New Guinea diaries, 1871-1883

by Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay, Микола Миклуха-Маклай

English, Russian (translation)

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography

355 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay was an explorer, famous as one of the earliest scientists to settle among and study indigenous people of New Guinea.

For author's profile in Ukrainian, see:
Микола Миклуха-Маклай
in Russian, see Николай Миклухо-Маклай

Reviews

[Arukiyomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Context: Got ourselves some Action Packers in preparation for leaving PNG and carting our life back to the UK while I was reading this.

Review: I’m nothing short of astounded by the quality of non-fiction that Papua New Guinea, my home for the last two years, has provided the world. It almost seems that you can’t go wrong picking up a narrative from this part of the world. Pretty much every book I’ve read about exploration and life here has been a page-turner. The Mikloucho-Maclay diaries lived up to my expectations, particularly because I lived for five weeks in a village just a few miles from where he first settled in the late 19th century. He even details a visit to ‘my’ village!

So, there’s this Russian guy who’s keen on anthropology and he ends up being dropped on what is now the Madang coast on the north of mainland PNG. It’s 1871 and pretty much none of the local inhabitants have ever seen a white man. The opening pages of his diary are absolutely fascinating. Maclay’s initial residence lasts well over a year and he ends up learning enough of the local language to get around. He’s fascinated by the local culture and does all he can to understand it.

There are a couple of things that make this account fairly unique. Firstly, it’s clear from the start that Maclay truly has no other agenda than understanding how these people live. He’s not out to convert them, he’s not out to industrialise them. His writing shows his very apparent respect and love for the people. The only influence that he admits to exerting is in order to prevent all out war between two villages over what he considers to be two coincidental deaths in one family. I think even in our ‘enlightened’ day and age, we see the humanity in such an intervention. Secondly, he’s not just interested in humans. He’s regularly documenting flora and fauna too so the account is a very holistic one of the entire coastal environment.

I was particularly struck though by the incredible similarities between his interactions and those I experienced living on this coast in 2010. There’s one account where he tells how jaded he’s becoming at people constantly asking him where he’s going and where’s he come from when he’s out and about. Yep! In particular, the two pages where he visits the village we actually lived in, he tells how the villagers only interact with him to basically ask him to compensate them for items they say Russians sailors stole from them. He has no way of verifying if these stories are true and ends up paying them in kind anyway. Sounds really familiar!

As well as the diaries though, the icing on the cake of this book is the way the translator has finished off with a detailed account of the remaining years of Maclay’s life after New Guinea and what became of the coast he so carefully detailed. It’s tragic. I knew, of course, that the Germans colonised this coast soon after he left. What I didn’t know was how insidiously they went about it. Maclay did not live to see what the people he loved suffered under the hands of these colonists. In this respect, his relatively early death was a blessing. But the world lost one of its earliest and most pioneering anthropologists at his passing and it was a privilege to read his insights 150 years later.

OPENING LINE

On the 20th October, 1969, a Russian marine research vessel, the Vityaz, dropped anchor in Port Constantine in Astrolabe Bay on the north coast of New Guinea.

99TH PAGE QUOTE

Jan 25th [1872]

For six days I suffered with fever, one attack following another. It rained a good many times.

I went to Gorendu for sugar cane. While the natives went to their gardens for it, I did a few drawings of the huts, and for the first time saw how natives keep water for themselves – in large bamboos as is done in many places in the Malay Archipelago. I found out only today – that is after 5 months of my stay here – the Papuan words signifying “morning” and “afternoon.” I haven’t got the word “night” yet. It is ridiculous and annoying to have to say, that only today I succeeded in finding out how to translate the word “good” in Papuan. Up to the present I have twice gone astray, supposing that I knew the word, and of course, making use of it. Obviously the Papuans did not understand what I meant to say with this word.

CLOSING LINE

That these movements have developed more or less spontaneously under native leadership within Melanesian society gives hope that an independent Papua New Guinea will be able to cope with the great difficulties and problems of new nationhood.

RATING

Key: Legacy | Plot / toPic | Characterisation / faCts | Readability | Achievement | Style Read more about how I come up with my ratings

[Alexander Zvonov · Rating 4 out of 5]

По атмосфере и стилистике повествования очень напомнило Сумерки Глуховского, только без мистики естественно и написано за сто лет до рождения последнего. Отличное красочное повествование отлично погружает в атмосферу дикого мира новой гвинеи.

[egor · Rating 4 out of 5]

отличная книга, здорово напоминает робинзона крузо, только описаны реальные события

[Василь · Rating 5 out of 5]

Був страшенно радий перевиданню цієї книги.
Стільки всього чув про Миклуху і нарешті прочитав. Цікава, пізнавальна і щира подорож сміливого чоловіка якого в російській імперії так і не оцінили. Перевидання 2022 року складається з великого щоденника першої екпедиції і мізерних двох щоденників наступних повторних його повернень туди ж. Яскраво відображений побут і звісно негативний вплив на папуасів людей з цивілізованого світу, зрешто це все призвело до загибелі сотень тисяч таких людей і зникення неймовірної культури і їх світу. Такого багатого і такого цікавого та самобутнього. Здається, вони зараз щасливо живуть тільки на Північному Сентінельскому острові та в лісах Бразилії. Останні кадри з Папуа-Нової Гвінеї - це просто жесть, як тих людей посадили в будинки, дали одяг і смартфони і вони зникли як народність.
Окремо варто згадати про перевидання і видавництво TravelBooks. Вже в їхньому виданні Меснера Моє життя на межі, я побачив як вони обманюють читача брешучи, що переклад з німецької, а це копіпаст з російської. У виданні про Маклая - повна халтура самого видання. Тупо додали статтю на початку книги та дві в кінці і все. Текст не вичитаний, збережені міри ваги і довжин того часу без жодних пояснень і приміток, а ще - дуууже веселе в примітках наприклад, "кінець 20-х років минулого сторіччя" і тут мова йде про 19 століття, але ми ж зараз в 21 і тоді читач може собі уявляти, що це мова про 20-те століття. Ніякої роботи редактори не зробили. Абияк, як завжди... А напів російський сайт видавництва на 12 місяці війни - черговий доказ нікчемності.

[Geert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy I finally found this diary, and it was more than worth reading.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've read.Definately a classic.Maclay believed that man was man everywhere and all you needed was to commmnicate in kindness with a good heart.He proved from his research and from living amongst the natives of New Guinea that man did not need guns to establish relationships.He is a hero.