Pygmies In New Guinea

COLLECTION of ethnographical ob jects made by Lord Moyne during a yachting trip to New Guinea on board the Rosaura last year has lately been on view in London, according to the July number cf Discovery .

The chief areas represented were the middle and lower Sepik and Ramu Rivers in the Mandated Territory of New Guinea, the almost unknown Eilanden- Bloemen River region in south-west Dutch New Guinea, and the Purari River delta in the Gulf of Papua. The collection was supplemented by about 250 photographs taken by Lady Broughton, who was a member of the expedition.

Of the results of the expedition by far the most interesting was the confirma tion of rumours as to the existence of an unknown group of pygmies who were said to live on the Ramu River. These rum ours were confirmed, and although the members of the expedition were not allowed to enter the villages of these little people, as they are “uncontrolled,” the pygmies, to the number of 25, came to the expedition to trade.

Lord Moyne measured both men and women pygmies and found for 12 men an average stature of 54i Inches, and for three women, an average of 51 £ inches.

The lowest stature for N.G. pygmies previously recorded was 57 inches, a fact which had caused some anthropologists to question whether true pygmies existed in New Guinea at all; but the low stature now recorded confirms their existence as

a distinct variety, and not as a mere local variant of the typical inhabitant of New Guinea.

Several complete equipments of the pygmies were obtained, and were shown in the exhibition. These included neck pendants, armlets, waistbands, and pubic coverings, as well as bows and several different types of arrow, each having its special function.

Mrs. Edna Christian and her small son, Charles, who until recently lived in San Francisco, have now taken up residence on Pitcairn Island. Her late husband, Fletcher Christian (a great-grandson of the Bounty mutineer) left the island when he was 17 years of age; on his death he left his land at Pitcairn to his widow and young son. Mrs. Christian and her boy

arrived at the island by the steam schooner Philatelist, which is engaged on an expedition to the South Seas.

H.M. Queen Salote, of Tonga, accom panied by the Prime Minister, Prince Tugi, hopes to be back in Nukualofa early in November. At the conclusion of her visit to Australia, the Queen will spend several weeks in New Zealand, where it is her intention to visit Princess Te Puea Herangi, of the Waikato tribes.

The Queen has accepted the office of patroness of the Polynesian Club of Sydney.