Head-hunters, black, white, and brown

by Alfred C. Haddon

BY
ALFRED C. HADDON, Sc.D., F.R.S.
FELLOW OF CHRIST’S COLLEGE
AND UNIVERSITY LECTURER IN ETHNOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE

WITH THIRTY-TWO PLATES, FORTY ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
AND SIX MAPS

METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
1901

TO
MY WIFE
AND
TO THE MEMORY OF
MY MOTHER
WHO FIRST TAUGHT ME TO OBSERVE
I DEDICATE
THIS RECORD OF MY TRAVELS

PREFACE

In 1888 I went to Torres Straits to study the coral reefs and marine zoology of the district; whilst prosecuting these studies I naturally came much into contact with the natives, and soon was greatly interested in them. I had previously determined not to study the natives, having been told that a good deal was known already about them; but I was not long in discovering that much still remained to be learned. Indeed, it might be truly said that practically nothing was known of the customs and beliefs of the natives, even by those who we had every reason to expect would have acquired that information.