Big River Bores

Southern New Guinea Menace

From Our Thursday Island Correspondent A CHARACTERISTIC, but danger ous feature of the large rivers that drain the south coast of New Guinea is the occasional occurrence of bores, a phenomenon that is held in great res pect by natives and white voyagers alike.

Bores may be described as tidal waves rushing upstream against the flow of the river, and are caused by strong south-east winds forcing the sea into a wide funnel-shaped estuary, where it advances as a threatening flood, bring ing grave danger to canoes and launches on the stream.

Bores are said to come only at low water, but they are not confined to times when the river is in flood. In Dutch New Guinea they are most often seen in June, but they also occur in August and September.

The size of the bore may be gauged by the noise of its advance, which may be heard as much as ten miles away.

The practice in the Dutch Possession when faced with such an emergency in a small boat, is to turn and face the advancing wall of water right in the centre of the stream, avoiding the neighbourhood of the banks.

But at least one traveller in the Fly estuary, Papua, considers he owes his life to the fact that he was able to reach a small creek and get out of the main stream before the avalanche came. It is certain that a number of natives, voyaging in frail canoes, have lost their lives by being capsized by one of these visitations.

The bore may consist of one big wave or there may be a succession, the first always being the highest. Before its advance, the water seems to be drawn into it, so that in very shallow water a boat may ground just before the bore arrives, and disaster may fol low.