NEW GUINEA EXPEDITION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 38, 7 January 1879, Page 2

NEW GUINEA EXPEDITION.

Below we give from the Ht/Z. Times additional particulars of the Neiv Guinea Expedition beyo»dAose furnished by us last week :— t^' r Mr Allan, who wag ashore the whole of the time the Courier lay at New Guinea (about tbree weeks), speaks iv the highest terms of the amiable disposition of the liifives, and says he would sooner rial his person and property amongst them than in the slams of any European town. He. desoribes them M&of Papuan race, medium-sked, fflki. iP^yr.staped, witUjmall hands J& feet, aud singularly erect and graceful in thoir walk and attitudes, the women conspicuously so. The women ara oomely, lighter in color than the toen, and have a merry laugh and^pjkti&'nt manner^ ■-' The men wear K only^a sort of grass cloth, wound five or six times rouud their loins, the women only a gftss &li plaited before aiul behind. The' children, who are hineb fairer tha-qj. their parents, go entirely naked. T|ey are all betelnut chewer? and have jet black teeth in consaquence. • The only arms of offence they appeared to; possess are bows, arrows, apeaK*^ but theyWer brought arms with them when they saw Europeans coming ashore,' but left them at home, and came "wearing green boughs as peace Their kindliness was- further exhibited by the readiness with which they carried the Europeans' and tnoir arms and luggage ashore froni the boats, " giving a back*/**, the most ready and cheerful way. On the Island of Bibil, where the Courier f mk>\e got the best acquainted wittF'the natives, about fifty of the aborigines accompanied them on a shooting excursion through the bush. Pigeons', macaws, and a sort of hawk was shot.'with some pretty green- parroquets, buttib birds of very beautiful plumajge'^ere seen, though the natives gave them te, understand that there vrere pjenty. Some timber was cut for the ship's 1 use, and it was found to be very close grained and heavy. The heat, though g.-eat, was not felt oppressive, and as thore was no swampy ground in the neighborhood the party enjoyed the most rugged health all the time they were ashore. Their time w;as so much occupied in exploring tire coaEt j fringe that they only, went a few miles ' inland. The only roads natives haye t are like sheeptracks, very narrow. ; The country is described as exceed--1 ingly fertile, the soil being of the variety known as chocolate, boft and deep, the grass rank, long, and coarse; the vegetation generally being very luxuriant. A few fitful attempts veM **. made to look for gold, but, as tho^ - locality was merely an immense de- • posit of shingle, with no success. > Ko metal ornaments of any kiud were i seen amongst the natives, only shells ■..? > and boar's tusks. Both wild and tame , pigs are plentiful, the natives having *> them round about their villages, of . from twelve to twenty huts,averaging I about five injßachv v spie>^tai-e a nun» ; ber of islands on the wesji side of - Astrolabe Bay, which are thickly popul lated. Mr Alien estimates the popuI lation around the edge of the Bay at > over five thousand. Nothing is grown > close to the villages, except a tew cocoa- ■ nuts sufficient for consumption. Their » gardens are generally on some cleared V spot on higher ground, and aro fairly <■ 1 well looked alter. In them are grown yams, very good figs and mangoes, • passable wild apples, and, splendid > tobacco, of which the natives manufac* ture exceedingly fragrant cigarettes, the tobacco composing the body of the ; cigar being wrapped in another des* ■ f ctiptionofleaf. The natives, however, ' showed a preference for European tobacco, which was much stronger. ' Their huts are made of bamboo, and are roofed with cocoanut leaves, Tery t thickly laid on, the whole structure ( being V shaped, the eaves coining to , the ground. Thay have little raised ' beds made of split bamboo, but seem ( to have no idea of bedclothes. Very few utensils were Been, except some. ( fine samples of jars and pots, made of . clay, by the women. These aro manufactured so well, that they stand tho firo for a time in cooking the natives' food. Those who live a'ong the coast ( seem to differ from the hill tribes. A few men belonging to the latter were , seen. Thoy are described as fi)rbidding in appearance, wild in gesture, and with long hair down their backs. , There seemed tp be little in common . with the coastmen and hillmen. • A good deal of difficulty was found f in interchanging ideas between Kuro- > peans and natives, and the sucot-ss » achieved, Mr Alien says, was more ■ due to the quick perception and ingeni- ■ ousuess of the natives than to the ; intelligence of the Europeans, as both i parties were without an interpreter > aud ignorant of each other's language. Although both parties were on most friendly terms the whole time it Wag I only a day or two before tho Courier i Ibfo that the natives allowed their , womeu to make the acquaintance of the strange white men. Their inter* course with huropeans appears to have been veiy limited, the duly word they could recognise was "ainglis." The party while ashore discovered a blazed tree on which was carved the word " Dove,'* the name ttf a vessel which left Melbourne for INew "tiiuiuea about four months ago, and has not since been heard of. It appeared fiom the freshness of the blaze on the tree as

ifil had boen dons only, about a monthMi; Allen also s:»\v 'he bones und pg«sshellH of a bird about tha vilhigty which he thinks must be a good ileal largn* than an emu. Tue. only quadrupeds seen, besides the pig, were a naive animal very liko a 'kuropeau «f*ft>g. and a flying fox of n red color-. Although die bay was liteially alive with (ish, they would not look nt any kind ot baie, acd the crew ouly managed to catch a few by means of the -'grains." They were found very good eating, 'lhe natives spear them and shoot them with arrows at night. A fowl of Bantam breed was noticed in the village though neither nor eggs were offered in barter. After a good deal of difficulty, due to the timidity of the natives, Mr Allen managed to get some interesting photographs of members of the tribe. Mr Allen made a note of a few words of the language— -fish is eezh, fowl is muluk, pigeon is koriak, turtle is madaw, man is taniul, girl is pekinamoa, son is add, water is yo, arrow is tny gun tabu, sea water is massy. As the # Courior'B charts were only of vise als for as Humboldt River it was thought not advisable to venture round the north end of the island, and no other part of the coast was visited.