NEW GUINEA AND ITS PEOPLE. 331 



friend, to ask him where he is going, or to deliver a message t<> a supe- 

 rior standing. Among some of the inland tribes the custom prevails 



of smoking, instead of drinking to one's health. When the bamboo 

 pipe is filled with smoke and ready for inhaling, the man shouts out 

 the name of the friend he wishes to honor, before taking a whiff ; lie 

 then passes it on to the next, and he shouts out in the same way, and 

 so on all round the circle. The habit of smoking seems to be original, 

 not borrowed. The practice of chewing the betel-nut is still more 

 prevalent. 



The government is patriarchal, the chiefs ruling over villages 

 which are independent of each other, holding their office by inherit- 

 ance, but having to maintain themselves in it by their energy and 

 force of character. The son of a chief who is weak-minded and a fool 

 soon sinks to the common level ; while a commoner, who is strong and 

 brave, with greater mental power than his fellows, comes to the front 

 and is soon recognized as a chief. The moral condition of the people 

 is deplorably low. All are thieves, seeming to feel no sense of shame 

 in stealing ; and w T e were looked upon as great wonders by the na- 

 tives because we did not steal, and our honesty was always mentioned, 

 in any description of us, as one of our peculiarities. Human life is 

 invested with no sanctity, but the distinction the men are most proud 

 of is that of having shed human blood. No one has a right to be 

 tattooed until he has killed some one, and the right is sought as a privi- 

 lege. 



The natives are not often on peaceful terms with their neighbors, 

 though their warfare is not deadly. They are exceedingly suspicious 

 and distrustful. They never sleep without their weapons within reach, 

 and never go out without spear or club. They came to our house 

 readily enough at first, but the slamming of a door or any unexpected 

 noise was enough to bring them to their feet. 



The family tie is strong and lasting. Men live virtuously with 

 their wives and children. Polygamy is not common, although it is 

 thought to be proper for chiefs. The burden of labor is fairly divided 

 between the men and the women ; and the women insist upon carry- 

 ing wood, water, and burdens, as of their rights. 



The people seem to have no religious ideas, no idols, no idea of a 

 God as a supreme being or a good being. Their only religious ideas 

 consist in a belief in evil spirits, toward whom they live in slavish 

 fear, but without any idea of propitiating them by sacrifice or prayer. 

 They believe also in the deathlessness of the soul, without having any 

 definite ideas as to its abode or condition. Much difference, however, 

 prevails among the different tribes as to the development of ideas of 

 this character. Among some there seems to be a vague recognition of 

 a Great Spirit who gives them plenty and other blessings ; and to the 

 west of Port Moresby, in the district of Elema, are idols and idol-tem- 

 ples, but the natives there belong to the darker-colored race. 



