CANNIBALISM. 37 



skulls of twenty-five bushraen lianging up under the roof of the 

 tambu-house, all of which showed the effects of the tomahawk and 

 all had been eaten.^ At the present time it is not an easy matter 

 for any person not resident in the group to obtain ocular evidence of 

 cannibalism, since the natives have become aware of the white man's 

 aversion to the custom. I have, however, frequently seen the arm 

 and leg bones of the victim consumed at the opening of a new 

 tambu-house, as they are usually hung up over the entrance or in 

 some other part of the building. The natives, however, are gener- 

 ally reluctant to talk much about these matters ; and 1 believe the 

 residents, in such matters, prefer to trust more to the testimony of 

 their own eyes than to the statements of the natives. 



I have previously referred to the death of the son of Taki the 

 Wano chief, who was attacked by a shark whilst fishing on the St. 

 Christoval reefs. When we arrived at Ugi in April, 1883, shortly 

 after this event, we learned that his death would probably lead to a 

 further sacrifice of life, and that a human victim from some neigh- 

 bouring hill-tribe would be required to remove the tambu-ban, or in 

 other words to propitiate the shark-god. At the completion of the 

 time of mourning, a gathering of the tribes of the district known as 

 a bea was to be held at Wano ; and I obtained from Mr. Stephens 

 of Ugi the following particulars of this singular custom. From a 

 raised staging some fifteen feet in height, each of the warriors of any 

 renown addresses in turn the assembled people. The gathering is 

 composed not onlj'' of his own tribesmen but also of parties of fight- 

 ing men from all the neighbouring villages, each partj' standing 

 aloof from the others. The orator, declaiming on the valour of his 

 own people and on his individual prowess, soon works himself into 

 a condition of excitement, and should any tribe be there represented 

 with whom there may have been some recent cause of ill-feeling, it 

 is probably made the object of the taunts of the speaker. The as- 

 sembled natives, who are all armed, soon participate in the excite- 

 ment. The people of the village support their champion, and openly 

 display their ill will against those at whom the diatribes of tlie 

 orator have been directed. The suspected strangers return the 

 taunts ; and the feeling of irritation reaches its acme when a 

 threatening gesture or the throwing of a spear sots ablaze the sup- 

 pressed passions. Every man darts into the bush and the village is 

 •empty in a moment. A desultory contest then ensues in which the 



1 " Cruise of H.:M.S. Curacoa,' " by J. L. Brenchley. 



