FOOD OF THE NATIVES 125 



greedily. A number of different kinds of fruits, most of 

 them disagreeable to European tastes, are found growing 

 in the jungle and form a welcome addition to their fare. 

 Birds they get occasionally, but their skill with the bow 

 and arrow is not remarkable. 



Most of their meat is obtained by hunting with dogs 

 the wild pig, the wallaby and the cassowar\/. The pig 

 {Sics papuensis), though it is not really a native of New 

 Guinea, was introduced into the island so long ago that 

 it has become as well established as the rabbit has become 

 in this country. In some places, particularly near the 

 foot of the mountains, pigs are fairly numerous, and the 

 natives kill a good many ; they are very savage beasts, 

 and I saw a native terribly gashed by a large boar, which 

 was shortly afterwards shot by one of our Gurkhas. 



The Wallaby (Dorcopsis lorentzii) is a small kangaroo, 

 about two feet in height when it stands upright ; it seems 

 to be fairly evenly distributed all over the district. When 

 the natives bestir themselves they seem to be able to catch 

 the waHaby fairly easily ; in four consecutive days we 

 saw the remains of thirteen brought into the village of 

 Parimau. The flesh is coarse and has a very strong musky 

 flavour. 



There are two kinds of Cassowary in the Mimika dis- 

 trict, a small species new to science {Casuarius claudi), 

 which w^as discovered in the mountains at an altitude of 

 about 1500 feet, and a large species {Casuarius sclateri), 

 which was fairly abundant everywhere. We frequently 

 heard their curious booming cry at night and we often saw 

 their tracks in the mud of the jungle or on the river bank, 

 but they are very shy birds and are seldom seen. 



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