TIMOli-LAUT, 



315 



adorned with the hair of their enemies, bows and arrowSj and 

 variitua tbrnis of iron or copper pointfd lances and spears, 

 whk'h they can use with niurvfllaua precision, and a long 

 Bvvord carried in a loop in a hufl'ulo-hide corslet to fit beneath 

 the arms made by themselves, and resembhng a lOtli century 

 euin^s, of which it is probably a C4>py. They use also 

 counterfeit Tower guns (made in Siugapore), but as they fill 

 them with gnnpowd<'r almost to the muzzle they are nothing 

 like the dangerous wea|>oE— except to themselves — that their 

 nnerring arrow m. 



A muu may have as many wives as he can purchase, but as 

 a rule it is all he can do to secure one, till, at least, he is con- 

 siderably advanced in years, and has disposed of some of his 

 daughters for gold earrings and idephants* tusks, two' factors 

 which cannot be eliminated from the bargain, and are not over 

 common- These tusks are brought chietly from Singapore 

 and Sumatra where they cost 2(JU or iXHJ florins each, by the 

 Bugineae traders, who witb the westerly winds seek out the 

 creeks and bays of the "far, far East'* to exchange them for 

 trepaiig and tortoiseshell. The father of the girl has often to 

 wait a long time for the ivory portion of her price; but ho 

 hands her over, on the payment of the other items of the 

 bargain, to her purchaser, ^ho takes up his abctdt^ in lier 

 house, where she and her children remain as hostages till tbi3 

 full price is paid. A girl sorely wounded by the Blind God 

 occiisiouully takes the settlement of aflaira into her own hands, 

 and runs away with the object of her affection, without the 

 fvermission tjf her panmts, a proceeding which does not relieve 

 him of tlie [jurcliase money. If, however, she had been or 

 was about to be disposed of to another man, and had eloped 

 witli a more <lesired youth, she wouM he forcibly seized and 

 her cum^jAinion would be punished with death. Their wives, 

 if not treated with a great sliow of atlection, are not subjected 

 to much restraint i>r subjection, and live a free and not 

 unhappy life. 



The opening months of a Tenimber's islander's existence are 

 not piissed on a bed of roses. Strolling through the village one 

 evening we were beckoned into a hut to see a newly born infant. 

 It was lying quite uakctl, with tndy a hard palm-spathe be- 

 neath its back and a j^cjiuu'"' irieli or so of ch>th on its stomach. 



