A Letter from New Guinea.

Manawatu Herald, 21 August 1897, Page 3

A Letter from New Guinea.

From a letter received by Dr Monckton, of Feilding (says the Star), from his son Mr Whitmore Monckton dated from Port Moresby British New Guinea, July 14th, we learn the following : He sailed in the yacht Guinevere from Oooktown with two white sailors and three Queensland natives, one of whom had never been afloat before and the other two never out of sight of land and neither understanding the compass. They were caught by a gale the first day and the whites who were only getting a passage, insisted upon putting baok and being landed. Before starting again Mr Monckton got word that the Governor at Port Moresby urgently wanted to see him, so on sailing with the natives only, he steered a course for Port Moresby which he reached after having ran on to and got off a reef in the Coral ..Sea. His Excellency greeted him warmly and explained that the Hon. W. Moreton, R.M. warden, commissioner, &c, &c, had obtained leave of absence on the ground of ill health to return to England, and recommended Monckton to^an acting appointment in his place to be permanently confirmed if he does not come back to New Guinea. The acting appointment has accordingly been offered and accepted, but at present only on half the pay (the whole being £500 per annum) with a house, a government cutter and etcetras. He has an assistant R.M. who lives on shore at Samarai, keeps the books and what he terms " to run the show at Samarai," whilst he is cruising round attending to the various duties that devolve upon him by the different appointments he holds. Mr Monckton goes on to say that it is healthy enough in Port Moresby and Samarai, yet in the other parts the death rate among the miners has been apalling, most of them having flocked there poorly equipped and with very Httlo money. The deaths have been owing to fever, ague and dysentery chiefly, bat also odd men in outlying places are frequently cut off by the natives. To investigate into Bach matters and bring the offenders to justice used to be a portion of the duties of the Hon. W. Moreton, so we presume Mr Whitmore Monckton has got an exoiting life to look for ward to, though he says nothing about that. As he was to sail at once to Samarai to commence his dutieß and has promised >to write from there, we may shortly hear more fully from that interesting quarter of the world in which cannibals, gold, sea-slugs and pearls are to be found amongst beautiful islands in tropical seas, strongly spiced with racklesff outlaws and ague cum dysentery.