Chap, xviii.] NATIVE ORNAMENTS. 



399 



Amongst the Admiralty Islanders, the decoration is almost 

 entirely confined to the men, and these seem averse to .part 

 with any of their finery to the women. 



The men wear armlets of Trochns niloticus shell, like those 

 of Fiji, the Carolines, and elsewhere. They wear often seven 

 or eight on each arm. The rings are neatly engraved with 

 lines forming lozenge-shaped patterns, and form very effective 

 ornaments indeed. 



Circular plates, ground out of Tridacua gigas shell, are also 

 worn, either as breastplates or on the front of the head. The 

 discs are faced with plates of thin tortoiseshell, perforated with 

 very elaborate patterns. 



Long style-like ornaments of Tridacua shell are worn de- 

 pendent from the nose. They are closely like those which, 

 in the Solomon Islands, are worn stuck transversely through 

 the septum nasi, but are here always worn dependent by a 

 loop of twine. Ear and nose ornaments are also made of the 

 teeth of the Cuscus of the islands, and of crocodiles' teeth. 

 The ears and nose septa are always perforated. Pieces of 

 rolled-up leaf are worn sometimes in the ear (perhaps those 

 of betel pepper). 



Necklaces of native beads of shell or cocoanut wood are 

 also worn. Rings of tortoiseshell are commonly worn in the 

 ears, as at Humboldt Bay. Both waist-belts and armlets of 

 fine plaited work, with patterns in yellow and black, are 

 common. These resemble those of the Aru Islands and 

 Humboldt Bay. 



Charms composed of human bones, usually the humerus, 

 bound up with eagles' feathers, are worn suspended round the 

 neck, and hanging down the back between the shoulders. 



The body is seldom decorated with green leaves, as at 

 Humboldt Bay. But leaves are occasionally worn, both 

 hanging down the shoulders and on the arms. I saw them 

 once so worn. Flowers, also, are seldom worn, but a single 

 Hibiscus rosa sinejisis flower is occasionally worn in the hair. 



The full-grown men are mostly marked with cicatrizations 

 on the chest and shoulders. These cicatrizations are in the 

 form of circular spots about the size of half-a-crown. 



Tattooing is almost entirely confined to the women, with 

 whom it is universal. Two males, however, were tattooed. 

 One, a small boy, had a simple ring-mark round one eye. 

 The other, an adult, had rings round both eyes. These were, 

 however, exceptional cases. The tattooing is not made up of 

 fine dots or pricks, but of a series of short lines or cuts.* 



* Probably made with obsidian flakes. I am informed that the 

 Solomon Islanders are tattooed with short cuts thus made. 



