The first European sailor who sighted the island was D'Abreu, in 1511;
the honour of being first to land belongs most probably to the Portuguese
explorer, Don Jorge De Meneses, in 1526, on his way from Malacca to the
Moluccas.

Into the somewhat intricate history of the connection of the Dutch with
the north-west coast of New Guinea we cannot here enter. As suzerain
nominally under the Sultan of Tidore, they claim possession of the
western part of the island as far east as Lat. 141 degrees 47' E. The
trade they carry on is said to be worth about 20,000_l_. a year. Dutch
missionaries have for many years been stationed around the coast of
Geelvink Bay.

In 1770, Captain Cook visited the south-west coast, and in 1775, an
English officer, Forrest by name, spent some months on the north-east
coast in search of spices. In 1793, New Guinea was annexed by two of the
East India Company's commanders, and an island in Geelvink Bay, Manasvari
by name, was for a time held by their troops.

Partial surveys of the south coast were made in 1845 by Captain
Blackwood, who discovered the Fly River; by Lieutenant Yule, in 1846, who
journeyed east as far as the island to which he has given his name; and
in 1848 by Captain Owen Stanley, who made a fairly accurate survey of the
south-east coast.

The most important survey work along the coast of New Guinea was done in
1873 by H.M. ship _Basilisk_, under the command of Captain Moresby. He
discovered the now-famous harbour, Port Moresby; he laid down the true
eastern coastline of the island, discovering the China Straits, and