Notes on Amana and the Tree-House
Amana was a most peculiar village, and like Yo-ya-ka was built on an extremely narrow ridge, so narrow indeed that we could not pitch our fly-tent there, but slept in a house the front part of which overhung a precipice. The house commanded a most lovely view far away into the valley, the slopes of which were covered with dense wood. We could see the river flashing at intervals through the greenery; it must at least have been 1500 feet below us, but the roar of the torrent came up to us with great distinctness. As we approached Amana our carriers suddenly put down all their loads and would not enter. On being asked why, they said that some time before the chief of Amana had killed one of their people.
OUR CAMP IN THE OWEN STANLEY RANGE 3,400 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL.
The scenery in central New Guinea is magnificent.
We went in and made the acquaintance of this worthy. He was rather a personable character, quite bald, and with a very noble forehead, but, like most of the more degraded aborigines, he could not look the white man in the face. On hearing of our approach he became frightened and retreated to a tree-house, one of the most remarkable curiosities which we saw in New Guinea. In the village was a large tree, the trunk of which reached up about 20 feet bare of branches, and then the main stem divided into a fork. Among the branches were two platforms. To the first there was a very rude ascent, a rough ladder consisting of two uprights with rungs placed at an angle of at least 65 degrees. Above that was the second platform, forming the bottom of the house, which was reached by steps, very narrow, but not so far apart as the steps of the lower ladder. The tree-house is not uncommon in New Guinea, but it is very exceptional to find two platforms. The uprights and ladders were made of bamboo, and the rungs were made of boughs cut anyhow with walo, a species of cane which grows to a length of 20 feet, and is used for lashings. Each cane is the size of a thick pencil, and has a spiky outer cover. This is peeled off when the cane is ripe, and it is then split, an operation requiring great dexterity, and one which can only be performed by the Papuans themselves, for none but a native could split a 20–foot cane cleanly down its entire length.
The higher platform which supported the house measured about 12 feet by 6 feet; it was made of bamboo cross-pieces, interlaced with bark. The roof was covered with grass, and the only aperture was one small door, over which the thatch came closely down. There was just room for a person to crawl in.
We had considerable difficulty in inducing the chief to leave his retreat, but at length he summoned up sufficient courage to come out and speak to us.
At Amana we noticed no conical houses, the dwellings being for the most part of the kind known as the “lean-to.”
We noticed various other curiosities at Amana. One was a rather mysterious grave, just outside the village at the point where the carriers put down their loads. This place, which for some reason or other was regarded as sacred, was surrounded by a low stockade, but no attempt was made to keep the enclosure—which was quite overgrown—in order, and we learned nothing regarding its origin, for the Papuans are a people without a history.
The people wore an ornament, which we also noticed among the Tugeri in Dutch New Guinea. This was the oval, highly-polished grey seed of a species of grass which grows at Amana. The villagers wore the seeds on strings or singly in their hair. The Tugeri string the seed into necklaces and wristlets. As the grass grows only at Amana, it is a certain proof of communication between the Tugeri and the hill tribes.