SOLOMON ISLANDS 



37 



SOLOMON ISLANDS. 



THE Solomon group comprises seven large islands and others which are smaller; they now 

 all belong to Great Britain. Formerly the natives were so treacherous that Europeans held 

 but little intercourse with them. But now traders come frequently, and a mission 

 has been established ever since 1847. Mission work is spreading fairly rapidly in the 

 Diocese of Melanesia, which now contains 12,000 Christians. Some bushmen in the 

 island of Guadalcanal-, noticing the difference between their own lives and those of the 

 Christian teachers, who neither killed people nor stole, said : " We see that you are different 

 from us. What have you got inside you that makes you different from us?" The teachers 

 promised to tell them, and thus a mission was started there. The people are of a deep brown 

 colour, with a frizzly but rather loose mass of hair. They wear very little clothing. The 

 lobes of the ear are often greatly distended for the insertion of very large rings (see illus- 

 tration below). The men wear a great many ornaments, and in this respect resemble Papuans; 

 but they have certain customs which (together with their brownish colour) point to a Polynesian 

 influence. Their large war-canoes, from 40 to 50 feet long, are highly carved and much 

 decorated. They have hereditary chief s, 

 differing in this respect from the 

 New Guinea Papuans. Polygamy and 

 cannibalism prevail. They cultivate 

 the banana, taro, and sweet potato. 

 Besides the usual weapons, they make 

 beautiful shields of wicker-work. 



A girl is not sought in marriage 

 until her charms have been enhanced 

 by the tattooer's art. The painful 

 and tedious operation is performed by 

 a specialist a sort of sorcerer (called 

 a tintlitla), whose services are hand- 

 somely rewarded. It is considered 

 necessary to employ musicians as well ; 

 so he first engages a company of pro- 

 fessional vocalists. The concert begins 

 at sunset, and is kept up vigorously 

 throughout the night. The poor child 

 is kept awake by her friends in order 

 to hear it all. At sunrise the man 

 begins his operations, using only a 

 sharp bamboo knife, for bamboo is 

 very hard and frequently used for 

 making knives, as with the Andaman 

 Islanders. He makes a curious and 

 artistic network of patterns on the 

 girl's face and chest. It is a painful 

 process, but she suffers without a 

 murmur, for all primitive races train 

 up their young people to endure pain 

 silently. Next day all is forgotten in 

 the joyful thought that she is now 

 an eligible young woman. From this 

 time her parents keep a watchful eye 



Pkoto by Henry King} 



.,/,,,. 



A NATIVE OP THE SOLOMON ISLANDS, WITH LARGE RING IN 

 THE LOBE OP HIS EAR. 



