294 G - A - J- VAN DER SANDE. 



young men are kept apart for some time under the care of an old man. They are then not 

 yet allowed to wear any pubic covering, whilst women would die by looking at them ; see 

 also POCH [1906a, 901]. In the neighbourhood of Finsch Harbour (NACHRICHTEN [1888, 227]) 

 the boys are locked up, but only for a short time, immediately after the circumcision; — cir- 

 cumcision appears through this quite clearly in a religious light. ERDWEG [1902, 308] reports 

 of Tumleo a prohibition to see women for some days before the feast of putting on the 

 bark girdle. In British N. G. seclusion is not compulsory (BEARDMORE [1890, 460]) or lasts 

 only two days, before religious feasts (HaDDON [1894, 105]). In Torres Straits (REPORTS [V, 208]) 

 the sight of women, as well as being seen by them, is prohibited during the feast of initia- 

 tion. The period, during which the novices are locked up in the temple of Tobâdi, is very 

 long, often more than a year. During this time the young men under the spécial superintend- 

 ence of Hamadï, they do ail sorts of work, manufacture string, nets, carve and paint orna- 

 ments and also participate in hunting and fishing. In order to enable the young men to per- 

 forai their work unseen in the broad daylight, a fence of palm leaves (see the figs.) is placed 

 outside at some distance, as already mentioned by Van DER GOES [1858, 178]; the manufacture 

 of twine, described on p. 164 (see fig. 102), also took place behind this screen. At Waba, at 

 Oinâke, in the district of Sékâ and at Nâcheibe I also came across the fence, which screened 

 the temple from the remainder of the village, and the door opening of which is generally 

 hung with a curtain of strips of palm leaf, but it appeared to me that the séparation was 

 not so strictly maintained hère. 



Another peculiarity, which shows the equality of thèse temples with the parâk of the 

 Berlin Harbour district, is the fact that the so-called sacred bamboo flûtes are kept 

 inside. PARKINSON [1900, 35] and ERDWEG [1902, 295, fig. 201] state of thèse flûtes that the 

 performance thereon belongs to the adoration of the tapum. That in H. B. the production 

 of sounds on thèse instruments is a religious act, was already stated by Van DER GOES 

 [1858, 178], and it struck ail the visitors who came after him, that the Papuans disliked to 

 see thèse flûtes touched, and it was only after much trouble and on condition that they were 

 kept hidden from the women, that it was possible to get hold of such a flûte. FiNSCH [18S8, 

 357] states of the flûtes: "ohne religiôse Bedeutung, sind aber wahrscheinlich wie manche 

 andere Instrumente fur die Frauen "tabu" ". He was allowed at Tobâdi to blow them, which, 

 however, he was unable to do, and they would, he thinks, hâve willingly sold him such a 

 flûte. However F. did not attempt this décisive proof. I hâve myself been on a very confi- 

 dential footing with the people of Tobâdi, was invited like the other members of the expé- 

 dition to the temple feasts, took interiors with flash-light, was allowed to join in the dancing 

 and singing, but the permission to buy a flûte and carry it away with me was the last thing 

 permitted and only obtained after several months. It was principally the chief Humadi who 

 watched with great care over thèse articles. In Kajô they were less obstinate, but hère, like 

 everywhere else, the transport had to take place in such a way that the women could not see 

 the objects. HoRST [1889, 242] already learned this at Anus, and it was always explained to 

 the members of the expédition at Tobâdi that the sight of the flûtes would cost the women 

 their lives. It also appeared, but perhaps this statement was not correctly understood, 

 that the people of Tanah Merah were not allowed to see the flûtes of Tobâdi. The long 

 flûtes are stuck, as stated above, in the material wound round the centre pôle; the smaller 



