Islands, nono of which have yet bsen prospected, although all have the same formation as the mainland. At one of these islands the natives do all their cooking at hot springs, and when I visited them they did not know what fire was. I know there is gold on Duau, because I and another got Bdwt there, but we caught the fever and had to leave." Mr Lobb concluded by repeating his warning to residents of the southern colonies against tempting fortune in New Guinea.