182 Naturalist at Large 



to be put to death, that its skin and skeleton might be pre- 

 served, Ah Woo always begged for the chance to perform. 



He nearly got us into trouble one day at some small town 

 in New Guinea, where one of the natives had just died. 

 We of course knew nothing about this, our interest being 

 centered in some carved wooden drums which we bought 

 for the Peabody Museum. Getting into one of the big out- 

 rigger canoes to carry the objects out to our ship, Ah W^oo 

 began a joyous tattoo. Everything changed in the flashing 

 of an eye. Angry Papuans swarmed from every house, and 

 it was not long before we learned that you must not beat 

 drums in the hearing of their dead. Souls might be called 

 back from their wanderings. 



Indit and Bandoung came to us through the good offices 

 of Dr. Treub. They were mild, gentle, friendly Javanese. 

 They had been naturalists' assistants on board the Dutch 

 exploring ship Siboga and literally knew almost every nook 

 and cranny of the Indies. They made very passable bird 

 and mammal skins, although we were in such a rush col- 

 lecting everything — reptiles, amphibians, insects, and ma- 

 rine invertebrates — that they never had a chance to do 

 their best work. They were patient beyond belief, and 

 when I left Java one of them wrote me a most charming 

 and touching letter in Malay, in the Dutch transliteration, 

 perfectly spelled and like copperplate. These two "boys" 

 were nature's gentlemen. 



As I look back over the many years when I used to go 

 bug hunting, an innumerable pageant of kindly compan- 

 ions passes before my eyes. I think particularly of Juicio 

 and Churima. These were probably not their right names, 



