It is a strange custom and difficult to fathom, but the belief in it is so strong that the most daring native would not dream of testing its powers. There are various kinds of “hopes,” some will result in the death of any one trespassing on them, whilst others will only bring sickness upon him. A death “hope” will have a skull on it, or a piece of shell, or part of an ant’s nest, and on seeing these signs the intruder knows what to expect—that he will die as the man {135} has died whose skull is there, or die as surely as the fish which once lived in the shell has died, or as the ants which inhabited the nest. A “hope” in which coral takes the place of the above objects announces sickness to the trespasser.
A chief’s house and the grounds adjoining it are nearly always “hope,” and only his wives are allowed to go into them, other intruders will either die or fall sick. Certain animals and places are also “hope,” and little altars are built on some of the small islands which make them sacred. In fact, “hope” is a most extraordinary thing and can be used in the most eccentric ways. I heard of one place which was once “hope,” and yet had the “hope” taken away from it for no particular reason. Then, again, crocodiles are in some parts “hope” and are not allowed to be killed; but in one of the rivers where crocodiles abound a youth was killed by them, and the chief took the “hope” off until the boy’s father had slain a sufficient number to satisfy his anger, and then back went the “hope.”
Another kind of “hope” was seen by Lieutenant B. T. Somerville, and was made by putting a festoon of a certain creeper across the entrance to a cocoa-nut grove, with pieces of the same material along it {136} at regular intervals, hanging perpendicularly downwards and secured to the ground. “I had two natives with me at the time,” he states, “and at first they did not like to land on the islet bearing this mark as it had been ‘hoped’ by their chief, Bera. They did land eventually, however, and one of them went under the hope barricade, picked the central tiny shoot of a large fern—in appearance like the English hart’s-tongue fern—from which he nibbled a little bit, and then handed it to the other man who did the same. They assured me that now the hope would have no effect as long as they did not steal any nuts.”
There seem to be various methods of overcoming “hope,” the chief being by a payment to the owner of it. He will extort what he considers a sufficiently large sum of money to take away the ill effects which would otherwise have followed if the “hope” had been scouted. “Hope” altars are also built in various parts of the bush as a means of warding off certain evil spirits. On these food and other things are placed, such as broken pots, shells, old pipes, and worn-out musical instruments, and the evil spirit dare not come near them.
A TAPU VIRGIN, BRITISH SOLOMON ISLANDS
At the launching of a new war canoe in New Georgia, two virgins are taken from the tribe; one is publicly sacrificed, and the other kept in seclusion from four to five years. During this time an old woman acts as guard over her. Should she break the tabu she is put to death. The skulls on the sticks are a sign to all that if they molest her their heads will be stuck up in the same way. The object in the background is a skull-box; the large necklace is of dogs’ teeth, and the small necklet of spiral shell ground down; the ear-rings of pieces of Tredacua.
In spite of the fact that the white men scorn these “hopes” and do not suffer any bad results, {137} it has in no way brought discredit on them; the belief is quite as strong now as it ever was, but the natives think that the white man is guarded by a special providence and so cling to their belief.
There are many peculiar legends relating to monsters living in certain parts of the bush country and on certain mountains and islands. One tells of an enormous clam-shell which lives on the summit of Vonggi, a mountain some sixteen hundred feet high covered to the top with thick bush. If any native ventured near it the clam-shell would kill and eat him.
Superstition and ancient custom make up the chief characteristics of these natives, and though civilisation has made some difference in their mode of living, they have not marched with the times as the natives of some of the adjoining islands have. The men still think it their duty to be ready for attacks and leave their wives to do the work, and though the chances of sudden attack have practically ceased and left them without employment, they have not taken up fresh work. Even the natives who have returned from the sugar plantations of Queensland, after their three years’ service, do not endeavour to instil new ideas into their fraternity by example. They simply throw off all signs of {138} civilisation and become as the others are, or if anything lazier, but to these men and their term of service in Australia I will devote a portion of the next chapter. It is no doubt owing to the old days of slave traffic, or black-birding as it was called, that the natives here are shy and backward.