St. Landry democrat., 1888-01-21
BRITISH NEW GUINEA.
How the Natives on the Coast Live and
Ciothe Themselves.

ITO" Inc natives on the coast LlVe aN0
Ciothe Themselves.
The following is Mr.. Askwith>s de-
scription of New Guinea dwellings,:
1.-The houses on this part of the coast,
as also in the villages inland. are built
upon piles, varying from four to eight
feet in height. A few steps up rude
ladder lead to a platform, on which
some of the family generally recline.
A baby, and often Il young pig, in nets
suspended from the caves, are gently
swinging to and fro. Fishing nets lie
in corner. with shells attached
for weights. Nautilus shells, with
grass streamers or hideous carved
pieces of wood, hang before the
bamboo door, which is low and narrow,
and leads into the common room, where
all the family sleep. The common
room is about twelve by eighteen feet,
with bare flooring of rough planks,
generally the sides of old canoes.
Through the chinks the garbage is
thrown upon the plentiful remnants of
cocoa-husks below for the pigs to eat
or the sea to carry away. In the mid
die OF the room is a Fireplace, pile of
ashes on some boards, with spark
protector of bamboo stick hung about
three feet above. On the central pole
IS hung a tomtom, while here and there
on the grass walls are suspended
gourls for lime, bamboo pipes, toma-
hawks, ADDE'S, spare grass petticoats
and net bags. There is no window,
but movable shutter can generally be
opened on the sea side, and plenty of
air enters through the walls and the
holes in the floor
Then as to clothing: "Thc natives
certainly affect sincere simplicity in the
matter of dress. The only article COM
mon to all men is thin string. a third
of an inch in breadth. passed tightly
around the waist and between the legs.
A band of grass. which serves as
pocket for tobacco, knives and decora-
tons of cotton leaves, is for the most
part Worn upon the upper part of the
arm. Some have head bands of red
braid Or small rounded pieces of shells,
while few wear necklaces of shells or
teeth, and carved bones through the
nose. Their hair, thick, matted and
long, is drawn up by comb of bamboo
cane. The women wear petticoats of
woven grass, sometimes stained with q
red hue. The married and betrothed
have short hair; the majority are tat
tooed with u V-shaped mark and other
designs upon the breast Their figures
are squat and not so erect as those Of
Hindoo women, as they generally carry
weights on the back and not on the
head
Pottery of kind is made on the
island, and entirely by women. They
use no machinery and no potter's
wheel, but they have acquired great
dexterity in Judging the sizes and fash
Joining the shapes. They break up red
and gray clay into powder, mix it
with fine silver sand and water, and
knead it into a large lump, from which,
with the hand, aided by a shell and fiat
SlhHo, tiiC.t III 81 liltthC lilC UP cSiiA up
of the pot, taking an old pot as mold
for the body. They scrape and smooth
the exteriors with stone and shell, dry
the pots in the sun, and then bake
them in a fire. When red-hot the pots
are taken out and sprinkled with tam
min of blackish color. extracted from
mangrove bark, after which they re-
eeive second and final heating. They
are then ready. for expectation. and
that expectation is considerable. A
trading party filling twenty large ca
noes, will sometimes start for the west.
These canoes will carry about thirty
men each, and each man will have
about fifty pots made by his family.
These six hundred men will thus have
a total cargo of some thirty thousand
pots at one voyage, which may extend
for two or three hundred miles. and
from which they will return with per-
haps one hundred and fifty tons of sage
obtained in exchange for their pottery.
-AN The Year Round.
-
CARpET III flaming