CHANGES AND STRANGE SCENES 
British New Guinea must, no doubt, have often won- 
dered what manner of strange craft is depicted thereon. 
The stamp, as will be seen from the accompanying 
illustration, bears the representation of a boat, or 
rather a raft, carrying two gigantic sails resembling 
the wings of some weird bird, and the whole appear- 
ance of the vessel is one that arouses curiosity. ‘This 
is the lakator, the remarkable trading vessel of the 
hereditary potters of Hanuabada, a little village not 
far from Port Moresby. The hamlet, with its neigh- 
bour, Elevada, is built partly on land and partly on 
piles in the water; but while the land part of Hanua- 
bada stands on the mainland, that part of Hlevada 
which is not aquatic is founded on an island. 
The inhabitants belong to the Motu tribe, and 
their numbers do not exceed 800. Their long grass- 
thatched huts rise from sixteen to twenty feet above 
land or water, and each has its little landing-stage on 
a lower tier. The main poles supporting these struc- 
tures are of rough-hewn tree trunks driven down into 
the soft sand. At a height of from five to six feet 
above the water the natural forks of the main poles 
are retained, and across these logs are laid, forming a 
rude platform. Ladders of very irregular construction 
give access almost at haphazard from stage to stage. 
Looking through the village below the houses, the eye 
encounters a perfect forest of poles, and between the 
dwellings in this queer Venice of the East run little 
waterways just wide enough to let a canoe pass along 
without grazing its outriggers. The houses themselves 
each contain only one living apartment. 
In and out among the houses ply the dug-out 
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