civilization. Perhaps the episode is true that tells of a 
Catholic priest who faced an oncoming mushroom 
maniac, raving and whistling and snorting, axe poised 
in hand, his eyes glassy and not seeing, obviously one 
possessed of a demon. Hastily making the sign of a cross 
with his crucifix and ready for instant martyrdom, our 
priest cried out ina loud voice, in Latin, ‘Adjuro te, ut 
desistas, in nomine Domini Nostri Jesu Christi’—‘I ad- 
jure thee, stay thy hand, inthe name of Our Lord Jesus 
Christ’. Lo, a miracle was wrought: the wretch lowered 
his axe and went slinking off down a path to his left, in 
the direction where souls were traditionally consigned 
to the eternal fires of hell. 
Wher talking over these things with William Barclay, 
a perceptive Control Officer, he stressed to us the amount 
of play-acting that goes on in the lives of the natives. A 
woman Is taken in adultery. Her husband puts on a first- 
class performance. Every shading of his grievance is fully 
exploited. But once he receives his compensation, his 
act ends; from then on it would seem that he could not 
care less. A native who is party to an action in court 
plays his role with devasting effect; but in the intervals 
when the proceedings are suspended he forgets his emo- 
tion and talks calmly about the daily round of minutiae. 
The Kuma are remarkable comedians, as well as gay 
companions. 
3. The mushrooms responsible for the ‘madness’. 
The appropriate Australian authorities have lately 
made some efforts to identify the mushrooms alleged to 
cause the madness. Dr. Dorothy E. Shaw, Principal 
Plant Pathologist, was the focus of these activities. Dif- 
ficulties in the field, linguistic difficulties in coping with 
native names, unfamiliarity with the proper methods of 
handling and shipping mushrooms for subsequent study 
[ 23 ] 
