The Solomon Islands and Their Natives Part 12

The natives of this group have obtained for themselves the reputation of being the most treacherous and bloodthirsty of the Pacific Islanders.

Here, however, as in other groups, the inhabitants have been judged according to the circ.u.mstances attending the visit of the navigator. If he has come into collision with them, he paints their conduct in the darkest colours; but if, as has rarely been the case, there has been nothing to interrupt the harmony of his intercourse, he is apt, in his description of the peaceful character of the natives, to reflect on the want of humanity which marked the dealings of his predecessors. But for us a middle course would seem preferable; and in approving the mild measures of the one, we must not forget that the harsh treatment of the other may have arisen in circ.u.mstances over which he had little control.

The early intercourse between civilized and savage peoples must of necessity be fraught with peril, until the latter cease to look upon every stranger as a probable foe. It is not often that we have the pleasure of reading such accounts as are given by Kotzebue and Chamisso of their intercourse with the Radack Islanders; yet we must remember that the humane principles of La Perouse led, unfortunately, to the ma.s.sacre of M. de Langle and eleven others in the Navigator Islands.

Here again the middle course is to be followed; and the traveller most successful in his dealings with these races will be he who obtains for himself their fear as well as their affection.

The early intercourse of the Solomon Islanders with the Spaniards, and with the first French navigators, was too often marked by bloodshed to enable us to form a correct estimation of the disposition of these natives. We therefore turn without regret to the more pleasing experience of a later voyager in these seas. In his account of his intercourse with the natives of Isabel in 1838, D'Urville thus refers to these islanders: "Nous sommes les premiers a inscrire dans l'histoire des habitants de ces iles, une page en faveur de leur caractere: ils auraient pu, presque sans dangers, ma.s.sacrer ceux de nos officiers qui sont alles chercher l'hospitalite aux villages d'Opihi et Toitoi, et j'aime a croire qu'ils n'auraient pas resiste a la tentation, si dans leur caractere il n'y avait pas eu quelques sentiments d'affection ou de probite."[111]

[111] "Voyage au Pole Sud," etc. Vol. V., p. 106.

In recalling my own experiences, I can scarcely remember a single instance in which I was aught but kindly treated by a race of savages who have been so often characterised as the most treacherous and bloodthirsty in the Pacific. I was constantly in their power, since, in my excursions, I very rarely had any other companions. I will, therefore, frame my estimate of their character in the words of the French navigator, that they would not have been able to resist the temptation of harming me, if there was not in their disposition something of the sense of honour and affection.

CHAPTER VII.

DRESS--TATTOOING--SONGS, ETC.

THE dress worn by the men of these islands is generally of the scantiest description. A narrow band of cloth, worn like a [T] bandage, often const.i.tutes their only garment. In some islands visited by traders, waist-cloths are worn. Often, however, and especially amongst the bush tribes, the Solomon Islander presents himself as guiltless of clothing as did our original parents. The dress of the women varies considerably in different islands of the group. The married women of St. Christoval and the adjacent small islands wear the scantiest of fringes, which cannot be dignified by the name of dress: whilst the unmarried girls dispense with clothing altogether. In the Florida Islands, the women are more decorously clad, and wear a longer fringe. In the eastern islands, however, the influence of the missionary and the trader have caused a more general employment by the women of the "sulu" (a large coloured handkerchief), which is fastened around the waist, and is very becoming.

The women of the islands of Bougainville Straits commonly wear the "sulu;" but they frequently discard it for a time, as when they are wading on the reefs, and then they are content with an improvised ap.r.o.n of long leaves ("ba.s.sa"), the stalks of which are pa.s.sed under a narrow waist-band. On one occasion at Alu, when arriving at the beach after one of my excursions into the interior of the island, I came upon a party of women who were bathing in the sea. They at once came out of the water, and began to interrogate my guides, having first provided themselves in the most unabashed manner with temporary ap.r.o.ns of fern fronds and the leaves of trees. They then gathered round me to learn where I had been, and what I had been doing; and after I had satisfied their curiosity, I sent them away, highly pleased with some tobacco and beads.

The men of these islands are always very anxious to become the possessors of European articles of clothing, such as shirts, coats, hats, etc.; but the happy owners seldom don them except during the visit of a ship, when they strut about clad in some solitary garment, such as a shirt or a waistcoat, or often only a hat. I had often some difficulty in preserving my gravity when I met some sedate individual, as naked as on the day when he was born, wearing a round hat on his head, and carrying his shirt on his arm. The fortunate possessor of a shirt usually regards it as a kind of light overcoat, to be worn on especial occasions; and in some islands the possessors seem to prefer carrying their shirts on their arms wherever they go. A few men, who have these articles of clothing, never take them off after they have begun to wear them. Such a practice, however, is quite opposed to the usual cleanly habits of these islanders. Whilst we were in Bougainville Straits, three natives were employed on board as interpreters, who were dubbed by the men, Jacket, Waistcoat, and Trousers, as they used to wear a suit between them. On one occasion, when I had induced some Faro men to take me in their canoe to an island some distance away, I was amused at the appearance of my crew, to whom I had previously given shirts. We were, for all the world, like a party of n.i.g.g.e.r-minstrels. Following the waggish advice of the quartermaster, the natives turned up their large collars. Off we started, and the sight of their serious countenances, half buried in their collars, was too much for my gravity: but when we landed, and my men proceeded in a dignified manner to disembark, they looked so ludicrously sedate in their long-tailed shirts, that I roared with laughter.

The most picturesque of the personal ornaments of the natives of the eastern islands is a frontlet of the handsome white cowries (_Ovulum ovum_). About a dozen of these sh.e.l.ls, rather small in size, are strung together, and bound across the forehead. A single sh.e.l.l is sometimes worn on the front of the leg just below the knee. Many men possess large crescent-shaped plates of the pearl sh.e.l.l found in these seas, and which they wear on the breast. Resident traders, such as Captain Macdonald at Santa Anna, have largely supplied the natives with these ornaments.

Necklaces made of the teeth of dogs, porpoises, fruit-bats, and phalangers (_Cuscus_), are commonly worn. The seeds of the _Coix Lachryma_ are also employed for this purpose. Various articles are used as necklace-pendants, such as _Bulla_ sh.e.l.ls, the pretty _Natica mamilla_, beans, the hard palate of a fish (probably a ray), and other things. One native was very proud of a fragment of a willow-pattern plate, which he had smoothed off and ground down to a convenient size for his necklace.

Sh.e.l.l armlets[112] are in general use, and their number and size frequently denote the rank of their owner. Those most prized are fashioned out of the thickest part of the sh.e.l.l of _Tridacna gigas_ towards the hinge. On one occasion, in the island of Simbo, I had an opportunity of observing the tedious process of making these _Tridacna_ armlets: A hole is first bored through the solid thickness of the sh.e.l.l, and in it is inserted a piece of hoop iron, with one edge roughly jagged, after the fashion of a saw. This is worked with the hands, and after much labour the ring is sawn out of the sh.e.l.l. It is then rubbed down and polished with sand. On account of the tedious nature of the process of making them, these _Tridacna_ armlets are much prized by their possessors. Amongst the numerous articles employed in trading with these natives is a very good imitation of this armlet made of tough white porcelain, and valued at about half a dollar. Smaller armlets are also cut out of large sh.e.l.ls belonging to the genera _Trochus_ and _Turbo_. The sh.e.l.l armlets of these islanders are often first placed on during youth, or at the first attainment of manhood; and, as the wearer grows older these ornaments become too small to pa.s.s over the elbow, and are permanently worn. Armlets are also made of native sh.e.l.l-money worked into patterns. Sometimes a couple of curved boar's-tusks are joined together for this purpose. Excluding the sh.e.l.l armlets, those most frequently worn are made of what is commonly known as "dyed gra.s.s." This material, however, consists, for the most part, of the strips of the vascular tissue of ferns, belonging to _Gleichenia_ and other genera, which are neatly plaited together in patterns (_vide_ page 281.) The prettiest specimens of this work are to be obtained at Savo. The same plaited armlets are worn by the Admiralty Islanders.[113] In some parts of New Guinea, strips of rattan are worked in with this material.[114]

... In the Solomon Islands, armlets are usually worn on the left arm.

The native usually carries his pipe or his tobacco tucked inside them.

They are often worn very tight, especially in the case of the plaited armlets, which actually constrict the limb.

[112] By "armlet," I mean an ornament encircling the arm above the elbow.

[113] There is a chromo-lithograph of these ornaments in the "Narrative of the Cruise of the 'Challenger.'"

[114] Specimens in British Museum collection.

Nose ornaments are not commonly worn in the eastern islands, though the nasal septum is generally pierced by a hole for the appendage which may be of tortoise-sh.e.l.l, bone, sh.e.l.ls, &c. Youths keep the hole patent by retaining in it a small piece of wood of the thickness of a lead pencil, and between one and two inches in length. The tip of the nose is frequently pierced by a small hole about half an inch deep, in which a small peg of wood is sometimes placed which projects beyond the nose and gives the face an odd appearance.

The lobes of the ears are perforated by holes, which by continual distension become of the size of a crown-piece and often larger. In some islands, as in Santa Anna, a disc of white wood 1 to 2 inches in diameter is placed in these holes. Sometimes they are kept in shape by the insertion of a shaving of wood rolled into a spiral; but more frequently they are left empty. Singular uses are made of these holes in the lobes of the ear, pipes and matchboxes being sometimes placed in them. On one occasion, Taki, the Wano chief, came on board with a heavy bunch of native sh.e.l.l-money hanging from each ear, a sign of mourning, as he informed us, for a recently deceased wife. In some instances, more particularly amongst the elder men, the pendulous loop formed by the distended hole in the lobe becomes severed and hangs in two pieces. I am told that when these loops break, the two parts are readily joined by paring the torn surfaces obliquely and binding them together.

The natives of the islands of Bougainville Straits pay less attention to personal decoration than do those of St. Christoval and the adjacent islands. The large _Tridacna_ armlets are not often worn, the small sh.e.l.l armlets being those generally preferred, and as in the case of those worn in the eastern islands, their number indicates the rank and wealth of the wearer. The plaited arm-bands described on page 132 are frequently worn. Armlets made of trade beads are favourite ornaments of the women: when visiting the houses of the chiefs, I have sometimes found their wives employed in this kind of fancy-work, small red, blue, and white beads being tastefully worked together in the common zig-zag pattern. Here, as in the eastern islands, the septum of the nose is pierced by a hole, but I rarely saw any ornament suspended from it. The women of Treasury Island, however, sometimes wear in this aperture a tusk-like ornament, 1 to 2 inches long, which is made from the sh.e.l.l of the giant clam. Occasionally I have observed clay pipes carried in this perforation in the nasal septum. Here, also, the lobes of the ears are pierced by large holes, and in the older men they hang in loops 2 to 3 inches in length.

The men of Simbo (Narovo Island) streak their countenances with lime, whilst the boys of Treasury Islands sometimes paint their faces around the eyes with the red ochreous earth that they employ for staining the hair. The young lads of Faro occasionally adorn their faces with silvery strips of a fish's swimming-bladder which they plaster on their cheeks.

In the matter of personal decoration I should observe that the men usually wear the plumes, not that the women dislike decorations, but because they do not often have the opportunity of wearing them. If a trade necklace or some similar ornament is given to a woman, it will very soon be observed adorning the person of her husband. An incident of this sort particularly annoyed me on one occasion in the island of St.

Christoval; but I might as well have tried to persuade a pig that it was a glutton as have attempted to convince a native that such a transaction was ungallant. In some islands it is the custom for the husband on the occasion of a festival to load his favourite wife with all his worldly wealth in the form of the native bead money; and, as at Santa Anna, the wives of the headmen parade about the village thus heavily attired and presenting such a picture of "portable property" as would have gladdened the heart of Mr. Wemmick himself. This sh.e.l.l-money, to which I have frequently referred in this work, and which is so often employed in personal decoration, consists of small pieces of sh.e.l.ls of different colours shaped and strung together like beads. In the eastern islands, this money is largely derived from the natives of Malaita. Six fathoms of it are said to be sufficient for the purchase of a pig. The same kind of money is used by the inhabitants of the Admiralty Islands, New Ireland, New Guinea, and the New Hebrides. In the last two localities it is worked into armlets.[115]

[115] The natives of the Solomon Islands also occasionally employ as money the teeth of fish, porpoises, fruit-eating bats (_Pteropidae_), and of other animals.

The men of the Solomon Islands are very fond of placing in their hair a brightly-coloured flower such as that of _Hibiscus tiliaceus_, or a pretty sprig, or the frond of a fern. My native companions in my excursions rarely pa.s.sed a pretty flower without plucking it and placing it in their bushy hair; and they were fond of decorating my helmet in a similar fashion. Sometimes one individual would adorn himself to such an extent with flowers, ferns, and scented leaves, that a botanist might have made an instructive capture in seizing his person. In addition to the flowers placed in his bushy ma.s.s of blackish-brown hair, he would tuck under his necklace and armlets sprigs and leaves of numerous scented plants, such as _Evodia hortensis_ and _Ocymum sanctum_. He would take much pleasure in pointing out to me the plants whose scented leaves are employed in the native perfumery, most of which are of the l.a.b.i.ate order, and are to be commonly found in the waste ground of the plantations. The women seldom decorate themselves in this manner. Those of Bougainville Straits make their scanty ap.r.o.ns of the leaves of a scitamineous plant named "ba.s.sa" which, when crushed in the fingers, have a pleasant scent.

The fondness for decorating the person with flowers and scented herbs has been frequently referred to by travellers in their accounts of the natives of other parts of the Western Pacific. Mr. George Forster tells us that the people of Tanna and Mallicolo in the New Hebrides place inside their sh.e.l.l armlets bunches of the odoriferous plant, _Evodia hortensis_, together with the leaves of crotons and other plants.[116]

We learn from Mr. Macgillivray,[117] and from Mr. Stone,[118] that the natives of the south-east part of New Guinea are similarly fond of decorating themselves with flowers and scented leaves which they place in the hair and inside their armlets and necklaces.

[116] "A Voyage round the World," by George Forster, London, 1777; (page 276.)

[117] "Voyage of H.M.S. 'Rattlesnake,'" by John Macgillivray; London, 1852.

[118] "A few months in New Guinea," by O. C. Stone; London, 1880.

Tattooing is practised amongst both s.e.xes in many islands; but the process differs from that ordinarily employed in the circ.u.mstance that the pigment is frequently omitted, and for this reason the marks are often faint and only visible on a close inspection. In this manner the natives of St. Christoval and the adjacent islands have their cheeks marked by a number of shallow grooves arranged in a series of chevron-lines, and differing but little if at all from the general colour of the skin. On the trunk the lines are of a faint blue hue, and here a pigment is more frequently used. The process, as employed in the island of Santa Anna, consists in deeply abrading the skin with such instruments as a piece of a sh.e.l.l, the flinty edge of the bamboo, the tooth of a large fruit-eating bat (_Pteropidae_), or even by the long finger-nails. The older lads have to submit themselves to this operation before they obtain the rights of manhood; and I was informed that during its progress they are kept isolated in a house and fed on the blood of a certain fish (?). After it is completed, they are at liberty to marry, and they are allowed to take part in the fighting and in the fishing expeditions.

Tattooing is not generally practised amongst the people of the islands of Bougainville Straits. I only observed it in a few instances, more particularly amongst the women, when it resembles that which has been above described. A party of men from the village of Takura on the coast of Bougainville, whom I met on one occasion, had their faces marked with shallow linear grooves of much the same colour as the skin, which commenced at the "alae nostri," and, curving over the cheek-bones, terminated above the eyebrows. These lines were more distinct than those which mark the faces of the natives in the eastward islands, although they were probably produced in a similar manner. Another pattern of tattooing, which may be described as a branching coil, is to be found in the representation of the head of a native of Isabel Island, which was obtained from a mould taken in D'Urville's expedition in 1838.[119] Some men of the districts of the Uta Pa.s.s and Urasi on the north coast of Malaita, whom I met on one occasion, had their faces marked with a double or a single row of blueish dots commencing on the cheek-bones and meeting on the forehead.

[119] Plate vi.: Atlas Anthropologie; "Voyage au Pole Sud et dans l'Oceanie."

In the place of tattooing, the inhabitants of the islands of Bougainville Straits ornament their bodies with rows of circular and somewhat raised cicatrices which are usually about the size of a fourpenny piece and about a third of an inch apart. In the case of the men, the shoulders, upper arms, and chest are thus marked: a double row of cicatrices commences on the shoulder-blade of either side, and crossing the upper arms near the apex of the insertion of the deltoid muscle these rows arch over the armpits and meet at the lower part of the sternum. The chiefs and their sons often have an additional row of these marks. Although this is the common fashion, one sometimes meets men who have the cicatrices confined to the chest or to the shoulders, or to only one side of the body. Amongst the women, the shoulders, upper arms, and b.r.e.a.s.t.s are similarly marked as shown in the engraving here given, and in addition they have these rows of cicatrices across the inside of the thigh. A triple row across the left breast distinguished the princ.i.p.al wife of the chief of Treasury Island. This method of ornamenting the body with raised cicatrices, which I also observed in the case of the party of Takura natives above referred to, would appear to be a sign of manhood and womanhood, as it is not to be found amongst the younger of either s.e.x. With regard to the mode of producing these marks, I could only ascertain that they were made by placing the powdered dust of touchwood on the skin and then igniting it. To produce such a permanent and indelible cicatrix, I should think it probable that means were employed to convert the burn into a festering sore. The light colour of these scars would appear to indicate that no pigment is used in the process. I should remark that this custom of raising the skin in cicatrices, especially on the shoulders, b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and thighs, is very prevalent among the Papuans of the south and south-west coasts of New Guinea.[120] Mr. Mosely describes the same method of ornamenting the body as he observed it amongst the men of the Admiralty Islands.[121]

[120] "Papuans" by G. W. Earl; (p. 5.)

[121] Journ. Anthrop. Inst. vol. vi., p. 379.

It may be here noticed, that the practice of circ.u.mcision is apparently not to be met with in these islands, except, as observed by Dr.

Codrington, in the pure Polynesian settlements,[122] with which, however, I did not come into contact.

[122] Ibid., vol. x., p. 261.

I have previously described the modes of wearing and of decorating the hair (pages 116, 134), and can only make a few remarks here. In some islands, as at Ugi, the young boys have the entire scalp shaven with the exception of two tufts on the top of the head. Then again, at the other extreme of life, it is often the custom for old women to a.s.sist the natural falling-off of the hair and remove it altogether. As a sign of mourning, the hair may be trimmed, cut close, or shaved off.

The Solomon Islander often carries his comb stuck in his bushy hair. As shown in the figure in this work, the comb in common use throughout this group resembles very much in pattern and mode of workmanship that which is in use in parts of New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, the Tonga Group, and other islands of the Western Pacific. The combs of different islands may vary somewhat in details, but they belong all to this pattern, being usually made of a hard dark wood, the teeth consisting of separate pieces either bound tightly or glued together by a kind of resin. The handles and upper parts are often prettily decorated with the plaited "dyed gra.s.s," so-called (_vide_, page 132). An excellent coloured ill.u.s.tration of an Admiralty Island comb is to be found in the official narrative of the cruise of the "Challenger." In the islands of Bougainville Straits, the native often carries in his hair an instrument of three p.r.o.ngs rudely fashioned out of bamboo, as shown in one of the figures. It is used as much for scratching the head as for combing the hair.

Head-coverings are rarely to be found in this group, except in Bougainville and Bouka. A native of Treasury showed me a singular conical hat which he had brought from Bouka. It really was a double hat, one inside the other, the inner hat being made of the leaf of the "kiari," a species of _Heliconia_, and the outer of the fan-shaped leaf of the "firo," a palm of the genus _Licuala_. A band of the so-called plaited "dyed gra.s.s" encircles the base and keeps the hat on the head. A similarly shaped hat but smaller and shorter, and made of the leaf of the "kiari," was worn by some Bougainville natives from the village of Takura, whom I met in Fauro Island. It was placed towards the back of the head; and as it covered only a small portion of the crown, it was evidently more ornamental than useful. In addition, these natives wore a little bunch of feathers on each temple. Their appearance in this grotesque head-dress was rather ludicrous.

It is a remarkable circ.u.mstance that although the Solomon Islanders, as a rule, wear no protective covering for the head, the carved figures of their tambu-posts are usually represented with very European-looking hats. These carved tambu-posts have various uses (_vide_, page 32). In a similar manner in Bougainville Straits, the hat is to be noticed in the case of the little wooden figures which are fastened on the stems of canoes as protective deities... ... . Where these islanders first obtained their idea of a hat of this shape is a matter for speculation.

It may have been originally suggested by the hats of the Spanish soldiers three centuries ago, who by means of their musketry seldom failed to make a lasting impression of their visit during the six months spent by the expedition in the group.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hanging-hook.

Comb.

Fish-float.

Series of patterns, derived from the chevron or zig-zag line, which are used for decorative purposes by the Solomon Islanders. The princ.i.p.al steps in the series are alone indicated, the intermediary stages being often exemplified in the ornamental designs of these natives. (The dotted lines are my own).]

Sunshades in the form of a peak of plaited gra.s.s bound to the forehead and projecting over the eyes are occasionally worn by the natives of Bougainville Straits, whilst fishing in canoes, in order to protect their eyes from the sun's glare on the water. In Ugi, these sunshades are sometimes worn on gala days. They did not, however, appear to be in constant use in any part of the group which we visited.

The common decorative pattern employed by the natives of the islands that we visited was the chevron line. It is the pattern used in tattooing the face in the eastern islands; and it is represented in alternating hues of red, white, and black, on the fronts of tambu-houses. It is rudely cut on the outer border of the small sh.e.l.l armlets of St. Christoval, and ornaments the cooking-pots and drinking-vessels of Bougainville Straits. (_See Ill.u.s.tration._) In some of the sh.e.l.l armlets a continuous lozenge or diamond-shaped design is produced by the arrangement of the chevron lines as shown in the woodcut. The advance from this design to the disconnected lozenge pattern is then but an easy gradation. These chevron lines are often curiously transformed. The Z pattern of inlaid mother-of-pearl, which is shown in the ill.u.s.tration of the canoe-G.o.d, is apparently but a broken chevron line. On the heads of the Treasury spears fantastic patterns are cut out in which the chevron design is adapted to the human skeleton (_See ill.u.s.tration_)... ... I may here add that the bamboo boxes used for the betel lime are ornamented with rectilinear patterns (scratched on their surfaces) which resemble those used in ornamenting the similar lime boxes of New Guinea, Borneo, and Sumatra.[123] The ornamental dance-clubs of Bougainville Straits exactly resemble the clubs from New Ireland and possess those singular distorted representations of the human face which characterise New Ireland ornamentation.