Page:Picturesque New Guinea.djvu/336



EW Guinea has a peculiar fascination for the traveller although it is said to be sickly, and in the uttermost degree detrimental to European constitutions; in which statements it is to be feared there is a great deal of truth. Yet New Guinea possesses such a charm, or magnetic force, that a traveller who has once been there is sure to be drawn back.

There is a serenity and solemn grandeur in those primitive forests, untrodden by civilized man; danger and climatic troubles are never thought of by the true traveller, but onward is his sole aim, and the further he plunges into the woods in New Guinea the greater becomes his desire to penetrate into the unknown regions of this beautiful island; it is the naturalist's paradise, where his labours will be amply rewarded and every anticipation fully gratified.

At the same time I am sorry to confess my own labours in New Guinea were not crowned with that success as anticipated, but this was owing to various circumstances which other travellers can avoid.

I shall now proceed to give a short narrative of a trip up the Hilda river. In November, 1884, I set out from Port Moresby for Maiva, a coast village about ten miles west of Yule Island, and in 140° 40′ east and 8° 40′ south latitude.

For the reason that it was rumoured that Mr. Forbes had chosen Mount Owen Stanley as his field of operation, I directed my attention