1 . Off to the Dubu Dance—British New Guinea •  Frontispiece   2 . By Reef and Palm • 6   3 . Off to Market, British New Guinea • 14   4 . Motu Village from the Sea • 18   5 . The Island of Elevera from the Mission Station, Port Moresby, British New Guinea • 20   6 . Tree House in British New Guinea • 22   7 . Motu Village, Port Moresby, British New Guinea • 24   8 . In the Pile Dwellings at Hanuabada, Port Moresby, British New Guinea • 26   9 . Native of British New Guinea, showing the manner

Chiefly historical—Concerning certain discoverers, their aims and ambitions—The story of New Guinea, the Solomons, and New Hebrides, and some things that might be altered. In these days when distance hardly counts, when the cry is heard that new outlets are wanted for capital, when there are thousands of unemployed crowded in London, and people are anxious to find adventure, eager to see new things, to conquer new lands, exploit new industries and gain more knowledge, it is worth while turning o

New Guinea natives—Port Moresby and its two native villages—Huts on poles and trees—Native superstition and its result on two tribes. There no islands in the new world which have been the scene of greater adventures, more daring exploits, and more exciting times than those in the South Seas. From the earliest days New Guinea, New Britain, Solomon Islands, and the New Hebrides have been inhabited by a race of savages, on whom neither the efforts of missionaries nor the oaths of traders have been

Natives who grow crops of hair—A word or two about the women—Duties of married women—How they carry their babes, and the philosophy of childhood. The natives of New Guinea are fine specimens of human nature, but taken as a race they cannot be compared to the Maoris of New Zealand or even to the Fijians. The men are infinitely better-looking than the women, and their splendid stock of hair, which they wear bunched up all over their head, sets off their appearance in a remarkable manner. The young

Concerning love and grief—How love is made in New Guinea, and some of the charms used to ensure love and constancy—The grief of a New Guinea widow. To the marriageable young lady in civilised countries, leap year, and with it her chance of proposing, comes but a few times before she is “on the shelf,” but in some parts of New Guinea the proposal of marriage always comes from the girl. Some may think that this sort of love-making and marriage lacks romance, but to the Papuan it is the event of hi

Some native dances and queer costumes—Novel blackmailing methods—Woman’s vanity and a censured dance. For some reason, unknown to the ordinary layman, the Church has taken a dislike to nearly all forms of savage dancing, and many missionaries, brave and good fellows though they be, have seen evil in these performances where other less cultivated men have seen nothing that suggests immorality. But often what appears immoral to the Western mind is quite free from any such suggestion to the mind of

Outrigger canoes, their appearance and construction—The famous Lakatois—How the natives catch their fish; and a few words about fish that climb trees—A trip down the coast, and an unpleasant experience. If you can imagine a cloudless sky of a deep blue colour, a sea so smooth that not a ripple is visible, and so clear that you can look down into it and see the dark rocks and the sandy bottom and strangely shaped fish swimming idly about amongst bushes of seaweed, which wave and curl with the ebb

South Sea traders good and bad; their ups and downs—Nicolas the Greek—The Mambare river massacre—Some queer creatures with queerer ways—A fitting end to a wasted life. There is a grim uncertainty about the life of a South Sea trader. To-day he is alive and the centre of a crowd of cringing natives who bow down before him, offering their goods in exchange for others, obeying his every word, for he is their lord and they are his slaves. But to-morrow may alter everything, and find that all that is

Natives who have had no chance; their villages without streets, and their curious huts—The tambu and canoe houses—An unlucky trader. Wild and ferocious as the natives of the Solomon group are they possess some fine characteristics. Many of them far surpass the rough European, in those parts, in generosity and disposition. The more you travel, the more you find that both men and beasts treat you in much the same way as you would treat them under similar conditions. There is undoubtedly a silent t

Solomon Islands—Ingova’s head-hunters—How whole tribes were wiped out—Savage invasions and clever tactics. The Solomon Islands, not being of such importance as New Guinea, have had much less attention paid to them. No doubt the extreme danger which has always attached to a visit to these islands has made the white man give them as wide a berth as possible, only going there when compelled to either for trading or scientific purposes. It is here that cannibalism flourishes, and the head-hunters go

Clothes and the men—Love of adornment—Natives who are not keen on eating—Methods of cooking their food—Betel-nut chewing. The native dress of the Solomon islanders is even more scanty than that of their neighbours the New Guinea natives. Usually the sole clothing of the men consists of a “T”-shaped garment encircling their waists and passing between their legs. Unmarried women and children fail to see any necessity for clothing at all, except those in places where the missionaries have brought t

Some clever ways of catching fish—How the bonito is landed—Native nets—Pig-hunting—The sly opossum and the crocodile. Lazy as the Solomon islanders are they are excellent sportsmen, and be it man-hunting, pig-hunting, or fishing, it is all the same, they go in for it with a fine relish. Cunning and dexterity play an important part in their methods, and make up for their want of up-to-date appliances. At fishing they surpass most native races, their ingenuity in this sport being remarkable. Where

A curious religion—Burying the dead, and some graveyards—Dancers and music—Native artists, and how fire is made. To try and discover the actual religious beliefs of a savage race is even more difficult than attempting the same experiment on the religion of any particular European sect. It is almost impossible to find two people agreeing consistently on even the main principles. Exactly the same trouble exists in savage races; if you are lucky enough to discover a principle you will immediately g

What “hope” is to the Solomon islander—The use of the evil eye. Sacred places in the Solomons are called hope, the word being used in very much the same way as tapu (taboo) is by the Maoris of New Zealand, and other savage races, but, unlike the Maoris, the Solomon islanders use “hope” to keep a place free from trespassers; thus if a native has a cocoa-nut grove or a yam patch he erects a “hope,” and so prevents any other native from going to it. It is a strange custom and difficult to fathom, b

Islands that are advancing rapidly—Native houses with modern improvements—A horrible method of getting rid of the old men, and other burial ceremonies. There is a remarkable difference between the natives of the New Hebrides group and any of the inhabitants of the adjoining islands. In character, disposition, mode of living and religion, they are in many respects far ahead of their neighbours, and, strange to say, so are the islands. The soil is better and the climate is more to the liking of th

Ancestor worship the religion of the New Hebrides—Temples and strange figures, and some sacred dances. Ancestor worship was undoubtedly the original religion of the New Hebrideans, and in many islands the present form of worship is based upon it. According to Mr. Macdonald, a resident in Exate, the followers of it believe that after death the soul passes through six stages before it finally dies. When its earthly life is over it goes to the gate of Hades, which is situated at Tukitaki, at the we

Concerning witchcraft—More about burials—The gentle art of making love—The rain-makers. Superstition and witchcraft are strongly in evidence in the New Hebrideans, and the natives have more than their share of both. Besides those things to which I have already alluded, there is a peculiar idea held in some of the islands that certain sacred men have the power of killing by witchcraft. The method adopted by them is similar in many respects to the usual custom, that of making an image of the man o

Native clothing and ornaments—Their arts and industries, their canoes and weapons, and their way of fishing. In Malekula, Efaté, and Tanna the natives wear as many adornments and cram as many ornaments on their bodies as they can, and since this weakness of theirs has been found out, both visitors and missionaries trade on it, when endeavouring to get on the right side of them. Everybody going to these places nowadays takes with him a good supply of trumpery adornments, and exchanges them for na

The cultivation of copra—The labour traffic; when slavery really existed, and the traffic in natives of to-day. Copra is the staple industry of the New Hebrides, as they say in the geography books, but the output of it is about as reliable as the rainfall, for the supply depends not, as might be expected, on the demand, but on the whim of the natives; if they feel industrious, or are hard pressed for tobacco and provisions, they will go into the bush and bring in a sufficient quantity to meet th

A short sketch of the missionary work in the South Seas—Concerning John Williams, James Chalmers, and others. I can do no better than conclude this short sketch of the three most important groups of the South Sea islands by touching on the work and lives of those brave fellows the missionaries, who have left all the comforts of their English homes—their best friends and everything else that was dear to them—to teach the gospel of their Master and bring peace and happiness to these wild savages.

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