Life in the Wilds of New Guinea

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 212, 26 November 1927, Page 26 (Supplement)

Life in the Wilds of New Guinea

Three Pig-Spears, Three Cooking Pots and Two Strings of Dogs’ Teeth Compensate for Shattered Domesticity . . . ■ ... TOURIST who forms his V r - 'jfk Yl; impressions of Papua I Oq*! JrW I a nd the hundreds of jj(dr/\jTKji islands which comprise iCjrtVOjti the Mandated TerriL- "tSt tory from what he has observed while making the round trip in one of the monthly steamers, cannot claim to have seen more than a very little of the joys and attractions, or even of the problems, of life in the North-West Pacific Islands.

Port Moresby, Samarai, Tulagi, Rabaul, and some of the smaller places at which the mail steamers call, may offer a welcome change to the life, scenery, and climates of temperate countries, but while the native villages of Moresby, the picturesque canoe trips around the islands off Samarai, and the coastal motor rides and volcanic attractions of Rabaul and Kavieng, may all go far towards forming a good idea of what the island life has to offer, one must go further afield to experience the fullest pleasures of tropical beauty, freedom, and thrills, writes Dr. H. L. Downing in “The Blue Peter.”

The mountain wilds, with their thick virgin forests and rivers, lie some distance from' these centres; and even the scattered out-stations are out of the question for most tourists. Unlimited time, a full purse, dependable health, and a good knowledge of the country’s geography, are necessary to see the best the Archipelagoes of the North-West Pacific can offer. In the tropics, as elsewhere, nature has a way of hiding her most dazzling glories, and as a rule her beauties are most extravagantly grand where they are most inaccessible. The bird of paradise in his native haunts, the wonderful, mysterious volcanic lakes, or even the most interesting and unsophisticated native tribes, are known to few beyond a small number of Government patrol officers, missionaries, gold-miners, and recruiters. The first-named are, perhaps, the most fortunate, and with the itinerant prospector, certainly see more of the country and more phases of tropical life than others These officials, who represent but a small proportion of the public servants w-orking in Australia’s island possessions, have been aptly termed the “outside men.” Their numbers are chiefly made up of magistrates, district and patrol officers, and medical men. Their fields of operations radiate from the district out-

stations, which are often several hundred miles from the nearest port of call of a strictly limited schooner service. Here in these isolated and almost boundless domains their work-a-day life is carried out in a little w-orld of their own. Duties such as tax collecting, court work, compiling census returns, or combating epidemics, are full of interest in big districts such as Eitape, and Madang, in late German New Guinea, and the work of opening up new country seldom lacks interest. Apart from these regular duties a district officer and his staff often have to quell native tribal disturbances, or put a stop to the nefarious practices of some cannibalistic tribes who prefer the flesh of their weaker neighbours to w-ild pig. All of these tasks necessitate well-organised patrols into the wildest of mountain country for months at a time, where there is variety enough to satisfy the most restless of individuals. To-day, the party may be held up the full morning while trying a dozen different ways to effect a crossing of some mountain torrent. To-morrow, perhaps, it may be some precipitous climb over a range, or possibly the carriers take a dislike to their loads and go on strike, or what is equally probable, decamp altogether. At the village of Sanga, far inland, ?. patrol which included the writer, met timidly curious women and children. At a first visit, such as this, a good beginning generally means the success or failure of the whole patrol. Suspicious natives watch every movement, and for several days may be seen standing about in little groups closely criticising all that happens. Should any of us make a tactless

move and create a rumpus, the news quickly spreads to the distant Tillages.

Census and statistical work in any country is always an important national work. It is no less so when it happens to be carried out among the uncivilised tribes of wild New Guinea. Here it has to be performed not among a controlled community who have their records kept by large staffs of officials, but among indiffer ent and dull-witted natives.

The night we arrived, interpreter* and police boys were sent out witi full instructions to have every man wom/.i, and child brought to the village by daylight. Long before thesun had appeared above the horizor we were awakened by- the barking o? dogs and a great babel of voices, which told us that the order was being carried out. For a time pandemonium reigned supreme, and while the line was being formed, ever’ kanaka who thought he knew something about the order which was desired, set about telling his neighbours and, rightly or wrongly (chiefly wrongly), tried to arrange evert family but his own. The result W 3 5 chaos. The sergeant with his sic police boys had their work cut out placing the families in their proper groups; this was only accomplished by coaxing some and threatening others. The line completed, noisy chatter was gradually silenced ani order restored. The Kiap's (district officer) first task was to determine who was really the "strong man” or chief of the village, and appoint hill also a Government luiuai (chief).

To find the right man is very important, from a Government point of view as well as that of the natives. There are frequently many aspirants who have a false impression of their own strength and value, but the actual selection is usually not a difficult matter. As a rule, the chosen man is a veteran with a past, a man of substance with a large family, and no small voice in village affairs. His name is entered in the village book with the rest of his family, and with some slight ceremony he is then issued with a black peaked cap and red band. This is the distinguishing badge of a luluai, whose people are under Government control. The genealogical trees in this part of the territory are in a most vigorous and flourishing state, and if some of these patriarchs could only keep a complete record of their performances, they would be as imposing as any found in Biblical history. Before the Kiap had proceeded far with his census work I had managed to photograph several families of more than 25 “known” members. The Atzera native believes in numbers and variety, and furthermore, appears to manage his many wives better than the modern white man can manage one. Perhaps as we “civilise” and “improve” him he will lose the art. During our work among the different groups of huts our attention was frequently drawn to a number of old women who walked about with human skulls under ‘•.heir arms. These gruesome ornaments were suspended from a slender native rope which hung round the neck of the wearer. The skulls were all well polished, and though some were much discoloured' by age and smoke from the fires, all were in an excellent state of preservation. This interesting spectacle could not be passed without an inquiry and photographs were taken of the “lapoon” (old) marys. The latter were by no means bashful; through an interpreter I learned that the skulls they were wearing were those of beloved male relatives, chiefly husbands or favourite sons.

In one village the district officer was called upon to pass judgment upon a case of marital infidelity. A scandal is as much enjoyed by the humble kanaka as by the readers of city newspapers. The officer was asked to “make cdurt,” and he did so. The lady (young) was the wife (or one of the wives) of the interpreter’s companion. The third party was a strapping young fellow of about 18. Neither he nor the wayward lady behaved as though they had done anything wrong, and in a perfectly delightful way admitted the truth of the statements made against them. Even when tiie lad was ordered to soothe the outraged feelings of the erring lady’s father and husband, by the payment of three pig spears, three clay cooking pots and two strings of dogs’ teeth, he remained a model of unpert ll- **. ed manhood, and even looked happy. The lad himself had nothing but the loin-cloth he was wearing, but his village folk hunted around and found everything, to the last dog’s tooth. They were not in the slightest bit annoyed at having to pay the penalty for the boy’s lapse, and handed over the goods so willingly that I have a suspicion the girl’s father must have promised to give them all back, or make it up in some other way after we had passed on our way. The

“finding.” though afterwards discovered to have been excessive, met with general approval, and was thus in keeping with the perfect goodwill and total absence of anger throughout the hearing.