INSULAR AUSTRALASIA. ,227 



his hands, but its original meaning is almost lost. The signification of the rites is 

 forgotten and gone, but every-where there is a strong belief in the deathlessness of the 

 soul. The spirits of the departed go away into Hades, which is sometimes ocean space, 

 and sometimes the mountain tops. A recent death is said to bring the spirits about in 

 crowds. They are much feared for their supposed power for mischief and causing mis- 

 fortune. The native idea of right and wrong is very vague and confused. The greatest 

 sin to the native mind is the violation of the taboo, a something made sacred. 



The languages and dialects are almost innumerable. Every few miles of coast brings 

 one to a people speaking a different dialect to those left a few hours before. The 

 present knowledge of the languages spoken is so imperfect that it is impossible to draw 

 any inference from them. A grammar and dictionary of the language spoken by the 

 Motu tribe in the Port Moresby District have been prepared and printed. The grammar 

 of the language is, no doubt, largely Melanesian, while the vocabulary is largely Poly- 

 nesian. Every syllable is an open syllable, no two consonants ever standing together. 

 The language is much more agglutinative than any of the Polynesian dialects. Sir 

 William MacGregor has printed vocabularies in ten different dialects. The words were 

 collected by him in his official tours in different parts of the Possession. 



The manufactures are only such as the wants of an uncivilized people necessitate. 

 They consist principally of the manufacture of ornaments, such as armlets, nose-sticks 

 and necklaces ; and weapons, such as spears and clubs. Over these they spend much 

 time, and display a good deal of ingenuity. The tools are rude and simple, consisting 

 only of such as the stone age produces. They are pieces of obsidian ; a large flat 

 grinding-stone ; a drill, with a flint point worked with a circular piece of wood fitted 

 on the stem, and kept in motion by an endless string, and stone hatchets of various 

 kinds. The women of the Motu tribe, of Orangerie Bay, and some other districts, make 

 large quantities of pottery, which is carried far and wide for barter. Water chatties, 

 cooking-pots, bowls and dishes are made of very good shapes. The women use no 

 wheel or mechanical appliance in shaping them. They hold a smooth stone on the 

 inside of the pot, and work on the outside with a large wooden spatula. They use salt 

 water for mixing the clay. After the vessels have been shaped and are finished, they 

 are dried in the sun, and afterwards baked in a wood fire. They are rather fragile, 

 but with the careful handling they receive from the natives last a very long while. 

 Forrest's description of pottery-making, as seen by him at Dorey in 1/75, is correct of 

 the south-east coast in 1890. The women also make a netted bag similar to one used 

 by some of the aborigines of Australia. They are beautifully made, and are of main- 

 different sizes. Some are very artistically coloured in a variety of patterns, and the 

 large ones are used by the women to carry all their burdens. They put the band of the 

 bag across the head, between the forehead and the crown, so that the bag hangs down the 

 back and throws all the weight on the neck. The bags also serve as hammocks and 

 cradles for the babies. The womens' dresses are the special manufacture of some villages. 

 The belles and matrons of New Guinea are as pleased with a new petticoat, and as 

 critical of its qualites, as their fair sisters of civilization are of their more elaborate 

 costumes. The men make spears, some of which are elaborately carved ; clubs of 

 different kinds, the stone ones being made only by the inland tribes ; and bows and 



