Gentlemen Cannibals.

Western Star, 9 October 1908, Page 4

Gentlemen Cannibals.

SOME .DUBIOUS CUSTOMS. ‘L iv.. . The) Prince of Darkness, lias teen called" a gentleman, and .the Rec. !W. ; . E Bromildw*,;Wtio knows liis r; saA\age ■ with a knowledge expending over many voars, is not disposed 'to deny the .title to tile Now Guinea canmbatf.- When he I s not engaged in cannibalism, Mr BromDcw assured a Dominion xvpresedtative, l|he fNieiv •(Guinea native can be quite a (gentler man. . „ , Mr Bromilow, who arnitved in ’Wellington on Saturday, in the course of a tour of the Dominion, has just resigned; his position as head of the New Guinea Methodist mission and principal of the Übia. Native College. He has left New. Guinea, after, a residence of 17 years, to plrieservo Mrs Bromilow, who is travelling with him, from the deadly malaria, which is the worst scourge of that country. The Rev. M. K. Gjl■mour, who 'was in Wellington, a low months ago, with a Papuan “ boy,” is his successor in the work Mr Bromilow not only knows, but likes his savage, and though the New Guinea native has some characteris,tvcs clilllcult to condone, the visiter was able to make up quite a prcpos r scssing portrait from his better traits. —Chief and Father. — Mr Bromilow went to New Guinea in IS'9'l, after ten. years’ missionary work in the Fiji. The London Missionary Society had been represented in tlio country since '1872, but them .was ample room for other workers, and the Governor, Sir William Mcgregor, sugge|(ted that the Methodists should supplement their work. % 'Ho afterwards . described ids invitation to the missionaries as the beet! thing ho had ever ’done. Mr Bromilow started work in one of tiro worst parts of the Papuan group., .The chief scene of ftheir activity was two small but densely-populated islands near the mainland of NowGuinea. The inhabitants of one island, the 'Dobuans, were a specially heroes race, who h'ad conquered all the neighbouring tribes.. The inhabitants of the other, island were their allies, amt both races wore notorious cannibals. The Dobuans, in fact, used to drink human blood raw. LA plan was formed -to kill Mr and Mrs Bromilow as soon as they arrived, but it did not succeed, and e.vciifinally the awful Dobuans adopted ilpm into the tribe. Mr Bromilow was invested with chief’s honors which caused, a newspaper in England to announce that he had given tip his work as a missionary to be chief of a cannibal tribe, and that he had recently informed a visitor that he was perfectly satisfied wVth •his lot. As ,a mark of friendship, Mr Bromilow. exchanged namqa with the old chief of another tribe, and ■when -the old man 'died, the tribe came 'to Mr Bromilow, presented him with a isteme axe, and told him he must be their father. Ha consented, and the tribes who, on his first arrival, (thirsted for his blood, made great; la,mentation on Wi* recent depart ure I'd} thjo loss of a father and a chief, —A Notorious Cannibal. Soon after Mr Bromilovy went to New Guinea, ho was , aid * to bring together the Governor and a redoubtable old chief who Hid never accepted his authority. The old savage, who had taken with bis own hands thirty-eight victims for cannibal feasts, could never he induced to meet the Governor. His •tribe, also, were the I slim acts of the group. Mr Bromilow sought him out and gained his confidence, and 'the Governor agreed that if the chief would give up his evil course's past offences would be forgiven. The chief agreed to live peacefully on this condition, and he was always thankful to Mr Bromilow for the terms, since be had fully expected to be some day caught and hanged, i —EI ah orate Etta qu elite,. — The Papuans are so far gentlemen that they have an elaborate code of etiquette, and regard the English ast a 'rude race, quite without any etiquette. T-t was part of the Papaun code filial the cannibal should not eat the victim of his own prowess ; these he handed over in a gentlemanly manner, for the refreshment* of a friend. Often a white man enters a Papuan village, without a ‘‘By your leave,” and orders the natives to climb a tlrec and throw him down some cocoanuts.. When the natives decline the European generally abuses them, while the natives .meditate with disgust on the, rude manners of the white-face, Mr Bromilow- gained the goodwill of the natives by carefully observing - their customs when these were not morally bad. Instcjad.. of walking into a settlement unasked, ' he would cy.mmence in walk round it, when imI lately tlio residents would come •forward and -invite him -to come among them. Tp walk into a village uninvited is considered- as ill mafnners ajs! fp walk into a „ house in tlio same way. A Papuan will say to a rude fellow ; “ Dot like the white man," meaning, ‘■Be at uncouth a s you can be.” —Evil Customs. — , The New Guinea natives are not only polite, but tfhey are very clever Sir Bromilow lias seen an English House built by one of them in creditable style. They have also built, whale,boats, and small schooners are sailed by Papuan captains and crews.One* of their worst customs -was burying sick people -when they wdifc only semi-conscious but not dead. Bromilow once saw a woman who had been placed in I In* -grave while In this state.. She cut a bandage which confined the. woman s heajl, gave her a restorative in Hie grave, ami! sent for Mr Bromilow. Altei some argument, the tribe agreed to have the woman taken out, and she survived for several hours. Another horrible custom was tp bury live infants with their dead mothers. on the other hand, the Papuan " land laws are excellent, -and their system of inheritance through their mother they regard as greatly superior to the European custom. The Native College at 1 hula has fifty men and fifty women in training fur mission work, v, I.h about seventy orphans and chi'Tfcvm -who have been saved Tom death bv living burial or .starvation in their dnifancv. ..This 'natives are amonlahks ■BtfMHilMllHlllliMiakßiii