Giant Snails

Numerous in Kokopo District, NG

THE snails released in New Britain by the Jap invaders as a source of food are now very numerous in parts of the Kokopo district, reports Mr. R. G.

Withy, who has returned to Australia after managing Mr. Oscar Rondahl’s plantation, Makurapau, for twelve months.

He brought with him a collection of snail shells. The largest is nearly 7 inches long, and is so hard that its pointed end will puncture a jeep tyre.

“Kabunga, Mr. Jack Reid’s plantation, three miles from my place, appears to have been one of the spots where the Japs released their pets and they cer tainly multiplied. are huge num bers of them about, of all sizes. They do a lot of damage to native taro, and kau kau, and similar cultivated plants.

“They do not travel fast we timed them, and we found that the average is 5 inches a minute but they do even tually arrive; and they now can be found everywhere, over a wide area.

“We have noticed, however, that they cannot live in the hot sun. They flourish in the cool, moist undergrowth; but they avoid clearings. As soon as they are exposed to the direct rays of the sun they just stretch out and die. Therefore, plantations that are kept properly cleared do not suffer. It is the native gardens that are in danger.”

Mr. Withy, who spent five years in the Solomons with Levers, has “given New Guinea away.” He declares that under present conditions, as created by the Wardist Administration, there is no place in the Australian Territories for private enterprise.

Dr. Bruce Sinclair, of the NG medical services, was in Sydney on holidays from the Territory in September.