423 
of Edinburgh, Session 1879 - 80 . 
tain necklaces worn by the women mostly. These consist of 
the bones of their departed friends. The bones most generally 
used for this decorative purpose are the metacarpal, metatarsal, 
and the larger phalanges of hand and foot. I have seen a few 
necklaces in use where the vertebrae are used for this purpose. 
When the former class of bones are used they detach the articular 
extremities, and connect the medullary cavities by string as seen in 
the figure. 
Another curious decoration is the attaching of a skull round the 
neck by string, and allowing it to hang down the back. This is 
only done with the skulls of chiefs or others who were of importance 
during their lifetime, and is generally reckoned a mark of esteem to 
the memory of the person whose skull is so used (fig. 3). 
Tatooing the body is much practised by them, and is generally 
performed about the period of adolescence. It is performed by 
cutting the skin with sharp pieces of shell or glass, then washing 
the cut surface with water, then heating the same over a fire, until — 
I should imagine — it becomes painfully hot, and finally rubbing in 
a mixture of red clay and turtle fat. When quite healed, the cuts 
merely present the appearance of so many cicatrices, no especial 
coloration being retained by them. They also paint their bodies a 
great deal, and often in the most fantastic patterns, one side white 
checks, other side red stripes, &c. The colours mostly used are 
white, red, and a kind of yellow. The former painted all over the 
face as well as body, indicates that the person so adorned is in 
mourning for the recent decease of some near relative. The red 
paint is made by mixing a red (iron oxide) clay found here with 
turtle fat, and the yellow seems to be a mixture of this with the 
white, together with some coloured sap from one of the jungle 
trees. The paint is applied in all sorts of ways, a favourite one 
with the women being to paint the face white, with eyebrows and 
nose red ! 
As I before mentioned, they are a happy and joyous people, 
always in exuberant spirits. They are very fond of singing and 
dancing. When they perform a regular national dance the men are 
the dancers, the women and children forming the accompanying 
“ band and chorus.” The latter all sit in one place, and sing in 
approximate unison a series of notes, which, as far as they can be 
