Ethnography cf Micronesia. 27 



a time, but when the shell rings are large, two or three of them 

 are worn either in the hole of the lobe or in the small holes in 

 the upper portion of the auricle (PI. III). In any case, when the 

 liole in the lobe is large and many rings of various kinds worn in 

 it, these ornaments will hang down as far as the breast. One of 

 the natives I observed wore as many as seventy -seven rings on 

 one ear weighing 230 grammes. PI. II shows this. The number 

 worn on one ear does not necessarily agree with that on the other. 

 Sometimes even no rings are worn on the other ear. Some of 

 the Kayan tribe in Borneo are said to wear copper rings, often as 

 heavy as 2 lb. (907 gm.).^ According to A. C. HoUis,'^ a boy of 

 the Masai tribe in East Africa wore a stone ear-ring with a dia- 

 meter of 113 mm. weighing 2 1b. 14 oz. (1304 gm.). There is, 

 however, no ethnological relationship between tliis and the above 

 case. 



The custom of wearing ornaments on the ears does not differ 

 with sex. But the tendency is that the men wear more ornaments 

 tlian the women, and this may be said not only of ear-rings but 

 of necklaces, and head-ornaments. 



The practice of wearing ear-ornaments is not confined to the 

 island of Truk. That it also prevailed in other islands of the 

 Caroline gioup and in the Marshall Islands may be seen from the 

 number of natives who still have holes in their lobes. But no- 

 where is the custom more prevalent than in Truk. Formerly, 

 ear-rings made of tortoise-shell, we are told, were in use in Ponapé ; 

 but now few people wear ornaments and these few use small 

 metal rings made in European style. We may especially observe 



1 C. Hose and W. ilcDougall, "The Pagan Tribss of Bornej." London, 1912, Vol. I. pp. 

 47, 4 8. 



2 A. C. Holli.s, " Masai Ear-ring of Stone," Man, V, VMVy. 12. 



