The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1890-09-03
a NEW GUINEA MOUNTAIN.
Fifty Days Taken to Climb the Highest
Peak in That Island.


Peak in That Island.
Mount Owen Stanley, the highest
point in New Guinea, was discovered
| forty-four years ago and within the
| last twelve years several futile attempts
have been made to reach its summit.
1t is only sixty miles from the south
coast, but eight explorers have in vain
attempted to reach its top defeated in
every case either by the difficulties in
| the way or the refusal of timid native
porters to ascend mountain which is
| the object of superstitious dread. 1t
was reserved for Sir William Mac
gregor, last year, to reach the goal,
and he triumphed because he discover
| ed, west of the routes of other eX-
plorers, a river, the Vanapa, rising
on the slope of the mountain and along
whose valley he travelled far on his
way.
1t was very difficult undertaking.
and would not have succeeded under
less determined leadership. When
most of his carriers refused to go fur
ther Macgregor told them he would
join the natives against them, and they
would have to reckon with whites and
blacks as enemies. When they said
they were too sick to travel he cured
them instantly with big doses of qui-
nine, and when they asserted that men
who had been sent back for food did
not intend to return he told them they
lied and said he would go with or with
out food. In the latter part of the as
cent he made six days rations hold out
for ten days, in spite of the ravenous
appetite of Fiji Joe, who, it was dis
| 1aAo oH AI,o
specimens of birds discovered on the
mountain.
1t took fifty days to reach the top of
Owen Stanley from the coast. Hewing
their way through the dense under
growth the party sometimes did not
travel over mile a day. Two men
were kept clearing a path with large
knives. The upper attitudes were
more difficult than other parts of the
Journey, for bamboo stems an inch
thick were almost as close together as
wheat in field. But in the upper
regions the party emerged above the
zone of clouds, in which they had wan
dered for days, seeing nothing save
their immediate surroundings. They
found this stratum of clouds to. be
, nearly mile thick. 1t was necessary
now and then TO make halt while a
bridge was built over an unfordable
branch of the river, and a fall from
one of these bridges, a felled tree.
would have meant instant death, for il
spanned the stream just above a lofty
waterfall.
Macgregor and his white comrades
nearly forgot the hardships of thai
rugged wilderness, which in all its
characteristics gradually merged from
tropical into Alpine, in the surprising
novelties which now and then beguileC
the weary way. One day they came
to suspension bridge over 200 feet
long and spanning a chasm so fee
above the water. The cables were fif
: teen rattan canes knotted together a
} the ends and fastened to trees on eth
er bank. The floor was four cane
fastened to the cables five feet abov
by other rattans, and the sides wer,
/. formed of five stretches of rattan. /
cross section of the bridge was nearl,
V shaped. The party crossed it five a
time, and from all appearances
could have borne many more. Plat
> form approaches were built at tn
ends, and, altogether, it was a re
}, markable structure to be conceive
and carried out by so primitive a pee
pie.
The natives of these uplands neve
go to the coast. They were on yer
friendly terms with the expedition
and sold Macgregor an abundance O
food as long as he was within reach
o They told him they used the bow an
spear, but he never saw weapon il
n their hands, and they apparently lef
s them behind when they visited hin
fearing that their intentions would b
misunderstood if they came armed
They told him their legs were too wea
and their breath too short to perm
n them to go with him to the mountai
n top. He thought them physically su
perior to the coast natives and less dis
trustful of the whites than those abort
gines who had seen more of them
They urged him to 60 no further ant
% tried to tempt him by a lavish suppl.
10 of sugar cane, pigs, yams, sweet pc
tatoes, and bananas to sojourn awhil
in their villages. Previous explorer
who attempted Mount Owen Stanle
by routes further east had very differ
ent stories to tell of the natives, wit
= whom some of them had serious trou
BILE.
As the climb went on moss an
heath succeeded to grass, stunted un
dergrowth to fine timber, and TEN
perature of about 90 degrees at moo
to sweltering heat. The crest of Owe
Stanley, with its six little peaks, wa
gained at last. Many days before tn
party had passed the upper limit c
tropical fruits, but far up the noun
tain, they regaled themselves with lus
L, sol e.,
on the crest, and little frog, benuml
ed with cold, in a pool of water. Fa
away was glorious vision of the sea
but near at hand an ocean-like expans
of snow-white clouds clung to tn
mountain sides far below, concealin
the tropical zone and looking like
picture of the Arctic world, with it
lev peaks and frozen snow. The
were far above the region of mis-
and damp and were breathing the al
of one of the finest climates in tn
world.
During the two days camp on to
of the mountain its height was com
puted at 13, 121 feet. 1t was a splen
did journey, rich in collections, an
successful in its chief aim, to conque
the highest point in the largest islam
OF InO WOTIu. 1Hc OulN uSIIllSSlDl
criticism, says the New York Sun,
the attempt of Sir William Macgrego
to rename this fine summit Mount Vic
toria. The splendid range and tn
: great summit, which is its chief attrac
ton, were first laid down on the map
with approximate correctness by Capt
Owen Stanley, in 1919, though tn
4 highest mountain was reported b,
r Lieut.. Yule three years earlier. Fo
!: forty-one years the range and noun
tain have been known on the admiral
ty charts and maps by the name G
= Owen Stanley, and it is to be hope
. that geographers and map-maker
= will decline to ratify this attempt to ig
L more great explorer merely to pay a
q empty compliment to the queen of En-
gland.
q