IN TIMOE-LAUT. 315 



adorned with the hair of their enemies, bows and arrows, and 

 various forms of iron oi" copper pointed lances and spears, 

 which they can use ^\iill marvellous precision, and a long 

 sword carried in a loop in a buffalo-hide corslet to fit beneath 

 the arms made by themselves, and resembling a 16tli century 

 cuirass, of which it is probably a copy. They use also 

 counterfeit Tower guns (made in Singapore), but as they fill 

 them with gunpowder almost to the muzzle they are nothing 

 like the dangerous weapon — except to themselves — that their 

 unerring arrow is. 



A man may have as many wives as he can purchase, but as 

 a rule it is all he can do to secure one, till, at least, he is con- 

 siderably advanced in years, and has disposed of some of his 

 daughters for gold earrings and elephants' tusks, two factors 

 which cannot be eliminated from the bargain, and are not over 

 common. These tusks are brought chiefly from Singapore 

 and Sumatra where they cost 200 or 300 florins each, by the 

 Biiginese traders, who with the westerly winds seek out the 

 creeks and bays of the " far, far East " to exchange them for 

 trepang and tortoiseshell. The father of the girl has often to 

 wait a long time for the ivory portion of her price; but ho 

 hands her over, on the payment of the other items of the 

 bargain, to her purchaser, who takes up his abode in her 

 house, where she and her children remain as hostages till the 

 full price is paid. A girl sorely wounded by the Blind God 

 occasionally takes the settlement of aflairs into her own hands, 

 and runs away with the object of her affection, without the 

 permission of her parents, a proceeding which does not relieve 

 him of the purchase money. If, ho.wever, she had been or 

 was about to be disposed of to another man, and had eloped 

 with a more desired youth, she would be forcibly seized and 

 her companion would be punished with death. Their wives, 

 if not treated with a great show of afi'ection, are not subjected 

 to much restraint or subjection, and live a free and not 

 unhappy life. 



The opening months of a Tenimber's islander's existence are 

 not passed on a bed of roses. Strolling through the village one 

 evening we were beckoned into a hut to see a newly born infant. 

 It was lying quite naked, with only a hard palm-spathe be- 

 neath its back and a square inch or so of cloth on its stomach. 



