Henry Mitchell Diary 1893 - 1895

A diary kept by Henry Mitchell, a member of the crew aboard the 'Merrie England', a ship travelling around different regions of British New Guinea. The ship would usually leave from Cooktown, to Port Moresby, then to various isolated islands and back to Cooktown. Mitchell gives details on interactions with various groups of Papuan people, the natural characteristics of the islands and the administration of the expedition. In addition to the diary entries, there are the following: a list of books that Mitchell read over the period; a list of correspondence sent and received; a list of names of native police on the river expedition; and a record of costs for the journey. There is also a collection of words, along with their English translations, taken from the native dialects of Bartle Bay and the North Coast area, the Orokola Kerema and Western British New Guinea area and the Mypua (Purari) River region. Sir William MacGregor, administrator of British New Guinea, was aboard the ship. MacGregor would meet with the local people and attempt to win their trust. He attempted to appoint native police officers, find people suspected of committing crimes, and initiate trade. Read more about the diary here: http://hdl.handle.net/10462/comp/6123 The total number of tasks for this dataset is: 131, number transcribed is 131 and number validated is 8.