188 Walter Goodfelloiv—Some Reminiscences of a Collector


in camp in a cold damp region nearly always in clouds, somewhere

near 8,000 feet, the trees all heavily festooned with funereal-looking

moss. One of the first things I did was to have a daytime enclosure

made for the Cassowary. At night it was to be put away snugly in a

box in my tent ; but we might have saved ourselves all this trouble,

for it had by now no intention whatever of losing sight of us, and

settled down to domestic life in camp thoroughly at home and con¬

tented.


In Port Moresby I had met a young Danish count globe-trotting

and anxious to see something of the interior of the country. For the

sake of his company I was only too glad to take him along with me

when he suggested it. He was a keen naturalist and just as fond of

birds as myself, so between us I am afraid the “ baby ” was inclined

to be spoilt. It was not long before it learnt that the warmest place

in camp as evening came on was under our blankets, and soon found

a way to get on the beds and insinuate itself under the blankets where it

remained until fastened up in its own box for the night. It grew

rapidly, and at each change of camp its transport became a question

for consideration. It also began to be blamed for any trifle lost or

mislaid in camp owing to a habit it had of swallowing anything it

could get down its throat, and it was surprising what it could get down.

Several times I just managed to save my bunch of keys by holding its

neck tightly and putting my fingers down its throat. When natives

came into camp, as they did daily when we returned to lower altitudes,

Kitty the Second, as I had by now named her, wandered innocently

among them as they squatted about on the ground, but with a keen

eye on their necklaces. A sudden grab with her beak and before they

realized what had happened Kitty was hastily picking up the beads

and swallowed half before they knew where they were. The natives

soon got used to this, and it was amusing to see them take off their

finery before settling down. She seemed to me to know that she

belonged to a superior race of people, to assume a disdainful manner

with the natives, walking among them in a condescending way;

neither did she hesitate to show fight with their dogs. One day on

the coast when looking through a bag of money I came upon an

Australian sovereign, which I placed at my side on the bed. In a



