^56 PYGMIES AND PAPUANS 



first few months were of little or no assistance in 

 building, and the work was done almost entirely by- 

 half a dozen of the Gurkhas. Their greatest achieve- 

 ment was the construction of a log-house in the best 

 Himalayan style, probably by far the solidest building 

 that was ever put up in Dutch New Guinea. The floor 

 was raised about three feet above the ground and it 

 was well that the workmanship was good, for it had 

 not been finished many weeks before a flood swept over 

 the camp and everyone took refuge in the house, the 

 floor of which was just awash. Afterwards the camp 

 was moved to the high bank across the river and the 

 subsequent floods swamped the house and carried it 

 away piecemeal, but two of the uprights survived and 

 were still standing a year later. 



We were a good deal annoyed at Parimau by the 

 larvcB of a small red and black beetle, which infested 

 the wood of which the frames of our huts were made. 

 These larvce, which look like small hairy caterpillars, 

 were continually dropping from the roof and when they 

 were killed, or even touched, they emitted the most 

 disagreeable musky smell. They sometimes dropped 

 upon you during the night and the smell of them would 

 wake you from your sleep. The beetle itself too, if 

 crushed or irritated, has the same disgusting peculiarity. 

 It has been mentioned above (Chapter V.) that 

 Captain Rawling in exploring to the N.W. of Parimau 

 came to the big river Kapare, which we unsuccessfully 

 tried to navigate in canoes from below to the point 

 where he had met it. While he was walking up the 

 river bed one day, the Papuans who were with him 



