Invited to advise Papua New Guinea Government on establishing museum facilities in Port Moresby, Lae and Goroka. Survey of existing services and recommendations for future museums.
> 24th Oct.
Left Perth on a delayed Boeing 727 - delayed by the confusion which is following the Pilots' claim for shorter working hours and more aircrews. Arrived in Sydney at about 9.00 - too late to catch the connection up to Brisbane. TAA put me up in the Australia for the night at company's expense. Very nice - like bridal suite. Phoned Margaret to tell her that I had arrived that far. Asked her to give Keith Lissiman(?) my apologies for the meeting of St. Columba's College council on the 26th.
> 25th Oct.
Up at 0500 in order to catch the early ANA flight to Brisbane. Unfortunately this was also delayed. Another passenger also flying for Perth (Mr. Hedges) and I decided to make a fuss after being told that we could not get off until after 11.00 hrs. We got TAA to put us onto the 9.30 flight. We then arrived in Brisbane at 11.30. Hedges is for the Territory - recruiting in W.A. and other states He has recruited Colin Daley who has given my name as a referee.
Met at Brisbane by Alan Bartholomai. He was in good form, doing good work. He has had the very large series of specimens collected by Tom Kirkpatrick & has concluded, as we have, that coefficients of variation are really very low in natural populations of macropodidae. (c.2.). He is also doing some very nice work relating a lot of the Queensland [de lls?] species to the modern Fauna. Had a good talk to Jack Woods. After lunch drove out to the University and saw Connell the Registrar, and Drake the Public Relations and Alumni Officer. He gave me very interesting data on the Convocation wrine[?]. He said:(a) Their convocation could not join the Australian Federation of University grads[?] because of their statutary position.(b) Their Alumni Association (Alumni=past students, staff and senate & convocation) is funded for the express purposes of having a free voice, & for fund raising. (c) That the association cannot pay its way for at least 3 years.(d) It now takes up about 60% of his time plus that of ancillary staff.
Couldn't go down to Fleay's sanctuary[?]. Hopeless in a half day. Had a further session with Jack & Alan over the specimens they had been going through in connection with my list of rare species. Asked for the loan of a few specs.. To the Hotel early, went out and bought tea. Wrote to M. and to the V. C. To bed early.
> 26th Oct.
An excellent flight up to Port Moresby. First sight of New Guinea is the land bank of cloud lying WestEast along the line of the Papuan coast. Started to come down from 30,000 ft and could see the line of the Owen Stanleys lying above the clouds. Turned in towards Port Moresby (Photographs in colour). Very struck by the similarity between the savannah around Moresby and that of Kalumburu. Seems very likely that the Trunsina[?] savannah fauna is in fact an Australian form which has got across[?].
Landed and met by Sir Alan Mann, John Wamersley and Roy McKay. Sir Alan was in his official Rover 3 litre - v. nice! They installed me in the Gateway Hotel - an airconditioned, very humid and quite warm in Moresby - and we then had lunch.
After lunch we went for advice[?] around to see the Museum site in June[?] Valley and then to the University to meet Ken Inglis, Prof of History, a trustee and acting V.C., Ken Lamb Prof of Zoology, and also ran into Don Drover Ex. W.A., Prof of Chemistry. Had a brief talk to them and then arranged to come back next Wednesday. Called a Trustees' meeting for 10.00 next morning.
Drove out to the C-J's house met Lady Mann (Yvonne) asked for driver[?]. Then drove out to Govt. House to meet the Administrator, David Hay & wife for drinks. Started well - he was wearing a BNC tie ! then moved on to Ett and LTR. From then on very easy. He told me that he had now categorized me !! He added "very favorably" how lucky Old School ties are still worn - I have seldom felt quite so dishonest but if his aim is to get off the ground all tactics must work.
Had dinner with the Manns. Very hectic and endless bottles of good wine. To bed but not to sleep easily. Hope this pace does not continue.
> 27th Thursday
Worked in my room until 08.30 when Roy Mckay called. Then down to the Post Office where I sent a cable to Lyn to ask for Judy Buick's address in the Territory in the hope that her husband would be near Moresby and able to help the women[?] with class programmes etc. He used to be one of our casual teachers in the W.A.M. Sent a telegram to M. to tell her arrived safely.
10.00 meeting of the Trustees at the Museum. The Museum is depressing[?]. Beautiful stuff but not a great deal of it. Very poorly displayed, and stored on worse fashion. Specimens[?] are destroying each other. Labels poor and falling off. Trustees are doing their best but not succeeding because they are combining two functions of policy and managed to the detriment of both. Roy McKay is not pulling his weight. He is spending too much of his time on things that he is not trained to do - such as writing articles for the Press etc. and the actual physical things that need doing are not being done. Money is being spent on all sorts of things that give a poor return (such as fieldwork by McKay and visitors) and nothing in the storage of collections which are priceless. Talked to the trustees about the function of museums. ....
In the afternoon drove out to see the Administrator with the C.J., talked to him about the terms of reference. I told him that the Trustees were a statutory body charged with the care of Museum and of looking after the interests of the public in this respect but it would not be possible for me to dictate policy - however, I would do my best to open up possible lines of policy for the Trustees to decide upon and then, when that was done, to produce a plan as to how that would be done. He warned me about flying too high - he also asked whether there would be any possibility of including a native member or two in the Trustees. Both the C-J and I concluded that this would not be satisfactory at this stage -- wait until the Trust. is a policy-making body & their time will come. The C-J is very keen to expand the whole thing to make a sort of National Trust out of the whole, with Trustees of each branch being got together for 1 meeting a year. There could be something in this.
H.H. is very keen on a Friends of the Museum and also getting some financial ways to cough up to get the Museum of the ground. Amboo[?] Hy [?] is keen on the former and he's already done some spadework on the latter on Burns of Burns Philp. H.H. also warned me that I should not give the impression that this was another backdoor means of getting money for the University ! Funny to see the boot on the other foot.
Got back to he Museum and wrote to Peter Crowcroft and asked him to put Graeme Pretty in touch with me at Adelaide Airport on my way through. Most important that he should do what we want for the report. We need ammunition not artifacts!
Spoke to the N-G Scientific Society, fair, quite a lot of questions.
> 28th Saturday
Picked up by John Womersley at 0900 and we went down to TAA and fixed the flight tickets to Lae. Then connt into town and did a bit of shopping for slacks[?], a pen, one film, etc. After that went back to the airport checked in baggage and up to the Gateway Hotel to have a drink before leaving. Met a young Scottish Dr & wife. He's a malarialologist[?]. Main comment of interest is that apathy is their main problem in an eradication campaign.
Left on a "Friendship" for Lae at about 12.40. Took about an hour. Almost all the way above the clouds saw nothing of the land below. Arrived at Lae after lunch and was met by Mary Womersley. V. nice., 2 children at home and 3 in Warwick in school. They used to have them at Adelaide but moved up to Qsld. John took me to the Huon Gulf Motel where I was booked in. Very comfortable room - airconditioned etc. Spent most of the afternoon driving around Lae. A beautiful place with very strong resemblance to Penang. Mountains in the distance lovely gardens. Poinciana tinus (H.K. "Flame of the forest") along the streets and epiphytes everywhere. Took a few coloured photos.
Drove over to the herbarium which John is officer in charge of the Division of Botany. It is a beautiful structure [?] 8,000 squ ft, cost $200,000 including air conditioning. Designed as one new building is on the flow principle. 1 very good feature not in our plans is a staff[?] room at the entrance into which all food boxes must be placed. No food goes into the building. The plant entrance is at the other end and all the fumigation[?] is carried out at an entry bay with a tank into which methyl bromide[?], 4 ozs per cu ft at 76*F, is the finegment[?]. This is blown out before the tank is opened. The specimens are then dipped into 5% in white spirit lauryl pentachlorphenate (LPCP trade Mystox). Unfortunately they can't use compactors because they are in an earth tremor zone. Photos of inside of herbarium. Went to the Botanical Gardens and took photos c and b&w of Dendrolagus matschiei.
Had drinks at the Womersleys to meet various people (see list at end). Took them out to dinner at the hotel. Wrote up notes, to bed at 23.15.
> 29th Sunday
Spent day driving to Bulolo, Wau and McAdam Park [1C 31] [BW 7]
(see notes at end).
C31 Markham Bridge looking W. upstream egret in foreground. Broad valley with hills C8000ft in background.
C32 View back area Markham Valley for Oomsis Hill.
C33 Manmade grasslands, made from hill forest by burning, filled swamp in foreground, one sago, mainly Alstonia spathulata
C34 Spathoglottis sp. single blossom on roadside
C35 Near Wampit tributary of Markham. Syo in valley and hill forest behind.
C36 Wampit River, looking upstream at about 800 ft. river alt about 200 ft. still lowland rainforest
C37 Same but stepped down.
New film
C01 C02 Village houses Guracor Village. These houses are made with planks (broad axed); originally these were sheets of bark
03 Patep Creek looking up towards headwaters of Wampit River. Deforestation of native gardens in different styles. c. 3000 ft. Oak-laurel forest, bush fallow regrowth. Flat-topped trees are Albizia which are a sure sign of very old gardens or sometimes gravel banks on rivers (possibly in skyline of photo)
04 View down Snake Valley towards the Watut & Bulolo. Small town in photo Mumeng. c 3000 ft. Curecina[?] on top of leeth[?] (see Plaine fig.15, p. 62) just to the north of his maps). 2 sypp of Auracaria fine foliaged Hoop pine, coarser.
05 Rhododendron aurigeranum very many gsp of indigenous Rhododendrons in N.S.W.
06 Section exposed in Munery[?] creek. Oxyglucate [?] fallen off hillside. Typical disorganised material.
07 Valley of Snake River, downstream towards the junction with the Watut. Hills of schists of the Kaindi metamorphosis - c 1800 ft in valley.
08 View across the Watut at old Sunshine Gold sluicing site. Foreground on, left Kaindi schists, centre tailings from the dredges middle distance, Otibanda beds exposed. Status localists are on the right of the picture.
09 View down the Watut across Otibanda beds for the junction of the Watut and Bulolo, on eastern side of snon[?]looking north i e towards Sunshine
010, 011, 012 Village with suspension bridge
013 Wau gorge looking downstream, Araucaria in foreground
014 Wau down the airfield
015 J.B. McAdam park, lake and rainforest behind
016 Wau Gorge looking downstream
017-21 Sunshine. The faultline looking downstream across to the Sunshine Goldbanda[?] locs. of Stutina[?]
022 Suctic[?] loc. looking yestern [?]. This is taken slightly south of 08 looking back.
We drove up from Lae starting at 0815 and in brilliant sunshine. The road goes up the Markham Valley and then up the Snake River valley and after crossing the high point at about 3600 ft falls down into the Valley of the Bulolo and Watut Rivers. First of all the road goes through coastal swamp forest with mud water and sago palms mixed in with it. From alongside this the hills rise sharply with lowland hill first. This is often converted into Kunai granted by native burning. Recently there has been considerable re-afforestation by prohibiting burning - principally at higher levels ("Pia Hambu"). The road is a good one and tests violently around the valley. In the higher hill country the native gardens and the succession through into "Bush falloo" is very obvious. In the areas of no names land along the Snake Valley huge areas of kunai caused by anthropogenic fires occur with small patches of araucaria first in the valleys and along the hill-tops showing what it must have been like.
The road passes high schists with sunshine is reached and down the Otibanda lake series became obvious where they have been directed by the river. The sluicing operations have also revealed large areas.
From there we drove on up to to Bulolo where we stopped for a drink with Robin Angus and his wife Beverley. Robin is in charge of the Forestry School. Bulolo is a hot & reputedly unpleasant place. It is reasonably attractive now with trees planted and gardens but said to be hot in the valley.
The road from Bulolo goes through a deep gorge - very spectacular - along which the miners had to go to get to the goldfields at Edie Creek. Altogether, the scenery is incredible. The miners used to say that it was so dark in the bottom of the gorge that you could look up and see the stars in daylight ! may says now that I have seen it I should get hold of "Gold Dust & Ashes" again.
Wau is an attractive place with an uphill airstrip ("Give way to aircraft baby"). Seems just high enough to be cool. Had lunch at the Wau hotel very pleasant, Meg and John were my guests. Real cream from a nice little herd of Jerseys !
Rain threatening & getting quite cold. Drove out to McAdam Park. Jim McAdam was the Director of Forests who started the forestry survey and had a vision of reafforestation. He had a coronory and died at 49.
A glorious place. Raining heavily - drove down the gorge through the valley & back to Lae. John pretty tired after a long and difficult drive. John very interesting about land tenure here. Apparently the land all belongs to the villages and when timber leases are granted the govt. pays the village a lump sum which is assessed on the royalties which is sometimes some thousands of dollars. This system is one of the principal reasons why there few National Parks here. All the land is owned. It seems likely that the Native House of Assembly will change all this. The Papuan[?] administration can't do it - without a scream from the U.N. John likes the idea of a sociological survey of N.G. but how to graft this onto the lhnnen[?] as an administrative mind ?
Sleep on it !
> 30th October Monday
Flight up to Goroka & the Baiyer Valley & on to Mt Hagen Michael[?] picked me up as we want to get some film. Picked up John & Mrs Playfair. Took C23 photo of Goroka here.
0935 Take off for Snake River and Sunshine
Fly up Markham Valley to get some photos of
C24 Lake Warum from about 1100 ft. above teuin[?], same as C33 of yesterday.
C25 Hill valley above Wagau
C26 Waterfall above Snake River at about 4,000 ft.
C27-31 Sushine[?] from air also B&W-12
C32 The junction of the Zalolo & the Watut
C33-36 The beds of the Upper Watut, B&W 13,14,15
There are considerable exposures in the Upper Watut spread over a considerable area, Obviously well-worth extensive work.
Loaded with Kodachrome X.
Set course 315* across Watut & roughly 11 to the Markham to Goroka. 10.35 Met by Henderson and Ken Jones who drove us out to meet Barry Madden at the Teachers Training College. This is a remarkable place: took photos of the College also views from the College C1-4 at the Goroka Teacher Training College at the base.
Madden is very keen on the idea that the College might be helped by a local museum - met Joey Hynes, the science teacher at the College He is very good value. I told him that if he wants identification we will do what we can for him. He is teaching biology with an essentially ecological approach, but geology with the rocks forst followed by geomorphology !
Drove on down to the hotel in town. Had lunch, Madden was invited too to join the party which was made up of the main committee and the District Commission. Hardly had a chance to eat. Talked like a Dutch Uncle.
Went out and visited the Goroka town[?], a colourful job. Product of Local Rotary. Really a remarkable achievement. Apparently they were awarded a prize and the whole thing was published in the Rotarian. Must get a copy.
14.48 Take off for Mt. Hagen and Baiyer River. Going SW cross Asaro River Gorge - Purari Gorge.
C5-10 In the gorge villages and mountains
C11 Kundiawa admin headquarters of Chimbu district
C12,13 Wahgi[?] Valley at Nundugl looking west c.2000ft., mountains in Nundugl [?] at about 8000 ft.
C14 Baiyer valley about 3000 ft., sediments clenerd[?] for the Hagen volcanics.
Met by Bob Bell the District Commissioner in his car, driving rain and then went to the Sanctuary. Met David Gosney (age about 18-17) who is now in charge after Shaw-Mayer [?] left a few weeks ago. He showed us around. A fascinating collection of Birds of Paradise moved from the former Halstrom Trust at Nondugl. Also a few native animals. The boy is keen but has a hell of a chip. Doesn't know what the future is. Apparently the whole thing is a bit of a pet of Tom Ellis. This has succeeded by getting some $6000 into its expenditure this tear. The rest of the money comes from Mt Hagen locals with support for Halstram. This is in the form of a few yards of chicken wire, so far. It is about 70[?] miles from Mt hagen by road, with a mile or two of extra road to the Sanctuary.
Took photos of 3 species of Tree-Kangaroo:
1. Dendrogalus satschiei, (2 stripes)
2. Dendrogalus dorarius, (ring on tail)
3. Dendrogalus goodfellowi, (bearlike with light patch on rump)
Two cucures[?], a white female and a spotted grey male.
Small and very beautiful jungle wallaby ? Dorcopsulus, sharp attractive face and bare end to very short tail (All B&W).
Drove back to Mt. Hagen through the rain. Took photos of the native villages and a few of the locals in the rain with their pandanus leaf raincapes, also a shot back down the valley towards Baiyer River from the passage into Mt Hagen.
Got back to the Residency where the D.C. put us in the guest wing. He and his wife came round for a drink before going out to a dinner engagement. She turned out to be a very old school friend of Pamela Tunley's[?]. Promised to give regards. They got us two axes for the boys.
Had dinner out, although very tired, John and I sat up and discussed the problems raised by Baiyer Valley Collection and hopes of a Biological Survey of new Guinea. To bed at 11.15.
> 1 Nov. 1967 (Tuesday)
Up at 5 with a cup of tea and then in to the aerodrome about 7 miles out. Took off as the valley fog rolled up and headed for Goroka where we were to drop a pilot who had hitched a lift.
Photos of the valley across from Mt. Wilhelm over the Nondugl strip to the range beyond. Very striking in the early morning light. The Markham ramifies across its flats.
Arrived at Lae at 0800 and went out with John to buy some curios for the little girls & Pete got some Trobriand pigs for Sue & Kath and a Sepik mask for Pete. All trade goods but still nice.
Continued talk of night before - added to the insect situation (see Idors?)
1. Mephology - see Dorothy Shore
2. Fish collections and any systematic marine collection - see Rogerson[?]
Getty's[?] visit. A good look at Hagen, drainage in the Wahgi Valley or Kangel Valley. Investigate reports that the Anthropologists for ANU who are collecting archaeological material and shipping it out as personal possessions. John is hoping about the whole thing, thinks that the Snowy concept is a very good one. He drove me out to the plane at 10.00.
Notes on our conversation of the night before: written in aircraft Friendship "Frank Hann" (a good omen!) between Lae and Moresby.
The concept as I put it to John[?] was for a number of separate projects in Lae, Moresby and Goroka.
1. A building almost identical with the Lae Herbarium to be built in Jone[?] Valley to house the collections, staff and workshops of the Papua NG Museum[?].
2. The present accommodation be kept to house the Port Moresby Galleries of the PNG mine[?].
3. A smaller module be constructed at Goroka alongside the present Goroka galleries of the PNG museum to provide professional services for the Highlands & end local unions[?].
4. When the Moresby module bursts at the seams a new module be built alongside the present Lae Museum to house Zoological Survey Division and the Biological Survey of New Guinea be created with 2 divisions. Which, together with the Anthropological survey, would comprise the PNG Museum.
> 2nd Nov. 1967.
Mr Lang ABC. 2356, or 2646 rang, wants me to ring him back for an interview at 3.30. Neville Moderate, Photographer.
> 3rd Nov.
Went out to the Fishes Lab down at the coast beyond the University and photographed b&w. ?Risso's Dolphin. Harold J. Coolidge. Ryson showed me Chelus landers - re Harold's idea of 12 years. Will write to him and send copy to Harold. Write to Elwood about Barry Wilson-Cones[?]. Left Moresby at 1340 - a fantastic trip. I'm afraid I bulldozed like mad all over the place but they seemed happy to take it and it was the only way to put it over in the shortness of time. Alan Bern[?], Dorothy Shaw and Roy McKay all came down and saw me off - they really are a nice mob.
People met in New Guinea. Moresby.
1. Sir Alan Mann, Lady Mann (Yvonne), Chief Justice.
2. Mr John Womersley (& Mary at Lae), Chief Division of Rotary, Dept of Forests, Box 314, Lae.
3. Mr. Roy McKay, Preparator in Charge
4. Prof. Don Drover, Prof. of Chemistry.
5. Prof. Ken Lamb, Prof. of Biology
6. Prof Ken Inglis, Prof of History
7. Mr. David Hay, Administrator
8. Mr. Tom Ellis, Director, Dept of District Administration, Port Moresby
9. Dr. Dorothy Shaw, Senior Plant Pathologist, Dept. of Agriculture
10. Keith Mattingly, Managing Director, South Pacific Post Ltd.
11. R (Bob) Cole, Commissioner of Police
12. Miss Elaine Bruce, Secretary, Museum.
13. E. Ted Fenner, Entomologist, Dept. of Agriculture
14. Dr. Duncanson, Director of Higher Technical Education
15. A.(Sandy) Renwick (monocle), Resident Geologist, B.M.R.
16. Mr. L.W.(Winston) Filewood, Fisheries, Division of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries
17. D. M. Rapson, Chief Division of Fisheries, Dept. of Agriculture
Ewer Dept of Biology
Dr. K. McKinnon, Director of Education
Dr. J.T. Gunther, Vice Chancellor.
Not met: Tony Newman - Treasurer, Jim Ritchie, Actg. Treasurer - George Summers (W.A.) P.S.C.
Lae
Mark Coode (=Code) - Cary (wife), Senior Botanist, ex Cantab.
Phil Scully, Rosemary - Postmaster
D.N.Ashton & Jean, District Commissioner, to move to Bougainville
Michael Galore, Assistant, Lae herbarium friend of Walkers)
Robin Angus, Bulolo - Principal Papua & N.G. Footy School...
