Evening star., 1926-05-09

| occasional treats or wild pig, WallaDy
| and cassoWary caught for them by
| their dogs. Their weapons were
| clubs, bows and arrows and bone
| spears. They made not even the most
primitive pottery and their containers
| were gourds and cOconut shells.
Are Undeveloped Mentally.
| The pygmies, who are a distinct
race living in the mountainous inte-
rior, seem even less developed men.
tally. They do, however, cultivate to-
bacco, the sweet potato plant and ba-
nanas. The English expedition of
| 1911 managed to reach the lowest of
their villages. From the very few
that the English saw, the pygmies APP
pear to be a naturally dwarfed race
not stunted. They average about 4
feet 8 inches in height. They are
yellowish-black in color with short.
woody black hair. They have good
deal of short downy black hair scat
tered about the body.
| To communicate with the pygmies,
the Stirling expedition will be reduced
practically to signs. since their Ian.
guage is entirely unknown. So far
as the English expedition could deter
| mine. the pygmies have words for but
| two numerals-One and tWo-and il
is doubtful whether they can count
up to 10.
1t is possible that the high noun
tains harbor peoples whose represent
atives have never been seen by Euro
peans, but so far definite knowledge
of the existence of such a people does
not exist. If the Stirling expedition
reaches its objective this point will be
determined.
| DIR. van Leeuwen, director of the
botanic gardens at BuitenZorg. ac-
companies the expedition to make col
lections of the New Guinea plants.
| He will make all his collections in du-
plicate so that a complete set of the
many new plants sure to be found
can be sent to the Smithsonian Insti-
| tuition.
Plans to Get Birds.
| To make the, bird collections, DR..
Stirling expects to take with him a
trained native bird preparator, who
| should be able to prepare an average
of three birds a day. Since the expe-
dition will probably remain in the field
until December, it ought to bring back
an uneXampled set of bird specimens.
| The territory to be covered stretches
| from sea level to an altitude of 10000
feet. so that the bird life. should be
extremely varied. Rare species known
, TO inhabit New Guinea include the
| crowned pigeon. the king bird of para
| disc. ecleCtus parrots, lemon-crested
| cockatoo, lories and the six-plumed
bird of paradise.
The mapping of this vast unknown
! territory constitutes, of course. one of
| the chief purposes of the America n
Dutch expedition and is an object of
| particular Importance to the Dutch
| authorities. Mr.. Leroux of the Batavia
Museum has charge of the cartogra-
ply and survey work. He has prob
ably done more of such work than
any other man in the East Indies. his
| experience covering large sections of
Borneo and Sumatra. A small crew of
trained native cartographers assist
| him.
New Guinea is the largest island in
the world-it is 400 miles long by 400
miles across, with an area of 30S. 900
square miles. Yet less probably is
known of it and particularly of the
half under Dutch rule than of any
other large area in the world. The
mountainous backbone of Dutch New
Guinea has been the goal of many an
| expedition, the results of which were
limited to sickness and disappoint-
ment.
Thick Coastal Jungle.
The thick coastal jungle which
stretches back for 80 and 40 miles
from the coast to the foothills, has
proved an almost impossible barrier.
1t is a patch.quilt of rivers which are
| often in flood. Rain is almost constant
| in that equatorial area. The labyrinth
of rivers has led many parties astray,
1t is to counteract this difficulty that
| the 1ackey transport plane of the
| Stirling expedition will be most USE
| full.
Cutting through the jungle, except
Tor snort distances, is practically out
OF the question. The English expedi-
ton of 1911 spent five weeks advancing
| five miles across country. Not ONLY
does path have to be hewn with
axes, but advance means frequently
wading through mud, and parasites
make brushing through the under.
! growth serious and dangerous bus
mess. Almost every leaf harbors a
leech with head stretched out eternally
waiting to attach itself to man or
beast. Other pests of the New Guinea
jungle are the blue bottle flies which
lay maggots. in blankets and clothes.
and the stingless honey bee, which is a
worse enemy than the Alaskan mos
quito.
The greatest drawback to successful
advance, however, has hitherto been
| the food supply. Dependent almost
entirely on what they brought with
them, expeditions have consumed all
their energy in attempting to establish
advance bases. The problem of feed
ing their carriers and getting a large
enough reserve up for an extended
push into the mountains has proved
too much for them.
Hill People Are Hardest.
1t is for this reason that carriers
are Of such great importance. The
native Javanese, Ambonese and Ma.
lays are not up to the exactions of the
work. The people who have best stood
the test in previous expeditions are
the Dyaks, hill people from the nm.
lands Of Borneo. 1t is for that reason
that DR.. Stirling has recruited 20
Dyaks as carriers.
The transporting Of the food Is no
more difficult than preserving it from
the dampness of the jungle, OnIv care.
fully selected foods fit for a tronical
climate can be taken and the only
possible method of packing is in air.
tight containers.
| In addition to combating all these
difficulties, the American-Dutch expe.
dition must guard itself from disease.
Tropical fevers and dysentery have
turned expeditions back before now,
Then there is the dreaded beri.beri
which seems to be the result of i'm.
proper diet. Pneumonia from the con.
slant damp and drenchings from floods
and rains must also be contended
| against.
L
People OF Alexandria and Cairo