Wanderings among South Sea Savages and in Borneo and the Philippines

H. Wilfrid Walker

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• Publié par: uddu
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

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Borneo and the Philippines, by H. Wilfrid Walker
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Title: Wanderings Among South Sea Savages And in Borneo and the Philippines
Author: H. Wilfrid Walker
Release Date: November 4, 2009 [EBook #2564]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH SEA SAVAGES ***
Produced by Jeroen HellingmanBelles of Papua
Wanderings Among
South Sea Savages
And in Borneo and the
Philippines
By
H. Wilfrid Walker
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
With forty-eight plates from photographsby the author and others
London Witherby & Co. 1909
To
My brother Charles
This record of my wanderings
in which he took so deep an interest,
[v]is affectionately dedicated.
Preface
In a book of this kind it is often the custom to begin by making apologies.
In my case I feel it to be a sheer necessity. In the first place what is here
printed is for the greater part copied word for word from private letters that
I wrote in very simple language in Dayak or Negrito huts, or in the lonely
depths of tropical forests, in the far-off islands of the Southern Seas. I
purposely made my letters home as concise as possible, so that they could
be easily read, and in consequence have left out much that might have been
interesting. It is almost unnecessary to mention that when I wrote these
letters I had no thought whatever of writing a book. If I had thought of
doing so, I might have mentioned more about the customs, ornaments and
weapons of the natives and have written about several other subjects in
greater detail. As it is, a cursory glance will show that this book has not the
slightest pretence of being “scientific.” Far from its being so, I have simply
related a few of the more interesting incidents, such as would give a
general impression of my life among savages, during my wanderings in
many parts of the world, extending over nearly a score of years. I should
[vi]like to have written more about my wanderings in North Borneo, as well as
in Samoa and Celebes and various other countries, but the size of the book
precludes this. My excuse for publishing this book is that certain of my
relatives have begged me to do so. Though I was for the greater part of the
time adding to my own collections of birds and butterflies, I have refrainedas much as possible from writing on these subjects for fear that they might
prove tedious to the general reader. I have also touched but lightly on the
general customs of the people, as this book is not for the naturalist or
ethnologist, nor have I made any special study of the languages concerned,
but have simply jotted down the native words here used exactly as I heard
them. As regards the photographs, some of them were taken by myself
while others were given me by friends whom I cannot now trace. In a few
cases I have no note from whom they were got, though I feel sure they
were not from anyone who would object to their publication. In particular, I
may mention Messrs. G. R. Lambert, Singapore; John Waters, Suva, Fiji;
Kerry & Co., Sydney; and G. O. Manning, New Guinea. To these and all
others who have helped me I now tender my heartiest thanks. I have met
with so much help and kindness during my wanderings from Government
officials and others that if I were here to mention all, the list would be a
[vii]large one. I shall therefore have to be content with only mentioning the
principal names of those in the countries I have here written about.
In Fiji:—Messrs. Sutherland, John Waters, and McOwan.
In New Guinea:—Sir Francis Winter, Mr. C. A. W. Monckton, R.M., The
Hon. A. Musgrave, Capt. Barton, Mr. Guy O. Manning, and Dr. Vaughan.
In the Philippines:—Governor Taft, afterwards President of the United
States, and Mr. G. d’E. Browne.
In British North Borneo:—Messrs. H. Walker, Richardson, Paul Brietag, F.
Durége, J. H. Molyneux, and Dr. Davies.
In Sarawak:—H.H. The Rajah, Sir Charles Brooke, Sir Percy
Cunninghame, Dr. Hose, Archdeacon Sharpe, Mr. R. Shelford, and the
officials of The Borneo Company, Ltd.
To all of these and many others in other countries I take this opportunity of
publicly tendering my cordial thanks for their unfailing kindness and
hospitality to a wanderer in strange lands.
[ix]H. Wilfrid Walker.
Table of Contents
Preface
List of Illustrations
Part I: Life in the Home of a Fijian Prince.
Chapter I: Life in the Home of a Fijian Prince.
Chapter II: My Further Adventures with Ratu Lala.
Part II: Among Ex-Cannibals in Fiji.
Chapter III: Among Ex-Cannibals in Fiji.
Chapter IV: Mock War-Scene at the Chief’s House.
Part III: My Life Among Filipinos and Negritos and a Journey in
Search of Bearded Women.Chapter V: At Home Among Filipinos and Negritos.
Chapter VI: A Chapter of Accidents.
Part IV: In the Jungles of Cannibal Papua.
Chapter VII: On the War-Trail in Cannibal Papua.
Chapter VIII: We Are Attacked By Night.
Chapter IX: On the War-Trail Once More.
Chapter X: The Return From Dobodura.
Part V: Our Discovery of Flat-Footed Lake Dwellers.
Chapter XI: Our Discovery of Flat-Footed Lake Dwellers.
Part VI: Wanderings and Wonders in Borneo.
Chapter XII: On the War-Path in Borneo.
Chapter XIII: Home-Life Among Head-Hunting Dayaks.
Chapter XIV: Visit to the Birds’-nest Caves of Gomanton.
Plates
[xv]
List of Illustrations
Frontispiece—Belles of Papua.
A Chief’s Daughter and a Daughter of the People
A “Meke-Meke,” or Fijian Girls’ Dance
Interior of a large Fijian Hut
A Fijian Mountaineer’s House
At the Door of a Fijian House
A Fijian Girl
Spearing Fish in Fiji
A Fijian Fisher Girl
A Posed Picture of an old-time Cannibal Feast in Fiji
Making Fire by Wood Friction
An Old ex-Cannibal
A Fijian War-Dance
Adi Cakobau (pronounced “Andi Thakombau”), the highest Princess
in Fiji, at her house at Navuso
A Filipino Dwelling
A Village Street in the Philippines
A River Scene in the Philippines
A Negrito Family
Negrito Girls (showing Shaved Head at back)
A Negrito Shooting
Tree Climbing by Negritos
A Negrito Dance
Arigita and his Wife
Three Cape Nelson Kaili-Kailis in War Attire
Kaili-Kaili House on the edge of a Precipice
“A Great Joke”
[xvi]A Ghastly Relic
Cannibal Trophies
A Woman and her Baby
A Papuan Girl
The Author with Kaili-Kaili FollowersWives of Native Armed Police
A Papuan Damsel
Busimaiwa, the great Mambare Chief, with his Wife and Son (in the
Police)
A Haunt of the Bird of Paradise
The Author starting on an Expedition
A New Guinea River Scene
Papuan Tree-Houses
A Village of the Agai Ambu
H. W. Walker, L. Dyke-Acland, and C. A. W. Monckton
View of Kuching from the Rajah’s Garden
Dayaks and Canoes
Dayak in War-Coat
Dayak Women and Children on the Platform outside a long House
Dayaks Catching Fish
A Dayak Woman with Mourning Ornaments round waist
On a Tobacco Estate
On a Bornean River
[1]
Life in the Home of a Fijian Prince.
[[32]]
Life in the Home of a Fijian Prince.
Journey to Taviuni—Samoan Songs—Whistling for the Wind—Landing on
Koro—Nabuna—Samoans and Fijians Compared—Fijian Dances and
Angona Drinking—A Hurricane in the Southern Seas—Arrival at Taviuni
—First Impressions of Ratu Lala’s Establishment—Character of Ratu Lala
—Prohibition of Cricket—Ratu Lala Offended—The Prince’s Musical Box.
Among all my wanderings in Fiji I think I may safely say that my two
months’ stay with Ratu (Prince) Lala, on the island of Taviuni, ranks
highest both for interest and enjoyment. As I look back on my life with this
great Fijian prince and his people, it all somehow seems unreal and an
existence far apart from the commonplace life of civilization. When I was
in Suva (the capital) the colonial secretary gave me a letter of introduction
to Ratu Lala, and so one morning I sailed from Suva on an Australian
steamer, taking with me my jungle outfit and a case of whisky, the latter a
present for the Prince,—and a more acceptable present one could not have
given him.
After a smooth passage we arrived the same evening at Levuka, on the
island of Ovalau. After a stay of a day here, I sailed in a small schooner
which carried copra from several of the Outlying islands to Levuka. Her[4]name was the Lurline, and her captain was a Samoan, whilst his crew was
made up of two Samoans and four Fijians. The captain seemed to enjoy
yelling at his men in the Fijian language, with a strong flavouring of
English “swear words,” and spoke about the Fijians in terms of utter
contempt, calling them “d——d cannibals.” The cabin wag a small one
with only two bunks, and swarmed with green beetles and cockroaches.
Our meals were all taken tog