The Savage South Seas 



1 7 



double circle. These are greatly prized, 

 but are only obtained at the cost of much 

 suffering to the unlucky pig that fur- 

 nishes them. He is tied up in a house 

 and never allowed to wander forth, for 

 fear of destroying his tusks. From each 

 side of the jaw the teeth that oppose the 

 tusk and prevent its going too far are re- 

 moved, so that in time it grows right 

 round through the unlucky animal's 

 flesh and provides a splendid double arm- 

 let for the native who owns the pig. 



In Malekula, one of the larger islands 

 of the New Hebrides, many a married 

 woman was distinguished by a dark gap 

 in the ivory-white teeth of her upper 

 jaw, where the two middle incisors had 

 been knocked out with a stone. This 

 extremely unpleasant substitute for the 

 wedding ring is found in various parts of 

 Malekula. The operation is performed 

 by the old women of the tribe, who 

 greatly enjoy the revenge they are thus 

 enabled to take on the younger genera- 

 tion for the injury once inflicted by their 

 elders upon them. 



By a good deal of worrying and a little 

 tobacco, I persuaded the villagers to 

 show me a mummy from one of their 

 "hamals," or sacred houses. 



It appeared to be the stuffed skin of 

 a man fastened on poles that ran through 

 the legs and out at the shoulders. The 

 fingers of the hands dangled loose like 

 empty gloves. The hair was still on the 

 head, and the face was represented by a 

 rather cleverly modeled mask made of 

 vegetable fiber, glued together with 

 bread-fruit juice. In the eye-sockets the 

 artist had placed neat little circular coils 

 of cocoanut leaf, and imitation bracelets 

 were painted on the arms. The face and 

 a good part of the body were colored 

 bright red. The ends of the stretcher- 

 poles were carved into a curious likeness 

 of turtle heads. Standing up there in the 

 dancing light and shade of the trees, 

 against the high brown wall of the hamal, 

 the creature looked extraordinarily weird 

 and goblin-like. It had a phantom grin 

 on its face, and its loose skinny fingers 

 moved in the current of the strong trade 



wind — it certainly looked more than half 

 alive. 



MAKING A CONICAL H£AD 



It was while I was staying with the 



kindly and hospitable B s that I had 



the chance of photographing what I be- 

 lieve has never been photographed be- 

 fore — the making of a conical head. 



A good many years ago certain men 

 of science who had procured skulls from 

 all parts of the world were struck with 

 the extraordinary egg-like shape of some 

 that came from Malekula. No one knew 

 much about the people who owned these 

 remarkable heads, and science forthwith 

 erected rather a pretty theory on the 

 basis furnished by the skulls, placing the 

 owners on the lowest rung of the human 

 ladder and inferring that they were 

 nearer to the ape than any other type at 

 that time known. 



Later on some one happened to dis- 

 cover how it was that the skulls came to 

 show this peculiar shape, and the marvel 

 vanished when it was known that com- 

 pression in infancy was the cause. It is 

 still, however, a thing curious enough. 

 Several other nations compress their in- 

 fants' heads, but none seems to attain 

 quite such a striking result as the Male- 

 kulan, in those districts where the custom 

 is systematically practiced. A conical 

 head, when really well done, rises up to 

 a most extraordinary point, and at the 

 same time retreats from the forehead in 

 such a manner that one is amazed to 

 know the owner of this remarkable pro- 

 file preserves his or her proper senses, 

 such as they are. I could not hear, how- 

 ever, that the custom was supposed to 

 affect the intellect in any way. 



"It would be hard to affect what they 

 haven't got," a trader observed on this 

 subject. 



The conical shape is produced by 

 winding strong sinnet cord spirally about 

 the heads of young babies, and tightening 

 the coils from time to time. A piece of 

 plaited mat is first put on the head, and 

 the cord is coiled over this, so as to give 

 it a good purchase. The crown of the 



