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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0566.PDF
ZB^ SEPTEMBER 28, 1922 Apropos the exploring expedition under the leadership of Capt. Frank Hurley which is being launched to take bearings in New Guinea from the air, a correspondent who has recently returned from our Papuan possession, writing to The Times upon the undertaking, gives the following somewhat humorous reminiscences of his own experiences in the same line from—terra firma. He says :— " Exploring New Guinea from the air sounds a venturesome project. It could not be much more exhausting than exploring New Guinea on land, and has certain distinct advantages into the bargain. Dense jungle country, precipitous ravines and ' razor-backed ' mountains all combine to make explora tion difficult and dangerous, and comparatively little is known about the interior of the island. " Memory takes me back to the early days of the Australian occupation of German New Guinea. The District Officer at Ablingi, on the south coast of New Britain (to the north of the mainland), had received orders to report on the possibility of a road right across the island to Talassea. " It was hot work, that patrol inland—with a squad of black ' boys ' crashing on ahead, carving a way for us through the tough tropical creepers that hung like a curtain across" our path and hid the sky above. We fell down precipices con cealed by the treacherous undergrowth ; we were hauled up the sheer face of the mountain-side by our native police orderlies. And one night, as we sat under the mosquito netting outside the District Officer's tent, eating a supper of bully beef and paw-paw, there came a runner from headquarters with a polite suggestion that we should requisition horses if we thought our work would be expedited. • •' Horses ! ' said the District Officer, with a sad smile, ' What we really need if we want to see this country is a blooming aeroplane.' " " APPARENTLY," continues the story, " they are trying the ' blooming aeroplane '—or at least a seaplane—in the Britis-h territory, and yet I do not know that I envy the airmen their job. It is a sporting proposition. They will find excellent harbours for landing-places along the coast, but with a very few exceptions the rivers inland are poor affairs, overhung by thick trees and full of reeds and snags, with occasional crocodiles. Of course, the Fly is one of the exceptions ; one could take a fair-sized boat hundreds of miles up its course. " If it is successful the expedition should obtain some most interesting results ; the islands abound in unsuspected harbours and inlets that are hidden from the sea and inacces sible from the land. It has a good leader. Frank Hurley is an adventurous spirit who has ' made good ' in many parts of the world. He went to the Antarctic with Sir Douglas Mawson's party ; he fought with the A.I.F. on Gallipoli, and afterwards became official photographer with the Austra lian Army ; he met Ross Smith at Darwin, and flew south across the continent with him, getting some wonderful photographs of Australia. Mr. L. Hordern (who is a member of a great ' universal provider ' firm in Sydney) has made scaplaning a useful hobby, and has already carried out extensive experiments in surveying on^he Australian coast. III.—(You have just "forced " landed—having run out of petrol.) " May I fill my Patent Lighter from your tank? " 566
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