Adventures in New Guinea James Chalmers
Adventures in New Guinea James Chalmers
Adventures in New Guinea James Chalmers
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
97<br />
places precipitous rocks. The falls are E. from Port Moresby, E.S.E.<br />
from Moumili, and S.E. from Vetura proper. They are grand, and well<br />
worth see<strong>in</strong>g. I wish we had seen them from below. For a long distance<br />
up there are small falls and rapids. The water comes surg<strong>in</strong>g on, and<br />
then takes a fearful leap of many hundred feet on to a ledge, and from<br />
there to the boil<strong>in</strong>g cauldron below. The noise is deafen<strong>in</strong>g. Where we<br />
stood, nearly level with the water, it was 1340 feet above sea-level, and<br />
I do not th<strong>in</strong>k that from there to the cauldron could be less than 900<br />
feet. I th<strong>in</strong>k it may be possible to get to them from the north side by<br />
Mangara, and then we can rightly tell the height of the falls.<br />
5_th_.--Left Chok<strong>in</strong>umu this morn<strong>in</strong>g at eight, and had a pleasant walk for<br />
three hours, ascend<strong>in</strong>g gradually the Astrolabe until we reached the<br />
summit at the back of Tupuselei, 2300 feet high. We were rest<strong>in</strong>g before<br />
descend<strong>in</strong>g, when a native party appeared and approached us, somewhat<br />
scared. They said on com<strong>in</strong>g up they heard the noise as of chopp<strong>in</strong>g wood<br />
(we were mark<strong>in</strong>g trees). They came on, and saw through the bush a white<br />
man, and at once went back; then, hear<strong>in</strong>g as if natives were with him<br />
speak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Koiari, they returned and determ<strong>in</strong>ed to meet. They were much<br />
pleased at receiv<strong>in</strong>g a present of salt. We descended on the west side of<br />
the Astrolabe; the descent, be<strong>in</strong>g steep and difficult, took us some time.<br />
In the afternoon we arrived at Janara, near to Efari, at the back of<br />
Pyramid Po<strong>in</strong>t, the Astrolabe bear<strong>in</strong>g north. Our friend Lohiamalaka, the<br />
chief of Gem<strong>in</strong>umu Monito, and three youths are with us. I have never met<br />
a k<strong>in</strong>der and more friendly native than Lohiamalaka. Janara is a good<br />
large district, and seems to have a number of natives. The village we<br />
are <strong>in</strong> is 600 feet above sea-level. Tupuselei is the nearest mission<br />
station, and a teacher placed here or at Efari would have constant<br />
communication with that place. I was the first to enter the village.<br />
They had heard us cooey<strong>in</strong>g to one another; so only saw one man, and he<br />
tried to look very unconcerned, with a bamboo pipe, try<strong>in</strong>g to light it,