70 PYGMIES AND PAPUANS 



provisions at Parimau was exhausted and the process 

 of taking up a fresh supply had to be begun again. 



It was not until our third batch of coolies came 

 at the end of December, that we were able to accumu- 

 late enough stores at Parimau to serve as a base for 

 a moderately long expedition from that place. Before 

 that time it had never been possible to make a longer 

 march than three days from Parimau, and there had 

 been long periods when from lack of coolies everything 

 had been at a standstill. Those times were of course 

 excessively trying both to the health and to the tempers 

 of the members of the expedition. It was irksome 

 beyond words to see day after day the mountains in 

 the distance and to be unable to move a step nearer 

 to them. 



The distance from Wakatimi to Parimau, though 

 ^ only twenty-two miles as the crow flies, was about 

 forty miles by water, and it took from five to seven 

 days, according to the state of the river, to accomplish 

 the journey in canoes. While the coolies were still 

 comparatively fresh, we sometimes sent off as many 

 as six canoes at a time from Wakatimi to Parimau, 

 but with sickness and fatigue their numbers quickly 

 diminished and two or three canoes laden with stores, 

 accompanied by one " escort " canoe manned by 

 Javanese soldiers and convicts, was the size of the 

 usual river " transport." The larger canoes were paddled 

 by five or six and the smaller by four men ; the average 

 load carried by one canoe was about eight hundred 

 pounds' weight, of which a considerable amount was 

 consumed on the journey. The men were given one 



