LAST JOURNEY TO THE COAST 
early on the morning after our arrival we sent out 
our shooters, who came in loaded with cassowary, 
Gaura pigeon, wallaby, pig, and other spoils. The 
natives were in clover once again, and had a glorious 
time building fires, dressing the game, and _ pre- 
paring the food, for your Papuan’s greatest pleasure 
is to eat as much as he can, and in the shortest 
possible time, to sing, and then to sleep. Meals of 
Homeric generosity were devoured, and thereafter our 
people sat round their camp fires singing the beautiful 
mountain melodies of which I have already spoken. 
The prettiest and most soothing of all their tunes was 
the following, which has often with its gentle cadence 
lulled me to sleep in the wilds :— 
pe ee 
See 
Chi-h - pa-la lu - a chi - li - pa - la 
a a UES WEED ARORA 5163 
SSeS — Se as Ses ee ee 
= = a 
lu - 28 lay : Chi-li - pa- la lu - a, 
At Ekeikei we had, of course, to take up many 
additional loads of baggage, and the resources of our 
staff, already severely tried, threatened to prove entirely 
inadequate. Further recruits were not forthcoming, so 
all the baggage had to be re-distributed and the bags 
repacked. Even when this was done, and an addi- 
tional weight apportioned to each man, we found that 
ten carriers more would be wanted, but as these were 
not obtainable I decided to leave Wei-Yah with the 
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