History
The Fly was first discovered by Europeans in 1842 when Francis Blackwood commanding the corvette HMS Fly, surveryed the western coast of the Gulf of Papua. The river was named after his ship and he proclaimed that it would be possible for a small steam powered boat to travel up the mighty river.
In 1876 Italian explorer, Luigi D'Albertis, was the first person to successfully attempt this when he travelled 900 km into the interior of New Guinea, in his steamer, Neva. It was the furthest any European explorer had ever been into the island.
Read more about this topic: Fly River
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