In the second half of the XIX century. Russia has gained a foothold on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. A project to establish a colony in the Pacific Ocean has emerged in Russian ruling circles, which could strengthen Russia's position in this region. This colony was supposed to be established in Melanesia. But St. Petersburg, despite some hesitation, decided not to participate in the colonial expansion in the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean. In December 1869, the German geographical journal, edited by the famous geographer and cartographer August Petermann, published his long article " New Guinea. German appeals from the Antipodes." At the beginning of the article, Petermann cited the letters of two Germans who settled in Australia-a pastor and a merchant. They called on Germany - or rather, the North German Alliance led by Prussia-to annex the huge island of New Guinea, which is fabulously rich in natural resources, and the large Melanesian islands located nearby, establishing a colony on the south-eastern tip of New Guinea [Pet. Mit., 1869, pp. 401-405] .1 Indirectly supporting their arguments, the venerable geographer diplomatically refrained from directly calling for annexation: "Let others occupy themselves with the conquest and colonization of New Guinea, but we must confine ourselves to saying that the complete exploration of this part of the earth is one of the most pressing questions of geography." "When expedition after expedition is sent to the ice - covered polar regions," Petermann continued, " when millions are incessantly spent and many precious human lives are sacrificed for the exploration of Africa ... when large sacrifices are made in different directions in the unattractive and depressing interior of Australia, when expensive expeditions are sent out every year to extract the most precious resources of the world. from the greatest depths of the ocean, a handful of silt with infusoria <...> should not attention finally be drawn to this ... Read more