. The new New Guinea. tammer in your walk, so to speak, and catchup on the next. But the cumbrously clad and shodEuropean is at a disadvantage, and very thankful toget safely over to the other side. Elavara is more of a fortress than Hanuabada. Itis built in the open sea and partly on the verge of asmall solitary island, the bridge being the only con-nection with the mainland. The original reason forexistence has passed away, in the case of these towns,and no new ones are being built in any known part ofthe Territory. But the natives still keep to the oldones, and repair them as they fall to p
. The new New Guinea. tammer in your walk, so to speak, and catchup on the next. But the cumbrously clad and shodEuropean is at a disadvantage, and very thankful toget safely over to the other side. Elavara is more of a fortress than Hanuabada. Itis built in the open sea and partly on the verge of asmall solitary island, the bridge being the only con-nection with the mainland. The original reason forexistence has passed away, in the case of these towns,and no new ones are being built in any known part ofthe Territory. But the natives still keep to the oldones, and repair them as they fall to pieces—partlyfrom habit, no doubt, and partly because of the cool-ness that is only to be found in the sea-built villages. We of the superior races are very fond of laughingat native conservatism, but there are glass panes inour own houses for all that. Why is it that in such ahot climate it has never occurred to any of thepeople who have built, and are building, housesin Port Moresby that a European house can be set. BUILDING HOUSES 43 out on piles in the sea just as well as a native one,and that this style would certainly be more healthythan the present plan, not to speak of the difference intemperature? Mosquitoes would be less troublesomein such houses than they are in the midst of the grassand trees, the full benefit of every breeze would beenjoyed, and instead of heated earth under the house,collecting rubbish and retaining all the warmth of theday, there would be the clean, fresh, cool water of thesea, ebbing and flowing with the tide. Nor wouldany risk from storms lessen the pleasure of such adwelling, Port Moresby harbour being so safe and sosheltered that no wind could make the least differenceto the people of the sea-houses. Europeans are not much more easily moved out oftheir customary way than Papuans, however, and thehot little box of corrugated iron, set on a bakingplain, still continues to be the ideal of the PortMoresby builder. So much as we have seen to-day,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherphila, bookyear1911
