Those New Guinea Pygmies

Early Researches By Father Kirschbaum

Letter to the Editor

PERMIT me a few words on Lord Moyne’s cablegram, which was published in the P.I.M. of April, page 41.

If Lord Moyne, after ‘(repeated inquiries in England and RabaiTl” has not been able to find my article referred to in P.I.M. of November, 1936, I am certain the fault for his failure does not lie with the libraries of the great English Universities.

Lord Moyne complains that I accused him of claiming for himself the discovery of the pygmies in the Schrader ranges.

In my letter to the editor of the P.I.M. in November, it was not I who accused him, for I was merely quoting an English newspaper and the P.I.M. Thus, if now Lord Moyne disclaims the discovery of these pygmies for himself in the cablegram, and anybody be to blame, Lord Moyne should lay the blame at the right door: the newspapers which I am quoting. But even now, in his book “Walkabout,” according to one review (Melbourne Herald, quoted by the P.I.M. of March) Lord Moyne “claims to be the discoverer of a race of pygmies in New Guinea, among the Aiome mountains.”

As I am not in a position to spend 35/on Lord Moyne’s book, I am unable to decide whose statement is correct; Lord Moyne in the cablegram disclaiming the discovery for himself, or the Melbourne

Herald claiming this discovery for Lord Moyne.

Lord Moyne says in his cablegram: “Am surprised that Father Kirschbaum heads his German article ‘Newly Discov ered Pygmy Race;’ and describes them as hitherto unknown, although Mr. Stan ley had visited them five years previously as quoted in my book.”

I really am sorry now not to be able to read what Lord Moyne says in his book about Mr. Stanley’s visit to the pygmies. The only book I know of, writ ten by the late Evan Stanley on the Territory of New Guinea, is his official “Report on Geology and Natural Re sources of the New Guinea Territory,” published in 1922. In this official report of 93 pages there is not one word about his having visited the pygmies, nor does the word “pygmy,” nor any other intima tion that he knew of the existence of pygmies, occur once in the whole report.

Stanley says: “I made several expedi tions, both east and west of our anchor age, to the villages within a radius of 15 to 18 miles.” (Report, page 32.) And further: “I had the pleasure of meeting (not visiting—F.J.K.) the Upper Aiome people . , . they are short (emphasised by me—F.J.K.) but well developed.” (Report, p. 79.) And, in the same report, Stanley reproduces a picture showing

himself with “natives from the Aiome mountains, interested in the transit of the sun.”

Now, I take it, these my quotations here, probably would be the quotations in Lord Moyne’s book also. Well, it is not impossible that Stanley really did meet some of the pygmies on his expedi tions, but he certainly does not say so anywhere in his book; and, if he met them, he probably was not aware of the fact that those short people he met were pygmies. And the natives shown in the above-mentioned picture certainly are not pygmies, because they have not the typical hair-dress of the pygmies in the Schrader ranges.

If Stanley had visited the pygmies and had recognised them as such, he certainly would have mentioned the fact and would have described their hamlets, the typical form of their houses, etc.

After his return from that trip, I had a long talk with Stanley about the people he had met, and whom I also had met, right back in 1916, but he never men tioned a word about pygmies, of whose existence neither he or I was aware at the time.

The same case of not recognising these pygmies as such happened long before Stanley’s time. A couple of months ago, my friend, Father Joseph Schebest, of Bogia Mission Station, told me that he had found in an old number of the Ger man review “Globus,” of October 23, 1902, an article entitled “Pygmies in New Guinea?” by Prof. Weule. In this article, which was shown to me, there were re produced three (I believe) photographs,

with real pygmies of the Schrader ranges. These photos had been taken by Dr. Lauterbach on his Ramu expeditions, 1898-1900. In this case, also, Dr. Lauter bach apparently did not recognise them as pygmies, nor did he visit their villages.

It was only the study of these photo graphs by Prof. Weule that brought forth the above-named article.

Therefore, unless Lord Moyne has pro duced other evidence to disprove my statement, I still claim that I was the first European to visit these pygmies.

And so I myself am not at all “sur prised”, as is Lord Moyne, at the heading of my German article, “Newly Discov ered Pygmy Race.”

I am, etc.,

Franz J. Kirschbaum.

Alexishafen, Madang, T.N.G.

May 21, 1937.

Mr. and Mrs. Ken Hay sailed by the Malaita on May 29 for their home in Banika, Solomon Islands, after a holiday in Sydney.