The Savage South Seas

Chapter 12: CHAPTER VIII

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About This Book

The author offers a traveler's account of island life across British New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the New Hebrides, blending historical notes with firsthand observation. He describes village architecture, pile dwellings and tree houses, and the construction and use of outrigger canoes and large trading lakatois. Daily practices such as fishing techniques, food preparation, betel-nut chewing, and coiffure and ornamentation receive detailed attention. Social customs covered include courtship, marriage duties, dances, mourning rituals, and the roles of witchcraft and the evil eye. Religious practices range from ancestor worship to ritual temples and sacred effigies. Economic topics include copra cultivation, labor trafficking and the activities of traders, while final chapters sketch missionary encounters and notable historical episodes.

CHAPTER VIII

Natives who have had no chance; their villages without streets, and their curious huts—The tambu and canoe houses—An unlucky trader.

Wild and ferocious as the natives of the Solomon group are they possess some fine characteristics. Many of them far surpass the rough European, in those parts, in generosity and disposition.

The more you travel, the more you find that both men and beasts treat you in much the same way as you would treat them under similar conditions. There is undoubtedly a silent telegraphy which tells a savage or a wild beast, more plainly than it would a civilised human being, the attitude you are holding towards him, and he instinctively holds that same attitude towards you.