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PICTURESQUE NEW GUINEA.

tion, four of these being perched on the tree-tops, full forty feet above the ground. It chanced that the great chief of the tribe was just then in the village, and being a particular friend of Hunter, we were introduced to him, I myself being emphasized as an artist who had come to take pictures of the village to be sent to far off lands beyond the sea. This affable chief, who rejoices in the name of Lohio-bada, shook hands with me cordially in the English fashion, and the same ceremony was gone through by all the head men of the village. Lohio-bada even did me the honour of requesting that I should exchange names with him. Hunter suggested that my name (in Koiari) should be Misi Lolo, meaning "maker of pictures," and I, consenting, was so denominated by these friendly savages during my stay amongst them. One well-built and good-looking fellow, named Daiva, offered us his hut to put up at, asking in return for this hospitable proposal the modest honorarium of three or four sticks of tobacco. We agreed to this kindly offer, and forthwith took possession of our hotel, the landlord with his wife and little baby withdrawing to a lower storey of the dwelling. This consisted of a sort of shelf, about 4 feet below the main floor of the hut, which stood on the right side of the village street. The dimensions of the dwelling were about 20 feet by 16 feet on the main floor, and had a verandah of some 4 feet in width and no higher where it joined the roof fronting the street.

Some rain had fallen just as we entered the village, and the whole of our carriers, with about a dozen of their friends, who were curious to see the visitors, crowded into the apartment for shelter. A perfect Babel of confusion reigned, the whole crowd chattering, laughing, and exchanging news with one another. A strong odour of cocoa-nut oil pervaded the place, that being the unguent with which the Papuan savages anoint their person.

The news of the arrival of our ship with the Great White Chief had reached the village, and, naturally enough, hundreds of questions were put to us, whether this was really the biggest of the big chiefs they had been hearing about since the proclamation of the British Protectorate. When Hunter assured them that General Scratchley was the true White