NEW GUINEA AND THE TAPUANS 433 



customs thus imported into New Ireland, and similar to 

 a practice prevailing among certain Australian tribes, is 

 the division of the inhabitants of each village into two 

 classes — the maramara and ^jzl'a^aia — marriages within 

 these groups being strictly prohibited, and punishable 

 with death in the case of the woman, and heavy fines for 

 the man. While with the New Britain people the dead are 

 either buried in the houses or thrown into the sea, the 

 aborigines of New Ireland burn the corpse and preserve 

 the ashes. Cannibalism is general ; the flesh of the pig 

 and of man is cooked, but everything else is eaten raw. 

 Both men and women go absolutely naked. The houses 

 are small, low, isolated huts about 8 feet by 5, beehive- 

 shaped, and surrounded by bamboo palisades ; the sort of 

 courtyard thus formed is kept very clean, and serves 

 as a kitchen and dining-room. There are also larger 

 common houses for the young unmarried men. Cultiva- 

 tion is fairly advanced. Taro is the chief plant grown, 

 together with immense numbers of coco-nut palms, but 

 bananas and sweet potatoes are generally found. 



The chiefs have very little authority, the equality of 

 the individual being as marked a feature here as in New 

 Guinea. There is no tattooing, but circumcision is prac- 

 tised. Polygamy is general. Very remarkable is the 

 custom of immuring young girls of six or eight years of age 

 in cages of palm-leaves like huge extinguishers, out of 

 which they are not allowed to come until they are to be 

 married. Some are so shut up for five years, old women 

 attending them. ^These cages are placed inside large 

 houses set apart for the purpose, and the girls are only 

 taken out once a day to wash, but they never leave the 

 house. The house itself is surrounded by a reed fence, 

 so that there is little ventilation within the cages, yet 

 the girls do not seem to suffer in health. A somewhat 



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