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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



dawn, and none but the men remained 

 dressed in all their barbaric finery. 



The endless mud and the fact that 

 much of their lives is spent in canoes 

 has induced the Kaimari people to 

 adopt an extremely simple type of 

 clothing. This never draggles in the 

 mud and offers but little restriction to 

 any movement. The mud itself is 

 often utilised as a partial covering, 

 and many Kaimarians are plastered 

 with it for one reason or another. 

 As a mourning costume it is in general 

 favour, and Avidows smear themselves 

 with it so thoroughly as to almost hide 

 their identity. String armlets and 

 necklets likewise indicate family be- 

 reavement and, combined with the 

 mud, serve to produce a distinctly 

 unhappy effect. Before retiring for 

 the night small children are likewise 

 smeared over by their fond parents to 

 protect them from the bites of irritating 

 pests. 



The Kaimari village is large, in- 

 cluding perhaps fifteen hundred resi- 

 dents and the food-supply of so large 

 a crowd is an important feature. They 

 obtain many fish by setting barriers 

 across tidal creeks to trap those which 

 enter them at high water. Crabs 

 and shell-fish are also plentiful in the 

 mud and wild pigs are occasionally 

 captured in the mangrove forests, but 

 most important is the wild sago, which 

 flourishes along the banks of the water- 



A widow plastered with mud. 



[Photo. — Captain Frank Hurley. 



ways and not only supplies the mud- 

 dwellers with food but also provides a 

 surplus which is traded with visitors 

 from other districts. 



It is intended to construct an ex- 

 hibit in the Australian Museum galleries 

 representing a portion of a Urama ravi 

 in which the masks, weapons, and other 

 properties will be exhibited in their 

 proper association. 



In a lecture, " Passing of Wild 

 Animals," delivered at the Museum 

 recently Mr. A. S. Le Souef, Director 

 of the Taronga Park Zoological Gardens 

 deplored the fact that wild animals 

 are disappearing before the advance of 

 civilisation. This is happening in every 

 country in the world and is perhaps 

 inevitable, for man has to choose be- 

 tween domestic and wild animals and 

 naturally prefers to have the land re- 

 served for the former. In America, 

 Africa, Asia, Australia, the story is 

 the same, though here the forces of 

 extermination have not yet proceeded 

 so far as in the older countries. It has 

 often truly been stated that the in- 

 digenous mammals of Australia are the 

 most interesting in the world, and 

 it behoves us to take what steps are 



possible to prevent, or at any rate post- 

 pone, the threatened extinction of these 

 original inhabitants of our continent. 



Several of the delegates at the Pan- 

 Pacific Science Congress visited the 

 Museum during the Sydney Session 

 and, on August 29th, the Section of 

 Anthropology and Ethnology came as 

 a body under the leadership of Pro- 

 fessor A. C. Haddon. The delegates 

 were received and welcomed by the 

 President, Dr. T. Storie Dixson, and 

 conducted round the Ethnological gal- 

 leries by Mr. W. W. Thorpe. On Aug- 

 ust 30th the section held its ordinary 

 meeting in the Museum Lecture Hall, 

 and Dr. P. H. Buck, delivered a cinema 

 lecture on the arts and crafts of the 

 Maoris. 



