The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-01-04
A ROYAL MUMMY
Stolen From One of the
Papuan Tribes.
The Remains of the Oldest Daughter
of New Guinea King Brought
to This City.

There arrived In San Francisco by the steam
er Mariposa, ten days since, the mummifed
body OF a Princess OF one OF the Papuan tribes
10 Southern New Guinea. IL Is now stored
hidden from public gaze, in the rear end OF the
shop Of a curio dealer on Clay street. near
Kearny. The story leaked out yesterday, but
several reporters who tried 10 see it were re-
fused. One OF them. more determined than the
others, met with success. He not only saw the
body. but obtained details of how the only New
Guinea mummy in America was stolen and
taken away from the Island.
The mummy arrived in glass case, carefully
boxed aud projected from damage. Ii occupies
sitting position, and. unlike the Egyptian
specimens, Is not wrapped In numerous folds
OF papyrus, but has no covering whatever. 1t
Is the body OF the eldest daughter OF the King
OF one OF the tribes living on the north bank OF
he Fly River, which debouches into the Coral
Sea. This tribe Is semI-civiliZed, and many OF
its members are employed by Europeans in the
pearl-shell fishery Industry. 10 the east, at
Princess Marianne Straits, the natives are the
widest lot OF savages, naked and painted, and
swarm like monkeys In the trees, the trunks OF
which are submerged at high tides.
The mummy Is well preserved. All OF the
features except The eyes. which are sunken, are
perfect. The skin has the appearance OF leath-
er, daik-brown, but probably little darker than
In lie. Among the Papuan tribes the BELIEF Is
that the spirit does not Immediately leave the
body, which IS exposed on platform or dried
over a fire. The body is sacredy preserved by
relatives OF the deceased. In some of the north
ern tribes only the jawbone is preserved. In
the southern part OF the island OF New Guinea
the salt in the air, which is very trying 10 the
health OF whites, preserves the exposed bodies
from decay until ii has dried.
That the body is Papuan is shown by the
friZZled hair, which, according TO the best eth
biologists, is an indication that 1t is purest Me-
laneSian, originally a mixture OF Polyneslan
and Malayan, first observed by dAlbeTlis
These people are cannibals, but far less dan
geTOuS than the hercer and blackeT tribes llY-
ing in the mountains of the interior. They are
separated from Australia by a gulf less than
eighty mleS wide, and intercourse with The
whites Is frequent. Generally visitors are treat
ed with respect aud seldom mOlested.
Accompanying the mummy is large collec-
lion of photographs. evidently taken within a
few months, because they have still the OdOr OF
dark room. These show the social life nd
scenery of New Guinea beautifully and indi-
cafe that the photographer must have travelled
extensively along the south coast OF the island
and some distance into the interior.
The night before their departure a member
OF the phOlOgraphlng party stole the mummy
from The platform IN the trees near the royal
hut. He carried IL TO a canoe on the Fly River
and padded down TO the schooner, which lay
at anchor 10 the Gulf OF Papua. Thence they
sailed south 10 HinchnbrOok Island on the
northeast Of Australia. keeping inside of the
great barrier reefs. From there they took
passage 10 Brisbane by steamer. So great was
the Indignation of the tribe, as they afterward
learned, that they were afraid 10 keep the
mummy, and 50 shipped IL TO this city SIX
weeks ago.