NEW GUINEA AND THE PAPUANS 
433 
customs thus imported into New Ireland, and similar to 
a practice prevailing among certain Australian tribes, is 
the division of the inhabitants of each village into two 
classes—the maramara and pikcdctba —-marriages within 
these groups being strictly prohibited, and punishable 
with death in the case of the woman, and heavy fines for 
the man. While with the New Britain people the dead are 
either buried in the houses or thrown into the sea, the 
aborigines of New Ireland burn the corpse and preserve 
the ashes. Cannibalism is general; the flesh of the pig 
and of man is cooked, but everything else is eaten raw. 
Both men and women go absolutely naked. The houses 
are small, low, isolated huts about 8 feet by 5, beehive¬ 
shaped, and surrounded by bamboo palisades; the sort of 
courtyard thus formed is kept very clean, and serves 
as a kitchen and dining-room. There are also larger 
common houses for the young unmarried men. Cultiva¬ 
tion is fairly advanced. Taro is the chief plant grown, 
together with immense numbers of coco-nut palms, but 
bananas and sweet potatoes are generally found. 
The chiefs have very little authority, the equality of 
the individual being as marked a feature here as in New 
Guinea. There is no tattooing, but circumcision is prac¬ 
tised. Polygamy is general. Very remarkable is the 
custom of immuring young girls of six or eight years of age. 
in cages of palm-leaves like huge extinguishers, out of 
which they are not allowed to come until they are to be 
married. Some are so shut up for five years, old women 
attending them. These cages are placed inside large 
houses set apart for the purpose, and the girls are only 
taken out once a day to wash, but they never leave the 
house. The house itself is surrounded by a reed fence, 
so that there is little ventilation within the cages, yet 
the girls do not seem to suffer in health. A somewhat 
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