Among the men, both highland and lowland, the great symbol of dandyism is the “Chimani,” or nose ornament. This is made from a section of a shell about ⅜ of an inch thick in the middle, and tapering most beautifully towards the ends. It is accurately made, perfectly round and polished, and a good example would be about a span long. A fine “Chimani” very often has two black rings painted round it, about 1 inch distant from the end. These things are manufactured by the coast people, and they drift by exchange through the whole country. Very few young blades can afford to possess one, and accordingly it may be lent, either for a consideration or as a very special favour. The possessor of one of these ornaments could easily buy a wife for it, and sometimes it is paid as a tribal tribute by one who may have to pay blood-money, or is unable to give the statutory pig as atonement for a murder. Another shell ornament is the armlet, made from the lower part of one species of a conical shell; a section of this adornment would present the figure of a pointed oval, and, according to the part of the shell from which the armlet has been cut, its ends either meet or overlap without touching. To it they sometimes attach European beads or little fragments of tin. Its manufacture entails a great deal of work and a long continued grinding on stone or other hard substance. Sam had a very fine one which he presented to a man in order that that man might buy a wife, and my head-man’s generosity will be understood when I mention that one of these armlets fetches £5 at Port Moresby. A very affluent person will wear one on each arm, or two on one arm, as I sometimes observed was the case among the coast natives. This occurred chiefly at Hula. As regards households and tribal government, the Papuan customs are simple in the extreme; there is no augmentation of households on the patriarchal system of the sons bringing the wives under the parental roof. Each household consists of the father, mother, and children. The sons when they marry set up a separate establishment, and when all have married the grandparents usually remain alone. [Illustration: BUYING A WIFE: A NEW GUINEA WOOING. The suitor is depicted making an offer for the girl seated in the hammock beside her father. ] The men marry after they are eighteen and the girls much younger, for they are considered ready for double-blessedness at fourteen. In the case of the men, there are exceptions to this rule, for we met an experienced young gentleman of fourteen, Kaukwai, who confided to us, with an air of deep wisdom, that he had already had two wives and had dismissed them both.