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

Interpretive Essays
Browse Photos and Film
Expedition Source Material
About this Project

browse photos and film

Expedition Photograph and Film Collection

Browse locations/subjects:
Search photograph captions:


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb004
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer; A Papuan man of the Rouffaer River. He has an empty tin can under his arm; Rouffaer man; Papuan man, Rouffaer River, Central Dutch New Guinea
C3:
 Papuan man wearing bone nose ornaments and holding empty tin can under his left arm. This man is typical of the Papuans of the upper Rouffaer River in the region lying between the Brown River and the River “A”.
C4:
 War Bkgd. #9, plate 2, Papuans; c: types from the Rouffaer River, lake plain, central Netherlands New Guinea
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb005
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Mid Rouffaer; Rouffaer man
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 War Bkgd. #9, plate 2, Papuans; d: types from the Rouffaer River, lake plain, central Netherlands New Guinea
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb037
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Lake Plains / Papuans in a dug out canoe / Mid Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 War Bkgd. #9, plate 15, Central Netherlands New Guinea; 2: Papuan dugout on the Rouffaer River.
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb040
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer; Upper Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 War Bkgd. #9, plate 17, Central Netherlands New Guinea; 1: Papuan men with composite stone axe, on Upper Rouffaer River.
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb041
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer; Upper Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 War Bkgd. #9, plate 17, Central Netherlands New Guinea; 2: Sago palm houses and men with fish nets along the Rouffaer River. Bananas, breadfruit, and pandanus in background.
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb042
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 War Bkgd. #9, plate 19, Netherlands New Guinea; a: Papuan canoe, Rouffaer River
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb136
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 One of the expedition canoes in rough water
C3:
 A dyak canoe going through the rapids of the upper Rouffaer River above motor camp. It is here that the Rouffaer River leaves the central mountains and enters the lake plain.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb168n
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 Similar to D022, D024, D052
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb248n
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer man
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Arb313
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer River natives
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 B046
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 Canoes of the expedition on the Rouffaer River being visited by Papuans in their rickety dugouts.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 C032
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Mid? River; old man
C3:
 Seated figure of a man with boy standing holding the man’s left wrist. The man is wearing the typical hairpin shaped nose ornament made of cassowary leg bone and forehead ornament made from spilt boar’s tusks. His hair is also cut in a fashion characteristic of the region. This man is quite typical of this section of the river.
C4:
 War Bkgd. #9, plate 19, Netherlands New Guinea; b: Papuan man, upper Rouffaer River, wearing typical boar’s tusk forehead ornament and hairpin-shaped nose ornament
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 C064
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 Similar to C066, C067
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 C066
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 Similar to C064, C067
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 View from the Rouffaer River a short distance below motor camp showing the lower reaches of the central mountains lying south of the river.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 C067
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 Similar to C064, C066
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 C072
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 Launch and canoes of the expedition landing along the Rouffaer River in the central lake plain. Breadfruit tree in the foreground.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 C084
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 D022
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 Similar to Arb168n, D024, D052
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 D024
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 Similar to Arb168n, D022, D052
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 Dyak carriers fording a mountain tributary of the upper Rouffaer in the central mountains between motor camp and the pygmy country. This is an uninhabited section of country. The mountains are very rough and effectually separate the mountain-dwelling pygmies from the lowland papuans.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 D030
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 July 23; Papuan houses on the Lower Rouffaer river. This home was one of the best.
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A
Quote from Stirling Journal:
 The houses are very flimsy affairs and this was one of the best. (July 23)


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 D039
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 D044
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 D046
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 A Papuan of the Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 D052
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 Similar to Arb168n, D022, D024
C2:
 N/A
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y030
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y031
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y032
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y033
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y034
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y035
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer; river with men in canoe
C3:
 A typical canoe of the better type on the upper Rouffaer River in the vicinity of Motor Camp. These canoes, retaining the natural shape of the log, are hollowed out underneath each end so as to form a projecting deck on the bow and stern. The hollowing-out process is accomplished by the use of stone axes. As the construction of a canoe is a difficult and laborious task, the canoes are continued in use after they have become rather sad wrecks. Frequently when the ends are rotted out they will plug up the holes and leaks so formed with mud which serves temporarily at least to keep out most of the water. In this instance, the Papuans are using poles to propel the canoe. On the Van Der Willigen River crude paddles are used, the blades of which are concave and which simulate the shape of the lower portion of the midrib of a sago palm.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y036
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Mid Rouffaer; R. L. Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y038
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 R.; L. Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y039
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 R.; L. Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y041
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y042
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer; man with weapons (heads in profile)
C3:
 Papuans on the Rouffaer River near the mouth of the Brown River. The man in the background leaning over the canoe shows the curious Pandanus leaf tail ornament that these men usually wear. The man in the foreground is holding one of these ornaments in his right hand. Behind him is a man wearing a headdress of black cassowary feathers very typical of this section of the river. These feathers are worn draped over the hair in such a fashion that even at close distance the wearer seems to have long straight black hair. The bows and arrows shown in this picture are typical. The bows are very long – usually about 7’ in length or more and made of a very strong black palmwood. The string is of rattan. The arrows are 6’ or 7’ in length and are tipped either with bamboo leaf-shaped points or with four shafts of hard wood tipped with pointed bone. The fighting arrows are usually ingeniously barbed. The Papuans of this region are inclined to be treacherous and the expedition was frequently subjected to ambush attacks while progressing through this section of the Lake Plain. Sixteen of the expedition’s men were killed by the natives of this particular section. [Editor's note: The sixteen deaths are not refered to by either Stirling or Hedberg in their daily journals, but Stirling does mention these "16 men killed" on this expedition, in his "The Native Peoples of New Guinea" (Smithsonian Institution's War Background Studies #9, 1943, p.11.]
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y043
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y045
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y047
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer R.; motor transport
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y049n
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y050
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y051
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer; man--costume, aze
C3:
 Young man from the upper Rouffaer River near the junction of the Rouffaer with the Brown River. He is wearing nose ornaments of bone which serve a secondary purpose as bone awls. About his waist he wears a belt of braided rattan and a small amount of braided palm fiber. The bulky palm fiber armors which were worn in the Van Rees mountains and on the lower Van Der Willigen River gradually disappear as one progresses upstream, until at this point they no longer serve a utilitarian purpose. The man is holding in his hand a typical stone ax of the sort used in the entire Lake Plain area. This is a composite affair made of three separate pieces of wood lashed together by rattan and containing a crude stone blade. These stone axes are the crudest found in New Guinea. In this section of the river the bark cloth apron merely hangs pendant from the belt and is not worn as a G-string as is done commonly on the lower river.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y052
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Mid Rouffaer; "R"; Man with bags, nets, etc. (Mid. River)
C3:
 A group of Papuan men near one of their houses between Motor Camp and the mouth of the Van Daalen River. These men are piling articles on the ground in order to trade them with us. The middle figure is holding in his hand net bags characteristic of the region. On the ground may be seen an oval net which is used for scooping small fish from the streams. Inverted beside it is a canoe-shaped wooden dish and lying on top of these a bow and arrows and a stone ax. This picture of the ax shows the construction of a typical Rouffaer River ax rather well. The central figure shows also a typical method of cutting the hair in this area where the forward half of the hair is cut off close to the scalp.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y053
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer; Mid Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y054
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer; Mid Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y055
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Mid Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y056
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer; Mid Rouffaer; man--costume; horizontal nose stick (Mid River)
C3:
 A Papuan man from the Rouffaer River half-way between Motor Camp and the mouth of the Van Daalen. He is wearing horizontal bone nose ornament and costume typical of the region, in this instance consisting merely of a few strands of braided palm fiber about the waist. The objects about his ankles and leg bands which have slipped down on account of his having been swimming in the river.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y057
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Mid Rouffaer; man--costume
C3:
 A Rouffaer River Papuan in the vicinity of the Brown River.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y059
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Papuans of the mid Rouffaer; men--costume; vertical nose-stick
C3:
 A group of men and boys seated near the junction of the Brown River and the Rouffaer. They are wearing typical vertical bone nose ornaments. The man seated on the left is wearing a forehead ornament constructed of boar’s tusks, a type of ornament very characteristic of the upper Rouffaer area. The seated figure second from the right is wearing ear ornaments made of large quills of cassowary wing feathers which are looped through the ear and the point thrust back into the hollow portion of the quill. These likewise are characteristic of this particular region. The boys are all wearing wooden plugs through their ears. One of the men standing in the rear of the picture is wearing a leaf instead of the bark cloth apron. The natives from the mouth of the Van Daalen to the mouth of River “B” frequently are entirely nude.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y060
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 mid Rouffaer; "R." Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y072
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Up. Rouffaer
C3:
 A view on the Rouffaer River taken between River “A” and River “B” showing canoes of the expedition progressing upstream. Vegetation is characteristic showing heavy growth of cane which characteristically grows at the edges of streams with frequent sago palms at the jungle’s edge.
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y073
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Up. Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y078n
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Up. Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y090
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Upper Rouffaer Rapids
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y091
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Upper Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y102
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Canoe camp; Upper Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y104
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 R; Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y105
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y106
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y107
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y108
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y109
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y113
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 R; Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y116
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y117
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer man, woven belt
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y118n
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 Rouffaer river
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A


~ enlarge ~

Location Subject:
 Rouffaer River
Filename:
 Y119
Captions [about captions]
C1:
 N/A
C2:
 R; Rouffaer
C3:
 N/A
C4:
 N/A
C5:
 N/A
Browse locations/subjects:
Search photograph captions:

CreditsPermissionsMore Expeditions & Voyages