Dr. Guppy mentions a peculiar incident relating to the superstitions of the Solomon islanders regarding the power of thinking evil of a person and so bringing disaster upon him. He says that when the natives cut off locks of their hair for him, which he desired for scientific purposes, they told him that if any sickness or calamity befell them they would put it down to him.
The fear of evil wishing is very strong amongst them, and when they are in mourning, and so have to shave their heads, they bury the hair in order to prevent enemies getting hold of it. Thought transference is no speculative theory with them, and they have the most unbounded faith in its power where evil is concerned, but very few seem to think it can be used for good. They also imagine that certain people possess an evil eye or can conjure it up on occasions. They often put down the death of a chief to an evil eye having been cast on him. This sometimes results in an {139} unfortunate creature being picked out and killed through suspicion having fallen on him or her. At other times, when the supposed culprit has not been found, a terrible panic has taken place and the whole village has been deserted and a new one built. The old village then becomes “hope,” and no amount of persuasion will induce the tribe to go back and settle in it, unless, as in one or two cases, the “hope” is removed by some great chief or medicine man.
Medicine men here, as in most other places, hold unique positions, and many a smart villain prospers owing to the belief that he has power over the unseen—to kill or cure at will. Their houses are taboo or “hope,” the same as a chief’s, and in many villages they are held in far greater awe than the chief himself.
PART III NEW HEBRIDES
BENEATH A BANYAN TREE, MALEKULA ISLAND, NEW HEBRIDES
CHAPTER XIV
Islands that are advancing rapidly—Native houses with modern improvements—A horrible method of getting rid of the old men, and other burial ceremonies.
There is a remarkable difference between the natives of the New Hebrides group and any of the inhabitants of the adjoining islands. In character, disposition, mode of living and religion, they are in many respects far ahead of their neighbours, and, strange to say, so are the islands. The soil is better and the climate is more to the liking of the European, and, owing to the proximity of the islands to Sydney, they are better served and more up-to-date. Port Vila in Sandwich Island, the chief centre, is only five days’ sail from that city.
Settlement in the New Hebrides has been going on for some time, and the white population has nearly doubled itself within the last few years. In 1901, the French residents and traders far out-numbered the English, but to-day another tale is {144} told, and British enterprise and power of colonisation have made a difference in this group; so much so that they are hardly recognisable, and they only need careful legislation to enable them to overcome the obstacles mentioned earlier in this book.