i2 3 4 AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 







are offered to the old dead Past Masters, then permission is asked and payments made 

 to them. The boys are taken out into the bush to look for Duk Duk, and are 

 befooled in every possible way ; the whole ending by their being shown little by little 

 that the so-called spirit is only a man like themselves. They are now tcna mana, or 

 Masters in the order ; and then all set to work to prepare a new lot of Dnk Duk. to 

 befool others with, and to get money for themselves. There are many other ceremonies 

 which To Ling may pass through. He may for instance become an Iniat, the members 

 of which are taken into the bush when young, and are there fed with pork, shark, 

 turtle, etc., and then, after their initiation, are never again allowed to eat any of those 

 articles. Then there are also some interesting ceremonies observed when the lads obtain 

 new names, about the time of their reaching the age of puberty ; and others also which 

 are performed for the purpose of their being taken possession of by the wood spirits, 

 who, they think, will then reveal to them new dances and new bewitching spells. In this 

 latter ceremony they drink decoctions of leaves which appear to intoxicate or poison 

 them until they become violently excited, and in many instances partly deranged. 



To Ling has often to incur more trouble and expense in gratifying his wish for a 

 wife than is the case with most people in more civilized countries. He does not usually 

 propose to Ne Ling directly, but prefers to get some of his companions to ascertain if 

 he is likely to have a fair chance of success. We suppose that To Ling has got his 

 sister to help him, and finding that Ne Ling is willing, they become engaged, and are 

 then webat. And now commences a long series of negotiations about payment. He gets 

 a basket and puts into it anything and everything he can muster to take as a present 

 to his dear Ne Ling. There would be in this basket a few fathoms of diwara (the 

 native name for shell-money), some beads, a bit of tobacco, a pipe, shell armlets, pearl- 

 shell, cnscus teeth, a bit of red cloth, and anything else he may be able to procure, 

 and happy is the lad when he can slyly get this ka-na-ograt into the hands of his 

 loved one. The practical character of the people shows itself in the understood rule 

 that the girl must not use any of these gifts until after the marriage ; and much 

 as Ne Ling might like a smoke, she must leave To Ling's tobacco and pipe untouched 

 for the present. Gifts are given and repaid by the families ; money is borrowed and 

 repaid with interest to the chief at ten per cent, from each party, thus giving the wily 

 old fellow, who is often the match-maker also, about twenty per cent, on his outlay. 

 These customs vary somewhat on the main-land of New Britain. For instance, when a 

 lad proposes and is accepted, he clears out into the bush for weeks, as if thoroughly 

 ashamed of himself, and is not seen again in the village until the negotiations are 

 completed, and even when these are disposed of, the young couple cry in public and 

 pretend to be very sorry for their folly. It ought also to be mentioned that as soon 

 as Ne Ling and he are married. To Ling and his mother-in-law become ninnian to 

 each other, and dare never again call each other by name, or have any avoidable 

 intercourse together. Polygamy is common, but no authentic instances are known of 

 cases of polyandry. 



To Ling makes a good husband and father from his own point of view. He helps 

 in the plantation work, though he generally lets the woman carry the burdens home, he 

 himself marching by her side, or just behind her with a spear and a tomahawk. When 



