NORTH MEIANESIA. 327 



As a rule the slaves owned by the chiefs are well treated ; but the terrible 

 prospect constantly stares them in the face of being at any moment clubbed and 

 eaten in honour of some tribal victory, the launching of a canoe or other festive 

 occasion. According to Romilly one of the most appreciated dishes of the New 

 Ireland cuisine is a mixture of sago, cocoanut and human brains. Cannibalism is 

 probably nowhere more rampant than in Arossi (San Cristobal), where as many as 

 twenty people are at times cooked and consumed in a single day. A chief visited 

 by Brown had a cocoanut palm on which seventy six notches indicated the number 

 of human beings devoured up to that time (1883). 



Anthropophagy regarded as a religious rite is still almost universally practised 

 in the Melanesian A.rchipelagoes ; in Santa- Ana, however, it has fallen into abey- 

 ance ever, since it was tabooed by the chief after an epidemic. In some other 

 islands, also, the influence of the whites has caused it to disappear, and the natives 

 who still indulge are at least so far ashamed of doing so that they deny it in the 

 presence of strangers. Human remains are also being gradually replaced in many 

 places by the bones of swine in the decoration of houses and war canoes. 



The Melanesian villages, mostly composed of two rows of huts built stoutly 

 enough to stand the climate for five or six years, present every type of con- 

 struction prevalent in the oceanic world. Isolated groups raised on piles are 

 characteristic of one district, dwellings standing on the ground of another, while 

 elsewhere, notably in Yzabel, the people live in fortified trees accessible only by 

 ladders or notched beams. Every village has its tamhu, a sort of " town-hall," 

 built with the greatest care, embellished with curious wood-carvings, and set apart 

 for public assemblies, for the reception and entertainment of strangers, and for 

 housing the chief's war canoes. In New Britain this mansion is at times decorated 

 with statues sculptured in a chalky stone, which is said to be cast ashore by the 

 tidal and earthquake waves. 



Of all the large Melanesian islands New Ireland appears to be the most 

 densely peopled, especially on the west side. Coasting along the seaboard, sea- 

 farers everywhere observe the smoke rising from human habitations, and in some 

 places the shore is thickly fringed by cocoanut palms, which supply the staple of 

 food. The population may be roughly estimated by the number of these trees, twenty 

 of which re^jresent on an average one person. The cabin of every native is con- 

 sidered as a sacred place by his neighbours, who dare not enter it except at the 

 risk of their lives. 



Like some of the Micronesian islanders, the Melanesians construct admirable and 

 highly decorated boats, most of which carry a square instead of a pointed sail as 

 in Polynesia. They are daring and skilful navigators, as well as intelligent 

 husbandmen. In the forest clearings, generally at some distance from the villages, 

 the fields planted with yams, sweet potatoes, taro, bananas, and sugar-cane are 

 well tilled by the women. The produce of these plantations is supplemented by 

 other alimentary plants, such as the sago, cocoanut palm, and bread-fruit tree. 

 The women also weave the matting with pandanus leaves, and make the earthen- 

 ware, while the men manufacture the agricultural implements, clubs, spears, bows 



