Ecology of Indonesian Papua Part One. Andrew J. Marshall
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by Dr Fülleborn (commemorated in a harbor on the south coast of New Britain) and including Duncker (see above under Mencke) as zoologist (specializing in fishes) as well as F. E. Hellwig (see above) as "liaison officer." The expedition visited several localities in the Bismarck Archipelago, particularly along the south coast of New Britain (1908–1909); they then sailed for the mainland and after a call at Langemak Bay (Simbang, a mission station near the old site of Finschhafen) they proceeded in mid-1909 for a voyage up the Sepik. After departure from Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen (now Madang) they sailed to Micronesia, where the scientists were led by G. Thilenius. Duncker’s zoological collections, as well as a few plants, are in Hamburg. Thilenius edited the series of expedition results, but their overwhelming emphasis is on ethnography; only one "general" study was published including the expedition itinerary (Allgemeines, 1927). Any biological results (e.g., on birds, by G. H. Martens) appeared elsewhere.
These not insubstantial undertakings were, however, soon outdone by the great "Kaiserin-Augustafluss Expedition" of 1912–1913—the largest and longest of all those mounted under German rule and, in retrospect, a fitting climax to its thirty-year run. The expedition was sponsored by the Geographical Society in Berlin and other German organizations and led by Bergassessor Capt. A. Stollé, who already had some field experience in New Guinea. The six-man scientific team was headed by the geographer Dr W. Behrmann. From March 1912 to September 1913, by ship and launch and on foot, they surveyed most of the Sepik basin including the tributary rivers (May or Iwa, Freida, Leonhard-Schultze, Dörfer, Töpfer or Keram, etc.) as well as a number of outliers and foothills of the central ranges (but not reaching above 2,200 m). Their "Hauptlager Malu"—a base camp just upriver from the village of Malu (as already noted, the site in 1887 of a Neu-Guinea Compagnie expedition camp)—is today close by (and effectively part of) the East Sepik town of Ambunti (the name being a local rendering of the site of "Hauptlager Malu" as heard by G. W. L. Townsend, an Australian official who in the 1920s established the station (District Officer, 1968)). Other localities were Seerosensee (Chambri Lakes), Peilungsberg, Zuckerhut, Pionierlager, Mäanderberg, Hügellager am Sepik, Sepikberg (1,570 m, see above)—all on or near the Sepik; Hunsteinberg (or Sumset; 1,350 m), Etappenberg (850 m), Lordberg (or Durchblick, 1,000 m) and into the Zentralkette (up to 1,800 m) as well as Lager 18, all in the April River drainage; Pfingstberg on the May (Iwa) River; Felsspitze in the Westkette (1,400–1,500 m) west of the May; and, to the southeast (via the Töpfer) to the Lehm and up to Regensberg (550 m) and Schraderberg (2,070 m). One of the ethnologists, R. Thurnwald, would in 1913 reach the headwaters of the Sepik, only turning back near the present site of Telefomin. Animals were largely collected by W. Behrmann and J. Bürgers, while C. Ledermann secured all the plants (6,600 numbers). Collections went to Berlin and Dresden (animals) and Berlin-Dahlem (plants). Most animals survived World War II but the plants suffered severe losses; only some duplicates have survived (mainly Leiden, Edinburgh, Singapore, and Wroclaw) and little "topotype" collecting has been done (save on Mt Hunstein, now considered a site of exceptional biological interest).
As well as geomorphologic work, Behrmann made excellent maps which served for half a century. But it came to be realized that further effective progress—particularly in the central ranges, still thought to be unpopulated—would have to be aided by some form of aerial support. Airships (Zeppelins) were first proposed (and advocated notably by Neuhauss, who was not confident about using airplanes given the difficult terrain and near absence of suitable landing places at that time); in 1913 "stamps" were even printed. But the use of aircraft belongs to the next era (between World War I and World War II), starting in 1926. Until then, movement continued by water and foot, sometimes (particularly in western New Guinea) with scores if not hundreds of men—all requiring life’s necessities.
Publication of the results of the Behrmann expedition was deemed to merit special consideration, although much would appear in existing journals rather than in a special series (some contributions did, however, go into the Dutch series, Nova Guinea). Support came mainly from the Hermann und Eliza Heckmann-Wentzel-Stiftung. Botanical results—edited by C. Lauterbach (later by L. Diels)—appeared in Botanische Jahrbücher, a leading systematics journal, mostly in a specially titled series Beiträge zur Flora Papuasiens (1912–1942). This remains among the best sets of consolidated work on the plant taxonomy of New Guinea. Zoological results appeared in the bulletin of the Berlin Zoology Museum (Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin), the birds in 1923 by Erwin Stresemann, a curator in that museum (and professor in ornithology). In 1922 Behrmann brought out a readable popular account, Im Stromgebiet des Sepik.
In summary, while its beginnings were slow, natural history investigation in northeastern New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago under German rule rapidly gathered speed and by 1914 had produced a great mass of material and information, even partial digestion of which would take years. The "data base" had now pulled well ahead of Papua, where after 1898 collecting—except in some taxonomic groups—had slackened considerably and would fall further for a time after the advent of Australian rule (see above). Even today—thanks to its "Mittel-european" experience—with respect to mainland New Guinea as a whole former Kaiser-Wilhelmsland retains its lead in collections. But while World War I caused some disruption, a rather more severe and lasting blow would be delivered by World War II through significant collection losses in central Europe and elsewhere. Though widely recognized, the scale of these losses and the obstacles they posed for future research and reference, were in the decades after World War II never sufficiently perceived by some in Papua and New Guinea and followed up with appropriate action.
NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEA
In contrast with the eastern territories, serious official interest in western New Guinea—particularly the interior—remained relatively limited until outside pressure forced the authorities into greater action. The late nineteenth century was thus dominated by private (including commercial) activity, with a strong emphasis on the saleable. After 1898, activities were largely dominated by the official and semi-official sector, the authorities also concerned to avoid "incidents"; but government sponsorship at least partly ensured the collection of a better representation of the biota, though by 1915 still below what had been by then obtained in the east.
The Nineteenth Century (to 1898)
Beccari’s successful explorations in the Vogelkop Peninsula, including his penetration of the Arfak Mountains, and the growth of the commercial bird plume trade led to a considerable increase of collectors in Netherlands New Guinea from the mid-1870s. But most collectors were there on their own account or had outside sponsorship. Several were under contract to Rothschild (Tring) or sold their hauls to the Ternate firms of A. A. Bruijn and C. W. R. van Renesse van Duivenbode. In the tradition of Wallace, the main attractions would be the more "attractive" birds, butterflies, beetles, and perhaps also shells and orchids; soon, as in eastern New Guinea, these would be joined (and partly supplanted) by ethnographic items. Most other plants and animals were of secondary importance. Many discoveries are due to these intrepid men, including mammals (notably Zaglossus bruijnii, the Long-beaked Echidna), various birds of paradise, bowerbirds, and orchids, along with a few other horticulturally useful plants. The richness of the orchid flora in western New Guinea, as in the east, also began to be revealed, especially after 1898. Often, however, the field data gathered by collectors was sketchy or absent; and over the years the paucity of field data has inspired additional searches—but for some taxa speculation remains (see, for example, The Lost Birds of Paradise (1995) by E. Fuller). The Vogelkop and Bomberai Peninsulas, Cenderawasih (Geelvink) Bay and its islands, the Raja Ampat archipelago (Misool, Kofiau, Salawati, Batanta, Waigeo and its satellites, and Gag), and Gebé (administratively now in Maluku) were popular destinations, but calls were also made at Humboldt Bay (the present site of Jayapura) and here and there elsewhere; some hunters reached the northern mainland Van Rees (Rouffaer) and Gauttier (Foja) Mountains. But until after 1898 the central ranges were but rarely, if at all, penetrated.
Among the zoological (notably bird) collectors of this time were L. Laglaize (primarily birds of paradise but also other birds and butterflies, largely for Bruijn) in 1876–1884 in westernmost New Guinea and nearby islands (birds, Paris; insects, Brussels); C. Platen in 1883 on Waigeo (birds, Berlin) and, also in 1883, R. Powell on Waigeo and Salawati and in the Vogelkop Peninsula (birds; Tring, AMNH); F. H. H. Guillemard in 1883–1884 (on a cruise in Malesia with the Marchesa) at Waigeo, Batanta, Misool, Yapen, and the Vogelkop Peninsula