after them; and in order to prevent such scandals from being repeated as were perpetrated in New Zealand and the Fijis, an orderly, lawabiding, and well-organized expedition is now being equipped to explore the island, and, if possible, form settlements which, governed by proper rules and regulations, will protect the natives from attacks of a piratical nature, be it from without or from within; and it is therefore hoped that those who really do interest themselves in the future of New Guinea will assist in bringing the English undertaking to a successful issue.

During the discussson which followed on the reading of Mr. Michie's paper on "Great Britain and New Guinea," at the fifth meeting of the Royal Colonial Institute, held on March 16, 1875, his Grace the Duke of Manchester in the chair, Captain Moresby said :

"Divesting himself for the time of his position as a naval officer, he stood there as one of the company of Englishmen who first visited and made known to the world the outline of the Eastern portion of the island of New Guinea, never before visited by a white man, and, as such, might be able to arouse some passing interest in the subject. In the first place, he thanked Mr. Michie very warmly for the kind compliments he had made him, but would say that, when a naval officer put on Her Majesty's coat, he stood devoted entirely to his Queen and country, and whether he laboured successfully or died nobly, he only did what it was his duty to do. The thanks of the colonies were, however, largely to be given to the Imperial Government; for it was the Imperial Government who, after hearing of his first discoveries, at the east end of the Island, sent the Basilisk back, under his command, to follow up and substantiate these discoveries, and also despatched a very distinguished surveyor, Lieutenant Dawson, without whose aid the splendid charts and maps which many present had seen

could not have been made. This showed that the Admiralty and Imperial Government took a warm interest in colonial matters. Thanks also were due to Divine Providence for giving unusually fine weather, favourable winds, and health and strength to the officers and men, which enabled them to open up that rich and new country; and he trusted the intercourse which must follow would result in good, not only to the English race of colonists, but also to the aborigines themselves. The map on the wall was a perfectly defined chart of New Guinea; but any one who had seen it before the visit of the Basilisk, instead of seeing the capes, headlands, and bays indicated thereon from the eastern extremity to Cape Cretin, would have seen nothing but a waving dotted line, showing that it was an unknown coast. The island had never been explored by Englishmen, and his motive for exploring was partly, though not altogether, the fact that, before leaving Sydney, he had received information that the French, and the Americans from San Francisco, as well as the Russians, who he knew were in Astrolabe Gulf, were fitting out expeditions to explore New Guinea and the adjacent islands; and he thought it was more an Englishman's right, if such could be done, to add the last discovery possible to the habitable world, and to put the name of English statesmen and English admirals on the map.

"New Guinea presented in its general features a high mountainous country, culminating in very sharp ridges, 12,000 and 14,000 feet high, sloping down towards the sea. There was every variety of level plains, terraced plateaux, rich open land, wooded country, and glens of extreme fertility. It would be perceived that in such a country one could enjoy every possible degree of temperature.

The produce of the country, as had been described by the lecturer, was all that could be desired. He had been reading that day an account of the island of Java, which might very well stand for a description of the eastern portion of New Guinea; and while reading he reflected that we now considered our forefathers to have made a

great mistake in giving up Java, and hoped that our children will not have to blame us for letting another Java slip through our fingers. The produce of the island consists of sago, arrowroot, Indian corn, sugar-cane, and wild nutmegs. Bananas and various tropical fruits were grown by a rude method of cultivation. Imagine for one moment the eastern extremity of the island in the hands of the European cultivators; you would have, first, the rich slopes of the mountains covered with cotton, rice, coffee, nutmegs, cinnamon, cloves, and spices of all kinds; and above that the English garden, producing all our home vegetables. You would see the apple-tree bending down to the vine below, and the vine descending to the crops on the stem of the palm. This is no fanciful picture, but a simple statement of what might exist in New Guinea.

"If one wanted cooler airs it would be only necessary to ascend a few miles, and the glow of summer would be changed for the frost of winter. The forest contained many kinds of valuable woods, but of their nature he was scarcely qualified to speak. The best known products of the island (he was speaking in the presence of commercial men, and therefore open to correction) consisted of jute in large quantities, and fibres of various kinds. Its shores abounded in pearl shells and tortoiseshell; and these natural riches were already attracting commerce from Australia.

"The gold alluded to was found in Port Moresby, on the south-east of New Guinea, a part never before visited; but no gold had been found on the north side. On Ferguson's Island (one of the D'Entrecasteaux group), where they had discovered a number of boiling springs, they had found minute chippings of rubies and sapphires, and he had little doubt but that larger stones would be found there.

"He thought the two islands of Australia and New Guinea were intended by nature and circumstances to be inhabited by one race for the peace and security of both, and he had constantly at his heart a desire that the natives who had given him such a hospitable welcome should fall into the hands of honest and true Englishmen. who would raise them to a higher and happier state."*

One of the objects of the New Guinea Colonizing Association— and that not the least of its objects in the opinion of all right-minded

men-is to raise the natives of that island to "a higher and happier state." by introducing the blessings of Christianity among them; and we cannot therefore do better than to end this paper by repeating Captain Moresby's sentiments, as expressed by that gallant officer in the concluding sentence of his recently published remarks on " Our Duty to New Guinea and Polynesia," by asking our readers whether, in their opinion, it does not appear as though Nature her

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self has striven to show us that she has here laid down the noble proportions of an empire, and bids us not curtail it for our children?"

Reverting to what we have said respecting other nations contemplating the colonization of New Guinea, we understand that the French Expedition is nearly equipped, and will probably sail about the 20th of July, to hoist the French Flag, if not on New Guinea, certainly on some of the islands around its shores.