The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2 / Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics

by J. G. Wood

It is rather remarkable that the people of Pitt Island are not only more quiet and peaceable than their neighbors, but are also of a lighter hue, approaching in this respect the naturally peaceful though courageous inhabitants of Tonga. Their faces are oval and neatly rounded, and their features delicate. It may be that they have been modified by the mixture with the Samoans or Tongans, who have been blown out of their course by gales, landed on the island, and gradually became absorbed in the community.

Architecture among the Kingsmill Islands is rather distinguished for strength and massiveness than for beauty, the natives preferring to employ their artistic powers on smaller objects, such as swords, spears, and similar articles. The houses vary much in size and form according to their uses. For example, the ordinary dwelling-house of the Kingsmill Islanders consists of two stories, the upper part being used as a sleeping-house, and the lower entirely open. In fact, the houses of the Kingsmill Islands are exactly similar in principle to those of Nicobar, which have been described on [page 903].

Some of the houses wherein the chiefs sit and talk among themselves and receive visitors are mere sheds, being nothing more than roofs supported on poles. As is usually the case in Polynesia, there is in every village a central council house, in which the people assemble on stated occasions. It is of enormous dimensions, having a lofty roof thatched with leaves and lined with matting. [Several examples] of their houses are illustrated on the 1035th page, and the reader will see that the lower part affords a complete and yet an airy refuge from the sun in the heat of the day, while the upper part, which is too hot to be comfortable during the daytime, forms comfortable sleeping-rooms at night.

Dress varies much according to the particular island. Tattooing is practised by both sexes, but the women are far less decorated than the men, the lines being very fine and far apart. The men are tattooed at the age of twenty, the process being always left in the hands of professional tattooers, who, as in other islands of Polynesia, are paid according to the celebrity which they have attained, in some cases obtaining very large fees. They dress chiefly in mats made of the pandanus leaf cut into narrow strips, and dyed brown and yellow. These strips are plaited together in a very ingenious fashion so as to form diamond or square patterns. A small cape, worn, in poncho fashion, with a slit in the middle, through which the head passes, is worn over the neck, and a conical cap of pandanus leaf is worn on the head.

The dress of the women consists of a petticoat of leaf-strips reaching from the waist to the knees, and fastened by a thin rope, sometimes five or six hundred feet in length, made of human hair. On the rope are strung at intervals beads made of cocoa-nut and shells, ground so as to fit closely together, and strung alternately so as to form a contrast between the white shell and the dark cocoa-nut.

It has already been mentioned that the Kingsmill Islanders are a warlike people. War, indeed, seems to be their chief business, and indeed their whole thoughts appear to be given to fighting. Even their principal amusement is of a combatant character. There is nothing which delights the Kingsmill Islanders so much as cock fighting, and large groups of the people may be seen seated in a circle, eagerly watching the progress of the combat which is taking place in the midst. Cock fighting is largely practised in many other countries, but is almost invariably accompanied by betting. The Malays, for example, are passionately fond of the sport, and wager whole fortunes upon it. Betting, however, has no charms for the Kingsmill Islander, whose martial soul is utterly absorbed in the fight, and does not require the additional excitement of betting.

This being the nature of the people, it is natural that their weapons should be of a formidable character. They are indeed exactly suitable to the fierce and bloodthirsty people by whom they are made. Instead of contenting himself with a club or a spear, the Kingsmill Islander must needs arm his weapons with sharks’ teeth, which cut like so many lancets.

The spears and swords which are shown on the [1041st page] are drawn from specimens in my collection, and are admirable examples of these extraordinary weapons.

For want of a better word, we must use the name of sword for these weapons, as they are constructed with edges, and are meant more for striking than thrusting. I have often wondered that in none of these weapons that I have seen is the point tipped with a sharp bone, such as that of the sting-ray, or even with a shark’s tooth. Perhaps they are formidable enough even for these ferocious islanders, as the reader may easily infer by looking at the [illustration]. By the side of each figure is a specimen of the shark’s tooth drawn on an enlarged scale, partly to show the nature of the tooth itself, and partly to exhibit the principal methods by which it is fastened in its place.

On referring to these [illustrations], the reader will see that the teeth are not merely sharply edged and pointed, but that their edges are finely and regularly serrated, so that their cutting power is greatly increased. Indeed, the weapons armed with these teeth have such a facility of inflicting wounds that they must be handled with the greatest caution. I have cut myself more than once with them, and visitors who insist upon handling them generally suffer for their curiosity.