Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0318Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is of five men sailing on a small boat. Above the image "T577 (Star)" is printed, below the image "24201T In Southern Pacific Waters - Natives of New Guinea in their Picturesque Sailing Craft." is printed, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company COPYRIGHTED Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Chicago, Ill., London, England." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
24201
NATIVES OF NEW GUINEA IN PCTURESQUE SAILING CRAFT
The canoes vary in different districts. Near Port Moresby two or three canoes are tied together with a big decking and a huge sail of plaited pandanus or palm leaves. In these the people travel up and down the coast on trading expeditions trading pots for sago. On the northeast coast the boats are dugouts, shaped at both ends, with an outrigger lashed at the side a few feet away. At either end of this outrigger are small platforms to carry food and such things. One must sit in the canoe, and sit very carefully, or it will capsize. The seat is a narrow bit of wood and the canoe is so narrow there is room only for one, and the occupant must sit scramped and uncomfortable.
Farther up the coast the canoes are larger, the outrigger is father away and a large platform stretches out over the dugout on one side and over the outrigger on the other. The plaform if floored with split palms, and may be from four to eight feet square. There is a fireplace of stones and earth in the center.
In these boats the natives sail at an incredibly swift rate. When the men of a village start off on a trading expedition the women mourn as if they were dead. "Be quiet," they say to the children, "Don't you know our men are away?" A continous watch is kept and te return of the travelers is the occasion of greatest concern. If they have been unfortunate, there is wild grief and lamentations; if they have been successful, the whole village indulges in joy and feasting.
Copyright by the Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection