INLAND NEW GUINEA 117 



The hill tribes of New Guinea are conspicuously 

 honest, and their social lives are very decent. Those 

 who wish to get on well with the mountain tribes 

 must respect their womenfolk. Any illicit inter- 

 ference with them would be sternly resented. But if 

 a white man wins the favourable regard of the natives 

 he can obtain a wife, either as a present or in exchange 

 for gifts on his part. But it is distinctly understood 

 that the woman is to be his wife, not a temporary 

 concubine. A great deal of the trouble with natives 

 in Papua is due to misunderstandings over the native 

 women. One particularly grave mistake made by 

 white men in some instances is to attempt to interfere 

 with the women-carriers whom he has engaged. For 

 some reason, which I do not quite understand, that 

 is looked upon with particular resentment by the 

 natives. 



The usual system of marriage is by purchase, and 

 among these hill tribes it seems to work very well. 

 There is a tendency hardly wise in my opinion 



system. They get a piece of dry, soft wood, split one end and 

 insert a piece of tapa cloth, then, taking a piece of cane which 

 they carry twisted round their waists, they place it under the 

 wood, on which they stand. Grasping each an end of the cane, 

 they pull it backwards and forwards vigorously ; when it has eaten 

 half way through the wood to the tapa cloth the heat generated 

 is so great that the cloth smoulders and is blown into flame. 

 The whole process is accomplished in ten or fifteen seconds. I 

 am informed that certain natives of the Main Range about Kagi 

 adopt this system also ; if so, it is interesting as probably showing 

 some connexion between them." EDITOR. 



