tended
action; and thus when the day came for Mr. Apthomas' question,
that gentleman from Wales inquired, "If Her Majesty's Minister for
Annexations could give the House any information regarding the so-called
explorations of Mr. Herbert Courtland in the island of New Guinea,
particularly in respect of a massacre of natives by dynamite in the
region of the Fly River; and if it was true that the gentleman just
named had permitted himself to be worshiped as a god by the aborigines
of another region; and if Her Majesty's Minister for Domestic Affairs
was prepared to say that it was legal for one of Her Majesty's subjects
to assume the privileges and functions of a god, and if the First Lord
of the Treasury was prepared to communicate to the House what course,
if any, Her Majesty's government meant to adopt with a view to the
prevention of similar outrages in the same region in the future?"

Mr. Ayrton rose before the Minister of the Annexation Department had
quite concluded his yawn, and said he trusted that he was in order
(cries of "Yes, yes," from those members who knew that the honorable
member had an enlivening phrase which he wanted to get rid of) in
inquiring, in connection with the same subject, if the right honorable
gentleman could inform the House if there was any truth in the
report current in financial and other circles that the object of the
explorations of Mr. Herbert Courtland was the discovery of a small
mammal of the porcine tribe, and if one of the Law Officers of the
Crown was prepared to assure the House that it would be contrary to the
provisions of the Companies Act, and the Companies Act Amendment Act,
to permit this New Guinea pig to assume the functions of the director of
Limited Liability Companies, whose directorate was largely composed
of members of both Houses of Parliament (great laughter from honorable
gentlemen who were aware that the Mr. Apthomas had no income beyond
the remuneration he received as a director of companies); and if Her
Majesty's Minister for Agriculture was prepared to state that it was the
intention of Her Majesty's Government to prohibit the introduction of,
at any rate the males of the mammals just referred to, considering the
rapid increase in representative assemblies of the English or Welsh
bore----(Great laughter, which prevented the concluding words of the
sentence being audible in the gallery.)

THE SPEAKER: Order! order! The honorable member for Hazelborough must