SAMOA : NA VIGATORS ISLANDS 215 



Among the men of these islands the practice of tattooing is 

 quite general. This is a dangerous as well as painful opera- 

 tion, and many deaths have ensued from it, blood-poisoning 

 frequently occurring as a result of the methods practiced. A 

 sharp piece of human hone, secured to the end of a long spear- 

 shaped piece of wood, is the instrument employed, and, as the 

 same one is used indiscriminately, disease is very easily trans- 

 mitted. The tattooed area extends from just above the knee to 

 a point approximately on a horizontal line with the navel, the 

 effect being that of a tight-fitting suit of light-blue undercloth- 

 ing. The tattooing is only applied when the youth attains his 

 majority, and usually takes several weeks to complete. Many 

 women are also tattooed, but not so elaborately as the men. 

 Sometimes there is only a line or two on the arms or across the 

 breasts. In other cases the girl's name will be seen indelibly 

 fixed on the right arm. 



Unlike many other nations and tribes of tropical origin, the 

 Samoans do not marry until they have reached the age of ma- 

 turity. The marriage ceremony is of the simplest, the main point 

 being that the mutual consent of the man and woman shall be 

 witnessed by as many members of their respective families as 

 possible. The dowry, consisting of mats, tapa, personal adorn- 

 ments, and the few household utensils employed, is supplied by 

 the bride, and becomes the property of the groom as soon as the 

 formal meal following the wedding ceremony is eaten. There are 

 many marriages, however, without an}' ceremony whatever, a 

 simple expression of willingness to live together filling the re- 

 quirements. Divorce is not uncommon, and immemorial cus- 

 tom provides that all young children shall go with the mother. 

 Polygamy was at one time practiced, but of recent years this has 

 almost ceased. An old Samoan tradition has it that in the be- 

 ginning their fathers had no houses, but were "housed by the 

 heavens." 



A native house resembles a gigantic beehive thirty or forty 

 feet in diameter, and raised from the ground on a number of short 

 posts placed at regular intervals. The thatching is laid with 

 great care, and consists of the long dry leaves of the sugar cane, 

 which here grows wild, secured in place by the picturesque 

 branches of the cocoa palm. The thatching, if well done, is rain- 

 tight, and lasts a number of years. In the center of the house, 

 as shown in the illustration, there are two, and sometimes three, 

 posts, twenty feet long, sunk into the ground three feet or more. 



