WILDS OF NEW GUINEA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20522, 25 September 1928, Page 9

WILDS OF NEW GUINEA

EXPLORATION BY AEROPLANE. AMERICAN EXPEDITION. RETURNS. (Special to Daily Times.) AUCKLAND, September 24. A thrilling and pioneering tour of portions of New Guinea hitherto unseen by white men has been completed by monoplane by Dr E. W. Brandes, senior pathologist in charge of the sugar plant investigation for the United States Department of Agriculture. Accompanied by his pilot, Mr H. Peck, who has probablv done more exploration work by air in the tropics than any other airman, Dr Brandes arrived from Sydney by the Aorangi to-day. Both men are on their way back to headquarters at Washington. Lashed to the foredeck of the Aorangi like some huge yellow plumed bird was the Fairchild monoplane, fitted with floats, that played no small part in the adventure. The monoplane, which is of the latest design, has accommodation for five passengers, and is equipped with a, 425 horse power “ Wasp ” engine. It flew some 10,000 miles over some of the most treacherous country in the world, and in the words of the pilot “ never missed a beat.” Accompanied by Mr Peck, Dr J. Jesweil, botanist, and Mr C. W. Pemberton, entomologist, Dr Brandes left Washington eight months ago for New Guinea, with the monoplane which was made a gift to him. Dr Jesweil and Mr Pemberton were not passengers by the Aorangi, their investigations detaining them longer in New Guinea. “ The purpose of the expedition was to seek wild varieties of sugar cane with a view to cultivating them in the plantations of Louisiana,” Dr Brandes stated. “ The cane on the plantations of this State has been affected by some organism which is puzzling scientists. Although the cane is not destroyed by it, the growth is stunted, thus increasing considerably the costs of production. We want to lessen the costs, and as a result of the expedition to New Guinea we have collected all different varieties of cane, over 100 varieties being on the Aorangi.” Dr Brandes has travelled considerably in the course of his work, and he considers New Guinea the wildest place left on the face of the earth. Before the party came to New Guinea the furthest an aeroplane had travelled inland was about 50 miles, but the Fairchild monoplane covered all the hitherto unexplored interior. A base was established 300 miles inland from the coast, but the monoplane penetrated a further 400 miles. No attempt was made to cross the high ranges in the centime of New Guinea, but the expedition worked up to these from both coasts. Apart from achieving its object the expedition was able to give the Government authorities details of large inland waterways and other features of the country that before were unknown.

Describing the effect of the monoplane on the natives of the interior Dr Brandes said they were intensely frightened by it. Never before had they set eyes on ■white men, let alone on one of man’s latest inventions. “When we dropped out of the skies they either thought we were •emissaries of God or the devil,” Dr Brandes stated. “ They ran away from their villages and we had the greatest difficulty in communicating with them. While they were not openly hostile we did not take any chances. All the members of the party were armed to the teeth. Our worst experience was in avoiding their houses. They endeavoured to entice us into them, but if we had gone in we would never have come out alive.”

Dr Brandes said the next two or three years would be devoted to experimenting with the new varieties in the nurseries of Louisiana. He hoped that as a result of the expedition they would find a variety of cane that would resist the destructive organism.