Laboratory"

"A Great, Wild Laboratory"

Zoologist in Dutch New Guinea

From Our Own Correspondent.

Honolulu, Sept. 10.

DUTCH New Guinea was described as “one of the great wild laboratories for the scientist and explorer” by Mr. S. Dillon Ripley, a zoologist with the Denison-Crockett expedition, which was sponsored by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who has just returned to America.

He brought back at least 1,250 birds, a strange cargo that included birds of paradise, storks, rare parrots and hom bills.

Among Mr. Ripley’s collection were some parakeets that are prized by the natives because of their fondness for lice. It appears that the natives, who have extremely long and bushy hair, make pets of the parakeets, and the birds spend most of their time on top of the natives’ heads, diligently hunting for lice.

Mr. Ripley experienced no trouble with the hinterland natives. The Dutch au thorities keep wide areas strictly patrol led. However, Mr. Ripley bumped into a major scandal which involved a native woman and her two sons, charged with cannibalism. According to the evidence, the mother disliked her two daughters in-law and persuaded her sons to kill and then eat them.

“No white man has been killed by a cannibal since 1936”, said Mr. Ripley.

“Personally, I found the natives ex tremely friendly, and it would have been impossible to capture many of the birds I brought back without their help. Of course, you must be careful and remain on your guard at all times. If a white man ever gets into danger, it is almost always, as every old-timer will tell you, his own fault.

“Not long ago a party of Chinese went in from the coast to trade for bird of paradise skins. These same curious na tives surrounded one Chinese and be gan plucking at his pudgy arms, and then drawing their fingers across their lips with a smacking sound. He was a very fat man. He and his friends wast ed no more time, but ran for the near est town. The natives all thought this was a wonderful joke and have been laughing about it ever since.

“If anybody is eaten by these, it’s only somebody with a black skin. White and yellow are dangerous colours”.