The Red Cloud chief., 1884-11-21
a HUNT ~ NEW GUINEA.
lss ~ the Nstivs. seesre c.me-A I~prous
Chief

Chief.
Recently II was given put that \ large
tract Of country. about six miles from
here. was 10 b. hunted. Abou, seven
O'Clock the natives BEGAN % move. the
mea with nets first. These ar. coarse
meshed, strong net. about four fee;
deep Of various lengths Far away TO
the lceward Of the grass To be- burnt
these nets are stood up with short
stakes. each mans ne; joined TO his
neighbor's. The grass j. pulled up in
front of the nets 10 prevent them catch
ing fire. The owners Of the net, stand
by with spears in silence awaiting their
prey. IL IS the fashion for all the young
men TO wear Their head-dre,-e. and
finery To the hunt. They shave the
hair. their templey. every hair from
their eyebrows. aud any other about
their face. All carry several -peers
roughly made from 4 hard white wood
The points are sharpened. and every
one has a boar 'u>k or piece Of glass
bottle % scrape them a often ~ they
require il. Little boys of three and four
wears old, with their ornaments On.
faces painted. and spears on their
shoulders. march along with the crowd.
\ number Of young girls go. too. 10
carry water for the men. IL being a
grand hunt, We foreigners joined the
company on horseback. Mrs. Lawcs
being n o. our party. The natives
always walk in single file, and the
hunting procession wa a very long
one. The meet was at a creek half way
TO the Larogc River. This was the rem
devious. where all rested and waited
for n strong. steady wind. The nets had
gone on and were in position.
The master Of ceremonies was n
koitapu Chief named Siyari. When |
first knew Siyari. some Yeats age. he
was a ~iine-looking nan agile. and act
i've; now he Is 4 pitiable objcct-his
toes and fingers eaten away b. leprosy
and his arms and legs in a dreadful
state. He can hobblc about on = stick,
bat he cannot walk far. Two Of his
wives carried him by turn in a Melted
hammock on their backs. suspended by
a band across the forehead. These are
some of the honor, which fall TO the
share of the wives Of Now Guinea. The
right To carry their husbands To the
h~unting-tield is one of the women
rights u~ndiSputed here. The old sinner.
miserable object though he il. has had
six wives, some Of them young and
good-looking, recently annexed to his
harem. Soon the wind begant 10 whistle
through the trees. and there was 4 gen
eral stampede. The grass was set fire
to in MANY places and was soon crack
ling, Kissing and blazing away before
the wind. The air was full of sparks,
and Il dense cloud Of smoke rose above.
The natives shouted. the dogs yelpcd.
and poor. GaZed w%allabics rushed here
and there, some escaping spears and
dogs, but most of them falling. II re-
guires Il good deal Of practice to spear 4
wallaby going full speed. Sometimes
one would rush past with two or three
spears hanging from him and a bevy of
dogs after him. There was n good deal
of slaughter ard some scores of wallaEy
carried in. One man was badly gored
by a wild boar. II is only very plucky
men who will face these. They carry a
circle If stout cane. in which Is dashed
Soliic >tIoHU Coiu. 10 ~ I'D icT!n NchtIdi
large meShcs. This is held so that the
pig rushes in and gets muzzled by it;
then 4 man throws himself on the pig
and grips him tight until he is dis
patched. When they have tu>ks the
hunter often gets very ugly wounds.
The man we saw had Il nasty hole
plowcd in his thigh by a short tuSk.
The pic, however, was Overpowcrcd
and killed.-Nsw Gainca Cor. Sydney
| HerpH