Exploring Central New Guinea

Discoveries and Observations of the Taylor-Black Patrol

Section 11. Of Official Report

<This is the Second Section of the Preliminary Report on the patrol carried out in Central New Guinea by Assistant District Officer J. L.

Taylor, Patrol Officer John Black and Medical Assistant C. B. Walsh, in 1938-39.) rE camp was astir at daybreak on March 9, 1938, and by 8 o’clock everything was in readiness for our departure. The total strength was 250, and when I looked at this tremendous caravan it was not without some mis giving.

In the beginning I had hoped to oper ate with a much smaller line, but with the aid of aircraft. This aid, however, it was not possible to arrange, so I de cided on high numbers. Whether we could get through would depend on the population.

In the Bena Bena-Mt. Hagen area, where there are many people, a party of 300 to 400 people may travel comfort ably, buying food as they go with cow ries (the native currency of the area).

In fact, the white man is welcomed as a rich benefactor, and men, women and children carry heavy loads of food over hill and dale, and in all weathers, to the Europeans’ camp. Would this be possible in the country west of Mt.

Hagen?

Carriers’ loads were made up in packs of 40 lbs. and the following were taken; Shell money 1600 lbs.; rice 1600 lbs.; salt 300 lbs.; brown sugar 160 lbs.; bis cuits 160 lbs.; Europeans’ food 1600 lbs.

Medical supplies took 10 carriers; wireless instruments 20; instruments 4; tentage 11; benzine 10; miscellaneous packs 24 carriers; and 15 were placed in reserve for the relief of the walking sick, and as stretcher-bearers, if neces sary.

The first day’s journey was to Kendi ger, after a strenuous march. The ad-, vance party had prepared things well,! and local headman of Kendiger, Korve, *

received us hospitably, an abundance of food being provided.

From Kendiger the patrol continued in a north-westerly direction for the next few days and travelled through a pass between Mt. Gilyuwer and Mt. Hagen, crossing the watershed of the Nabilyer and the Gai (Lai) Rivers at 9,200 feet (approximately on March 14). We then descended gradually through bush to the Minyampa River, a tributary of the Gai (Lai), at 7,200 ft above sea level.

At this stage Black had taken an advance party ahead in order to pre pare for the crossing of the Gai. A bridge was known to exist, but it was not known whether it was in a good state of repair. The crossing by bridge of any river in the interior of New Guinea with a large line of car riers is a matter which takes time and care. Black did his work well, and the whole party crossed without incident and camped at Yaguma on March 16.

The people met were unarmed (ex cept for stone axes which, incidentally, are a deadly weapon when used by close-quarter fighters, such as these people are) and not unfriendly, though they appeared to be incapable of normal trading. They were interested in us. and all they wished for, as far as could be seen, was to be allowed to stand and stare. Nevertheless, they brought us enough food to exist on, but no more. rE people inhabiting the country west and north-west of Mt. Hagen are known in the Mt. Hagen lan guage as Eng-a. The Eng-a tribe cov ers a large area, the language spoken by its members extending from the lower Karawari River to many miles south of Mt. Hagen. They are some thing akin to the Mt. Hagen people, but have not the same happy disposition.

The patrol then continued in a north westerly direction, following the Gai l (Lai) upstream to Ragimande (143° 30’ lE, 5° 20’ S —approximately), where

camp (No. 11) was made and the party rested for a day.

We were now in the heart of the val ley one of the most beautiful in New Guinea, if not the world. Everywhere were fine, well-laid-out garden plots mostly of sweet potatoes, and groves of casuarina. Well-cut and graded roads traversed the countryside, and small parks, or playgrounds (the “bena” of the Mt. Hagen people or “kama” as they are called here) dotted the land scape, which resembled a huge botanic garden. It may well be called the Gar den Valley of the Lai.

The native people were well disposed towards us, and appeared to regard us as spirits of the dead, returned to earth.

At this stage, our chain of interpretation had broken dowm, but Black managed to get a young man to join the patrol. He soon spoke a litle “pidgin” and was able to assist us.

The native people in the vicinity were

not unfriendly, but appeared dazed. They wore little or no decoration, and were not very interested in iron or shell money. It is probable that the reason for this was that these things are not included in the bride-price, or marriage gifts, of the people. Or it may be that, thinking that we were supernatural, they were afraid that our goods might possess magical properties of an evil nature.

At one place natives, seeing Black making observations from a tree, re garded him with amazement, brought a pig to him and then cleared a space and by signs asked him to make an ascent to the celestial regions. Black declined.

On March 23, the patrol moved on in the same general direction to Tori (R.G.

Society’s map—Doi).

From my diary, at this time: “To-day’s was one of the most beautiful journeys in my experience. Travelling on a cen tral ridge, with a valley on either side, the Gai (or Lai as it is now known)

and the Ambu. The colour and beauty of the interior of New Guinea must be seen to be believed —a garden land.” Of the people; “The natives here appear to be brighter than those farther down the valley, quicker in the uptake, and have more to say. In ten minutes, I had a youth volunteer to go with us; but strange to say, immediately he joined he became speechless and would not communicate with his friends and rela tives, except by signs. He had joined the spirits.”

FROM just beyond Tori a road cross ing a divide was' visible about three days’ march to the westward, and it was decided to make towards it in the hope that it might lead to further grass valleys beyond. We crossed the headwaters of the Ive Lai (Gai) on March 20, and camped near a settlement which bore the high-sounding title of Mare Purare Purorum, redolent of the school room, I thought. (Camp No. 15).

We were carrying two sick at this time. This was to be expected, with a large line of police and carriers, and my rule was that as soon as a member of the party showed signs of serious ill ness or distress he was to be carried.

This, I believe, saves life; it certainly gives the men confidence in their lead ers.

The country ahead was woodland, and the divide we had seen proved to be a false one, which made us wonder what lay beyond. The next day, after pass ing through a strip of timber at 9,150 feet above sea level, we came out on -to a fine grass valley, perhaps fifteen miles long and seven miles wide, running generally south east-north west. It was well populated, and a comparatively large lake, about 2,000 yards across (Iviver—local language) was observed near the middle of the valley. Just beyond the lake was a low watershed, beyond which a river ran to the north west.

We marched through this valley ac companied by hundreds of singing natives, and camped at Yenini Monini Chirunki at 10.55 a.m. on March 26, 1938.

Our method of travel at this time was to rise early, reveille at 4.30 a.m. East ern Australian time (about 4.5 a.m. local time) begin the march at daylight and camp early, before the rains. This en abled the carriers to have their shelters erected in sunshine, the stores and equipment to be kept dry, and food to be bought. The early start and early stop contributed greatly to the good health of nearly all of us.

Constable Bungi was taken seriously ill here, and it was decided to rest for a day or two. This gave us the oppor tunitv of ascending higher points in the vicinity and making good observations of the surrounding country, including the serrated mountain which I had ob served from the summit of Mt. Hagen in 1933, and again from the chartered aeroplane of the Papuan Government in 1936. The local people gave its name as Kaijendong. Since then I have heard it called Kaijenda by natives from areas further to the south.

The patrol continued its march on March 29 in a south westerly direction, passing through a highly-populated settlement called Chiamben Makolen Angolenda. Near here, we crossed another watershed to the valley of the Lagaip, a large stream running north west, probably the headwaters of the Karawari River, which is itself one of the major tributaries of the Sepik River.

We followed this river through grass land and casuarina groves until it

turned north and ran into bush coun try, near its junction with another large stream, the Kera. Here, at a place known as Biviraka (or Bibiraka), on April 1, a temporary base was made, and small parties set out on reconnais sance in an endeavour to find a pass through the ranges. We were now, it appeared, at the end of the grass coun try and high, heavily-timbered moun tains and extremely rugged country lay before us.

On April 2, I took a small party of three police and twelve details, minus cargo, ordinary equipment and food other than four biscuits each, and found a pass south-westerly to the head of the Waga (Ive) River, the westernmost major tributary,* as far as is known, of the Purari River. A high mountain, Leivawaro, was noticed in this vicinity.

Here the people were not so pleasant.

One man, speaking in his own tongue and by signs, said what I am almost sure was: “You came from the heavens.

Get your food from there.’' Two interesting features of the jour ney were the depth of the range—it took us three days to cross the water shed, and we travelled constantly be tween 8,800 feet and 9,400 feet above sea level —and the habitations in alpine grass valleys at 9,000 feet altitude. Val leys similar to those, which I have seen in other parts of the country, have always been uninhabited.

On returning to Biviraka it was found necessary to wait until Constable Bungi, who was suffering from pneumonia, had recovered sufficiently to travel.

At this time, Black made a short pat rol downstream beyond the junction of the Kera and Lagaip. During this

journey, Black found numerous large specimens of white iron (iron pyrites), a small one of which was forwarded to Rabaul. This, was later assayed at Canberra, but found to be gold free.

Considerable quantities of pyrites exist in the area. .. . , . ... , April 11 I set out with the advance party of six police and forty carriers. Black took charge of the main body of the patrol. The advance party being more mobile, its duty was t 0 fi . nd t] e best route, prepare the cam p m; iS plies : Later, the advance party itsen "£f e d nt reconnoitr e the route for the following , .

I had met two friendly natives, Angi and Hereva - at th ® Waga headwaters.

They came from the country further westward, near the mountain Kaijenda, , . ■, ’ fhaf tbpv wmild miide ns f" d th p? r d J e0 nle they would guide us to their people - The Waga headwaters were reached on pr j| but Angi and Hereva failed us Guides were obtained, however, but tbey led us on a track which maintained a southerly instead of a westerly course.

T e this track for several days between high timbered mountains, over nm f t “• alf : tl]dp There could be H-000 feet in aitituae. mere coma ne turning back now, nor could a track leadj w ste rly be found. , .

The country was forcing us southwards . As Sir Hubert Murray once mentioned in the preface to a book on Papuan exploration, you can seldom go where you want to in New Guinea. To go west you may have first to go many mHes north or south.

On April 22, the country improved,

and it appeared possible that a western pass might be discovered. Camp was made at Yamima (or Yammi) and I de cided to wait a day in the hope of mak mg contact with Black. (Camp No. 32).

This camp was distinguished by some fine pine trees in the vicinity.

We were coming into a land of pine and casuar j na again. It was good to see> f or we bad m i sse d the casuarina for some time. It is the national tree of upland New Guinea; but around 9,000 f ee t, the altitude at which we had been travelling, it does not grow. We were nOW 5* 7 ’ 6 t °° feet “ a leVel ’ Tv?’ according to my reckoning, nearing the Territorial boundary ' With some local natives I climbed a peak nearby. Grass valleys could be seen extending south-easterly to the limit of vision. About ten or fifteen m ii es away, in this direction, large fires pnll i d bp The local neonle nointed t them and said “Hamena hamena” 1 mem ana sum, riamena, naniena meaning ‘white man, and indicated that Europeans were living there Thmk mg that it was a Papuan patrol, I set out with two police and five details to pay a courtesy call on the officer in charge.

We , ravelled i ight and quickly, and we re well received by succeeding groups f npnnlp wbo Glided us and oassed us 1 people ’ wno guiaea us ana passea us on to new groups an d new guides who nointeH southwards savin? “Hamena hamena” SoUthwardS> Saymg Hamena

namena .

Just before sunset, we came to where the fires had been, and I realised what j ba d half expected for some time; that there was no European there and that the people meant that white men were somewhere to the south. It was too late to return, and we camped in a little shelter on the bank of the Ive Maka

dimmi. The native people were friendly, and seeing that we were such a small party, treated us well, and no untoward incident occurred.

We returned by the same route to our camp, the next day. It is probable that

on this journey southward I crossed the

Papuan boundary.

The following day, the advance party moved off early, but I waited in the hope that the main body, under Black, would come up with us. About 9.30 a.m., I was delighted to see the patrol coming towards us, and shortly afterwards Black and Walsh arrived. Everybody in their party was well, and I was much relieved, as I had feared that they may have suffered from hunger.

AFTER discussing matters generally, I went on and rejoined the advance party, and we continued in a west erly direction. At Tengu, or Pamu, on

April 27, we obtained a guide, Tigi, who said that he would take us to a popu lous area, further on to the west.

I knew, now, that we were coming close to our objective. On April 28 we were in striking distance of it, but Tigi recommended an indirect route, as the food supply was better. We took his advice.

The track led into timbered country, where the going was slow, and it was not until Sunday, May 8, that a suit able area was found, in a broad ex panse of undulating country, where an aeroplane landing-ground could be pre pared. Camp was made, and work be gun immediately. (Camp No. 47).

The camp was in a beautiful stretch of country—rolling volcanic downs, covered with a light forest of pine and casuarina, and broken only by the large gardens of the inhabitants, and an occasional grass patch. Immediately to the north and west, the mountains of the main range rose steeply and domi nated the landscape. To the east, the downs extended to high mountains, fif teen to twenty miles away, and to the south the country rolled away to the horizon.

On May 10, Black and the main body arrived. All the party was well, with one exception in Wadza, a youth of Kanjivi, in the Mt. Hagen area, who was suffering from pneumonia. He had been carried for fourteen days and was very weak. He passed away that night, and was buried the following morning.

This camp was unsuitable as a base, and it was necessary to move out of it as quickly as possible.

At this time I considered that, as the country was not highly productive, it would not support our party if we re sided there for more than a few weeks.

The tubers of the sweet potatoes were often not longer than one’s finger, and taro was nowhere to be seen. Secondly, we had come too far south, nearly to the Papuan boundary, and were remote

fins locality plan shows the region traversed by the Taylor-Black patrol—west by north from Mt. Hagen to Talafomin, at the head of the Sepik River; thence down the May River to the main Sepik; then up the Karawari and over the mountains to Wabag and Mt. Hagen.

from those areas which it was our aim to examine most carefully.

In its journey from Mt. Hagen, the patrol was characterised by the peaceful manner in which it was received by the native communities, some of which had not seen a white man before. At some places, people were suspicious and fear ful, but there was no hostility. This friendly attitude may have been due to the size of the party.

The people in the vicinity of this post, which was called Hoiyevia, were friendly, and assembled unarmed to the number of 500 to 1,000 daily, but women were never seen, except at a distance.

They imagined, apparently, that we were spirits and that their women would die should they see us. {To be Continued in May )