EXPEDITION TO NEW GUINEA

Otago Witness, Issue 3595, 6 February 1923, Page 24

EXPEDITION TO NEW GUINEA

EARL OF PLYMOUTH'S FAREWELL DINNER. PRESENTATION OF A BANNER. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON. December 14. The advance party of the British Pacific Science Expedition, which is leaving in the Ballarata on (he 14th inst., and proceeding to Australia to await the arrival of the expedition towards the end of January, was entertained to dinner by the Earl of Plymouth. the chairman of the Committee of Control, at the Savoy Hotel. The proceedings were opened by the presentation of a banner for the expedition by Lady C’oglilan on behalf of ladies interested in the undertaking. The Earl of Plymouth, in handing the trophy to Air Lucius Conolly, the leader of the advance party, said that the expedition were going out in the true spirit of adventure and following in the footsteps of their forefathers for many hundreds of years. They had not waited for the Government to take tha initiative, but had looked after their own equipment, had made their own arrangements, and had started on an enterprise for which the Empire ought to be grateful.—(Cheers.) They were carrying a torch-into distant lands and dark countries, and it was for us at home to keep the flame alight.—(Cheers. ) Air Conolly. on behalf of the party, accepted the banner and all that it signified, and piayed that, with God’s help, they would never, while under its shadow, do anything to bring discredit to the expedition or the Empire they served. —(Cheers.) They wished to test the possibilities of New Guinea as a land for future civilisation, colonisation, and settlement, arid they hoped in years to come to prove to the people of this country of what New capable. They did not imagine that it was an El Dorado for the adventurer ; but it might be an outlet for the surplus population of Great Britain. The people who left this country to-dav as settlers were not so willing to undertake hardships as were their predecessors; but if they W'ere shown a land which provided plentiful cheap labour and offered the possibility of a modest fortune without a lifetime of toil, they, might be attracted lo the country which the expcdition was about to investigate. SUCCESS TO THE ADVANCE PARTY. Sir Ernest Birch, formerly Governor of British North Borneo, submitting the toast of “Success to the Advance Party,” said he envied “these young men” who were about to start on their great adventure. He gave them much good advice, based upon his own experience of that part of the world, and emphasised the need for securing the respect and affection of the natives. With verv few exceptions, lie declared, Englishmen who had lived a long time among Asiatic people had earned their respect, and very often their friendship. There was no higher aim at which young Englishmen could fly than that of going into new countries there to establish the British name. He was an absolute believer in the Empire. He was sure that this expedition, if properly conceived and fulfilled, would receive the support of Australia, and he regarded it as a matter of great gratification that Lord Plymouth, in addition to associating His name with it, had taken the official position lie now occupied. Air Neal Al'Neill, leader of the expedition, in response, said that all we knew about New Guinea was its approximate geographical position, and even that we did not know correctly. It lay to the north of Australia, and, excluding Australia, was the largest island in the world. Including the Dutch portion, it had more than twice the area of the United Kingdom. The native population, estimated at r.,0C0,0C0. was very serviceable; the country had vast resources, especially mineral; and gold had been found in most of the rivers around the coast. Exploring New Guinea, geographically and economically, they desired to use science in every possible way and to arrive at some tangible result which could be distributed to the British public.