Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-03-14

Work of Three English Missionaries
Houses in High Trees-Cannibalisn
AS a Token of Afection-Ihe Sage In
dustry-Birds of Paradise.
And now what is the character of this
land which, after so many abortive at
tempts, has at last come to the birth OF
annexation? Along the coast of consid
cradle part of it missionaries have been
established for some seventeen years
| now. There are three English mission,
aries and many Polynesian converts who
act rs 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 to add 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 adj
vantages of peace and industry where be-
fore there was only unceasing bloodshed
and warfare.
Thus o 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 up on the narrowest and most
inaccessible ridges of the mountains. To
these bamboo ladders are the only means
Of approach, and vines are often cult
waited 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 ont 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
400 or 500 people and perhaps forty or
fifty houses.
1t is commonly said, and no doubt is
often the case, that sayages eat their van
pushed foes in faith that by so doing they
inherit from them their ncblest qualities;
but 1t appears TO be peculiar TO the New
Guinea natives 70 eat their kindred as a
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 Borrowing parents slew
the Offending monster, and rescuing the
half of their beloved son which was still
uneaten. they greedily devoured it IA 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 a sitting
posture up to the neck, and vessel is
placed over the head In these cases the
skull alone is preserve for ornament, the
rest OF the body being left beneath ths soil.
But though so bsrbarous in some Of
their habits, the natives of this place are
lar superior TO those OF Australia IN most
ways Many of them cultivate plants FOX
food. Some Of them make pottery which
they exchange for Sage with those stu
ated in more fertile districts than them
selves Others devote ali their tine TO
ACHING hsb, and these, too, they barter
-or cocoanuts or vans or bananas, while
most are clever az fAshioniuG and carving
weapons Of offense and shields, and many
an make tole-able kind Of cloth from
ne bark Of trees, good canoes or service
IDLE bows and arrows.
The saSo Industry. especially. is yal2-