Bark-cloth in New Guinea. 57 



auder gezertt. Zwei Stiicke der Sammlung sind iiber 2 m lang. . . .Die gewonlichen 

 Farben sind gebrannter Korallenkalk, gebrannte rote Erde und verkohltes Holz. 

 Diese Farben werden in Kokosschalen mit Wasser verriihrt und mit dem Finger oder 

 irgend einem Stabcben aufgetragen. Zum gelbfarben dienen in King die frischen 

 Wurzelknollen der Pflanze ea7to {Cnrcuma longa), in Pugusch die Rinde des Baumes 

 pakorr. Die blaue Farbe ist Berliner Blau." ^^ 



It is certainly primitive to beat the bark off the tree instead of cutting the log ; 

 the appearance of Prussian Blue in place of indigo is interesting. I am not acquainted 

 with the cloths from the different groups of this wild and little known archipelago. 

 The only one seen was much like the fabric made generallj^ in New Guinea, coarse 

 and poorl}^ beaten, but sufficient for clothing of which the natives of some parts of 

 that great island have almost no use and the bark-cloth is made for dancing skirts 

 principally. Of these the martj-red apostle to New Guinea writes: — "Nowhere in 

 New Guinea have I found spinning or weaving. They dye the petticoats and pieces 

 of native cloth (which is made from the bark of a tree and used at dances), with mud 

 turmeric, mangrove bark, avie.^ sosogoro and other plants." Chalmers is speaking of 

 the people of the extensive island of Kiwai at the mouth of the Fly River on the south 

 coast of New Guinea. Here, as everywhere in the Pacific tapa region, we find tur- 

 meric iised as a yellow dye. He continues: — 



" In making petticoats, some of the fibre of the 3?oung fronds of the sago palm 

 is steeped in a muddy hole and left there for a few days; when taken out and washed, 

 it is quite a brown colour. To produce the yellow dye turmeric is scraped and mixed 

 with water, and in that some of the fibre is steeped. The other dyes are procured in 

 the same way. Having no pots of anj- kind in which to boil fibre and bark, or seeds, 

 they are not able to secure the same distinct and fast colours as those emplo3-ed east 

 of Orokolo."« 



Melanesian or Papuan the fabric is much the same. Owing to the scant fashion 

 of clothing in vogue in these western Pacific islands the specimens that have reached 

 museums are generally narrow strips, usually' of a brown colour, but often decorated 

 with figures of a darker hue. Indeed these figures are the best distiuAion the}- bear, 

 for there is little variation in the quality' of the cloth; one would think all had been 

 hammered out on the tree stem, so coarse is the texture. There are some exceptions 

 to this statement for I have seen and handled quite soft specimens, and we have some 

 in this Museum from German New Guinea of considerable size. 



"Stephan, Dr. Einil und Gracbner, Dr. Fritz, Neit-Mecklt'iibeii:; ( llisiitaiik .In/iipt'l ), Berlin, 1907, p. 53. 

 ''Rev. J. Chalmers l)?i the Xa/ivt's 0/ k'izeui Island. Journ. Royal Anthrop. Institute, 1903, p. 120. In otlier 

 parts of New Guinea, pots were made or procured from the native traders. 



