56 G. A. J. VAN DER.SANDE. 



a' boy behind thém. In Asé, see fig. 29,- the boys just admitted into the men's watch-houses, 

 .bbè, are charged with this work; in Tobadi, those that are apprenticed in the temple, kâr&w&ri. 

 The young .hairdresser rubs a little of the prepared red clay between the palms of his hands 

 and pulling out one tuft of hair above the others, rolls it between both his hands. Thus most 

 hairs remain black at the roots, only the hairs of the margin are coloured over their total 

 length. After the colouring, the fingers of both hands are actively introduced into the hair, 

 which is thus pulled up to the utmost extent; curls which are sticking out too far are again 

 pressed back, whilst the busy young man is constantly bending forward to survey the hair 

 from différent points, trying hard to discover irregularities in the red, curly surface. This 

 scrupulous care is constantly controled by the man sitting with a small pièce of looking glass, 

 who, by holding this sloping in front and above the forehead, judges the course of events. 

 The fear of mirrors, stated at the time of Van DER Goes [1858, 182] in Humboldt Bay, has 

 disappeared and small pocket mirrors are hère of great assistance to the ethnographer. In 

 accordance with this custom, the manual used when a mirror was desired, consisted in holding 

 the left hand at a certain distance in front of and with the hollow turned towards the fore- 

 head, and looking into this as in a mirror, with upturned eyes, quasi at the reflected hairdress. 

 The men of Tobâdi, the swells of thèse coasts, sometimes only apply the colouring to certain 

 parts, whilst the remainder is left in its natural, black colour, the partitions generally running 

 in a curved line from the front to the back (see PI. XIX, fig. 1, i a and 7). 



A figure of one spiral twist and a half in red, as also described on the handle of a 

 spatula (N°. 91) is considered as an artistical achievement of a very high order. To retain a 

 sharply defined border of red and black, the tufts of hair which are to be coloured red, must 

 be pulled up far above the level of the surroundings ; the natural, spiral winding of the hair 

 easily allows such stretching. 



The use of red clay, previously baked, as a powder for the head, has never been men- 

 tioned again by explorers of Humboldt Bay after Van DER Goes [1S58, 169]; — FlNSCH 

 [1888 — 93, 227] however talks concerning K. W. Land also of „powdering" and D' ALBERTIS 

 [1880, I, 239] describes minutely how on Darnley Island red clay is roasted beforehand with 

 the flowers of Hibiscus. 



It appears that the use of red clay in the hair, is a privilège obtained in Humboldt 

 Bay after admission into the kàrezvtiri; once obtained, it is used as long as the years of vanity 

 last, in most cases for life; the grey haired old man hère finds back his youth. But some of 

 the older people, give up the care for their appearance, which particularly characterises the 

 people of Tobâdi. Whilst the impurity of the skin increases and the red siri saliva is only 

 insuniciently removed from the corners of the mouth, the hair is left to itself and then often 

 shows quite plainly the arrangement of the tufts. On Lake Sentâni thèse types are more 

 numerous. Maclay [1873 a, 235] stated that old Papuans did not use red, but black in the 

 hair, which use of soot according to FlNSCH [1888 — 93, 227] and others, just as the use of 

 lime (BlRO [1899, 2]) however also occurs in K. W. Land at other times of life. But from 

 Netherlands New Guinea neither the use of soot nor that of lime for the hair, has ever been men- 

 tioned and I hâve never corne across it either. To the constant use of the red clay, Van DER 

 GOES [1858, 169] has ascribed the early appearance of baldness, which indeed occurs more 

 than elsewhere in Humboldt Bay and even still more on Lake Sentâni; in the case of the 



