CHAPTER IT. 



GOVERNMENT —HEAD-HUNTING —SLAVERY —CANNIBALISM. 



rilHE following anthropological notes are the result of my own 

 J- personal observation and research, and are necessarily of a 

 somewhat fragmentary character. I had no intention when I first 

 visited these islands of making any special observations on the 

 habits and manners of their inhabitant's. When, however, I saw the 

 apparent want of interest displayed by those who had it in their 

 power to enrich the world with their accumulated experiences, I 

 determined to jot down in my diary the things which came in my 

 way during my intercourse with the natives. I cannot of course 

 lay claim to the accuracy and more intimate knowledge suck as 

 missionai'ies and traders resident in the group must possess ; and it 

 is to be deplored that such valuable sources of materials for a com- 

 prehensive work on the anthropology of this region should be 

 allowed to lie fallow. ]\Iy lengthened intercourse with the natives 

 of certain parts of the group removed to some extent the disadvan- 

 tages under v/hich the traveller must always labour when not 

 actually resident among them. My field of observation, however, 

 was limited to but a small area of the whole region: and the greater 

 part has yet to be explored and described. 



Commencing my remarks by referring to the system of govern- 

 ment usually adopted in these islands, it should be observed that 

 the form of hereditary chieftainship, which prevails throughout the 

 Pacific, here predominates. Every island that supports a number of 

 natives may possess as many distinct chiefs — each claiming inde- 

 pendence of the others — as there are villages in the island ; and 

 this statement holds equally good whether applied to a large island 

 like St. Christoval or to those of small size as Santa Anna and Ugi. 

 Yet there is not unfrequently to be met a chief who, by the power of 



