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 justice and punishing outrages on the New Guinea coast; that under the peculiar conditions for which they are required, they combine the least amount of efficiency with the greatest display of force.

(3). That the most effective police would be a selected crew of Samoans or Fijians, under the charge of an English officer, who would be constantly patrolling the coast. This force could also be utilized for the prevention of tribal warfare. It would of course be necessary that the officer in charge should send in a written report of his proceedings.

The above-mentioned administrative proceedings were more or less of a provisional nature, and were incidental to what appeared to Sir Peter Scratchley to be the main object of his cruise, namely, to gain a practical insight into the actual condition of the country, in order to be able to lay before the Imperial and Colonial Governments some scheme for its administration. As it is evident, on account of the climate, that as the natural resources of New Guinea can only be developed by means of coloured labour, the distribution of the natives, both as to population and disposition, is perhaps of paramount importance. With the exception of some portions of the North-East Coast, almost the entire littoral of the Protected Territory is inhabited. In the West and North-West, from the Fly River to Hall Sound, the natives are very numerous, the tribes are large, and a higher stage of tribal development is reached than elsewhere. The soil is in some places extremely fertile, and the sago produced in this portion of the coast supplies the districts on the South-West Coast as far as Kaile.

The natives inhabiting not only the coast, but also the high lands and valleys from Port Moresby to Kerupunu, are numerous, peaceable, and show themselves willing to adopt European ideas with regard to labour, &c. This is especially the case among the fertile lands behind Kapakapa, Hula, and Kerupunu. At Aroma, Cloudy Bay, Milport Bay, and Toulon Island, the character of the natives changes; they are very numerous, their tribal organization is more complete, and their individual physique finer, but they are not to be trusted—their latent capacity for bloodshed is strong, and with difficulty restrained.

The population from South Cape to Bentley Bay and East Cape is more