The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2: Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristicsWood, J. G. (John George)
History
The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2: Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Anthropology; Ethnology; Manners and customs
The women are equally well made with the men, and the general fashion
of the dress is much the same. They wear, however, a curious addition
to the dress, which is very much like that of the Ovambo women of
Africa. Passing round the waist is a belt some seven inches wide, made
of plaited fibre woven into neat patterns. From this belt depends
in front a square apron of no great size, and behind is attached
a broad strip of the same plaited matting as that which faces the
belt. It descends half-way down the leg, and is finished off with a
fan-like fringe of plaited grass, some eighteen inches long, and of
proportionate width. The women, as well as the men, practise the custom
of making raised scars on their bodies. They differ from the men in the
mode of dressing the hair, keeping it cut closely to the head instead
of allowing it to grow to its full length and tying it up in a bunch.
The weapons of these islanders are remarkable for the beauty of their
finish, the barbs of the arrows being neatly carved, and the junction
of the head and shaft being neatly ornamented with plaited grass and
feathers. Indeed, the arrows have a curious resemblance to those made
by some of the tribes of tropical America.
Like the Solomon Islanders, the inhabitants of the New Hebrides have
large council chambers in their villages. Instead, however, of being
circular, they are generally made of considerable length, sometimes
measuring as much as a hundred feet from one end to the other. They are
entirely open on one side. For some reason which seems rather obscure,
they are adorned with bones of various animals, the particular species
from which they are taken not seeming to be of any consequence. For
example, in one of these houses may be seen bunches of bones taken
indiscriminately from pigs, fowls, and fishes, while the shells of
lobsters and other crustacea are mixed with them. It is believed that
human bones are not used for this purpose.
* * * * *
A curious contrast to these tribes is presented by the inhabitants
of another island called TANNA, who are certainly inferior to those
of Vaté in stature and general appearance, and are thought to be so
in point of intellect. They have a bad reputation, being said to be
treacherous and cruel. That they are also reputed to be cannibals is
no matter of wonder, inasmuch as they belong to the Papuan race. They
are said to rival the Fans of Africa in one respect, and to dig up the
bodies of the buried dead, in order to eat them.
The island is volcanic, and the subterranean fires seem to aid the
already exuberant vegetation of the tropics, which in Tanna attains a
development that is almost incredible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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