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The day Admiral Philip Carteret named New Hanover
By TUKUL WALLA KAIKU
Today Lovongai or Lavongai Island in
the New Ireland province is referred to interchangeably by its
local name Lavongai and its European name New Hanover.
Thanks to Helen Wallis and the Hakluyt Society of London, there is
information about the explorer and the English name that he
bestowed upon that island.
Owing to the dedication and commitment of that group, log entries
by the English explorer Admiral Philip Carteret (who was then
dead) were painstakingly compiled and produced into a total of two
volumes titled 'Carteret's Voyage round the World 1766-69".
Because the Kavieng Public Library in the New Ireland province
carries the name of the explorer, a relative donated copies of the
three volumes.
Kavieng Public Library librarians carefully and jealously guard
these books.
A primary school in Kavieng town is also called Carteret Primary
and of course there are also the Carteret Islands in the
Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
It took Carteret two days, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September
1767 to clear the southern coastline from present day Kavieng
through the Laung or Tigak islands to the end of Lavongai. And it
was on September 12, 1767 that he named Lavongai, New Hanover.
On this east to west journey his ship, the HMS Swallow, approached
the New Ireland and New Britain waters from the direction of the
now Autonomous Region of Bougainville after imprinting his name on
the Carteret group of Islands.
Then he made his way through the St Georges Channel dishing out
English names such as the Duke of York islands to those islands
located between East New Britain and New Ireland.
From the Duke of York islands his ship sailed up the whole
shoreline of what is currently referred to today as west coast New
Ireland.
All along he refers to the whole shoreline from the Duke of York
islands even as far as New Hanover as the St George's Strait or
Channel.
He writes that 'the shores of both New Britain and New Ireland and
the other islands about them, seemed to be full of coconut tress
with many houses amongst them and full of inhabitants'.
At dawn on September 12, 1767, after a night of continuous drum
beats on the shore, he is greeted by a calm day with no wind and
about nine to 10 canoes in which were about 150 men.
Trading took place. The locals would not go on board but seemed to
be fond of iron tools. Carteret notes that their canoes were very
nicely built and very long and narrow with one outrigger.
One of the canoes was almost as long as their ship. Carteret
estimated the length of the canoe to be between 80-90 feet (24-27
meters) long. The canoes were full of paddles, could hold 30 men
in one and had no sails. There were fishing nets on board the
canoes with well-made rope. The men in the canoes were armed with
spears and long sticks. They had no arrows. They had black wooly
hair and were quite naked, not a bit of covering over any part of
their body except for a few ornaments about their arms and legs.
They took great pride in their beards. Some of the men had large
beards, which were powdered with white powder. Some had adorned
their heads with bird's feathers.
At noon, his ship sails by Salampiu, which he describes as, an
island, which has a high peek likened to that of a 'sugar loaf'.
He called Salampiu island Byrons Island.
Sailing on there are now many islands, which are of course the
Laung or Tigak islands as well as some of New Hanover's outer
islands.
He writes ' ... some other small islands, among which islands is a
passage rounding away to the Northeast, this passage or strait is
made by the west end of Nova Hibernia (New Ireland), and a fine
large Island to which I gave the Name of New Hanover and to the
strait Byron strait. New Hanover is high land and pleasant, the
Southwest point makes in high bluff called Charlotts Foreland in
honour of the Queen"
On Sunday September 13, 1767 his sailing ship is lying off the
south coast of the Laung or Tigak islands and Lavongai-New
Hanover. The day is marked by 'light winds, much cloud and thunder
and lightning and rain and at about half past two in the afternoon
a hard squall of wind and rain hauled down'. The ship sets sail
and proceeded down the southwest coast. He writes ' New Hanover is
seemingly a very fine large Island with many green sports like
plantations, it is very high land well clothed with green trees.
The southwest point of it makes in a high bluff cape to which I
have the name Queen Charlotte's foreland in honour of her present
majesty. This foreland and the land about it made as we come in
with it in remarkable little hills or hummocks, but night coming
on and thick squally weather with hard rain thunder and lightning
foul weather we could not see any more plain enough to describe
it'.
A footnote clarifies that, contrary to maps which have Cape
Matanalem as Cape Queen Charlotte, the cape Carteret was making
reference to just before darkness engulfed the island was what is
otherwise Cape Patianging according to later Admiralty maps on the
southwest coast and also that cape has a high bluff of high rocky
face cliffs unlike Cape Matanalem which is lowlying.
On the evening of September 13, 1767 he sailed by the Tingwon
group of islands, which he named Portland islands after the Duke
of Portland. From Lavongai now bearing the name New Hanover he
sailed off towards the Admiralty Islands or Manus.
-The author, a
lecturer with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
University of Papua New Guinea wishes to express much appreciation
and gratitude to Jim Ridges of Kavieng for providing copies from
his books for this story.
 
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