86 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



club-houses, sacred- or tabu-houses, temples, etc. These 

 houses are the focus of the social life of the men, and as re- 

 ligion among savages is largely social usage, it is in connection 

 also with these structures that most religious observances 

 are held. Dubus apparently occur in the peninsula, but of 

 these we have no precise information, and it is not recorded 

 whether the carved platforms, which have been described 

 at Tupuselei, belong to the social life of the Papuans of the 

 district or their Melanesian conquerors. 



The initiation of lads into manhood is accompanied with 

 sacred ceremonies in some of the Papuan tribes, but so far 

 as is known by none of the Melanesians in New Guinea. 

 I have described the initiation ceremonies which took place 

 in Torres Straits (1890, pp. 408, 432 ; 1893, P- IO )< an d m 

 my forthcoming memoir (1894) I have quoted the informa- 

 tion collected by Chalmers in the Papuan Gulf (1887, p. 

 85; 1890, p. 312). Masks are usually, perhaps invariably, 

 worn at these ceremonies, and the bull-roarer is swuno- and 

 shown to the lads ; quite recently Chalmers has discovered 

 the bull-roarer about the estuary of the Fly River as well 

 as farther east (1887, p. 85 ; 1890, p. 313). The bull-roarer 

 was also used in Torres Straits in connection with fishing 

 and probably to raise a wind (Haddon, 1893, P- 2 °)> now m 

 some islands it is a children's toy (Haddon, Jour. Roy. Inst. 

 Gt. Britain, 1890). There is no record of a bull-roarer 

 among the Melanesian folk, but it occurs in the German 

 territory (Zeits. fur EthnoL, xx., 1888 (Abhandl.), p. 267. 



Kabadi and Nara girls about twelve or thirteen years of 

 age are secluded for two or three years, they are sheltered 

 from the sun and never allowed to descend from the house 

 (Chalmers, 1885, p. 159; 1890, p. 319; cf. J. G. Frazer, 

 The Golden Bough, ii., p. 228). 



After initiation the lads rank as men and are allowed to 

 marry if they can afford the bride price. Chalmers says the 

 Gulf men have to pass several stages before the carved 

 wooden belts can be worn ; he also informs us that only old 

 men have seen the sacred image of Semese, " and various are 

 the initiatory steps before it can be seen" (1887, p. 86). 



Masks are employed by many peoples during certain 



