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Germany and its Colonies by Bertram W. H. Poole This undated, 65 page booklet covers a number of topics relating to the stamps of Germany and its Colonies. The text of the German New Guinea chapter appears to date it between 1900 and 1914. The booklet covers these topics: Thurn and Taxis North German Confederation German Post Offices Abroad (Foreword) German Post Offices in China German Post Offices in Morocco German Offices in Turkey Other Foreign German Post Offices The Stamps of the German Colonies (Foreword) Cameroons Caroline Islands German East Africa German New Guinea German South West Africa Kiautschou Marianne Islands Marshall Islands Samoa Togo Concluding Notes I have reproduced the contents of the chapter on German New Guinea below. If anyone is interested in the other topics, I am happy to scan them and OCR them and reproduce them here. GERMAN NEW GUINEA. The second oldest German colony is German New Guinea which, geographically, only applies to Kaiser Wilhelm's Land - the north-east portion of the island of New Guinea or Papua. Administratively it also comprises the Bismarck Archipelago (including some of the Solomon Islands), the Caroline Islands, the Marianne Islands, and the Marshall Islands. The name German New Guinea is certainly somewhat of a misnomer, the more so as the seat of Government is situated at Herbertshöhe, on Gazelle Island in the Bismarck Archipelago. It was at one time decided that the name of the colony should be altered to German Australia - a much more fitting description - but the change was never made. The three last groups have been supplied with their own series of stamps, so these will be discussed separately, and this article will only deal with the two first divisions. New Guinea, or Papua, is after Australia the largest island in the world, and is separated from the Australian continent by the shallow island-studded Torres Straits, 80 to 90 miles wide at its narrowest part. The two regions at one time formed continuous land, and an upheaval of less than sixty fathoms would agaln unite them, though elsewhere the mainland is washed by deep waters ranging from 500 to 1300 fathoms. The island appears to have been first sighted by D'Abreu in 1511 but it was some years later when the first Europeans visited it. In 1526, a Portuguese commander, Don Jorge de Meneses, accidentally over-ran his distance in voyaging from Malacca to Ternate and found himself at New Guinea. It was visited by other Portuguese and Spanish traders in later years and one of these, Retez (Roda) gave it its present name of New Guinea on account of the resemblance of its inhabitants to those of the Guinea coast. In 1601 Luis Vaz de Torres passed through the straits which still bear his name, and sailed along the south coast of the island taking possession in the name of the King of Spain. In the same year the Dutch began their settlements in the west, and for more than two centuries afterwards practically all explorations in New Guinea were conducted by this nation. In 1700, Dampier, an Englishman, sailed along the north coast surveying and naming many points. In 1793, the East India Company occupied the island of Manassari in Geelvink Bay and in 1828 the western half of the island was placed under Dutch protection. Twenty years later the Dutch proclaimed their sovereignty over the portion under their protection and fixed the boundary line at 141 0 east longitude and this meridian was accordingly taken as the western boundary when England and Germany proclaimed spheres of influence in 1884. Protectorates were almost immediately declared by these two countries over the southeast and northeast portions respectively, and various conventions in later years fixed approximate boundaries. While the coasts have been fairly well surveyed the interior of New Guinea is still practically an unknown land and the few expeditions that have attempted to open up the German portion have found progress exceedingly difficult. There are no paths, the territory is terribly rugged and covered with a dense undergrowth, and the whole country is covered with thick, dank forest. Timber valuable for cabinet-making purposes is plentiful but difficult to obtain. The climate is trying to Europeans on account of the heat combined with intense humidity. There are many rivers one of which, the Kaiserin Augusta, has been ascended by sea-going steamers for a distance of about two hundred miles. The colony is directly administered by the Imperial Government but the development of its resources is in the the hands of the German New Guinea Company which was granted an Imperial charter on May 17th, 1885. The Company has sovereign rights; no arms or spirits are allowed to be sold, and labor traffic (for years a vexed question in these parts) is forbidden except for German plantations. The country is famed for its birds of Paradise which exist in many varieties, and gorgeous parrots, cockatoos, and pigeons are also found in abundance. Its fauna is closely related to that of Australia and includes more than thirty species of marsupials (such as the kangaroo). The population numbers over 100,000 natives and these seem to combine at least four ethnical elements: Papuan proper, diffused over the whole region; Negrito; Eastern Polynesian; and Malay. Through the mingling of these elements small tribal groups speak a surprising number of distinct languages. Cannibalism is very prevalent; some tribes are predatory; but many others are peaceful, industrious and keen traders, displaying remarkable skill in the arts of pottery, wood-carving and husbandry. In November, 1884, a German protectorate was declared over the New Britain Archipelago and several adjacent groups of islands. Later a portion of the Solomon Islands, including Bougainville and Buka, the two largest, were included in the protectorate and the whole group was then re-named the Bismarck Archipelago. Though under direct Imperial administration this territory is also developed by the German New Guinea Company, its charter being extended in December, 1886, to include the northern group of the Solomon Islands. New Hanover has an area of 570 square miles; New Mecklenburg has an area of 4,900 square miles, and New Britain or New Pommern has an area of 9,600 square miles. This latter and the small islands of the Lauenburg group are the only well explored districts. Here there are several successful plantations producing copra, coffee, cotton and rubber. The chief settlements are Matupi, a small island in Blanche Bay entirely occupied by a trading concern and Herbertshöhe, the seat of Government. New Pommern offers greater facilities to European settlers than any of the other islands many of which, though considerable in size are almost unapproachable, and man is almost wilder than nature. The natives are all very war-like and most of them are confirmed cannibals, and they offer the most strenuous opposition to all attempts at European ingress. Bougainville, in the Solomon Islands, named after one of its discoverers, is exceedingly mountainous and has an extraordinarily heavy annual rainfall. Here also little progress has been made on account of unhealthiness of the climate for Europeans and the natural savagery of the native tribes. THE FIRST ISSUE. The first post-office in German New Guinea was opened at Stephansport on December 14th, 1889, and from that time until 1897 ordinary unsurcharged German stamps were used in the colony. In 1897, the six values of the 1889 series were overprinted "Deutsche-Neu-Guinea" in two lines reading diagonally upwards from the left lower corner and with the exception of two shades of the 3pf there is nothing in this issue which calls for special mention. Reference List. 1897. German stamps of 1889 overprinted in black. 3 pf brown, Scott's No. 1. 5 pf green, Scott's No. 2. 10pf carmine, Scott's No. 3. 20pf ultramarine, Scott's No. 4. 25pf orange, Scott's No. 5. 50pf red-brown, Scott's No. 6. THE SECOND ISSUE. In 1900, German New Guinea in common with the other colonial possessions was supplied with a complete series of thirteen different denominations in the "Hohenzollern" type. Reference List. 1900. No Wmk. Perf 14. 3pf brown, Scott's No. 7. 5pf green, Scott's No. 8. 10pf carmine, Scott's No. 9. 20pf ultramarine, Scott's No, 10. 25pf black and red on yellow, Scott's No. 11. 30pf black and orange on buff, Scott's No. 12. 40pf black and carmine, Scott's No, 13. 50pf black and purple on buff, Scott's No. 14. 80pf black and carmine on rose, Scott's No. 15. 1 mark carmine, Scott's No. 16. 2 marks blue, Scott's No. 17. 3 marks violet-black, Scott's No. 18. 5 marks black and carmine, Scott's No. 19. None of the stamps of this colony have been printed on the lozenge watermarked paper.