LIFE IN THE SOUTH-SEA ISLANDS. 203 



tainly cause death. Having succeeded with some difficulty in pur- 

 chasing one of these at Tesemboko, a friendly native cautioned me 

 against allowing any one to touch a point even with the finger, say- 

 ing that, if any person did, " My word ! he die quick." 



New Britain is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. 

 The contours of the lofty mountains are very graceful, and the variety 

 of tints of the rich tropical verdure is as attractive as it is unusual. 

 The dense foliage is interspersed with patches of grass of an emerald 

 hue. At Matupl in Blanche Bay there is an active volcano, a curious 

 volcanic island, and a region of hot springs. I traveled by land once 

 from Nodup to Blanche Bay, and the heat and fatigue were more 

 than compensated by the beauty and varied character of the scenery 

 traversed. The New Britain people go entirely naked. They are not 

 a fine race, and want the activity and vigor of the Solomon-Islanders. 

 Foreigners have introduced a good many fire-arms among the inhabit- 

 ants of Blanche Bay and Kambeirah, but as a rule the spear, usually 

 adorned with brightly colored feathers, is their weapon. They build 

 good houses and make excellent nets and ingenious fishing-baskets. 

 They are the only cannibals I know who are not ashamed of their 

 fondness for human flesh. A German settler told me that overtures 

 were made to him to arrange the purchase of the body of a man who 

 had been accidentally killed by a neighboring tribe with whom the 

 would-be buyers were not friendly. The reason given was a desire to 

 eat what otherwise might be wasted in a commonplace interment. 



The curious and little understood ceremonies of the duk-duk are 

 extensively performed in New Britain and the neighboring Duke of 

 York group. One thing about them is certain, and that is, that those 

 who are initiated into the mysteries obtain considerable influence over 

 the rest of their tribesmen. There is another very remarkable custom, 

 about which I was given information by the Rev. Mr. Rooney of the 

 Wesleyan Mission, which labors in this part of Melanesia. It may be 

 described as follows : If A injures B, B burns down C's hut, or makes 

 a hole in his canoe, or sticks a spear in the pathway so that C is nearly 

 sure to run against it. B lets C know that he has injured him, and 

 the reason of it ; when C is expected to settle the account with A, the 

 first aggressor. On the whole, the New Britain people are the least 

 attractive of all Melanesians whom I know. They are very dirty, and 

 do not possess the skill in fashioning pottery, or carving wooden bowls, 

 of their neighbors in the Solomons and the Admiralty Islands. Yet 

 among them I had some very worthy friends. One of them I specially 

 remarked from having been struck with the persistence with which he 

 insisted on the observance of the curious Melanesian etiquette, that a 

 person should never be asked his name. The savage has no objection 

 to his name being known, but politeness requires that it should be 

 asked of some one else. The New Britons have a curious money called 

 dawarra, made of small shells perforated and strung on fibers of some 



