Neither the time of his death nor the fact that he is to die is told him, so that he is relieved from all worry. He is watched most carefully, and a certain hunter is told off to procure his head. It may not be for weeks after the sentence has been passed that it is carried out, but when once the decree has gone forth the man is as good as dead. The hunter may have been ingratiating himself in his victim’s good books, and thus waiting his opportunity for months; then one day, when the unsuspecting victim is quite off his guard, the flash of a spear or the dull thud of a tomahawk is all that he knows. The next day his head is carried to the chief and the shell money paid over for it. Then the feast or ceremony for which this ghastly object is required takes place amid much rejoicing. White men have often fallen victims to this custom, and many a trader has only received warning from a friendly native just in time to escape the same fate. Money has often been paid down for the head of a white man, and if he has not heard of it in time to escape, his death has followed. The missionaries, however, have seldom suffered; they are tolerated, and seem to go on in a quiet and peaceful way, quite secure where every other white man’s life is in his hand. {104} CHAPTER X 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 their influence to bear; then a loin cloth is worn similar to that used by the natives of Fiji, Samoa, and Honolulu, to cover their nakedness. Though the Solomon islanders do not clothe their bodies with cloth, they endeavour to cover as much flesh as they can with ornaments and flowers, and a keen competition is kept up in the discovery {105} of new ornamental shells, and in trade articles with which to adorn themselves. [Illustration 35: NATIVE OF NEW GEORGIA WEARING SUNSHADE, A SORT OF CROWNLESS HAT MADE OF GRASSES: IT CAN BE WORN AT ANY ANGLE.] The men are always attempting to rival each other in this respect, and go through endless torture as a result. They wear tight armlets, heavy ear-rings, anklets, and nose-rings, the weight and discomfort of which would be more than most white men could stand.