A.—s

4

purpose can generally be found. It will be desirable, I think, to obtain some trained men from Fiji, and, with a force of twelve men, six afloat and six ashore, I can guarantee that order shall be maintained and intertribal atrocities prevented for at least sixty miles along the coast. Land Policy. The land question is no doubt the cardinal one upon which almost everything connected with British policy within the Protectorate will turn. It is the primary consideration, both as regards the present native inhabitants and those schemes of colonisation which have at various times been suggested. Even so far back as 1875 Lord Carnarvon was approached by solicitations from a proposed association of persons styled " The New Guinea Colonising Association." The reply which was then addressed by the Secretary of State to the applicants seems to me to be so apposite that I think it well to reproduce it now (Appendix E). It lays down a standard of policy which is equally applicable at the present moment. On the other hand, a charter has of late years been granted to an association in British North Borneo, where the conditions of settlement must be somewhat similar to those in British New Guinea, and were so regarded by the late Special Commissioner, who appears to have been not unfavourably disposed to some much similar concessions. (Vide Mr. Fort's report.) For my own part, I think that the true interests of the natives and their advancement in the scale of life are not inconsistent with some encouragement being given to European settlement. In further illustration of this subject I beg to attach a correspondence (Appendix F), which throws some light upon this complex subject. MISSIONABY EnTEBPBISE. In Mr. Fort's report a sufficiently ample statement has been made of the facts of the case to render it unnecessary for me to recapitulate them. A great and noble enterprise has been conducted by a set of most self-sacrificing men, who have carried the message of Christ to a savage race of inhuman murderers. The first stages of this transmutation have been effected at the cost of a great sacrifice of life among the devoted South Sea Island teachers, who have, under the guidance of the London Missionary Society, been the chief instruments in the partial conversion of these interesting though bloodthirsty savages. I regret to say that I cannot regard the work of the Society as progressive. The brave and earnest men who devoted the best years of their lives to the work of evangelization on an unknown coast cannot renew their youth, as we might wish that they could. They are not succeeded by men competent to follow up the task they commenced, and the work of the Mission languishes just now from the lack of new men who are prepared to devote their lives to an efficient attack upon the deep incrustation of barbarism which still prevails. Mr. McFarlane has retired permanently, I understand, from the Mission. Mr. Chalmers is now in England, and Mr. Lawes is left almost alone. I hope that new and efficient workers will be found, for a work so well commenced should be carried on to a successful completion. The French Catholic missionaries of the Order of the Sacred Heart have commenced work at Yule Island. I trust that the humanising influences which they will doubtless bring to bear on the natives will be productive of much benefit to the Protectorate. Under British administration, I have no dread of any seriously prejudicial rivalry between missions acting under different directions, but animated, I hope, by the same spirit. A correspondence I have had with the Eev. W. Lawes on this subject (Appendix G) will serve to indicate the course of events in connection with the French mission. As a matter of ecclesiastical discipline the brothers of the Sacred Heart will probably affirm their right to establish missions where they choose. As a matter of practical administration, I have no doubt that they will find it most convenient to occupy unappropriated ground. The field of operations is so large that there ought to be no difficulty in establishing a fair understanding on this point. It is not improbable that an Anglo-Australian mission may be established in the Louisiade group. The South Sea Island teachers require sometimes to be controlled. I found it necessary to administer a severe caution in the case of a native lad who was killed by being pushed from the platform of the teacher's house at Kappakappa. In another case, that of the teachers at Eigo and Sarowa, they had offered rather serious obstruction to Dr. Clarkson and to Mr. Hunter while on a journey to the head of the Kemp-Welsh. One of them had also spoken very disrespectfully of me and my officers. I felt it necessary to send for those teachers, and the result of the lengthy investigation which took place was a suspension of their residence in their respective districts for three months. Explobation. Mr. H. 0. Forbes conducted, during the latter months of 1885, an exploratory expedition in the direction of the summits of the Mount Owen Stanley Eange. He established a camp at Sogari, and, besides making an extensive botanical collection, he effected a good deal of valuable triangulation. The wet season, however, having set in, and the funds at his disposal being exhausted, he was obliged to abandon his enterprise at that time. On meeting Mr. Forbes at Cooktown in May last, I ascertained from him that he would require £2,000 in order to follow up his explorations over a period of six months from June to December. I offered for this purpose to appropriate £500 from the funds of the Protectorate, if the rest of the amount required could be subscribed from the Australian Governments. It did not, however, at the time appear tj> be probable that this amount would be forthcoming, and Mr. Forbes in the meantime undertook to reside in China Straits, where he has been most useful. I attach to this report one of Mr. Forbes's letters to me, in order to show the sort of work he has had to do in China Straits (Appendix IV.).