The Savage South Seas

Chapter 13: CHAPTER IX

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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 IX

Solomon Islands—Ingova’s head-hunters—How whole tribes were wiped out—Savage invasions and clever tactics.

The Solomon Islands, not being of such importance as New Guinea, have had much less attention paid to them.

No doubt the extreme danger which has always attached to a visit to these islands has made the white man give them as wide a berth as possible, only going there when compelled to either for trading or scientific purposes. It is here that cannibalism flourishes, and the head-hunters go forth on expeditions in all their savage grandeur to strike down the unsuspecting neighbour.

If there is uncertainty about life in New Guinea, there is precious little in the Solomon Islands, for the chances are ten to one against one’s living to tell the tale, unless he keep strictly to the trading parts of the islands.