October 30, 1890] 



NATURE 



639 



better than none, and its possession was recognized as an 

 order of merit. How much more distinction would a man 

 gain when he could boast of a whole trophy of skulls ! 



The girl's heart being won by prowere, dancing skill, 

 or fine appearance, she would plait a string armlet, 

 iiapiiruru ; this she intrusted to a mutual friend, prefer- 

 ably the chosen one's sister. On the first suitable oppor- 

 tunity the sister said to her brother, " Brother, I have 

 some good news for you. A woman likes you." On 

 hearing her name, and after some conversation, if he was 

 willing to go on with the affair, he told his sister to ask 

 the girl to keep some appointment with him in the bush. 



When the message was delivered, the enamoured dam- 

 sel informed her parents that she was going into the bush 

 to get some wood or food, or made some such excuse. 



In due course the couple met, sat down and talked, the 

 proposal being made with perfect decorum. 



The following conversation is given in the actual words 

 used by my informant, Maino, the chief of Tud. 



Opening the conversation, the man said, " You like me 

 proper ? " 



"Yes," she replied, " I like you proper with my heart 

 inside. Eye along my heart see you — you my hian." 



Unwilling to give himself away rashly, he asked, " How 

 you like me ? " 



" I like your fine leg — you got fine .body — your skin 

 ^ood — I like you altogether," replied the girl. 



After matters had proceeded satisfactorily, the girl, 

 anxious to clench the matter, asked when they were to 

 be married. The man said, " To-morrow, if you like." 



They both went home and told their respective relatives. 

 Then the girl's people fought the man's folk, " For girl 

 more big \i.e. of more consequence] than boy ; " but the 

 fighting was not of a serious character, it being part of 

 the programme of a marriage. 



" Swapping " sisters was the usual method of getting a 

 wife. If a man had no sisters he might remain un- 

 married, unless he was rich enough to pay for a wife with 

 a shell armlet {watiai) or a canoe, or something of equal 

 value. If a youth was "hard up," an uncle might take 

 compassion on him and give one of his own daughters in 

 exchange for a wife for his nephew. 



This exchange of girls — a sister for a sister, or female 

 cousin for another man's sister — was an economical 

 method of getting a wife, as one was a set-off against 

 the other. The usual feasting occurred, but the presents 

 were dispensed with, or at all events the purchase-money 

 was saved, and probably there would be no fighting. 



When a young man of the Eastern Tribe arrived at an 



understanding with a girl, he put his gelar (" law," i.e. 



tabu) on her, and made arrangements to fetch her away. 



She kept awake on the appointed night, listening for the 



preconcerted signal, and they quietly stole away to his 



parents' house, and the next morning he sent a messenger 



1 to say where the girl was. The girl's friends armed them- 



j selves with bows and arrows, sharks' teeth fastened on to 



I sticks, and other weapons, and proceeded to the other 



I village ; but the fight was not a serious affair. On the 



i same day the girl would be painted red by her future 



I mother-in-law, and clothed with a large number of leaf 



petticoats ; and numerous ornaments would be suspended 



on her back, these made a clanking sound whenever the 



girl moved. For some months she remained in the house, 



I and under the constant supervision of her future mother- 



I in-law, the young man residing elsewhere. After say three 



months, negotiations would commence between the two 



families, and the girl's relations would come to taaiigivat 



(or scrape hands), and presents would be exchanged, and 



some alteration made in the decking of the girl. After a 



further probation period of a few months, some friend, in 



the secret, would engage the young man in conversation, 



and the bride would steal up 'behind him with some food 



she had previously cooked, and, while still behind his 



back, would thrust it by his side. He, looking round, 



NO. TO96, VOL. 42] 



exclaimed, " Why, that's my woman ! " and then hung 

 down his head in shame. Being informed that all was 

 duly performed according to old usage, the couple ate 

 food together, this being the ratification of the contract. 



It appears that in the Eastern Tribe marriage was re- 

 garded as a state of tabu, the man isolating one woman 

 as his exclusive property, for he had powers of life and 

 death over his wife. For several reasons I suspect that 

 the Eastern Tribe has arrived at a slightly higher stage 

 in the evolution of the family than the Western, as the 

 man has a more independent position, and does not live 

 more or less with his wife's people after marriage, as is 

 the custom among the Western Tribe. In both tribes a 

 wife had to be paid for ; a canoe, dugong-harpoon, shell- 

 armlet, or articles of equal exchange value, being the 

 usual price. 



Manhood is with us a gradual development of youth ; 

 with nearly all savages it is a state of privilege, the full 

 advantages of which can be gained only by the observance 

 of special ceremonies. 



The growth of hair on the face warned the father that 

 his boy was growing up, and he consulted with other 

 fathers who had sons of about the same age. 



" Good thing," he might have remarked ; " boy no stop 

 along woman now : he got hair, time we make him man 

 now ; " and arrangements would be duly made. 



The following information, respecting the former initia- 

 tion ceremonies, was gained at Tud (usually known as 

 Warrior Island), the natives of which island were prob- 

 ably the most warlike of all the Western Islanders : — 



The lads were handed over to their uncles, or to some 

 old man, by their fathers, who then ceased to have any 

 intercourse with them. They were conducted to the 

 Taiiokwod, or open space sacred to the men, where no 

 woman or child ever ventured, and which henceforth had 

 for them many deep-rooted associations. The uncles 

 washed the youths with water and then rubbed charcoal 

 into the skin ; this being daily repeated till the probation 

 period was over. The lads were covered with mats 

 doubled up like a tent with closed ends, and there they 

 sat the livelong day in groups, without moving, playing, 

 or even speaking. Four large mats stretched across the 

 Taiiokwod, the mats belonging respectively to the Sam 

 (cassowary), Umai {dog), Kodal (crocodile), and Baidant 

 (shark) clans. For each mat there was a fireplace, the 

 fire being tended by the young men of their respective 

 clans. The old men sat on their appropriate mats, in 

 the centre were the drums, and the dance-masks were 

 placed along one side. Opposite the centre was a small 

 mat, on which sat the chief of the island ; for, contrary to 

 the general custom of the tribe, this island had a recog- 

 nized chief, the result, probably, of their belligerent habits. 

 By the side of where the chief used to sit, a large ovoid 

 stone was pointed out to me ; it had a dire significance, 

 for long ago four boys, tired of the irksomeness of the dis- 

 cipline, broke bounds, and meeting their mothers in the 

 bush, asked for food. They were recaptured, and were 

 all killed by the old men with that stone, which was then 

 placed in its present position, as a warning to other 

 youths. The boys of the cassowary and dog clans sat at 

 the end beyond the shark fireplace, and the crocodile 

 and shark boys were placed at the opposite end of the 

 clearing. 



Their instructors watched the lads, and communicated 

 to them the traditions of the tribe, rules of conduct were 

 laid down, information in all branches of native lore 

 taught, and thus, generation after generation, the things 

 of the fathers were transmitted to the sons. 



The following are some of the rules which I was 

 informed were imparted to the youths by the "old 

 men": — 



" You no steal." 



"If you see food belong another man, you no take it, 

 or you dead." 



