254 THE ARU ISLANDS. [chaf. xxxi. 



beauty of which stay-at-home civilized people can scarcely 

 have any conception. What are the finest Grecian statues 

 to the living, moving, breathing men I saw daily around 

 me ? The unrestrained grace of the naked savage as he 

 goes about his daily occupations, or lounges at his ease, 

 must be seen to be understood ; and a youth bending his 

 bow is the perfection of manly beauty. The women, 

 however, except in extreme youth, are by no means so 

 pleasant to look at as the men. Their strongly-marked 

 features are very unfeminine, and hard work, privations, 

 and very early marriages soon destroy whatever of beauty 

 or grace they may for a short time possess. Their toilet is 

 very simple, but also, I am sorry to say, very coarse, 

 and disgusting. It consists solely of a mat of plaited 

 strips of palm leaves, worn tight round the body, and 

 reaching from the hips to the knees. It seems not to be 

 changed till worn out, is seldom washed, and is generally 

 very dirty. This is the universal dress, except in a few 

 cases where Malay " sarongs " have come into use. Their 

 frizzly hair is tied in a bunch at the back of the head. 

 They delight in combing, or rather forking it, using for that 

 purpose a large wooden fork with four diverging prongs, 

 which answers the purpose of separating and arranging 

 the long tangled, frizzly mass of cranial vegetation much 

 better than any comb could do. The only ornaments of 

 the women are earrings and necklaces, which they arrange 



