CH. VII TO SANQIB AND TALAUT 167 



witch she is buried alive. Circumcision is practised in the 

 Nanusa Archipelago. At the age of twelve the boys are taken 

 into the bush by their father and a friend, and the opera- 

 tion performed there. It is not the occasion for any feasts. 



Some of the men are tatooed on the breasts and the 

 women on the hands, the commonest figure being a cross 

 with the lines crossed, 4*. 



When a man marries in Nanusa he leaves his own 

 village, or the house of his parents, and goes to live in the 

 house of his wife's parents. There seems to be no law of 

 exogamy — that is to say, a man is allowed to marry a woman 

 of his own tribe. Polygamy is infrequent amongst the 

 best people. 



We only stayed one night at anchor ia Lirung, and then 

 sailed for Mangarang in Kabrukan. Mangarang is one of the 

 largest villages in the Talaut islands, and is famous for the 

 large sailing canoes (sopis) built there. There is no safe 

 anchorage known near this village, so that the captain 

 of the ' Ternate ' simply laid to and put us off in a boat. 

 We walked through the long straggling village, and came 

 at last to the house of a German missionary of the name 

 of Gunther. His house is prettily situated at the foot of 

 a small hill, and commands a good view of a fine avenue 

 of trees which runs through that part of the village. He 

 did not seem to be quite satisfied with the condition of 

 affairs, and complained bitterly of the unhealthiness of the 

 chmate and the irreligion of the natives. 



The people seemed to me to be clean and their houses 

 tolerably well kept, and I should have thought that a 

 capable missionary would have made some impression upon 

 them. It is true they were not well clothed, and were not- 

 particularly diligent in their attendance at the services 

 held in the little wooden church, but these qualities depend 

 more upon the minister than upon the natives. They will 



