96 PYGMIES AND PAPUANS 



times when the coast was utterly deserted and hardly 

 a trace of the villages remained. We were never able 

 to learn what it was that prompted these migrations 

 j^ of the natives, but it is probable that the pursuit of 

 food was the guiding motive. The wandering habits 

 of the people will certainly make it very difficult to 

 administer the country and civilise the people, if an 

 attempt to do so is ever made, 

 ^j. The typical native h ouse of j the Mimika district is 



a simple rectangular structure with a framework of 

 light poles driven into the ground, the cross-pieces 

 and roof pole being tied to the uprights by strands of 

 rattan. In some houses the roof is a simple slope 

 downwards from front to back, but in most cases there 

 is a central ridge pole from which the roof slopes to 

 the back and front, that at the back being longer and 

 going lower than that in front. The height of the ridge 

 is about eight feet ; after we had been for some time in 

 the country the people improved their building in 

 imitation of our houses and built their huts ten, and 

 even twelve feet high. The roof is made of " atap," 

 the thatch described above (p. 60), and the walls are 

 mats made from the leaves of a Screw-pine [Pandamis). 

 The area of an average hut is about 9 by 12 feet, the 

 longer dimensions being from front to back. 



The floor is covered with sand to a depth of several 

 ^ inches, which is prevented from escaping into the street 

 by a board placed on its edge along the front of the 

 hut. The sand is brought from the seashore and must 

 be of great value in preserving the health of the people : 

 the huts are frequently undeF~\vater in the big floods 



