PrattAE

Career

Collecting localities

Collections

Literature

Biographical data

Pratt, Antwerp E.

(Source: Flora Malesiana ser. 1, 1: Cyclopaedia of collectors)

career:

Explorer and professional zoological collector; from 1887-90 in the employ of the English entomologist Leech, exploring in China, since 1889 collecting plants too.¹ Early in the twentieth century he made some journeys in New Guinea (see below). From about 1912 he made entomological collections on behalf of J.J. Joicey (owner of the Hill Museum, Witley, Surrey, England); in 1912 with his son Felix (see below) in Peru and the Amazon region.⁶ He made collections in Syria too.

He is commemorated in some plant names.

Since July 1909 a certain Alfred Ernst Pratt was appointed Staff Surveyor in the Territory of Papua; he accompanied M.St.C. Smith (see there) on the Kikori Expedition (see below), and died Dec. 3, 1925 (born 1862). ? Identical.

Collecting localities:

1902-03.² SE. New Guinea. Sailing from England with his son Henry (Jan. 1902) to Thursday Island; in the ‘Nias’ to Merauke (Dutch S. New Guinea) (arriving Apr. 11); after a short inspection he thought the locality unsuitable for collecting purposes, departed to Port Moresby and proceeded to Yule Island: mouth of the Ethel River, going up the same to the Bioto River, reaching Bioto; Upupu and on foot to Epa, Ekeikei (= Ikeikei) and Madui; crossing the Akuluma River to Dinawa, making bivouac; breaking camp (22) and setting out to the Anga Bunga (= St Joseph River), making bivouac; back to Dinawa; Ekeikei (Sept. 23), Epa (24), Pokama; by cutter to Port Moresby (herbarium lost by shipping seas). Arranging his collections and towards the end of the year making a tour by boat in eastern direction, visiting: Kapa-Kapa, Hula, Kalo, Kerapuna (= Kerepunu) and return to Port Moresby. Leaving Port Moresby o/b the vessel the ‘Waup’ (Jan. 1, 1903) to Yule Island, proceeding from there to Pokama on the mainland; back by canoe to Yule Isl., staying there for several days; visit to the mainland: Moa, Inawee, Inawa, Inawabia, Aipiana, Rarai, Nara, Bioto and from there to Epa, Ekeikei, building a permanent camp; back at Bioto (c. May), voyage to Pokama and Thursday Isl.; sailing again (May 23) after having collections dispatched; Ekeikei (June 20); Kebea, Yoyaka and Amana (July 15); Foula (Aug. 13); to Mafulu (Owen Stanley Range), making camp, staying 3 weeks, compelled to go back by lack of food; Foula, Babooni (staying 3 weeks); via Waley to Kebea; Ekeikei, Epa, Oo-fa-fa, Pokama; by boat and proceeding by land from Giabada via Issu, Manu-Manu, taking a canoe to Port Moresby; by steamer to Cooktown, Sydney, and homewards.-1907-09.³ Dutch W. New Guinea, Vogelkop: arriving with 2 sons, Felix and Charles, at Manokwari (1907); exploring the Arfak Mrs and Angi Lakes; Dutch N. New Guinea: several months in the mountainous interior S of Humboldt Bay, Lake Sentani, reaching an altitude of 8000 feet; subsequently leaving behind his sons in Schouten Isls (= Biak), where they were to collect for 6 months; from June-Oct. 1908 with Don. MacKay to the Purari River⁴ and Kikori (Papua); in Dec. 1908 he himself evidently again near Angi Lakes, in which region he still worked in Nov. 1909.-Kikori Expedition, 1910-11. Alfred Ernst Pratt ( ? identical) accompanied this expedition (cf. sub M.Stan.C. Smith).-In 1913 he organized another expedition to Angi Lakes, in NW. Dutch New Guinea.

collections:

Especially entomological and ornithological collections. Plants from China in Herb. Kew [K], Brit. Mus. [BM], and Berl. [B]. His botanical New Guinea collections are probably but small. Some plants collected near Angi Lakes in Herb. Kew [K], according to Miss Gibbs!⁵

literature:

(1) A.E. Pratt: ‘To the snows of Thibet through China’ (1891).
(2) A.E. Pratt: ‘Two years among cannibals. Being some account of the aborigines of Papua’ (New Guinea, and a travel and adventure of that Island with Drawings by S. Beggs) (The Ill. Lond. News 75, 1 Oct. 1904) (non vidi); ‘Two years among New Guinea cannibals. A naturalist’s sojourn among the aborigines of unexplored New Guinea (with appendix on the scientific results of the expedition)’ (London 1906). According to the latter book, his New Guinea explorations started in 1901, evidently a printer’s error.
(3) cf. Tijdschr. K.N.A.G. 1909, p. 846-850 and Ind. Gids 1909², p. 1224; Peterm. Mitt. 55, 1909, p. 324.
Some additional information on his stay in the Anggi Lakes region by W. Vink in Nova Guinea, Bot. 22, 1965, p. 484.
(4) cf. D. MACKAY in Rep. Australas. Assoc. Advanc. Sci. 13, (1911) 1912, p. 385-389; and Geogr. Journ. Lond. 38, 1911, p. 483-487, 1 pl.
(5) A Vaccinium, said to have been collected at the Female Lake in 1906 (according to other information he did not collect there before 1907), was described in Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 72, 1942, p. 255.
(6) cf. Entom. Beihefte II-IV, Berl. Dahl. 1935-37, p. 214.

biographical data:

Bretschneider, Hist. Bot. Discov. China, 1898, p. 802-805; Backer, Verkl. Woordenb., 1936.

	Career Collecting localities Collections Literature Biographical data
	Pratt, Antwerp E.
	(Source: Flora Malesiana ser. 1, 1: Cyclopaedia of collectors)
	career: Explorer and professional zoological collector; from 1887-90 in the employ of the English entomologist Leech, exploring in China, since 1889 collecting plants too.¹ Early in the twentieth century he made some journeys in New Guinea (see below). From about 1912 he made entomological collections on behalf of J.J. Joicey (owner of the Hill Museum, Witley, Surrey, England); in 1912 with his son Felix (see below) in Peru and the Amazon region.⁶ He made collections in Syria too. He is commemorated in some plant names. Since July 1909 a certain Alfred Ernst Pratt was appointed Staff Surveyor in the Territory of Papua; he accompanied M.St.C. Smith (see there) on the Kikori Expedition (see below), and died Dec. 3, 1925 (born 1862). ? Identical.
	Collecting localities: 1902-03.² SE. New Guinea. Sailing from England with his son Henry (Jan. 1902) to Thursday Island; in the ‘Nias’ to Merauke (Dutch S. New Guinea) (arriving Apr. 11); after a short inspection he thought the locality unsuitable for collecting purposes, departed to Port Moresby and proceeded to Yule Island: mouth of the Ethel River, going up the same to the Bioto River, reaching Bioto; Upupu and on foot to Epa, Ekeikei (= Ikeikei) and Madui; crossing the Akuluma River to Dinawa, making bivouac; breaking camp (22) and setting out to the Anga Bunga (= St Joseph River), making bivouac; back to Dinawa; Ekeikei (Sept. 23), Epa (24), Pokama; by cutter to Port Moresby (herbarium lost by shipping seas). Arranging his collections and towards the end of the year making a tour by boat in eastern direction, visiting: Kapa-Kapa, Hula, Kalo, Kerapuna (= Kerepunu) and return to Port Moresby. Leaving Port Moresby o/b the vessel the ‘Waup’ (Jan. 1, 1903) to Yule Island, proceeding from there to Pokama on the mainland; back by canoe to Yule Isl., staying there for several days; visit to the mainland: Moa, Inawee, Inawa, Inawabia, Aipiana, Rarai, Nara, Bioto and from there to Epa, Ekeikei, building a permanent camp; back at Bioto (c. May), voyage to Pokama and Thursday Isl.; sailing again (May 23) after having collections dispatched; Ekeikei (June 20); Kebea, Yoyaka and Amana (July 15); Foula (Aug. 13); to Mafulu (Owen Stanley Range), making camp, staying 3 weeks, compelled to go back by lack of food; Foula, Babooni (staying 3 weeks); via Waley to Kebea; Ekeikei, Epa, Oo-fa-fa, Pokama; by boat and proceeding by land from Giabada via Issu, Manu-Manu, taking a canoe to Port Moresby; by steamer to Cooktown, Sydney, and homewards.-1907-09.³ Dutch W. New Guinea, Vogelkop: arriving with 2 sons, Felix and Charles, at Manokwari (1907); exploring the Arfak Mrs and Angi Lakes; Dutch N. New Guinea: several months in the mountainous interior S of Humboldt Bay, Lake Sentani, reaching an altitude of 8000 feet; subsequently leaving behind his sons in Schouten Isls (= Biak), where they were to collect for 6 months; from June-Oct. 1908 with Don. MacKay to the Purari River⁴ and Kikori (Papua); in Dec. 1908 he himself evidently again near Angi Lakes, in which region he still worked in Nov. 1909.-Kikori Expedition, 1910-11. Alfred Ernst Pratt ( ? identical) accompanied this expedition (cf. sub M.Stan.C. Smith).-In 1913 he organized another expedition to Angi Lakes, in NW. Dutch New Guinea.
	collections: Especially entomological and ornithological collections. Plants from China in Herb. Kew [K], Brit. Mus. [BM], and Berl. [B]. His botanical New Guinea collections are probably but small. Some plants collected near Angi Lakes in Herb. Kew [K], according to Miss Gibbs!⁵
	literature: (1) A.E. Pratt: ‘To the snows of Thibet through China’ (1891). (2) A.E. Pratt: ‘Two years among cannibals. Being some account of the aborigines of Papua’ (New Guinea, and a travel and adventure of that Island with Drawings by S. Beggs) (The Ill. Lond. News 75, 1 Oct. 1904) (non vidi); ‘Two years among New Guinea cannibals. A naturalist’s sojourn among the aborigines of unexplored New Guinea (with appendix on the scientific results of the expedition)’ (London 1906). According to the latter book, his New Guinea explorations started in 1901, evidently a printer’s error. (3) cf. Tijdschr. K.N.A.G. 1909, p. 846-850 and Ind. Gids 1909², p. 1224; Peterm. Mitt. 55, 1909, p. 324. Some additional information on his stay in the Anggi Lakes region by W. Vink in Nova Guinea, Bot. 22, 1965, p. 484. (4) cf. D. MACKAY in Rep. Australas. Assoc. Advanc. Sci. 13, (1911) 1912, p. 385-389; and Geogr. Journ. Lond. 38, 1911, p. 483-487, 1 pl. (5) A Vaccinium, said to have been collected at the Female Lake in 1906 (according to other information he did not collect there before 1907), was described in Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 72, 1942, p. 255. (6) cf. Entom. Beihefte II-IV, Berl. Dahl. 1935-37, p. 214.
	biographical data: Bretschneider, Hist. Bot. Discov. China, 1898, p. 802-805; Backer, Verkl. Woordenb., 1936.