. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. 300 THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. dawn, and none but the men remained dressed in all their barbaric finery. The endless mud and the fact that much of their lives is spent in canoes has induced the Kaimari people to adopt an extremely simple type of clothing. This never draggles in the mud and offers but little restriction to any movement. The mud itself is often utilised as a partial covering, and many Kaimarians are plastered with it for one reason or another. As a mourning costume it is in general favour, and Avidows smear themselves with
. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. 300 THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. dawn, and none but the men remained dressed in all their barbaric finery. The endless mud and the fact that much of their lives is spent in canoes has induced the Kaimari people to adopt an extremely simple type of clothing. This never draggles in the mud and offers but little restriction to any movement. The mud itself is often utilised as a partial covering, and many Kaimarians are plastered with it for one reason or another. As a mourning costume it is in general favour, and Avidows smear themselves with it so thoroughly as to almost hide their identity. String armlets and necklets likewise indicate family be- reavement and, combined with the mud, serve to produce a distinctly unhappy effect. Before retiring for the night small children are likewise smeared over by their fond parents to protect them from the bites of irritating pests. The Kaimari village is large, in- cluding perhaps fifteen hundred resi- dents and the food-supply of so large a crowd is an important feature. They obtain many fish by setting barriers across tidal creeks to trap those which enter them at high water. Crabs and shell-fish are also plentiful in the mud and wild pigs are occasionally captured in the mangrove forests, but most important is the wild sago, which flourishes along the banks of the water-. A widow plastered with mud. [Photo.—Captain Frank Hurley. ways and not only supplies the mud- dwellers with food but also provides a surplus which is traded with visitors from other districts. It is intended to construct an ex- hibit in the Australian Museum galleries representing a portion of a Urama ravi in which the masks, weapons, and other properties will be exhibited in their proper association. In a lecture, " Passing of Wild Animals," delivered at the Museum recently Mr. A. S. Le Souef, Director of the Taronga Park Zoological Gardens deplored the fact that wild animals are disappearin
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
