"King Bam"
p. 89 · Read in the full issue
The World Of
R<Yril Barnevelt Cameron, Who Died
in Port Moresby in March ( PIM, May, p. 17), after 50 years as a copra planter on Kitava Island in the Trobriands, was an enigmatic and rarely-photographed figure, around whom a legend grew up in his own lifetime.
Known as King Cam, he was reputed to be the ruler of a free love island, with a harem of more than 80 Papuan girls. He strongly denied this story, but it’s not surprising that it persisted, considering the handsomeness and mode of dress of Kitava’s girls.
These pictures of King Cam and the people of his island were taken several years ago by well known yachtsman Joe Pachernegg, who recently completed a long Pacific cruise. The picture at right shows the puttees, which King Cam always wore, and in which he invariably carried a knife of some sort to cut his pipe tobacco.