Hostility Overcome.

Mr. Robinson’s Splendid Patrol In Sepik District, N.G.

THE report of a patrol conducted by Mr. E. D. Robinson, an Assistant District Officer in the service of the Administration of New Guinea, in the course of which he visited little-known parts of the Sepik District has been sent to Canberra by the Administrator, Brigadier-General Griffiths.

The tribes of the part of the Sepik visited by Mr. Robinson have long been hostile; but the patrol had very little trouble and succeeded in one of its objects—that of establishing friendly relations between the natives of Kupagalion and Kuvanmas, two vil lages which had been more or less at war, the former having raided the lat

ter’s village just previous to the start of the patrol.

Mr. Robinson’s report tells how he got carriers and proceeded to Kuvan mas, where it was his intention to hold a coroner’s inquest on the body of a woman who had been killed in the raid by the Kupagalion. The natives gave him all information about the woman’s death; but were very much averse to the exhumation of the body and this was not done. The patrol then pro ceeded to Kupagalion, which is situated on a mountain. The villagers met the patrol at the foot of the mountain and showed hostility. Telling how he pacified them, Mr. Robinson in his re port says: “We arrived at the foot of the mountain at 1.15 p.m. We were first seen by two women, who at once raised the alarm. Immediately a large body of men came running down the moun tain towards us, heavily armed with spears, bows and arrows, and carrying shields. They halted at a distance of about 60 yards from us, and several spears were thrown, which landed in the middle of my party, but did not hit anybody. Through my interpreter, I told them that we had not come to fight, but wished to be friends. They replied: ‘We are going to fight,’ and then continued to advance. A native, who proved to be the leader, and slightly in advance of the others, quickly threw three spears one after the other, all of which would have wounded Constable Wari had he not quickly dodged aside.

“I told the police to refrain from firing, and fired a shot from my re volver over the leader’s head, which had no deterrent effect. He was now about 20 yards from Constable Wari and myself, and as he was fitting an arrow to his bow, with the other natives close behind him, I instructed the police to fire one round at him. As a result of the volley, the man fell to the ground.

On seeing this, the other natives immediately retreated.

“Just at this time, a woman with two

young children came upon the party from behind. I told the interpreter to tell the natives that we were on a friendly mission, and sent the woman and children to join them. They had only retreated a short distance up the mountain, and it was obvious that this action on our part surprised them. We then called for water for the wounded man, who was hit in the upper right arm and right thigh. This brought a quick response. The natives brought a long bamboo of water, and put it in the middle of the road. We got this, but it was too late, for the man died very shortly afterwards,

Friendly Relations.

“After a long parley between the interpreter and the natives, we at last succeeded in establishing friendly rela tions. We then explained that we fired only in self-defence, and, with their permission, we gave a demonstra tion of the power of the rifle upon one of their shields. A camp was made at this spot, and during the remainder of the day more than 20 men and youths visited us, bringing coconuts, betel nuts, etc., as presents, for which we paid in small trade.

“The following day we visited the village, and whilst we were examining the clubhouse the men asked us to go outside, as they wished to present us to their womenfolk. Between 20 and 30 women of all ages were standing there, all very friendly, and not the least bit afraid. I then took the oppor tunity of explaining to the natives that there must be no more fighting, other wise the Administration would take very severe action. They assured me that there would be no repetition, and, through the interpreter, sent a peace message to Kuvanmas.

“We then left the village with a general feeling of goodwill, and returned to where the Osprey was tied up, a distance of between two to three hours’ walk. On our arrival, we were much surprised to find that about 20 unarmed men and some women had followed us down. To these we gave numerous trade goods, which were much appreciated by them.”

“I am quite satisfied,” concludes Mr.

Robinson, “with the result of this expedition, as what might have turned into a very serious situation was averted with the loss of only one life, and friendly relations appear to have been established between Kuvanmas and Kupagalion.”