Throwim Way Leg

Mammologist Tim Flannery assumed the age of exploration had died with Darwin. Upon arrival in New Guinea, though, he realises just how wrong he's been. Hilarious and riveting, Thowim Way Leg chronicles Flannery's adventures among the mountain people of New Guinea while in hot pursuit of giant rats, tree-kangaroos, bats, possums and bandicoots. In the local pidgin, "throwim way leg" describes the first decisive step in a journey. Flannery takes that step--and soon he's clambering up steep peaks; braving jungle critters like sweat bees, hairy spiders, pythons and the occasional crocodile; and perilously close to ending up in hot water more than once. Cannibalism, he assures us, is a thing of the past, but when he comes into contact with the Miyanmin--a people who refer to a neighbouring tribe as "bokis es bilong mipela" (literally, "our refrigerator")--we're left wondering how he got out alive.

Flannery's exuberance over the wildlife he encounters is interesting enough, but it's his ability to capture the indigenous perspective that makes this book worth reading. When his new-found friends learn, for instance, of the widespread custom of circumcision, they fall about in paroxysms of laughter. Equally perplexing (to an elderly gentlemen who has never seen rice) is how Flannery and his cronies could chance upon so many delectable ant-eggs. With 14 pages of colourful, enticing, "wish-I-could-go-there-right-now" photos. --Martha Silano

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Heights of discovery - Rated
If Tim Flannery isn't the luckiest biologist in the world, then perhaps he's the hardest working. He possesses a spirit of adventure that may exceed both. His twenty years of exploring the mysteries of New Guinea are superbly outlined and related in this engaging account. Although a mammalogist by profession, his interests range far beyond any academic discipline. We follow his efforts to meet and gain acceptance by the remote peoples of the New Guinea highlands. They are a diverse lot, and every new contact is fraught with uncertainty. He introduces us to the teasing pleasures of New Guinea pidgin, a language adopted by indigineous peoples to cross the nearly 1 000 languages that exist on the island.

Throwim' Away Leg, New Guinean pidgin for a journey, is an appropriate title for this book. Flannery's 15 long-term expeditions took him over most of the island, meeting the people, tracking animals and assessing the changes in the ecology. It is difficult, in this jet travel age to comprehend the impact of "remote people," but Flannery has done it. He's adept at sharing the wonder he felt in his travels. We feel his fears, his joys of discovery, his sadness at the incursion of industrial civilization in an unprepared land. Flannery's account is given with an astonishing detachment. He recognizes the needs of both the indigenous people and the invaders. Cannibalism, so abhorrent to "civilized" readers, is placed in its true framework as viewed by the New Guinean mountain peoples. He's aware of the population pressures on local resources among the tribes, not excusing, but imparting rare understanding of the reality of life in wilderness.

The author's love of wildlife is made clear throughout the book. An encounter with three-metre-long python that tried desperately to throttle him is related with incredible compassion. One can only sympathize with the pilot and passengers who shared the cockpit of a small aircraft with it on its journey to Port Moresby. Flannery's real feelings, however, are for the varieties of tree kangaroos living on the island. He asserts the high point of his travels was the classification of a rare black and white species of this creature. High point, indeed! Three
thousand metres up in the New Guinean highlands, local hunters brought him the chewed remains of two "Dingisios" - enough to identify and describe this rare animal.

Flannery's enthusiasms and vivid desriptive powers make this book an unforgettable read. His descriptions of the impact of outsiders, from both East and West, portray a land under immense stress. Not only Western mining and lumber companies, who have seared the landscape with roads, mines and felling, but Indonesia's settlement programmes come under his penetrating gaze. He recognizes their needs, but urges better forms of accomodation are required. The biological story is conveyed well integrated with social, political and environmental issues. An all-encompassing study, this book will give the reader many fresh insights and topics for further reflection. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Excellent Book - Rated
It«s well written, and describes less visited areas of Papua (Irian Jaya) and P.N.G.. Specially the area around Tembagapura, Bewani and Torricelli Mountain Range. It«s a fascinating account of newly discovered tree-kangaroos and other mammals. I would prefer a more detailed look at the tribal life, but the mission of the author was to collect animals. It«s also a good description of the difference between the two New Guinea countrys.