Cape Siri

The waters around southeastern New Guinea lead toward Milne Bay, a deep harbor on the coast of Papua New Guinea. The bay extends more than thirty-five kilometres inland and remains over fifteen kilometres wide. Its entrance opens through Ward Hunt Strait into protected water behind the wooded Stirling Range. A narrow lowland strip on the northern shore gives way to wet sago and mangrove swamps. Open sea, a constricted approach and shelter thus lie close together.

Luis Váez de Torres surveyed the bay in July 1606, bringing the coast into the written record of European Pacific exploration. Malaria proved costly in the surrounding tropical lowlands. The same sheltered geography that aided shipping also created conditions for disease. Cape Siri belongs to this compact meeting of protected water, mountain wall and forested swamp. Fishing and canoe routes tied the headland to Milne Bay communities.