ADMIRALTY ISLANDS. 
137 
and, to judge by appearances, did not seem to suffer from any sense of inferiority. There 
was a decided' difference, however, in some respects. While the men prided themselves on 
their long woolly hair, tied above their heads and forming a bunch like the crest of a helmet, 
the hair of the married women was cut quite short. The strong sex also usurped all personal 
ornament, such as ear-rings, nose-rings, combs, armlets, necklaces ; the adornment of the fair 
sex being reduced to some rough tattooing and an apron of leaves tied round the waist. 
The natives of the Admiralty Islands, like most Polynesians, display a certain amount 
of skill in carving, as shown in the accompanying illustrations. This rudimentary knowledge 
of art is the more surprising when we consider the imperfection of the tools at the artist’s 
disposal, often but the sharp edge of a stone or shell. Several huts on the island nearest our 
anchorage were adorned with carved door-posts, which in one instance bore the shapes of a 
human male and female. These were probably idols, and resembled the sculptured work which 
has been discovered elsewhere in Papua and the surrounding islands. I have reproduced 
them with a few immaterial alterations. All the carvings on the door-posts, the prows of 
canoes, the wooden vessels, were painted in white, red, and black, which seemed to be the 
familiar hues—probably, indeed, the only tints at their disposal. The handles of their large 
wooden bowls, some of which were carved even more elaborately than those here depicted, 
exhibit a perception of form and proportion mtich in advance of the rude attempts of many 
other semi-barbarous races, both ancient and modern. Besides the human figure, we also 
found representations of birds, lizards, and fishes; and it is to be observed that the 
predominance of the straight line affords evidence of the imperfect tools at the command of 
the native artist. 
My colleague on the Civilian Scientific Staff, Mr. H. N. Moseley, devoted special 
attention to the physical and moral pecularities, the language, customs, habits, dress, and 
implements of the natives of Wild Island, and the highly interesting results of his 
investigations are embodied in his paper published in the Journal of the Anthropological 
Institute for May, 1877, and illustrated by numerous drawings. He has left but little to be 
gleaned in the field he has so thoroughly explored. 
On the 8th the pinnace started for D’Entrecasteaux Island, situated on the reef to the 
westward of Suhm Island. About five miles further, on a separate reef, in a W.S.W. direction, 
are Murray, Moseley, and Buchanan Islands. We had taken with us a pair of goats, intended 
as a present to the inhabitants of D’Entrecasteaux, but found, after landing, that they strongly 
objected to accept our gift, for reasons which we were unable to guess ; so the animals were 
landed on a neighbouring island, which was not inhabited, but where they would find plenty 
of food. Our savages, who rear pigs, may possibly have changed their mind since our 
departure, and adopted the two outcasts. While this matter was giving rise to a lively 
discussion on the beach, in which the contending parties did their best to supply the want 
of a common language by shouts and gesticulations, I had wandered inland among the trees 
in search of the village situated on the opposite side of the island, and soon lost my 
way. A native who had guessed my intention, as well as perceived my difficulty, beckoned 
