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THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



worse in the eyes of her brutal husband, she refused to 

 do any work. This he could not endure, and flying one 

 day into a furious passion, he told her that, since she was 

 of no use as a wife, he would make use of her in another 

 way. Seizing a spear, he killed her on the spot, cooked 

 her body, and called his friends together for a feast. 



It is not necessary to give a separate description of 

 the people of New Britain, for they are very similar in 

 appearance to the natives of New Ireland. They are all 

 Papuans. 



The people of New Ireland, according to Mr. A. J. 

 Duffield, are poor in flesh, lanky, short in stature, and 

 light in weight. Their usual colour is a dark brown, but 

 many are much lighter. Their hair is crisp and glossy. 

 Their power of sight for long distances is remarkable, and 

 they readily take to habits of cleanliness, order, and 

 regularity. Both men and women usually go about abso- 

 lutely naked; some women, however, wear a grass apron. 

 Tattooing and cutting of the flesh are entirely confined 

 to women and the head-men. The women make an 

 excellent bonnet from palm-leaves, and also a cloak covering 

 the back of the head; but this they only use in the rainy 

 season. The septum of the nose is perforated, to receive 

 rings of beads or other ornaments. Mr. Duffield saw no 

 mutilations, such as knocking out the front teeth or cutting 

 off the eyebrows. The 

 people put flowers and 

 gaudy feathers in their 



hair; some paint their bodies with red and 



yellow earth. Their huts are in the shape 



of beehives, small, and surrounded by 



palisades of bamboo. The young unmarried 



men live in larger common houses. Canni- 

 balism is more or less general. Polygamy 



is common; and here we find a very re- 

 markable marriage custom, young girls of 



six or eight years of age being put up in 



cages made of palm-leaves, which they can 



never leave till the day they are married. 



Old women guard them. The cage, being 



small, is placed inside a larger house, but 



the girl may only come out of the cage 



once a day to have a wash, and the house 



is surrounded by a fence made of reeds. 



A somewhat similar custom is to be found 



in Tahiti and in a part of Borneo. These 



people construct admirable canoes, but use 



no sails. With twenty paddles they can go 



along at ten miles an hour. They have no 



bows and arrows, but only clubs and spears; 



the latter are of great length, well pointed, 



and horribly barbed with birds' bones. A WARRIOR. SOLOMON ISLANDS. 



Photo by Rau, Phila. 



HAWAIIAN IDOL. 



