Part 2 (1/2)
All agreed in this, and a fine new house which had never been occupied was offered and taken, the sa paid for it as for the other one This house is close to the landing-place, and in the midst of the people The owner of the first house offered to return the things, but we thought it would not be ruinous to let his
We passed a tabooed place, or rather would have done so had we not been forced to take a circuitous path to the bush None of the natives spoke as we passed the place, nor till ere clear of it; they ns also to us to be silent A wo There had been no dancing in the settlement since the death, nor would there be any for some days to come
I think women are more respected here than they are in some other heathen lands They seem to keep fast hold of their own possessions Ato his wife, and sold it for hoop-iron on board the _Bertha_ When he went ashore he was met on the beach by his spouse, who had in the ue, stick, and stone, and demanded the hoop-iron
The teachers were landed in the afternoon, and ell received The natives all promised to care for them, and treat them kindly There are about two hundred and fifty natives on the island No _Ellengowan_ appearing, we determined to leave this on Wednesday, the 21st, and to proceed to Moresby Island Next ht winds, we did not anchor in Hoop-Iron Bay, off Moresby Island, till the e here is in an open roadstead It is a very fine island--the vegetation froht up to the mountain tops Plantations are to be seen all round The people live in small detached co a people as are the Teste islanders This is the great Basilaki, and the natives are apparently the deadly foes of all the islanders round Before we anchored, ere surrounded by cataether) and canoes--spears in them all
Mr McFarlane decided, as soon as we came to the island, that he would not land his teachers here; and I did not consider it a suitable place as a head station for New Guinea We left Moresby Island at six ah Fortescue Straits, between Moresby and Basilisk Islands The scenery was grand--everything looked so fresh and green, very different from the deathlike appearance of Port Moresby and vicinity The four teachers were close behind us, in their large whale- boat, with part of their things On getting out of the Straits,East Cape; but, as there was no anchorage there, we made for Killerton Island, about ten ht pot up an hour after us There was apparently great excite about in all directions, but none ca, a cataot a present, and went away shouting Soon ere surrounded with catamarans and canoes, with three or four natives in each They had no spears with the on our quarter-deck, as they did on that of the _Basilisk_ They appeared quite friendly, and free froht their curios to barter for beads, red cloth, and the much-valued hoop-iron The whole country looked productive and beautiful After breakfast, ent ashore, and were led through swaround to see the water On our return to the shore, ent in search of a position for the h away from the swamp, so we took the boat and sailed a mile or two nearer the Cape, where we found an excellent position near a river Mr McFarlane obtained a fine new house for the teachers, in which they are to reoods ashore, which the natives helped to carry to the house One man, who considered himself well dressed, kept near us all day He had a pair of trousers, : he fastened the body of the trousers round his head, and let the leg fall gracefully down his back
On the following e canoes--twenty paddles in each--came in from somewhere about Milne Bay They re all the news they could about us frost theht his nose, and pointed to his stoe canoes went ashore, and the chief careatly pleased him After breakfast, ent ashore to hold a service with the teachers We e tree, near their house About six hundred natives were about us, and all round outside of the croere men armed with spears and clubs Mr McFarlane preached When the first hyot up and ran into the bush The service was short; at its close we sat down and sang hyreatly The painted and ar fellows
At two in the hed anchor and returned to Moresby Island The as very light, and we had to anchor at the entrance to Fortescue Straits Nextout on the opposite side, ere glad to see the _Bertha_ beating about there By noon ere on board the _Bertha_, and off for South Cape, the _Mayri_ going to Teste Island with a letter, telling the captain of the _Ellengowan_ to follow us, and also to see if the teachers were all right
By evening ell up to South Cape The captain did not care to get too near that night, and stood away tillI accompanied the captain in the boat, to sound and look for anchorage, which we found in twenty-two fathoms, near South-West Point
By half-past fire that evening we anchored The excitereat, and before the anchor was really doere surrounded by canoes As a people, they are small and puny, and reatly excited over Pi's baby, a fine plump little fellow, seven months old, who, beside thereatly astonished the About half-past seven, ere ready to go ashore, there arose great consternation ae war canoes, with conch-shells blowing, appeared off the e war canoe appeared near the vessel A great many small canoes from various parts of the mainland were ordered off by those on whose side ere anchored They had to leave On their departure a great shout was raised by the victorious party, and in a short ti It see to themselves They did not wish the rest to obtain hoop-iron or any other foreign wealth They are at feud with one party on the mainland, and I suppose in their late contests have been victorious, for they told us with great exultation that they had lately killed and eaten ten of their enemies from the mainland
About nine, ent ashore near the anchorage I crossed the island to the village, but did not feel satisfied as to the position One of our guides to the village wore, as an armlet, the jawbone of a man from the mainland he had killed and eaten; others strutted about with hu froe Tepauri on the mainland hich they are unfriendly We returned to the boat, and sailed along the coast On turning a cape, we cae, on a ooded point The people were friendly, and led us to see the water, of which there is a good supply This is the spot for which we have been in search as a station for beginning work We can go anywhere froes The unshot across God has led us We ements for a house for the teachers; then returned to the vessel
In the afternoon, I landed the teachers, their wives, and part of their goods--the people helping to carry the stuff to the house The house in which the teachers are to reside till our own is finished is the largest in the place, but they can only get the use of one end of it--the owner, who considers hi the other end for himself and family The partition between the two ends is only two feet high Skulls, shells, and cocoanuts are hung all about the house; the skulls are those of the ene up on the wall, is a very large collection of human bones, bones of animals and of fish
I selected a spot for our house on the point of land nearest the e sand hill, and ooded at the back We have a good piece of land, with bread-fruit and other fruit trees on it, which I hope soon to have cleared and planted with food, for the benefit of the teachers whotheir stations, as well as for the teacher for the place The frontage is the Straits, with the e close to the house for vessels of any size
Early next e war canoe caside the _Bertha_, and presented us with a s and food Then the ave them a return present Mr
McFarlane and I went ashore immediately after breakfast, and found that the teachers had been kindly treated We gave some natives a few axes, who at once set off to cut wood for the house, and before we returned to the vessel in the evening two posts were up As the _Bertha's_ ti, everything was done to get on with the house Mr McFarlane worked well Two men from the _Bertha_, and two from the _Mayri_ joined with the four teachers in the work, and by Tuesday the fras that day, and immediately after breakfast on Wednesday, December 5th, ent ashore to reside; and about ten am the _Bertha_ left On the Tuesday, Mr McFarlane and I visited several villages on the mainland: three in a deep bay, which h ot very excited over the presents we gave theot an old foretopsail froed up as a tent, in which the teachers slept, we occupying their quarters We enjoyed a good night's rest In earlythe house was surrounded with natives,here: they consider our goods to consist entirely of hoop-iron, axes, knives, and arrowroot About eleven am the war canoes were launched on the opposite side of the water The excite with painted skulls to the war canoe of the village Soon it was decorated with skulls, shells, cocoanuts, and streamers, and launched Those on the opposite side came out into the deep bay; ours reot into her, and away towards Faro
On Sunday, we e tree, and a number of natives attended, who of course could not an At ourprayers nu We see quite a nuers every day--some from Brumer Island, Tissot, Teste, China Straits, Catamaran Bay, Farm Bay, and other places Those frohter and better-looking than those here The women there do not seem to tattoo themselves Here they tattoo themselves all over their faces and bodies, and e st the a sufficient supply of plaited cocoanut leaves for the walls and roof of our house By the 14th, we had the walls and roof finished, when all our party moved into it We had a curtain of unbleached calico put up between the teachers' end and ours, and curtains for doors and s, but were glad to get into it in that unfinished state: the weather was breaking, and we felt anxious about the teachers sleeping in the tent when it rained, and we had no privacy at all where ere, and were tired of squatting on the ground, for we could not get a chair in our part of the house; indeed, the flooring was of such a construction that the legs of a chair or table would have soon gone through it On the 13th, ere busy getting the e had cut for the flooring of our house into the sea to be rafted along; got ten large pieces into the water by breakfast-time
After breakfast, Mrs Chalmers and I were at the new house, with the captain of the _Mayri_, e heard a noise like quarrelling On looking out, I saw the natives very excited, andwith spears and clubs towards the house where Mrs Chal frost the natives till I got to the front, when, to un ai us with the house) at a young un been fired--as it would have been had I not arrived in time--the native would have been shot dead I pushed the native aside, and ordered the gun to be put down, and turned to the natives, shouting, _Besi_, _besi_! (Enough, enough!) Some of them returned their spears and clubs, but others re firear his spear, and with difficulty got it froe, yet he did o away All day he sat under a tree, which we had frequently to pass, but he would have nothing to say to us It see the only one about the house when it wasit One of the teachers inding line, and he caught the young fellow by the ar to be tied up with the line; he struggled, got free, and raised the alarainst using firearms to alarm or threaten the natives An axe was stolen; every place about was searched for it, and for so found At last, a native found it buried in the sand near where it was last used It had evidently been hidden there till a favourable opportunity should occur of taking it away During the search, the owner of the axe (one of the teachers) ran off for his gun, and ca over with it I ordered hi told theuns were used by missionaries It was not so in any other st the natives without arain by the, except birds, or the like, I should have the whole of them thrown into the sea
In the afternoon of the 14th, I went over to the house in which we had been staying, to stir up the teachers to get the things overat the new house to look after the things there, as, without doors or flooring, everything was exposed I went to the seaside to call to the captain of the _Mayri_ to send us the boat ashore, when, on looking towards h painted, I recognized some of them as those ere very friendly on board the _Bertha_, and spoke to the I did not understand They went straight on to the chief's house, and surrounded our party I passed through, and stood in front of the his spear close by me It was an anxious moment, and one in which I am sure many would have used firearms I called out to the teachers, ”Re out on to the platforued He was very excited
Shortly he called to the teachers, in signs and words, to bring out their guns and fire They refused He then rushed into the house and seized a gun, and was ht hold of hi rong, and went to them We quieted hihters, but men of peace The babel all round us was terrible By-and-by a request was ive the chief froet him away I said, ”No; had he coiven him a present, but I will not do so now” They retired to deliberate, and sent another request for a present ”No; no presents to et a present” It see here instead of with the what they consider very rich by our living with the of our things When we cas, our chief objected to their reot a farewell present He had been paid for the use of the house before any of us entered it; but we gave him another present, and so finished the business
Our large cross-cut saas stolen during the hubbub It belonged to the teachers of East Cape It had only been lent to us, so we had to get it back The nextthe chief from the other side came to see me He received a present, and looked particularly sheepish when I tried to explain to hi All day I took care to show that I was very displeased at the loss of the saw, and by the evening I was told that it had been taken by those on the other side; and offers of returning it were made, but I saas expected to buy it from them I said, ”No; I will not buy as stolen froive an axe to the one who goes for it, and fetches it today, Sunday, the 15th, we held the usual services under a large tree near the ers present; the latter were very troublesome On Monday afternoon the saas returned
The _Mayri_ left us that day, to visit the teachers at East Cape The people are getting quieter At present they are chiefly interested in the sawing of the wood for the flooring of the house They illingly for a piece of hoop-iron and a few beads, but cannot do much continuously They seem to have no kind of worshi+p, and their sports are few The children swing, bathe, and sail srown-up people have their dance--a very poor sort of thing A band of youths, with dru whilst they beat the drums The dancers dance round the men once or twice, and all stop to rest a bit I have been twice present when only the woraves, which they fence round, planting crotons, bananas, etc, inside
They do their cooking inside their houses It was very hot and unco a sort of chief, and having a large household, a great deal of cooking was required Three large fires were generally burning in their end of the house for the greater part of the day The heat and senerally had one or two burning all night, to serve for blankets, I suppose
[Natives of South-Eastern New Guinea: 59jpg]