HERVEY AND KINGSMILL ISLANDS.
APPEARANCE--WEAPONS--GOVERNMENT.
POSITION OF THE HERVEY ISLANDS -- FIERCE AND TREACHEROUS NATURE OF
THE INHABITANTS -- THE CHIEF MOUROOA, AND HIS VISIT TO THE SHIP
-- SKILL IN CARVING -- THEIR BEAUTIFUL PADDLES AND CANOES -- THE
MANGAIAN ADZE: ITS CARVED HANDLE AND STONE HEAD -- THE MANY-BARBED
SPEAR -- THE CLUB AND SLING -- THE FOUR RANKS IN BATTLE -- FEROCITY
OF THE WOMEN -- FEUDS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES -- A MANGAIAN HOUSE
-- FOOD -- PROCURING AND COOKING IT -- A RAT HUNT -- IDOLS OF
THE MANGAIANS -- THE KINGSMILL ISLANDERS -- LOCALITY AND GENERAL
DESCRIPTION OF THE KINGSMILL ISLANDS -- APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES --
ARCHITECTURE -- DRESS AND TATTOOING -- WARLIKE NATURE -- THE TERRIBLE
WEAPONS OF THESE ISLANDS -- THE SWORD AND SPEAR -- MODE OF GOVERNMENT
-- BURIAL OF A DEAD CHIEF.
Eastward of Samoa, and rather southward, lie the Hervey, or Cook’s
Islands. The group includes seven islands, the principal of which is
Rarotonga, an island between thirty and forty miles in circumference.
This island is remarkable for the lofty mountains of the interior,
and round it extends a large reef of coral. Some of the islands are
entirely coral, and all of them are surrounded by the dangerous coral
reefs, at which the coral “insects” are still working.
In general appearance the people bear much resemblance to the Samoans,
but seem to be of a more warlike and ferocious character. Indeed, so
quarrelsome and bloodthirsty are the natives of this group, that when
Mr. Williams visited Hervey’s Island he found that only sixty of the
population survived, and a few years later they were reduced to five
men, three women, and some children, and these were on the point of
fighting among themselves, in order to ascertain which should be king.
One of the principal islands of this group, namely, Mangaia, was
discovered by Captain Cook in March 1777. The natives were very
unwilling to come on board the vessel, but at last two men put off in
a canoe, their curiosity overcoming their terror. The name of one of
them was Mourooa, and he was distinguishable by a large scar on his
forehead, the result of a wound received in battle.
“Mourooa,” writes Captain Cook, “was lusty and well-made, but not very
tall. His features were agreeable, and his disposition seemingly no
less so, for he made several droll gesticulations, which indicated both
good nature and a share of humor. He also made others which seemed
of a serious kind, and repeated some words with a devout air before
he ventured to lay hold of the rope at the ship’s stern; which was
probably to recommend himself to the protection of some divinity.
“His color was nearly of the same cast common to the most southern
Europeans. The other man was not so handsome. Both of them had strong,
straight hair, of a jet color, tied together on the crown of the head
with a bit of cloth. They wore such girdles as we perceived about those
on shore, and we found they wore a substance made from the _Morus
papyrifera_, in the same manner as at the other islands of this ocean.
It was glazed, like the sort used by the natives of the Friendly
Islands, but the cloth on their heads was white, like that which is
found at Otaheite.
“They had on a kind of sandal made of a grassy substance interwoven,
which we also observed were worn by those who stood upon the beach,
and, as we supposed, intended to defend their feet against the rough
coral rock. Their beards were long; and the inside of their arms, from
the shoulder to the elbow, and some other parts, were punctured or
tattooed, after the manner of the inhabitants of almost all the other
islands in the South Sea. The lobe of their ears was pierced, or rather
slit, and to such a length that one of them stuck there a knife and
some beads which he had received from us; and the same person had two
polished pearl-shells and a bunch of human hair loosely twisted hanging
about his neck, which was the only ornament we observed.”
After some time, Mourooa ventured on board the ship, but seemed very
uneasy at his position, his feelings of curiosity being overcome by
those of alarm at finding himself in so gigantic a vessel. He showed
little curiosity about the ship and the various objects which it
contained, but the sight of a goat entirely drove out of his mind any
emotion except wonder, he never having seen so large an animal. He
wanted to know what _bird_ it could be, and, as soon as he could get
ashore, he was seen narrating to the people the wonders which he had
seen on board the great canoe.
All the Hervey Islanders are gifted with a natural appreciation of art,
and the inhabitants of Mangaia seem to be pre-eminent in this respect.
They lavish the most minute and elaborate carving on various objects,
the handles of tools and the paddles seeming to be their favorite
subjects. The beautiful paddle which is shown on the 1018th page, is
drawn from a specimen in my own collection. It is nearly four feet
in length, and the blade is eleven inches wide in the broadest part.
The pattern is given as well as can be done, considering the minute
elaboration of the original. The opposite face of the blade is even
more carefully decorated, and perhaps with a more artistic design. The
squared shaft of the paddle is covered with carving, as is also the
peculiarly shaped handle.
Another paddle is made in a similar manner, except that the shaft is
rounded instead of squared, and decorated at the handle with a row of
ornaments which seem to be conventional imitations of the human face
(see fig. 2). The wood of which these paddles are made is light, though
strong and elastic; and, as the implement is sometimes used as a club,
both these last-mentioned characteristics are needed.
Captain Cook noticed the peculiar shape of these paddles, though
he does not appear to have handled them, or to have examined them
carefully. “The canoe they came in (which was the only one we saw) was
not above ten feet long and very narrow, but both strong and neatly
made. The fore-part had a board fastened over it and projecting out,
so as to prevent the sea from getting in on plunging ... but it had an
upright stern about five feet high, like some in new Zealand, and the
upper part of this stern-post was forked. The lower part of the canoe
was of white wood, but the upper was black, and their paddles made of
wood of the same color, not above three feet long, broad at one end and
blunted.”
Another paddle was brought to England by the late Admiral Young, and
presented to me by his daughter. It is not so large as the specimens
which have been just described, but is the most delicately carved
specimen I have ever seen. The wood of which it is made is a very rich
dark brown, and takes a high polish, so that the effect of the carving
is peculiarly good. The blade is covered with a vast number of stars,
wonderfully well carved, seeing that the native maker had no compasses
by which to take his measurement, and that his only tools were sharks’
teeth and bits of stone. The maker has spared no pains over this trophy
of his skill, and, as if to show his own fertility of invention, he
has not covered the whole of the shaft with the same pattern, as is
the case with the two paddles that have just been described, but has
changed the pattern every few inches. I have also a much smaller and
shorter paddle, not quite three feet in length, which is made with
equal care, but which is not intended so much for use in propelling
boats as for ornament in dancing.
The love of ornamentation is displayed in all their manufactures, which
are decorated in a manner equally elaborate and artistic. Even their
drinking cups, which are made from cocoa-nut shells, are covered with
carved patterns of a nature similar to those of the paddles.
The reader will remark that many Polynesians adorn with carving the
handles of their tools and weapons, examples of which have been given
in the preceding pages. The Hervey Islanders, however, leave no portion
of the implement without carving, and, in many instances sacrifice
utility to ornament. This is generally the case with the adze handles,
many of which are so extremely ornamental that it is not easy to see
how they can be useful.
The specimen which is represented on page 1018 (adze magnified),
is a good example of such an adze. The lower part of the handle is
completely hollow, the native manufacturer having contrived to cut
away the wood through the intervals between the upright pillars. As
these intervals are not quite the third of an inch in width, the labor
of removing the interior of the handle must have been very great, and
the work exceedingly tedious. Even with European tools it would be a
difficult piece of workmanship, and its difficulty is greatly enhanced
by the fact that the native who carved it had nothing but a sharp
stone or a shark’s tooth lashed to a handle by way of a knife. This
particular specimen has been in England for many years, and must have
been made before the introduction of European tools among the natives.
The head of the adze is made of stone, and is lashed to the handle in a
way exactly like that which is employed by the New Zealanders, except
that it is far more elaborate. As if desirous of giving himself as much
trouble as possible, the maker has employed the finest plaited sinnet,
not wider than packthread and quite flat, and has laid it on the tool
in a manner so elaborate that to give a proper idea of it the artist
must have occupied an entire page with his drawing. Suffice it to say
that the illustration gives a good general idea of the mode in which
the head is lashed to the handle. The sinnet is laid as regularly as if
wound by machinery, and the native artist has contrived to produce the
most extraordinary effects with it, throwing the various portions into
a simulated perspective, and making the lashing look as if there were
four distinct layers, one above another.
Between the stone of the adze head and the wood of the handle is placed
a piece of very strong tappa cloth, which seems to have been laid on
while wet, so that the bands of sinnet have pressed it well together,
and aided in strengthening the junction. The end of this tappa is seen
projecting on the upper part of the head, just where it is joined to
the handle. That such an implement as this should have been intended
for use seems most unlikely, and I believe that it has only been
constructed as a sample of the maker’s skill. Sometimes adzes of a
similar character are made, the handles of which are from four to five
feet long, and carved with a pierced pattern throughout their entire
length, so that they could not have been intended for hard work.
A similar elaborate ornamentation is found upon the Hervey Islanders’
spears, one of which is shown in the illustration entitled “Spear,” on
the 1018th page.
The spear, which is in my collection, is rather more than ten feet in
length, and beautifully made. The shaft is very straight, very slender,
and highly polished, but without any carving; indeed, it is so slight
that it could not bear any pattern to be carved upon it. The ornament
is therefore confined to the many-barbed head, which is a beautiful
specimen of savage art.
By referring to the illustration, the reader will see that just
below the first set of barbs the wood of the spear swells into a
slightly oval form. This portion of the head is covered with carving,
necessarily very shallow, but sufficient for ornament. Between the
various sets of barbs the spear is wrapped with very narrow strips of
some reed, which is highly polished and of a bright yellow color, so
that the contrast between the dark wood of the barbs and the shining
yellow of the wrapping is very striking. In spite of the large size of
the head, the spear is well balanced, the length of the slender and
elastic shaft acting as a counterpoise; and altogether the weapon is
as formidable as it is elegant.
Their clubs are ornamented in a similar manner. Mr. Williams describes
one of a very curious form. It was carved like the club, fig. 1, on
page 949, but was bent nearly at right angles, rather beyond the
junction of the handle with the head, and was ornamented with a great
bunch of long and slender feathers. Slings of great length and power
are used by these people.
According to the accounts of this missionary, the inhabitants of
Mangaia can use their weapons with great skill and courage. They do not
try to hide behind trees and bushes, and take their foes by surprise,
but boldly meet them in the open field. When two parties meet, they
form themselves into four lines. The warriors who compose the first
row are armed with the long spears which have just been described, the
second rank carry clubs, the third are furnished with slings, and the
fourth rank is composed of the women, who carry additional weapons, in
case the men should be disarmed, together with a supply of small stones
for the slingers. This arrangement of forces is represented in the
battle scene given on the opposite page.
Sometimes the women take an active part in the fray. One young chief
told Mr. Williams that in one battle he was fiercely assailed by the
wife of his antagonist. He told her to desist, as he had not come to
fight with women. However, she would not listen to him, and exclaiming,
“If you kill my husband, what shall I do?” flung a stone at him, which
struck him to the ground. Had it not been for the prompt assistance of
his own people, who came to the rescue, he would assuredly have lost
his life through this woman’s fury.
The people are apt to be ferocious in battle, and Mr. Williams mentions
that several of his converts forgot the maxims of Christianity in the
excitement of battle, and killed their vanquished enemies in spite
of their entreaties for mercy. In all probability, these people were
carrying out some feeling of vengeance, according to the custom of
these islands.
Throughout the greater part of Polynesia the friends or relatives of
the murdered man are bound to avenge his death by killing the murderer,
if they can secure him, or at all events by killing one of his family.
The family of the victim then retaliate in their turn, so that when a
man goes into battle he mostly has a number of feuds on his hands. Like
the Corsican Vendetta, if such a feud cannot be carried out in a man’s
lifetime, he bequeaths it to his son, so that it may be carried on for
any number of generations.
This savage custom has stood greatly in the way of the missionaries.
They found no very great difficulty in persuading the people that to
harbor malice against another, who might be totally innocent, was
exceedingly wrong, and that they ought to abandon the feud. But the
new converts argued that it was very unfair to demand that they should
abandon their feuds against others while the feuds against themselves
were still in operation.
[Illustration: (1.) THE BATTLE. (See page 1034.)]
[Illustration: (2.) VILLAGE IN THE KINGSMILL ISLANDS. (See page
1038.)]
In their architecture the Mangaians display the same love of carving
which has already been mentioned. Mr. Williams thus describes a
building which had been erected for him, and which was large enough to
hold sixteen hundred persons:--
“It was a fine building, of an oval shape, about one hundred and twenty
feet in length. The large posts which supported the roof (eight in
number), the ridge-pole, and the rafters were most beautifully carved,
and tastefully colored with various native preparations.
“It is impossible, however, so to describe them as to enable the
reader to form a correct idea of their appearance, or of the taste and
ingenuity displayed in their execution. These posts were twenty-five
feet high, and from twelve to eighteen inches square, and when
we considered the tools with which the work was done, which were
principally old nails, pieces of iron hoop, and a few chisels, we were
amazed both at the patience and skill of the carvers. The effect on
entering the place was very striking.”
On the shores of this island fish appear to be less plentiful than is
generally the case, and the inhabitants are obliged to have resort to
various modes of procuring and preserving food. For example, when they
have caught a large quantity of flying fish, they do not eat them at
once, but dry them in wood smoke, much as herrings are cured among
ourselves. They have an ingenious method of catching these fish by
night. The boatmen go out in their double canoes, supplied with torches
and large ring nets fastened to the end of handles ten or twelve feet
long. They stamp on their canoes so as to make a noise, which is
communicated to the water and alarms the fish, and at the same time
wave their torches about. According to their instinct, the flying fish
dart out of the water toward the light, and are easily captured in the
nets.
Rats form a most valued portion of their diet. When the missionaries
first visited Mangaia, the natives were so fond of this food that
they measured all other kinds of diet by comparison with rats’ flesh.
Indeed, the flesh of these animals is far better than is generally
supposed. Several English rat-catchers have learned by practical
experience the value of rat’s flesh, which is said by those who have
tried it to be equal to that of the squirrel and better than that of
the rabbit. The Mangaians caught the rats by digging a hole in the
ground, and throwing bait into it. When a sufficient number had entered
the hole, a net was thrown over the mouth of it, and the inmates
easily secured.
* * * * *
In RAROTONGA, another island of this group, the rats swarmed in such
numbers that they were not only a nuisance, but an absolute pest; and,
if it had not been for the pigs which were introduced by the Europeans,
and allowed to run wild, the rats would probably have driven the
natives out of their villages. At every meal one or two persons were
detailed for the sole purpose of keeping the rats from the provisions.
When the people sat down in their houses the rats ran over them, and
when they lay down to rest the rats had made a settlement in their bed.
At last warfare was declared against the rats, and a number of baskets
were made to contain the bodies of the slain, each basket being five or
six feet in length. The inhabitants then armed themselves with sticks,
and in an hour no less than thirty of these great baskets were filled
with dead rats. Even then no diminution seemed to have taken place
among these pests. Next, the missionaries tried the introduction of
cats, and with some success, but the most fortunate introduction that
was made was that of the pig. These animals were brought to Rarotonga
for the purpose of supplying the sailors with meat which should
supersede the flesh of the rat, and the pigs repaid their introducers
by eating every rat which came across them.
When the natives were converted to Christianity, they consulted the
missionaries, wishing to know whether the flesh of rats was unlawful
food for Christians. They evidently asked this question because they
saw that their teachers abstained from these animals. The missionaries
returned a very judicious answer to this question, by saying that
in their own country rats were not eaten, because the white man had
a repugnance to them, but that there was nothing unlawful in eating
them, and that the Mangaians might do as they pleased. The people were
satisfied with this answer, and contented themselves with passing a law
that all Christians should catch and cook their rats on Saturdays, so
as to avoid working on the Sunday.
The idols of the Hervey Islanders are very odd-looking things, and
would scarcely be recognized as objects of worship. It might naturally
be imagined that if these people bestow such pains upon their weapons
and implements, they would at least take equal pains with their gods.
Yet the gods of the Hervey Islanders are the rudest possible specimens
of native workmanship. They consist principally of a staff about
sixteen or seventeen feet in length, the upper part of which is carved
into a rude representation of a human head. On the staff are laid a few
red feathers and a string of beads, which are called the soul of the
god. Round the staff and the beads is wrapped a vast quantity of native
cloth, so as to form a slightly conical roll about a yard in diameter,
and ten feet in length. One of these idols is placed at the bow of
every canoe, and whenever the natives are out on a fishing excursion
they always make offerings to this strange deity.
THE KINGSMILL ISLANDS.
North-west of the Samoans is a group known by the name of Kingsmill
Islands. It consists of about fifteen islands, all of coral, and all
lying very low, so that they might easily escape the attention of
voyagers. As is always the case with coral islands, the navigation
among them is very dangerous. They are mostly very long in proportion
to their width, the largest of the group, called Taputeonea or Drummond
Island, being nearly forty miles in length, and in many places not a
mile in width.
The inhabitants of these islands have a character for ferocity which is
not often to be found among this race of Polynesians, and are said to
be lower in the human scale than any whom we have hitherto described.
Those of one of the group, called Pitt Island, are said to be less
liable to this charge than any other, being quiet, peaceable, and not
so perpetually at war as is the case with the inhabitants of the other
islands.
Their color is approaching nearer to black than that of the inhabitants
of Tonga and Samoa, and the people are of more moderate stature than
those of the latter group of islands. They are well made and slender,
and have black and glossy though rather fine hair. The mouth is large,
but has nothing of the negro character about it and the teeth are kept
very white. The nose is mostly aquiline, and the hair of the beard and
moustache black, and by no means coarse.
It is rather remarkable that the people of Pitt Island are not only
more quiet and peaceable than their neighbors, but are also of a
lighter hue, approaching in this respect the naturally peaceful though
courageous inhabitants of Tonga. Their faces are oval and neatly
rounded, and their features delicate. It may be that they have been
modified by the mixture with the Samoans or Tongans, who have been
blown out of their course by gales, landed on the island, and gradually
became absorbed in the community.
Architecture among the Kingsmill Islands is rather distinguished for
strength and massiveness than for beauty, the natives preferring to
employ their artistic powers on smaller objects, such as swords,
spears, and similar articles. The houses vary much in size and form
according to their uses. For example, the ordinary dwelling-house of
the Kingsmill Islanders consists of two stories, the upper part being
used as a sleeping-house, and the lower entirely open. In fact, the
houses of the Kingsmill Islands are exactly similar in principle to
those of Nicobar, which have been described on page 903.
Some of the houses wherein the chiefs sit and talk among themselves
and receive visitors are mere sheds, being nothing more than roofs
supported on poles. As is usually the case in Polynesia, there is in
every village a central council house, in which the people assemble on
stated occasions. It is of enormous dimensions, having a lofty roof
thatched with leaves and lined with matting. Several examples of their
houses are illustrated on the 1035th page, and the reader will see that
the lower part affords a complete and yet an airy refuge from the sun
in the heat of the day, while the upper part, which is too hot to be
comfortable during the daytime, forms comfortable sleeping-rooms at
night.
Dress varies much according to the particular island. Tattooing is
practised by both sexes, but the women are far less decorated than the
men, the lines being very fine and far apart. The men are tattooed
at the age of twenty, the process being always left in the hands of
professional tattooers, who, as in other islands of Polynesia, are paid
according to the celebrity which they have attained, in some cases
obtaining very large fees. They dress chiefly in mats made of the
pandanus leaf cut into narrow strips, and dyed brown and yellow. These
strips are plaited together in a very ingenious fashion so as to form
diamond or square patterns. A small cape, worn, in poncho fashion, with
a slit in the middle, through which the head passes, is worn over the
neck, and a conical cap of pandanus leaf is worn on the head.
The dress of the women consists of a petticoat of leaf-strips reaching
from the waist to the knees, and fastened by a thin rope, sometimes
five or six hundred feet in length, made of human hair. On the rope are
strung at intervals beads made of cocoa-nut and shells, ground so as to
fit closely together, and strung alternately so as to form a contrast
between the white shell and the dark cocoa-nut.
* * * * *
It has already been mentioned that the Kingsmill Islanders are a
warlike people. War, indeed, seems to be their chief business, and
indeed their whole thoughts appear to be given to fighting. Even their
principal amusement is of a combatant character. There is nothing
which delights the Kingsmill Islanders so much as cock fighting, and
large groups of the people may be seen seated in a circle, eagerly
watching the progress of the combat which is taking place in the midst.
Cock fighting is largely practised in many other countries, but is
almost invariably accompanied by betting. The Malays, for example,
are passionately fond of the sport, and wager whole fortunes upon it.
Betting, however, has no charms for the Kingsmill Islander, whose
martial soul is utterly absorbed in the fight, and does not require the
additional excitement of betting.
This being the nature of the people, it is natural that their weapons
should be of a formidable character. They are indeed exactly suitable
to the fierce and bloodthirsty people by whom they are made. Instead
of contenting himself with a club or a spear, the Kingsmill Islander
must needs arm his weapons with sharks’ teeth, which cut like so many
lancets.
The spears and swords which are shown on the 1041st page are drawn
from specimens in my collection, and are admirable examples of these
extraordinary weapons.
For want of a better word, we must use the name of sword for these
weapons, as they are constructed with edges, and are meant more for
striking than thrusting. I have often wondered that in none of these
weapons that I have seen is the point tipped with a sharp bone, such as
that of the sting-ray, or even with a shark’s tooth. Perhaps they are
formidable enough even for these ferocious islanders, as the reader may
easily infer by looking at the illustration. By the side of each figure
is a specimen of the shark’s tooth drawn on an enlarged scale, partly
to show the nature of the tooth itself, and partly to exhibit the
principal methods by which it is fastened in its place.
On referring to these illustrations, the reader will see that the
teeth are not merely sharply edged and pointed, but that their edges
are finely and regularly serrated, so that their cutting power is
greatly increased. Indeed, the weapons armed with these teeth have
such a facility of inflicting wounds that they must be handled with
the greatest caution. I have cut myself more than once with them, and
visitors who insist upon handling them generally suffer for their
curiosity.
Although these teeth are fastened to the blade of the weapon on the
same principle, the makers vary the detail according to their own
convenience. In the weapon represented in fig. 1, a slit runs along
each edge, into which the bases of the teeth fit rather tightly. A hole
is bored through the tooth, and a corresponding one through the edge
of the sword, and each tooth is fixed in its place by a piece of fine
sinnet passed repeatedly through the holes, drawn tight, and neatly
finished off. A plaited loop of broad sinnet serves to suspend the
weapon round the wrist, and a piece of the hard, ivory-like skate-skin
holds it in its place.
The next, fig. 2, shows a much more elaborate weapon, which, instead of
consisting of a single piece, has one central blade and three auxiliary
blades. Moreover, as the reader may see by carefully examining the
illustration, there are four rows of teeth instead of two on each
blade, and the teeth are larger and more deeply serrated than those of
the other weapon. In this case the maker has most ingeniously contrived
to spare himself the trouble of making a fresh tie for every tooth,
which, as upwards of two hundred teeth are employed, would have been a
very tedious business.
Firstly, he has shaped the wooden blades with four bold ridges, and cut
a slight groove along each ridge, so as to keep the teeth straight.
Instead of troubling himself to bore holes in the sword as well as
in the tooth, he has laid along the edges of each groove a strip of
elastic wood obtained from the rib of the palm leaf, which is as hard
and elastic as whalebone. The sinnet has then been passed through the
holes in the teeth, and over all them palm-leaf strips, so that one
piece of sinnet serves to fasten four teeth. As in the other case,
the sinnet is exceedingly fine, and is passed several times round
the sword. It is observable that in this weapon the teeth have been
most carefully selected and graduated, the largest and longest being
near the handle, and diminishing equally to the point, where they are
comparatively small.
The auxiliary blades diverge more than is shown in the illustration,
and it is hardly possible to imagine a more formidable weapon,
especially when employed against the naked skin of a savage. In actual
warfare the Kingsmill Islander has a mode of protecting himself, which
will be presently mentioned; but in a sudden skirmish or a quarrel
the sword would be used with terrible effect. As may be inferred from
its shape, it is not merely used as a striking weapon, but is driven
violently backward and forward against the body of the antagonist, one
or more of the blades being sure to take effect somewhere.
The next sword, fig. 3, has the teeth fixed exactly in the same manner
as those of the many-bladed sword, as may be seen by reference to
the single tooth, where is seen not only the tooth but the strips of
leaf stem between which it is placed, and the mode of fastening off
the sinnet. The wooden blade of this weapon is quite unlike that of
the others, being marked with a rich black graining, to which the
glittering white teeth form an admirable contrast.
The last of these swords, fig. 4, is remarkable for the cross-guard. I
cannot but think that the maker must have seen an European sword with
a cross-guard, and made his own in imitation of it. Otherwise, without
the least idea of the object of a guard, it is not easy to see why he
should have armed the guard with teeth, especially in the centre, or
where they come against the handle, and must be quite ineffectual.
The Kingsmill Islanders do not restrict the sharks’ teeth to the
swords, but also use them as armature to their spears. One of these
spears, also in my collection, is fifteen feet in length, and about
as formidable a weapon as can well be imagined. It is made of a very
light wood, so that it may be wielded more easily, and at the butt is
nearly as thick as a man’s wrist, tapering gradually to the point. The
butt is unarmed, and rounded for about four feet, so as to act as a
handle, but from this point to the tip it is rather flattened, like the
sword blades, for the more convenient reception of the teeth, which
are fixed along each edge nearly to the point of the weapon. The teeth
are fastened by means of the leaf ribs. In order to render it a more
dangerous weapon, it is furnished with three projections, also armed
with teeth, and made exactly like the auxiliary blades of the sword,
though much smaller.
This remarkable spear is shown in the illustration No. 2, on the next
page, accompanied by sections and a portion drawn on a larger scale,
so as to show the mode of its construction. Fig. _a_ represents the
method in which the teeth are fastened to the weapon by the sinnet
passing through the hole in the teeth and bound down by the cross
loop under the little strips of wood. At fig. _b_ is a section of the
spear, showing the oval shape of the weapon, and the mode in which the
teeth are supported by the wooden strips at each side. It is worthy
of notice, that if the jaw of a saw-fish were to be cut through the
section would present a wonderfully similar appearance.
In order to show more clearly the source whence the natives obtain such
vast numbers of sharks’ teeth, I have introduced a drawing of a shark’s
mouth on same page, taken from a specimen in my collection. The reader
will see that the jaws are furnished with row after row of teeth, all
lying upon each other, except the outer teeth, and constructed so that
when one tooth is broken or falls out of the jaw, another takes its
place.
In the jaw which is here figured, the teeth lie in five rows, and
altogether there are three hundred of them--largest toward the middle
of the jaw, and becoming gradually smaller toward the angles of the
mouth. The native, therefore, has no difficulty either in procuring the
requisite number of teeth, or in selecting them of the requisite shape
and dimensions.
That they may look more imposing in battle, the chiefs wear a cap made
of the skin of the diodon, or porcupine fish, which, when inflated, is
covered with sharp spikes projecting in every direction, and upon this
cap is fixed a bunch of feathers. Both sexes fight in battle, and both
are killed indiscriminately, women and children being slaughtered as
well as the warriors.
The chiefs, of whom mention has just been made, are the principal
persons in the islands. With one exception, there is no chief who is
looked upon as a king, ruling over subordinate chiefs, each being
independent of the other. Government is carried on by a council of
chiefs, the eldest taking the first place, and the others being
reckoned by seniority. To this council are referred crimes of great
importance, while those of lesser moment are left to be punished by
the offended person and the relatives. The solitary exception to the
independence of the chiefs is in the three islands Apamama, Nanouki,
and Koria, which are governed by the chief of Apamama.
Each chief has a mark peculiar to himself, and when a stranger arrives,
and can place himself under the protection of a chief, he receives the
mark of his protector. The symbol is a very simple one, and consists of
a patch on the forehead, made of some colored paint, and a stripe drawn
down the middle of the face as far as the chin. Next in rank to the
chiefs come the land-holders, and the slaves form the third and last
division of the people.
In order to accommodate the council of chiefs and the people in their
public assemblies, there is in every village a central town-house,
called the Mariapa. It is built very much after the fashion of the
Samoan houses, having an enormous arched roof, and the walls being
composed of posts and matting. It might be thought from their warlike
and ferocious character that the Kingsmill Islanders are cannibals.
Such, however, is not the case. It is very true that in some instances
portions of a human body have been eaten. For example, if a celebrated
warrior is killed, the victors sometimes cook the body, and each eats
a small portion of it. This however is done, not from any predilection
for human flesh, but from a feeling of revenge, and probably from
some underlying notion that those who partake of such food also add
to themselves a portion of the courage which once animated the body.
Animated by the same spirit, they preserve the skulls of such warriors,
and use them as drinking vessels.
The skulls of the dead are always preserved by their friends, provided
that they have died natural deaths, or their bodies been recovered in
battle. The body is first laid out on mats for eight days, being every
day washed, oiled, and laid out in the sunshine at noon, while the
friends mourn, dance, and sing praises of the dead. The body is then
buried for a time, and lastly, the skull is removed, cleaned, oiled,
and stowed away. Each family preserve the skulls of their ancestors,
and, occasionally, bring them out, oil them afresh, wreathe them
with flowers, and set food before them. When a family change their
residence, they take the skulls with them.
[Illustration: (1.) SHARK’S JAW. (See page 1040.)]
[Illustration: (2.) SHARK TOOTH SPEAR. (See page 1040.)
SHARKS TEETH
ENLARGED PIECE OF SPEAR
SECTION
SECTION]
[Illustration: (3.) SWORDS OF KINGSMILL ISLANDERS. (See page 1039.)
SHARKS TOOTH
SECTION]
In one portion of the Kingsmill group, Pitt Island, or Makin, there
exists the most extraordinary funeral ceremony in the world. The body
is washed, oiled, exposed to the sun, and wailed over, as already
related. But, after the first wailing, it is laid on a new mat spread
over a great oblong plate or tray made of tortoise-shell sewed
together. A number of persons seat themselves opposite each other on
the floor of the house, and support the plate on their knees as long
as they are able. When they are tired, they are relieved by others,
and thus the body is borne by friends and relations for two years, the
bearers relieving each other at intervals. During this time a fire is
kept burning in the house, and is never extinguished night or day.
After the two years have expired, the head is removed, and the skull
cleaned and preserved, as has been already mentioned, and not until
that time are the bones wrapped up in mats and buried. The place where
the warriors have been interred is marked with three stones.