The Star And Newark Advertiser

THE TREE-DWELLERS.
Many of the people of New Guinea are what we may call tree-dwellers. They have their habitations up among the branches, where they seem to be just as much at home as the birds themselves, or as we are on the solid earth. They climb about like monkeys, and travel for long distances from tree to tree without descending to the ground.
The builder selects a tall tree, climbs the trunk to the top, and then cuts off the upper branches so that their stumps are all on a level. On these stumps of the branches he makes a platform of bamboo, on which the house is to rest.
The house is built of bamboo strips, and is thatched with palm leaves. It does not take the builder long to finish the work after he gets the branches lopped off for his platform. How he manages to lop off the branches is a mystery, for the only tools he has are a sort of an ax made of stone, and knives made of bone or of some hard wood. The bamboo strips of which the house is built are interlaced and lashed with strips of rattan palm, tough vine, which is universally used in New Guinea instead of rope.
The house is not large, but sometimes one is seen that contains two or three rooms, and they are really quite comfortable. Communication is had with the ground by means of a ladder made of vines, and whenever desired the ladder may be drawn up to the house, thus preventing an enemy from ascending.
There are several advantages about the tree-house, which the natives appreciate and enjoy. It affords protection against wild beasts and against the ravenous ants that infest that country. Besides, it raises the family above the disease germs that they would be subject to on the ground, for the germs do not rise above a certain level. So far as fresh air and comfort go, the tree-house is a great institution, for while it is hot down below, it is comparatively cool in the top of the tree, where the breezes blow and rock the house like a cradle.
So far as the interior of the house is concerned, there are no comforts, as we understand them, for the inmates have no furniture, not even mats to sleep on. They do have their pets, however, including pigs, parrots and chickens, and they all live together as a happy family.-Daily News.