Strange Sights in Far-away Papua 



3 



69 



mation probably for safet)'. There was 

 no walking along the beach for them, 

 there being scarcely a clear hundred yards 

 for miles. When approached they quick- 

 ened their pace perceptibly. 



The individual crab is small and has no 

 shell. The spread of the legs would 

 probably be i^ inches, and the body is 

 of dark fawn-color, exactly resembling 

 the wet sand of the beach, so that the 

 creatui-e's hue is without doubt yet an- 

 other of Nature's adaptations for protec- 

 tion. It is remarkable also that it imi- 

 tates only the wet sand, for the dry sand 

 is of a dazzling silky whiteness. 



Equally wonderful is the bower-bird, 

 at once gardener, architect, and artist. 

 Not only does it build the most extra- 

 ordinary nest known to naturalists — a 

 long, tunnel-like bower, framed like a 

 delicate Gothic arch — but it actually lays 

 out a garden. I have myself seen the 

 creature's marvelous achievement. It has 

 definite color-sense, for it picks the blos- 

 soms of orchids and arranges them in 

 alternate lines of mauve and white. The 

 whole impulse is, of course, the universal 

 one of love, for among its rows of 

 flowers it dances to -its mate. This was 

 probably the prettiest and most fasci- 

 nating of all the sights provided by Na- 

 ture in New Guinea, that land of sur- 

 prises. 



KK^r.-\RKAln,E NOSE ORNAMENTS AND HEAD 

 DRESS 



The chief costume of the women of the 

 coast tribes is the extraordinary petti- 

 coat made of grass or of a wide-bladed 

 weed, each leaf of which would be about 

 3 inches wide. The blades copiposing 

 this garment fall down perpendicularly 

 from a waist-band, to which layer after 

 layer is attached, until the "rami" has that 

 fine spread which used to be attained by 

 more civilized women by a contrivance 

 which was called a "dress-improver." As 

 we went inland and rose gradually higher 

 and higher in the mountains, we observed 

 that the "rami" was growing shorter and 

 shorter, until at length it disappeared al- 

 together, and one mav reasonably con- 



sider the absence or presence of this 

 garment as the great symbol of division 

 between the coast natives and those of 

 the highlands proper. 



Among the men, both highland and 

 lowland, the great symbol of dandyism is 

 the "chimani," or nose ornament. This 

 is made from a section of a shell about ^ 

 of an inch thick in the middle and taper- 

 ing most beautifully toward the ends. 

 It is accurately made, perfectly round and 

 polished, and a good example would be 

 about a span long. A fine "chimani" very 

 often has two black rings painted round it 

 about one inch distant from the end. 

 These things are manufactured by the 

 coast people, and they drift by exchange 

 through the whole country. Very few 

 young blades can afford to possess one, 

 and accordingly it may be lent, either for 

 a consideration or as a very special favor. 

 The possessor of one of these ornaments 

 could easily buy a wife for it, and some- 

 times it is paid as a tribal tribute by one 

 who may have to pay blood-money, or is 

 unable to give the statutory pig as atone- 

 ment for a murder. 



But the most splendid of all the articles 

 of the Papuan costume is the feather 

 head-dress, 16 feet high, which forms 

 the central point of attraction when it 

 occurs in a tribal dance. This ornament 

 is extremely rare and is always an heir- 

 loom, for it has taken generations to com- 

 plete. It is a wonderfully fantastic device 

 of feathers, built upon a light frame- 

 work. The Bird of Paradise and the 

 Gaura pigeon are laid under tribute for 

 its construction, and the feathers of the 

 different birds and of different species 

 of the same bird are kept carefully apart 

 and are arranged in rows according to 

 their natural order. A few lines of Bird 

 of Paradise, a few lines of Gaura pigeon, 

 then a few lines of another species of Bird 

 of Paradise, and so on. The whole con- 

 trivance is most fantastic, and looks really 

 impressive in the weird light of the 

 torches, as the dancers, decorated with 

 flowing bunches of grass behind, proceed 

 with their revel. 



Although the women do all the hard 



