Doctor in Papua

by Berkeley Vaughan

Rigby, 1974, [First Edition], ISBN 0851797822, black and white photographic plates, illustrated frontispiece (map), hardback, dustjacket

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, previous owners inscription on front endpaper, dustjacket shows minor edge and shelf wear with minor rubbing and bumping (see photographs)

“The Kwato people believed that disease and death are caused by sorcery.  Dr Vaughan proved that dimdim edi puri (white man’s magic) is more powerful than that of the sorcerers.  When he had cured some seemingly hopeless cases, the people soon gave him all the medical and surgical work he could handle.  It included serious operations and obstetric cases under primitive conditions and medical patrols in the jungle as well as work in the hospital.
Eventually he transformed the hospital into an efficient and well-staffed unit, even able to provide false arms and legs for victims of shark attacks.  But life was not limited to medical practice and his other experiences in Papua provide interesting, dramatic, or amusing episodes.
Part of the book tells the remarkable story of Russell Abel and the Kunika tribe, in which the most respected men were murderers.  Abel penetrated the mountain territory of this people who terrorised other tribes and after months of dangerous living he changed their whole way of life.”