JJ-JmStTi? ( •V^tdTr^Hi URRY IN A GERMAN COLONY a ^,' t r t • • • • A WOMAN FKOM THE BUSH VILLAGES IN A GERMAN COLONY OR FOUR WEEKS IN NEW BRITAIN BY B. PULLEN-BURRY AUTHOR OF "JAMAICA AS IT IS, 1903," "ETHIOPIA IM EXILE," ETC. FELLOW OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS AND TWO MAPS »,, ,'»7I»0 METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON First Published in igog • • • 8 . , PREFACE SINCE very little information has so far appeared through the medium of the British press concerning those possessions in the Pacific, included under the comprehensive title of the Protectorate of New Guinea, it has seemed to me that to shape my volumin- ous notes into book-form may be of use to future travellers. With that end in view, it also appears desirable to explain that much in these remote islands remains to be dis- covered. Speculative theories therefore, however tempting the data, have been scrupulously avoided. In the compilation of this work a simple description of conditions, which came under the writer's notice, is all that is attempted. It is, moreover, hoped that the reader will not be severe to mark amiss the latitude of expression which the authoress has per- ^^ /"k ^t .'^ t> /"n vi IN A GERMAN COLONY mitted herself, in the beHef that she has not thereby exceeded those limits of discursive- ness which may justly be extended to con- firmed globe-trotters. B. P.-B. London^ iqoq. CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I . . .1 Introductory remarks — on the Prinz Waldemar — incident in the German Consulate at Sydney — the Maoris — their present condition — difficuhies in the German colony. CHAPTER n . . .20 Confusing nomenclature of the Protectorate — the Papuan type — the Melanesian — Blanche Bay and environs — Simpsonhafen — walk to Matupi — the captain of the Sumatra — on the Admiralty Islands — the Modnus — the Usiai — the Matankor. CHAPTER HI . . . 42 Hotel at Herbertshohe — planters' meetings — Docman and " Collars " — Dr Thurnwald — traces of great volcanic activity — the Bainings and the Sulkas — facial ornamentation of Gazelle kanakas. CHAPTER IV . . .57 Cannibals in prison — "the yelp of the beast" — history of the Bismarck Archipelago — Spanish secretiveness — Dampier and Carteret's voyages — the New Guinea Company. vii viii IN A GERMAN COLONY PAGE CHAPTER V 74 A visit to the R. C. mission — Bishop Coppee on various islanders — the nuns — their schools — murder of ten missionaries — congregation of natives. CHAPTER VI . . .89 A visit to Mr Parkinson — native markets — the diseased condition of the kanakas — cultivation of taro— the island products — the uses of bamboo and cocoanut-palm. CHAPTER VII . . . 106 Queen Emma's residence — her fame in the South Sea — a digression — details of the copra trade — " Black- birding" — a Polynesian group of islanders — the Carteret islands and Sir Charles Hardy Group. CHAPTER VIII . . .124 I call on the Governor — sun-worshippers — the mis- adventures of a decade — British colonists — I inspect ' police boys" — a "white Australia" policy condemned. CHAPTER IX . . . 140 Slavery formerly practised — Baining characteristics — an unknown race — three degrees of religious develop- ment — Tingenatabaran — ethical perception of the Sulkas — tamboo — magic. CHAPTER X . . .157 Natives humanely treated — Australasian ladies — visit to the Australasian Methodist Mission — New Ireland described — settlement effected — higher plane of culture. CONTENTS ix PAGE CHAPTER XI . . . 171 Early start to visit bush kanakas — a terrible tragedy — Governor's classification of Archipelago peoples — dense bush — native villages — method of catching flying foxes. CHAPTER XH . . . 185 Duties of a chief — uviana and luluai described — karnara used by Europeans — status of women — nuptial, symbolic and other ceremonies — vuvue feast — trepanning. CHAPTER Xni . . .201 The shooting ground — hornbill dance — secret societies — the Duk Duk — Ingiet. CHAPTER XIV . . .217 I visit Kabakaul — a love story — an earthquake — guests from Herbertshohe — a nocturnal disturbance — Bismarck's remark to Busch — conclusion. Index ....... 23 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WOMAN FROM BUSH VILLAGE ON THE SHORES OF BLANCHE BAY A GAZELLE KANAKA LABOUR BOYS AN ATTRACTIVE BACHELOR A DUK DUK DANCE FISHERMAN OF NEW BRITAIN . Frontispiece FACING PAGE 28 54 118 180 210 220 LIST OF MAPS THE GERMAN PROTECTORATE OF NEW GUINEA THE GAZELLE PENINSULA . 24 XI •, > > > > » > » y t ■)■> IN A GERMAN COLONY CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY REMARKS— ON THE PRINZ WALDEMAR — IN- CIDENT IN THE GERMAN CONSULATE AT SYDNEY — THE MAORIS — THEIR PRESENT CONDITION — DIFFICULTIES IN THE GERMAN COLONY THIS little span which we call life has been aptly described as a mere par- enthesis between the vast eternities of whence ? and whither ? and in this age of breakneck speed if we would live, and not vegetate, we must be men and women of the hour, keen to note, swift to record. In the case of the writer of these pages the call comes to testify to the virtues of a nation which, from circumstances apparently beyond its control hitherto, it has become the fashion to decry, for latterly, has not our literary provender teemed with nebulous and speculative matter anent the esoteric meaning 2 "% . GB JEetS^ OF TRAVEL *" * ff 5 1 > ■^■1 ^■■Bw ItI I.Ci ==-== - URAR„ Jl^^f^t other-!> ^ fCiHunter ^//>, " c^Gt.Credner Londip { ^ci Loll?. East 1^2 f>t ("iieenwich BLANCHE BAY 25 however, according to the prevaiHng winds, a deep current sets in against which sailing vessels are almost powerless. Ahead of us, surrounded with that beauty which dwells in deep retreats, set between ribbons of silver sea, we caught glimpses of the fertile, for the most part low-lying, well - wooded group known on our maps as the Duke of York's Islands (Neu Lauenburg). Then as we turned sharply round Cape Gazelle and faced westwards, we passed on our right the Credner Islets, one of which on account of its favourable position has been chosen as a quarantine station, and on our left the pictur- esque little bay of Kabakaul, where a planter's house and outbuildings were the first sign of white men's presence. Here commences that belt of waving greenery which the cocoanut plantations present to the European traveller who for the first time gazes on the Kaiser's territories in these latitudes. It stretches almost unbrokenly along the shores of Blanche Bay. In the neighbourhood of Herbertshohe the white habitations of the colonists and other buildings gradually 26 VOLCANIC ACTIVITY became visible between the cocoanut palm- trees. We were now sufficiently close to shore to watch the white surf breakinof over the coral reef, for it may be well to note in passing, that two great agencies have for countless ages been hard at work here, form- ing and reforming the face of nature — in fact they are still busily engaged at the work. The first of these is the tiny coral insect. Everywhere, excepting when precipitous cliffs rise from great ocean depths, as on the East Coast of New Ireland, the coasts are girdled with reefs. Anchorage is difficult to obtain and landings are often situated where the coral is of raised plateau formation. The second agent is volcanic activity. Hot springs are found in many places, and in extinct craters, where portions of the sides have been blown out, letting in the sea, the colonist finds best shelter for his ships. Earthquake shocks are constant, and in my visit of four weeks I experienced quite half a dozen. As we entered this beautiful bay we had reefs between us and the land, whilst on the DESPATCH OF MAILS 27 other side a volcano, known locally as the Mother, frowned from the end of a promon- tory which on the north side semi-encircles Blanche Bay. Thus we gained admittance into one of nature's busiest workshops. Our approach had been signalled. As we stopped in front of Herbertshohe several canoes had assembled to meet us. In a boat full of natives a short distance off, I could only dis- tinguish flat German caps of the well-known official type, surmounting frizzled hair, but as it came near I perceived that the occupants wore smart loin-cloths. Their arms showed vaccination marks, and through their armlets of woven grass had been thrust one, two, or even three European pipes. Their ear-laps hano'inpf down to their shoulders were rich in personal property — in fact it struck me that the family heirlooms were thus safely bestowed. They seemed excited, and when some mail- jDags tumbled down the gangway my dull perception grasped the fact that I was be- holding the transit of the Imperial mails. The operation interested me. The ship's 28 NATIVE FINERY officer approaching, I asked him what these people kept repeating to each other. He ex- plained that the one in charge was directing the others to 'Met them sleep," and he pointed out that the mall-bacrs were beinof laid side by side in obedience to this injunction. The excitement of the Gazelle kanakas is intense when once the ship has rounded the low- lying wooded corner of the island (Cape Gazelle). The cry *' Sail O ! " is taken up and repeated from one to the other along the shore. Possibly the joy lies in the prospect of unlimited stores of tobacco, which the advent of the monthly mail from Sydney ensures. I noticed that other natives not in official dress, who approached in canoes and gazed earnestly up at us, wore feathers or flowers with bamboo combs in their frizzled mops. In some cases the hair looked like a yellow or white door-mat, according to the individual's taste in colour ; necklaces of opossums' teeth, highly valued, and difficult to obtain, adorned their dusky necks, whilst tight-fitting bangles on their wrists and arms, curiously carved J 3 >, > J ' ' 5 7 5 5 ' ' 5-5 , ' •«-ll Ji ''5,3', 5J)> > < K U X u z < ca o •r. a c r > re t t BISHOP COPPEE 29 out of the tridacna shell, together with smart loin-cloths (or lava-lavas as they are called), descending to the knees, com- pleted, in my opinion, a very smart savage costume. Having left her mails the steamer pro- ceeded along a well-marked passage between reef-bound shores to her destination. Whilst waiting opposite Herbertshohe, my attention was drawn to a church, with two spires, stand- ing on an eminence slightly to our left, with adjacent European structures half hidden by trees, whilst below, a small schooner, a steam launch, and native craft denoted activities which apparently centred round long shed- like buildings. This was Vunapope, the property of the self-supporting Mission of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The head of this Roman Catholic and important community was Bishop Coppee, a Frenchman, whose acquaintance I happily made. Almost opposite to where the steamer was stopping, I was given to understand that two houses standing in close proximity to each other constituted the one and only hotel in the 30 QUEEN EMMA settlement. The Governor's residence was just visible through the palm-trees. It is situated on a commandinor heig-ht and over- o o looks the headquarters of the New Guinea Company and the Government buildings. Not far away a landing-pier, sheds and store-houses belonging to the great trading firm of Forsyth are outstanding features along the coast-line. The senior partner of this successful commercial enterprise, known locally as Queen Emma, was to become one of my most interesting acquaintances in the Pacific. Her fine property, Ralum, with her residence, quite the finest planter's house in the island, extends along the shore to the west of Herbertshohe. A little distance away from the latter we passed the Wesleyan Mission's buildings at Raluana, with its cluster of roofs and native huts. Thus south to south-west of us the gradually ascending palm-covered uplands encircled the bay. On our left, nestling at the foot of the Mother, lay the island of Matupi, its copra plantations and hot springs the property of the firm of Hernsheim & Co. It was joined SIMPSONHAFEN 31 to the mainland by a picturesque wooden bridge which claimed our admiration. Kanakas' huts close to the water's edge gave us our first impression of native life. To remind us how near we were to those sub- terranean, or perhaps in this case, submarine fires to which I have alluded, a rock rising to considerable height seemed to spring from the shining surface of the water. It was almost covered with vegetation, a few palm- trees aspired to fuller growth, but what was our amazement to learn that in one night, in 1878, during a terrific earthquake, it had been thrown up from the depths below ! Shortly after we lay alongside the wharf at Simpsonhafen, at the extreme end of the bay. Here we found two smaller steamers, one, the Langeoof, about to start shortly to various islands in the Archipelago to recruit native labour ; the other, the Sttmatra, was a trading-vessel belonging to the N.G.L., which was also preparing for an inter-island trading diversion on its way to Hong-Kong. After making arrangements to be transhipped 32 CURIOUS PETS early the following morning by the Langeoof to Herbertshohe, I accompanied some fellow- passengers who were anxious to see as much as they could during the few hours they were to remain at Simpsonhafen. We passed down the newly-constructed wooden wharf into the shed where goods being landed were carried by natives. We were not prepossessed in favour of the miscel- laneous, but miserable specimens of humanity who swarmed about that quay. One shy youth was brought forward as the picture of a desirable bridegroom. His teeth, which were blackened, betokened that he was desir- ous of enterinor the married state. Pido-in- English is the vernacular in these parts, and the native, half comprehending the good- humoured banter of the ship's officer, wriggled away from his grasp. The German introduced another of his pets — this was the most repulsive little dwarf one could possibly see — and if he had nothing better than that to show us, we told him we would wait no longer. Nothing is more dismal than Simpson- • * a« c c c U < •7. PRIMITIVE POST-OFFICE 33 hafen In its present stage. There are malarial swamps in close proximity to the wharf, and the place Is fever-ridden ; no doubt on the hills above there are healthy- sites for dwellings, and probably Important buildings will be erected looking down upon the harbour. Leaving the long landing-stage we turned sharply to our right, where a road led to the post-office. We entered ; It was simple enough in its Internal arrangements — a gun with a collection of papers lay on the table. '' How do you like the look of that ? " one of the party asked me. In view of the general disapproval felt at my leaving the ship, my reply was that fifty guns would not alter my intention to ''stay over." After buying post-cards and posting letters, we continued our way to a rudimentary inn, where we refreshed ourselves with lager beer, that refugium peccatorum of these parts, for the tropical afternoon had afflicted us with an indescribable thirst. We thought it possible to compass a visit to Matupi before 34 A TROPICAL WALK returning to the ship. The way was easily found, and for a couple of miles or so, we walked on good roads through plantations of palm-trees, until we came to the bridge we had seen from the ship. Here we met some companions who had left earlier than our- selves. They thought we could get natives to row us back to the steamer, so we con- tinued our way, meeting a few kanakas occasionally. One or two carried European knives, which greatly alarmed a lady of the party. We also met some small native boys with roughly-made bows and arrows, which they kindly showed us, illustrating the fact that small children have in various climes much the same fashions in amusements. It was getting dark as we set foot on the island. Our way led past a Roman Catholic chapel built by native labour, then through a village enclosed with a split bamboo fence about four feet in height, the huts thatched with dried banana and palm-leaves. No surprise was shown at our presence ; the natives were evi- dently accustomed to the curious glances ON THE SUMATRA 35 of white people. Then after a short walk through more plantations we were hospitably received by the manager of Hernsheim's, and sat in his verandah chatting and partaking of his hospitality until a boat belonofinof to the firm was announced to take us back to the steamer. We had four natives to row us under the bridge out into the bay, and in about twenty minutes we were on the decks of the Prinz Ferdina7id. The excursion had been delight- ful in its novelty, but after dinner we were even more interested in a visit we paid to the Danish Captain of the Sumatra. It was pitch dark, but we were courteously escorted with the aid of lanterns to the decks of per- haps the oldest ship then in the service of the N.G.L. The Captain, tall, well-built, fair, with keen eyes of the deepest blue, looked a typical Dane. For some three years it had been his lot to visit the different islands in the Archipelago for trading pur- poses. Ghastly tales he could tell of what had befallen white men in those seas, not by 36 THE DANE'S STORIES reason of wind and wave, but from man's inhumanity to man. I shall never forget the weird sieht as slttino^ round a table on the decks of the Sumatra, our only illumination a badly-trimmed paraffine lamp, we forgot the blackness of a starless tropical night, the buzz and whirring of insects, in the interest with which we listened, spell-bound, to the Dane's racy account of adventurous days and stirring scenes. The boyish lightheartedness and charm with which he described in good English dangerous encounters with the natives of the Ad- miralty Islands I think we enjoyed most of all. Whenever the Sumatra approached the shores of these islands for trading purposes, long canoes shot out from the coast, each carrying from twenty to fifty natives in the highest excitement, keen to exchange their copra and native commodities for knives, beads and other European articles. The speed with which they sent their canoes over the water was tremendous. The Captain considered the pace they went amounted to not less than ten knots an hour. FIERCE ISLANDERS 37 To our Inquiry if he never landed on these occasions, he explained how disaster after disaster had followed upon repeated attempts to establish trading stations on these islands, that the warlike, treacherous natives were not to be trusted. He always stood well out to sea, with full steam up, ready to be off in case of accident, and the sharpest lookout was necessary to keep the lithe, active islanders from swarming up on to the decks. In a few years, said he, settlements no doubt would be established on the island, and these pictur- esque sights, probably almost identical with those which are described by the first navi- gators in the South Seas, would be things of the past. The only person who had ever lived amongst these fierce islanders and still survived, was Bishop Coppde, although several had visited the coasts. A short time before, he had taken the prelate to an island of the group, the object of the latter being to see what could be done in the way of establishing a mission. When, at the end of a fortnight, he had called (according to agreement) to take him back to Herbert- 38 A BRAVE MAN shohe, to his surprise and relief the good bishop, unharmed, had rejoined him. '' That was just the bravest man I ever saw," was the sailor's verdict after a pause. It should not be long before I made his acquaintance was my mental resolve. Then we gathered that the Admiralty Islanders were greatly superior in intelligence to any other in the Archipelago, resembling the Papuans of New Guinea in living in pile- built villages over the sea. They are also not unlike the Solomon Islanders in their know- ledge of seamanship in the handling of their long, well-built canoes. That they are known to take long voyages in these, is evidenced by the fact that Mr Parkinson, in his newly- published work entitled Dreizig Yahre in den Sildsee, states how he met, in 1897, i^ the Schouten Group, off the north-east coast of New Guinea, two canoes full of Admiralty natives. Like the old Maoris of New Zealand, they possess a rudimentary astro- nomical knowledge, for they sail their ships according to what they have observed of the ADMIRALTY ISLES 39 positions of the stars. When the Pleiades at nightfall are visible upon the horizon, then they know they may expect the north-west monsoon, and when the Scorpion makes itself visible to them at dusk of the evening, they begin to look out for the south-east winds. Besides naming the most brilliant stars, they have words to define north and south, east and west, a fact that shows that they have mastered the first elements of geography. The Admiralty Islands consist of some forty, for the most part low-lying, reef- engirdled islands. The largest of these is, however, mountainous and about fifty miles in length. They are inhabited by three tribes — the Moanus, the Usiai and the Matankor. In the book to which I have referred, the author describes how he obtained insight into the conditions of these tribes. He was able to take down in writing from an intelligent youth, who with several others had been brought to Herbertshohe from the Admiral tys some account of each. The passages which, 40 THREE TRIBES I translate from the German run as follows : — ''The Mo^nus build houses in the sea. They understand canoes, the rudder, how to propel the canoe with oars, they can swim. They understand the wind, sailing, the stars, and the moon and fishing. They agree with each other concerning spirits, how to perform magic with the pepper-leaf, with lime. The intelligence of the Modnus is great, their speech one and undivided. '' The Usiai live in the bush. They do not understand how to go by sea, nor the use of the rudder, or how to propel the canoe, nor can they swim. In the canoe they unskilfully permit their obsidian spears to get wet. The Usiai are cultivators of taro, scrapers of sago, they are eaters of snakes, they eat men's flesh and drink sea-water. The body of the Usiai is filthy, the breath is unpleasant, their teeth are covered with a crust of dirt. Their speech is always different. '* The houses of the Matankor are by the shore. The Matankor understand the canoe, THE MATANKOR 41 how to sail and can swim. They can make large fishing-nets. The knowledge of the Matankor is not great. They know nothing of the stars or of the moon. They do not understand magic with the pepper-leaf nor with the dust of lime." CHAPTER III HOTEL AT HERBERTSHOHE — PLANTERS' MEETINGS — DOCMAN AND "collars" — DR THURNWALD — TRACES OF GREAT VOL- CANIC ACTIVITY — THE BAININGS AND THE SULKAS — FACIAL ORNAMENTATION OF GAZELLE KANAKAS. LATE In the afternoon of the day following, having installed myself in the hotel at Herbertshohe, and unpacked what was necessary, I stood at 5 p.m. at the top of the steps leading from the steep cliff to the hotel-landing below, from whence I waved farewell to my shipboard ac- quaintances. It was a glorious evening, and as the steamer passed from sight, my feelings at seeing the only link between myself and the outside world disappear may be imagined. Turning back I crossed the road, mentally determining to make the best I could out of the next four weeks, and returned to the hotel, or rather to that building known as 42 THE HOTEL 43 the Schlafhaus, comprising three rooms on the ground floor and three exactly above, all opening out into wide verandahs which run round the house. I had engaged the one with a south-east aspect upstairs, and Oh ! the blessing and comfort of those great covered verandahs, where one could adjust the blinds, and in the intense heat lie at full length in a thin wrapper on a deck-chair, for no one in this torrid climate, if they can help it, takes outdoor exercise at mid-day. Here I was wont to breakfast, but unless accepting the hospitality of the residents, I usually took my meals in the building opposite, which, as restaurant, completed the hotel. From the long dining-room a few steps led up to a portion dedicated to the cult of lager beer and other thirst-assuaging beverages. On the wide verandah of this Bacchanalian haunt, the planters and officials congregated of a Saturday evening. During these con- vivial meetings the exiled sons of Germania seriously disturbed my slumbers. Lengthy orations, interspersed with songs of patriotic fervour, impassioned verses to their best 44 AN UNKNOWN QUANTITY girls, others in favour of the noble drinks of the Fatherland, generally ending with thump- ing choruses, sometimes excessively musical, at others, ear-rending, boomed through the stillness of the hot night. When music's golden tongue ceased, the sable goddess had generally descended from her ebon throne, and cheerful morn peeped in upon me, to find my mood inharmonious, my language imprecatory ! From this verandah, which served the purpose of the well-known beer- garden, many amusing things reached me. One day as I was writing notes in the corner of the opposite Schlafhaus, screened from view by the sun - blinds which were adjusted as a sort of pro- tection, not only from the afternoon sun but from chance visitors below, I heard myself discussed with that attention to detail which characterises the Teuton as the best thinker in the world. Theories as to my possible age were brought forward, then contemptuously snubbed by one wiser than the rest till at last the speakers were content to leave it not only as an unknown YOUTHS' ADVENTURES 45 quantity, but as beyond their speculative capacity. The manager of this hotel was a young Bavarian of about thirty years of age. I found him polite, desirous to make me com- fortable so far as lay in his power. He gave me an outline of his somewhat adven- turous career. At the age of sixteen, he and another boy found themselves as apprentices on a sailing-ship bound for South America. On landing, they ran away, and actually walked from Santos to Pernambuco, taking four months over the performance ! The hotel was the property of the New Guinea Company. It may be worth mentioning that my lot has been cast in more luxurious quarters, but for such as it was, I was in- clined to be thankful — it might have been worse ! There were no European servants at all, and the manager did not live in the hotel. A Chinese cook, who had scalded his foot, limped about an outhouse which served as kitchen. A native, named Doc- man, waited upon me. He swept the room and the verandah, trimmed the lamps, and 46 DOCMAN AND '' COLLARS " performed many small offices ; he was rather a taciturn, though not an ugly savage. He would come up the steps with his pipe in his mouth ; if he caught sight of me would surreptitiously take it out, and stick it through his armlet of woven ratang. When in full dress, about to enjoy himself with his fellows at a feast or dance, he adorned his neatly-cropped hair with a bunch of double hibiscus planted in the middle of his head, on either side two white cassowary's feathers waved in the breeze, the erection being adroitly fastened to the mop with a long- toothed bamboo comb. His lava-lava was of brilliant colours and clean. Then a native girl, quite the smartest I saw in the colony, rampaged about my quarters continually. She and Docman had many consultations as to the curious cut of mv garments. She demanded of me "Collars!" in season and out of season. I had to call the manaofer, who came to mv rescue, for she laid violent hands on a cashmere dress, a silk petticoat, and other quite unwashable articles, and I could not imaQ^ine what she wanted IIjSS^' _ T-TH - V ri^ -C :ekL 3^ _ ~- - — _ _ :l- :.-ta. 1 _ JsacL ues:! XL "ire i._ 48 A SCIENTIST that the lady said she had not made further inquiries. The first evening at dinner there were several Germans at the table who courteously spoke very fair English for my benefit. It was, however, most entertaining to find that a late comer proved to be a scientist sent out from Berlin by Herr von Liischan of the Anthropological Society, whom I had met some years before on the occasion of the visit of the British Association to South Africa. This gentleman, Dr Thurnwald by name, was studying the different languages, and the anthropological conditions generally, of the colony. I found him somewhat de- spondently grappling with the multitudinous linguistic diversities which characterise the Melanesian languages, but I was indebted to him for much enlightenment in our frequent conversations at meal-times. He was fair in his references to my nation. In fact he spoke highly of our successful dealings with coloured races, and regretted that things went forward so slowly in the Protectorate. '' We have learnt by long and sometimes USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 49 painful experience," I said more than once. ''We have been colonising for centuries. You have but just begun ! " ''Yes, we came late Into the field," re- turned he ; " all the best parts of the world were taken long ago. Look at these miser- able Gazelle kanakas. What can one do with so lazy, so low a race ? " It was interesting to hear from one, or another, of the interests which had kept, or which had brought them to this remote spot. To grow copra, to sell it at top price, seemed to be the end and aim of the planter's ambition. I learnt that there were six trading firms, with over fifty stations in the Protectorate ; that at the different harbours, such as Wilhelmshafen in Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, there were post-offices, and an official with subordinates to collect the revenue, for the latter procured from taxes, dues, and licences, averages yearly £5000, but the fact which struck me as significant, when taken into consideration with the mental attitude of one or two whom I met, and which I may describe as the reverse of sanguine, was that 50 SCARIFYING PROCESS in the whole Archipelago there are to-day- only, and never have been more than three hundred white men, and out of that number a large proportion are officials. When I speak of the planters I refer to the managers of plantations belonging to the various firms, whose business naturally brought them often to the centre of administration. Half a dozen natives wearing red caps and red lava-lavas waited at table. Sometimes two or three were sufficient for that purpose, the others meanwhile would squat out in the sun operating upon each other's shoulders. I watched the process a little way off. At regular distances the skin was cut by an obsidian splinter, burning sand was then rubbed into the aperture and the skin drawn over it. The raised scars, the consequence of this treatment, represent tattooing in a primitive phase, and in this scarifying process the dark-skinned Melanesians differ radically from the tattooing of Polynesian races. The belief is general that these kanakas at one time or another migrated from the neighbouring island of New Ireland THE BAININGS 51 (Tombara), and brought with them this type of ornamentation of the body. Whether these scarified marks on the shoulders and chest have any totemic signification, or any magical meaning, is not clearly known. In the Gazelle Peninsula the kanakas belong to one of two divisions, and must marry out of their own. In my daily conversations with Dr Thurnwald, it dawned upon me how little was actually known of the peoples who inhabit the Bismarck Archipelago. With deep interest I learnt that a race whose existence was unknown twelve years ago, called the Bainings, live in the mountainous region to the west of the peninsula, and the curious thing about them is that their language and customs are dissimilar to those of all other islanders in the Archipelago. In a subsequent chapter they are described. The ethnological conditions of this end of New Britain seem so bound up with geo- logical changes, that to shed some light on the somewhat extraordinary fact of two races living within a few miles of each other, one having retained in its pristine purity its 52 VOLCANIC CONDITIONS language and distinct customs, It may be well to refer to Mr Parkinson's explanation of the phenomenon. He describes the peninsula as practically divided Into two parts : a mountainous region known as the Balning Mountains in the north-west, and a plateau formation of volcanic origin built up with lava, pumice, obsidian and ashes, the result of successive convulsions of nature In the north-east. But prior to this volcanic outburst, a race who may be called the aborigines of the Island dwelt round the shores of Blanche Bay. Those who sur- vived the catastrophe sought refuge In the mountainous west, out of the zone of danger. Their descendants are, he declares, the Bain- ings, whose existence has lately come to light. Cut off from Intercourse with later Immigrants in the fastnesses of their mountains, they have retained their language and customs intact. If this be a correct inference, It seems that all agree In the belief that the bush and coast kanakas of the German settled territory, so soon as the devastated area reclothed itself once more with vegeta- THE SULKAS 53 tlon, migrated from New Ireland by way of the stepping-stones afforded by the Duke of York's Islands lying midway in St George's Channel. Finding no resistance offered them, the new-comers apparently penetrated further along the uninhabited coasts, pushing slowly inland. Long before the advent of the European, the natives on the west coast in the neighbourhood of the three volcanoes, the Father and two Sons, held friendly inter- course with natives on the north coast of the peninsula, to whom they brought a special kind of shell, much prized by the Gazelle kanakas. The only other race as yet known posses- sing outstanding features are the Sulkas, living in the neighbourhood of Cape Orford. A native at Simpsonhafen, with a curiously- shaped head, had been pointed out to me ; the occiput had protruded in a remarkable manner. When mentioning the fact, I sug- gested it was perhaps the result of an acci- dent ? This was considered a capital joke by those present. They were kind enough to enlighten my ignorance. The man, it 54 FEAR OF THE UNSEEN seemed, was a Sulka. The last few years had brought some of them to Herbertshohe as labour "boys." In earliest infancy the child's temples are tightly bound, as this pro- trusion is considered a great beauty. The Sulkas, I was told, amid laughter, understood women's rights, for the girls choose their husbands, and in so doing they " lay their hearts upon the men of their choice," accord- ing to the native saying. Very different indeed, I was emphatically given to understand, were the miserable kanakas of the Gazelle Peninsula. Living in communities apart from each other, their gunans, or clans, scarcely ever numbered more than nine or ten huts, which were always encircled with a split bamboo fence from four to five feet high. The matriarchate system of inheritance prevails amongst them : thus a chief is succeeded in his honours by his nephew, the son of his wife's brother. Tamboo, (strings of shell money), is here as in most parts of the Archipelago the medium of exchange. Fear of unseen evil, wrought by the magic of persons antagon- / ir.-m"^' r *'*- -i*«t-. A GAZELLE KANAKA FACIAL DECORATIONS 55 istic to them, is the dominating influence in their lives, the mainspring of all action. Everything they wear, all the face orna- mentation, consisting of painted circles and lines, have their special signification. For instance, three marks, painted respectively black, white and red from the eyes down- wards on to the cheek, denote the shedding of tears. Three long scars in the same direction have the same meaning. Lines from the root of the nose semicircling the eyes represent a butterfly, a red spot on each cheek means spotted. Sometimes the whole forehead is painted white ; an artistic finish is a line drawn straight down the nose ! Coloured circles round the eyes mean that the person so ornamented imitates the eyes of the owl. Then certain very superior patterns descend in families as heirlooms, and they figure as monopolies, for if anyone covets the design, he must pay a sum of shell - money for the privilege of being permitted to adopt it. Near the Vunakokor Mountain there are natives of such artistic taste that they paint half 56 NATIVE COLOURING the body black and red, the other half yellow. Nowadays when European paint can be procured from the trader, vermilion seems the rage, but the native still makes colouring matter out of clay, red and yellow ochres, or charred r.u:s mixed with oil. Betel-nut chewing is greatly practised. CHAPTER IV CANNIBALS IN PRISON — " THE YELP OF THE BEAST'' — HISTORY OF THE BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO— SPANISH SECRETIVENESS — DAMPIER AND CARTERET's VOYAGES — THE NEW GUINEA COM- PANY NO truer words were ever written than the following by Sir George Grey, ** Ignorance is the channel through which fear attacks human life." At Herbertshohe immediately the sun had set behind the rugged outline of the mountains of Xew Ireland in a wealth of crimson fleecy clouds, whilst the volcano and the bay lay steeped in shades of the most exquisite purple, the kanakas, who, beneath the hotel had been bathing or fishing on the reef, set up " Sing Songs " of a most penetrating character, ostensibly to ward off attacks from unfriendly spirits who, according to savage beliefs in this island, are prone to malevolent activity at this hour. The noise was at times deafen- 57 58 HUMAN FLESH ing. I had been warned to be careful, not to stray too far from habitations, for the treacherous instinct to slink behind and brain an unsuspecting European is a factor to be reckoned with, so that for the first day or so I contented myself with strolling about the settlement and locating the different offices and stores of the traders. The police-station I gazed at with Interest, for hither had been brought, not long before my coming, certain natives from the Sir Charles Hardy Islands, two hundred miles away. It appeared that a manager of the firm of Forsyth saw these islanders with hacked- up human flesh In their baskets, and had thereupon given them to understand that under the rule of the ''mailed fist," cannibal practices must cease ; whereupon, the kanakas, angry at being thwarted in the enjoyment of the prized delicacy, had threatened to kill him if he gave Information to the authorities. The European had, not- withstanding, apprised His Excellency of the fact, and a ship had brought the transgressors to Herbertshohe. I never discovered the THE YELP OF THE BEAST 59 exact mode in which these offenders were punished, but this is one out of many similar cases wherein natives have had their feet set upon the first rung of the ladder which leads to progress. The low status of the various races makes colonisation move slowly. To mentally exchange places with these savages is an impossibility. Though keen enoug-h where contact with traders has accustomed them to look after matters of personal gain, yet their intelligence, certainly in the Gazelle Peninsula, is of so elementary a nature, so little removed occasionally from imbecility, that to try to grasp the stand- point from which the white man's presence is viewed, requires many years' experience. Some of us believe that man is toiling slowly upwards from unknown depths. Others, that he is pitchforked into a solitary existence in this world, condemned unborn, by force of an heredity insuperably antagonistic to the attainment of the saving ethical standard. In the first of these creeds savage traits are to be expected in early stages of evolution, ''the yelp of the beast" 6o POETIC INSIGHT becoming fainter as he slowly works out his own salvation. If the raison detre of man's existence is that eventually he may stand on the heights of life, with glimpses of heights that are higher, then — " Earth's crammed with Heaven And every common bush afire with God." The highest experience of the heirs of all the ages is "to know ourselves part and proportion of a wondrous whole." The fine insight of great poetic genius has intuitively felt the cosmic interpretation of what we call life, thus aiding us to solve, each for himself, the riddle of the universe. Few educated persons however, in these days, deny that their ancestors rose by evolutionary processes from the animal kingdom, and in course of ages by slow and painful effort attained to the rank of human beings. In these remote isles is a world sitting at the feet of Christ ! " Unknowing, blind and unconsoled ; It yet shall touch His garment's fold And feel the heavenly Alchemist Transform its very dust to gold." IN THE DIM PAST 6i Having permitted myself to indulge in a favourite line of thought, I will now retrace my steps. One of my first actions at Herbertshohe was to write to the author of the German work recently published, who, being a member of the British Anthropological Society would, I thought, be a good guide in native matters. Then I decided to call soon upon the bishop at Vunapope, and upon Queen Emma. Before proceeding further, it occurs to me that an outline of the history of this colony may be useful to interested readers. It is impossible to say with accuracy when, in the dim past, the Bismarck Archi- pelago was first sighted by white men. Long before the Christian era, according to Chinese traditions, foreigners traded with that country, arriving in ships shaped like animals, having two great eyes at the bows. Some apparently were Babylonians, for they brought with them their knowledge of the stars and their weights and measures. As it is believed that the coasts of Sumatra 62 SECRETIVE POLICY and Java were known to those primitive mariners, we may be led to infer that those also of New Guinea were sighted at an early date. Coming down to later times, it is a matter of history how the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by Vasco de Gama in 1497, acted as a stimulus to maritime enterprise and discovery. Por- tuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British crossed trackless ocean wastes in search of gold and glory ! In 151 1, a Portuguese discovered the Moluccas, whilst De Balboa, in 1513, from the Spanish possessions in Central America, first gazed upon the Pacific Ocean. In 1520 Magellan steered his ship through the strait which bears his name. A few years later the Spaniards had found their way across the Pacific to the Philippines and the Moluccas. That they had sighted the coasts of New Ireland and of New Guinea is certain, for Tasman relates how he found the Cabo de Santo Maria, the eastern point of New Ireland, on an old Spanish chart, but the policy of the Spaniards was secretive. AUSTRALIS INCOGNITA 63 In the fabulous wealth of their new pos- sessions they had found a good thing, and resolved to keep it to themselves, for which nobody can blame them, considering that the same thing is done every day in this land of light and learning. Notwithstanding their silence, adventurers were keenly alert to find the "terra Australis incognita," which the geographers of that date declared must of necessity exist to maintain the equilibrium of the universe. Somewhere in the southern hemisphere, to counterbalance the masses of land grouped together in the northern, this unknown territory was supposed to be situate. In accordance with this theory, in the year 1 566, the Spanish Viceroy fitted out two ships to search for it. The command was bestowed upon Alvaro Mendana who, sailing from Callao in 1567, discovered the Lord Howe Group. From thence, steering in a southerly course, thinking that the fertile islands he coasted, corresponded to the Biblical Ophir, he named them the Solomon Isles. Torres later on discovered the strait separating New Guinea from 64 NAUTICAL MATTERS Australia, but curious to relate, this dis- covery only came to light many years after, when the British at war with Spain besieged Manilla in 1762, found the report of Torres' voyages in the archives of that town. In consequence of Spanish secretiveness, and owing to the confused and garbled versions which were rumoured of these voyages, it was not until the latter end of the eighteenth century that geographers decided that the islands discovered later by British and French explorers were identical with Men- dana's Solomon Islands. Already in the beginning of the seven- teenth century the might of the Spaniard was waning, and the Dutch were picking* up what their former captors were losing. Nautical studies were prosecuted in the Netherlands, the purpose being to gain pos- session of the rich Spanish colonies. Nor does this seem likely to be the only instance in history when the world-wide dependencies of a great power have excited the envy of a neighbouring nation, and stimulated it to train experts in sea-craft ! At this date the FIERCE ATTACKS 65 Dutch East India Company rose into being, and acquired in a short space of time Batavia, Amboyna, and Bantam, keeping the trade in their own hands. This mono- poly caused much indignation in Holland, and incited the two navigators, Le Maire and Schouten, to further discoveries in the far east. In 16 16, after rounding the Horn, they sighted three low-lying islands ; the coasts were steep, and there was no anchor- age. These they called Green Islands (subsequently they were known as the Sir Charles Hardy Group — native, Nissan). Directing their course towards a mountain- ous shore, they believed themselves to be on the north-east coast of New Guinea, when they were in reality off the Cape of St Maria in New Ireland. Here fierce encounters with natives, who swarmed on to their decks from numerous canoes, took place. Ten were killed, three made prisoners ; two were, however, released in exchange for a pig and a bunch of bananas. The journal mention- ing this circumstance naively adds that they did not seem worth more (mehr schienen sie 66 WILLIAM DAMPIER nicht wert zu sein). Steering northwards they approached the shores of the present New Hanover, but failed to note its insu- larity. Passing the Admiraltys, they identi- fied the " High Lands " with the twenty-five islands of a former explorer. In 1642, Anthony van Diemen, then Governor of the Dutch Indies, despatched two ships, pro- visioning them for eighteen months, into the unknown south. This expedition, com- manded by Tasman, discovered in the Bis- marck Archipelago the little island which bears his name, Fisher Island, Anthony Caerns, and Gerrit Denys, but he seems to have fallen into the mistake made by the earlier navigators in taking the mountainous coast of New Ireland for that of the island of New Guinea. It was left for the British explorer, William Dampier, in 1700, to establish the geographical fact that they were two different islands. Having visited the west coast of Australia, this famous navigator steered northwards and reached the island of Timor. Sailing from thence in an easterly HISTORIC VOYAGE 67 direction, he missed the ''High Lands" (Admiraltys), which the Dutch navigator had noted, and passing between Squally Island and St Matthias, he coasted down the eastern shores of New Hanover and New Ireland. Between Gardner Island and Gerrit Denys, he came into conflict with fierce natives, who swarmed up his ship's decks. Passing Cape St Maria, he penetrated southwards, named Cape St George, and mistaking the channel which divides the island of New Britain from New Ireland for a bay, called It St George's Bay. Here he perceived clouds of smoke issuinof from the northern corner which proceeded no doubt from the crater known as the Mother, opposite Herbertshohe. Had Dampier arrived at any other time of year, he would probably have been swept into the Channel, to discover that his Nova Britannia consisted of two Islands. This was left for his successor Carteret to demon- strate. From February to April, Dampier sailed in these seas, and at this time of year a strong north-west wind sweeps through 68 PHILIP CARTERET St George's Channel, in consequence of which a powerful current, against which sailing-ships are unable to advance, would have deterred him from making a more detailed survey of the supposed bay. Con- tinuing to skirt the southern portion of New Britain, he discovered the passage which bears his name dividing the island from New Guinea. Here amongst numerous islets he discovered and named Sir George Rook Island. Up to his time, the Bismarck Archipelago had been considered to be a portion of New Guinea. Dampier was followed in 1722 by the Dutchman Roggeveen, who confused New Britain with New Zealand. Again, in 1764, more British explorers sailed for the South Seas, amongst them Commander Wallis in the frigate called the Dolphin. He had with him, in charge of his second vessel, an old-fashioned sloop which had seen thirty years' service, the celebrated Lieutenant Philip Carteret. In April 1767, the latter lost sight of his commander in the Magellan Straits, and not till the follow- THE " ENGLISH COVE " 69 ing August did the crew of his unseaworthy ship see Urra firma. This intrepid officer then discovered those islands which bear his name. Of the natives he speaks as follows :—" The inhabitants are black and curly-headed, like the negroes of Africa ; their weapons are bows and arrows ; they possess great canoes, which they navigate by means of sails." The following day the Sir Charles Hardy Islands were sighted also ; towards the south an elevated coast- line was observed, which Carteret called Winchelsea Island. In reality this is the first mention of the island of Buka, the northernmost of the Solomon Group. In a day or two he found himself confronting the coasts of New Britain, where he was driven by sea and v/ind into Dampier's St George's Bay. Here, to the joy of the crew who had suffered many privations, Carteret found anchorage in the little *' English cove," where they stayed, repair- ing the ship, till the 9th of September, when they were driven further into the supposed bay. Carteret then discovered that it was 70 ST CrORCr'^: CHANNEL J strait sefMratinj; tho two isluuis. Ho n.uwod it Si Cu\M\^o\s C"h.\nnol : tho i^roup of isl\!u!s kiunsn as Nrw l.auonhun^ he callc\l li\o Puko ot York Islands, and to the picscui NcNN Mecklenburg he i;ave the name of New Ireland. Pteennv^ alons^ the western e\\\st ot' the last-named, he dis- t\we!vd Sandwich Island. Here the sloop kv ':\\ ..!n\evi and w\ls visited bv ten canoes will\ vuc one hutidrxxl auvi titty natives, who wTre nirtovis. but shv and tnoflFensivr. Tro- ^.vcxiinv: northwanls he diseoverevi the ^MSs.\v^T^ dividing; the islands ot* Xcw Han- over and New Ite'.and. On the luh of September l\e j^ightcxi Tortland Lsluid : the dav following the **Tweiuv-five Islatids." iv^ \ he vv^ve the name ot' the Adn\ir- ^ty l^^les : a dav or two after, he [wssed Doiuv and Matty. Alvut this date the Freuc; ; Antoine vie iHHVvy^unvJlle ^^^^s ordered bv the Kinvr of FratKV to e\. loiv t:u South Seas. Alter dvsvwerinv:: the 1 ouis.^uu s he. in i;oS. s\»\\ li^XMi ':. s s:..r':\\iai the long mountainous islxUid \ lx\;n> his name .. on. AUSIKAI.fAN MISSION 71 Cloiscul, ainl on a north warrl cr)ursc h(t discovcn^d the Hermits and tlu: f^X(:lir:qu(:r Islands. TIh* c(!nlury followin;.'^, tin: Hisniarck Archijjcla;^*) was often visited hy captains of varlons nationalities. In iH/j9 (*ajj(ain K(!|)j)(:l in i\u: Af^an^/cr [y.v.i^^Cil Piirdy Island, and landing on the Admlraltys found the- n;itives favourably disjjosed towards him. A^ain, in 1872, the liritisii cruiser Jilanche, under Ca[>tain Simpson, anchored behind the island (jf Matupi, in the hay which hears his name. About this time the first jjermanent tradinj^ station belonj^^in^ to a German firm was established at Mioko. The year 1875 hrou^^ht two scientific expeditions into the Archipelago. Sir C. Nares, commandin;^ li.M.S. Challenger, visited the A