Chapter XII

DUTIES OF A CHIEF--_UVIANA_ AND _LULUAI_ DESCRIBED--_KAMARA_
USED BY EUROPEANS--STATUS OF WOMEN--NUPTIAL, SYMBOLIC AND
OTHER CEREMONIES--_VUVUE_ FEAST--TREPANNING

From a study of Mr Parkinson’s lately published work, to which I have so frequently referred, it is clear that there are great varieties amongst the customs and manners of allied peoples, yet to one who looks beneath the surface, there is a basic principle underlying all these diversities. The same feature applies equally to the numerous dialectical differences. A reason for this may be ascribed to the sparse and secluded settlements which rarely include two or more _gunans_. Generally, when the family becomes enlarged, one or more members separate and form a clan of their own.

The chief (a _gala_), is the headman of the family group, responsible for the good or bad management of its possessions, and cases have been known when failing to perform his duties satisfactorily, he has been superseded by his brother, or by his sister’s son, who would respectively (in case of death), be his heirs. He it is who buys wives for the youths of the _gunan_. By their labour in his cultivations they subsequently repay his outlay. He is treasurer of the highly-prized tamboo, and must be an expert as to the value of the different kinds of shell-money, as well as in the methods of increasing it by obtaining good interest for it. His hut represents the banking house of the clan. His duty is to provide sufficient food for the community, to insist on the cultivations being properly attended to. He may only alienate lands belonging to the _gunan_ after due consultation with the other members. Being generally a financial genius, he manages to get good pickings for himself from the treasure he guards for the rest, and often attains the distinction of becoming known as _uviana_, _i.e._, a very wealthy man. Apparently the chief does not always lead his people to battle, although he may unite in his person the offices of financier and commander-in-chief. Sometimes a younger man may have earned a reputation for prowess, and by his own merits becomes the “first war lord!” Such a one is called _luluia_ and possesses many privileges. He may manage his own concerns, keep his own tamboo, and is not directly under the authority of the chief. When the trumpet signal is raised and the _gunans_ are summoned to assemble in an appointed place, it is surprising how quickly they respond to the call, to learn the cause for which they are wanted. It may be that one of their number has been killed, or somebody has been robbed of his wife, or that an enemy is known to be on the war-path. Sometimes a _gunan_ finds itself menaced by a stronger foe, then men, women and children, laden with the treasures of the community, start quickly into the bush to hide the tribal regalia till the trouble is over. Nowadays, however, most disputes are amicably settled by payments of shell-money. After deciding the amount, the mediators from the two opposing parties exchange clay and betel-nut, and thereby set the seal to, sometimes, lasting peace.

There is a custom, called _kamara_, which should be mentioned in this connection, as it is used effectively at times by Europeans. A resident near Herbertshöhe found that he was constantly robbed of agricultural produce, and was quite unable to detect the thief till an old chief advised him to use _kamara_. In accordance with his suggestion the German took away a canoe belonging to a kanaka, telling the latter of the frequent losses he had sustained, and requiring him to discover the perpetrator. Needless to say, the stolen articles, or others in compensation, found their way back to the European, and the canoe was quickly restored to its owner. It was afterwards discovered that spies had been placed all over the plantations and at the markets held at the white man’s house to facilitate the capture of the thief. Thus _kamara_ has often been used with success.

Woman in the Gazelle Peninsula has a right to live only because she has a right to work; for this purpose, if for no other, she came into the kanaka’s world, and--

“If she be small, slight-natured, miserable,
How shall men grow?...
... let her make herself her own
To give or keep, to live and learn and be.”

She is his property, and must labour in the fields for him. If any person injures her, so as to render her incapable of performing the same, he must pay a sum in compensation. Failure to keep the matrimonial compact is regarded as not so serious as _pulu_, which is marrying or having unlawful relations with one of the same totemic division. This is punishable with death (unless the missionary or Government intervene), which is meted out to the offender by a brother or maternal uncle. In case of disagreement or of death, the woman returns to her relatives, from whom she may be bought by a second husband. Marriages are generally arranged by the uncle of the bride and the father of the bridegroom. The exchange of presents, of tamboo and feasting, are the chief features of the matrimonial ceremonies, but the young people seem to have opportunities given them to discover for themselves whether the proposed union will be agreeable. For several days before the nuptial event the bridegroom, accompanied by a friend, visits his _fiancé_, who prepares food for him. If he does not admire her, he refuses the food she offers, and if the girl objects to her future spouse, it is only under compulsion that she offers him bananas or taro, etc. As a final test condition, a fire is made outside the hut on a certain day. If the lady, after due consideration, approves of her bridegroom, she turns her face towards him; if she refuses to look at him, it means that she insuperably objects to him as a husband. After this, if the relatives fail to persuade her to change her mind, they resort to magic and love-spells, and if that does not bring about the desired result, the affair is at an end and the money restored.

Etiquette demands that sons-in-law should not eat or chew betel with their parents-in-law, nor should they call them by name. When an infant is entering the world the magician is always much in request. He appears with a basket of charred coral, and taking pinches of it between his thumb and forefinger, muttering spells the while, wafts it in the air in every direction to frighten away bad spirits. If the newcomer is a boy, the women cry, “Hüh, hüh, hüh,” if a girl, “Huh, huh!” The christening ceremony takes place generally the day following; presents of shell-money being always exchanged between the wife’s relations and the husband. A heap of leaves chosen from plants of mystic virtues is set alight. If it be a boy, a spear and sling and stone are laid beside the fire, a stick for planting, a bamboo knife, and other articles which he will use in the course of his life. A woman then takes the baby and waves it through the smoke, saying, “Grow big. Earn much tamboo. Throw the spear! Hurl the stone!”

In the case of a girl the words are: “Grow up! Grow strong to work, so that you may compel the field to bring forth.”

The magician, who is always present, holds his hands in the smoke, and taking some ashes in his fingers touches the eyes, ears, nose and mouth of the child, that it may be guarded against evil spirits. Then the infant is named after a relative or friend, for which privilege the father pays a small sum. The choice of names is limited to those within the cognisance of the kanaka intelligence. Bamboo, bread-fruit, and such like are the vogue.

Symbolic ceremonies are by no means restricted to the occasion described. At funeral observances they play a great part. During the obsequies of a coastal native, whose occupation in life has been fishing on the reef, someone present will bring sea-water in a hollow bamboo cane and sprinkle it upon the ground before the corpse, signifying the farewell the deceased must now take of that which in his life was so familiar to him. In the same way a basket of earth will be shaken out before the dead body of a landsman, taro, bananas, and other products being placed close by, denote that all these articles must now be left behind. Sometimes the canoe may serve as a coffin, and be interred with the corpse. The mourners on these occasions present ghastly spectacles; they cover their bodies with soot and oil mixed well together, and renew the coating daily until the period of deepest mourning has passed. There is one distinctive circumstance in the life of the _gunan_, of which mention should be made, especially as it affords striking proof of that cupidity, which is one of the greatest forces in operation in the Gazelle Peninsula. This is the feast of the _vuvue_, and its mode of procedure is as follows: A rich man (_uviana_) distributes amongst the men in his neighbourhood all sorts of wares. Nowadays these include European goods, and range from knives and belts to tobacco and pipes. Formerly the articles were weapons and agricultural products. The receiver knows that, sooner or later, he must pay for the goods. On the day appointed for due payment a hut is carefully and artistically constructed, a tempting spread is prepared, consisting of cooked fish, roasted fowls, roasted taro with cocoanut sauce, and other inviting delicacies. Men, women and children gaily bedecked with flowers and feathers and all those articles which constitute native full dress, assemble. Family groups from surrounding villages form up for the dances and Sing-Songs which accompany every friendly gathering. Then each _gunan_, so far as noise is concerned, does its utmost to outdo those who have gone before. Meanwhile the correct behaviour on the part of the giver of the feast is to assume absolute indifference to the proceedings. After the dancing the natives of each community pass in front of him, and lay at his feet their payment in tamboo. But nobody could be more alive to his own interest, or note with a keener eye those whose deposit is not full payment for goods received, in an assemblage possibly numbering several hundreds. Natives who attend the _vuvue_ without the needful shell-money are marked men, and no great time elapses before pressure is put upon them to pay up and look pleasant.

Generally the _vuvue_-giver makes a very good thing out of it. I was told that as much as 750 marks (£37, 10s.) has been realised on the outlay. This custom, however, like many others, is changing its character under the new conditions engendered by the advent of the white man.

Although these natives have no knowledge of pottery and of weaving, their large weirs for fishing and their nets show considerable skill. Formerly women were allowed to take no part in this industry, but even here an improvement has taken place, and women may be seen on the shore adjusting fishing-tackle. These weirs, or crate-like baskets, are sometimes visible on the surface of the water, sometimes they lie on the floor of the reef. Fish, besides being netted, are occasionally speared. Off the island of Matupi a curious custom prevails: tiny fish are caught, opened and stuffed with a preparation of leaves, producing a stupefying effect. These are then used as bait for bigger fish, which generally feed on them, the narcotic causing them to come to the surface of the water, when the kanaka in his canoe easily catches them.

On the north coast of the peninsula, in the vicinity of the islands of Urar and Massava, the catching of tortoises is an occupation of several days’ duration. This is only undertaken when the south-east winds are blowing. The eggs are greatly sought after, and a tortoise will often lay over one hundred.

Another island on the north coast, called Vlatom, possesses the monopoly of a certain make of canoe, easily recognisable by the shape of its beak-like prow. Dug-outs with outriggers on the left side are used in these seas, the ornamentations varying with different localities.

Perhaps the greatest skill displayed by the ethnographical division to which the Gazelle kanakas belong, is that displayed in native surgery. Their knowledge of the different organs of the body is evidenced by the way in which gunshot wounds have been treated, but in the art of trepanning they seem to have been unusually successful. Mr Parkinson showed me skulls bearing traces of this treatment, and he can point to natives still alive who in years gone by have undergone this operation. If during a fight a native falls, struck by a stone from an enemy’s sling, he is taken straightway to a man skilled in the art of trepanning, who at once diagnoses the case. If the stone has penetrated the temples, he immediately declares that it is hopeless to operate, but if the wound is in the frontal region, he washes first his hands and afterwards the patient’s wound in the liquid of a young cocoanut, then with a sharpened shell or an obsidian splinter, he makes a transverse incision. Meanwhile two assistants gently and slowly draw back the scalp. The next thing is to remove the injured bone. This is generally effected by the use of sharp pieces of the cocoanut, until the brain is visible, which the operator then inspects with the utmost care. If he observes a slight pulsating sensation, he is satisfied that a speedy recovery will ensue; if such is not present, he considers that something has pierced the brain, and commences to search for it. If he is successful and finds it, the next process is to scrape the edges of the opening he has made until they are quite smooth and until the hole is round, or elliptical. He then covers the aperture with a piece of the bark of a certain tree or with the leaf of a special kind of banana previously warmed. The two sides of the severed scalp may then be replaced, the hair in the vicinity is cut off and the wound again washed with cocoanut fluid. To keep the scalp in the right position a network of ratang grass is drawn over the upper part of the head. To conclude the treatment without recourse to those unseen influences which appeal so strongly to the savage is impossible. A species of bandage, made from leaves belonging to plants possessing magical properties of highly curative repute, is bound round the temples. The psychic value of this doubtless materially assists the recovery of the superstitious native.

A visitor to Herbertshöhe may notice any day lads having perpendicular furrows on their foreheads, and may very naturally look upon such as aids to personal adornment, but the fact has been elicited that this feature is intended to preserve the boy in his future life from epileptic attacks or brain disorders. One woman, wiser than the rest, operates upon the children of from three to six years of age. An incision laying bare the frontal bone is made, which is scraped until a furrow is formed in it, when the skin is carefully drawn back again and a bandage of leaves, believed to possess healing virtue, bound round the temples, and in ten days the wound is cured. Broken limbs with the aid of splints are often mended. Blood-letting in cases of various aches and pains is considered a splendid remedy! For internal maladies and against epidemics magic is their unique recourse. To drive away those unfriendly spirits who bring the latter, the kanakas arm themselves with torches of dried sticks and leaves with which, when lighted, they rush screaming their loudest through the countryside.