Computation op Time and Values. 
135 
larvae, held in high esteem by the aborigines, have quite the shape of our 
may-bug grubs, but are certainly as large again. 
464. The Warraus have no fixed division or method of computing 
time at all, and hence the practical impossibility of stating with certain- 
ty how old an adult or grey-head may be. If one judges the approximate 
age from the features and especially from the whole general appearance, 
or from the white hair which otherwise is usually rare, the estimate is 
nevertheless deceptive in many cases of old and young, particularly when 
applied by Europeans who do not always bear in mind the variations in 
these strange natures. 
465. They borrow a dubious and, within narrow limits, restricted 
classification of time from the phases of the moon and the rainy seas- 
ons: but if their observations exceed the number of fingers and toes, the 
annals are closed, and everything receives the term of “many.” If they 
want to express a large number, they lift up as much of the hair of the 
head as they can seize in the fingers. All measures of the past they date 
from some occurrence or other that had exercised an essential influence 
upon their lives or upon their ways of looking at things ( Anscha tilings- 
weise), and I am quite convinced that with our visit there dawned a. new 
era for all the tribes with whom we came in contact : this new epoch will 
last until some other important event forces the remembrance of our 
presence into the background. 
466. They also showed equal inexperience and want of calculation in 
determining exchange values for the objects they offered us, even up to 
the last day of our visit at Cumaka. In barter like that, their immed- 
iate requirement or spontaneous desire forms the basis of the article's 
worth. Thus one Indian will ask a gun, an axe, etc. for some object or 
other which another standing close by will exchange for a couple of fish 
hooks, some beads, or a comb. No one can imagine even remotely the 
disproportion in value that exists between what the two men require. 
467. The time of our departure from Cumaka was drawing nigh, and 
we commenced arranging our baggage afresh. Warned by the experience 
of former travellers in the tropics, I had packed my natural history 'cob 
lections in almost hermetically sealed boxes and hoped to have protect- 
ed their contents completely from the damp. Now that we were proceed- 
ing farther and farther away from the coast and could manage without 
the water-casks, my brother handed these over to me : they formed homes 
for my living orchids, and relieved me of the care with which I had hith- 
erto looked after them. The bottoms of the casks were knocked out, and 
the pride of my collections, 83 different species of living specimens, plac- 
ed inside. 
468. Arrangements were completed by the 14th June, and in the even- 
ing I stood full of hope over my well-packed corial: for the following day 
would decide whether it corresponded with my expectations. The collec- 
tions included the first results of my labours on behalf of the Natural 
History Institution of my native country, and I readily dreamed of the 
days when I should once more greet in Berlin these children of the wil- 
derness : I already saw in my mind’s eye several of the beautiful orchids 
making; one of the loveliest shows of the orchid-house in the Botanical 
Gardens at Schöneberg. 
