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.
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