The Cruise of the Kawa | Page 9

without the original bodies, seem to have a peculiar value.
[Illustration: Babai and Her Taa-Taa]
[Illustration Note: BABAI AND HER TAA-TAA
In this picture the joyous island queen Babai-Alova-Babai is seen
carrying her taa-taa, the curious implement which serves so many
purposes in the Filbert Group. It is in turn a protection against the sun,
the rain and the constant showers of falling nuts, and also, when
occasion demands, a most effective weapon of defensive warfare. The
taa-taa is made of closely laced panjandrus leaves on a frame of the
tough eva-eva. When closed, which is seldom, it is known as a naa-naa.
In addition to its other uses it is most evidently a charming background
for a splendid example of Filbertine youth and beauty.]
Soon the trail widened, and we were called upon to hurdle several low
barriers of papoo-reeds, designed to confine the activities of the
countless Alice-blue wart-hogs which whined plaintively about our feet.

At a majestic gesture from the chief the taa-taas were furled (becoming
naa-naas), and we halted in a bright clearing about sixty feet in
diameter, plainly the public square, or, to be exact, circle.
My first impression was that of complete isolation in an unbroken
forest. Peer as I would, I could discern no sign of human habitation. We
had arrived, but where? My question was soon answered. By most
gracious gestures, soft sounds and a series of fluttering finger exercises
on the abdominal walls we were led to one side of the circle where, as
our guides pointed upward, white eyes for the first time in history
rested on a Filbertine dwelling!
The houses were in the trees!
Architecture is said to express deeply the inner characteristics of a
people, a statement I am glad to corroborate. But never had it struck me
so forcibly as now. Gazing up at a dim picture of informal construction,
interlaced and blended with the trunks, boughs and foliage of the
overarching palms I saw at a glance the key-note of the life of this
simple people--absence of labor.
The houses,--nests, were the better word--were formed by a most naive
adaptation of natural surroundings to natural needs. The curving fronds
of the towering coco-palms and panjandrus had been interlaced; and
nature did the rest, the gigantic leaves interweaving, blending,
over-lapping, meeting in a passionate and successful desire to form a
roof, proof alike against sun and rain. Some ten feet below this and an
equal distance from the ground the tendrils of the eva-eva vine had
been led from tree to tree, the subordinate fibres and palpitating feelers
quickly knitting themselves into a floor with all the hygienic properties
and tensile strength of linen-mesh.
Access to these apartments was something of a puzzle until, to instruct
us, a tall Filbert, who was evidently to be our neighbor, approached a
nearby dwelling and, seizing a pendent halyard of eva-eva, gently but
firmly pulled down the floor to a convenient level, vaulted into the
hammock-like depression and was immediately snapped into privacy.
From below we could see the imprint of his form rolling toward the

center of his living-room and then the depressions of his feet as he
proceeded to lurch about his dwelling.
It was now mid-afternoon; we were hot, tired, and, though we did not
know it, mildly intoxicated by the inhalations of alova which we had
absorbed during our journey. I looked forward eagerly to getting
up-stairs, so to speak, and taking a sound nap. One thing only deterred
me; I was thirsty.
[Illustration: Walter E. Traprock, F.R.S.S.E.U.]
[Illustration Note: WALTER E. TRAPROCK, F.R.S.S.E.U.
This striking likeness of Dr. Traprock, the author of the present volume,
admirably expresses the intensity, alertness and intrepidity which have
carried this remarkable personage through so many harrowing
experiences. A certain bold defiance, which is one of Dr. Traprock's
characteristics, has here been caught to the life. With just this matchless
courage we know that he must have faced death a thousand times even
though, as now, he had not a cartridge in his belt. That Dr. Traprock
knows no fear is evidenced by the fact that he has not only explored
every quarter of the globe, but that he has also written a number of
books of travel, plays, musical comedies and one cook-book. The
background of this picture shows the densely matted bush of the Filbert
Islands in their interior portion, a jungle growth which might well
baffle any but the most skillful threader of the trackless wilds. The gun
carried by Dr. Traprock is a museum-piece, having been presented to
the author's great-grandfather by Israel Putnam immediately after the
Battle of Fort Ticonderoga. Thanks to constant upkeep it is in as good
condition as ever. This is also true of Dr. Traprock.]
On the edge of the clearing I