NEW GUINEA GOLD

Hokitika Guardian, 19 July 1930, Page 6

NEW GUINEA GOLD

DISCOVERED’ BY GERMANS

TIP THAT WAS MISSED

t VIVID EXPLORATION STORY

Auckland, July u

After a recuperative trip" abroad, where he has been recovering from tlie physical effects of iyhat has been described as “the greatest feat of exploration that has ever been, accomplished' in New Guinea, ’ Mr C. H. Karius is returning to Sydney by the Niagara to resume his magisterial duties in Papua.

His expedition, conducted during 1926 and 1927, excited great attentoin among explorers and scientists, and as a reward for his discoeries lie was decorated with the Royal Geographical Society's patron’s medal, presented by the King, the highest honour the society can bestow. ONE WHITE COMPANION. With one white companion, Mr I. T. Champion, six native policemen, and 30 native carriers, Mr Karius penetrated into the rugged fastnesses of -Papua)-* through heavily busli-clad teribory '-inhabited by hostile ' hatiye tribes, among'' whom cannibaliimi •is still believed to be rife. The expedition Avals fraught with tremendous difficulty and continual danger, : ' every conceivable'‘obstacle barring the' Avay, ' but indomitable pluck and almost superhuman powers of endurance won through lii' the end. Although' the' two white men lost the majority of their native carriers through desertion, they managed to cross the mighty Victor Emmanuel Ranges that divide the north aim south watersheds, and they traced the sources of the Ely, Strickland, White, Black, Sepik, and Palmer rivers. STARVATION DIET. Mr Karius stated that for weeks on end the party'had to endure a starvation diet and a continual physical Strain, and'tlie ravages of disease completely broke his health. “I developed pneumonia, pleurisy, emphysema and chronic malaria, and I have been trying, to recuperate ever since I got back,” he said. “I do not know whether I shall every try auy more exploration. My magisterial duties occupy all my time.” THE FIRST .WHITE MEN. Describing the * little-known tribes .of. New ..Guinea, . Mr. Karius said that many, of the, natives he , encountered had never seen a white man 'before. “It is, fatal, trying. to enter that country if.you do not kiiow something of the natives and their customs, ' ho said, i “Each tribe has fixed. boundaries, and it is death to anyone who dares to cross .them. When we came: up against. sqch. tribes all/ we .coil’d: do was to sit down and snjoke a cig--, arette until the . excitement subsided.: To take a step , forward '.while j,they, were in a suspicious and way!ike, 'mood, would have meant death. They are arihed with bows and 1 ! which they can use with deadly efn feet, and one more than one occasion, we found ourselves facing hundreds of ■ native warriors brandishing bows with arrows fitted and drawn ,to fnil length, in swell moments it is only, infinite tact that saves the situation. I am glad to say that by adopting an absolute peaceful attitude we did aot have to fire a single shot. . On the contrary, we made friends with practically every tribe we came, across.” ■ j

ROUGH COUNTRY. “The expedition tried to make, an ascent of. Mount Blubber, a ' huge, precipitous wall of limestone, , 6000 feet high, sit Lifted, in the centre .ol the country, l>ut the vicinity was so : broken and rough,'.and the ' coral limestone so severe' on the barefooted carriers,, that the' had to be abandoned. Sheer’"whlls of almost bare limestone afforded lio foothold. Landslides'were continually occurring , bringing down entire mountains into the ravines. Whenever it was necessary to navigate rivers capsizes occurred; lafts were smashed and gear was lost. Eventually, after the sources of the Palmer and the Strickland had been located, and two new rivers—the Andlen and the Murray—discovered, the expedition was compelled to return to the coast. RANGE CROSSED. “The next year a second expedition was fitted but in' an endeavour to cross’ the' great* dividing range, to the north' coast.' The party climbed, to a height of 8900 ft., crossing limestone ridges with knife-like edges and crevices 100, ft. deep, until the source of the Sepik was located. Describing the reception the, party met in the villages in this region, M. Karius said: “A most peculiar call or war cry was coiistantly being given, and arined nien came from <ll directions. The call consists of two notes and resembles the croak of a frog'. The first person to raise the alarm keeps repeating the one note until answered by ,a second person. These two then take up the call and keep it going, one on one note and one on-' another. Everyone witlun hearing takes up the call, and in almost no time tlie district is rosomid-

ing to what sounds like the croaking of gigantic frogs.” When the expedition reached the north coast the men were semi-starv-ed and nerve-broken. GOLD-BEARING COUNTRY. ' Wonderful gold-bearing alluvial land exists in Northern Papua, said Mr Karius. “The biggest possibility of the northern watershed is undoubtedly mining, and in saying that T. am hot speaking as a novice. There was a ;verji interesting • disclosure' at the beginning of the war wliioh shows how neat' -.the Germans were to making a big thing out of the gold in Papua./ They had sent an exploring party up the Warria River, and when that party; came out the. whole of that ; part of. the interior was officially elos*, ed dowib: and no one was allowed to go into it from the coast. The mystery was never divulged, but / scop after the war broke out a German, steamer eh route from Hamburg to Papua was interned at a South African port), and ivlien British officers went on board they found it fuTl., of mine machinery.; consigned-: to..Rabaul. It was years before we were able to follow up the hint, but when prospecting parties eventually did go up the Warria they discovered the remarkable gold field of Bulolo and Edio Creek.”