THE SOLOMOiS^ ISLANDS 445 



considerably from those of the eastern portion of the 

 archipelago. The preponderance of the Papvian type is, 

 however, unquestionable. Mr. Guppy describes the 

 typical native as of a deep brown colour, with a loose 

 frizzled mass of hair forming itself into a bushy periwig. 

 The nose is short and generally straight, but often arched; 

 the lips prominent, the chin receding. The average 

 height of the men does not exceed 5 feet 4 inches, but 

 the Bougainville people are taller and sturdier, and of 

 deeper colour. The hair is often stained light brown by 

 lime, or of a ruddy or magenta tinge by various coloured 

 earths. It is cut as a sign of mourning. The beard is 

 very variable : in some instances fully developed, but in 

 most scanty or almost absent. The dress is of the 

 slightest, at most a T-bandage, but in many cases, and 

 almost invariably among the inland tribes, the men ga 

 entirely naked. In San Cristobal the unmarried women 

 are completely without clothing, and the married women 

 nearly so. The lobes of the ears are often greatly 

 distended, and the septum of the nose pierced as among 

 the New Guinea Papuans, whom they also resemble in 

 their excessive love of personal adornment. The Solomon 

 islander loads himself with bracelets, nose and ear orna- 

 ments, necklaces, and girdles, in the construction of which 

 he shows great ingenuity. He makes circular or crescentic 

 plates of pearl-shell, overlaid with open tortoise-shell work,- 

 hke those of the Admiralty islanders, these being used 

 as pendant ornaments for the chest. The snowy Ovulum 

 ovum is also much worn. The necklaces are of small 

 shells, porpoise, dog, or other teeth, and beads. Bracelets 

 g-round out of the hus:e valves of the Tridacna are 

 favourite ornaments, and of late traders have introduced 

 imitations of these made in white china. On festal 

 occasions the flowers of the scarlet hibiscus are used 



