(See Frontispiece.) The Bird Itself Is
Nearly As Large As A Crow, And Is Of A Rich Coffee Brown Colour.
The Head And Neck Is Of A Pure Straw Yellow Above And Rich
Metallic Green Beneath.
The long plumy tufts of golden orange
feathers spring from the sides beneath each wing, and when the
bird is in repose are partly concealed by them.
At the time of
its excitement, however, the wings are raised vertically over
tile back, the head is bent down and stretched out, and the long
plumes are raised up and expanded till they form two magnificent
golden fans, striped with deep red at the base, and fading off
into the pale brown tint of the finely divided and softly waving
points. The whole bird is then overshadowed by them, the
crouching body, yellow head, and emerald green throat forming but
the foundation and setting to the golden glory which waves above.
When seen in this attitude, the Bird of Paradise really deserves
its name, and must be ranked as one of the most beautiful and
most wonderful of living things. I continued also to get
specimens of the lovely little king-bird occasionally, as well as
numbers of brilliant pigeons, sweet little parroquets, and many
curious small birds, most nearly resembling those of Australia
and New Guinea.
Here, as among most savage people I have dwelt among, I was
delighted with the beauty of the human form-a beauty of which
stay-at-home civilized people can scarcely have any conception.
What are the finest Grecian statues to the living, moving,
breathing men I saw daily around me? The unrestrained grace of
the naked savage as he goes about his daily occupations, or
lounges at his ease, must be seen to be understood; and a youth
bending his bow is the perfection of manly beauty. The women,
however, except in extreme youth, are by no means so pleasant to
look at as the men. Their strongly-marked features are very
unfeminine, and hard work, privations, and very early marriages
soon destroy whatever of beauty or grace they may for a short
time possess. Their toilet is very simple, but also, I am sorry
to say, very coarse, and disgusting. It consists solely of a mat
of plaited strips of palm leaves, worn tight round the body, and
reaching from the hips to the knees. It seems not to be changed
till worn out, is seldom washed, and is generally very dirty.
This is the universal dress, except in a few cases where Malay
"sarongs" have come into use. Their frizzly hair is tied in a
bench at the back of the head. They delight in combing, or rather
forking it, using for that purpose a large wooden fork with four
diverging prongs, which answers the purpose of separating and
arranging the long tangled, frizzly mass of cranial vegetation
much better than any comb could do. The only ornaments of the
women are earrings and necklaces, which they arrange in various
tasteful ways. The ends of a necklace are often attached to the
earrings, and then looped on to the hair-knot behind. This has
really an elegant appearance, the beads hanging gracefully on
each side of the head, and by establishing a connexion with the
earrings give an appearance of utility to those barbarous
ornaments. We recommend this style to the consideration of those
of the fair sex who still bore holes in their ears and hang rings
thereto. Another style of necklace among these Papuan belles is
to wear two, each hanging on one side of the neck and under the
opposite arm, so as to cross each other. This has a very pretty
appearance, in part due to the contrast of the white beads or
kangaroo teeth of which they are composed with the dark glossy
skin. The earrings themselves are formed of a bar of copper or
silver, twisted so that the ends cross. The men, as usual among
savages, adorn themselves more than the women. They wear
necklaces, earrings, and finger rings, and delight in a band of
plaited grass tight round the arm just below the shoulder, to
which they attach a bunch of hair or bright coloured feathers by
way of ornament. The teeth of small animals, either alone, or
alternately with black or white beads, form their necklaces, and
sometimes bracelets also. For these latter, however, they prefer
brass wire, or the black, horny, wing-spines of the cassowary,
which they consider a charm. Anklets of brass or shell, and tight
plaited garters below the knee, complete their ordinary
decorations.
Some natives of Kobror from further south, and who are reckoned
the worst and least civilized of the Aru tribes, came one day to
visit us. They have a rather more than usually savage appearance,
owing to the greater amount of ornaments they use - the most
conspicuous being a large horseshoe-shaped comb which they wear
over the forehead, the ends resting on the temples. The back of
the comb is fastened into a piece of wood, which is plated with
tin in front, and above is attached a plume of feathers from a
cock's tail. In other respects they scarcely differed from the
people I was living with. They brought me a couple of birds, some
shells and insects; showing that the report of the white man and
his doing had reached their country. There was probably hardly a
man in Aru who had not by this time heard of me.
Besides the domestic utensils already mentioned, the moveable
property of a native is very scanty. He has a good supply of
spears and bows and arrows for hunting, a parang, or chopping-
knife, and an axe-for the stone age has passed away here, owing
to the commercial enterprise of the Bugis and other Malay races.
Attached to a belt, or hung across his shoulder, he carrion a
little skin pouch and an ornamented bamboo, containing betel-nut,
tobacco, and lime, and a small German wooden-handled knife is
generally stuck between his waist-cloth of bark and his bare
shin.
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