J. O. Mouton

Dead in Sydney at Age of 78

THE last surviving link with the famous Marquis de Rays expedition —that ill-fated attempt by French interests to establish a colony on the south-western tip of New Ireland —was broken on September 7, when Jean Bap tist Octave Mouton, one of the original “Colonists” died in his home at Bellevue Hill, Sydney, after a long and lingering illness, at the age of 78.

Mr. Mouton, a Belgian, was only 17 years old when the colony collapsed, and the colonists scattered far and wide.

Unlike the others, he decided to remain in New Guinea. He was employed for a time by Mr. Tom Farrell, who was the associate of “Queen Emma,” at their trading station in the nearby Duke of York Islands. Then he became a planter on his own account, and ultimately he developed the fine Kinigunan Plantation, near Kokopo. He remained in the Kokopo-Rabaul area of New Guinea for many years, under both the German and the Australian regimes, and he became a substantial property-owner. He was the actual owner of the Rabaul Printing Works and of the “Rabaul Times.”

Some 20 years ago, Mr. Mouton retired from New Guinea, to live in Sydney; but his interests in the Territory remained large, and his personal interest in New Guinea affairs never abated. He is sur vived by a widow and two sons. The funeral took place in Sydney on Septem ber 10, and was attended by a number of old residents of the Territory.