Goodenough Island
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 Goodenough Island
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Melanesia |
| Coordinates | 9°22′S 150°16′E / 9.367°S 150.267°E |
| Archipelago | D'Entrecasteaux Islands |
| Area | 687 km2 (265 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 2,536 m (8,320 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Vineuo |
| Administration | |
Goodenough Island in the Solomon Sea (identified as Morata on the earliest maps) is the westernmost of the three large islands of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. It lies to the east of mainland New Guinea and southwest of the Trobriand Islands. It is roughly circular in shape, measuring 39 by 26 kilometres (24 by 16 mi) with an area of 687 square kilometres (265 sq mi) and a shoreline of 116 kilometres (72 mi). From a coastal belt varying in width from 2 to 10 kilometres (1.2 to 6.2 mi) in width, the island rises sharply to the summit of Mount Vineuo, 2,536 metres (8,320 ft) above sea level, making it one of the most precipitous islands in the world. The small island of Wagifa Island lies to the south-east of the island and is included within Goodenough's administration.
Like much of New Guinea, the climate is tropical with high temperatures and humidity throughout the year. The northwest monsoon season lasts from December to March and brings sudden rain squalls. From May to October southeasterly winds are cooler and more gentle. Tropical cyclones are infrequent. Rainfall varies between 1,520 mm and 2,540 mm per annum. Serious droughts occur once or twice a decade. Rushing streams with waterfalls drain water from the central mountain. Rain forest cloaks the higher elevations with secondary forest, grassland and native gardens on the lower slopes and coastal plains. Soils are acidic.
A rare edible citrus plant, Citrus wakonai (locally called "Kakamadu", a name shared with other citrus species), grows on Goodenough Island.
The D'Entrecasteaux Islands have probably been inhabited for several thousand years, the people being related to mainland Papuans. The archipelago was first sighted by the French mariner Joseph Antoine Bruni d' Entrecasteaux in 1792 but remained unexplored until 1874 when Captain John Moresby, commanding HMS Basilisk, landed on the westernmost island and named it after a British naval colleague, Commodore James Graham Goodenough.
The impact of western culture after Moresby's visit and before World War II was limited to missionaries, ethnographers and traders seeking whales, pearls or gold. In 1888 William MacGregor visited the island in his role as administrator of the newly proclaimed British New Guinea. In 1891 the Methodist Church of Australia established a mission station on Dobu Island (between Ferguson and Normanby Islands) under the direction of William Bromilow. From there mission stations were established in strategic centres in the D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands and the Louisiade Archipelago. In particular, in 1898 a mission station was established in Bwaidoga, Mud Bay, Goodenough Island. By that time traders had already created a regular demand for steel tools, cloth, and twist tobacco and the Dobu mission was recruiting natives to work in gold mines and copra plantations. These activities, and indeed the farming and hunting activities of the traditional people, were confined to localised areas on the fringing plains of the island. The mountainous interior remained entirely unknown and unpopulated above 1,100 m.
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