132 PYGMIES AND PAPUANS 



with a long-drawn tremulous shout. On the occasion 

 of a particularly alarming thunderstorm, when the 

 lightning flashes were almost unceasing, the men came 

 out of doors and with long sticks beat the ground in 

 front of their huts ; then they waved the sticks in the 

 air, shouting loudly meanwhile. Curiously enough the 

 rare whistle of a certain bird, which we never identified, 

 was always greeted by the men of Parimau with a shout 

 precisely similar to that with which they greet the 

 thunder. 



The first sight of the new moon was signalised by a 

 short sharp bark rather than a shout. Several times 

 on the day following the first sight of the new moon 

 I noticed a spear decorated with white feathers exposed 

 conspicuously in the village, but whether it had any 

 connection with the kalendar I cannot say. 



When the first drops of rain of the day began to 

 fall, the men were sometimes seen to snap their fingers 

 four times towards the four quarters of the compass. 



A curious ceremony was twice observed at a time 

 of heavy rain, when the Mimika was rising rapidly and 

 threatening to sweep away the village of Parimau. A 

 party of men walked down to the edge of the river, 

 and one of them with a long spear threshed the water, 

 while the others at each stroke shouted, " Mhu " (water, 

 flood). Then they went up to the village, and in front 

 of each door they dug a hole, into which they poured 

 a coconut-full of water ; again they shouted " Mhu," 

 and then filled up the hole with sand. 



That they have some belief in the supernatural is 

 certain. We learnt a word niniki, which undoubtedly 



