The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1920-01-17

and customs officers search tourist
luggage very diligently for any hid,
piece of plumage. The wing or tail
a bird will be worth hundreds
pounds-One reason why they are d
dom seen in ladies' bonnets nOwadav
Some Wonderful Insects.
In this wonderland of Papua is fou
the islands speciality, the giant butt,
fly. These beautiful, many-cOlOred
sects measure from twelve to eighte
inches from wing-tip to wing-tip, al
they have bodies the size of smJ
bird. Specimens of these butterf
are to be seen in the collection OF
late Baron Rothschild, who sent out
Papua q scientist to collect rare
sects and birds. Another marvelo
insect. of the cricket class, is what
popularity called the "Six O'clock" b
tie. This little creature exists abb
dainty, and is really wonderful IN
habits. 1t gets its name from the I'd
that every night at precisely six o'clo|
1t gives forth a resonant, far-reachi
chirp, exactly like loud electric b
In the mountains of Papua roam
pigmy-sized people. the pure PapuaI
They are a race quite distinct from
coastal peoples, and with customs II
are very primitive and strange. Thou
small. they are perfect in stature.
the young people are quite goodlo<
ing. They are now fast coming wt(
in the pale of civilization, owing to
splendid work of the travelling ma
trates of the Papuan administrator
a very fine body of civil servants.
few years back, before these MAJ
trates got in touch with these peoi
they were constantly at war. one tt
fighting another, sometimes destroy
or wiping out whole villages, or. M
often, killing the men and carrying
the women. Men and women dr
very meagerly-in fact, their main
ering Is necklaces of dogs teeth
shells. with long white bone pei
stuck through the lower portion OF
nose. and called 'nose-sticks."
men paint their bodies with red
yellow pigments, and carry big
and arrows. much bigger than tn
selves. The women, always very
iect to the men, are silent and
and do not decorate themselves mi
In time of widOwhOa1 or family MOD
ing they blacken their faces and
already very black. with charcoal.
in: them q most grotesque appeara
While the natives of the coast land
Papua demand tobacco as pres
the hill peoples delight In com
coarse salt. and. given handful.
will treasure 1t up to make II Las
long as possible.
Huts Built Up on Poles.
The native villages have the
built up on poles. and, while the fan
live on the upper story. pigs wallox
awful filth below. and, in conseque
II is possible to smell a village Oh
away. These people are very fond
dogs and pigs as pets. Pigs are
uraI to the island, but dogs are
and this is how the natives came to
them: Many years ago. when Pal
(then called New Guinea) was only
casionally visited by some plucky
ish traders, a dog belonging to oN
them proved an immense attracu
the natives; and the trader. sea-
good opportunity to make none
rather. a cheap way to get larse
plies of copra (dried cocoanuf fG
of which the natives had plenty 70
ter away-went TO Australia ana ID
of the Queensland towns bought "
the mongrel dogs that could De
He got quite ship full. and re'u
TO Papua. doing a roaring trade.
dog selling for ut least over wv
pounds-or that value In copra.
turn. the coastal natives barteren
dogs 10 the mountain natives. bu'
breeds from mongrels have
Grated until the wretched things
seen are hairless. ugly creatures.