162 ■A.rt. VII— A. jVIîxtsiimnni : 



We read in Van der Sande^ that glass beads, like those found 

 in Palan, are used as money in Dutch New Guinea. These beads 

 are called antique beads, signifying that they are not of modern 

 manufacture. Their price is from fl. 0-50 to fl. 5 each. Besides 

 using them as ornaments, which is rare, the natives purchase 

 their brides with them. C. Hose and W. McDougall^ write, in 

 this connection, that in Borneo very old beads made of glass or 

 stone were formerly used as money and are now prized as family 

 treasures. These beads are strung together into a necklace or 

 girdle ; sometimes a single rare bead is worn on the wrist for 

 ornam-'ut. A rare specimen is valued at 100 dollars at least. 

 These beads, it may here be added, are also distributed over dif- 

 ferent parts of the Malay Archipelago. 



2. Stone Money of Yap. — If we land at Yap and enter a native 

 village, we notice stone wheels placed in front of the houses or 

 by the roadside. They form the valuable property of the islanders, 

 who call them fe or fel, that is stone money. Now these " coins " 

 which are made of pale yellow limestone, have each a round 

 hole in the centei*, through which the natives pass a stick or 

 pole to carry them by. There are, of course, pieces of stone 

 money of irregular shape ; however, the stone wheels are usually 

 30 to 55 cm. in diameter, some measuring 90 cm. to 1*20 m. In 

 rare cases, the diameter reaches 3*50 m., though we did not 

 come across such l)ig ones. The piece found by the roadside near 

 Tomih Yap, was the largest we saw on our tour. It measured 

 r!>3 m. in diameter and 24 cm. in thickness at the hole, which 

 itself had a diameter of 40 cm. (PI. XXIV, fig. 1). As regards 

 smaller one>;, we found several measuring 15 cm. in diameter, but 



1 G. A J. Van der Ffinde, "Nova Guiuea, III. Ltlinog. and Anthr.," pp. 218, 219; PI. XXm, 

 "- C. Ho.se and W. M<;Dougall, " The Pagiiu Tribes of Borneo," London, 1912, Vol. I. pp. 

 '22G, 227; PI. 130. 



