46 A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL LAND 



and disadvantages of the native houses. Some of 

 the Government officials abuse the native houses very 

 cordially, saying that the roofs are not watertight, 

 that they harbour vermin, and so on; and make a 

 demand for iron roofs. Galvanised iron is thus 

 coming into vogue as a roofing material in New 

 Guinea. It is hideously ugly, makes a house un- 

 comfortably hot, and has but one advantage, that the 

 rain-water collected from it is of good quality. From 

 my experience I prefer the native house and the 

 native style of roofing, but it must be constructed 

 properly. A scamped roof of sago leaves of course 

 will leak ; but a properly thatched one will not, and 

 it will keep out the heat of the sun as well as the 

 rain. A native house must be renewed frequently, 

 of course. But that is rather an advantage than 

 otherwise. The old house can be burned down and 

 all its germs will perish with it. On the other hand 

 houses of wood and iron, however carefully they are 

 kept clean, will in time become harbouring grounds 

 for the germs of tropical diseases. My vote is for 

 the well-built native house (with some European 

 improvements), often renewed like the lamb in the 

 " happy family " of a menagerie. 



At Nadi I made a very fine collection and discovered 

 several new birds, including a new parrot and a new 

 podargus (" mopoke " is the Australian name). Also 

 I discovered a great number of new day-flying moths 

 with very beautiful antennae. I do not know exactly 



