Ethnography of Micronesin. 



93 



irregularly into knots. By counting 

 the number of knots, the natives tell 

 their fortune, especially regarding their 

 love-affairs. The other kind of lots 

 are simply long pieces of coco -tree 

 leaves, some 14 cm. in length, which 

 arc folded several times. Tiie na- 

 tives tell their for- 

 tune from these 

 by counting the 

 number of folds 

 or creases (Fig. 

 36). The same 

 custom is in 



Fig. 36.— Lots lased in fortune- 

 telling, Tmk. 



Fig. 37. — Lovers wand, 

 Truk. 



evidence in Yap and the Marshall Islands. 



4. Lover's Wand. — The Micronesians, like 

 other uncivilized races, are extremely loose in 

 morals. They enter the sexual life at the age 

 of twelve or thirteen, so, of course, the natives 

 of Truk alone should not be blamed for their 

 w^anton customs. However, the latter have a 

 peculiar custom, and a tool, too, w^hich they 

 call falei and which may be named the lover's 

 wand from the purpose for which it is used. 



The lover's wand (Fig. 37) is a carved 

 stick, which is some 1-50 m. long and is used 

 for proving or detecting personal identity in 

 visiting women by night. 



Any man who wants to use the wand 

 carries it with him and displays it before 



