Australian Gourmet Traveller - (01)January 2020 (1)

(Comicgek) #1

T


heislandofNewGuineastretchesformore
than 1000 milesacrossthetropicsnorthof
Australia.TomygenerationofAustralians,
it wasthelastgreatunknown,thefinalfrontier.
Inmyearly20sI stumbledacrossNew
Guinea:WhatI DidandWhatI SawbyLuigiMariaD’Albertis,
publishedin1880.A tall,fork-beardedItalianwhohadgrown
upinGenoaandfoughtbesideGaribaldi,D’Albertissang
Italianoperaashestrodethroughmountainsneverseen
byEuropeans.Hewasa manofgreatpassions,amongthem
natural historyandadventure.Therewererumours,too,
ofatheismandaffairswithmuscularislandmen.
NewGuineais hisdiary,writtendailyduringfiveyears
ofexploration.It’sbarelyedited,whichgivestheworksuch
immediacyandintimacythatI feltI wasat hissideasheshoots
a birdofparadisewhosecourtshipdisplayhehadjustwatched;
hestepsforward,yetis sofilledsimultaneouslywithtriumph
andregretthathe’sunabletotouchthedyingcreature.
Aswithmany19th-centurybooks,eachchapterhasitsown
succinctsummary,andit wastheseasmuchasanythingthat
definedNewGuineaforme:“footprintsinthesand...severe
illness...a newspecies...fruittrees,skulls...thenativescharge
uswithcausingthedeathoftheirchildren”.Ina fewwords
thestrangebeauty,theotherness,andthechallengeofbeing
a EuropeaninNewGuineais laidbare.
It’snotjustthewordsthatmakeNewGuineasopowerful.
Itsfull-colourillustrationsofbirdsofparadise,whichat the
timewerecompletelyunknownoutsidetheirnativehaunts,
areglorious.Equallyevocativearethedrawingsofstuffed
humanheadsandmarsupials,mummifiedbodiesandancestor
carvings,withtextcurledelegantlyaroundthesketches.
D’Albertiswasnoangel.WhenhisFijiancookkilleda
native,supposedlyinself-defence,D’Albertisseveredthevictim’s
headandpreservedit forstudy.Heevenoffersa fineillustration
ofthegruesometrophy,completewithtraumamarks.Ashe
travelsuptheFlyRiverwithLawrenceHargrave,theAustralian
pioneerofflight,D’Albertisseestoit thatHargravebears
theblameforfailure,whilehecarriestheglory.Butlikethe
celebrated17th-centurydiaryofSamuelPepys,D’Albertis’s
journalis sounsparingofthetruththatweseethemanin
theround.Andwhata man!Thepassion,theacknowledged
fearandbrutality,thesheerderring-do– somehowD’Albertis
becamea magneticfigureinmyyoungmind.
In1981, 104 yearsafterD’AlbertisleftNewGuineaforthe
lasttime,I mademyownexpeditiontotheisland.Bythen,of
course,it wasa verydifferentplace;theeasternhalfoftheisland
was now the newly independent nation of Papua New Guinea.

Standinghighona mountain,surroundedbyperpetually
dripping,mossyforestthatseemedallbutimpenetrable,
I marvelledat theman’sdetermination,andwondered
howI wouldmeasureupasI setaboutdocumentingNew
Guinea’smammalfauna.
During 26 expeditionsspanning 20 yearsI walkedin
D’Albertis’stracks,findingthatpartsofthehinterlandhad
barelyalteredsincehisday.AndI discovered 30 newspecies
ofmyown,amongthema labrador-sizedtreekangaroo
withdenseblack-and-whitefur– a sortofmarsupialpanda.
Butchangingtimeshadmademyroadeasierthanhis.
ThespecimensD’Albertiscollectedarekeptinthe
MuseoCivicodiStoriaNaturaleinGenoa.I oncelaid
outhismammalspecimensandtheydidn’tevencover
a desktop.Astonishingly,despitethemanyexpeditions
since,someremainunique– a tinysnapshotofa now-
lostNewGuineapreservedintheheartofLiguria.
D’Albertisbequeathedhisconsiderablefortunetofund
thefirstcrematoriuminGenoa.Themanwhocollectedso
many humanremainsdecidedthathisownbodyshouldbe
burned.Hislegacyis allbutforgotten,eveninhishometown
ofGenoa.ButwhathedidandwhathesawinNewGuinea
remainamongthegreatestachievementsoftheheroicage
ofexploration.
■DrTimFlannery’slatestbookisLife: Selected Writings,
published by Text Publishing.➤

New Guinea: WhatI DidandWhat I Saw


byLuigiMariaD’Albertis


TIM FLANNERY


GOURMET TRAVELLER 81
Free download pdf