, 1888-11-05
IN NEW GUINEA.
CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS OF VIC
TORlA'S CANNlBAL SUBJECTS.

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dustry-BIrds OF Paradise.
And now what is the character Of this
land which. after so many abOrtiye at
tempts, has at last come to the birth Of
annexation? Along the coast Of a consid-
cradle part Of it missionaries have been
established for some years
row.. There are three English mission
aries and many Polynesian converts who
act as cache and preachers. And,
whatever opinion may be held of the work
of missionaries in general, there are no
two opinions held by those who kno the
place about the good that has been done
by these New Guinea men.
Their aim has not been to add n num-
Der Of bnptisms to their record, rs savagcs
hang scalps 70 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 nave taught the adj
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-
t~eristics 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 nov is not altogether stamped
out. Some of their houses are built in
HIGH trees mn ON the OnrroyVaSt 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 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
400 or 500 people and perhaps forty or
fifty houses.
1t is commonly said, and no doubt is
often the case, that savages eat their II
pushed 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 to eat their kindred as a
lOhtl VI dlltIllOh. "A NEW uulltd 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 by the survivors, and
the skulls decorate their houses. In other
tribe the bodies are buried in a sitting
posture up 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 tn soil.
But though SC barbarous in some OF
their habits, the natives of this place arc
far superior to those of Australia in most
why's. Many of them cultivate plants for
food. Some of them make pottery which
they exchange for saCo with those stu.
ated in more fertile districts tha them.
selves. others devote all their time to
catching fish, and these, too, they barter
for cocOanuts or yams or bananas, while
most are clever at fashioAing and carving
weapons of offense and shields, and many
can make n tolerable kind of cloth from
the bark of trees, good canoes or service
able bows and arrows.
The sago industry, especially, is a valu-
able one. SO much food can be produced
with SO little labor, and the tree grows
well and a~bundantly in New Guinea. The
method of obtaining the sago is to cut
down the tree and remove n slice of BARI
from the upper surface of the felled trunk,
The inner wood of the tree, which IL
throughout n kind of pith, is then pounded
down with rough instruments made for
the purpose into the trough formed by the
firm outer bark of the tree.
As this pith is pounded down it is taken
out in vessels formed of the sheathing
leaves of the sage palm and carried to an
other trough near by, formed, like the
first, Of the bark of another sago palm.
Here 1t is pressed through a rough sieve,
formed again of fibers from the sage palm,
into water, where the starchy part dis
solve and settles in the bottom as u sedi-
ment. his sediment, though not the
granulated sago of commerce, is the form
in which the natives eat the food, and it
makes excellent cakes or mush.
Another well known production of New
Guinea is the bird of paradise, the most
beautNul and gorgeous perhaps, except
the peacock, of all known birds. There
are many different kinds of them, but all
are beautiful to the eye, though the noises
that they make are somewhat trying to
the ear. They are very shy and difficult
to obtain, but by caution, cleverness and
exceeding great patience the natives sue
coed in killing them in snares or with
blunted arrows, so as not to injure their
plumage Cor. San Francisco Chronicle.
The Two Dogs.