Robert W. Williamson - The Mafulu

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The term Mafulu is the Kuni pronunciation of Mambule, which is the
name, as used by themselves, of the people who live in a group of
villages within and near the north-westerly corner of the area of the
Fuyuge-speaking people, whose Papuan language, so far as ascertained,
appears, subject to local dialectal differences, to be the same, and
may, I was informed, be regarded as one common language throughout
the Fuyuge area.

The Fathers of the Mission have adopted the name Mafulu in a wider
sense, as including all the people with whom they have come in
contact of the Fuyuge-speaking area; and, though my investigations,
which form the subject-matter of this book, have been conducted only
in the neighbourhood of Mafulu itself, I was assured that, so far as
the Fathers have been able to ascertain, all these Fuyuge people not
only have similar languages, but also are substantially similar in
physique and in culture. My observations concerning the Mafulu people
may therefore, if this statement is correct, be regarded as applying,
not only to the inhabitants of the portion of the north-westerly corner
of the Fuyuge area in which the Mafulu group of villages is placed,
but to those of the whole of the north-westerly portion of the area,
and generally in a greater or less degree of accuracy to those of
the northerly and north-easterly parts of the area, and possibly the
southerly ones also.

The boundaries of this Fuyuge-speaking area can hardly be regarded
as definitely ascertained; and the discrepancies, even as regards
the courses of the rivers and the positions of the mountains, which
appear in the few available maps make it difficult to deal with the
question. The area, so far as actually ascertained by the Fathers
of the Mission, roughly speaking, covers, and seems to extend also
some distance to the south or south-west of a triangle, the western
apex of which is the junction of the river Kea with the river Aduala
(a tributary of the St. Joseph), [2] whose north-eastern apex is
Mt. Albert Edward, and whose south-eastern apex is Mt. Scratchley. It
includes the valley of the Aduala river and its streams (except those
flowing into it from the north in the region of the western apex of the
triangle) within its northern boundary, and the valley of the upper
Vanapa river and its rivers and streams in the neighbourhood of its
eastern boundary; but this eastern boundary has been found to extend
also so as to include the upper valley of the river Chirima. How far
the area extends to the south or south-west of the triangle above
mentioned appears to be uncertain.

The linguistic area to the north of the Mafulu or Fuyuge people is
that of the Ambo people, who are somewhat similar in appearance to
the Mafulu, and whose language is also Papuan, and, though differing
from the Mafulu language, is, I was told, somewhat similar to it in
grammatical construction and as regards a few of its words. The area
to the west is that of the Kuni people, whose language is Melanesian,
but whose ordinary modes of life are, I was informed, more like those
of the Mafulu than are those of the Papuan-speaking Ambo. The areas
to the east and south cannot be so definitely stated, but are dealt
with below.

As regards these Ambo people I may, in view of divergences of names
which appear in maps, explain that Ambo is a contraction of Ambore,
and is the name given to the people by their Mafulu neighbours, whilst
Afoa is the name given to them by the Kuni people, and is adopted
in the Geographical Society's map. [3] As regards the Kuni people,
their name is the one adopted by themselves.

Concerning the boundaries of the Fuyuge linguistic area as above
indicated, and the people whose districts adjoin that area, I propose
here to draw attention to four names, and to refer to some observations
bearing on the subject of the probable Fuyuge boundary which are to
be found in existing literature.

The term Kovio, though primarily the name of Mt. Yule, and properly
applicable to the people living in the neighbourhood of that mountain,
is now, I think, often used to express all the mountain tribes
of the hinterland of the Mekeo and Pokau, and perhaps the Kabadi,
districts. But the use of this name has not, I believe, been generally
associated with any question of linguistics.

The area in the map which is called by the Fathers Boboi is occupied
by people whose language, I was told by the Fathers, is Papuan,
but is distinct from the languages of the Ambo and the Fuyuge areas.

Kamaweka is a name which appears in several of Dr. Seligmann's
publications. It seems to have been originally used by Captain
Barton to designate the natives of the district of which Inavaurene,
to the north-east of the Mekeo plains, is the centre, but to have
been afterwards regarded as a somewhat more general term; and I think
Dr. Seligmann uses it in a very general sense, almost, if not quite,
equivalent to the wide application above referred to of the term Kovio,
and which might include the Papuan-speaking Boboi and Ambo people, and
even perhaps the people of the northern Mafulu villages. [4] But here
again the use of the name has, I think, no reference to linguistics.

If the Fathers' linguistic boundary lines are substantially correct,
each of the two terms Kovio and Kamaweka, as now used, would appear
to cover more than one linguistic area; and in any case these terms
seem to have widened and to have become somewhat indefinite. It will
be seen on reference to the map and to Father Egedi's information
as to the Oru Lopiku and Boboi boundaries that both Mt. Yule and
Inavaurene are within the area which the Fathers call Oru Lopiku, but
that Inavaurene is not far from their Boboi area. I suggest that it
would be convenient for the present, pending further investigation
and delimitation on the spot, and until we know something of the
difference between the languages of the Oru Lopiku and Boboi people,
to adopt the term Kovio as a general name for, and confine it to,
the two areas Boboi and Oru Lopiku; though for linguistic purposes
the names Boboi and Oru Lopiku, which at present indicate very little
to us, may eventually be accepted and come into general use.

The Koiari people of the foothills and lateral spurs behind the Motu
area, also referred to from time to time in Dr. Seligmann's writings,
must be eastern next door neighbours of the Fuyuge-speaking people,
the western boundary of these Koiari being stated by him to be the
Vanapa river, [5] and they being in fact regarded by him as being
the eastern neighbours of the natives of "the mountains inland of
Mekeo Nara and Kabadi," [6] and being referred to by him as being
the people from whose district the Kamaweka and Kuni are reached by
"passing westward"--the word used is "eastward," but this is obviously
a printer's error--"in the mountains, keeping roughly parallel with
the coast." [7]

Turning to the question of the Fuyuge boundary, Dr. Strong says that
the Fuyuge people occupy the upper waters of the St. Joseph river,
[8] and he is quoted by Dr. Seligmann as having stated that the Afoa
language "is spoken in the villages on Mt. Pizoko and the northern
slopes of Mt. Davidson," and that "the Afoa villages lie to the north
of the Fuyuge-speaking communities, stretching westward for an unknown
distance behind Mt. Davidson." [9] If the information given to me
verbally by the Fathers of the Mission of the Sacred Heart and the
red linguistic boundary lines roughly drawn by them, and introduced
into my map, be correct, these statements require modification, for
according to the Fathers the Mafulu or Fuyuge-speaking area does not
include any part of the St. Joseph river, as its extreme north-westerly
corner lies to the east of the junction--close to the boundary line
between the Afoa (Ambo) and the Kuni areas--of the rivers Alabula
and Aduala, and Mt. Pizoko is within the Fuyuge area, and not within
that of the Afoa, and Mt. Davidson is within the Boboi area. I think
that, though the Fathers' lines are admittedly not exact, they and
the information supplied by the Fathers to me are likely to be more
trustworthy in these respects, especially as regards boundaries near to
the actual Mafulu villages, than the earlier statements of Dr. Strong,
as they are the outcome of recent and careful investigation; and,
as regards Mt. Pizoko, I may mention that Dr. Strong himself seems to
have subsequently regarded that mountain as being within the Mafulu
district, [10] which brings it into the Fuyuge area.

The inclusion of the upper valley of the river Chirima within the
Fuyuge or Mafulu-speaking area is perhaps surprising, as this valley is
separated from the general Fuyuge area by one of the southern ridges
of Mt. Albert Edward, and more or less so by the ridges of Mt. Stone
Wigg and the Wharton range, and as the Chirima is a tributary flowing
into the Mambare river, which is one of the great watercourses of
Northern New Guinea. The Mafulu Fathers, however, had no doubt as
to the correctness of the inclusion, which seems to open out the
possibility of some, at all events, of the Fuyuge people having
northern associations; and indeed Monseigneur de Boismenu told me
that he believed that the Mafulu people were in touch with Northern
New Guinea, and got some of their shell ornaments, or the shells from
which they were made, from the northern coast.

It is interesting, therefore, to turn for the purpose of comparison
to the report of Mr. Monckton's expedition to Mt. Albert Edward by
way of the Upper Chirima valley in 1906 [11] and the illustrations
accompanying it, with which I incorporate a description of the people
of this valley given to Dr. Seligmann by Mr. Money, who was with
Mr. Monckton. [12]

From these it appears that the Upper Chirima people are short in
stature and sturdily built. Both sexes wear the perineal band,
the front of which is made (I am not sure whether this applies to
women as well as to men) to bulge out by padding. In some cases the
men's hair is tied up in a bunch with string, and in others it is
bound up in various styles with native cloth. Some of the men have
their hair done up in small plaits over the forehead. All the above
descriptions, except that of the padding of the band, are applicable to
the Mafulu. Some of the Chirima houses have a curious apse-like roof
projection over the front platform, which is a specially distinctive
feature of a Mafulu house, and one with this projection figured by
Mr. Monckton is indistinguishable from a typical Mafulu house. The
Chirima people place the bodies of their dead on raised platforms,
and apparently sometimes put the body of an infant on the platform
erection of an adult, but below the latter. This also is a practice
of the Mafulu; and, though the latter people confine platform burial
(if such it may be called) to chiefs and their families and important
persons, it is possible that some such limitation of the custom exists
in the Chirima valley also, but did not come under Mr. Monckton's
notice. A burial platform figured by him might well be a Mafulu burial
platform, except that the curious cone-shaped receptacle for the child
is a form for which I cannot vouch as regards the Mafulu. The Chirima
have a special and peculiar form of netting, which Mr. Monckton's
illustration shows to be identical with the special form of Mafulu
netting. On the other hand, as regards the Chirima weapons, implements
and utensils, a comparison of Mr. Monckton's verbal descriptions and
figures with what I have seen in Mafulu, and describe in this book,
leads me to the conclusion that, though many of these are similar to
those of Mafulu, some of them are different. As examples of this I may
say that the drill implements of the Chirima people are very similar
to, and their stone cloth-beaters appear to be identical with, those
used by the Mafulu; whilst on the other hand their war bows are much
longer, [13] and their method of producing fire seems to be totally
different; also they apparently have bull-roarers, which to the best
of my knowledge are unknown among the Mafulu. Again some of the Chirima
weapons, as figured by Mr. Monckton, disclose ideas of artistic design,
including that of the curved line and a rude representation of a man,
which I have not met with among the Mafulu. As regards this last
point I draw attention to Mr. Monckton's figures of carving on a bow
and on wooden clubs. I think, however, that in such matters as these
local differences might well arise between people who are really
more or less identical, especially if their respective districts
are on opposite sides of the main mountain range of the country, and
still more so if the people of one of the districts (in the present
case I refer to the Chirima people) may perhaps have been subject to
the influence of other people beyond them. As to this latter point,
however, I should say that these Chirima people seem to be, so far as
dress, ornaments, &c., are concerned, much nearer to the Mafulu than
they are to the natives of the Mambare river itself, as described
by Sir William Macgregor. [14] It is curious also that the dogs of
the Chirima people are not yellow dingoes, but are black and white,
as is the case in Mafulu.

I notice that Dr. Seligmann suggests that these Chirima valley people
are related to the natives of the neighbourhood of Mt. Yule, [15] a
statement which, though probably intended broadly, is in accord with
the suggestion that they are connected with the Mafulu-speaking people.

The natives of Mt. Scratchley (apparently the eastern or south-eastern
side), visited by Sir William Macgregor in 1896, appear from his
description of them [16] to show a few points of resemblance to the
Mafulu people. In particular I refer to their "dark bronze" colour,
to the wearing by women of the perineal band (to which, however, is
added a mantle and "in most cases" a grass petticoat, which is not done
in Mafulu), to the absence of tattooing or cicatrical ornamentation,
to their "large earrings made out of tails of lizards covered by
narrow straps of palm leaves dyed yellow" (which, though not correctly
descriptive of the Mafulu earring, is apparently something like it),
to their use of pigs' tails as ear ornaments, to their plaiting of the
hair and the decoration of the plaited hair with teeth and shells, to
their small charm bags and to the shortness of their bows. Also to the
construction of their houses, with the roof carried down to the ground,
with a fireplace about 2 feet wide extending down the centre of the
building from one end to the other, and having an inclined floor on
each side, and especially to the curious apse-like roof projections
in front of these houses (Dr. Haddon calls them "pent roofs" [17]),
Sir William's figure of which is, like that of the Chirima villages,
identical, or nearly so, with that of a Mafulu house. But Sir William's
description of the physique of these Mt. Scratchley people and other
matters make it clear, I think, that they belong to a type different
from that of the Mafulu, though they must be next door neighbours of
the Fuyuge-speaking people. Dr. Seligmann, in commenting upon this
description of these people, expresses the opinion that they are
Papuo-Melanesians. [18]

The natives in the region of Mt. Musgrave and Mt. Knutsford, as
described by Mr. Thomson, [19] appear, at all events so far as dress
is concerned, to be utterly different from the Mafulu.

Dr. Seligmann states that Dr. Strong has informed him that the
southern boundary of the Fuyuge-speaking area is the Kabadi country,
[20] and he had previously referred to Korona, immediately behind
the Kabadi and Doura districts, as being within the area, [21] and,
indeed, the Geographical Society's map shows the Fuyuge area as
at all events extending as far south as Korona. I do not know how
far inland the Kabadi and Doura people extend; but I may say that
the Mafulu Fathers expressed grave doubt as to the extension of the
Fuyuge area so far south as is indicated by the map.

If the Fuyuge area does in fact reach the Kabadi boundary, and if my
notes on the Mafulu people are, as suggested, broadly descriptive of
the natives of the whole Fuyuge area, there must be a very sudden
and sharp differentiation, as the Kabadi people are apparently an
offshoot from Mekeo, [22] with apparently other Papuo-Melanesian blood
(especially Roro) introduced. [23]

The contour and appearance of the country in the actual Mafulu district
of the Fuyuge area is strikingly different from that of the immediately
adjoining Kuni country, the sharp steep ridges and narrow deep-cut
valleys of the latter, with their thick unbroken covering of almost
impenetrable forest, changing to higher mountain ranges with lateral
ridges among them, and with frequent gentle undulating slopes and
wider and more open valleys; while, interspersed with the forests,
are small patches and great stretches of grass land, sometimes thinly
covered or scattered with timber and sometimes quite open and devoid
of trees. [24] And this condition continues, I was told, over the
greater part of the triangular area above referred to.

Plates 1 and 2 give, I think, a fair illustration of what I mean,
the steep contours and thickly wooded character of the foreground and
nearer middle distance shown by Plate 1 being typical Kuni scenery,
and the more open nature of the country displayed by Plate 2 and the
comparative freedom from forest of its foreground being typical of
the higher uplands of Mafulu. [25]

It will be noticed that the physical character of the Mafulu country
is more favourable to continued occupation than is that of the Kuni
country; and it is a fact that the Mafulu people are not so restless
and ready to move as are the Kuni folk; and, even when they do migrate,
it is generally to a spot comparatively near to their old villages.

The geological formation of the lower hills on which the actual Mafulu
villages are placed and the intervening valleys is partly limestone;
and I was told that limestone formation was also found further to
the east.

Throughout this book I shall use the term "Mafulu" as including,
not only the little group of villages near the north-westerly corner
of the Fuyuge linguistic area actually known by that name, but also
the other groups of Fuyuge villages in the north-western portion of
that area; and, as above indicated, it is believed by the Fathers of
the Mission that I should be substantially correct if I included the
whole of the northern and north-eastern, and probably the southern
portions of the known part of that area, and possibly the entire area.

CHAPTER II

Physique and Character

Physique.

The Mafulu people are of short stature, though perhaps a trifle taller
than the Kuni.

They are as a rule fairly strong and muscular in build, the women
in particular having very strongly developed thighs; but, speaking
generally, their limbs are more slender, and their general development
is slighter, than is usually the case among the Roro and Mekeo people.

They appear to be usually mesaticephalic, but to have a very marked
tendency to brachycephaly.

Their noses seemed to me to be generally strong, and of prominent
size, varying considerably in width of bridge, but usually having
rather widely distending nostrils; and sometimes the width of the
nose was equal to its length, or nearly so.

Referring to the above matters, the following are the results of
twenty measurements of Mafulu men. These were obtained from men of
upwards of six different communities or groups of villages, so as to
avoid the possible misleading character of measurements made in only
one village or group of villages, in which some family relationship
between the persons measured might militate against the true average
character of the figures obtained.

No.
| Stature in cm.
| | Length of head in cm.
| | | Breadth of head in cm.
| | | | Cephalic index
| | | | | Cranial index (2 units deducted
| | | | | from cephalic index).
| | | | | | Nose length in cm.
| | | | | | | Nose breadth in cm.
| | | | | | | | Nasal index

1 150 18.5 14.7 79.5 77.5 4.9 4.4 89.8
2 155 18.8 15.1 80.3 78.3 4.8 4.8 100.0
3 155 19.5 14.8 75.9 73.9 5.3 4.3 81.1
4 157 18.5 15.4 83.2 81.2 4.3 4.3 100.0
5 153 18.9 14.6 77.2 75.2 4.8 4.4 91.7
6 151 18.6 14.3 76.9 74.9 4.9 3.8 77.6
7 151 19.3 15.2 78.8 76.8 5.4 4.4 81.5
8 163 19.4 14.5 74.7 72.7 5.6 4.4 78.6
9 162 18.8 15.2 80.9 78.9 5.3 4.0 75.5
10 163 17.4 15.1 86.8 84.8 5.5 4.6 83.6
11 155 18.0 14.0 77.8 75.8 5.3 4.4 83.0
12 157 17.4 14.6 83.9 81.9 4.6 4.0 87.0
13 158 19.7 14.8 75.1 73.1 5.3 4.3 81.1
14 160 17.9 14.4 80.4 78.4 5.1 4.3 84.3
15 153 17.7 14.7 83.1 81.1 5.2 4.1 78.8
16 156 18.5 14.8 80.0 78.0 5.5 4.5 81.8
17 152 17.7 14.9 84.2 82.2 5.6 4.0 71.4
18 154 18.6 14.9 80.1 78.1 5.2 4.5 86.5
19 150 17.8 15.2 85.4 83.4 4.9 3.9 79.6
20 147 18.8 14.5 77.1 75.1 4.6 3.8 82.6

Analysing these figures, we get the following results:--

Highest number. Lowest number. Average.

Stature [26] 163 cm. 147 cm. 155.1 cm.
(64.2 ins.) (57.9 ins.) (61.1 ins.)
Head length 19.7 cm. 17.4 cm. 18.5 cm.
Head breadth 15.4 cm. 14.0 cm. 14.8 cm.
Cephalic index 86.8 74.7 80.0
Cranial index 84.8 72.7 78.0
Nose length 5.6 cm. 4.3 cm. 5.1 cm.
Nose breadth 4.8 cm. 3.8 cm. 4.3 cm.
Nasal index 100.0 71.4 84.3 [27]

Number of cranial indices under 75 = 4 (20 per cent.).
Number of cranial indices between 75 and 80 = 10 (50 per cent.).
Number of cranial indices over 80 = 6 (30 per cent.).

There are a few points in connection with these figures to which I
would draw attention. The very short man (No. 20--height, 147 cm.) has
a cranial index of 75.1, on the border line between dolichocephaly
and mesaticephaly. He has also a short nose (4.6 cm.), and is one
of the two with the narrowest noses (3.8 c.m.). The very tall man
(No. 8--height, 163 cm.) has a long head (19.4 cm.), and the lowest
dolichocephalic cranial index of 72.7, and is one of two with the
longest noses (5.6 cm.). The other very tall man (No. 10--height,
163 cm.) has one of the two shortest heads (17.4 cm.), and the highest
brachycephalic cranial index of 84.8, and has a long nose (5.5 cm.) The
man (No. 2) whose nasal index is 100 has the mesaticephalic cranial
index of 78.3 (almost the average index). The other man (No. 4)
whose nasal index is 100 has a head of exactly the average length
(18.5 cm.) and the greatest breadth (15.4 cm.), and the brachycephalic
cranial index of 81.2. The man (No. 17) with the lowest nasal index
of 71.4 has a very short head (17.7 cm.), and the brachycephalic
cranial index of 82.2.

The following tables, however, illustrate the fact that the
measurements of these twenty men do not appear to indicate, as
regards them, any marked connection between stature, cranial index,
and nasal index.

Order in stature (beginning with the shortest):

20--1--19--6--7--17--5--15--18--2--3--11--16--4--12--13--14--9--8--10.

Order in progress upwards of cranial indices:

8--13--3--6-20--5--ll--7--1--16--18--2--14--9--15--4--12--17--19--10.

Order in progress upwards of nasal indices:

17--9--6--8--15--19--3--13--7--16--20--11--10--14--18--12--1--5--2--4.

I brought home three Mafulu skulls, which Dr. Keith kindly had measured
at the Royal College of Surgeons, with the following results [28]:--

Skull
| Length in cm.
| | Breadth in cm.
| | | Height in cm.
| | | | Cranial Index.
| | | | | Proportion of
| | | | | height to length.

A 17.6 14.0 12.2 79.5 69.3
B 18.2 14.1 13.2 77.5 72.5
C 17.3 12.7 12.5 73.4 72.3

It will be observed that the lowest of these three cranial indices is
a trifle higher than the lowest of those of the head measurements,
that the highest of them is much lower than the highest of those
of the head measurements, and that their average (76.8) is a little
below the average of those of the head measurements.

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