MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 
bag and approaches the house of the sire, entering 
boldly and sitting down unbidden. Not infrequently 
the girl also comes in and sits probably in a hammock, 
listening to the debate on which her destiny hangs. 
The suitor at once names his price; if the old man 
thinks this is a promising bargain, he shows himself 
quite willing to discuss matters. If there is tobacco, 
the suitor takes up his host’s “ Bau-bau,” draws a 
few whiffs, passes it to the father, scratches his head 
violently with both hands, and proceeds to haggle. 
Should the father think the match a good thing, he 
seldom withholds his consent long, but if he considers 
the young man is under-bidding, he holds out stiffly 
till the youth has raised the price sufficiently. As 
soon as the father consents, the bride is taken away at 
once and without any fuss. There is no ceremony and 
no wedding feast. | 
The women are the agricultural labourers of Papua. 
Karly in the morning they go out to till the gardens 
and the yam- or taro-patch; they are the hewers of 
wood and the drawers of water. Every night at 
Hanuabada we used to watch the long files of them 
wading across the shallow channels to the villages, 
carrying the great bundles of wood they had collected. 
Their families are not large, seldom more than two 
or three children, and though they treat them quite 
kindly, there is no demonstrative affection. At seven 
years old the children are expected to assist in 
domestic affairs, and begin to take their little part of 
carrying water and firewood to the village. ‘Their 
faggots are tied up with wild cane string and are 
carried home on the women’s backs. 
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