Notes on Dutch New Guinea 



53$ 



scene; in huxmboldt bay 



young men on probation, so to speak, 

 sleep in a building near by. They have 

 free access to the "temple," and work at 

 ropemaking and net-weaving behind a 

 screen of palm leaves, where they are 

 hidden from the gaze of any woman. 



The building itself, which looks as if 

 it were made of three cones set one upon 

 the other by some Titan's hand, is of 

 great sanctity. The people here, who are 

 as rough and noisy a set of savages as 

 exist, become quite subdued when they 

 enter it, and their voices fall to whispers 

 as they converse. When we tried here, 

 several times, to persuade the crowd to 

 admit Mrs Barbour, a single gesture gave 

 a final answer ; that gesture was the swift 

 passing of the hand across the throat. 



Happily during our stay on the coast 

 no case of death among the natives was 

 witnessed. The Papuans do not believe 

 in the occurrence of natural death, and it 

 is quite impossible to tell who will be 

 blamed by them for the causing of death 

 by evil influences. Raids and bloodshed 



often arise from such causes, and many 

 strange practices are used to discover the- 

 guilty party. 



In many localities the body of the de- 

 ceased is slowly dried over a fire and the 

 drippings are saved. These must be 

 tasted by any stranger coming to the 

 house, and should vomiting ensue, the 

 party is considered guilty, as the cause of 

 death. In other places this liquor is par- 

 taken of by the widow of the dead man 

 as an evidence of her fidelity to him. 



After desiccation has taken place the 

 body is generally bent to a sitting posture 

 and, after it has been wrapped in a mat, 

 is hung up among the rafters of the 

 house. 



The above leads naturally to the men- 

 tion of a few other modes for the disposal* 

 of the dead. In Humboldt Bay they are 

 simply laid out on a small island and left 

 untouched. In other places they are 

 buried in the ground, in a sitting posi- 

 tion, and a fence is built about the grave,. 

 within which are deposited various arti- 



