I saw him on board the S.S. Merrie England. He had altered somewhat. He had lost two stone in weight and had a worn appearance; otherwise he was in good health.
As Sir Wm. Macgregor has penetrated further inland than any other white man, and has scaled the highest mountain in British New Guinea, the following abridged extract from his report of the journey will, no doubt, be interesting.
"I left Port Moresby on the 20th April, 1889, in my boat, manned with a native crew, accompanied by my staff, and proceeded along the coast to Manumanu. On the 22nd we entered one of the mouths of the Vanapa River, which opens into Galley Reach on its eastern side, about five miles from Manumanu. We got some seven or eight miles up the river the first day, having the tidal water for three or four miles; but beyond that point the river was swollen and muddy, and the current against us strong.
"On the 23rd we continued our course up the river for about seven miles. During the afternoon we began to approach the first low hills in the river's course, and had to ascend two rapids, the first we had met.
"On the 24th we had much difficulty in poling and dragging the boat up some rapids, the current being very strong, and the river, though falling, still deep. On this day we only accomplished four miles, in spite of our best exertions.
"On the 25th we continued our ascent, poling, pulling, or dragging the boat. We passed a number of rapids and by night found ourselves with hills on all sides of us. We passed a large rock on the right bank of the river, which seems to be quite exceptional in its formation in this part of the country. It is a grey stone, full of crystalline needles, like manganite.
"After we had pitched camp I went to examine a native-built suspension-bridge, which our hunting party had discovered up stream—a remarkable structure, occurring in such a locality and built by such a primitive people as the inland natives are in this district. At the spot where the bridge stands the river is narrowed by a rocky point that encroaches on the left bank from a steep hill immediately adjoining; advantage has been taken of this in building. The bridge, which is thus only about 70 yards long, is chiefly supported by a large banyan tree, which grows on the rock on the left bank, about 20 feet from the water's edge; it starts from this tree at an elevation of about 50 feet above the pool below, descends in midstream to about 12 or 15 feet from the water, and rises to about 20 feet on the right bank, where it is suspended to a tree not sufficiently large or strong to receive the whole of this end of the bridge, and is therefore supplemented by a post put into the ground, and this again is strengthened by a cross-bar to the live tree and fixed by stays extending backwards to trees behind. The material employed is rattan cane. Of these, fifteen are used to form supports, but as they have not all been long enough to cross the river, some of them have been joined by knotting. The floor of the bridge is formed of four of these canes, but as two appear to have been broken, the second pair have probably been laid down in effecting repairs. About two feet six inches from the floor there are two rattans on each side, and about two feet three inches above these again are three rattans on the lower, and four on the upper side. They are not plaited or twisted, but are kept in position by split cane worked from the floor to the middle and top rattans, which serves the double purpose of connecting the several strands and would probably prevent anyone from falling into the river should one stumble in crossing. A transverse section of the bridge would show it to be nearly V-shaped, but with the sides slightly rounded. The height of the V is about five feet, the width at the top about three feet six inches, and the distance of the middle strands from each other, about two feet. The top strands are kept apart by a cross-stick, the ends of which are tied to the top of each strand. Suitable platform approaches have been built at the ends, and the whole structure is both strong and graceful. Five of our party crossed it at one time, and from all appearances many more could have done so.
"On the 26th the river had become narrower as we advanced, and we had to contend with strong rapids.
"On the 27th we found the rapids very strong, therefore we decided to discontinue the journey in the boat, and selected a suitable camp on the right bank of the river. This place became our principal depôt for the expedition. By our estimate it is 40 miles from Manumanu by water, 35 miles of this being on the Vanapa itself. I sent Mr. Cameron, my private secretary, to Port Moresby to procure carriers, provisions, etc., whilst I remained in charge of the party.