An Epic Of Papua

How Two Young Women Defied Jungle Horrors and Helped a Neighbour

From a Special Correspondent.

Samarai, Nov. 10.

A FEW pessimistic souls would have us believe that our modern women and girls are useful only as a source of income to cocktail and cigarette manufacturers, beauty parlours, and dance halls. But, almost daily, we read of outstanding andl heroic feats performed by women and girls in all parts of the world.

Recently two of our Papuan women proved themselves equal to any in courage and endurance. They are Mrs. H. Glan ville, wife of the 7nanager of Baibara, Gov ernment Plantation, and Miss Debbie Irwin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. Irwin, of Mogubo Plantation. What they did is well worthy of publicity, and of the high est praise anyone can give.

RECENTLY, Mrs. W. G. Blundell, wife of the Manager of Mamai Plantation, an inland property of the Steamships Trading Coy., Ltd., became ill, with black water fever. The nearest doctor was 100 miles away, and there was no means of getting to him for two weeks, when the monthly steamer would be due. In urgent need of assistance, Mr. Blundell’s first thought was of Mrs. Glanville, who is a trained nurse of much experience, and who at the time was a visitor to Mogubo Plan tation.

A runner was sent at daylight with a letter asking Mrs. Glanville for advice about treatment. He arrived at Mogubo at 5 p.m. At 5.30 p.m. Mrs. Glanville, and her friend Debbie Irwin, with a hastily packed bag, a hurricane lamp, and an escort of boys supplied by Mr. Irwin, had started out for Mamai —a noble reply, in deed, to an appeal for advice.

To many, the distance would not be great—in the daylight; a matter of a little over thirty miles. But it was thirty miles of trackless sago-palm swamps and man grove swamps in the darkness; over steep ranges that would make an Angora glassy-eyed; round rock cliffs projecting Into the sea; along a foreshore strewn with large boulders, rough and slippery; and so to Dagobu village, where our travel lers took ten minutes’ rest and some re freshment.

The night now seemed full of natives.

The yelping and howling of the village dogs had brought both men and women from their sleep—the men to stare, the women to scream.

Miss Irwin, who has a sound knowledge of the Mailu tongue, asked the natives to hire them two small canoes, to enable them to paddle across Marie Bay to a channel

leading into Milport, thus avoiding a very rough walk along that part of the coast.

The natives seemed disinclined to let them have the canoes.

Miss Irwin, with the spirit of a Grace Darling, pointed out two small canoes to her personal attendants, told them to run them into the water, asked for the owners, and paid them for the use of them.

Then, with about one inch of freeboard, the ladies set out on their hour’s paddle towards Milport, across Marie Bay. The canoes became separated, and most anxious were the thoughts of those two girls for the welfare of each other.

They both reached Milport, however, and then they were faced with a climb of nearly 1000 feet to the summit of an un named line of hills, separating Mama! valley from the coast.

When they were within four miles of Mamai they sent one boy ahead to advise Mr. Blundell of help at hand.

This gentleman promptly got his Ford lorry going and, with two hurricane lamps at head-lights, set out to meet them. But by this time the ladies were within one mile of the plantation.

The writer saw them when they arrived.

They looked more than road-worn —they were covered from head to foot with swamp mud, mountain clay, and dripping moisture. They had been eleven hours travelling through and over trackless swamps, cliffs, jungle, and mountains; and they had maintained a steady three miles an hour, guided by a native escort, and a hurricane lamp. Women worthy, indeed, of a race of Empire builders and Empire defenders!

Were they prostrated when they arrived at the Plantation? That would not have been a surprising ending to such a feat of endurance and courage. Not they! Al though hot tea and showers were ready, they did not even avail themselves of those comforts. With a minute’s delay, they got right down to work on their patient; and, after three days and nights of constant care and nursing, they pulled her through.

They did not regard what they did as extraordinary or unusual. They took it all as a matter of course and necessity; and they would do the same to-morrow if the occasion arose.

However, those two splendid young women may like to know that they have the most sincere admiration and respect of all Anglo-Papuans who know what they achieved in traversing those thirty odd miles in eleven hours of darkness and in routing that horror of the jungle, black water.