Dress and Ornament
Dress.
The perineal band, made of bark cloth, is the one article of dress
which is universally worn by both men and women.
These bands are made by both men and women, but are coloured by men
only. They are commonly unstained and undecorated; but some of them,
and especially those worn for visiting and at dances, are more or
less decorated. Some that I have noticed are stained in one colour
covering the whole garment; others in two colours arranged in alternate
transverse bands, sometimes with narrow spaces of unstained cloth
between; and again others have bands of one colour alternating with
bands of unstained cloth. Some are decorated with lines or groups
of lines of one colour, or alternating lines or groups of lines of
two colours, painted transversely across the cloth. Others, while
simply stained in one colour or stained or decorated in one of the
ways above described, have another simple terminal design near the
end of the garment.
The men's bands are usually small and narrow, as compared with those
worn by the Roro and Mekeo people; and the women's bands seemed to me
to be generally even narrower than those of the men, particularly in
front. Men's bands, which I have measured, were about 6 inches wide at
one end, narrowing down to about 3 inches at the other; and the widths
of women's bands were 4 or 5 inches or less at one end, narrowing
down to about 2 inches at the other. But the bands of both men and
women, especially those of the latter, often become so crumpled up and
creased with wear that the portion passing between the legs dwindles
down to about an inch or less in width. One is tempted to think, as
regards both men and women, that, from the point of view of covering,
the bands might be dispensed with altogether. This remark applies
still more strongly to the case of young boys and unmarried girls,
including among the latter big full-grown girls, who are in fact
fully developed women, whose bands can hardly be regarded as being
more than nominal, and who, especially the girls and young women,
and even sometimes married women who are nursing their babies, can
really only be described as being practically naked.
Plate 13 (Figs, 1, 2, and 3) illustrates the staining and decoration
of perineal bands. [33] Fig. 1 is a section of a man's band about
6 inches wide. The transverse lines, which extend along the whole
length of the band, are in alternate groups of black and red. The
background is unevenly stained yellow behind the black lines; but the
background behind the red lines and the spaces intervening between the
groups of lines are unstained. Fig. 2 is the pattern near the end of
a woman's band about 5 inches wide. The lines are coloured red. There
is no pattern on the rest of the band; but the whole of the band,
including the background of the pattern, is stained yellow. Fig. 3 is
a section of a woman's band about 2 1/2 inches wide. The colouring
is in alternate bands of red and yellow with irregular unstained
spaces between.
I was struck with the gradual reduction of the women's dress as I
travelled from the coast, with its Roro inhabitants, through Mekeo,
and thence by Lapeka and Ido-ido to Dilava, and on by Deva-deva to
Mafulu. The petticoats of the Roro women gave way to the shorter
ones of Mekeo, and these seemed to get shorter as I went further
inland. Then at Lapeka they were still shorter. At Ido-ido, which
is Kuni, the petticoats ceased, and there was only the perineal
band. Then, again, at Dilava (still Kuni) this band was narrower,
and at Deva-deva, and finally at Mafulu, it was often, as I have said,
almost nominal.
I was told that the age at which a boy usually begins to wear his
band is about 10 or 12, or in the case of a chief's son 16 or 17;
but that girls assume their bands at a somewhat earlier age, say at
7 or 8. So far as my personal observation went I should have thought
that the usual maximum age of nakedness for both boys and girls was
rather younger, and I never saw a naked boy of an age anything like 16.
The assumption of the perineal band is the subject of a ceremony
which will be dealt with hereafter.
Caps are very often worn by men, but not by women or children. These
are simply pieces of plain unstained bark cloth about 9 inches wide,
which are coiled and twisted on the head. The result is often a
shapeless mass; but there are methods of arranging the cloth in
definite ways which produce describable results. Sometimes the cloth
is merely coiled several times around the head, so as to produce
a tall thin turban-shaped band, the crown of the head being left
uncovered. Often this plan is extended by turning the end of the
cloth over, so as to cover the top of the head, thus producing in
some cases a result which resembles a fez, and in other cases one
which looks more like a tight skullcap. Again the cap often has its
centre terminating in an end or tassel hanging over, thus making it
look like a cap of liberty; and yet again I have seen the cap look
almost like the square paper caps often worn by certain artisans at
home. These caps are seen in several of the plates.
Abdominal belts are commonly worn by both men and women, but not as
a rule by children. There are several distinct forms of these:--
(1) A thick strong dark-coloured belt (Plate 14, Fig. I) made of tree
bark; made and worn by men only. The belt is about 3 or more inches
wide and is often so long that it passes twice round the body, the
outer end being fastened to the coil beneath it by two strings. This
form of belt is sometimes ornamented with simple straight-lined
geometric patterns carved into the belt, but it is never coloured. The
process of manufacture is as follows: they cut off a strip of bark
large enough for one, two, three, or four belts, and coil it up in
concentric circles, like the two circles of the belt when worn. They
then place it so coiled into water, and leave it there to soak for
a few days, after which they strip off the outer part, leaving the
smooth inner bark, which they dry, and finally cut into the required
lengths, to which they add the attachment strings made of native fibre.
(2) A belt made of a material looking like split cane and thin strips
from the fibre of what I was told was a creeping plant [34]; made
and worn by men only. The latter material is obtained by splitting
the fibre into thin strips. These strips and the strips of split
cane-like material are rather coarse in texture. The former are of
a dull red-brown colour (natural, not produced by staining) and the
latter are stone-yellow. The two are plaited together in geometric
patterns. The width of the belt is about 2 inches. It only passes once
round the man's body; and the plaiting is finished with the belt on
the body, so that it can only afterwards be removed by unplaiting or
cutting it off.
(3) A belt (Plate 14, Fig. 2) made of stone-yellow unsplit cane;
made and worn by both men and women. This is the simplest form of
belt, being merely a strip of cane intertwined (not plaited) so as
to form a band about half an inch wide, and left the natural colour
of the cane. Both men and women, when short of food, use this belt
to reduce the pain of hunger, by tightening it over the stomach. It
is, therefore, much worn during a period of restricted diet prior to
a feast. Women also use it, along with their other ordinary means,
to bring about abortion, the belt being for this purpose drawn very
tightly round the body. Often two, or even three, such belts are
worn together.
(4) A belt (Plate 14, Fig. 3) made of coarse, sometimes very coarse,
stone-yellow split cane or cane-like material; made and worn by men
only. This belt is left the natural colour of the material, which is
plaited so as to form a band from half an inch to 2 inches broad, the
two ends of which are bound together with cane. It also, like No. 2,
is finished on the body. A man will often wear two or three of these
belts together.
(5) A belt (Plate 15, Fig. i) made out of the inner fibre of a creeping
plant [35]; made and worn by men only. The fibre threads used for
this belt are very fine, so the plaiting is minute, instead of being
coarse like that of No. 2; but it is generally done rather loosely
and openly. The belt is usually about 2 inches wide or a trifle less
and is often plaited in slightly varying geometric patterns. It is
not stained in manufacture, but the natural stone-grey colour of the
fibre soon becomes tinted as the result of wear and the staining of
the wearer's body, and in particular it often becomes an ornamental
red. This belt also is finished on the man's body.
(6) A belt (Plate 15, Fig. 2) made of the inner fibre of what I was
told was another creeping plant [36] and the stem of a plant which
I believe to be one of the Dendrobiums [37]; made and worn by men
only. The fibres of the former plant are stained black; the reedy stems
of the other plant are put in short bamboo stems filled with water,
and then boiled. They are then easily split up into flattish straws,
and become a colour varying from rather bright yellow to brown. For
making the belt these two materials, looking rather like black and
bright yellow straw, are plaited together in various geometrical
patterns. The width of the belt is 2 inches, or a trifle more. It is
tied at the ends with fibre string.
(7) A rather special form of belt (Plate 15, Fig. 3) used mainly for
visiting and dancing; made and worn by both men and women. The belt is
made out of a hank of loose separate strands between 4 and 5 feet long,
tied together with string or bark cloth at two opposite points, so as
to form a belt of between 2 feet and 2 feet 6 inches in length. For
better description I would liken it to a skein of wool, as it looks
when held on the hands of one person for the purpose of being wound
off into a ball by someone else, but which, instead of being wound
off, is tied up at the two points where it passes round the hands of
the holder, and is then pulled out into a straight line of double the
original number of strands, and so forms a single many-stranded belt
of 2 feet or more in length. It is fastened round the waist with a
piece of bark cloth attached to one of the points where the hank has
been tied up. [38]
The number of strands is considerable. Belts examined by me and counted
gave numbers varying from eighteen to thirty-five, and the number of
strands of the belt round the body would be double that. Each strand
is made of three parts plaited together, and is one-eighth of an inch
or less in width. Various materials, including all the materials
used for armlets (see below), are employed for making these belts,
some for one and some for another. Sometimes a belt has its strands
all plaited out of one material only, in which case the belt will
be all of one colour. Sometimes its strands are plaited out of two
different coloured materials. There is no colouring of the belt,
except that of its strands.
Belt No. 1, as worn, is seen in Plates 9 and 11. Belt No. 3 is worn by
the man at the extreme right in Plate 16. It is worn by many of the
women figured in the plates, and several of them have two belts. One
of the women figured in Plates 18 and 19 has three of them. Belt No. 4
is worn by one of the men figured in Plates 7 and 8 (he has three of
them). Belt No. 7 is worn by one or two of the women figured in the
frontispiece, the one to the extreme right having a many-stranded belt,
and it is excellently illustrated in Plate 17.
Capes made of bark cloth are made and worn by men and women. They are
only put on after recovery from an illness by which the wearer has
been laid up, including childbirth. The cape is simply a plain long
narrow piece of undyed bark cloth. The corners of one end are fastened
together, and the whole of that end is bunched up into a sort of hood,
which is placed over the head, whilst the rest of the cloth hangs
down as a narrow strip behind. The cape in no way covers or conceals
any part of the body when viewed from the front or side. It is only
worn for a few days; but whilst wearing it the wearer discards all,
or nearly all, his or her ornaments. I could learn no reason for the
custom. Plates 18 and 19 show these capes, and the way in which they
are worn.
Mourning strings (Plate 30, Fig. 1) are made and worn by both men and
women. These are plain undecorated necklaces varying much in size and
appearance; sometimes they are made of undyed twisted bark cloth, and
vary in thickness from one-sixteenth of an inch to an inch; sometimes
they are only made of string, and are quite thin. There is always
an end or tassel to the necklace, made out of the extremities of the
neck part, and hanging in front over the chest; and, if the necklace
is of string, and not of bark cloth, some bark cloth is twisted round
this tassel. This sign of grief is after a death worn by the widow or
widower or other nearest relative (male or female) of the deceased;
and at times two people of equal degree of relationship will both wear
it. It is worn until the formal ending of the mourning. The woman to
the extreme right in Plate 26 is wearing one of these.
Widows' vests. These are mourning garments, only worn by the widows of
chiefs. The garment, which is made by women, is a vest made of string
network (like a string bag), the mesh of which is the special Mafulu
mesh, which will be described hereafter, and it is not coloured. It
is plainly and simply made, with openings at the top for the neck,
and at the sides for the arms (no sleeves), and coming down to
about the waist, without any other opening either in front or at the
back. This garment is also worn until the formal end of the period
of mourning. [39] I was unable to secure a picture of one of these.
There is no special dress for chiefs to distinguish them from other
people.
European calico clothing has not been adopted by these people, even
in the district where they are in touch with the missionaries. Indeed
I may say that the people, happily for their own health, show no
inclination to wear more clothing; and no doubt as a result of their
conservatism in this respect they escape many a fatal cold and attack
of pneumonia, and the spread of infectious skin diseases is somewhat
reduced. I may also add that the Bishop and Fathers of the Mission
do not attempt, or seem to desire, to urge the people who come under
their influence to endanger their health and their lives for the sake
of conforming to views as to clothing which have played such havoc
with tropical natives in many parts of the globe. [40]
Physical Body Decoration, &c.
Tattooing and body-scarring are not practised by either men or women
among the Mafulu.
Depilation. When a young man's beard begins to grow, the hairs
of the beard and moustache and eye-brows are extracted. No other
depilation is practised by men, and none whatever by women; and none
of them shave any part of the body. The depilation is effected with
two fibre threads twisted round each other, the hair to be extracted
being inserted between the threads. Anyone can do this, and there is
no ceremony connected with it.
Nose-piercing. The septa of the noses of both men and women are
pierced at or after the age of 15 or 18, and either before or after
marriage. This is done for men by men, and for women by women. There
is no special person whose duty it is to do it, but he or she must
be one who knows the incantations which are required. There is no
restriction as to diet or otherwise placed upon the operator prior
to the operation, but there is a day's food restriction imposed upon
the person whose nose is to be pierced.
Two instruments are used for the operation, one being a piercing
instrument made of pig bone and sharpened, and the other being a small
wooden plug, also sharpened. The operator first visibly, but silently,
engages in two incantations, during the former of which he holds up
the thumb and first finger of his right hand, and during the latter
of which he holds up the two instruments. He then with the thumb
and first finger of his right hand holds the septum of the nose of
the person to be operated upon, whom I will call the "patient," and
with the left hand pierces the septum with the bone instrument. He
next inserts the wooden plug into the hole, so as to make it larger,
and leaves the plug there. Then he takes a blade of grass, which he
also inserts through the hole, by the side of the plug, and, holding
the grass by the two ends, he makes it rotate round and round the
plug. This is a painful process, which frequently causes tears and
cries from the patient. He then probably goes through the same process
with various other patients, as it is the custom to operate on several
persons at the same time.
The patients are then all lodged in houses built for the purpose, one
house being for men and one for women. These are not houses which are
kept permanently standing, but are specially built on each occasion
on which the nose-boring operation is going to be performed. A great
swelling of the patients' noses develops, and this spreads more or
less over their faces. The patients are confined in the special houses
until the holes in their noses are large enough and the wounds are
healed. During this confinement each patient has himself to do what
is requisite to further enlarge the hole by the insertion into it from
time to time of pieces of wood and by putting in rolled up leaves and
pushing pieces of wood inside these leaves. During all this period he
is not allowed to come out of the house, at all events not so as to be
seen, and his diet is confined to sweet potato, cooked in a certain
way. The cooking for all the patients, men and women, is done by the
woman nose-piercing operator, assisted by other women. The potatoes
are wrapped up in leaves (usually banana), each potato being generally
wrapped up separately in one or more leaves; and, when so wrapped up,
they are cooked in red-hot ashes, and then taken to the houses where
the patients are.
When the hole in any patient's nose has reached the requisite size,
and the wound is healed, he inserts a large croton leaf [41] into
the hole; he may then come out and return to his own house, retaining
the croton leaf in his nose. He must next occupy himself in searching
for a black non-poisonous snake about 12 or 18 inches long, which is
commonly found in the grass. I cannot say what snake this is, but
I am advised that it is probably _Tropidonotus mairii_. Its native
name is _fal' ul' obe_, which means "germ of the ground." Until he
finds this snake he must keep the croton leaf in his nose, and is
still under the same restriction as to food, which is cooked in the
same way and by the same persons as before. On finding the snake,
he secures it alive, removes the croton leaf from the hole in his
nose, and inserts into it the tail end of the living snake; then,
holding the head of the snake in one of his hands, and the tail in
the other, he draws the snake slowly through the hole, until its head
is close to the hole. He then lets the head drop from his hand, and
with a quick movement of the other hand draws it through the nose,
and throws the snake, still living, away. [42] This completes the
nose-piercing; but there still rests upon the patient the duty of
going to the river, and there catching an eel, which he gives to the
people who have been feeding him during his illness.
The nose-piercing is generally done at one of the big feasts; and,
as these are rare in any one village, you usually find in the villages
many fully-grown people whose noses have not been pierced; though as
to this I may say that nose-piercing is more generally indulged in by
chiefs and important people and their families than by the village rank
and file. It commonly happens, however, that a good many people have
to be done when the occasion arises. Each person to be operated upon
has to provide a domestic pig for the big feast. I have been unable
to discover the origin and meaning of the nose-piercing ceremony. [43]
Ear-piercing is done to both men and women, generally when quite young,
say at seven or twelve years of age. Both the lower and the upper lobes
are pierced, sometimes only one or the other, and sometimes both;
but the lower lobe is the one more commonly pierced. They can do it
themselves, or can get someone else to do it. There is no ceremony. The
piercing is done with the thorn of a tree, and the hole is afterwards
gradually widened by the insertion of small pieces of wood. They never
make large holes, or enlarge them greatly afterwards, as the holes are
only used for the hanging of pendants, and not for the insertion of
discs. After the piercing the patient must, until the wound is healed,
abstain from all food except sweet potato; but there is no restriction
as to the way in which this food is to be cooked, or the person who
is to cook it. There is as regards ear-piercing no difference between
the case of chiefs' children and those of other people.
Body-staining is usual with both men and women, who do it for
themselves, or get others to help them. There is no ceremony
in connection with it. The colours generally adopted are red,
greyish-yellow and black. The red stain is procured from an earth,
which is obtained from the low countries; but they themselves also
have an earth which is used, and produces a more bronzy red. The
yellow stain is also got from an earth. All these coloured earths
are worked into a paste with water, or with animal fat, if they can
get it. I think they also get a red stain from the fruit of a species
of Pandanus; but I am not quite clear as to this. The black stain is
obtained from crushed vegetable ashes mixed with fat or water. The
staining of the face is usually of a simple character. It may cover
the whole face all in one colour or in different colours, and often
one side of the face is stained one colour, and the other side another
colour. They also make stripes and spots or either of them of any
colour or colours on any part of the face. The red colour (I think
especially that obtained from the Pandanus fruit) is also often applied
in staining the whole body, this being especially done for dances and
visiting; though a young dandy will often do it at other times. The
black is the symbol of mourning, and will be referred to hereafter.
Hairdressing may be conveniently dealt with here. The Mafulu
hairdressing is quite simple and rough, very different from the
big, spreading, elaborately prepared and carefully combed mops of
Mekeo. This is a factor which a traveller in this part of New Guinea
may well bear in mind in connection with his impedimenta, as he has
no difficulty in getting the Kuni and Mafulu people to carry packages
on their heads, which the Mekeo folk are unwilling to do.
The modes in which the men dress their hair, so far as I was able to
notice, may be roughly divided into the following categories:--(_a_)
A simple crop of hair either cut quite close or allowed to grow fairly
long, or anything between these two, but not dressed in any way,
and probably uncombed, unkempt and untidy. This is the commonest
form. (_b_) The same as (_a_), but with a band round the hair,
separating the upper part of it from the lower, and giving the former
a somewhat chignon-like appearance, (_c_) The hair done up all over
the head in three-stranded plaits a few inches long, and about an
eighth of an inch thick, having the appearance of short thick pieces
of string, (_d_) The top of the head undressed, but the sides, and
sometimes the back, of the head done up in plaits like (_c_). (_e_)
A manufactured long shaped fringe of hair, human, but not the hair
of the wearer (Plate 20, Fig. 3), is often worn over the forehead,
just under the wearer's own hair, so as to form, as it were, a part
of it, pieces of string being attached to the ends of the fringe
and passed round the back of the head, where they are tied. These
fringes are made by tying a series of little bunches of hair close
to one another along the double string, which forms the base of the
fringe. Specimens examined by me were about 12 inches long and 1 1/4
inches wide (this width being the length of the bunches of hair),
and contained about twenty bunches. It is usual to have two or three
of these strings of bunches of hair tied together at the ends, thus
making one broad fringe. These fringes are often worn in connection
with styles (_c_) and (_d_) of hairdressing; but I never noticed them
in association with (_a_) and (_b_).
I was told that men who have become bald sometimes wear complete
artificial wigs, though I never saw an example of this.
The hairdressing of the women seemed to be similar to that of the men,
except that I never saw the chignon-producing band, that they do not
wear fringes, and that the entire or partial plaiting of the hair is
more frequently adopted by them than it is by the men. I do not know
whether the women ever indulge in entire wigs.
Method (_a_) is seen in many of the plates. Method (_b_) is
illustrated, though not very well, in Plate 9 (the fourth and
fifth man from the left) and in Plate 21 (the young man to the
left, behind). Method (_c_) is adopted by four of the women in the
frontispiece, by some of the women in Plate 16, by the woman in Plate
17, and by the little girl in Plates 22 and 23. Method (_d_) is well
illustrated by the second woman from the right in the frontispiece.
The cutting of the hair of both men and women is effected with sharp
pieces of stone of the sort used for making adze blades, or with
sharp pieces of bamboo or shell.
Infant deformation is not practised in any form by the Mafulu people;
nor do they circumcise their children.
Ornaments.
The string-like plaits in which men and women arrange their
hair, and especially those of the women, are often decorated with
ornaments. Small cowrie and other shells, or native or European beads,
or both, are strung by women on to these plaits, sometimes in a line
along all or the greater part of the length of the plait, sometimes
as a pendant at the end of it, and sometimes in both ways; and any
other small ornamental object may be added. Dogs' teeth are also
used by both men and women in the same way; but these are, I think,
more commonly strung in line along the plaits, rather than suspended
at the ends of them. Both men and women wear suspended at the ends
of these plaits wild betel-nut fruit, looking like elongated acorns;
and men, but not women, wear in the same way small pieces of cane, an
inch or two long, into which the ends of the plaits are inserted. All
these forms of decoration may be found associated together. They are
in the case of men usually confined to the plaits at the sides, being
also often attached to the side ends of the artificial fringes; but
they are sometimes used for the back of the head also. The women often
wear them also at the top of the head, and in wearing them at the sides
sometimes have them hanging in long strings reaching to the shoulders.
Plate 24 (Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6) and Plate 25 (Figs. 2 and 4) are
ornamented plaits cut off the heads of women. The ornaments shown
include beads, shells, discs made out of shells, dogs' teeth and
betel-nut fruit. Plate 24 (Figs. 3 and 4) are ornamented plaits cut
off the heads of men, one of them having a cane pendant, and the
other a pendant of betel-nut.
The appearance of these things, as worn, is seen in Plates 16, 26,
27, 28 and 29 (the habit of wearing a single dog-tooth at each side
of the head, as shown by 27, being a common one, and 28 showing
the equally common habit of wearing a couple of betel-nuts at each
side). Their appearance, when worn in abundance for a festal dance,
is excellently shown in the frontispiece and in Plate 17; and the
little girl in Plates 22 and 23, though too young to be a dancer,
is decorated for an occasion.
Pigs' tails are a common head decoration for women, and are also worn,
though not so frequently, by men. These tails are covered with the
natural hair of the tail, and are brown-coloured. They are suspended
by strings passing round the crown of the head or from the plaits at
the sides of the head. They are generally only about 6 inches long;
but sometimes the ornaments into which they are made are much longer,
and I have seen them worn by women hanging down as far as the level
of the breast. These pigtails are sometimes worn hanging in clusters
of several tails. They are also often, in the case of women, decorated
with shells, beads, dogs' teeth, etc., which are attached like tassels
to their upper ends. [44]
Plate 30, Fig. 3 shows a pigtail ornament for hanging over the head,
with the tails suspended on both sides and strings of beads and dogs'
teeth hanging from the upper ends of the tails. The ornament is worn
by the middle man in Plate 9 and by the little girl figured in Plates
22 and 23, and it is seen more extensively worn by women decorated
for dancing in the frontispiece and in Plate 17, and by the girl in
Plate 71.
A peculiar and less usual sort of head ornament (Plate 30, Fig. 4),
worn by both men and women, is a cluster of about a dozen or less of
bark cloth strings, about 1 1/2 feet long, fastened together at the
top, and there suspended by a string tied round the top of the head,
so as to hang down like the lashes of a several-thonged whip over the
back. The individual strings of the cluster are quite thin, but they
are decorated with the yellow and brown straw-like material above
referred to in connection with abdominal belt No. 6 (being prepared
from the same plant, apparently Dendrobium, and in the same way),
the material being twisted in a close spiral round the strings, and
making them look, when seen from a short distance off, like strings
of very small yellow and brown beads, irregularly arranged in varying
lengths of the two colours, shading off gradually from one to the
other. Even when so bound round, these strings are only about 1/16
to 1/8 of an inch thick.
The Mafulu comb (Plate 30, Fig. 2) differs in construction from
the wooden combs, all made in one piece, which are commonly used in
Mekeo. It is made of four, five, or six thin pieces of wood, which are
left blunt at one end, but are sharpened to points at the other. These
are bound together with straw-like work, sometimes beautifully done,
the binding being nearly always near to the blunt ends, though it
is sometimes almost in the middle. [45] The combs so made are flat,
with the blunt ends converging and generally fastened together, and
the long sharp ends, which are the ends to be inserted into the hair,
spreading outwards. The bound-up blunt ends are in fact a point, or,
say, half an inch or less (occasionally more) across. The spread of
the sharp ends varies from 1 to 2 inches or more. The straw-like
binding may be light or dark brown, or partly one and partly the
other. Sometimes only the two outside prongs meet together at the blunt
end, and the inner prongs do not extend much, or at all, beyond the
upper edge of the straw-like work binding. The fastening together of
the blunt converging tips is done sometimes with native thread just
at the tips, and sometimes with a little straw work rather further
down; occasionally it is missing altogether. The comb figured is not
so converging at the blunt ends or so spreading at the sharp ends
as is usual, and its blunt ends are not bound together. These combs
are only worn by men; they are commonly worn in front, projecting
forwards over the forehead, as is done in Mekeo; but they are also
worn at the back of the head, projecting sideways to either right or
left. A feather (generally a white cockatoo feather), or sometimes two
feathers, are often inserted into the straw-like work of the comb,
so as to stand up vertically when the comb is worn, and there wave,
or rather wag, backwards and forwards in the wind. I could not learn
any significance in these feathers, such as applies to many of the
upright head feathers worn by the young men of Mekeo. The comb is
worn by several of the men figured in Plate 9, one of them wearing
it in front and the others having it standing out sideways at the back.
The almost universal type of earring (Plate 20, Fig. 1), varying
from 2 to 3 inches in circumference, is made out of the tail of the
cuscus. The ring is made by removing the hair from the animal's tail,
drying the tail, and fastening the pointed end into or on to the blunt
cut-off stump end, tying them firmly together. The ring is then bound
closely round with the yellow and brown material (Dendrobium) of belt
No. 6; but a space of 1 or 2 inches is generally left uncovered at the
part where the two ends of the tail are fastened together. The simplest
form is a single earring, which passes through the hole in the ear;
but I have seen two rings hanging to the ear; and frequently a second
ring is hung on to the first, and often a third to the second, and
sometimes a fourth to the third; or perhaps, instead of the fourth
ring, there may be two rings hanging to the second one. In fact,
there are varieties of ways in which the fancy of the wearer and the
number of rings he possesses will cause him to wear them. They are
worn by both men and women. [46] They may be seen in several plates,
but unfortunately are not very clear. The most distinct are, I think,
those worn by the second woman from the left in Plate 26 and the
woman on the left in Plate 28. The second woman from the left in the
frontispiece has two of them hanging from her right ear.
Pigs' tails, similar to those worn from the hair, are also worn by
both men and women, especially the latter, suspended from the ears;
and here again they vary much in length, and are often decorated with
tassel-like hanging ornaments of shells, beads, etc.
Forehead ornaments (Plate 30, Fig 5) are made by men and worn by them
at dances. This ornament is a band, very slightly curved, which is
worn across the forehead, just under and surrounding the basis of the
dancing feathers. It is generally about 16 inches long and between
4 and 5 inches broad in the middle, from which it narrows somewhat
towards the ends. Its manufacture consists of a ground basis of the
material of belt No. 5, into which are interplaited in geometric
patterns the two black and yellow and brown materials which are used
for belt No. 6. It is fixed on to the forehead by means of strings
attached to its two ends, and passing round, and tied at the back of,
the head.
Nose ornaments. These are straight pencil-shaped pieces of shell,
generally about 6 inches long, which are passed through the hole in
the septum of the nose. They are only worn at dances and on special
occasions; but the people from time to time insert bits of wood or
cane or bone or some other thing into the hole for the purpose of
keeping it open. There are temporary pegs in the noses of the fifth
man to the left in Plate 9 and the man in Plate 10. The nose ornament
is worn by the woman to the extreme right in the frontispiece.
Necklaces and straight pendants, suspended from the neck and
hanging over the chest, are common, though they are not usually
worn in anything approaching the profusion seen in Mekeo and on
the coast. These are made chiefly of shells of various sorts (cut
or whole), dogs' teeth and beads, as in Mekeo. The shells include
the cowries and the small closely packed overlapping cut shells so
generally used in Mekeo for necklaces, and the flat disc-like shell
sections, which are here, as in Mekeo, specially used for straight
hanging pendants; also those lovely large crescent-shaped discs of
pearl shell, which are well known to New Guinea travellers. The shells
are, of course, all obtained directly or indirectly from the coast;
in fact, these are some of the chief articles for which the mountain
people exchange their stone implements and special mountain feathers,
so the similarity in the ornaments is to be expected; but it is only
within a quite recent time that the pearl crescents have found their
way to Mafulu. I do not propose to describe at length the various
forms of shell ornament, as they are very similar to, and indeed I
think practically the same as, those of Mekeo. Some of the necklaces
are figured in Plates 31, 32 and 33, and they are worn by many of
the people figured in other plates, especially the frontispiece and
Plate 17. Straight pendant ornaments are seen in the frontispiece and
in Plates 6, 17, 26 and others. The crescent-shaped pearl ornaments
are seen in the frontispiece and in Plates 6, 7, 16, 28 and others,
a very large one being worn by the little girl in Plate 71.
There is, however, one shell necklace which is peculiar to the
mountains, and, I think, to Mafulu (I do not know whether the Kuni
people also wear it), where it is worn as an emblem of mourning
by persons who are relatives of the deceased, but who are not
sufficiently closely related to him to stain themselves with black
during the period of mourning. This necklace is made of white cowrie
shells varying in size from half an inch to an inch long, each of
which has its convex side ground away, so as to show on one side the
untouched mouth of the shell and on the other an open cavity. The
shells are strung, sometimes closely and sometimes loosely, on to a
double band of thin cord. Specimens of this type of necklace measured
by me varied in length from 36 inches (with 97 shells) to 20 inches
(with 38 shells). It is worn until the period of mourning is formally
terminated. The middle necklace in Plate 33 is a mourning shell
necklace, and it is seen on the neck of the woman to the right in
Plate 29.
Pigs' tail ornaments similar to those already described are also worn
suspended by neck-bands over the chest.
Armlets and wrist-bands are worn by both men and women, and more or
less by children, including quite young ones, at the higher end of
the upper arm and just above the wrist. They are made by men only,
and vary in width from half an inch to 5 or 6 inches, the wider ones
being generally worn on the upper arm. There are several common forms
of these: (1) The more usual form (Plate 34, Fig. 4) is made of the
thin and finely plaited stone-grey material described in abdominal
belt No. 5, and is made in the same way, subject to the difference
that the plaiting is more closely done. Measured specimens of this
armlet varied in width from 1 to 2 1/4 inches, and displayed different
varieties of diagonal twill stitch. (2) Another common form (Plate 34,
Fig. 3) is made of the coarser-plaited black and yellow and brown
materials described concerning No. 6 belt, and is made in the same
way. Specimens of this armlet varied in width from 1 to 5 inches. (3)
There is another form which in fineness of material and plait is
between Nos. 1 and 2. I was told that this is made out of another
creeping plant, and is left in its own natural unstained colour, which,
however, in this case is a dull brown red. (4) Another form (Plate
34, Fig. 2) is made of the coarse dull red-brown and stone-yellow
materials described with reference to belt No. 2, and is made in
the same way. A specimen of this armlet was 2 1/4 inches wide. (5)
Another form (Plate 34, Fig. 1) is in make something like No. 4, but
the two materials used are the stone-yellow material of belt No. 2
and the black material of belt No. 6, and the plaiting materials are
much finer in thickness than are those of armlet No. 4. Specimens
of this armlet varied in width from 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches. (6) The
beautiful large cut single-shell wrist ornament, commonly worn on
the coast and plains, whence the Mafulu people procure it. Armlets
will be seen worn by many of the people figured in the plates.
There is no practice of putting armlets on young folk, and retaining
them in after life, so as to tighten round and contract the arm.
Leg-bands (Plate 25, Fig. 1) and anklets are worn by both men and
women, and also by children, just below the knee and above the ankle.
There is a form of plaited leg-band somewhat similar in make to armlet
No. 5, and between half-an-inch and an inch in width, though the
colour of this leg-band is a dull brown. But the usual form of leg-band
and anklet is made by women only out of thread fibre by a process of
manufacture quite distinct from the stiff plait work adopted for some
of the belts and for the armlets. They make their thread out of fine
vegetable fibre as they proceed with the manufacture of the band,
rolling the individual fibres with their hands upon their thighs,
and then rolling these fibres into two-strand threads, and from time
to time in this way making more thread, which is worked into the open
ends of the then working thread as it is required--all this being
done in the usual native method.
I had an opportunity of watching a woman making a leg-band, and I think
the process is worth describing. She first made a thread 5 or 6 feet
long by the method above referred to, the thread being a two-strand
one, made out of small lengths about 5 or 6 inches long of the
original fibre, rolled together and added to from time to time until
the full length of 5 or 6 feet of thread had been made. The thread
was of the thickness of very coarse European thread or exceedingly
fine string. She next wound the thread into a triple loop of the size
of the proposed leg-band. This triple loop was to be the base upon
which she was to make the leg-band, of which it would form the first
line and upper edge. It was only about 11 inches in circumference, and
thus left two ends, one of which (I will call it "the working thread")
was a long one, and the other of which (I will call it "the inside
thread") was a short one. Both these threads hung down together from
the same point (which I will call "the starting point"). She then,
commencing at the starting point, worked the working thread round the
triple base by a series of interlacing loops in the form shown (very
greatly magnified) in Fig. 1; but the loops were drawn quite tight,
and not left loose, as, for the purpose of illustration, I have had to
make them in the figure. This process was carried round the base until
she had again reached the starting point, at which stage the base,
with its tightly drawn loop work all around it, was firm and strong,
and there were still the two ends of thread hanging from the starting
point. Here and at subsequent stages of the work she added to the
lengths of these two ends from time to time in the way above described
when they needed it, and the two ends of thread were therefore always
present. Then began the making of the second line. This was commenced
at the starting point, from which the two ends of thread hung,
and was effected by a series of loops made with the working thread
in the way already described, except that these loops, instead of
passing round the whole of the base line, passed through holes which
she bored with a thorn, as she went on, in the extreme bottom edge of
that line, and also that, in making this second line, she passed the
inside thread through each loop before she drew the latter tight; so
that the second line was itself composed of a single internal thread,
around which the loops were drawn. The second line was continued in
this way until she again reached the starting point (but, of course,
one line lower down), from which the two ends of thread hung down as
before. The third and following lines were made by a process identical
with that of the second one, the holes for each line being pricked
through the bottom of that above it. I did not see the completion of
the band, but I may say that the final line is similar to the second
and subsequent ones, and is not a triple-threaded line like the first
one. It was amazing to see this woman doing her work. She was an old
woman, but she did the whole of the work with her fingers, and she must
have had wonderful eyesight and steadiness of hand, as she made the
minute scarcely visible prick holes, and passed the end of her working
thread through them, with the utmost apparent ease and quickness.
The band thus produced is of very small, close, fine work, and is
quite soft, flexible and elastic, like European canvas, instead of
being stiff and hard, like the plaited belts and armlets. The band
is generally about an inch (more or less) in width. It is not dyed
or coloured in any way, but is often decorated with beads, which
are worked into the fabric in one or more horizontal lines, but as
a rule, I think, only at irregular intervals, and not in continuous
lines. These bands and anklets are seen in many of the plates. In
Plates 10, 11 and 12 the bead decorations are seen.
Dancing aprons are made out of bark cloth by both men and women,
but coloured by men only. The apron, which is worn at dances by women
only, is about 6 to 12 inches wide. It is worn, as shown in Plate 35,
in front of the body, being passed over the abdominal belt or a cord
so as to hang over it in two folds, one behind the other; and the
front fold, which is the part which shows (the back fold being more
or less concealed), and is generally 18 inches to 2 feet in length,
has at its base a fringe made by cutting the end of the cloth up into
strips, equal or unequal in width, the number of which may be only six
or less, or may be fifteen or twenty. The front fold is often wholly
or partly stained, the colour of the stain being usually yellow, and
is always more or less covered with a decorative design, the colours
of which are usually black and red. The back fold is generally stained
yellow, but never has any design upon it. The fringe is also usually
stained yellow, and is without design, except occasionally perhaps
a few horizontal lines of colour.
I may say here, as regards these colours, that, so far as my
observation went, the colours of the decorative patterns were always
black and red, and the general staining was always yellow; and indeed
the last-mentioned colour does not show up against the natural colour
of the cloth sufficiently clearly to adapt it for actual design
work. I am not, however, prepared to say that this allocation of
the colours is in fact an invariable one; and, as I know that red
is used for general staining of perineal bands and dancing ribbons,
it is possible that it, as well as yellow, is used for aprons.
Numerous variations of design are to be found in these garments;
and indeed I may say that it is in these and in the feather head
decorations that the Mafulu people mainly indulge such artistic powers
as they possess.
Plates 36 to 43 are examples of decoration of the front folds of
these dancing aprons [47]; and I give the following particulars
concerning them, first stating that, subject to what may appear in
my particulars, the darker lines and spots represent black ones in
the apron, and the lighter ones represent red ones.
Plate.
| Average width of apron in inches.
| | Notes on ground staining and other matters.
36 6 1/2 Background of design unstained, but back fold of
apron and fringe stained yellow.
37 [48] 7 3/4 Ditto ditto ditto
38 5 1/4 Only a little irregular yellow staining behind the
design. Back fold of apron and fringe stained yellow.
39 6 Background of design (except fringe part) unstained,
but back fold of apron and fringe stained yellow.
40 7 Background of upper (zig-zag) part of design unstained,
but that of lower (rectangular) part and whole of
back fold of apron and fringe stained yellow.
41 10 1/2 Faintly tinted broad horizontal and vertical lines
and triangles in figure represent yellow stain. No
other staining in the apron.
42 6 3/4 Background of design unstained, but back fold end of
apron and fringe stained yellow.
43 6 3/4 No background staining in the apron. The smallness
of the amount of decoration and the substitution of
two tails for a fringe are, I think, unusual.
Dancing ribbons are made out of bark cloth by both men and women,
but are coloured by men only. These are worn by both men and women at
dances, the ribbons hanging round the body from the abdominal belt or a
cord, three or four or five of them being worn by one person, and one
of these commonly hanging in front. They are generally 2 or 3 inches
wide and about 4 feet long, but a portion of this length is required
for hitching the ribbon round the belt. I think their ornamentation
is confined to staining in transverse bands of alternating colour or
of one colour and unstained cloth. Plate 13, Fig. 4, illustrates the
colouring of two ribbons (each 2 inches wide), the alternation in one
case being red and yellow, and in the other red and unstained cloth;
and the men figured in Plate 70 are wearing ribbons, though they are
not very clearly shown in the plate.
The feather ornaments for the head, and especially those worn at
dances, and the feather ornaments worn on the back at dances present
such an enormous variety of colours and designs that it would be
impossible to describe them here without very greatly increasing the
length of the book. The ornaments are often very large, sometimes
containing eight or ten or even twelve rows of feathers, one behind
another. They can usually be distinguished from those made by the Mekeo
people by a general inferiority in design and make of the ornament as
a whole, the Mafulu people having less artistic skill in this respect
than the people of the lowlands. The ornaments include feathers of
parrots, cockatoos, hornbills, cassowaries, birds of paradise, bower
birds and some others. One never or rarely sees feathers of sea-birds,
or waterfowl, or Goura pigeons (which, I was told, are not found among
the mountains), as the Mafulu people in their trading with the people
of the plains take in exchange things which they cannot themselves
procure, rather than feathers, which are so plentiful with them.
The black cassowary feather is important in Mafulu as being the
special feather distinction of chiefs; but, though chiefs are as
a rule possessed of more and better ornaments than are the poorer
and unimportant people, they have no other special and distinctive
ornament.
Plates 44 and 45 illustrate some of these head feather ornaments. Plate
44, Fig. 1, shows an ornament made out of the brown fibrous exterior of
the wild betel-nut, black pigeon feathers and white cockatoo feathers,
the betel fibre and black pigeon feathers being, I was told, only
used in the mountains. Plate 44, Fig. 2, shows one made out of brown
feathers of young cassowary, white cockatoo feathers and red-black
parrot feathers. Plate 44, Fig. 3, shows one made out of bright red
and green parrot feathers. Plate 45, Fig. 1, shows one made out
of black cassowary feathers, white cockatoo feathers, red parrot
feathers and long red feathers of the bird of paradise. Plate 45,
Fig. 2, is made of cassowary feathers only. This ornament is worn in
front of the head, over the forehead, and is specially worn by chiefs.
Plate 46, Fig. 1, shows a head feather ornament which is peculiar
to the mountains. The crescent-shaped body of the ornament, which is
made of short feathers taken from the neck of the cassowary, is worn
in front over the forehead, and the cockade of hawk feathers stands
up over the head.
Plate 46, Fig. 2, shows a back ornament of cassowary feathers which
is specially intended to be worn by chiefs at dances. The custom is
to have from five to twelve of these ornaments hanging vertically
side by side, suspended to a horizontal stick, which is fastened on
the chief's back at the height of the shoulders, so that the feathers
hang like a mantle over his back. The mode in which feather ornaments
for the back are hung on sticks is seen in Plate 70, where a stick
with pendant ornaments is being held by two boys in front.
Plaited frames (Plate 47) are worn by men in connection with these head
feather ornaments. These frames are flat curved bands, rigid or nearly
so, generally forming half or nearly half a circle of an external
diameter of about 9 inches, and being about 1 inch in width. They
are worn at dances and on solemn occasions. They are placed round
the top of the forehead, not vertically, but with their upper edges
sloping obliquely forward, and have at their ends strings, which pass
over the ears and are tied at the back of the head. These frames help
to support the feather ornaments, and prevent them from falling down
over the face. They are made by men only. A groundwork of small split
cane or other material runs in parallel curved lines from end to end,
single pieces of the material being generally doubled back at the ends
so as to form several lines; and this is strengthened and ornamented
by interplaiting into it either split cane or some other material
obtained from the splitting of the inside fibre of a plant in the way
previously referred to. There are varieties of material and of pattern
worked up in different designs of interplaiting. Some of the materials
are uncoloured or merely the natural colour of the material, and others
are in two colours, generally brown or reddish-brown and yellow. These
frames display a considerable amount of variety of artistic design.
The feather erections used at special and important dances, and
especially those worn by chiefs, are enormous things, towering 6
or 12 feet above the wearer's head, and are generally larger than
those of Mekeo. They are held in a framework, which has an inverted
basket-shaped part to rest on the head, and downward pointing rods,
which are tied to the shoulders. The frames are to a great extent
similar to those of Mekeo, but, having a larger burden to bear, they
are more strongly made. These feather erections and their frames are
seen in Plate 70.
Here, as in other parts of New Guinea, both men and women, but
especially men, love to decorate themselves with bright flowers and
leaves and grasses, these being worn in the hair and in bunches stuck
into their belts, armlets and leg-bands, and indeed in any places
where they can be conveniently fastened.
It is not the practice with the Mafulu for mothers to wear the
umbilical cords of any of their children, though apparently the Kuni
people do so.