Papuan Pictures

by H. M. Dauncey

Christmas morning dawns, and before the sun is over the hill we all assemble in the church for the Christmas Service. To make all the teachers feel as homely as possible, part of the service is conducted in their own language, and three languages at least have to be used. Emptying the church is slower work than filling it, for there is much handshaking to be got through and many attempts to express good wishes in English, to be heard.

Breakfast for all hands comes next, and then the separate little committees which have been told off to attend to various matters, all get to work. One lot sees that the boats and canoes are ready for the races; another attends to the greasing down of the old mast of the Niue, which for many years has been used as our greasy pole; a third see that the rope is ready for the tug-of-war, and that nothing is left on the course that would cut the feet of those taking part in the races; others get ready for the distribution of the food; but the group which is the centre of attraction is busy killing and cutting up the pigs and goats. This is simply irresistible to men, women and children. They turn to it as naturally as water runs down hill.

Gradually the interest moves to another part of the compound where a teacher with a sheet of paper in his hand is superintending the apportioning of the food. A delicate matter this, for none must be overlooked, and the quantity in each heap of food must be in direct proportion to the number of people who have come in with the teacher who is to receive it. The foundation of each pile is laid with bananas and cocoanuts, and on this yams are built up; then some rice and a few ship’s biscuits, and a joint of raw pork. To finish all off well to the taste of the Papuan a few sticks of tobacco are added to each pile.

The pork would soon suffer in the heat of the sun, so all hands are promptly called together, and the Missionary makes the Christmas speech of welcome, and after that is over a peculiar custom is observed.

A man with a strong voice is chosen, and if he has a dash of the clown in him so much the better. The teacher walks ahead with his list and announces the name of the man for whom the pile is intended. The assistant, cutting capers behind him, smacks the pile with his switch and calls aloud for So-and-So to come and take possession of the provision made for him and his boys. Then with another cut at the pile of food he passes on to the next, while So-and-So’s boys close in behind and see that nothing is lost of what has fallen to their share.

After this fires are lighted in all parts of the compound and separate cookings occupy the attention of many of our guests; we, however, will go and see what all the smoke near the big bread-fruit tree means. There in the open air the Christmas dinner is being cooked, and the need for the stones and firewood gathered by the boys and girls is explained. A hole has been dug in the ground and well lined with stones. On this a bonfire has been lighted, and now, when nearly burnt out, the ashes are being raked off, to the accompaniment of much hopping about on the part of the bare-footed cooks, who are too excited to look for stray cinders and only find them when they tread upon them.

Vegetables have been scraped and washed and are handy in tubs. First on top of the hot stones is spread a layer of bread-fruit leaves. Next go the vegetables to be served like the potatoes baked under the meat at home, for the joints of pork and goat are piled on top. Already the mass is beginning to steam, and causing some of those standing by to look pleasant in anticipation, but none of this steam must be lost, so the food is covered up with a thick layer of leaves. The earth is shovelled on to all this and well beaten down, and the Christmas oven looks like a gigantic mole hill, with little puffs of steam escaping here and there to suggest what is going on inside. It might be called a self-cooker, for it requires no attention, and though it may appear a strange way of cooking, from long experience I can vouch for its being most satisfactory. If properly heated such an oven turns out well cooked meat, and nicely browned vegetables.

Leaving the oven to do its work we turn to the sports. The entries for the various events are all made, and the handicapping all done on the spot, and whether from shyness, or disinclination to exertion, there is always a difficulty in getting a start. The prizes are all there for inspection, and the start is usually obtained by holding up some particularly tempting article, and announcing that it is the first prize for the opening event. When once the ball has been set rolling there is no difficulty. In quick succession follow races for men and for women; big boys and little boys; for big girls and little tots; for teachers’ wives; three-legged races and jockey races (which cause undersized boys to be in great demand as jockeys) and wheelbarrow races; sack races, and hopping races; but the excitement is fast and furious when the tug-of-war takes place between two well matched teams.

The greasy pole attracts little attention till the small boys have worked hard for half a day, and have rubbed most of the grease off. Then there are plenty of competitors for the last few feet, and great excitement when one gets his hand within a few inches of the flag, just fails, and comes down with a rush without it; but that is nothing to the cheer which greets the one who at last gets the flag. He enjoys his triumph to the full, holding on to the top of the pole, and smiling down upon those who have probably done much to clear away the grease and enable him to win the prize.

When tired of the exertion of racing the men turn their attention to archery and a little spear-throwing. A man looks very warlike with his long bow and his arrow nearly as long as himself, but judging from the number of shots they send in before making even an outer, the success of this method of fighting must depend more upon the cloud of arrows fired, than upon the aim of any individual man. Perhaps the fact that the arrows are not feathered may have something to do with this.