There is a woman in deep
mourning for her daughter. She has hanging round her neck all the
ornaments once the property of the deceased, and along with them the
jawbone. The headless body she visits occasionally, and rubs herself all
over with the juice from it!
18_th_.--We have a great crowd of natives in from Kupele, the nearest
district to Mount Owen Stanley. They are the same race of people as at
Meroka--some very dark, others very light-coloured. Their weapons are
the same as the Koiari, as also is their dress. Two men are in mourning,
and are wearing netted vests. The chief is rather a fine-looking fellow,
and dressed profusely with cassowary feathers. They all have a wisp of
grass bound tight at one end, and hanging from a girdle behind, to be
used as a seat when they sit down. It is a stretch of imagination to say
it looks like a tail. They are very anxious we should accompany them on
their return, and say they will show us plenty of villages and people.
Yesterday we had great feasting in the villages on yams and taro.
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