Notes on Dutch New Guinea 



529 



ties ; but the most remarkable of all, to 

 these and many others of the people, 

 was their first sight of a white woman. 

 That was indeed the event which will live 

 the longest in the local traditional history. 

 The villages are set on poles and the 

 houses are arranged to form irregular 

 streets. The various pictures tell better 

 than words how pretty these little groups 

 of curiously shaped dwellings are. All 

 the towns are picturesque, but the palm is 

 held by Tobadi, the largest town in the 

 basin, and one which contains probably as 

 fine an example of what the savage archi- 

 tect can do, when impelled by religious- 

 motives, as exists. In speaking of these 

 religious structures I will call them "tem- 

 ples." The word "Karriwarri," which is 

 generally applied to them, probably means 

 the building, but it may mean the spirit 

 which is worshiped in it. 



In various localities we had seen the 

 small square houses which serve as sacred 

 buildings in the Geelvink Bay country. 

 These, however, are mostly used as 

 "bachelor houses," where the unmarried 

 men sleep while they are learning the net- 

 making and basket-weaving and other 

 things which every grown Papuan must 

 know. These houses are neither beau- 

 tiful nor especially interesting. 



In Djamna, however, we walk back 

 into the woods and a most astonishing 

 structure stands before us. The general 

 shape of this building is very similar to 

 that of a house such as is regularly built 

 in Djamna, but the ends are wonderfully 

 decorated. Each is composed of hewn 

 boards set up side by side and on each of 

 these is a design running from bottom 

 to top. 



The native artistic ingenuity of this 

 folk is very well shown when we find 

 that no two boards on either end of the 

 building have the same design. The 

 work is done by smearing with mineral 

 pigments and the effect is singularly gro- 

 tesque. The carvings of the entrance 

 ladder on one end and of many of the 

 supporting posts is as obscene as can be. 



A small square hole gives entrance to a 

 large dark room in which is little in the 

 way of furniture, merely a few places on 



the floor where clay has been laid down 

 for fire-making. 



About the wall are piles of objects 

 which can hardly be distinguished in the 

 dim light. 



Soon a man steps up and takes hold of 

 something, and we see that he has one of 

 the curious hour-glass shaped drums, for 

 drums are sacred and are kept in here 

 along with the great flutes. These are 

 very long and very difficult to blow and 

 are usually only heard at night, a heavy 

 mysterious roaring. 



Two men each take one of the instru- 

 ments and stand opposite each other; 

 they blow into the end of the bamboo, 

 and the length runs out so far that each 

 man straddles his partner's flute. In 

 blowing, the body is swayed from side to 

 side in the straining effort to exhale as 

 strongly as possible. 



The noise produced is like no other 

 sound and to the Papuan it is sacred. 

 The flutes play some part in the initia- 

 tion* ceremonies, but here our knowledge 

 ends, for so far no one has successfully 

 delved into the many secrets which go to 

 form the religion of this people. They 

 are reticent in giving information as to 

 any of their rites. 



One thing we soon learn, no woman 

 ever comes near a "temple," and every 

 article in it is forbidden to her to either 

 see or touch. The people say that should 

 a woman see, for instance, a sacred flute, 

 she would sicken and die in less than two 

 days. Entrance into a temple would be 

 punishable with instant death ; but such a 

 thing would never enter a native woman's 

 head. 



At first the "korano," or head man, and 

 the warriors refused absolutely to let 

 -Mrs Barbour even look in; but finally, 

 after much talking and many presents, 

 they consented, and she entered, the first 

 and only woman who was ever in the 

 Djamna "temple" or who has ever seen 

 the playing of the holy flutes. 



Now the "temple" at Tobadi is quite 

 unlike any of the others — as unlike as is 

 the house type of this village from that 

 in Geelvink Bay. Here the temple is for 

 sacred purposes only and the boys and 



