20 



THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



youth bending his bow is the perfection of manly beauty. Tho 

 women, however, except in extreme youth, are by no means so 

 pleasant to look at as the men. Their strongly-marked features 

 are very unfeminine, and hard work, privations, and very early 

 marriages soon destroy whatever of beauty or grace they may for 

 a short time possess. Their toilet is very simple, but also, I am 

 sorry to say, very coarse and disgusting. It consists solely of a 

 mat of plaited strips of palm-leaves, worn tight around the body, 

 and reaching from the hips to the knees. It seems not to be 



MAKING SAGO. 



changed till worn out, is seldom washed, and is generally very 

 dirty. This is the universal dress, except in a few cases where 

 Malay ' sarongs ' have come into use. Their frizzly hair is tied 

 in a bunch at the back of the head. They delight in combing, or 

 rather forking it, using for that purpose a large wooden fork with 

 four diverging prongs, which answers the purpose of separating 

 and arranging the long, tangled, frizzly mass of cranial vegeta- 

 tion much better than any comb could do. The only ornaments 

 of the women are earrings and necklaces, which they arrange in 

 various tasteful ways." 



Speaking of the remarkable honesty of the Papuans, Mr. Wai- 



