IDNO

P.9381.ACH1

Description

On Catalogue Card: Canoe, estuary of Fly R.

“Outrigger canoe in which I travelled on Fly River.” [Haddon's annotation on P.47937.ACH2, JD 15/1/2015]

Place

Oceania Melanesia; Papua New Guinea; Western Province; Fly River Estuary; near Madiri; Tirio [British New Guinea; Western Division]

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Haddon, Kathleen (later Rishbeth)

Collector / Expedition

Haddon, Alfred Cort and Haddon, Kathleen (later Rishbeth) [Expedition to New Guinea, 16 September - 20 November 1914]

Date

28 September 1914

Collection Name

Mounted Haddon CollectionKathleen Haddon Collection

Source

Format

Print Black & White Mounted

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Related Archive: In Kathleen Haddon's unpublished manuscript 'An English Girl in New Guinea', 1914, pp.32 - 33 for Monday 28 September, is the following extract:
“About four miles above Madiri is the native village of Tirio, which we decided to visit in the afternoon as it was a good chance to see some natives at our furthest point up the Fly River. Two natives had just come down in a small canoe, and it was arranged that I should seize the opportunity of traveling in this, whilst my father and our host followed in the dinghy. The canoe was a small dug-out, about twenty feet long and just wide enough to sit in, and was kept steady by a single outrigger consisting of a float attached to the canoe by two booms. One of the natives could speak a little pidgin English, but the tide was strong and he kept most of his energies for paddling, and I was quite content to sit quietly enjoying the experience and watching the play of his shoulders under his delicious chocolate-coloured skin.
The canoe made good progress, but it took about an hour to reach Tirio, and the dinghy was labouring far behind so I had to make my debut alone. My companions carefully turned the canoe broadside on to the current so that I was soaked by a large wave, to the great edification of the assembled villagers. They at once rushed to my rescue and gallantly helped me up over the mud, for the visit of a white woman was an event of extreme rarity, and for her to arrive by herself was unprecedented." [JD 15/1/2015]