5^4 



The National Geographic Magazine 



people has been in existence from time 

 immemorial and is no imitation of Euro- 

 pean methods. To reach Paruru the pot- 

 ters must undertake a perilous voyage, 

 for which they are dependent on the tail 

 of the southeast monsoon. The captains, 

 of course, have no knowledge whatever 

 of the science of navigation and sail their 

 vessel by cross-bearings, or, when out of 

 sight of land, by sheer instinct. The ves- 

 sel is constructed of a number of canoes 

 lashed together, and is propelled by two 

 batlike sails. 



Another interesting feature of this re- 

 gion was the presence there of a piebald 

 people. For the most part their bodies 

 were brown, but they were marked with 

 pinkish patches, unevenly distributed. It 

 is not improbable that this marking might 

 be due to a disease contracted from a too 

 constant fish diet, but if it were a dis- 

 ease I could not discover that it gave any 

 discomfort. Against this theory must be 

 set this fact, that I observed one man in 

 whom the light markings predominated. 

 Tu fact, he was quite fresh-colored, like 

 a European, and had light hair. These 

 piebald people were not a class apart from 

 the rest of the Hula villagers, but shared 

 their life in every respect. 



PI'.NliTRATlNr. INTO THE FOREST 



.'\t times the brushwood was very dense 

 and we had to cut our way, but where 

 the forest was closely matted above, form- 

 ing a thick canopy, which excluded the 

 light, nothing, of course, could grow be- 

 neath. At points where the light pene- 

 trated the undergrowth was immediately 

 thick again. The path, such as it was, 

 was stony and hard. As we trudged 

 along in the wet we made the acquaint- 

 ance of a new discomfort. This mani- 

 fested itself in the presence of a leech, 

 a little creature about }i inch long, -with 

 slender body, very much smaller than the 

 European variety, but inflicting the same 

 sort of three-cornered bite. The native 

 carriers offer the easiest victims, for the 

 leeches fasten upon their bare heels in 

 great numbers, and they had constantly 

 to stop and brush them ofif with little 



switches which they carried in their 

 hands. Sometimes, when the leeches had 

 bitten very deep, the carriers had to lay 

 down their loads and pull them off with 

 their fingers. They would endure them 

 until they became too bad, say when a 

 dozen or so had adhered to each foot. At 

 this time we did not suft'er much, but later 

 on, in the journey from Faula to Mafulu, 

 they got over the tops of our boots and 

 socks and attacked our ankles. The bite 

 was not actually painful, and the pres- 

 ence of our enemy was not revealed until 

 we realized that our feet were wet with 

 blood. The chief haunts of the leech are 

 wet stones and moss and low herbage. 



EDIBLE PALM AND EXTRAORDINARY 

 ORCHIDS 



About the elevation that we were trav- 

 ersing there grows a particular kind of 

 palm, peculiarly grateful to the native 

 when he is hungry, a not infrequent oc- 

 currence, and at such moments of stress 

 they discard their loads, search out this 

 palm, and cut it down. At the top, just 

 below the crown of the palm, the last 

 shoot, about six feet long, remains green. 

 It is opened lengthways and is peeled until 

 the inside layers are reached. These 

 layers are straw-colored, like asparagus, 

 and to the taste are sweet, slightly dashed 

 with acid. Europeans, as well as natives, 

 can eat great quantities of this whole- 

 some and enjoyable food with impunity. 

 It is excellent also for quenching thirst, 

 for which it is often most convenient, as 

 it grows in waterless regions. 



The gloom of the forest was diversified 

 by the colors of its extraordinary orchids. 

 One of these (Graiiiiiiatophyllnm specio- 

 snm), which had made its home on a lofty 

 tree, was of almost incredible luxuriance, 

 and could the whole plant have been se- 

 cured it would not have weighed less than 

 half a ton. I despatched one of my native 

 boys to climb the tree to see if he could 

 secure a specimen. He went about his 

 task in the native fashion. The climber 

 stands with his face to the trunk, which, 

 as well as his body, is encircled with a 

 hoop, and his ankles are tied together. 



