Head-hunters, black, white, and brown

by Alfred C. Haddon

A small, pointed coconut receptacle (biobio), three inches in length, decorated with strings of grey seeds; the medicine inside was kept in place by a plug of bark cloth. When wishing to harm a person the coconut is pointed to the place where the patient sits. The patient may ultimately recover. Attached to this were the lower jaw of a baby crocodile (auki), this makes dogs kill pigs, and a small bamboo tube (baubau), containing a black powder which is used for decoration in a dance.

A spine of a sting-ray (daiadai), which is employed thus: When a man is enamoured of a girl from another village, who will have nothing to say to him, he takes the spine of the sting-ray and he sticks it in the ground where the girl has been, then he puts it in the sun for a day or two, and finally makes it very hot over a fire. In a couple of days the girl dies. Before dying she tells her father about the young man, and the bereaved parents instruct a sorcery man to kill the young man by magic.

A smooth ovoid stone, three inches in length, closely surrounded with netted string, has had pink earth rubbed over it, and was enveloped in a piece of black cloth which was part of a man’s belt. This is taken into the garden at planting season and held over a yam, then water is poured over the stone so that it falls on to the yam. The stone is left on the ground in the garden till all the yams are planted; the stone is then returned to its bag.

Several pieces of resin were tied together with netted string in three little parcels, one having leaves wrapped round the resin. They were inside a small netted bag (keape). The bag with its contents is put on the top of a net that is to be used for catching a turtle in the night-time. This must be done by one man only, and no one else must see him do it. The charm must be put away before going out to fish the next morning. Another version was that the resin (tomena) is put in a fire so that the smoke of the ignited resin rises up into the net which is used to catch turtle or dugong. In either case it is a turtle or dugong fishing charm.

In the pot was also a broken skull of a small turtle; three cassowary toe-nails, one of which was hollow, being used as a protecting sheath for a spear when hunting pigs or kangaroos, so that the point of the spear should not break when thrown on the ground; various fragments of a friable, whitish, shelly earth (ăniăninadina), which comes from Toaripi, Lealea, and other places, and is eaten in the bush when no food is available.

Besides these there were also rounded pebbles of various sizes (nadi); two elongated ones, much larger than the others, were said to be yam stones, and the smaller ones may also be similar charms; some of the latter were in a bamboo tube (baubau), which had a protecting handle. In an old calico bag were nodules of iron pyrites and various stones, rounded pebbles, friable gritty rock, and a small piece of white coral (ladi), etc.

I should add that on subsequent occasions I showed one or two natives the contents of the sorcerer’s basket, and the information I have given as to the nature of some of the objects was gathered from them. If we could get several sorcerers to tell the truth about their own practices much remarkable information would be obtained.

The Rev. James Chalmers gives a vivid sketch of the manner in which he obtained the death-dealing crystal and other magic stones of a renowned “Maiva” (Waima) sorcerer in his Pioneering in New Guinea.

We returned tired, hungry, and very happy.

Whilst we were at tea the Government schooner Lokoko came into Hall Sound and anchored close to Yule Island. As soon as we could, the skipper, Ray, and I paid her a visit, but found that Dr. Blainey and Mr. Monkton had gone ashore to visit the Sacred Heart Mission. So we went also. Archbishop Navarre was very courteous and friendly. He quite remembered about me, as his former colleague, Bishop Verjus, an old friend of mine, had often spoken to him of me. We learnt no European news, as Dr. Blainey had heard nothing later than we had, which was the attack on Manila by the Americans, and I think the Spaniards had capitulated. We heard of Sir William Macgregor’s movements; he was then conducting the Governor of Queensland, Lord Lamington, and his party about the Possession.