440 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND S(3CIAL chap. 



teeth or shells are common, and heavy rings of white shell or 

 plaited bands of grass, or palm-leaf are worn on the arms. 

 The hair of the men is always carefully attended to. It is 

 combed with a kind of bamboo fork with four or five prongs, 

 and this is usually kept stuck in it both for convenience 

 and ornament. Some tribes cut and trim, or plait the 

 mop of hair into various helmet-like or other fantastic 

 shapes, and all adorn it with combs, sticks, or feather 

 ornaments. Suspended from the neck they often wear a 

 small carved wooden figure with the Papuan features 

 greatly exaggerated. As they freely part with these, they 

 are probably mere ornaments or charms, rather than idols 

 or fetishes. Regular tattooing is unknown, except on the 

 south-eastern peninsula, where there is an infusion of 

 Polynesian blood, but most of the men have raised marks 

 produced artificially. These generally consist of a few short 

 parallel lines on the arms or breast, and are said to be 

 formed by gashes made with a sharp stone or bamboo, and 

 the subsequent application of fire to make the skin swell 

 up and leave a prominent scar. Painting the body is not 

 generally practised, but some kind of stain producing a 

 blue-black tinge has often been observed. 



The houses of the New Guinea people are somewhat 

 different in different localities, but the most general type is 

 that found at Dorey Harbour. There is here a considerable 

 village of large houses, built on piles in the water in the 

 usual Malay style, and houses similarly raised on posts (but 

 loftier) are found on the hills some miles inland. Each of 

 these houses is large and accommodates several families, and 

 they are connected by continuous platforms of poles and 

 bamboos, often so uneven and shaky that a European can 

 with difficulty walk on them. A considerable space 

 separates this platform from the shore, with which however 

 it is connected by narrow bridges formed of one or two 

 bamboos, supported on posts, and capable of being easily 

 removed. A larger building has the posts carved into 

 rude forms of men and women, and is supposed to be a 

 temple or council-house. This village is probably very like 

 the pile villages of the stone age, whose remains have been 

 found in the lakes of Switzerland and other countries. 



