Those Pygmies

Lord Moyne and Father Kirschbaum

IN the March issue of the Pacific Islands Monthly reference was made to the publication of a book, Walkabout, by Lord Moyne. In this book, according to one review, Lord Moyne claims to have discovered a race of pygmies in the Ramu region of New Guinea. We made the comment in the March issue that certain missionaries had claimed the discovery of those pygmies long before Lord Moyne visited New Guinea.

We were referring to a letter which was published in the P.I.M. of November, 1936, wherein Rev. Father F. J. Kirs chbaum, of the Catholic Mission, Alexis hafen, New Guinea, pointed out that he personally visited the pygmies in July, 1926; and a description of the pygmies was published in the international review Anthropos (published in Vienna); that, since then, recruiters, miners, and mis sionaries had visited the same pygmies; and that all this information had been available to Lord Moyne in Rabaul.

On March 30—just too late for inclu sion in the March issue— we received the following cablegram from Lord Moyne, Littlehampton, Sussex, England: “Have just seen Father Kirschbaum’s letter in your November issue.

“Am sorry that repeated inquiries in England and Rabaul had not revealed his interesting German article published in the Viennese periodical in 1927.

“Father Kirschbaum accuses me of claiming the discovery of the Aiome pygmies. There is no shred of a founda tion for his attack.

“On contrary, in my book ‘Walkabout,’ have mentioned previous white travellers to Aiome.

“Am surprised that Father Kirsch baum heads his German article ‘Newly Discovered Pygmy Race’; and describes them as hitherto unknown although Mr.

Stanley had visited them five years previously, as quoted in my book.”

A son was born on March 20 to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Munster, well-known resi dents of Manus, New Guinea. For a time Mrs. Munster was seriously ill, but now both mother and child are doing very well.