Varied material

from P-NG

A welcome recent arrival is Volume 3, No. 1 of the Journal of the Papua & New Guinea Society. The issue contains a wide range of articles, including

those on history, anthropology

and sociology, two of which have

been written by Papuans.

In “The Kainantu Villager,” Edwin Brown, a Papuan medical student from the Trobriand Islands, tells about meeting the Komano people of the Kainantu sub-district in the Eastern Highlands, and of how he feels one of the main obstacles to national unity in P-NG is the lack of knowledge among the many linguistic groups of the way of life or all but their immediate neighbours.

Now that communications within the country are improving and there is growing mobility among its in habitants, the younger people should have opportunities to get to know their fellow citizens. One hopes that many of them will show the same interest in and sympathy for their fellow men as Mr. Brown —and that they will record what they see and hear, so that their knowledge will be shared with others.

Expatriates, in particular, will find much interest in lan Willis’s story, “Who Was First”, about the first white man into the New Guinea Highlands.

There is sure to be many an argu ment concerning the claim by a

Lutheran missionary that a member of his mission, Leonhardt Flierl, takes pride of place by having reached the Bena Valley in 1926. There will be less argument about Ned Rowlands, the prospector, who was camped at Omapinka (near the Markham-Ramu Rivers Divide) in 1929. The argument is perhaps merely an academic one, if one recognises the merit of exploratory work undertaken by men like the Leahys, Dwyer, Taylor, the Foxes, Karius, Champion, Hides, O’Malley and, in post-war years, Sinclair, Clancy and Fitzer —to name but some of them. The efforts prior to World War II in particular, when lines of communication and supply were scarce and exploration entailed great physical hardship and danger will continue to be admired, no matter who was first.

Among the other articles, Harry Jackman has taken a brief look at Sir Peter Scratchley, first of the territory’s administrators. Perhaps one day there will be in-depth studies on other British and German governors, like Dr. Francis West’s biography of Sir Hubert Murray.

The Papua & New Guinea Society, whose president is Mr. Gabriel Gris, a New Guinean, deserves more sup port. Ordinary membership ($3 per annum) entitles a member to attend its meetings and to receive its publica tion. Address of the society is PO Box 172. Port Moresby.