630 



perform ; but it is not easy to state, or adequately to charac- 

 terize, these differences in terms of convincing facts. Mere 

 general statements that the natives are lazy and slack, or that 

 they are good workers, have really very little value. 



On the other hand, in order to give facts which would 

 speak convincingly for themselves, it would be necessary to 

 observe the natives at work for a long time ; to study the 

 conditions under which they are capable of strenuous work ; 

 to see under what circumstances they work willingly and 

 effectively ; to investigate the stimuli to their work, aims, 

 incentives, and so on. Such a task is, of course, beyond the 

 capacity of an ambulant ethnologist on a short visit. Much 

 valuable information on such points could be gathered by those 

 who have to deal with natives on the plantations, especially 

 as regards the ways in which the natives are adaptable to 

 European methods of working. More difficult, perhaps, would 

 be the attempt to picture the native's way of working under 

 his own natural conditions. Knowing how interesting and 

 important are the problems of labour in modern sociology, it 

 is possible to appreciate how much we could learn by studying 

 these facts from the ethnologist's points of view. 



Being unable to do the best under this heading, I must 

 attempt to take the next best course, and, while avoiding 

 mere generalizations, to make a few remarks embodying some 

 of my observations about native ways of working. The natives 

 are undoubtedly capable of strenuous and continuous exertion. 

 They are able to dance for six hours at a time, and apparently 

 to enjoy it, but it must not be imagined that they do it in a 

 state of trance or that they work themselves up to a high 

 pitch of nervous excitement. On the contrary, they dance 

 the same figure over and over again (obviously rehearsing and 

 practising it), they keep perfectly cool, and there are no signs 

 of visible exhaustion, either immediately or the day after. I 

 never had opportunities of watching the natives for any length 

 of time at any prolonged hard labour, such as strenuous and 

 continuous paddling or garden work, though I have seen them 

 doing both in a manner which would not make one suspect 

 them of slackness or of any lack of efficiency and endurance. 

 I may, however, refer the reader to the remarks of the Rev. 

 C. W. Abel,^^'*) and especially to the excellent account of 

 men's work in the often-quoted volume of the Rev. H. 

 Newton. ^^5) Both observers vouchsafe that at times the 

 native does continuous hard work under his own conditions of 

 life. 



^64) The Rev. C. W. Abel, "Savage Life in New Guinea" (see 

 chap. "The Papuan at Work"). 

 (65) ''In Far New Guinea." 



