Neiu Guinea Pile Villages. 



53 



There are many ancient voyages, especially among the Dutch, that give us 

 accoiints of the pile villages more or less distinct, but we may pass them by, for the 

 men of New Guinea still build in many places precisely as did their remote ancestors. 

 It is to be noted that as the scale of humanit}- descends many charadleristics of what 

 was once considered the peculiar property of animals, instinct, appear in human works ; 



FIG. 46. SACKED IIOUSK AT DOREI, D'URVILLE. 



early habitations differed little for many generations, but resembled their archetype 

 almost as closely as the cell of the honey bee in our modern hives resembles that of 

 H3'bla's honey-maker. I shall, however, quote from Dumont D'Urville,^' who, three 

 quarters of a century ago, gave his readers a glimpse of one of these villages on Geel- 

 vink Bay, off Dorei in the northwestern part of Dutch New Guinea : 



Chaque village renferme de huit a quinze maisous etablies sur des pieux : mais chaque maison 

 se compose d'une rangee de cellules distinctes, et regoit plusieurs families : Quelques-unes de ces 

 maisons contiennent uue doulile rangee, de cellules separees par une couloir que regne dans toute 

 leur etendue. Ces edifices, entierement construits en bois grossieremeut travaille sont perces de toutes 

 parts a jour et branlent souvent sous les pas du voyageur. 



''' Voyage de la corvette L'Astrolabe execute par ordre du Roi pendant les ann^es 1826-1829 sous le command- 

 ment de M. J. Dumont D'Ur\ille, Capitaine de Vaisseau. Histoire du Voyage, Tome Quatrieme p. 607. Paris, 1830-33. 



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