288 NEW GUINEA. [chap. 



then only by night, and for four days more the husband must 

 leave his wife's chamber before daybreak,^ 



At the maniage of widows there is little or no ceremony. The 

 bride w^alks into the jungle with her husband, attended by a widow 

 or a married woman, whose duty it is to break off twigs and pelt the 

 bride with them — an operation which is supposed to drive away 

 the ghost of the late husband. The widow must leave off wearing 

 her old tjidako, or sarong, and hand it over to another widow, and 

 with the giving of some small present to the attendant who has 

 successfully laid the ghost the whole affair is ended. 



Families with more than three or four children are not often 

 seen, infanticide and the procuring of abortion being common. 

 The use of ecbolics appears to be unknown, and force alone is 

 resorted to. All deformed children are mercilessly killed. 



On the death of her husband the wife is confined to her house 

 for some time, for if the ghost of the deceased individual were to 

 see her going about, he would immediately strike down people with 

 sickness. Her hair must be cut close as a sign of mourning, and 

 her tjidako must be of the plainest description. Should any brother 

 of her late husband be alive, he is obliged to marry her ; if not, 

 she returns to her own family. The women are kept much secluded 

 from strangers, and though the MarcJiesa was crowded with natives 

 both at Dorei and in Jobi Island, none ever came on board. In 

 their own houses they were rather less shy, but it was only among 

 the Arfak people we met at Andai that they seemed to be on any- 

 thing like an equal footing with the men. With the Nufooreans 

 they are little better than slaves. Adultery is punishable by 

 death, but the Papuan has a great eye to the main chance, and as 

 a rule prefers to exact a fine, a portion of which has to be dis- 

 tributed among the heads of the different families in his \allage. 



There are apparently no chiefs or kings among the natives of 



^ For these and other notes on the customs of the Nufoor Papuans I am indebted 

 to Mr. Van Hasselt, whose twenty years' residence in New Guinea has made him 

 thoroughly acquainted \vith the people and their language. 



