A smiling Queen Elizabeth or Monday (25 February) strolled amidst thousands of painted Papua-New Guinea highland tribesmen at a spectacular "sing-sing" at Goroka showground.

More than 60,000 people attended the display in Goroka, the administrative capital of New Guinea's eastern highlands. Many of the tribesmen had walked 100 miles (160 kms) to see the Queen, who is accompanied in her tour of the South Pacific by Prince Philip, Princess Anne and her husband, Captain Mark Phillips.

The tribesmen, wearing flowering weeds and feathers, come from one of the most primitive regions of the world. With bows and arrows, they greeted the Queen with dances and chants as she drove across the showground in an open car.

Hundreds of tribesmen took part in the "sing-sing". Among them were the Asaro "mudmen", "Moss men" dressed in robes made of weeds, and "Lufa men" with their towering head-dress.

After watching the display, the Royal party flew to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. The Queen, who has had to cut short her tour because of the British general elections, will return to England on March 1st after spending two days in Australia.