NEW GUINEA EXPLORATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18446, 6 January 1922, Page 7

NEW GUINEA EXPLORATION

INTERESTING NATIVE STUDIES. Attached to the New Guinea expedition, under Dr Campbell Browne, which recently returned to Australia, waa Mr "W. J. Jackaon, who was directed, under arrangement made by the Prime Minister (Mr Hughes) with Australasian Films (Ltd.), to taka kinematograph pictures for exhibition by the firm. Mr Jackeon extended hia operations to the Admiralty Islands, which form part of the mandated territory. A keen observer, Mr Jackson has much to cay about native conditions and customs. In extracts from his diary forwarded from New Guinea, recently published, in the Argus, Mr Jackson gave an interesting account of bis adventures and of the perils which the expedition had undergone. Leaving Rabaul in a small motor launch. Wattle, Madang, on the mainland, was reached after a journey of 390 miles. This was practically the last outpost of civilisation, although between there and the mouth of the Rama River, which was to be the commencing point of the expedition inland, there are several copra plantations. The real work of the expedition commenced at the Ramu River, on which a journey was made cxtencfing 200 miles, through a district the greater part of which no white man had sot foot. Mr Jackson describes the natives as being different fom those seen at RsabauT; living a free and easy life, with nothing to do but to quarrel with each other. The tribes met were difficult to get on with. The diversity of dialects between tribes living at no greater distance than 10 miles from each other was so great that the native of one tribe could not understand his neighbour; and, although native interpreters had been engaged by the expedition their services proved of little value, and sign language had to bo resorted to. Among tho tribes there is a very distinct idea of property, and they arc always covetous of each other’s possessions. Between tho boundaries of tribes’ lands is generally a stretch of vacant territory, and it is in this “no man's land" that sanguinary battles are frequent, tho weapons used being bow® and arrows and stone hatchets. At every opportunity Mr Jackson set his kmeroat©graph at work. "Along tho river,’’ said Mr Jackson, “w© came across various types of men and women. I remember reading about an explorer having encountered a race of blacks, I think it was, in th© Northern Territory, possessing strong Jewish featureo. After what I saw of a tribe on the Ramu River, I am inclined to believe the truth of that story. It was remarkable how pronounced was th© Jewish character on the faces of these men and women. I found that certain observances of tho Jewish race prevailed. Where these people came from I had no means of learning. ' “W© came across a tribe of which tho men wore corsets made from bark, but tho women were not similarly cared for. Among my pictures is on© of tho natives weaving the cloth out of which those corsets arc made. A certain .tree, measuring about Ift in circumference, is felled with a stone adze. The trunk, about 12ft long, is beaten with stone mallets until t'ro bark is loosened. Tb© ; is turned inside out. and, being soft and pliable, is stretched and put in tho sun to dry. Tho bark is soaked in water, after which it is dried again, and tin's represents th© woven cloth, the only material which Booms to be used by the natives. Th© male natives her© also aps th© women in their coiffure, wearing tboir hair very long and tied in a bow.” Mr Jackeon brought back several example© of stone implements, and saw how they were made. In many case® th© huts were raised about 12ft above the ground. In other cases they were built on tho ground. Tho natives adopted their style of building according to the nature of tho surroundings. The country is thickly wooded. However valuable th© timber may be, the difficulty of transport would bo insuperable. At tho Admiralty Islands, Mr Jackson saw women with light hair (not woolly in th© least), and of no darker complexion than the Maoris. Dressed in fashionable attire, one of these women walking on tho Block, Collins street, would - not create the impression of belonging to a coloured race. Those islands are practically coral atolls, averaging only a few feet above water level. They are odmirably adapted for copra-growing, and a rich harvest is obtained. Mr Jackson spoke of exaggerated reports which had been received in Australia of tho ill-treatment of th© native*. “On th© contrary, ” bra said, “the natives ar© very well treated. In fact, they are being ‘coddled.’ It is customary for the native* now to he grossly insolent to tho whit© overseer. A native ordered to do certain work by the overseer would reply, ‘You no boss; you only Government kanaka like me.’ A matter that should be brought under th© notice of th© Administration is that, while th© Germans mad© good roods in New Guinea, they are now in a very bad state. Under military rule, no attention was apparently paid to the roads.”