[Contents]

The Mafulu

Mountain People of British New Guinea

Robert W. Williamson
With an Introduction
byA. C. Haddon, Sc.D., F.R.S.

With Illustrations and Map
Macmillan and Co., Limited
St. Martin’s Street, London
1912

[Contents]

Preface

This book is the outcome of an expedition to British New Guinea in 1910, in which, after a short stay among the people ofsome of the western Solomon Islands, including those of that old centre of the head hunters, the Rubiana lagoon, and a preparatoryand instructive journey in New Guinea among the large villages of the Mekeo district, I struck across country by a littleknown route, via Lapeka, to Ido-Ido and on to Dilava, and thus passed by way of further preparation through the Kuni country,and ultimately reached the district of the Mafulu villages, of whose people very little was known, and which was thereforethe mecca of my pilgrimage.

I endeavoured to carry out the enquiries of which the book is a record as carefully and accurately as possible; but it mustbe remembered that the Mafulu people had seen very few white men, except some of the Fathers of the Catholic Mission of theSacred Heart, the visits of Government officials and once or twice of a scientific traveller having been but few and far between,and only short; that the mission station [vi]in Mafulu (the remotest station of the mission) had only been established five years previously; that the people were utterlyunaccustomed to the type of questioning which systematic ethnological enquiry involves, and that necessarily there was oftenthe usual hesitation in giving the required information.

I cannot doubt, therefore, that future enquiries and investigations made in the same district will bring to light errors andmisunderstandings, which even with the greatest care can hardly be avoided in the case of a first attempt on new ground, whereeverything has to be investigated and worked up from the beginning. I hope, however, that the bulk of my notes will be foundto have been correct in substance so far as they go.

I regret that my ignorance of tropical flora and fauna has made it impossible for me to give the names of many of the plantsand animals to which I refer.

There are many people, more than I can mention here, to whom I owe my grateful thanks. Prior to my departure for the SouthSeas Dr. Haddon took great trouble in helping and advising me, and, indeed, I doubt whether I should have ventured upon mysolitary expedition if I had not had his stimulating encouragement.

In New Guinea I had the never-failing hospitality and kindness of my good friend Monseigneur de Boismenu (the Bishop of theMission of the Sacred Heart) and the Fathers and Brothers of the Mission. Among the latter I would specially mention FatherEgedi and Father Clauser. Father Egedi (whose name is already familiar to students of New Guinea Ethnology) was my friendand travelling companion during a [<

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