The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1889-10-12
WIVES WERE CHEAP.
A Naturalist's Observations on So
cial Life in Papua.
Courtship Was Very Simple and to the
Point, While One Jack Knite Paid
All Expenses-Desirable
Life Partners.

Early in 1882 a young naturalist,
Sherman Denton, now of the United
States Fish Commission, went to New
Guinea to assist his father in his scien-
tifc work. The elder Denton sudden
ly died there, and the son returned In
1888 to this country. But having eyes
that could see, he kept a faithful ac-
count of what he saw in a land as yet
untrodden but by very few white men.
He has now published some of the in
cidents and observations of his travels
in a book, 'Incidents of a Collectors
Rambles in Australia" etc. His stay
among the Papuans occupies about a
quarter of the volume.
Mr.. Denton travelled with his father
and younger brother. During his stay
with the Papuans he was most of the
time alone with his brother among
them. He tells a most interesting
story of his experiences in the village
of Narinuma. in the interior of New
Guinea There dwelt the Coyara peo-
pie, an idyllic tribe who had never be-
fore seen white men.
Narinuma is a village of some six
teen houses, besides five tree houses,
and some sixty feet from the ground.
The tree houses are we'll built, and
rattan or bamboo ladders extend from
the ground to just below the platform
of the house. These houses are used
by the natives to defend themselves
from their enemies in case of attack
In the houses are stored yams and
tarOs, wood and water, with a ton or
two of stones to throw down at their
enemies, with spears in bundles for
the same purpose. A platform OF
sticks below the house is used to stand
upon while throwing stones and spears.
With the primitive methods of cutting
down trees prevailing among the ma
tives, these houses are almost impreg-
nable to the enemy.
The village looked clean, and the
houses tasty and comfortable. One
house, larger and stronger than the
rest, was the visitors house or
hotel, of which there is one in every
town. Here strangers are sheltered |
and fed free of charge. The largest
and best house in every town is for the
stranger
Tame pigs, with snouts half as long |
as their bodies and covered with long |
brown bristles, roamed at will about |
the village. A small species of dun |
colored dog, which neither barked nor |
bit but only hOwled, was the occupant |
with nearly every owner of the house.
There was only one cat at Narinuma |
which Loheir, the chief, had obtained |
in trade from some of the coast tribes, |
and the animal was great pet.
Early in the morning the ground |
about the house would be swept by the |
women, and was as hard and clean as |
a table. The Papuan women are fine
ly-featured, and many of the children
are truly handsome. Age, however,
is merciless TO the women, and when
the old crones sit in the sun kneading
clay. or beating balls into shapely pots
or dishes, their heads shaven with
fragments of bottle-glass and every
bone of their emaciated bodies show
ing through their wrinkled skins, they
are venerable pictures of ugliness.
The old chief. Loheir, was the most
interesting man in the village. He
was fifty years old. stout and broad
and so well covered was
his body with scars from the many
battles in which he had fought that
by placing his hand upon him in the
darkest night Mr.. Denton became sure
of his identity. Loheir's face was
dark, but his look was intelligent;
his manner was that of a born gentle
man, modest and unassuming.
One day, after the two brothers had
been in Narinuma good while. and
had learned enough of the language to
talk freely. Loheir came to them,
showing by his actions that he had
important to say. They
were skinning birds, and he, as
usual, sat on the ground ia
front of them, evidently not know
ing just how to arrive at
what seemed uppermost IN his mind.
He began by asking if they liked the
COyaFa men and their country, pWhen