158 PYGMIES AND PAPUANS 



of them ran away again, and it was hours before we 

 moved from the camp. 



When once they were started they went steadily 

 enough for about a mile and then they all put down their 

 loads and refused to go on, but as they had stopped in 

 the middle of the bed of the river it was impossible to 

 remain there, so with promises of cloth and beads we 

 urged them on a little further. The same performance 

 was repeated a dozen times at intervals, which became 

 shorter and shorter until our coaxing and cajoling availed 

 no longer and there was nothing for it but to stop and 

 make a camp. It had taken us more than four hours to 

 cover less than three miles, most of which was easy going 

 over sand and stones in the bed of the river. We should 

 have been awkwardly situated if they had all gone away 

 and left us to carry the loads, as they did a few weeks 

 later to Marshall, who was deserted by them and forced 

 to leave some of his baggage behind him. Needless to 

 say, these misfortunes would not have occurred if our 

 Malay coolies had been suited to their work. As it was, 

 there were considerable periods when we had either to 

 make use of what help the natives consented to give us, 

 or else be content to do nothing at all. 



When it suits them to do so, the Mimika Papuans 

 can carry very heavy loads and they manage to cover 

 the ground at a very respectable pace. They wrap up 

 the load in the mat made of pandanus leaves, which 

 every man always carries with him to serve both as a 

 sleeping mat and as a shelter from the rain. The mat is 

 securely tied by ropes of rattan or any of the other 

 innumerable creepers of the jungle, and two strong loops 



