"By Aeroplane to Pygmyland" Accounts of the 1926 Smithsonian-Dutch Expedition to New Guinea

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Journal of Matthew Stirling
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August 28, 1926 : Head Camp (Lower & Upper) ; Rouffaer River


August 28

This morning I took another trip up the River "C" and returned about noon. Early in the afternoon the transport {p. 226} arrived from downstream bringing Dr. Hoffmann, tanned brown as a berry from his trip up the river but looking a little drawn, as he is just recovering from an attack of malaria. During the day Le Roux, Posthumous and I made preparations for leaving for the interior of the mountains. We each have two tins and our bedding. We will go with fourteen Dyaks and our three convicts. In the evening we all visited with Dr. Hoffman and got all the latest news from the downstream camp. In his camp above Motor Camp a big bunch of Papuans sneaked into camp at midnight but the Dyaks and the guard saw them in time, fired a few shots and they ran off. While they were crawling silently into camp, a large crowd of Papuans on the other side of the river were making a great uproar, evidently to attract attention in that direction. In honor of my birthday the doctor opened his last bottle of cognac which he had been saving for the first good excuse.




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