The Bamberg Herald

London, Dec. 23.-The civilized
super-woman who prefers nursing a
pug to nursing a baby, may be edified
to learn that she has rivals--in the
Mafula Mountains of Papua.
Only
it is pigs, not pugs, that are fond-
led and cherished by the wives of
the Mafula cannibals.
Thrilling accounts of this strange
retrograde tribe of the British por-
tion of New Guinea (or Papua) are
told by R. W. Williamston, a Fellow
of the Anthropological Institute who
has recently returned from a scien-
tific expedition to the Mafula people.
Accompanied only by the Cingalee
servant and two of the most civil-
ized natives of Papua, he spent nearly
five months in the country.
Mr. Williamson is a frail, scholar-
ly man, but his adventures rival
those of Robinson Crusoe and the
giants of exploration.
"We started toward the Mafula
mountains from the Mekeo district
following the course of the St.
Joseph's river," he
said.
"The
ground was covered with thick. reedy
grass, sometimes ten feet in height,
and through this we had to push
our
way
along
ill-formed native
paths.
"We visited as many villages as
possible on the way to the moun-
tain.
Here we were received very
courteously by the chiefs to whom I
gave various presents in exchange for
native carriers.
"There is, of course, no such thing
as money, either among the natives
of the plains or the Mafulus. so that
I carried a stock of articles called
'trade.' in lieu of money.
Articles of Trade.
"My 'trade' consisted of the fol-
lowing goods: Axes, knives, trade
tobacco, beads, plane irons, belts,
red calico, pouches and salt. With
these things I paid for all native
labor.
"It was between 4.000 and 5,000
feet up the mountain that we came
upon the Mafulus, a small people en-
tirely naked save for a strip of bark
worn round the loins. Their skin
is a dark sooty-brown color,.hair a
grizzly, frizzy brown, and across
their faces are weird splashes of
color. chiefly bright red.
"Here in these wild out-of-the-
world regions, I found two French
Jesuit priests. I cannot express my
immense admiration for those two
men who lived there quite alone and
unprotected.
"The Mafulus, I discovered though
they are cannibals, are not actually
headhunters. They only eat human
flesh when the victim is killed in bat-
tle or private vendetta: but then the
actual slayer is not permitted to as-
sist at the feast.
Nurse Young Pigs.
The liking for pigs is something
like worship. Women nurse young
pigs just as they would babies. One
woman killed her baby so that she
could nurse a young pig.
"At the big feast pig-flesh is
largely eaten. One village of about
100 homes killed 120 pigs for their
meal.
"The religion of the Mafulus is
simply the primitive fear of ghosts
and spirits. They have not reached
the stage of idolatry.
"They believe for instance, that
the fig tree and certain trailing
plants are spirit-haunted.
"A Jesuit priest who wanted to
build a hut was warned by these
Maufulus not to cut through one of
these trailing plants. He laughed at
their fears and cut it through.
"Strangely enough he was taken
very ill the next day, and had to be
removed to the coast,
"Marriage is a very simple pro-
cess. A boy sees a girl he wants,
and goes to her house. A price is
arranged for her-some pigs or a
tomahawk-and the girl's parents
accompany the boy back to his home.
"Then they all sit outside the
house, and the wedding is over."