The island of stone money

by William Henry Furness

IN MEMORIAM

23 JUNE, 1909

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER		PAGE
I	Introductory	[11]
II	Native Houses	[21]
III	Bachelors’ Houses	[36]
IV	Costume and Adornments	[56]
V	Songs and Incantations	[69]
VI	Dance and Posture Songs	[82]
VII	Money and Currency	[92]
VIII	Uap Friendships	[107]
IX	Religion	[142]
X	Perception of Colour	[155]
XI	Tattooing	[157]
XII	Burial Rites	[162]
	Uap Grammar	[180]
	Vocabulary	[199]

ILLUSTRATIONS

	PAGE
A Record, in the Making	[Frontispiece]
A Native Residence	[22]
A Rich Man’s House	[24]
House of a Copra Trader	[26]
A Native-Made Path	[30]
A “Pabai,” or Men’s Club-House	[36]
Return From a Fishing Cruise on the Open Sea	[40]
A “Failu”	[44]
Man and Wife of “Pimlingai,” or Slave Class	[48]
Lemet, a Mispil	[52]
Waigong, a Boy of Sixteen or Seventeen	[56]
Full Dress of a High-Class Damsel	[60]
Inifel, a Turbulent Chief	[64]
A Phonographic Matinée	[72]
Four Damsels Who Sang into the Phonograph	[74]
Lian, Chief of Dulukan	[76]
The Largest “Fei” on the Island	[92]
Stone Money Belonging to the “Failu”	[96]
“Gagai,” or Cat’s Cradle	[108]
Kakofel, the Daughter of Lian	[110]
Coconut Grove	[114]
Migiul, a Mispil	[124]
Fatumak	[126]
Fatumak’s Account for Coconuts Rendered	[138]
The Mode of Carrying Babies	[154]
The Tattooing of the Men of Fashion	[158]
Tattooing	[159]
Usual Tattoo Marks of a Mispil	[160]
Funeral Gifts of Stone Money and Pearl Shells	[166]
Gyeiga Placing Two Pearl Shells on Her Father’s Corpse	[168]
Map	[273]

THE
ISLAND OF STONE MONEY

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY

Although old-time Pacific whalers and missionaries, both of them, let us hope, from kindly motives of rendering the islanders happy, introduced two unfortunate attendants of western civilization—alcohol and diversity of faiths—nevertheless the natives of The Caroline Islands have retained the greater part of their original primitive beliefs, and recently, under admirable German rule, have perforce abandoned alcohol. Wherefore they are become an exceedingly pleasant and gentle folk to visit; this is especially true of the natives of the island of Uap or Yap, the most westerly of the group. Like all other primitive people (it hurts one’s feelings to call them savages or even uncivilized,—one is too broad and the other too narrow) they are shy at first, either through mistrust or awe, but, let acquaintance and confidence be once established, and they are good company and benignantly ready to tolerate, even to foster condescendingly, the incomprehensible peculiarities and demented foibles of the white-faced visitor.