CUSTOMS AND GOVERNMENT. 269 



timor, folded along a diagonal, a rectangular triangle being thus formed on her back, the 

 right angled corner hanging down on a level with the right buttock, whilst of the other 

 two corners one reaches over the left shoulder and the other under the right armpit, both 

 being tied together in front. The chief of Mapâr, called : * Major" , had four wives ; this 

 was partly because his wealth allowed him to do so, and, because his first three wives had 

 failed to présent him with any children, he had kept on marrying until the fourth one made 

 him a father. This was evidently the real reason, for the child was already 2'/ 2 years old, 

 and the Major had not yet taken a fifth wife. 



Remédies for preventing or interrupting pregnancy are unknown amongst the Manikion, 

 they said. Generally speaking children are desired everywhere. At Asé, which approximately 

 numbers sixty married couples, five were without children; during the inquiry into this, some 

 of thèse childless men came very seriously asking for advice. I hâve not been able to find 

 out, whether sterility leads to séparation, as reported of Torres Straits (REPORTS [V, 246]). 

 SCHELLONG [1S89, 18] states of Finsch Harbour that the coition takes place during the night 

 inside the houses, and that the woods and gardens are only used for illegitemate purposes. 

 HORST [1889, 229], however, heard on Biak that the coition ne ver takes place inside the 

 houses, but that the married people meet each other in the gardens. I was told the same 

 thing everywhere in Papua Tâlandjang. Still, the same as already reported of Doré (Van 

 DER GOES [1858, 147]), a numerous family is not desired hère, and I heard it rumoured in 

 Humboldt Bay that measures were taken against this before, or after, the birth of the undesired 

 offspring. ERDWEG [1902, 383] mentions some four herbs which cause sterility and even the 

 decease of the fétus, and also states that newly born children are thrown into the sea or 

 buried alive. That scarcity of food is the only reason for limiting the number of children, 

 as explained by REPORTS [V, 198], cannot be accepted for Netherl. North N. G.. It appears 

 that the women consider themselves too much embarrassed in their work in the gardens by 

 a large number of children. The women of Doré do not désire more than two children and 

 of the Karon it is even related (ROBIDÉ VAN DER Aa [1879, 59]), that when slaves or 

 prisoners are wanting, the children of the households which possess more than two, are eaten. 

 In Geelvink Bay the child, whose mother dies in giving birth to it, is buried alive (Haga 



[1884, 363])- 



The married women of Humboldt Bay hâve (see p. 88), their own property, to 

 which the husband has no right. PFEIL [1899, 33] thinks that only the fruits of the garden 

 are the common property of the married couple, on the other hand NACHRICHTEN [1898, 

 21, 22] report, that women with their own cocoa-nuts bought beads, which they kept for 

 themselves. The fate of the married woman has not satisfied most of the Europeans, although 

 HaGEN [1899, 244] of the Jabim and ERDWEG [1902, 381] of the Tumleo, paint idyllic scènes. 

 PARKINSON [1890, 21] considers her condition satisfactory, HADDON [1904, 274] never witnessed 

 ill-treatment, whilst Pratt [1906, 325] considers she is regarded with affection. I myself only 

 witnessed one case of ill-treatment: a man at Seisârâ, wishing to induce his wife to withdraw, 

 threw a large pièce of wood at her and hit her. — The women, it is true, hâve a life of 

 continuai labour; one must remember, however, that to the men falls the task of protecting 

 them, c. q. to défend the community with their lives. In some cases I witnessed affection 

 between husband and wife. THOMSON [1892, 121] says of the Kiwai people "women are truly 



