BY WALTER R. HARPER. 237 



of this opening in five specimens given me by the Rev. T. Watt 

 Leggatt, of Malekula, is 6-5 cm., but of course the size of the 

 hole is regulated by the size of the hand and wrist of the man for 

 whom it is intended. The drawings herewith* give a very good 

 idea both of its general shape and the method of wearing it. An 

 examination of these objects seems to emphasize a remark of 

 Forster'sf: — " They were all remarkably slender. . . . Their 

 limbs were indifferently proportioned, their legs and arms long 

 and slim." The average European would find it impossible to 

 put on the average Malekulan "onvar." However, in this 

 respect the Malekulese are not peculiar amongst the lower races. 



Supplementary Note. — Since writing the above I have 

 obtained further information from Rev. T. Watt Le2:2fatt, of 

 Malekula. The simple spiral band mentioned as being used in 

 the islands to the north is also common in Malekula, together 

 with a simpler form, consisting merely of the mid-rib of a banana 

 leaf twisted round the wrist. The form figured is worn loosely 

 as a rule; but when fighting is imminent it is laced tightly with 

 a grass fibre. 



Further, Mr. Leggatt has investigated the name usually given 

 for the guard, viz., " oiivar.'^ He discovers that the correct title 

 in the Aulua district (Port Sandwich) is nehonvar, derived from 

 n^.hnno, the face, and v^rna, the hand — ver or var being the root 

 for hand, as veramjk, my hand; verim, thy hand; rerna, his hand. 

 The word really means the face of the hand, i.e., the tiling that 

 stands before the hand to protect it. 



In the Maskelyne Group, south of Malekula, the guard 

 is callerl nahonca. In Pangkumu it is named as at Aulua. In 

 the Uripio district the word used is hekve}\ the derivation of 

 which Mr. Leggatt has not been able to discover {8ej)t. '28th, 1901). 



For which I am indebted to Mr. Chas. Hedley. 

 t G. Forster, I.e., p. 206. 



