Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-03-24
IN NEW GUINEA.
CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS OF Vc- ToRlA'S cANNIeAL SUBJECTS.

Work of Three English Missionaries
 Houses in High Trees-Cannibalisz As A Token of Arection-Ihe sago In
 dustry-Birds Of Paradise.
 | And now what is the character of thi'
 land which, after so many abortive at
 tempts, has at last come to the birth Ol | annexationg Along the coast of cOnsid erable part of it missionaries have beer established for sme seventeen years
 now. There are three English mission
 aries and many Polynesian converts who act as teachers and preachers. And, whatever opinion may be held of the work of missionaries in general, there are nc two opinions held by those who know the
 place about the good that has been done
 by these New Guinea men.
 Their aim has not been 10 add a num-
 Der of baptiSms to their record, as savages hang scalps to their girdle for an evidence | of their success; nor have they measured | the Christianity of their converts by the
 amount of clothing which they wear. But
 they have instilled confidence in the good
 ness of human nature where there was
 none before: they have taught the ad-
 vantages of peace and industry where be-
 fore there was only unceasing bloOdshed and warfare.
 Thus a tolerably accurate knowledge
 has been gained of the habits of such of the natives as inhabit the southern coast line. But of the many thousands who
 live in the interior very little has been dis
 covered.
 Among such of the natives as have been
 visited, one of the most peculiar charac-
 teristics is the inaccessible position in
 which they frequently place their houses.
 This, no doubt. is the direct outcome of
 the state of constant intertribal warfare
 in which they have so long existed, and
 which even now is not altogether stamped
 out Some of their houses are built in
 high trees mp on the narrowest and most
 inaccessible ridges of the mountains. To
 these bamboo ladders are the only means of approach, and vines are often culti-
 vated to run up the ladders to give them strength and make the ascent and descent easier. Other tribes-and there are many of those living along the cOast-build their villages some distance out at sea, on piles of mangrove wood, standing eight or ten feet out of the water There are villages Of this kind built altogether away from the shore, in the shallow waters of the southern coast, containing as many as 4OO or JOO people and perhaps forty or fifty houses.
 It is commonly said, and no doubt is often the case, that savages eat their van quished foes in faith that by so doing they inherit from them their nOblest qualities, but it appears tO be peculiar to the New Guinea natives 10 eat their kindred as q token of affection. A New Guinea boy was seized and half eaten by one of the many crocOdiles that prey upon the coasts of the island. His sorrOwing parents slew the offending monster. and rescuing the half of their beloved son which was still uneaten. they greedily devOured it in their grief. When their kindred die they hang them up, or lay them on a framework of bambOos, for the sun to cleanse the bones of flesh. While this is going on they keep watch near the corpse, and at intervals, when their grief becomes too much for them, they visit it and smear their bodies all over with the juices that are dropping from the dead body. When decay has done its work the bones are cleaned, and some of them are buried, while others are worn as ornaments by the survivors, and the skulls decorate their houses In other tribes the bodies are buried in sitting posture mp To the neck. and a vessel is placed over the head. In these cases the skull alone is preserved for ornament, the rest of the body being left beneath th.soil
 But though SO barbarous in some of their habits, the natives of this place are far superior to those of Australia in most ways. Many of them cultivate plants for food. Some of them make pottery which they exchange for saso with those situ- ated in more fertile districts than them selves. Others devote all their time to fish, and these, too, they barter for cOcOanuts or yams or bananas, while most are clever at fashiOsing and carving weapons Of offense and shields, and many can make a tolerable kind of cloth from the bark of trees, good canoes or service able bows and arrows
 The sago industry, especially, is c valu- able one. So much food can be produced with so little labor, and the tree grows well and abundantly in New Guinea The method ot obtaining the sagO Is to cut down the tree and remove a slice of bark rom the upper surface of the felled trunk. | The inner wood of the tree, which is throughout a kind of pith, is then pounded | town with rough instruments made for | aAN ttAA sA-- A-Atp ttif AAhA--u AoIlleAl uN ltt lrm outer bark Of the tree.
 As this pith is pounded down it is taken | put in vessels formed of the sheathing caves Of the sago palm and carried to an- | other trough n,ar by, formed, like the | irst, of the baIs of another saco paIm. Here it Is pressed through a rough sieve. ormed again of fibers from the sago palm, nto water, where the starchy part dis | 'olves and settles in the bottom as a sedi- nent. This sediment, though no, the | ,ranulated sasO of commerce, is the form n which the natives eat the food, and it makes excellent cakes or mush.
 Another well known production of New iuinea IS the bird of paradise, the most 'eauLful and gorgeous perhaps. except he peacock, of all known birds. There Ire many different kinds of them, but all Ire beautiful to the eye. though the noises hat they make are somewhat trying to he ear. They are very shy and difficult O obtain, but by caution, cleverness and great patience the natives sue eed in killing them in snares or with 'lunted afrOws, so as not to injure their