Source Of The Fly.
p. 20 · Read in the full issue
Whose Was Discovery?
[Letter to the Editor ] I have just seen Mr. J. E. N. West wood’s letter in your issue of the 19th October.
I was not aware I had stated that the Prykes had discovered the source of the Fly; as far as I remember, I merely mentioned they had journeyed above the 600 miles mark on the Palmer River.
With my knowledge of the north-west district of Papua, I may be allowed to speak with some authority and from what I know of the country, I am firmly con vinced that no one discovered the source of either the Fly, the Palmer or the Strickland until 1924, when Karius and Champion in their journeys discovered the sources of the three rivers. To them and to no other must be given the credit for these discoveries.
The photographs I saw did not prove that the Prykes discovered the source of the Fly. They merely proved that some of the party must have gone above Macgregor’s 600 miles mark. The turtle eggs, and the village referred to as “Maungatta,” would no doubt be seen south of the Morehead Island (460 miles mark). The word “Maungatta” undoubt edly belongs to a Middle Fly dialect, spoken by natives south of this island.
I am, etc.,
Leo Austen.
Trobriand Islands, Dec. 5, 1932.