44 A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL LAND 



make the better cloth. This cloth is stained in 

 artistic designs with different colours, red, yellow, or 

 grey. A petticoat reaching from the waist half-way 

 down the thighs is the ordinary dress of the women. 

 But when a woman is with child she will often wear 

 a shawl of native cloth over her shoulder, and this 

 drapes her whole body. 



At Samarai I put up at a trader's house and got 

 into touch with Mr. Whitton, the chief trader there, 

 learning from him the best part of the coast to go to 

 in order to penetrate to the inland mountains. My 

 idea was to explore the mountains for lepidoptera. 

 Mr. Whitton advised me to go along the North-East 

 Coast to Fergusson Island. There the mountains 

 came close to the coast. Accordingly I chartered a 

 cutter called the Pioneer, a vessel of six tons, with a 

 native crew of five, and we made our way to Fergusson 

 Island. The coast natives of New Guinea are as a 

 rule very good sailors, and a great deal of the trade 

 of the South Sea Islands is carried on with their help. 



We had a fine trip lasting for three or four days, 

 with a strong trade wind blowing by day and dying 

 away by night. Navigation in the South Sea Islands 

 is made easy usually by the regularity of the winds. 

 Hurricanes are rare. The trade wind, which reaches 

 its greatest strength by day and fades away at night, 

 is a great convenience, for it is usual to anchor during 

 the night in the shelter of some island or reef and to 

 voyage only by daylight. 



