No one was allowed to have these coloured marks until he had killed a man. That was why the wild men of New Guinea were so proud of tattoo marks. Each mark proved that the man who bore it had been strong and clever.
It did not always prove that he had been brave, because sometimes the spear that had killed had been thrown from behind the foe.
CHAPTER IV
THE DEATH OF BOCASI
TAMATE was on his way to New Guinea at last, and soon the ship in which he sailed was within sight of the island. But that did not mean that he could land at once and begin his work there. He had many things to think of. He must choose a place where the reefs would allow his boat, if he ever had one, to anchor safely; and where any ships that passed could come near enough to let him get on board. He wished to be able to go here and there along the coast, and to open up many roads for others to follow.
He must also have firm ground on which to build a house. The natives of New Guinea could live in swamps. They chose great trees, cut off the branches and fixed the stem deep in the mud. High up above the swamp they built a platform across the tops of the tree trunks, and then a house on the platform. They clambered up to their houses by palm-leaf ladders. Sometimes their villages were built right out into the sea, so that they could paddle about in their canoes in and out underneath their homes.
But though those who had been born in New Guinea could live so, the hot, damp air, and the smells which rose from the swamps would have killed strangers.
Besides that, Tamate wished to teach those he gathered about him to grow many kinds of plants for food, so he had to choose a place where the soil was good.
After a long time he sighted the island of Suau, which looked as if it might be the right place. It lay close to the mainland.