Extracts from the Diary of a White

Woman in the Papuan Bush

By Mollie Lett.

Monday.

6 a-m.—Crawl from under mosquito net. Ring for boy. No boy. Shout for boy. No boy. Take 5 grains quinine.

Go behind house to kitchen. No fire.

No boy. Light spirit stove. Put on kettle. 6.30 a.m.—Cook arrives. Says he is “too sick, head belong him no good.”

Agree. Enter house boy: “Him, too, head he no good.” Again agree. Give instructions as to work. 7 a.m. —Wait for tea. No tea. Again go out to kitchen. Find cook playing mouth organ. Spirit stove out. Feel annoyed. 7.30 a.m.—Tea at last. Water not boiled. “Where sugar? Where milk?

Sari,” I ask. “No sugar. No milk. He pinish, Sinebada” (mistress). “Finish!

Plenty last night.” “Sinebada, one ting, this puss-cat.” “X-X-X .”

Exit cook. Swallow tea. Feel upset. 8 a.m—Breakfast, hard boiled eggs, lukewarm tea, tinned butter, tinned paste and biscuits. Throw away cook’s mouth organ. Tell cook to scrub kit chen. Cook throws bucket of water over floor and sweeps. Feel cross. 9.30 a.m. House boy sulky. Show him again how to make beds. He asks for 5/-, complains his father is dying.

Give him duster. He finds mouth organ. Feel nervy. Throw away mouth organ. 10.30 a.m.—A visitor arrives from the coast. Says he has fever. We say we have fever, too. Says times are very bad. How are we doing? “Very bad.”

No news. Says his neighbour Jones is a snake in the grass. We think so, too. Offer him tea. He prefers whisky.

Offer him papers. Says he has read them. Says he thinks he will stay to lunch. 12.30 p.m.—Order lunch: tinned sal mon, sweet potatoes and fruit. Bread doughy and heavy. Cook CANNOT make bread. Make a custard cook scornful. 1 p.m.—Lunch. Husband tired. Mos quitoes troublesome. Visitor gloomy.

Very hot. No house boy. Cook says “His looking for mouth organ.” Decide to sack house boy; find him useless. 4 p.m.—Make tea. Tell cook to kill a fowl for dinner. Cook seems delight ed; house boy asks if he can help. Both chase wretched fowl around kitchen garden, trampling on lettuces and tomatoes. Decide to shoot fowl. I miss.

Leave it to cook and go for a stroll;

take dogs. Visitor thinks he will stay for dinner; says he feels off colour and fevery. Feel depressed. 5.30 p.m.—Return from stroll very hot and clammy. Tell cook he MUST cut head off fowl. Show him. Help with dinner. 6 p.m.—Show house boy again how to lay table. 6.30 p.m.—Call for baths. Cook says “Hot water he no stop.” Feel annoyed.

Tell house boy to bring drinks. He complains his sister is now dying, can he go at once? Cocktails. Feel much better —not so depressed. Visitor less gloomy. 8 p.m.—Dinner. Fowl very tough and potatoes burnt. Visitor much brighter Thinks he will stay the night. Says he thinks the country is going to the dogs.

We think so, too.

Wednesday

6 a.m.—Visitor up first, 5.30. No boys. Make tea. Very sultry. Visitor thinks he will get a move on to-day. 6.45 a.m.—Boys arrive. Scold boys.

Give orders for breakfast. 10 a.m. —Show cook how to make scones. Seems offended. Says he “savy plenty along everything.” Disagree. 11 a.m.—Go out with husband on plantation, sit and sew. Find ants and mosquitoes troublesome. Bitten by centipede. Decide to go home. Send tea out. Find visitor still here. Says he will wait until to-morrow. Feel an noyed. Centipede bite troublesome. 4 p.m.—Visitor goes for stroll. Seems unsteady—look at decanter. Have sacked house boy. He won’t leave.

Cook says “His looking for mouth organ.” Give him 5/- for a new one.

Says it is not enough. Order cook to send him away. 5 p.m.—Visitor says he is leaving.

Say “Good-bye.” Later, do some gar dening. Cook and ex-house boy help.

Plant out new cabbages. Find all let tuce and tomatoes trampled down.

Cook says “chuck-chuck, he do that.”

Feel annoyed. Notice ex-house boy has bought a new belt. 8 p.m.—Dinner; tinned meat, tinned beans and apricots. During dinner visi tor returns says he didn’t feel too good. Husband seems put out. Visitor thinks he will stay the night.

Friday

8 a.m.—Cook says, can he have his wages—he wants to go—that I am “no good.” Show him again how to cook

bacon. He says cooking “’nother fash ion.” Getting rather tired of cook. 11 a.m.—Two more visitors. Seem pleased to see us. Ask them if they have any news. No; they have not.

Have we any? I tell them about my cook, Sari. Seem inattentive. 1 p.m.—They think they will stay to lunch. Lunch too frightful. Cook mixed the tinned soup with the fruit.

Weather very hot. Feel upset. Lie down. 3 p m.—Visitors suggest a picnic. Ex house boy and cook seem very pleased —can they bring their families? No. they cannot. Cook sulky, and ex-house boy disappears. Prepare for picnic.

Feel pessimistic. 9 p.m.—Picnic a ghastly failure.

Cook forgot milk, tea and tin opener.

Heavy rain. Husband annoyed. Says he never did like picnics. Visitors dis appointed. They decide to stay the night. Feel cross.

Saturday.—

6 a.m.—Seedy and fevery. Crawl out of bed. Shout for boys. Threaten cook.

Cook says he will report me. Decide to get rid of cook. Tell him so. Shoot ing boy arrives with wild pig. Cook very excited. Can his wife help him cook? No, she CANNOT. Says he has changed his mind; he wants to stop. 10 am.—Visitors decide to push off after lunch. I offer them magazines and books. Find they have read them.

They offer me theirs. Find I have read them, too. Decide I must send for some new books. 4 p.m.—Tea. Visitors depart. Cook says he wants to go with them. “They are much nicer than I am. I am no good.” He goes. Make ex-house boy cook and odd boy house boy. Find he cannot cook and odd boy very odd.

Feel annoyed. Go for a walk and take dogs.

Sunday

3 a.m.—Gubu (hurricane) in the night. House flooded. Shout for boys to bring lanterns. Can’t wake boys.

Find two old lanterns—one no wick, the other out of order. Very uncomfort able. Beds wet. Strike matches. Hus band annoyed—a bit upset myself.

Take 5 grains quinine. Husband takes 10 grains. 4.30 a.m.—Visitors return wet through. Canoe swamped. Can we give them shelter? No, we cannot. Can they lend us a lantern? No, they can not. We offer them copra shed. They decide to push on to Jones. 5 a.m.—Decide not to go back to bed.

Make tea on primus stove. Feel tired and cross. Husband feels cross—says he is getting tired of Papua.

Papua, June, 1931.