THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY'S EXPEDITION TO NEW GUINEA.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 5428, 23 February 1886, Page 4

THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY'S EXPEDITION TO NEW GUINEA.

[The Argus.] From a correspondent we have received the following notes with regard to the collections made by the Geographical Society's Expedition to the Fly River, yrhicK will shortly be opened -for" public inspeciion in the right wing of the Old Art Gallery, Sydney, and of which a por.tion will be forwarded to Melbourne; The, ethnological section contains a good display of weapons, dress, and 'ornaments from three of the tribes who live on the bank of the Fly River.. The. articles from Samioot and Kiwai, large villages near the mouth of the riveij were obtained by barter. They include numbers of bows and arrows, and various sorts of fish traps, a remarkable one being a wickerwork cone, lined inside with the thorns of the lawyer palm, so placed that. the fish enter easily, but. their escape is cut off by the sharp . points piercing their bodies. Pipes, stone clubs, plumes of birds of paradise, bracelets, and armlets of plaited cane and boars' tusks, flanked with a collection of skulls .of natives who met their deaths, by blows .from clubs, complete this section. Many valuable specimens were obtained from the " river men," who are first met with about 170 miles up the river. The .males of these tribes are all warriors, and men of fine stature. To the members of the expedition they were knowrraa " the river pirates." They build -]Bplendid ; canoes, 60ft long, with long chisel-pointed ends, and almost as thin as an egg-shell. Their villages are only temporary, and they seem nerer to stay longer jthan six months in one spot, just allowing- enough time to work out the sago and wild figs in .tKesoHToanpling forest. „ ;- ; The bowsjanu- jarrows of these people are remarkable for their size, strength, and finish. The. bows are eight feet Jong, with rattan cane string, and the" arrows are long in proportion, with heads of beautifully carved bone or claws of the e.c&BSowary. The men daub their bodies with many colored clays in a most gro- \ tesque fashion, one being half red and ' half black, another powdered all over with powdered charcoal and oil ; some whiten their faces, and others use bright yellow. They wear large and neatly made gauntlets cf cane basket work, or of the cover of the palm flower. Into these gauntlets are thrust sticks with clusters of feathers attached, which project 3ft or 4ft behind the elbow. Their heads are ornamented with the feathers of the cockatoo and bird of paradise, and in their ears they wear ornaments made of the quill feathers of the cassowary. All wear a large conch shell, finely carved and ornamented with seeds, &c, which they could not be induced to part with for so great a treasure as an axe. A few more common ones were obtained which had not been in use. Several fine grass aprons worn by the women were obtained, as well as a valuable col'ection of stone club heads, described by D'Albertis in his work on New Guinea. An important section comprises the interesting and unique specimens obtained by the whaleboat party from the head of the Strickland River. These articles were taken out of the native houses from which the inhabitants fled on the approach of the white men. Care was taken, however, to leave plenty of " trade" in return. The people of this part seemed to belong to a totally different race from those before mentioned. They have well-built houses, cleared land, and very small but neat canoes, with rounded ends. The exhibits obtained from them include curious rattles made of the claws of a large crayfish, broad waist-belts, curious wicker waterbuckets, stone club-heads, gourds full of lime made from burrt mussel shells, wellknitted bags, and some skulls found m baskets in front of the doors of the houses. The geological section contains no metallic specimens except iron pyrites, but there are some very fine samples of colored sands and clays from the red bluffs ; stones from the shingle beds in the river, among which are some beautiful casts of ammonites, and pieces of rock obtained from the farthest point reached by the whale-boat, which are a mass of extinct marine fossils. Ornithology is represented by about 200 skins of birds ; pigeons, fly-catchers, and kingfishers, being the most interesting, for- although four species of. the' bird of paradise were secured, none were in full plumage. Comparatively few entomological specimens were captured. There, ; are, however, four cases of insects, among which, are the walkingstick insect, the great leaf grasshopper (found first by Wallace in Borneo), and a good case of butterflies. Zoology is rather poorly represented. Theie are a bandicoot, a >large tree rat, four ground rats, several bats, and two specimens of a large river turtle, believed to belong to a new species. A number of jars of fish and replaces complete the collection. .; -- F The whole of the exhibits have been unpacked and arranged by Mr W. W. Froggatt, of Sandhurst, who accompanied the expedition as assistant zoologist, and material assistance was rendered by Mr Ramsay and his stfiS at the Australian museum, and by Mr Murden, at the Technological Museum.