The
Most Noticeable Difference Was That Their Legs Below The Knee Were
Distinctly Shorter Than Those Of The Ordinary Papuan, And That Their
Feet Seemed Much Broader And Shorter And Very Flat, So That Altogether
They Presented A Most Extraordinary Appearance.
The Agai Ambu hardly
ever walk on dry land, and their feet bleed if they attempt to do
so.
They appeared to be slightly bowlegged and walk with a mincing
gait, lifting their feet straight up, as if they were pulling them
out of the mud.
Sir Francis Winter, the acting Governor of British New Guinea, was so
interested in our discovery, that he himself made another expedition
with Monckton to see these people, while I was still in New Guinea. On
his return I stayed with him for some time at Government House,
Port Moresby, and he gave me a copy of his report on the Agai Ambu,
which explains the curious physical formation of these people better
than I could do.
He says: "On the other side of this mere, and close to a bed of reeds
and flags, was a little village of the small Ahgai-ambo tribe, and
about three-quarters of a mile off was a second village. After much
shouting our Baruga followers induced two men and a woman to come
across to us from the nearest village. Each came in a small canoe,
which, standing up, they propelled with a long pole. One man and the
woman ventured on shore to where we were standing.
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