Customs of the Slhifjanese. 6iy 



occupied himself with making some anthropometrical mea- 

 surements, and at the same time noting down a few cursory 

 remarks respecting these interesting people. 



The chief food of these islanders consists of fish, cocoa- 

 nuts, taro, and the fruit of the pandanus {dawa) ; only at rare 

 intervals do they taste pork or poultry. The rearing of pigs 

 and 230ultry is chiefly carried on for the purpose of trading 

 with foreign vessels, so as to obtain in return the products of 

 a higher civilization. Their fish-nets are prepared from the 

 rind of their trees. A few looms which they also possess 

 liave been given them by whale-fishers. The cincture round 

 the loins, which is their sole article of apparel, is also prepared 

 from the inner bark of the tree. 



When the king dies, the oldest member of the community 

 is elected his successor. At their festivals they sing in a 

 sort of monotonous drone, and blow at the same time 

 through mussel-shells. 



When mourning for the dead, they stain their faces red 

 with the seeds of the Bixa ocellana^ and wear a piece of 

 white calico, shaped something like a capuchin's hood, which 

 reaches down till it covers the shoulder. One native, who 

 was wearing one of these head coverings, could not be in- 

 duced to trafiic, nor even to approach the place where our 

 improvised market was being held, because, as he made us 

 understand, one of his near relatives had lately died. Al- 

 together the inhabitants of Sikayana struck us as a primitive, 

 very moral, and honourable race, and it made us almost 



