March 3, 192 1] 



NATURE 



27 



export of the chief minerals, gold and copper, has 

 decreased, but there are good prospects of develop- 

 ment and increased production at Port Moresby and 

 Misima Island. The value of the gold was 26,766^. 

 in 1919 as against 33,512/. in 1918. Copper was worth 

 11,5371. in 1918, but only 1653L in 1919. 



The actual revenue of the Territory, including a 

 grant of 30,000/. from the Commonwealth of Aus- 

 tralia, amounted during- the year to 103,120/. The 

 expenditure was 102,961/. Thus a surplus of 18,778/. 

 in 1918 was increased by about 159/. to 18,937/. 



The European population was 1007. Coloured 

 persons other than Papuans were 304, of whom 217 

 were mission teachers. There were also 340 

 lX)lice and 821 village constables of various races. 

 During the year 8610 native labourers were 

 recruited, to whom more than 40,000/. was paid in 

 wages. 



The actual native population is uncertain. A 

 quarter of a million is suggested by the Acting 

 Medical Officer. In some districts the number is 

 increasing, but around Port Moresby the physique 

 of the natives appears to be deteriorating through the 

 adoption of European food and clothing. In a supple- 

 ment to the report the Rev. J. B. Clark, of the 

 London Missionary Society, gives a hopeful account 

 of the progress of the natives. Boys leaving school 

 become telephone operators and clerks, and some of 

 the native churches are capable of self-government. 

 The relations of the natives with the Government 

 have been, on the whole, satisfactory. A few affrays 

 and murders have taken place in remote districts, but 

 there has been a general prevalence of respect for 

 law and order. An incident in the Chirima district 

 of the Mambare Division is typical of dealings with 

 the natives. The attempt of a patrol to arrest a native 

 led to an attack in which another native was killed 

 and a woman and a boy were wounded. The natives 

 were afterwards pacified by the Resident Magistrate 

 of the Kumusi Division. The pacification involved 

 some difficulty and risk, as the natives took to the 

 bush and refused to parley unless the officers, Messrs. 

 Blyth and Fowler, went to them unarmed and alone. 

 The officers took the risk, and after a conference the 

 confidence of the natives was restored. 



A valuable scientific section of the report is found 

 in the supplements contributed by the Resident 

 Magistrates and patrol officers, the Medical Officer, 

 the Government Geologist, and the Agricultural 

 Expert. 



A paper of considerable ethnological interest by the 

 late W. Beavers (c/. Nature, February 19, 1920) 

 is also included. It deals with the use of emblems 

 or insignia of man-killing among certain tribes of 

 the north-western part of Papua. A preface gives 

 an account of the ceremonious reception of the man- 

 killer by his village, and of his life on his return. 

 The insignia consist of various decorations of shell- 

 rings, feathers, dog-teeth, and similar articles. There 

 are also other distinctions not of a material nature, 

 such as taking the name of the individual slain, pro- 

 hibition of his flesh to the slayer, skull trophies, and 

 mutilations. A further account describes the Kortopo 

 ceremony by which the privileges of the man-killer 

 are passed on to others. The custom is now decadent, 

 and the slaving of a fat pig is sufficient justification 

 for the wearing of the emblems. 



The polyglot character of the tribes of Papua is 

 shown bv an index of the vocabularies of native 

 dialects contained in the annual reports from i88q 

 to 19 18. There are more than 450 titles. The present 

 report increases them by fourteen. 



Sidney H. Ray. 



NO. 2679, VOL. 107] 



Ancient Egyptian Survivals in Modern 

 Egypt. 



A' 



N interesting lecture upon the above subject was 

 • delivered on behalf of the Egypt Exploration 

 Societv at the rooms of the Royal Society, Burlington 

 House', on February 23 by Prof. C. G. Seligman. 



Two classes of survival from ancient Egypt may be 

 distinguished, namely, (i) beliefs and (2) certain 

 technological objects' and processes. Each group 

 embraces, on one hand, survivals in situ, such as 

 certain beliefs connected with the calendar, and a 

 ceremonv in which a sacred boat takes a prominent 

 part; and, on the other, examples from other parts 

 of Africa in which Egyptian customs, often modified 

 by later cultural waves, have persisted for a longer or 

 shorter period. " As examples may be cited certain 

 medieval graves of Senegal, and probably the funeral 

 customs of a number of tribes of Equatoria, as well 

 as the belief in multiple souls found in the Southern 

 Congo and^ West Africa. 



A striking example is found in the persistence of 

 old beliefs attached to certain days. In the Sallier 

 papyrus, which dates from the time of Rameses II., 

 or possiblv of his successor, Athyr 19th is marked 

 as one of the days "to beware " : "storms are engen- 

 dered in the skies; do not travel on the river neither 

 up nor down; do not ... at all on this day." In a 

 modern calendar for 1878 the instructions for Zu'l- 

 Heggeh 4th, which corresponds to the Coptic H'atour, 

 i.e. Athvr 19th, is: "Avoid travelling on the Mediter- 

 ranean." Thus we have persisting for some 3500 

 years the tradition that this day is unlucky for 

 travellers. 



Another interesting example mentioned by Prof. 

 Seligman was that of a boat which is kept at Luxor, 

 at the present day on the roof of a mosque, but a 

 few years ago suspended in a tree. At stated 

 times the boat is brought down, decorated with green 

 branches, placed upon a cart, filled with children, and 

 taken in procession round the town. There are three 

 boat processions in Luxor every year, one to com- 

 memorate the birthday of Abu'l Heggag, the patron 

 saint of Luxor, and the others on the birthday of the 

 Prophet and the beginning of Ramadan. 



These beliefs and ceremonies are of interest, not 

 only because the period over which they have per- 

 sisted is longer than that bridged by the host of beliefs 

 and practices that constitute the folk-lore of other 

 peoples, but also because it is possible to adduce per- 

 fectly definite evidence of their direct continuity over a 

 very much longer period of time. The interest of the 

 boat ceremony is even greater ; Prof. Seligman thought 

 a fairly good case could be made out for a number of 

 boat ceremonies still performed in the East — e.g. one 

 he had himself witnessed in Ceylon — having originated 

 in Egypt and been carried eastward by Islam, just 

 as was the Malay alphabet. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Cambridge.- — Trinity College has offered to estab- 

 lish a praelectorship in geodesv if satisfactory arrange- 

 ments are made for the institution in the University 

 of a school for research in that subject. This is a very 

 welcome move forward in a scheme which has been 

 under consideration for some time to found a centre 

 of geodetic teaching, and ultimatelv a Geodetic Insti- 

 tute, at Cambridge. 



It is proposed to offer a diploma in hvgiene which 

 will suit th^ needs of medically qualified students of 

 public health whose qualification is foreign and not 

 registrable in Great Britain. 



