[Contents]
Introductory
The map appended to this volume is (with the exception of the red lines and red lettering upon it) a reproduction of a portion of
the map relating to the explorations and surveys of Dr. Strong, Mr. Monckton and Captain Barton, which was published in the
Geographical Journal for September, 1908, and the use of which has been kindly permitted me by the Royal Geographical Society. I have eliminated
the red route lines which appear in the original map, so as to avoid confusion with the red lines which I have added. The
unbroken red lines and the red lettering upon my map are copied from a map, also kindly placed at my disposal, which has been
recently prepared by Father Fillodean of the Mission of the Sacred Heart, and these lines mark roughly what the Fathers of
the Mission believe to be the boundaries of the several linguistic areas within the district covered by their map. It will
be observed [2]that some of these lines are not continued so as to surround and complete the definition of the areas which they indicate;
but this defect is unavoidable, as the Fathers’ map only covered a relatively small area, and even in that map the lines were
not all carried to its margin. It will also be noticed that, though the Fathers introduce the two names Oru Lopiku and Boboi
as being linguistically distinct, they have not indicated the boundary line between the two areas. Father Egedi, however,
informed me that this boundary passes along the ridge of hills south of the Ufafa river as far as Mt. Eleia, and thence along
the Ukalama river to the Kuni boundary. The Ukalama river is not shown in the Geographical Society’s map; but I may say that
it is shown in the Fathers’ map as rising in Mt. Eleia, and flowing thence in a south-easterly direction, and so joining the
St. Joseph river close to Dilava. The broken red line upon my map does not appear in the Fathers’ map, but has been added
by me to indicate what, I understand, the Fathers believe to be a continued boundary, so far as ascertained, of the Fuyuge
linguistic area, called by them the Mafulu area, to which I am about to draw attention.
The term Mafulu is the Kuni pronunciation of Mambule, which is the name, as used by themselves, of the people who live in
a group of villages within and near the north-westerly corner of the area of the Fuyuge-speaking people, whose Papuan language,
so far as ascertained, appears, subject to local dialectal differences, to be the same, and may, I was informed, [3]be regarded as one common language throughout the Fuyuge area.
The Fathers of the Mission have adopted the name Mafulu in a wider sense, as including all the people with whom they have
come in contact of the Fuyuge-speaking area; and, though my investigations, which form the subject-matter of this book, have
been conducted only in the neighbourhood of Mafulu itself, I was assured that, so far as the Fathers have been able to ascertain,
all these Fuyuge people not only have similar languages, but also are substantially similar in physique and in culture. My
observations concerning the Mafulu people may therefore, if this statement is correct, be regarded as applying, not only to
the inhabitants of the portion of the north-westerly corner of the Fuyuge area in which the Mafulu group of villages is placed,
but to those of the whole of the north-westerly portion of the area, and generally in a greater or less degree of accuracy
to those of the northerly and north-easterly parts of the area, and possibly the southerly ones also.
The boundaries of this Fuyuge-speaking area can hardly be regarded as definitely ascertained; and the discrepancies, even
as regards the courses of the rivers and the positions of the mountains, which appear in the few available maps make it difficult
to deal with the question. The area, so far as actually ascertained by the Fathers of the Mission, roughly speaking, covers,
and seems to extend also some distance to the south or south-west of a triangle, the western apex of which is the junction
of the river Kea with the [4]river Aduala (a tributary of the St. Joseph),1 whose north-eastern apex is Mt. Albert Edward, and whose south-eastern apex is Mt. Scratchley. It includes the valley of
the Aduala river and its streams (except those flowing into it from the north in the region of the western apex of the triangle)
within its northern boundary, and the valley of the upper Vanapa river and its rivers and streams in the neighbourhood of
its eastern boundary; but this eastern boundary has been found to extend also so as to include the upper valley of the river
Chirima. How far the area extends to the south or south-west of the triangle above mentioned appears to be uncertain.
The linguistic area to the north of the Mafulu or Fuyuge people is that of the Ambo people, who are somewhat similar in appearance
to the Mafulu, and whose language is also Papuan, and, though differing from the Mafulu language, is, I was told, somewhat
similar to it in grammatical construction and as regards a few of its words. The area to the west is that of the [5]Kuni people, whose language is Melanesian, but whose ordinary modes of life are, I was informed, more like those of the Mafulu
than are those of the Papuan-speaking Ambo. The areas to the east and south cannot be so definitely stated, but are dealt
with below.
As regards these Ambo people I may, in view of divergences of names which appear in maps, explain that Ambo is a contraction
of Ambore, and is the name given to the people by their Mafulu neighbours, whilst Afoa is the name given to them by the Kuni
people, and is adopted in the Geographical Society’s map.2 As regards the Kuni people, their name is the one adopted by themselves.
Concerning the boundaries of the Fuyuge linguistic area as above indicated, and the people whose districts adjoin that area,
I propose here to draw attention to four names, and to refer to some observations bearing on the subject of the probable Fuyuge
boundary which are to be found in existing literature.
The term Kovio, though primarily the name of Mt. Yule, and properly applicable to the people living in the neighbourhood of
that mountain, is now, I think, often used to express all the mountain tribes of the hinterland of the Mekeo and Pokau, and
perhaps the Kabadi, districts. But the use of this name has not, I believe, been generally associated with any question of
linguistics.
The area in the map which is called by the Fathers [6]Boboi is occupied by people whose language, I was told by the Fathers, is Papuan, but is distinct from the languages of the
Ambo and the Fuyuge areas.
Kamaweka is a name which appears in several of Dr. Seligmann’s publications. It seems to have been originally used by Captain
Barton to designate the natives of the district of which Inavaurene, to the north-east of the Mekeo plains, is the centre,
but to have been afterwards regarded as a somewhat more general term; and I think Dr. Seligmann uses it in a very general
sense, almost, if not quite, equivalent to the wide application above referred to of the term Kovio, and which might include
the Papuan-speaking Boboi and Ambo people, and even perhaps the people of the northern Mafulu villages.3 But here again the use of the name has, I think, no reference to linguistics.
If the Fathers’ linguistic boundary lines are substantially correct, each of the two terms Kovio and Kamaweka, as now used,
would appear to cover more than one linguistic area; and in any case these terms seem to have widened and to have become somewhat
indefinite. It will be seen on reference to the map and to Father Egedi’s information as to the Oru Lopiku and Boboi boundaries
that both Mt. Yule and Inavaurene are within the area which the Fathers call Oru Lopiku, but that Inavaurene is not far from
[7]their Boboi area. I suggest that it would be convenient for the present, pending further investigation and delimitation on
the spot, and until we know something of the difference between the languages of the Oru Lopiku and Boboi people, to adopt
the term Kovio as a general name for, and confine it to, the two areas Boboi and Oru Lopiku; though for linguistic purposes
the names Boboi and Oru Lopiku, which at present indicate very little to us, may eventually be accepted and come into general
use.
The Koiari people of the foothills and lateral spurs behind the Motu area, also referred to from time to time in Dr. Seligmann’s
writings, must be eastern next door neighbours of the Fuyuge-speaking people, the western boundary of these Koiari being stated
by him to be the Vanapa river,4 and they being in fact regarded by him as being the eastern neighbours of the natives of “the mountains inland of Mekeo Nara
and Kabadi,”5 and being referred to by him as being the people from whose district the Kamaweka and Kuni are reached by “passing westward”—the
word used is “eastward,” but this is obviously a printer’s error—“in the mountains, keeping roughly parallel with the coast.”6
Turning to the question of the Fuyuge boundary, Dr. Strong says that the Fuyuge people occupy the upper waters of the St.
Joseph river,7 and he is quoted by Dr. Seligmann as having stated that the Afoa [8]language “is spoken in the villages on Mt. Pizoko and the northern slopes of Mt. Davidson,” and that “the Afoa villages lie
to the north of the Fuyuge-speaking communities, stretching westward for an unknown distance behind Mt. Davidson.”8 If the information given to me verbally by the Fathers of the Mission of the Sacred Heart and the red linguistic boundary
lines roughly drawn by them, and introduced into my map, be correct, these statements require modification, for according
to the Fathers the Mafulu or Fuyuge-speaking area does not include any part of the St. Joseph river, as its extreme north-westerly
corner lies to the east of the junction—close to the boundary line between the Afoa (Ambo) and the Kuni areas—of the rivers
Alabula and Aduala, and Mt. Pizoko is within the Fuyuge area, and not within that of the Afoa, and Mt. Davidson is within
the Boboi area. I think that, though the Fathers’ lines are admittedly not exact, they and the information supplied by the
Fathers to me are likely to be more trustworthy in these respects, especially as regards boundaries near to the actual Mafulu
villages, than the earlier statements of Dr. Strong, as they are the outcome of recent and careful investigation; and, as
regards Mt. Pizoko, I may mention that Dr. Strong himself seems to have subsequently regarded that mountain as being within
the Mafulu district,9 which brings it into the Fuyuge area.
The inclusion of the upper valley of the river [9]Chirima within the Fuyuge or Mafulu-speaking area is perhaps surprising, as this valley is separated from the general Fuyuge
area by one of the southern ridges of Mt. Albert Edward, and more or less so by the ridges of Mt. Stone Wigg and the Wharton
range, and as the Chirima is a tributary flowing into the Mambare river, which is one of the great watercourses of Northern
New Guinea. The Mafulu Fathers, however, had no doubt as to the correctness of the inclusion, which seems to open out the
possibility of some, at all events, of the Fuyuge people having northern associations; and indeed Monseigneur de Boismenu
told me that he believed that the Mafulu people were in touch with Northern New Guinea, and got some of their shell ornaments,
or the shells from which they were made, from the northern coast.
It is interesting, therefore, to turn for the purpose of comparison to the report of Mr. Monckton’s expedition to Mt. Albert
Edward by way of the Upper Chirima valley in 190610 and the illustrations accompanying it, with which I incorporate a description of the people of this valley given to Dr. Seligmann
by Mr. Money, who was with Mr. Monckton.11
From these it appears that the Upper Chirima people are short in stature and sturdily built. Both sexes wear the perineal
band, the front of which is made (I am not sure whether this applies to women as well as to men) to bulge out by padding.
In some cases the men’s hair is tied up in a bunch with string, [10]and in others it is bound up in various styles with native cloth. Some of the men have their hair done up in small plaits
over the forehead. All the above descriptions, except that of the padding of the band, are applicable to the Mafulu. Some
of the Chirima houses have a curious apse-like roof projection over the front platform, which is a specially distinctive feature
of a Mafulu house, and one with this projection figured by Mr. Monckton is indistinguishable from a typical Mafulu house.
The Chirima people place the bodies of their dead on raised platforms, and apparently sometimes put the body of an infant
on the platform erection of an adult, but below the latter. This also is a practice of the Mafulu; and, though the latter
people confine platform burial (if such it may be called) to chiefs and their families and important persons, it is possible
that some such limitation of the custom exists in the Chirima valley also, but did not come under Mr. Monckton’s notice. A
burial platform figured by him might well be a Mafulu burial platform, except that the curious cone-shaped receptacle for
the child is a form for which I cannot vouch as regards the Mafulu. The Chirima have a special and peculiar form of netting,
which Mr. Monckton’s illustration shows to be identical with the special form of Mafulu netting. On the other hand, as regards
the Chirima weapons, implements and utensils, a comparison of Mr. Monckton’s verbal descriptions and figures with what I have
seen in Mafulu, and describe in this book, leads me to the conclusion that, though many of these are similar to those of Mafulu,
[11]some of them are different. As examples of this I may say that the drill implements of the Chirima people are very similar
to, and their stone cloth-beaters appear to be identical with, those used by the Mafulu; whilst on the other hand their war
bows are much longer,12 and their method of producing fire seems to be totally different; also they apparently have bull-roarers, which to the best
of my knowledge are unknown among the Mafulu. Again some of the Chirima weapons, as figured by Mr. Monckton, disclose ideas
of artistic design, including that of the curved line and a rude representation of a man, which I have not met with among
the Mafulu. As regards this last point I draw attention to Mr. Monckton’s figures of carving on a bow and on wooden clubs.
I think, however, that in such matters as these local differences might well arise between people who are really more or less
identical, especially if their respective districts are on opposite sides of the main mountain range of the country, and still
more so if the people of one of the districts (in the present case I refer to the Chirima people) may perhaps have been subject
to the influence of other people beyond them. As to this latter point, however, I should say that these Chirima people seem
to be, so far as dress, ornaments, &c., are concerned, much nearer to the Mafulu than they are to the natives of the Mambare
river itself, as described by Sir William Macgregor.13 It is curious [12]also that the dogs of the Chirima people are not yellow dingoes, but are black and white, as is the case in Mafulu.
I notice that Dr. Seligmann suggests that these Chirima valley people are related to the natives of the neighbourhood of Mt.
Yule,14 a statement which, though probably intended broadly, is in accord with the suggestion that they are connected with the Mafulu-speaking
people.
The natives of Mt. Scratchley (apparently the eastern or south-eastern side), visited by Sir William Macgregor in 1896, appear
from his description of them15 to show a few points of resemblance to the Mafulu people. In particular I refer to their “dark bronze” colour, to the wearing
by women of the perineal band (to which, however, is added a mantle and “in most cases” a grass petticoat, which is not done
in Mafulu), to the absence of tattooing or cicatrical ornamentation, to their “large earrings made out of tails of lizards
covered by narrow straps of palm leaves dyed yellow” (which, though not correctly descriptive of the Mafulu earring, is apparently
something like it), to their use of pigs’ tails as ear ornaments, to their plaiting of the hair and the decoration of the
plaited hair with teeth and shells, to their small charm bags and to the shortness of their bows. Also to the construction
of their houses, with the roof carried down to the ground, with a fireplace about [13]2 feet wide extending down the centre of the building from one end to the other, and having an inclined floor on each side,
and especially to the curious apse-like roof projections in front of these houses (Dr. Haddon calls them “pent roofs”16), Sir William’s figure of which is, like that of the Chirima villages, identical, or nearly so, with that of a Mafulu house.
But Sir William’s description of the physique of these Mt. Scratchley people and other matters make it clear, I think, that
they belong to a type different from that of the Mafulu, though they must be next door neighbours of the Fuyuge-speaking people.
Dr. Seligmann, in commenting upon this description of these people, expresses the opinion that they are Papuo-Melanesians.17
The natives in the region of Mt. Musgrave and Mt. Knutsford, as described by Mr. Thomson,18 appear, at all events so far as dress is concerned, to be utterly different from the Mafulu.
Dr. Seligmann states that Dr. Strong has informed him that the southern boundary of the Fuyuge-speaking area is the Kabadi
country,19 and he had previously referred to Korona, immediately behind the Kabadi and Doura districts, as being within the area,20 and, indeed, the Geographical Society’s map shows the Fuyuge area as at all events extending as far south as Korona. I do
not know how far inland the Kabadi [14]and Doura people extend; but I may say that the Mafulu Fathers expressed grave doubt as to the extension of the Fuyuge area
so far south as is indicated by the map.
If the Fuyuge area does in fact reach the Kabadi boundary, and if my notes on the Mafulu people are, as suggested, broadly
descriptive of the natives of the whole Fuyuge area, there must be a very sudden and sharp differentiation, as the Kabadi
people are apparently an offshoot from Mekeo,21 with apparently other Papuo-Melanesian blood (especially Roro) introduced.22
The contour and appearance of the country in the actual Mafulu district of the Fuyuge area is strikingly different from that
of the immediately adjoining Kuni country, the sharp steep ridges and narrow deep-cut valleys of the latter, with their thick
unbroken covering of almost impenetrable forest, changing to higher mountain ranges with lateral ridges among them, and with
frequent gentle undulating slopes and wider and more open valleys; while, interspersed with the forests, are small patches
and great stretches of grass land, sometimes thinly covered or scattered with timber and sometimes quite open and devoid of
trees.23 And this [15]condition continues, I was told, over the greater part of the triangular area above referred to.
Plates 1 and 2 give, I think, a fair illustration of what I mean, the steep contours and thickly wooded character of the foreground and
nearer middle distance shown by Plate 1 being typical Kuni scenery, and the more open nature of the country displayed by Plate 2 and the comparative freedom from forest of its foreground being typical of the higher uplands of Mafulu.24
It will be noticed that the physical character of the Mafulu country is more favourable to continued occupation than is that
of the Kuni country; and it is a fact that the Mafulu people are not so restless and ready to move as are the Kuni folk; and,
even when they do migrate, it is generally to a spot comparatively near to their old villages.
The geological formation of the lower hills on which the actual Mafulu villages are placed and the intervening valleys is
partly limestone; and I was told that limestone formation was also found further to the east.
Throughout this book I shall use the term “Mafulu” as including, not only the little group of villages near the north-westerly
corner of the Fuyuge linguistic area actually known by that name, but also the other groups of Fuyuge villages in the north-western
[16]portion of that area; and, as above indicated, it is believed by the Fathers of the Mission that I should be substantially
correct if I included the whole of the northern and north-eastern, and probably the southern portions of the known part of
that area, and possibly the entire area.
[17]
[Contents]
Physique and Character
Physique.
The Mafulu people are of short stature, though perhaps a trifle taller than the Kuni.
They are as a rule fairly strong and muscular in build, the women in particular having very strongly developed thighs; but,
speaking generally, their limbs are more slender, and their general development is slighter, than is usually the case among
the Roro and Mekeo people.
They appear to be usually mesaticephalic, but to have a very marked tendency to brachycephaly.
Their noses seemed to me to be generally strong, and of prominent size, varying considerably in width of bridge, but usually
having rather widely distending nostrils; and sometimes the width of the nose was equal to its length, or nearly so.
Referring to the above matters, the following are the results of twenty measurements of Mafulu men. These were obtained from
men of upwards of six different communities or groups of villages, so as to avoid the possible misleading character of measurements
made in only one village or group of villages, in which some family relationship between the persons [18]measured might militate against the true average character of the figures obtained.
| No. |
Stature in cm. |
Length of head in cm. |
Breadth of head in cm. |
Cephalic index |
Cranial index (2 units deducted from cephalic index). |
Nose length in cm. |
Nose breadth in cm. |
Nasal index |
| 1 |
150 |
18.5 |
14.7 |
79.5 |
77.5 |
4.9 |
4.4 |
89.8 |
| 2 |
155 |
18.8 |
15.1 |
80.3 |
78.3 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
100.0 |
| 3 |
155 |
19.5 |
14.8 |
75.9 |
73.9 |
5.3 |
4.3 |
81.1 |
| 4 |
157 |
18.5 |
15.4 |
83.2 |
81.2 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
100.0 |
| 5 |
153 |
18.9 |
14.6 |
77.2 |
75.2 |
4.8 |
4.4 |
91.7 |
| 6 |
151 |
18.6 |
14.3 |
76.9 |
74.9 |
4.9 |
3.8 |
77.6 |
| 7 |
151 |
19.3 |
15.2 |
78.8 |
76.8 |
5.4 |
4.4 |
81.5 |
| 8 |
163 |
19.4 |
14.5 |
74.7 |
72.7 |
5.6 |
4.4 |
78.6 |
| 9 |
162 |
18.8 |
15.2 |
80.9 |
78.9 |
5.3 |
4.0 |
75.5 |
| 10 |
163 |
17.4 |
15.1 |
86.8 |
84.8 |
5.5 |
4.6 |
83.6 |
| 11 |
155 |
18.0 |
14.0 |
77.8 |
75.8 |
5.3 |
4.4 |
83.0 |
| 12 |
157 |
17.4 |
14.6 |
83.9 |
81.9 |
4.6 |
4.0 |
87.0 |
| 13 |
158 |
19.7 |
14.8 |
75.1 |
73.1 |
5.3 |
4.3 |
81.1 |
| 14 |
160 |
17.9 |
14.4 |
80.4 |
78.4 |
5.1 |
4.3 |
84.3 |
| 15 |
153 |
17.7 |
14.7 |
83.1 |
81.1 |
5.2 |
4.1 |
78.8 |
| 16 |
156 |
18.5 |
14.8 |
80.0 |
78.0 |
5.5 |
4.5 |
81.8 |
| 17 |
152 |
17.7 |
14.9 |
84.2 |
82.2 |
5.6 |
4.0 |
71.4 |
| 18 |
154 |
18.6 |
14.9 |
80.1 |
78.1 |
5.2 |
4.5 |
86.5 |
| 19 |
150 |
17.8 |
15.2 |
85.4 |
83.4 |
4.9 |
3.9 |
79.6 |
| 20 |
147 |
18.8 |
14.5 |
77.1 |
75.1 |
4.6 |
3.8 |
82.6 |
Analysing these figures, we get the following results:—
|
Highest number. |
Lowest number. |
Average. |
| Stature1 |
163 cm.(64.2 ins.) |
147 cm.(57.9 ins.) |
155.1 cm.(61.1 ins.) |
| Head length |
19.7 cm. |
17.4 cm. |
18.5 cm. |
| Head breadth |
15.4 cm. |
14.0 cm. |
14.8 cm. |
| Cephalic index |
86.8 |
74.7 |
80.0 |
| Cranial index |
84.8 |
72.7 |
78.0 |
| Nose length |
5.6 cm. |
4.3 cm. |
5.1 cm. |
| Nose breadth |
4.8 cm. |
3.8 cm. |
4.3 cm. |
| Nasal index |
100.0 |
71.4 |
84.32 |
| Number of cranial indices under 75 |
= 4 (20 per cent.). |
| Number of cranial indices between 75 and 80 |
= 10 (50 per cent.). |
| Number of cranial indices over 80 |
= 6 (30 per cent.). |
[19]
There are a few points in connection with these figures to which I would draw attention. The very short man (No. 20—height,
147 cm.) has a cranial index of 75.1, on the border line between dolichocephaly and mesaticephaly. He has also a short nose
(4.6 cm.), and is one of the two with the narrowest noses (3.8 c.m.). The very tall man (No. 8—height, 163 cm.) has a long
head (19.4 cm.), and the lowest dolichocephalic cranial index of 72.7, and is one of two with the longest noses (5.6 cm.).
The other very tall man (No. 10—height, 163 cm.) has one of the two shortest heads (17.4 cm.), and the highest brachycephalic
cranial index of 84.8, and has a long nose (5.5 cm.) The man (No. 2) whose nasal index is 100 has the mesaticephalic cranial
index of 78.3 (almost the average index). The other man (No. 4) whose nasal index is 100 has a head of exactly the average
length (18.5 cm.) and the greatest breadth (15.4 cm.), and the brachycephalic cranial index of 81.2. The man (No. 17) with
the lowest nasal index of 71.4 has a very short head (17.7 cm.), and the brachycephalic cranial index of 82.2.
The following tables, however, illustrate the fact that the measurements of these twenty men do not appear to indicate, as
regards them, any marked [20]connection between stature, cranial index, and nasal index.
Order in stature (beginning with the shortest):
20—1—19—6—7—17—5—15—18—2—3—11—16—4—12—13—14—9—8—10.
Order in progress upwards of cranial indices:
8—13—3—6–20—5—ll—7—1—16—18—2—14—9—15—4—12—17—19—10.
Order in progress upwards of nasal indices:
17—9—6—8—15—19—3—13—7—16—20—11—10—14—18—12—1—5—2—4.
I brought home three Mafulu skulls, which Dr. Keith kindly had measured at the Royal College of Surgeons, with the following
results3:—
| Skull |
Length in cm. |
Breadth in cm. |
Height in cm. |
Cranial Index. |
Proportion of height to length. |
| A |
17.6 |
14.0 |
12.2 |
79.5 |
69.3 |
| B |
18.2 |
14.1 |
13.2 |
77.5 |
72.5 |
| C |
17.3 |
12.7 |
12.5 |
73.4 |
72.3 |
It will be observed that the lowest of these three cranial indices is a trifle higher than the lowest of those of the head
measurements, that the highest of them is much lower than the highest of those of the head measurements, and that their average
(76.8) is a little below the average of those of the head measurements.
Dr. Keith had further measurements made of these [21]skulls from the point of view of prognathism and characters of noses and orbits, with the following results:
| Skull. |
Basi-nasal length. |
Basi-alveolar length. |
Height of nose. |
Width of nose. |
Height of orbit. |
Width of orbit. |
| |
mm. |
mm. |
mm. |
mm. |
mm. |
mm. |
| A |
98 |
102 |
48 |
26 |
40 |
35 |
| B |
99 |
96 |
49 |
25 |
42 |
35 |
| C |
97 |
102 |
47 |
26 |
38 |
35 |
Dr. Keith, referring to these skulls, says that they disclose relatively small brains, the cranial capacity of A being 1,230
c.c., that of B being 1,330 c.c., and that of C being 1,130 c.c. He compares these figures with the average cranial capacity
of the male European, which he puts at 1,500 c.c.
The eyes of the Mafulu people are dark brown and very bright. I never saw among them those oblique eyes, almost recalling
the Mongolian, which, according to Dr. Seligmann, are found, though rarely only, on the coast,4 and of which I saw many instances among the Kuni people.
Their lips are usually not so thick as are those of the Mekeo and Roro people, and are generally finer and more delicate in
shape.
In view of their Papuan language I kept a sharp look out for the curious backward sloping foreheads and projecting brow ridges
and Jewish-looking noses which are so often found among the Western Papuans; but, although I saw a few examples of these,
they were rare, and I did not observe any [22]noticeable tendency in these directions in the faces of the people generally.5
A curious characteristic with them is the big toe, which is usually much developed, and projects outwards at a larger angle
than is the case with the Roro and Mekeo people, and is much used for holding on to roots, &c., whilst travelling along their
rough mountain paths.
Their general colour is a dark sooty brown, a trifle darker, perhaps, than that of the Kuni people, and contrasting forcibly
with the varying shades of chocolate which you find among the Roro and Mekeo people. They are smooth-skinned.
Their hair is frizzly, and generally dark brown, often quite dark, almost even approaching to black, and sometimes perhaps
quite black. But it is frequently lighter; and indeed I was often, when observing men’s hair lit up by sunshine, impressed
by the fact that its brown colour was not even what we should in Europe call dark.6 I often saw marked variations in the depth of hair colour on the head of the same individual. I saw no examples of the comparatively
straight or curly type of hair which is found in the Pokau district and elsewhere.7
[23]
Plate 3 gives front and side views of the mesaticephalic (almost brachycephalic) skull A and Plate 4 gives similar views of the dolichocephalic skull C. All the photographs were made as nearly as possible exactly half the
sizes of the originals; but the photographer has made the front view of skull A about an eighth of an inch too narrow (with,
of course, a corresponding deficiency in height), so that the tendency to roundness of this skull is not quite sufficiently
shown, and the proportion of its height to its length is reduced, in the plate. I am not a craniologist, and so I do not attempt
to discuss the more detailed points of interest which arise in connection with these skulls.
A good idea of the somewhat varying characters of the general physiques and features of the people will be obtained from my
plates; but there are a few of these plates which I may mention here.
The people shown in Plates 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 16 may, I think, be regarded as fairly typical, and I would draw attention to the somewhat Melanesian tendency of feature which
is disclosed by the faces of the man in Plate 6, the young man in the middle in Plate 7 and the fourth and sixth men from the left in Plate 9; also to the great diversity shown in Plate 9. The man shown in Plate 10, with his thick and strong muscular [24]development, is of a type which is occasionally seen, but which is, I believe, unusual. The two men figured in Plates 11 and 12 are, I think, specially interesting. The one to the right, with his somewhat backward sloping forehead, and slightly arched
nose, shows a distinct tendency towards the type of the Western Papuan, to which I have already referred. The other one is
in general shape of head and appearance of features not unlike some of the dwarf people found by the recent expedition into
Dutch New Guinea (see the man to the left in Plate 4 of the page of illustrations in The Illustrated London News for September 2, 1911), and indeed there is almost an Australian tendency in his face. It is noticeable that he has a beard
and moustache, which is quite unusual among the Mafulu. A somewhat similar type of face may be noticed in one or two of the
other plates.
Character and Temperament.
It is difficult to speak with any degree of definiteness on this question. It must be borne in mind that the Mafulu people
have been very little in touch with white people, the missionaries, who have only been there since 1905, and on rare occasions
a Government official or scientific traveller, being almost the only white men whom the bulk of them have ever seen; and they
have been but slightly affected by the outside influences which for some years past have been constantly brought to bear upon
the natives of the adjoining coast line and the people of the Mekeo plains; so that comparisons of these people with their
more up-to-date [25]neighbours as regards their relative natural characters may well be in some respects misleading.
Subject, however, to this caution I would say that they are lazy and easy-going (though not so much so as the Roro and Mekeo
people), lively, excitable, cheerful, merry, fairly intelligent (this being judged rather from the young people), very superstitious,
brave, with much power of enduring pain, cruel, not more revengeful perhaps than is usual among uncivilised natives, friendly
one with another, not quarrelsome, but untrustworthy and not over-faithful even in their dealings with one another, though
honest as regards boundaries and property rights and in the sense of not stealing from one another within their own communities
(this being regarded as a most shameful offence), and of very loose sexual morality.
A difference between them and the Mekeo and Roro natives is that they appear to be not so conservative as the latter, being
more ready to abandon old traditions and adopt new ideas; though this characteristic is one which shows itself in the young
people rather than in the elders with their formed habits.
[26]
[Contents]
Dress and Ornament
Dress.
The perineal band, made of bark cloth, is the one article of dress which is universally worn by both men and women.
These bands are made by both men and women, but are coloured by men only. They are commonly unstained and undecorated; but
some of them, and especially those worn for visiting and at dances, are more or less decorated. Some that I have noticed are
stained in one colour covering the whole garment; others in two colours arranged in alternate transverse bands, sometimes
with narrow spaces of unstained cloth between; and again others have bands of one colour alternating with bands of unstained
cloth. Some are decorated with lines or groups of lines of one colour, or alternating lines or groups of lines of two colours,
painted transversely across the cloth. Others, while simply stained in one colour or stained or decorated in one of the ways
above described, have another simple terminal design near the end of the garment.
The men’s bands are usually small and narrow, as [27]compared with those worn by the Roro and Mekeo people; and the women’s bands seemed to me to be generally even narrower than
those of the men, particularly in front. Men’s bands, which I have measured, were about 6 inches wide at one end, narrowing
down to about 3 inches at the other; and the widths of women’s bands were 4 or 5 inches or less at one end, narrowing down
to about 2 inches at the other. But the bands of both men and women, especially those of the latter, often become so crumpled
up and creased with wear that the portion passing between the legs dwindles down to about an inch or less in width. One is
tempted to think, as regards both men and women, that, from the point of view of covering, the bands might be dispensed with
altogether. This remark applies still more strongly to the case of young boys and unmarried girls, including among the latter
big full-grown girls, who are in fact fully developed women, whose bands can hardly be regarded as being more than nominal,
and who, especially the girls and young women, and even sometimes married women who are nursing their babies, can really only
be described as being practically naked.
Plate 13 (Figs, 1, 2, and 3) illustrates the staining and decoration of perineal bands.1 Fig. 1 is a section [28]of a man’s band about 6 inches wide. The transverse lines, which extend along the whole length of the band, are in alternate
groups of black and red. The background is unevenly stained yellow behind the black lines; but the background behind the red
lines and the spaces intervening between the groups of lines are unstained. Fig. 2 is the pattern near the end of a woman’s
band about 5 inches wide. The lines are coloured red. There is no pattern on the rest of the band; but the whole of the band,
including the background of the pattern, is stained yellow. Fig. 3 is a section of a woman’s band about 2½ inches wide. The
colouring is in alternate bands of red and yellow with irregular unstained spaces between.
I was struck with the gradual reduction of the women’s dress as I travelled from the coast, with its Roro inhabitants, through
Mekeo, and thence by Lapeka and Ido-ido to Dilava, and on by Deva-deva to Mafulu. The petticoats of the Roro women gave way
to the shorter ones of Mekeo, and these seemed to get shorter as I went further inland. Then at Lapeka they were still shorter.
At Ido-ido, which is Kuni, the petticoats ceased, and there was only the perineal band. Then, again, at Dilava (still Kuni)
this band was narrower, and at Deva-deva, and finally at Mafulu, it was often, as I have said, almost nominal.
I was told that the age at which a boy usually begins to wear his band is about 10 or 12, or in the case of a chief’s son
16 or 17; but that girls assume their bands at a somewhat earlier age, say at 7 or 8. [29]So far as my personal observation went I should have thought that the usual maximum age of nakedness for both boys and girls
was rather younger, and I never saw a naked boy of an age anything like 16.
The assumption of the perineal band is the subject of a ceremony which will be dealt with hereafter.
Caps are very often worn by men, but not by women or children. These are simply pieces of plain unstained bark cloth about
9 inches wide, which are coiled and twisted on the head. The result is often a shapeless mass; but there are methods of arranging
the cloth in definite ways which produce describable results. Sometimes the cloth is merely coiled several times around the
head, so as to produce a tall thin turban-shaped band, the crown of the head being left uncovered. Often this plan is extended
by turning the end of the cloth over, so as to cover the top of the head, thus producing in some cases a result which resembles
a fez, and in other cases one which looks more like a tight skullcap. Again the cap often has its centre terminating in an
end or tassel hanging over, thus making it look like a cap of liberty; and yet again I have seen the cap look almost like
the square paper caps often worn by certain artisans at home. These caps are seen in several of the plates.
Abdominal belts are commonly worn by both men and women, but not as a rule by children. There are several distinct forms of
these:—
(1) A thick strong dark-coloured belt (Plate 14, Fig. I) made of tree bark; made and worn by men only. The belt is about 3 or more inches wide and is often so [30]long that it passes twice round the body, the outer end being fastened to the coil beneath it by two strings. This form of
belt is sometimes ornamented with simple straight-lined geometric patterns carved into the belt, but it is never coloured.
The process of manufacture is as follows: they cut off a strip of bark large enough for one, two, three, or four belts, and
coil it up in concentric circles, like the two circles of the belt when worn. They then place it so coiled into water, and
leave it there to soak for a few days, after which they strip off the outer part, leaving the smooth inner bark, which they
dry, and finally cut into the required lengths, to which they add the attachment strings made of native fibre.
(2) A belt made of a material looking like split cane and thin strips from the fibre of what I was told was a creeping plant2; made and worn by men only. The latter material is obtained by splitting the fibre into thin strips. These strips and the
strips of split cane-like material are rather coarse in texture. The former are of a dull red-brown colour (natural, not produced
by staining) and the latter are stone-yellow. The two are plaited together in geometric patterns. The width of the belt is
about 2 inches. It only passes [31]once round the man’s body; and the plaiting is finished with the belt on the body, so that it can only afterwards be removed
by unplaiting or cutting it off.
(3) A belt (Plate 14, Fig. 2) made of stone-yellow unsplit cane; made and worn by both men and women. This is the simplest form of belt, being
merely a strip of cane intertwined (not plaited) so as to form a band about half an inch wide, and left the natural colour
of the cane. Both men and women, when short of food, use this belt to reduce the pain of hunger, by tightening it over the
stomach. It is, therefore, much worn during a period of restricted diet prior to a feast. Women also use it, along with their
other ordinary means, to bring about abortion, the belt being for this purpose drawn very tightly round the body. Often two,
or even three, such belts are worn together.
(4) A belt (Plate 14, Fig. 3) made of coarse, sometimes very coarse, stone-yellow split cane or cane-like material; made and worn by men only.
This belt is left the natural colour of the material, which is plaited so as to form a band from half an inch to 2 inches
broad, the two ends of which are bound together with cane. It also, like No. 2, is finished on the body. A man will often
wear two or three of these belts together.
(5) A belt (Plate 15, Fig. i) made out of the inner fibre of a creeping plant3; made and worn by men [32]only. The fibre threads used for this belt are very fine, so the plaiting is minute, instead of being coarse like that of
No. 2; but it is generally done rather loosely and openly. The belt is usually about 2 inches wide or a trifle less and is
often plaited in slightly varying geometric patterns. It is not stained in manufacture, but the natural stone-grey colour
of the fibre soon becomes tinted as the result of wear and the staining of the wearer’s body, and in particular it often becomes
an ornamental red. This belt also is finished on the man’s body.
(6) A belt (Plate 15, Fig. 2) made of the inner fibre of what I was told was another creeping plant4 and the stem of a plant which I believe to be one of the Dendrobiums5; made and worn by men only. The fibres of the former plant are stained black; the reedy stems of the other plant are put
in short bamboo stems filled with water, and then boiled. They are then easily split up into flattish straws, and become a
colour varying from rather bright yellow to brown. For making the belt these two materials, looking rather like black and
bright yellow straw, are plaited together in various geometrical patterns. The width of the belt is 2 inches, or a trifle
more. It is tied at the ends with fibre string.
(7) A rather special form of belt (Plate 15, Fig. 3) [33]used mainly for visiting and dancing; made and worn by both men and women. The belt is made out of a hank of loose separate
strands between 4 and 5 feet long, tied together with string or bark cloth at two opposite points, so as to form a belt of
between 2 feet and 2 feet 6 inches in length. For better description I would liken it to a skein of wool, as it looks when
held on the hands of one person for the purpose of being wound off into a ball by someone else, but which, instead of being
wound off, is tied up at the two points where it passes round the hands of the holder, and is then pulled out into a straight
line of double the original number of strands, and so forms a single many-stranded belt of 2 feet or more in length. It is
fastened round the waist with a piece of bark cloth attached to one of the points where the hank has been tied up.6
The number of strands is considerable. Belts examined by me and counted gave numbers varying from eighteen to thirty-five,
and the number of strands of the belt round the body would be double that. Each strand is made of three parts plaited together,
and is one-eighth of an inch or less in width. Various materials, including all the materials used for armlets (see below),
are employed for making these belts, [34]some for one and some for another. Sometimes a belt has its strands all plaited out of one material only, in which case the
belt will be all of one colour. Sometimes its strands are plaited out of two different coloured materials. There is no colouring
of the belt, except that of its strands.
Belt No. 1, as worn, is seen in Plates 9 and 11. Belt No. 3 is worn by the man at the extreme right in Plate 16. It is worn by many of the women figured in the plates, and several of them have two belts. One of the women figured in Plates
18 and 19 has three of them. Belt No. 4 is worn by one of the men figured in Plates 7 and 8 (he has three of them). Belt No. 7 is worn by one or two of the women figured in the frontispiece, the one to the extreme
right having a many-stranded belt, and it is excellently illustrated in Plate 17.
Capes made of bark cloth are made and worn by men and women. They are only put on after recovery from an illness by which
the wearer has been laid up, including childbirth. The cape is simply a plain long narrow piece of undyed bark cloth. The
corners of one end are fastened together, and the whole of that end is bunched up into a sort of hood, which is placed over
the head, whilst the rest of the cloth hangs down as a narrow strip behind. The cape in no way covers or conceals any part
of the body when viewed from the front or side. It is only worn for a few days; but whilst wearing it the wearer discards
all, or nearly all, his or her ornaments. I could learn no reason for the custom. Plates 18 and 19 [35]show these capes, and the way in which they are worn.
Mourning strings (Plate 30, Fig. 1) are made and worn by both men and women. These are plain undecorated necklaces varying much in size and appearance;
sometimes they are made of undyed twisted bark cloth, and vary in thickness from one-sixteenth of an inch to an inch; sometimes
they are only made of string, and are quite thin. There is always an end or tassel to the necklace, made out of the extremities
of the neck part, and hanging in front over the chest; and, if the necklace is of string, and not of bark cloth, some bark
cloth is twisted round this tassel. This sign of grief is after a death worn by the widow or widower or other nearest relative
(male or female) of the deceased; and at times two people of equal degree of relationship will both wear it. It is worn until
the formal ending of the mourning. The woman to the extreme right in Plate 26 is wearing one of these.
Widows’ vests. These are mourning garments, only worn by the widows of chiefs. The garment, which is made by women, is a vest
made of string network (like a string bag), the mesh of which is the special Mafulu mesh, which will be described hereafter,
and it is not coloured. It is plainly and simply made, with openings at the top for the neck, and at the sides for the arms
(no sleeves), and coming down to about the waist, without any other opening either in front or at the back. This garment is
also worn until the formal end of the period of [36]mourning.7 I was unable to secure a picture of one of these.
There is no special dress for chiefs to distinguish them from other people.
European calico clothing has not been adopted by these people, even in the district where they are in touch with the missionaries.
Indeed I may say that the people, happily for their own health, show no inclination to wear more clothing; and no doubt as
a result of their conservatism in this respect they escape many a fatal cold and attack of pneumonia, and the spread of infectious
skin diseases is somewhat reduced. I may also add that the Bishop and Fathers of the Mission do not attempt, or seem to desire,
to urge the people who come under their influence to endanger their health and their lives for the sake of conforming to views
as to clothing which have played such havoc with tropical natives in many parts of the globe.8
Physical Body Decoration, &c.
Tattooing and body-scarring are not practised by either men or women among the Mafulu.
Depilation. When a young man’s beard begins to grow, the hairs of the beard and moustache and eye-brows [37]are extracted. No other depilation is practised by men, and none whatever by women; and none of them shave any part of the
body. The depilation is effected with two fibre threads twisted round each other, the hair to be extracted being inserted
between the threads. Anyone can do this, and there is no ceremony connected with it.
Nose-piercing. The septa of the noses of both men and women are pierced at or after the age of 15 or 18, and either before
or after marriage. This is done for men by men, and for women by women. There is no special person whose duty it is to do
it, but he or she must be one who knows the incantations which are required. There is no restriction as to diet or otherwise
placed upon the operator prior to the operation, but there is a day’s food restriction imposed upon the person whose nose
is to be pierced.
Two instruments are used for the operation, one being a piercing instrument made of pig bone and sharpened, and the other
being a small wooden plug, also sharpened. The operator first visibly, but silently, engages in two incantations, during the
former of which he holds up the thumb and first finger of his right hand, and during the latter of which he holds up the two
instruments. He then with the thumb and first finger of his right hand holds the septum of the nose of the person to be operated
upon, whom I will call the “patient,” and with the left hand pierces the septum with the bone instrument. He next inserts
the wooden plug into the hole, so as to make it larger, and leaves the plug there. Then [38]he takes a blade of grass, which he also inserts through the hole, by the side of the plug, and, holding the grass by the
two ends, he makes it rotate round and round the plug. This is a painful process, which frequently causes tears and cries
from the patient. He then probably goes through the same process with various other patients, as it is the custom to operate
on several persons at the same time.
The patients are then all lodged in houses built for the purpose, one house being for men and one for women. These are not
houses which are kept permanently standing, but are specially built on each occasion on which the nose-boring operation is
going to be performed. A great swelling of the patients’ noses develops, and this spreads more or less over their faces. The
patients are confined in the special houses until the holes in their noses are large enough and the wounds are healed. During
this confinement each patient has himself to do what is requisite to further enlarge the hole by the insertion into it from
time to time of pieces of wood and by putting in rolled up leaves and pushing pieces of wood inside these leaves. During all
this period he is not allowed to come out of the house, at all events not so as to be seen, and his diet is confined to sweet
potato, cooked in a certain way. The cooking for all the patients, men and women, is done by the woman nose-piercing operator,
assisted by other women. The potatoes are wrapped up in leaves (usually banana), each potato being generally wrapped up separately
in one or more leaves; and, when so wrapped up, they are [39]cooked in red-hot ashes, and then taken to the houses where the patients are.
When the hole in any patient’s nose has reached the requisite size, and the wound is healed, he inserts a large croton leaf9 into the hole; he may then come out and return to his own house, retaining the croton leaf in his nose. He must next occupy
himself in searching for a black non-poisonous snake about 12 or 18 inches long, which is commonly found in the grass. I cannot
say what snake this is, but I am advised that it is probably Tropidonotus mairii. Its native name is fal’ ul’ obe, which means “germ of the ground.” Until he finds this snake he must keep the croton leaf in his nose, and is still under
the same restriction as to food, which is cooked in the same way and by the same persons as before. On finding the snake,
he secures it alive, removes the croton leaf from the hole in his nose, and inserts into it the tail end of the living snake;
then, holding the head of the snake in one of his hands, and the tail in the other, he draws the snake slowly through the
hole, until its head is close to the hole. He then lets the head drop from his hand, and with a quick movement of the other
hand draws it through the nose, and throws the snake, still living, away.10 This [40]completes the nose-piercing; but there still rests upon the patient the duty of going to the river, and there catching an
eel, which he gives to the people who have been feeding him during his illness.
The nose-piercing is generally done at one of the big feasts; and, as these are rare in any one village, you usually find
in the villages many fully-grown people whose noses have not been pierced; though as to this I may say that nose-piercing
is more generally indulged in by chiefs and important people and their families than by the village rank and file. It commonly
happens, however, that a good many people have to be done when the occasion arises. Each person to be operated upon has to
provide a domestic pig for the big feast. I have been unable to discover the origin and meaning of the nose-piercing ceremony.11
Ear-piercing is done to both men and women, generally when quite young, say at seven or twelve years of age. Both the lower
and the upper lobes are pierced, sometimes only one or the other, and sometimes both; but the lower lobe is the one more commonly
pierced. They can do it themselves, or can get someone else to do it. There is no ceremony. The [41]piercing is done with the thorn of a tree, and the hole is afterwards gradually widened by the insertion of small pieces of
wood. They never make large holes, or enlarge them greatly afterwards, as the holes are only used for the hanging of pendants,
and not for the insertion of discs. After the piercing the patient must, until the wound is healed, abstain from all food
except sweet potato; but there is no restriction as to the way in which this food is to be cooked, or the person who is to
cook it. There is as regards ear-piercing no difference between the case of chiefs’ children and those of other people.
Body-staining is usual with both men and women, who do it for themselves, or get others to help them. There is no ceremony
in connection with it. The colours generally adopted are red, greyish-yellow and black. The red stain is procured from an
earth, which is obtained from the low countries; but they themselves also have an earth which is used, and produces a more
bronzy red. The yellow stain is also got from an earth. All these coloured earths are worked into a paste with water, or with
animal fat, if they can get it. I think they also get a red stain from the fruit of a species of Pandanus; but I am not quite
clear as to this. The black stain is obtained from crushed vegetable ashes mixed with fat or water. The staining of the face
is usually of a simple character. It may cover the whole face all in one colour or in different colours, and often one side
of the face is stained one colour, and the other side another colour. They also make stripes and spots or [42]either of them of any colour or colours on any part of the face. The red colour (I think especially that obtained from the
Pandanus fruit) is also often applied in staining the whole body, this being especially done for dances and visiting; though
a young dandy will often do it at other times. The black is the symbol of mourning, and will be referred to hereafter.
Hairdressing may be conveniently dealt with here. The Mafulu hairdressing is quite simple and rough, very different from the
big, spreading, elaborately prepared and carefully combed mops of Mekeo. This is a factor which a traveller in this part of
New Guinea may well bear in mind in connection with his impedimenta, as he has no difficulty in getting the Kuni and Mafulu
people to carry packages on their heads, which the Mekeo folk are unwilling to do.
The modes in which the men dress their hair, so far as I was able to notice, may be roughly divided into the following categories:—(a) A simple crop of hair either cut quite close or allowed to grow fairly long, or anything between these two, but not dressed
in any way, and probably uncombed, unkempt and untidy. This is the commonest form. (b) The same as (a), but with a band round the hair, separating the upper part of it from the lower, and giving the former a somewhat chignon-like
appearance, (c) The hair done up all over the head in three-stranded plaits a few inches long, and about an eighth of an inch thick, having
the appearance of short thick pieces of string, (d) The top of the head undressed, but the sides, and sometimes the back, of the head done up in plaits like (c). (e) A [43]manufactured long shaped fringe of hair, human, but not the hair of the wearer (Plate 20, Fig. 3), is often worn over the forehead, just under the wearer’s own hair, so as to form, as it were, a part of it, pieces
of string being attached to the ends of the fringe and passed round the back of the head, where they are tied. These fringes
are made by tying a series of little bunches of hair close to one another along the double string, which forms the base of
the fringe. Specimens examined by me were about 12 inches long and 1¼ inches wide (this width being the length of the bunches
of hair), and contained about twenty bunches. It is usual to have two or three of these strings of bunches of hair tied together
at the ends, thus making one broad fringe. These fringes are often worn in connection with styles (c) and (d) of hairdressing; but I never noticed them in association with (a) and (b).
I was told that men who have become bald sometimes wear complete artificial wigs, though I never saw an example of this.
The hairdressing of the women seemed to be similar to that of the men, except that I never saw the chignon-producing band,
that they do not wear fringes, and that the entire or partial plaiting of the hair is more frequently adopted by them than
it is by the men. I do not know whether the women ever indulge in entire wigs.
Method (a) is seen in many of the plates. Method (b) is illustrated, though not very well, in Plate 9 (the fourth and fifth man from the left) and in Plate 21 (the young man to the left, behind). Method (c) is adopted [44]by four of the women in the frontispiece, by some of the women in Plate 16, by the woman in Plate 17, and by the little girl in Plates 22 and 23. Method (d) is well illustrated by the second woman from the right in the frontispiece.
The cutting of the hair of both men and women is effected with sharp pieces of stone of the sort used for making adze blades,
or with sharp pieces of bamboo or shell.
Infant deformation is not practised in any form by the Mafulu people; nor do they circumcise their children.
Ornaments.
The string-like plaits in which men and women arrange their hair, and especially those of the women, are often decorated with
ornaments. Small cowrie and other shells, or native or European beads, or both, are strung by women on to these plaits, sometimes
in a line along all or the greater part of the length of the plait, sometimes as a pendant at the end of it, and sometimes
in both ways; and any other small ornamental object may be added. Dogs’ teeth are also used by both men and women in the same
way; but these are, I think, more commonly strung in line along the plaits, rather than suspended at the ends of them. Both
men and women wear suspended at the ends of these plaits wild betel-nut fruit, looking like elongated acorns; and men, but
not women, wear in the same way small pieces of cane, an inch or two long, into which the ends of the plaits are inserted.
[45]All these forms of decoration may be found associated together. They are in the case of men usually confined to the plaits
at the sides, being also often attached to the side ends of the artificial fringes; but they are sometimes used for the back
of the head also. The women often wear them also at the top of the head, and in wearing them at the sides sometimes have them
hanging in long strings reaching to the shoulders.
Plate 24 (Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6) and Plate 25 (Figs. 2 and 4) are ornamented plaits cut off the heads of women. The ornaments shown include beads, shells, discs made out
of shells, dogs’ teeth and betel-nut fruit. Plate 24 (Figs. 3 and 4) are ornamented plaits cut off the heads of men, one of them having a cane pendant, and the other a pendant
of betel-nut.
The appearance of these things, as worn, is seen in Plates 16, 26, 27,
