138 MAN: PAST AND PRESENT. [CHAP. 



Papuasia. It is rife in the Solomon group, where Dr Guppy tells 

 us that "the chiefs of New Georgia or Rubiana extend their raids 

 to Ysabel, Florida, and Guadalcanar, and thus perform voyages 

 over a hundred miles in length. Within the radius of these raids 

 no native can be said to enjoy the security of his own existence 

 for a single day. In the villages of Rubiana may be seen heaps 

 of skulls testifying to the success of previous expeditions. Capt. 

 Cheyne, when visiting Simbo or Eddystone Island in 1844, found 

 that the natives had just returned from a successful expedition, 

 bringing with them ninety-three heads of men, women, and 

 children 1 ." 



As in Borneo, the practice is not necessarily associated with 

 cannibalism, and heads are often sought either for the honour 

 of the prize, or in proof of prowess, or for some ceremonial 

 purpose. Thus a new canoe has in some places to be baptized 

 in blood before it can be endowed with the efficacious grace of 

 mana. Human sacrifices have also to be provided for, and not 

 only heads but living captives are often carried off and kept in 

 reserve for some great occasion, such as the death of a chief, the 

 foundation of a house, or the launching of a war canoe. 



That indifference to physical pain when inflicted on others, 

 so characteristic of all Papuasians, is seen in a method of scarifying 

 which is not, however, peculiar to the Solomon group. " The 

 faces of both men and women," writes Mr Woodford, "are fre- 

 quently ornamented all over with cicatrices either circular or 

 chevron-shaped. The operation is a painful and costly one, as 

 the professional tattooer has to be highly paid for his trouble, 

 and not every child's friends can afford the fee demanded. The 

 instrument used is the claw of the flying-fox. The unfortunate 

 patient is not allowed to sleep for two or three nights before 

 the operation is performed, and then, when he is ready to drop 

 from weariness, the tattooer begins his work, and completes it at 

 one sitting.... A child was brought for my inspection whose face 

 had just been finished off. It was in a painful state of nervous 

 irritation, and the face swelled to an enormous size. A hole was 

 scraped for it at the edge of the sea, where it could lie on its 



1 Op. cit. p. 16. 



