thorized, only the southeastern portion of the
island was available, Germany having, in the meantime, annexed the
northern part and the group of Islands known as New Britain.

Commodore Erskine in H.M.S. _Nelson_ arrived at Port Moresby on Sunday,
the 2nd of November, 1884, and the Union Jack now flies from the
flagstaff at the mission station, the Proclamation of a British
Protectorate having been made with much ceremony on Thursday Nov. 6.

On the Wednesday afternoon, the chiefs and a number of other natives
were brought on board the H.M.S. _Nelson_, and a grand assembly took
place, with a feast for the chiefs and an address from the Commodore, a
presentation of gifts attractive to the native eye, and the firing of
some of the ships' guns. The flags of various nations were hung over the
quarter-deck in the form of an awning, and the officers wore frock-coats
and swords. Most of the chiefs were destitute of clothing, the mop-like
hair and foreheads of some of them being bound round with bands of
small shells and the hair ornamented with tufts of feathers. Two or
three wore old shirts, and one, Boe Vagi, the chief of the Port Moresby
natives, who was appointed by the Commodore to be the head chief of the
Motu tribe, was dressed in a shirt, with a handkerchief round his loins,
a red felt hat on his head, and some green leaves through the lobe of
his left ear. Evidently he had been attired specially for the occasion,
as his usual dress is as scanty as that of his fellows. There were in
all about fifty of the chiefs, most of them being representatives of the
Motu tribe; and after having been permitted to look round the ship, they
were directed by the missionaries, Messrs. Lawes and Chalmers, to seat
themselves upon the deck. Then a great tub of boiled rice, sweetened
with brown sugar, was brought on deck, and basins of this mixture were
handed round to the chiefs who received them, and devoured the rice with
evident satisfaction. Ships' biscuits were also served out, and the
scene presented by the feasting savages, and by the grouping of the
_Nelson's_ officers and the parading of the bluejackets on the opposite
side of the deck--so that a photograph might be taken of the whole
assembly--was exceedingly interesting and picturesque.

When the feasting was over, Commodore Erskine came upon deck, and the
chief, Boe Vagi, having been invited by Mr. Lawes to come forward, the
Commodore addressed him, and his fellow