497 



in the work of a beginner has been the greatest encouragement 

 I could have received. 



My thanks are due to Dr. R. Pulleine, of Adelaide; to 

 Mr. C. Hedley, F.L.S., of the Australian Museum; and to 

 Mr. W. Howchin, F.G.S., Lecturer on Geology in the Uni- 

 versity of Adelaide, for much help given me in connection 

 with the publication of this memoir. 



The drawings in the text have been executed by Miss 

 P. F. Clarke, partly from actual specimens and partly from 

 rough sketches made in the field. 



Some parts of the manuscript might have been amplified 

 by adding comparative notes and by incorporating such in- 

 formation as has been obtained among the kindred and 

 neighbouring tribes, the Southern Massim to the east and the 

 Sinaugholo and Motu to the west. I hope, however, that 

 I shall be able to collect some more material, especially 

 among the Southern Massim of Sud'u and Bonaho^ia, and I 

 am eager to resume field work as soon as possible. 



B. M. 



Samarai, Papua, June 9, 1915. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Scligman's Classification of the Paf-iio-M elanesians ; the 

 Mailu Frol-lrv.} . — In his well-known treatise on the ' 'Melanesians 

 of British New Guinea," Prof. Seligman has laid the founda- 

 tions of Papuo-Melanesian ethnology. He classifies the natives 

 of the territory in the following manner, taking into account 

 physical, linguistic, and cultural data,. Calling all the inhabi- 

 tants of the "Great Island" Papuasians, he says: — "The term 

 Papuan will be limited to the, geographically, more western 

 Papuasians, a congeries of frizzly-haired, and often mop- 

 headed, peoples, whose skin-colour is some shade of brownish- 

 black. The eastern Papuasians — that is, the, generally, 

 smaller, lighter coloured, frizzly-haired races of the eastern 

 peninsula of New Guinea and its archipelagos — now require 

 a name, and, since the true Melanesian element is dominant in 

 them, they may be called Papuo-Melanesians." W 



These latter (the Papuo-Melanesians) present again two 

 entirely different types, both from the anthropological (phy- 

 sical) and ethnological (cultural) points of view. In this 

 pamphlet I shall adopt Prof. Seligman's classification and 

 terminology and, with him, ''shall call the two great divisions 

 of the Papuo-Melanesians the Massim (Eastern Papuo-Melane- 

 sians) and the Western Papuo-Melanesians respectively." (2) 



(1)0. G. Seligman: "The Melanesians of British New 

 Guinea." Oambridge, 1910, pp. 1 and 2. 



(2)Xoc. cxt. 



