NEW CALEDONIA.
POSITION AND DIMENSIONS OF NEW CALEDONIA -- APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF
THE NATIVES -- THE DANCING MASK -- NATIVE ARCHITECTURE -- SMOKE AND
MOSQUITOES -- WARFARE -- CURIOUS WEAPONS -- THE SLING AND THE SPEAR
-- MODE OF THROWING THE SPEAR -- THE OUNEP, OR “AMENTUM” OF THE
ANCIENTS -- SHAPE OF THE CLUB -- OBJECTS OF WAR -- CANNIBALISM -- THE
KNIFE AND FORK -- DIET AND COOKERY IN GENERAL -- THE NOUGUI SPIDER --
MODE OF DRINKING -- CHARACTER OF THE NEW CALEDONIANS -- AN INGENIOUS
THEFT -- THE KATA -- THE ISLE OF PINES, AND ITS INHABITANTS.
East of Australia is a tolerably large island known by the name of New
Caledonia. It is of no very great extent, but is inhabited by a people
who deserve a short notice in these pages.
The New Caledonians are nearly black in color, and in general form and
appearance bear some resemblance to the aborigines of Tasmania. They
are, however, better looking, and wear altogether a less savage aspect,
probably on account of the comparatively regular supplies of food which
they can obtain. They are of ordinary stature, but one man was seen
who measured rather more than six feet in height. His form, however,
was ill proportioned. They wear scarcely any dress, the men having
generally a single leaf hanging from their girdles, or at the most a
strip of soft bark answering the purpose of drawers, while the adult
women wear a narrow fringed girdle, which passes several times round
the waist.
Their hair is woolly and short, but at a distance many of them would
be taken for long-haired people, in consequence of a habit of making
artificial tresses some two feet in length, out of grass and the hair
of a bat. Some of these appendages are so long that they fall to the
middle of the back. Round the head is sometimes tied a small net with
wide meshes, and the chiefs wear an odd sort of a hat. These hats are
cylindrical, and decorated with a large circular ornament at each side,
a plume of feathers at the top, and a long drooping tuft of grass and
hair that hangs down the back. The hat forms no protection to the head,
having no crown to it, and is only used as a mark of rank.
The natives also make a sort of mask, very ingeniously cut out of
wood, having the mouth open and the eyes closed. The wearer looks, not
through the eyes, but through some apertures which are made in the
upper part of the mask. It is supposed that these masks are employed
in war, when the combatants desire to disguise themselves from their
opponents. This, however, is only a conjecture. I have little doubt
that the wooden mask described and figured by D’Entrecasteaux is
nothing more than an ornament used in the native dances. It is, in
fact, the “momo,” which is described by more recent travellers. When
complete, the “momo” is decorated with plumes of feathers, long tufts
of hair, and a thick, coarse network, which does duty for a beard, and
descends as far as the knees of the wearer.
A mask made in a precisely similar manner is used by the natives of
Vancouver’s Island, but is employed by them in their dances. One of
these masks is in my collection, and will be described in the course of
the work.
Ear ornaments of various kinds are in favor among the New Caledonians,
and some, of the natives enlarge the hole in the lobe to such an extent
that it forms a long loop, the end of which falls on the shoulders.
Occasionally, they try the elasticity of the ear too much, and tear it
completely through. Anything seems to be worn in the ears, and when
a New Caledonian cannot find a suitable ornament, he fills up the ear
with a leaf or a roll of bark. They do not tattoo themselves, but draw
black lines across the breast with charcoal, the lines being broad,
and traced diagonally across the breast. Necklaces of various kinds
are worn, and these ornaments bear a certain resemblance to those
of New Guinea, consisting principally of a twisted string, to which
is suspended a shell or piece of bone, carved in a manner which the
natives are pleased to consider as ornamental.
Although by nature the men possess thick and stiff beards, these
hirsute ornaments are generally removed, the hair being pulled up by
the roots by means of a pair of shells used in lieu of tweezers.
Architecture among the New Caledonians is infinitely superior to that
of Australia, and in some respects almost equals that of New Zealand.
The houses are conical in shape, and often reach from ten to eleven
feet in height in the middle.
The principle on which the huts are built is perfectly simple. The
native architect begins by digging a hole in the ground, and planting
in it a stout pole, some fifteen feet in length, and nine or ten inches
in circumference. A number of smaller poles or rafters are set in the
ground around the standard or central pole, their bases being planted
in the earth and their tips leaning against the standard. Smaller
branches are interwoven among the rafters, and the whole is rendered
weather-tight by dried herbage lashed to the walls.
These simple walls are often several inches in thickness; and as the
natives spread thick mats on the floor, they are well sheltered from
the weather.
The entrance is very small, never above three feet in height, and on
occasions can be closed with a rude door made of palm branches. Some of
the latter kind of huts have regular door-posts, on which are carved
rude imitations of the human face. A fire is almost always kept burning
inside the hut, not so much for the sake of warmth or for culinary
purposes, as to form a defence against mosquitoes. Smoke, therefore, is
encouraged; and, though it may be the lesser of two evils, it forms a
great drawback to the comfort of Europeans, who can defy the mosquitoes
by their clothes, and can protect themselves at night by means of
curtains. The central post of the house is mostly decorated with
shells, and carved at the top into the shape of a human being.
Each house is usually surrounded with a fence some four or five feet
in height, and within the hut there is a curious piece of furniture
which gives to the rude habitation quite a civilized look. This is a
wooden shelf, suspended by cords exactly like our hanging bookshelves.
It is hung about four feet from the ground, but as the cords are very
slight, it can support only a trifling weight. The native name for
this shelf is “paite.”
* * * * *
We will now proceed from domestic to military life, and devote a small
space to warfare among the New Caledonians.
It is very remarkable that among these naked and peculiarly savage
cannibals we should find two of the weapons of war which were in
greatest favor among the civilized Romans of the classic times. These
are the sling and the javelin, the latter being cast by a peculiar
arrangement of a thong, so that, in point of fact, the New Caledonian
warrior does not only sling the stone, but the spear also.
We will take these weapons in order, the sling coming first, as being
the simpler of the two weapons.
The construction of the sling or “wendat,” as the natives call it, is
very simple, the weapon being merely a doubled thong with a pouch in
the middle, in which the stone is placed. This pouch is made of two
small cords laid side by side, and as the smooth stone might slip out
of it, the slinger always wets the missile in his mouth before placing
it in the pouch. The stones are cut out of a hard kind of steatite,
which can take a good polish. They are oval in shape, and are carefully
ground down by friction, the surface becoming very smooth in the
process.
Thirty or forty of these stones are kept in a small net, which is
fastened to the left side of the slinger. In illustration No. 1, on
page 893, one of the warriors is seen with his sling in his hand, and
the net filled with stones fastened to his side. When the slinger
wishes to hurl a stone, he does not waste time and strength by whirling
the sling round and round, but merely gives it one half turn in the
air, and discharges the missile with exceeding force and wonderful
accuracy of aim. In consequence of only giving one half turn to the
sling, the stones can be hurled nearly as fast as they can be thrown by
the hand, and the weapon is therefore an exceedingly formidable one in
the open field when fire-arms are not opposed to it.
We now come to the spear, or rather javelin.
This weapon is of very great length, some specimens measuring fourteen
or fifteen feet from butt to point; and unless the warrior were able
to supplement the natural strength of his arm by artificial means, he
would not be able to throw the spear more than a few yards. He has
therefore invented an instrument by which he can hurl this long and
unwieldly weapon to a considerable distance. The principle on which
this instrument is formed is identical with that of the Australian
throw-stick, but there is a difference in the application. The
Australian throw-stick is straight, rigid, and is applied to the butt
of the spear, whereas the implement used by the New Caledonian is
flexible, elastic, and applied to a spot a little behind the middle of
the spear.
This instrument is ingeniously simple. It is nothing more than a
plaited cord or thong made of a mixture of cocoa-nut fibre and
fish-skin. It is a foot or more in length, and is furnished at one end
with a knob, while the other is worked into a loop. This elastic cord
is called by the natives “ounep.” When the warrior desires to throw a
spear, he slips the loop over the forefinger of his right hand, and
allows it to hang in readiness for the spear. As soon as the time comes
for the spear to be thrown, the man balances the weapon for a moment so
as to find the middle, and then casts the end of the thong round it in
a sailor’s half-hitch, drawing it tight with his forefinger.
As long as pressure is thus kept upon the thong, it retains its hold of
the spear; and as soon as it is released, “the half-hitch” gives way
and allows the spear to free itself. The mode of throwing is therefore
evident. The warrior holds the loop of the thong on his forefinger,
the rest of the hand grasping the spear. As he throws the weapon, he
loosens the hold of his hand, and so hurls the spear by means of the
thong.
The classical reader will doubtless remember that this thong or “ounep”
is precisely the “amentum” of the ancients, but is actually superior
in its construction and manipulation. The amentum was simply a loop of
cord or leather fastened to the shaft of the javelin just behind the
balance. When the warrior wished to throw a spear, he grasped the shaft
in his hand, inserted his fingers in the loop, and by means of the
additional leverage was able to throw a heavy weapon to a considerable
distance. See, for example, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, xii. 321:
“Inserit amento digitos, nec plura locutus,
In juvenem torsit jaculum;”
in English, “He inserted his fingers into the amentum, and,
without saying more, whirled the dart at the youth.” Commentators
have been extremely perplexed about this passage. In the first place
they were rather uncertain as to the meaning of the word “amentum,”
and in the second place, they could not see the force of the word
“torsit,” _i. e._ whirled. The reader will, however, see how perfectly
appropriate is the term, the spear being flung with a whirling movement
as a stone from a sling. The same word is used by Virgil: “Intendunt
acres arcus, amentaque torquent.” Another writer also alludes to this
instrument:
“Amentum digitis tende prioribus,
Et totis jaculum dinige viribus;”
_i. e._ “Stretch the amentum with your first fingers, and aim the
javelin with your full strength.”
Ingenious as was the amentum of the ancients, the ounep is far superior
to it. With the ancients a separate amentum had to be fixed to each
spear, while among the New Caledonians only one ounep is required.
Besides these weapons, the club is much used, and great ingenuity
is shown in its manufacture. The shape and size of the clubs are
extremely variable, and in some of them the natives have exhibited a
surprising amount of artistic skill, the curves being singularly bold
and flowing. One of these clubs, which is indeed a typical form, is in
my collection. The form of the head is evidently taken from the beak of
a bird, and the curves are exceedingly bold and sweeping. It is rather
more than three feet in length, and it weighs almost exactly two pounds
and a half.
War is in New Caledonia, as in New Zealand, the chief occupation of the
men. The first lesson that a child receives is fighting, and the idea
is prevalent with him as long as he lives. As soon as he is born, the
boy is consecrated to the god of war, and a hard black stone is laid
on his breast, as a symbol that his heart must be as hard as a stone
in battle. Even the women take a share in the fighting, and, though
they are not actual combatants, they follow their relatives to the
battle, in order to seize the bodies of slain enemies, and drag them
away to the cooking oven. Strife is always fomented by the priests
from interested motives, inasmuch as the hands of the slain are their
perquisites, and among the connoisseurs in cannibalism the palms of the
hands are the most delicate portions of the human body.
Primarily the New Caledonians are cannibals because they are warriors,
the body of a dead enemy being always supposed to be eaten by the
victors. There is mostly a fight over the body of a fallen warrior, the
one party trying to drag it away to the cooking oven, and the other
endeavoring to save it for burial by themselves.
As a rule, however, the body is carried off by the women, who have the
task of cooking it. The preparation of the body is quite a ceremonial,
each part of it belonging by right to certain individuals, and even the
carving being regulated by strict rules. A peculiar kind of knife is
made of flat serpentine stone, oval in form, and about seven inches in
length. Two holes are bored on one side of it, by means of which it is
fastened to a wooden handle. This knife is called “nbouet.”
With the nbouet the body is opened, and the whole of the intestines are
torn out by means of a fork made expressly for the purpose. This fork
is composed of two human armbones placed side by side, about an inch
apart, and fastened tightly together. They are sharply pointed, and are
very effectual instruments for the purpose. Sometimes the bodies are
cut up for cooking, but in many cases they are baked entire, the women
priding themselves in serving them up in a sitting posture, furnished
and dressed in full war costume.
Thus, then, we see that cannibalism is connected with warfare; but
unfortunately it is not restricted to war. When Captain D’Entrecasteaux
went in search of _La Pérouse_, one of the natives was eating a
newly-roasted piece of meat. The naturalist to the expedition
immediately recognized it as being part of the body of a child. The man
who was eating it did not attempt to deny the fact, but even pointed
out on the body of a little boy the part of the body which he was
eating, and gave his hearers to understand that the flesh of children
was very good.
This cannibalism of New Caledonia explained some curious gestures
which the natives were fond of making. They used to be very familiar
with their white visitors, feeling their arms and legs, looking at
each other with admiration, and then whistling and smacking their lips
loudly. In point of fact, they were admiring the well-fed limbs of the
white men, and anticipating to each other the delights of a feast upon
the plump Europeans.
As, however, flesh is but a luxury among the New Caledonians, and
cannot be considered as an ordinary article of diet, the natives
depend chiefly for their existence on vegetable food. Roots of various
kinds are eaten by them, as well as cocoa-nut and other fruit; all the
cooking, as well as the work in general, being performed by the women.
Shell-fish are also much eaten, and are procured by the women. The
large clam-shell is found on the shores of the island, and supplies
abundance of food; while the smaller molluscs are mostly dug out of the
sand by women, who frequently spend half a day up to their waists in
water.
Two very strange articles of diet are in use among the New Caledonians.
The first is a sort of spider, which spins large and thick nets in the
woods, often incommoding travellers by the number and strength of the
silken cords. They are not eaten raw, but cooked by being placed in a
covered earthen jar, which is set on a brisk fire. The natives call
the spider by the name of “nougui.” It is gray above, the back being
covered with a fine silvery down, and below it is black.
The second article of diet is clay, of which the natives will consume a
great amount. The earth in question is a soft greenish steatite, which
crumbles very easily, and has the property of distending the stomach,
and so allays the cravings of hunger, even though it does not nourish
the body. A well-distended stomach is one of the great luxuries of a
savage, and, in accordance with this idea, a man was seen to eat a
piece of steatite twice as large as his fist, even though he had just
taken a full meal. Some of the natives have been known to eat as much
as two pounds of this substance. A similar propensity is found both in
Africa and America.
When they drink at a pool or river, they have an odd fashion of dipping
the water with their hands, and flinging it into their mouths, so that
much more water is splashed over their heads than enters their mouths.
With regard to the bodies of those who fall in war, and are rescued
from the enemy, many ceremonies are employed. According to Captain
Head, in his “Voyage of the _Fawn_” they are “brought home with loud
lamentations, and buried with great wailing and shrieking from the
appointed mourners, who remain unclean often for several years after
burying a great chief, and are subject to many strict observances.
For weeks they continue nightly to waken the forest echoes with their
cries. After ten days have elapsed, the grave is opened, and the
head twisted off; and, again in this custom resembling the Andaman
islanders, the teeth are distributed as relics among the relatives, and
the skull preserved as a memorial by the nearest kin, who daily goes
through the form of offering it food.
“The only exceptions are in the case of the remains of old women, whose
teeth are sown in the yam patches as a charm to produce good crops;
their skulls set up upon poles being deemed equally potent in this
respect.”
The general character of the New Caledonians seems to be tolerably
good, and, in spite of their evident longing after the flesh of their
visitors, they are not on the whole inhospitable. They are clever
thieves, and are ingenious in robbery by means of an accomplice. On
one occasion, when a native was offering for sale a basket full of
sling-stones, and was chaffering about the price, an accomplice came
quietly behind the white man and uttered a loud yell in his ears.
Naturally startled, he looked behind him, and in a moment the man with
whom he was trading snatched away the basket and the goods offered in
exchange, and ran away with them.
One of the officers was robbed of his cap and sword in an equally
ingenious manner. He had seated himself on the ground, and for better
security had placed his sword under him. Suddenly one of the natives
snatched off his cap, and as he instinctively rose to rescue it,
another man picked up his sword and escaped with it. They even tried to
steal a ship’s boat, together with the property in it, and would not
leave it until they were attacked by a strong body of armed sailors.
They make very good canoes--as, indeed, is generally the case with
islanders. The largest canoes are mostly double, two boats being
placed alongside of each other, and connected by a platform. They
have a single mast, which is stepped toward one end of the compound
vessel, and can sail with considerable swiftness, though they are
not so manageable as those of New Guinea, some of which are marvels
of boat-building. They can accommodate a considerable number of
passengers, and have generally a fire burning on the platform, which is
protected from the heat by a thick layer of earth.
A rather remarkable custom prevails among them, which derives its chief
interest from the fact that it is practised in Northern Asia. This
is the Kata, or scarf of felicity. It is a little scarf, of white or
red material; and when two persons meet they exchange their katas--a
ceremony which is analogous to shaking hands among ourselves.
Whether these savages are the aborigines of the island is doubtful.
If they be so, they seem to have declined from the comparative
civilization of their ancestors. This, indeed, is their own opinion;
and, in support of this theory, they point to the ruins which are still
to be seen, and which tell of architecture far beyond the power of the
present natives. There are even the remains of an aqueduct eight miles
in length, a piece of engineering which would never have entered the
head of the New Caledonian of the present day. Perhaps these works of
art may have been constructed by immigrants, who have since left them
to perish; but, in any case, their presence in such a spot is most
remarkable.
THE ISLE OF PINES.
Some thirty miles to the south-east of New Caledonia, and in fact
forming part of the same group, there is a small island, called by
Captain Cook the Isle of Pines, in consequence of the number of
araucarias with which its hills are covered. The strait between the
Isle of Pines and New Caledonia proper is nearly all shoal water,
caused by the numerous coral reefs.
In many respects the inhabitants of this island resemble those of New
Caledonia. They are not, however, so dark, and their features are
tolerably good. They are cannibals from choice, wrapping up the bodies
of the dead in banana leaves, and then cooking them in ovens. Some
years ago, they contrived to indulge their taste for human flesh at the
expense of their neighbors.
About 1840, it was found that sandal wood grew on the island, and
several vessels proceeded thither for the sake of procuring this
valuable product. At first they did so with great risk, and lost many
of their men from the onslaughts of the natives. Afterward, however, a
Sydney merchant set up an establishment for the collecting and storing
of sandal wood and bêches-de-mer, and since that time the natives have
become quite peaceable.
In course of this transitional time between utter barbarism and
commerce, they learned by painful experience the power of fire-arms. As
soon as they became accustomed to trade, the first thing that they did
was to procure a large stock of fire-arms and to go off with them to
New Caledonia, where they landed, shot as many of the natives as they
could, and brought their bodies home for consumption. It is true that a
constant feud raged between the two islands, but the sudden acquisition
of fire-arms gave the people of the Isle of Pines a terrible advantage
over their hereditary foes, and enabled them almost to depopulate the
south-eastern part of the island.
They care no more for dress than the New Caledonians, but are very
fond of ornament, the men appropriating all the best decorations, and
leaving the women to take what they can get. The men friz their hair
out as much as possible, and wrap a thin scarf round it, or sometimes
cut it short, leaving only a tuft on one side of the head. The women
shave off the whole of the hair, thus depriving themselves of their
natural ornament, and rendering themselves very unprepossessing to
European eyes. The rough work is done by them, the men reserving to
themselves the noble occupations of war, fishing, house building, and
canoe making, the only real work which they do being yam planting,
after the ground has been prepared by the women.