It Looked As If He Might
Be A Ne'er-Do-Weel Or An Idiot Whom His Friends Could Afford To
Experiment With Before Taking The Risk Of Coming Over Themselves,
But His Song Was No Doubt A Farewell To His Friends, Whom He Possibly
Never Expected To See Again.
He certainly looked horribly frightened as he stepped out of the
canoe.
We at once saw that there was some truth in the reports about
the physical formation of these people, although there had been
exaggeration in the descriptions of their feet as "webbed." There
was, between the toes, an epidermal growth more distinct than in the
case of other peoples, though not so conspicuous as to permit of the
epithet "half-webbed," much less "webbed," being applied to them. 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.
"The Ahgai-ambo have for a period that extends beyond native traditions
lived in this swamp. At one time they were fairly numerous, but a
few years ago some epidemic reduced them to about forty. They never
leave their morass, and the Baruga assured us that they are not able
to walk properly on hard ground, and that their feet soon bleed
if they try to do so. The man that came on shore was for a native
middle-aged. He would have been a fair-sized native, had his body
from the hips downward been proportionate to the upper part of his
frame. He had a good chest and, for a native, a thick neck; and his
arms matched his trunk. His buttocks and thighs were disproportionately
small, and his legs still more so. His feet were short and broad,
and very thin and flat, with, for a native, weak-looking toes. This
last feature was still more noticeable in the woman, whose toes were
long and slight and stood out rigidly from the foot as though they
possessed no joints. The feet of both the man and the woman seemed to
rest on the ground something as wooden feet would do. The skin above
the knees of the man was in loose folds, and the sinews and muscles
around the knee were not well developed. The muscles of the shin were
much better developed than those of the calf. In the ordinary native
the skin on the loins is smooth and tight, and the anatomy of the body
is clearly discernible; but the Ahgai-ambo man had several folds of
thick skin or muscle across the loins, which concealed the outline
of his frame. On placing one of our natives, of the same height,
alongside the marsh man, we noticed that our native was about three
inches higher at the hips.
"I had a good view of our visitor, while he was standing sideways
towards me, and in figure and carriage he looked to me more ape-like
than any human being that I have seen. The woman, who was of middle
age, was much more slightly formed than the man, but her legs were
short and slender in proportion to her figure, which from the waist
to the knees was clothed in a wrapper of native cloth.
"The houses of the near village were built on piles, at a height of
about twelve feet from the surface of the water, but one house at the
far village must have been three or four feet more elevated. Their
canoes, which are small, long, and narrow, and have no outrigger, axe
hollowed out to a mere shell to give them buoyancy. Although the open
water was several feet deep, it was so full of aquatic plants that
a craft of any width, or drawing more than a few inches, would make
but slow progress through it. Needless to say that these craft, which
retain the round form of the log, are exceedingly unstable, but their
owners stand up in them and, pole them along without any difficulty.
"These people are very expert swimmers, and can glide through beds
of reeds or rushes, or over masses of floating vegetable matter,
with ease. They live on wild fowl, fish, sago and marsh plants,
and on vegetables procured from the Baruga in exchange for fish and
sago. They keep a few pigs on platforms built underneath or alongside
their houses. Their dead they place on small platforms among the reeds,
and cover the corpse over with a roof of rude matting. Their dialect
is almost the same as that of the Baruga. Probably their ancestors
at one time lived close to the swamp, and in order to escape from
their enemies were driven to seek a permanent refuge in it."
Thus it will be seen that Sir Francis was much impressed with these
people, and he heartily congratulated me upon our discovery.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 42 of 59
Words from 41719 to 42760
of 59060
