6o 
improbable that any of these bushmen have ever seen the sea, it is 
evident that they are able to carry on some trade with the coastal 
men, probably through many intermediate tribes, as we found them 
wearing sea-shell ornaments, and possessed, in some instances, of iron 
implements, such as a much used axe blade and plane irons. They 
also knew the names of the Kikor, Turama, and Bamu rivers, but 
their ideas as to the directions of same were sometimes far from 
correct. 
While these far-inland bushmen are probably cannibals, we were 
unable to find any direct evidence. At Sambregi, one youth had a 
skull hung round his neck, and one man a pair of human jawbones; 
these, however, many have been the remains of relatives. In their 
dubus, or communal dwellings we saw no skulls or other human 
bones, although the jaws of pigs and other trophies of the chase 
were in evidence. 
It appears that the natives bury their dead, and, at any rate in 
some instances, dig up the bones at a later period and put them on 
platforms. In one instance we saw a tiny house like a small dove- 
cot built on piles about 6 feet from the ground. In this was a skull 
painted with red ochre, and some bones. We also saw a platform 
recently erected, and the natives indicated that it was for human 
bones. In a rock shelter v^e saw two skulls and bones placed side by 
side in a circle of stones ; close by were evidences of a grave having 
been opened and bodies exhumed. 
For clothing the natives wear a piece of netted cloth hung down 
from the waist in front from a wide girdle of bark ; at the back dried 
grass or the bright coloured leaves of a plant. In other instances, 
tapa cloth was hung from the waistband. As a head-dress they wore 
the black plumes of the cassowary, or the feathers of the white 
cockatoo; very occasionally we saw the plumes of the raggiana bird 
of Paradise. Their hair was usually worn short in front and long 
behind, clotted into tags and rolls, either with oil or honey and wax 
of the little black stingless bees. The hair is not bleached with the 
lime as in other parts of the territory. They wore cane armlets, 
anklets, and waistbands. These canes were used for fire making. 
The septem of the nose is pierced and the lobes of the ear, and 
various things hung thereon from a pencil of bone to circular pieces 
of cane and the claws of birds. It is remarkable that during our 
whole trip we saw no evidence of tattooing nor any cicatrices or 
mutilation of the body. Skin disease was exceedingly rare, and only 
seen in one or two instances in the adults, and rather more frequently 
amongst the children. In fact, the natives generally were a remark- 
ably healthy lot of people. In time of war, and probably on festive 
occasions, they paint themselves either wholly or in part with yellow 
or red clay, or with ground charcoal and oil. The women wore a 
tapa cloth rami from waist to knee. They also have tapa cloth cloaks 
which cover the head and reach to the ground ; this I have seen 
nowhere else in the territory. In their dubus or communal dwellings 
they keep rolls of tapa cloth blankets as the nights are cold on the 
great plateau. 
