The subsequent ceremony and feast are in this case held one or two days after the funeral, the acceleration in the case of a chief being necessary in consequence of the retention of the corpse above ground and the foul smell which immediately begins to emanate from it. This feast is on a very large scale, though here again only one community is invited. The guests enter the village just as they do in the case of the death of an ordinary person; but they are all specially well decorated, and the one guest who comes in full dancing ornaments will certainly be a chief, or at least a chiefs son. The subsequent part of the ceremony, up to the removal of the head feather ornament from the dancer, is the same; but this removal is done by the nearest male relative of the deceased chief, who will probably be the person to whom the chieftainship has descended. Then follows the feast itself. The vegetables and village pigs for the feast are provided by the whole clan, and are in very large quantities. No platform of sticks is placed on the grave, the grave in this case not being underground; but the banana leaves are placed around (not under) the supports of the burial platform, or around the trunk of the burial tree. The pigs are killed upon these banana leaves by the pig-killer and his helpers, and the killed pigs are then placed in circles around the platform or tree, and are there cut up. The distribution of food and pig's flesh is made by the chiefs nearest male relative, with assistance, here again the special dancer getting the largest share, and the ceremony is then over, and the guests return to their villages.

And now a true desertion of the village by its inhabitants takes place, as indeed is necessary, as the putrefying body is becoming so offensive; and it will be at least two or three weeks before the emission of the smells is over. The villagers all go off into the bush, with the exception of two unhappy men, more or less close relatives of the dead chief, who have to remain in the village. Whilst there alone they are well ornamented, though not in their full dancing decoration, but in particular, though not themselves chiefs, they wear on their heads the cassowary feathers which are the distinctive decoration of a chief, and they carry their spears. There they remain amidst the awful stench of the decomposing body and all the mess and smell of the pigs' blood and garbage about the village. It is a curious fact that, in speaking of these two men, the natives do not speak of them as watching over the body of the chief, but as watching over the blood of the killed pigs.

When the stench is over, the villagers in the bush are informed, and they then return to the village. Then follow the killing and eating of wild pigs and sweeping down of the village, as in the case of the death of an ordinary person, but again on a much larger scale.

It will be noticed that, though the desertion of the village after a big feast lasts for six months, that which follows a chiefs funeral only lasts for a few weeks.

The removal of the mourning takes place after an interval which may be anything between one and six months. This is a special ceremony, and will not be postponed for the purpose of tacking it on to some other ceremony, as in the case of an ordinary person's mourning removal; but other ceremonies will often be tacked on to it. The guests invited are from only one other community. Here again the person actually dealt with is the chief mourner, and the removal of mourning from him or her terminates the mourning for everyone. The village pigs for this occasion are provided by the dead man's family, and not by the whole clan, as in the case of a chiefs funeral feast. There will probably be two or three of such pigs provided; but, as the ceremony is also available for various other ceremonies, there may be a considerable number of pigs killed. The dancing and pig-killing and feast are the same as those of an ordinary mourning-removal ceremony, but on a larger scale. The pig-killing in this case is done round the platform or tree on which the chief is buried. The buyer of the pig, who cuts off the mourning necklace and daubs the face of the chief mourner, if not a chief, will at all events be a person of importance; but the ceremonies relating to all these matters are identical with those already described. There is also the subsequent purification ceremony, at which wild pigs are killed and eaten as before.

The graves of chiefs' wives and members of their families, and other persons of special importance, are platform or tree graves, like those of chiefs, and the funeral ceremonies on the deaths of these people are very similar to those of chiefs, though they are on a scale which is smaller, in proportion to the relative smallness of the importance of the person to be buried; and they are subject to a few detailed differences, which the difference of the situation involves. The special magic ceremony for ascertaining if the patient is or is not going to die is not performed in the case of these people.



CHAPTER XVIII

Religion and Superstitious Beliefs and Practices

Religion and Superstitions.

These are subjects which I should hardly have ventured to introduce into this book if I had had to rely exclusively upon enquiries made only during my stay among the Mafulu villages, without having the benefit of five years' observation by the Mafulu Fathers of the Mission. And, notwithstanding this additional facility, my notes on these questions will be found to involve puzzles and apparent inconsistencies; and there is no part of the book which should be read and accepted with greater reserve and doubt as to possible misunderstanding. Subject to this caution, I give the information as I have obtained it.

I heard nothing to justify the idea of the Mafulu people having any belief in a universal God or All Father; but there is a general belief among them in a mysterious individual named Tsidibe, who may be a man, or may be a spirit (they appear to be vague as to this), who has immense power, and who once passed through their country in a direction from east to west. Wherever you may be, if you speak of this personage, and ask to be told in which direction he travelled, they always point out one which is from east to west. They believe that it was Tsidibe who taught them all their customs, including dancing and manufacture, and that he ultimately reached and remained in the land of the white man, where he is now living; and that the superior knowledge of the white man in manufacture, and especially in the making of clothes, has been acquired from him. The idea of his ultimate association with the white man can hardly, however, be a very ancient tradition. One of the Fathers was seriously asked by a native whether he had ever seen Tsidibe. They seem to think that he is essentially a beneficent being. They regret his having left their country; but they have no doubt as to this, and do not regard him as still continuing to exercise any influence over them and their affairs, have no ceremonies or observances with reference to him, and do not address to him any supplications. As traces of his passage through their country they will show you extraordinarily shaped rocks and stones, such as fragments which have fallen from above into the valley, and rocks and stones which have lodged in strange positions. But there are no ceremonies with reference to these and the natives have no fear of them, and indeed they will proudly point them out to you as evidences of this mysterious being having been in their country, and of his power. They would not hesitate to touch one of these stones, but they would never injure it. I learnt nothing about him which would justify me in suggesting that the Mafulu people deified him as an ancestor, or even regarded him as being one, though some of the matters attributed to him are perhaps not dissimilar from those often attributed to deified ancestors. [108]

They certainly have a lively belief in ghosts of people who have lived and died, and in spirits which have never occupied human form, all of whom (ghosts and spirits) are evil disposed, and in sorcery.

Every human being, male and female, has during life a mysterious ghostly self, in addition to his bodily visible and conscious self; and this ghostly self will on his death survive him as a ghost. There appears to be no idea of this ghostly self leaving the body in times of sleeping or dreaming; though, if a man dreams of someone who is dead, he thinks that he has been visited by that person's ghost.

At death the ghost leaves the body, and becomes, and remains, a malevolent being. There is no idea of re-incarnation, or of the ghost passing into any animal or plant, though, as will be seen hereafter, it sometimes apparently becomes a plant; and there is no difference in their minds between the case of a person who has died naturally and one who has been killed in battle or otherwise, or between persons who have or have not been eaten, or who have or have not been buried, though in case of burial there are the methods of getting rid of the ghost; and there is no superstitious avoidance of graves or fear of mentioning a deceased person by name, and no superstition as to the shadows of living persons passing over graves and sacred places. Except as above stated, I found no trace of any belief in a future state.

When on the death of a man or woman or child, the ghostly self leaves the body, or at all events when the funeral pig-killing has been performed, the ghost goes away to the tops of the mountains, where apparently it exists as a ghost for ever. The shouting immediately after the death, and afterwards at the funeral, are steps towards driving it there; and the pig-killing ceremony completes the process. On reaching the mountains the ghost becomes one of two things. The ghost of a young or grown-up person up to, say, forty or forty-five years of age becomes the shimmering light upon the ground and undergrowth, which occurs here and there where the dense forest of the mountains is penetrated by the sun's beams. It is apparently only the light which shimmers on the ground and undergrowth, and not that in the air. The ghost of an elderly person over forty or forty-five years of age becomes a large sort of fungus, which is indigenous to the mountains, where alone it is found. Any native who on a hunting expedition or otherwise meets with a glade in which this shimmering light occurs will carefully pass round it, instead of going across it; and any native finding one of these fungi will neither eat nor touch, nor even tread upon it; though indeed, as regards the eating, I understand that this particular fungus is one of the poisonous non-edible forms. A native who, after the recent death of another, is travelling in the mountains, and there finds a young fungus of this species only just starting into growth, will think that it is probably the ghost of the recently departed one.

As regards the use by me with reference to both sunbeams and fungi of the word "becomes" I recognise that it may justify much doubt and questioning. The idea of actually becoming the flickering light or the fungus, as distinguished from that of entering into or haunting it, is a difficult one to grasp, especially as regards the flickering light. I tried to get to the bottom of this question when I was at Mafulu; but the belief as to actual becoming was insisted upon, and I could get no further. I cannot doubt, however, that there is much room for further investigation on the point, which is of a character concerning which misapprehension may well arise, especially in dealing with such simple and primitive people as are the Mafulu natives.

The foods of these ghosts in both their forms are the ghostly elements of the usual native vegetable foods (sweet potato, yam, taro, banana, and in fact every vegetable food) and the ghostly elements of the excrement of the still living natives; and the ghosts come down from the mountains to the villages and gardens to procure these foods. Here again the difficulty as to meaning above referred to arises, as they can hardly imagine that the flickering lights cease to flicker in their mountain glades, or that the fungi cease to exist in their mountain habitats during these food-seeking incursions; and yet, unless this be so, the superstitious difficulty is increased. A ghost is also sometimes for some reason or other dissatisfied with his mountain abode; and he will then return to the village (not apparently in the visible form of a flickering light or a fungus).

As the intentions of the ghost towards living humanity are always evil, his visits, whether for procuring food or in consequence of dissatisfaction with his habitat, are feared by the people; but I could not ascertain what was the nature of the injuries by the ghost to themselves of which they were afraid, nor could I hear of any actual instance of a disaster or misfortune which had been attributed to the machinations of such a ghost. When sleeping in their dark enclosed houses, however, the people fill up all openings by which the ghost might enter (this does not apply to the emone, the entrance openings of which are not closed at night; but perhaps the fact that a number of men are always sleeping together there gives them confidence); and when the Mission Station at Mafulu was started the natives were amazed at the missionaries daring to sleep alone in rooms with open doors and windows, through which the ghosts might enter.

Having by the shouting prior to and at the dead man's funeral wholly or partially driven his ghost to the mountains, and in some way, as it would seem, further placated or influenced the ghost by the subsequent pig-killing over or by his grave at the funeral feast, there is no method of which I could gain information by which the people can actually keep him there, or prevent his periodic returns to the village and gardens for food, or his return from a mountain home with which he is dissatisfied; and there are apparently no prayers, incantations or other ceremonies for the purpose of placating, or intimidating, or in any way influencing the ghost. This statement is subject, however, to the existence of the practice of pig-killing at the various other ceremonies before described (always apparently done under or by or on the site of a chiefs grave), which is evidently superstitious in character, and must have reference to the ghosts of the departed chiefs and notables, being intended, or having originally been intended, to placate or influence them in some way or other; and especially it would seem that this must be so as regards the dipping of the mourner's string necklace in dead pigs' blood at the mourning-removal ceremony, and as regards the pig-killing at the big feast, at which the skulls and bones of all the then departed chiefs and notables are carefully collected, and made the objects of ceremonious dipping in blood, or touching with bones so dipped, and after which these skulls and bones may be thrown away, as not requiring further ceremony. And concerning all these ceremonies, if we bear in mind the special fear which many primitive people seem to have of the ghosts of their great men, as distinguished from those of the unimportant ones, it seems, I think, to be natural that the graves and the skulls and bones of the great ones should be those which are specially dealt with, and the dealing with which may possibly, so far as the big feasts are concerned, have been the original purpose for which the feasts were held.

The mental attitude and conduct of the people towards ghosts may have originated in some form of ancestor worship, but I found nothing now existing to indicate this; and in particular I could learn nothing of any recognition of, or ceremonial observances with reference to, the individual ghosts of known persons, as distinguished from the ghosts generally.

I could find no direct information as to any belief in ghosts of animals or plants; but the fact that the living edible plants have a ghostly self, upon which the human ghosts feed, seems to involve the idea during the life of those plants; and in that case one sees no reason why the ghost of the plant should not survive the plant itself, just as the ghost of the living person survives him at his death. Also the existence of a ghostly element in human excrement opens out a wide field of ghostly possibilities.

Spirits which have never been human beings are also malevolent; though when we come to the operations of magic men or sorcerers, and to incantations and the use of charms, the powers in connection with all of which appear to be ascribed to spirits, it will be noticed that these are by no means necessarily and invariably engaged or used for malevolent purposes.

I was not able to obtain any satisfactory information as to these spirits, or their supposed attributes, nor, except as regards illness and death, as to the nature of, and ground for, the fears which the natives feel concerning them; indeed, this is a subject upon which most natives all over the world are inclined to be reticent, partly or largely from fear. Even as regards the sacred places which these spirits are supposed to haunt, though the natives are not unwilling to pass them, and will mention the fact that they are sacred, they are unwilling to talk about them. My notes as to spirits, other than those in connection with sorcery producing illness and death, must therefore be practically confined to the sacred places haunted by the spirits, and the demeanour and acts of the natives with reference to, and when they pass, these places.

Speaking generally, any place which has something specially peculiar or unusual in its appearance is likely to be regarded as the abode of a spirit. A waterfall, or a deep still pool in the course of a river (but not the river itself), or a deep narrow rocky river ravine, or a strangely shaped rock come under this category. There are also certain trees and creepers which are regarded as implying the presence of a spirit in their vicinity, although that vicinity has in itself nothing unusual. I can, however, only give a few illustrative examples of this general idea.

There are three special trees and two or three special creepers which imply the presence of a spirit. What the creepers are I could not ascertain; but the trees are a very large palm which grows on the mountains and not on the coast, a form of pine tree, [109] and the gabi fig-tree, used for burial of chiefs. [110] It does not necessarily follow that every specimen of any one of these trees and creepers is spirit-haunted; but some are known to be so, and all are apparently so much under suspicion that, though the natives will speak of them and will pass them, they are afraid to cut them down.

At the time when the path near the newly erected Mission Station at Mafulu was being opened some of these creepers had to be cleared away, and the Mission Fathers had the utmost difficulty with the natives, only two or three of whom could be persuaded to help in the work, whilst the others stood aloof and afraid. In the same way, when the Fathers wanted to cut down some of the special palms, only two natives were induced to help in this, and even they only did so on the condition that the Fathers themselves made the first strokes; and the Fathers were warned by the natives that evil would befall them. It was a curious coincidence that the Father who did this tree-cutting, being then and having been for a long time past perfectly well in health, was that evening taken ill with a bad sore, which nearly necessitated his being carried down to the head Mission Station on the coast.

There is a very common ceremony performed when natives, in travelling through the country, pass a spirit-haunted spot. The leader of the party turns round, and in a low voice tells the others that they are approaching the spot, whereupon they all become silent, though up to that point they have been chattering. The leader then takes a wisp of grass and ties it in a knot, and all the others do the same. They then walk on in silence for a period, which may be anything from five to fifteen minutes, after which, as they pass the spot, the leader turns round and throws his bunch of grass on the ground, and the others do the same. In this way they avert the danger and afterwards chatter as before. [111] Another somewhat similar ceremony commences, like the former one, with silence; but, instead of throwing grass down as they pass the haunted spot, the visible sign of which in this case is a hole in the ground, the leader stops and looks round at the others, and then presses the palm of his hand down into the interior of the hole, and the others do the same; and after this all is safe and well, as in the former case. In travelling through the country these holes with numerous impressions of hands in them are to be seen; and you may in one day's journey pass several of these signs of haunted places, of either or both sorts, within a comparatively short distance of one another. The hole in which the people put their hands may not have originally existed, and may have been produced by the oft-repeated pressure of hands on the ground as natives passed the haunted spot; but on this point I am unable to make any statement. Nor have I been able to ascertain what the difference, if any, is, or has been, between the places where they put grass and those in which they merely press the hands.

I found no evidence of any general idea of supernatural powers being possessed by natural inanimate objects, such as rivers or rocks; but, as already stated, fishers are in the habit of addressing the stream in supplication for fish, and it is possible there are other examples of the same sort of thing, which I did not discover.

Magic or sorcery, and those who practise it, and incantations and charms, and those who supply charms, are naturally associated with either ghosts or spirits, or both. Among the Mafulu people they are, I was assured, associated solely with spirits, and not with ghosts; and, though I have no confirmatory evidence of the accuracy of this statement, I can only in these notes assume that it is correct. It may well be, however, that in the minds of the people themselves the distinction between the ghost of a person who has lived and died and the spirit which has never lived in visible human form is not really quite clearly defined; or that powers which are now regarded by them as spirits have had an origin, possibly long ago, in what were then believed to be ghosts. I shall revert to this point at a later stage.

Sorcery.

The Mafulu magic men or sorcerers are different from those of the Mekeo plains. There is not among the Mafulu, as there is in Mekeo, a large body of powerful professional sorcerers, who are a source of constant terror to the other people of their own villages, and are yet to a certain extent relied upon and desired by those people as a counterpoise to the powers of sorcerers of other villages; and a Mafulu native, unless prevented by a fear of outside hostility in no way connected with the supernatural, will travel alone outside his own community in a way in which fear of the sorcerers would make a Mekeo native unwilling to do so. The Mafulu sorcerers are a somewhat less powerful people; but they claim, and are supposed to have, certain powers of divination, or actual causation, or both, of certain things. So far as I could learn, the sorcerer's supernatural powers would never be exercised in a hostile way against anyone of his own village, or indeed of his own clan, or even, as a rule, of his own community. Apparently the sorcerer's victim is nearly always a member of some other community; and the sorcerers of a community do not appear to be in any way either feared or shunned by the members of that community. And, even as regards their acts of hostility against members of other communities, these do not seem to be performed to an extent in any way approaching what is found in Mekeo.

It seemed to me at first, as regards these sorcerers, that there was a confusion in the Mafulu mind between divination and causation. The question as to this arose specially in connection with the ceremony for ascertaining whether a chief was or was not going to die. The people of a clan and the ailing chief certainly assume that the sorcerers who perform the ceremony under instructions, whether they be of the same community or of some other community, will by their magical powers merely divine the death or recovery of the chief; and the idea does not enter their heads that these sorcerers may actually cause the death. And yet they will accuse a hostile sorcerer of causing the death by an exactly similar ceremony, and will go to war over the matter. Probably, however, it is rather a question of the sorcerer's assumed volition—that is, it is assumed that the friendly sorcerer does not want the chief to die, and the people rely upon him to confine himself to a divination ceremony, and not to engage in hostile sorcery; whereas a hostile sorcerer might do the latter. I may add that I was led to suspect that the burning test was regarded as being only a matter of divination, and that the causation, if it occurred, was effected by means of the previous incantation.

There are also, besides the sorcerers, a number of specialists, who can hardly perhaps be called true sorcerers, but who have certain specific powers, or are acquainted with certain specific forms of incantation, and whose services are from time to time sought by the people. It is impossible for me to point to any definite line of demarcation between the true sorcerers and these smaller people; and it cannot be doubted that the powers of the latter, like those of the former, are, or have been, based upon the supernatural, even though they themselves do not claim to be and are not regarded as being magic men in the highest sense. I think I may regard them as being more or less the Mafulu equivalents of the Roro individuals whom Dr. Seligmann calls "departmental experts." [112]

Dealing first with the true sorcerers, they undoubtedly include among their number the men who perform the special ceremonial already described for ascertaining whether a sick chief is or is not destined to die. They also seem to include the makers or providers of the various charms, including those which are carried in the little charm bags and the love charms used by young men, as already mentioned. There are also two other matters which are regarded as coming within the province of the true sorcerers, of which one relates to rain and the other relates to illness and death. I will deal with them separately.

The rain sorcerer is apparently merely a diviner. Dr. Seligmann would perhaps include him among the departmental experts, but the Fathers of the Mission regard him as being a true sorcerer. He is the man to whom the people go in anticipation of a proposed important event, such as a big feast, or perhaps a fighting or large hunting expedition, to ascertain and inform them whether the period in which it is proposed that the event shall occur will be fine or wet; but he does not profess to be able to do more than this, and they never expect him to prevent or bring about the rain, or in any way hold him responsible for the weather as it may in fact eventually occur.

The sorcery connected with illness and death is not so simple; and there is no doubt that it is not confined to powers of divination, but includes powers of actual causation. This department of sorcery obviously includes the ceremonial in connection with the supposed dying chief. But it is not confined to this ceremony, as it is generally believed by the Mafulu people that sickness, which does not necessarily end in death, and death itself, can be, and commonly is, brought about by the operation of sorcerers in one way or another through the medium of certain things. The only things of this nature concerning which I was able to obtain information are (1) the inedible part of some vegetable food which the victim has recently eaten (e.g., the outside part of a sweet potato or banana or the cane part of a sugar cane), and (2) the victim's discharged excrement or urine. I found no trace of any use for purposes of sorcery of the edible remnants of the victim's food, nor (except as regards a woman's placenta, to which I shall refer presently) of any part of his body, such as his hair or nails; and, in fact, the free way in which the natives throw away their hair when cut is inconsistent with any belief as to its possible use against them.

First, the inedible remnants of recently consumed vegetable food. The use of this as a medium for causing illness and death is apparently confined to the case of a victim who has passed the stage of very young childhood. Why this is so I could not learn; though in point of fact a mere infant would hardly be eating such things as a regular practice. A man or woman, however, never carelessly throws aside his own food remnants of this character; and his reason for this is fear of sorcery. He carefully keeps them under his control until he can take them to a river, into which he throws them, after which they are harmless as a medium against him. The fear concerning these remains is that a sorcerer will use them for a ceremony somewhat similar to that described in connection with the death of a chief, but in a hostile way. No such precautions are taken with reference to similar food eaten by very young children.

Secondly, the discharged excrement and urine. This, for some reason, only applies to the case of an infant or quite young child. Here again I could not learn the reason for the limitation; but it is confirmed by the fact that grown-up persons take no pains whatever to avoid the passing of these things into the possession of other people, whereas, as regards little children, the mothers or other persons having charge of them always take careful precautions. The mother picks up her little child's excrement, and wraps it in a leaf, and then either carefully hides it in a hole in the ground, or throws it into the river, or places it in a little raised-up nest-like receptacle, which is sometimes erected near the house for this purpose, and where also it is regarded as being safe. One of these receptacles, shaped like an inverted cone, is shown in Plate 91, and a somewhat similar one is seen in Plate 64. As regards the urine, she pours upon it, as it lies on the ground or on the house floor or platform, a little clean water which she obtains from any handy source, or sometimes from a little store which, when away from other water supply, she often carries about with her for the purpose. I could get no information as to the way in which the sorcerer would use the excrement or urine as a medium for hostile purposes; though there is apparently no process similar to that of the fire used in connection with the inedible food remnants of the adult.

It will have been noticed that the mode of rendering the inedible food remnants of a grown-up person immune from sorcery, and one of the methods of making the infants' excrement immune, is that of throwing them into the river; and even as regards infants' urine, which apparently is not, and as a rule hardly could be, actually thrown into the river, the protection is obtained by pouring water upon it. I think that the belief among the islands of the Pacific in the power of water to protect against the machinations of spirits or ghosts is not confined to the Mafulu natives, or indeed to those of New Guinea. Dr. Codrington mentions its existence as regards human excrement in Melanesia. [113] I would also refer to a custom of the Mafulu women after childbirth of throwing the placenta into the river, a practice which is similar to that of the Koita women, who drop the placenta into the sea. [114] Probably these practices relating to placenta are also based upon some idea of protection from sorcerers and spirits, although I was informed that among the Mafulu there is no superstitious fear connected with the matter now. If the custom is in fact superstitious in origin, the list of media for the use of sorcery already given by me requires enlarging. [115]

Serious illness or death of either an adult or an infant, if not caused by visible accident, is by the Mafulu, as by other natives, generally attributed, subject to limitations, to the sorcerers. The belief of the Mafulu as to this arises if the victim, being an ordinary person, is comparatively young, or in the strength of life, say under forty or forty-five, or if the victim, being a chief or a member of a chief's family or a person of very high position, is even over that age, unless he is very old, and old age is recognised as the natural cause of his illness or death.

If the belief arises that the calamity, especially that of death, has been brought about by spiritualistic influence, the family will probably go to some person who is believed to be in touch with spirits and able to designate the culprit. I cannot say whether or not the person so employed is regarded as being a sorcerer in the full sense of the word, or as merely one of the inferior types of magic men above referred to. Probably he is only the latter, as I do not think there are any juvenile sorcerers among the Mafulu, and this particular person may be quite a young boy; indeed, there is in a village near to the Mafulu Mission Station a young boy who is supposed to have this power. As a matter of fact this boy is not quite right in his head; but this state of mind is not among the Mafulu in any way a necessary, or indeed a usual, qualification for a sorcerer or magic man of any sort. The person appealed to will perhaps tell them who has done the deed, or will make some oracular statement which will lead to his identification. The culprit identified by him will in any case be a member of another clan, and most probably of another community. When he has been discovered, there will probably be a fight, in which the members of the victim's clan, or even, especially if the victim be a chief or big person, the whole of his community, will join the injured relatives, this question of suspected causing of death being, like that of non-repayment of the price paid for a runaway wife, one of the frequent causes of intercommunity fighting.

Reverting here to the matter of ghosts and spirits, one cannot help noting a similarity between, on the one hand, the ghostly element of living food plants and the ghostly element of human excrement, which constitute the food of the ghosts, and, on the other hand, the physical inedible remnants of food recently eaten by an adult victim and the physical excrement and urine of an infant victim, which are the media used for hostile sorcery through the power of spirits; though, as regards the latter, I have no evidence of a belief that the spirits eat them. I tried to get further into this matter, but was unable to do so. Again one is struck by the fact that the special gabi tree, which is the tree used for the interment of chiefs and notables, is one of the trees whose presence is regarded as indicating a place inhabited by spirits. These elements of similarity tend, I think, to suggest the possibility of some confusion in the native mind as to the difference between ghosts and spirits, or of some originally ghostly origin in what are now regarded as spirits.

The class of magic men who are something less than sorcerers, and whose powers are perhaps confined to the knowledge of certain specific forms of incantation, would probably include the person who does the nose-boring, and perhaps the person who detects the causes of death above referred to. It would also, I think, include the men who ascertain the whereabouts of a stolen article and discover the thief, and who perform the ceremony in connection with hunting, and the persons who effect, or profess to effect, cures of a more or less superstitious nature, all of whom are probably not regarded as full sorcerers.

The professional pig-killer is not, as such, either a sorcerer or a magic man in the minor sense; and, if there has originally been anything of a superstitious or magic character associated with him or his functions, I was unable to find any trace of it, except perhaps as regards the ceremony and incantation in connection with hunting, which apparently is commonly performed by him.

Charms.

The Mafulu people believe in charms. I have already referred to those used by young men desirous of marrying. But there are many other more important charms for various purposes, such as averting illness and death, success in hunting and fishing, and perhaps preservation in time of war. These charms may be stones, small pieces of different sorts of bark, flowers, or various kinds of poisons, though the poisons appear to be only used for averting illness and death. They are all procured from sorcerers, who may be of the same or of some other village, or of another community, and there are sorcerers who have specialities in certain sorts of charms. These charms are often carried inside the small charm bags already mentioned.

Omens.

They believe in omens; but of these I was only able to hear of two examples—namely, flying foxes, [116] and fireflies, the latter, though common in the plains, being rare on the mountains, and both of these are bad omens. Any person or party starting off on a journey, or on a hunting or fishing expedition, and meeting either of these creatures would probably at once turn back; and I was told that even a full war party starting off on a punitive expedition would turn back, or at least halt for a time, if it met one or other of them. I cannot help thinking there must be some other omens, which I have failed to discover.

General.

Referring generally to supplications, incantations, and acts of propitiation, the only examples of them which I was able to discover were the above-mentioned supplication to the river prior to fishing, which is apparently spoken by the fishers themselves, and not merely by a sorcerer or magic man, and the incantations in connection with nose-piercing, with hunting, with a dying chief, with the stone operation for stomach complaints, and with the plant remedies for wounds, and the acts of propitiation, if such they are, in connection with ceremonious pig-killing, and especially with the ceremonies performed at a big feast and at or following a funeral; and as regards the incantations I could learn nothing as to their nature, nor as to the specific spiritual powers for the influencing of which they are intended, nor the way in which those powers are moved by them.

In fact, concerning the whole question of ghosts, spirits, sorcery, charms, omens and superstitions, I cannot imagine that I have accomplished more than the mere touching of the fringe of it; and I am sure that, when the Mafulu people have got rather more into touch with civilisation, and become more accessible and communicative about these things, there will be much more to be learnt. It may perhaps be that some of the apparently superstitious acts are, like many such acts performed in England, based upon beliefs which have long since been forgotten, and have themselves become mere formalities, to which the natives do not attach serious superstitious importance; though their fear of ghosts and spirits is undoubtedly a very real and general one.

There are no secret societies or mysteries, such as are met with in some of the Solomon Islands, and they have no superstition as to sneezing.

Taboo.

The subject of taboo may perhaps be referred to under the present heading, for, though there appear to be no totemic taboos, and though I have no material showing that the Mafulu taboos are based on superstitious ideas, it may, I imagine, be assumed that, while some of these taboos are possibly partly based on medical common sense, the element of superstition enters more or less into many of them. I have already referred to a few general restrictions connected with etiquette, and what I now propose to mention are food taboos.

Young men are not supposed to eat wild pig until they have married, but this is the only food restriction which is put upon them. [117] A woman who is about to give birth to a child must eat no food whatever for a day or rather longer (never more than two days), before the child is born. I have already referred to the food taboo on persons undergoing the nose-piercing operation, and the optional food taboo to which the nearest relative of a deceased person may submit, in lieu of wearing the mourning string. There is also a general taboo against any food other than sweet potato and chewing of betel-nuts, with its condiments of lime and pepper, upon any male person who intends to take part, either as a dancer or singer, in any ceremonial dance. This latter term includes the dance at a big feast and the women's dance on the eve of it, but not the dancing during the six months' interval before it. It also includes the dance at any of the various minor ceremonies above described, and at a funeral ceremony. The period of restriction in the case of the big feast begins when the formal croton-leaf invitation has gone out to the guests, about a month before the date of the feast. In the case of a funeral it is necessarily only quite short, and in cases of other ceremonies it varies, being largely dependent on the length of period during which the approach of the ceremony is known. During the period of restriction the people avail themselves largely of the privilege of betel-chewing, and prior to a big feast their mouths get very red. In connection with personal ceremonies upon assumption of the perineal band, admission to the emone (excepting, as regards this, the case of a child of very tender years), qualifying for drumming and dancing, devolution of chieftainship and nose-piercing, the person concerned, male or female, is under the same food restriction for a day prior to that of the ceremony, and as regards nose-piercing this taboo is prior to the actual piercing, and is quite distinct from the subsequent taboo already referred to. There does not appear to be any taboo connected with fishing, hunting or war.

The observance of all these taboos is secured only by superstitious belief or public opinion, or both, there being no method of enforcing them by punishment or by any exercise of authority by the chiefs.



CHAPTER XIX

Note on the Kuni People

Father Egedi, who has studied the Kuni people, and has written a series of articles about them in numbers of Anthropos, told me that he regarded them as being a cross between the Papuan-speaking Mafulu and the Melanesian-speaking Papuo-Melanesians of Mekeo and the adjoining coast. Whether or not this is absolutely and strictly correct is a question upon which I will not venture to express an opinion.

In general physique and appearance the Kuni are distinctly and strongly of the type of the Mafulu, whilst their language is Melanesian; and, as regards other matters, they in some respects resemble and in other respects differ from the Mafulu.

As regards physique, Father Egedi distinguishes the Kuni from the natives of the adjoining coast by their slighter development, slender limbs and darker colour of skin, in which respects they resemble the Mafulu; but he regards them as being lower-statured than the tribes of the interior, which term includes the Mafulu, [118]with greater regularity of features, and of lighter colour, all of which tallies, I think, with my own observation of them. But the fact that they are shorter in stature than the Mafulu, who are themselves shorter than the coast natives, is perhaps a matter for surprise, if they are a cross between the two. I have not measured any Kuni heads; but I should be disposed from general observation to say that they are very similar to those of the Mafulu, being predominantly mesaticephalic, with tendencies to brachycephalism. [119]

Many of the Lapeka people, who are Kuni, but are on the borders of the Upper Mekeo district, seemed to me to have distinctly flattish faces, with remarkably delicately cut features—some of the women in particular being exceedingly pretty in profile—and very bright sparkling eyes. Where these local characteristics came from I cannot say, as it could hardly be the result of an intermixture of Mekeo blood. [120]

The oblique eye, which is occasionally found on the coast, [121] but which I never saw in Mafulu, is, according to Father Egedi, present, though only rare, among the Kuni. His large amount of opportunity for observation, and his known care and ability in this respect, compel me to assume his accuracy; but I can say that I saw a good many of these eyes among them, and indeed once, having about twenty of these Kuni people squatting in front of me, I observed that about half of them had distinctly oblique eyes.

Father Egedi speaks of their hair as being "generally black, rarely bright, and more rarely chestnut"; and as to this, I would refer to the fact that the predominating colour of hair among the Mafulu is dark or darkish brown, so that in this respect the Kuni apparently tend more to the black-haired coast type of native than do the Mafulu.

Concerning matters other than physique and language, as I only passed through the Kuni district, and did not attempt serious ethnological investigation there, I can say but little beyond what I learn from Father Egedi's articles and a few other sources; and the material thus available only deals with a few questions.

It would appear from Father Egedi's observations that the relationship between villages arising from the splitting up into two or more of an original family village is not so permanent as I believe it to be among the Mafulu. Dr. Seligmann says [122] that among the Kuni Father Egedi "could find no trace of intermarrying groups, or groups of clans claiming common descent," which statement applies to my investigations among the Mafulu. He further says [123] that "The Dilava folk" (Dilava is a Kuni village) "marry into all the surrounding villages; and when a death occurs it is the head of the family of the deceased who says when mourning shall cease"—statements of which the former, and I believe the latter, could hardly be correctly made concerning the Mafulu. He also refers [124] to Kuni war chiefs, an office which does not exist among the Mafulu, and apparently understands that the office of these war chiefs is non-hereditary, a statement which could not be made of any Mafulu chief; and he refers [125] to a funeral ceremony which is quite unknown in Mafulu. But his statement [126] that the kufu (club-house) system seems less developed than in Mekeo would apply very strongly to the Mafulu.

The Kuni superstitious remedies for illnesses, as described by Father Egedi, are quite different from those of Mafulu, and their food restrictions, as enumerated by him, are in some respects substantially distinct from those of the Mafulu, though some of them are more or less similar.

According to him Kuni women, though they may not enter the village kufu or club-house, are allowed upon its platform, which is not the case with the Mafulu emone; and eldest sons of Kuni influential people may not enter into the kufu until their parents have given a specific feast, which custom is apparently not identical with that of the Mafulu above described by me, and which applies to all sons of all members of the village, and not merely to those of influential people.

The Kuni houses differ from those of the Mafulu, being more or less round or oval in apparent shape, even though the floor is rectangular. Also according to Father Egedi, Kuni kufu are of several various sorts, and some of them are constructed in specific ways, and have specific carved and painted decorations, some of which are imitative of animals and objects held in veneration; and these different types of club-house, which include one used only by elderly bachelors and widowers, have specific names—all of which is quite different from what is found in Mafulu. Among these club-houses Father Egedi includes one built at feast times higher up the ridge, outside the village, for guests' accommodation, which, though apparently somewhat similar in purpose to the guests' houses at a Mafulu feast, differs from them in form. Indeed, as regards building construction, the only point of strong similarity between the Kuni and the Mafulu which I can trace is the long fireplace extending from front to back of the building, which with the Kuni is apparently very like that of the Mafulu.

Father Egedi's statement as to Kuni cannibalism, that speaking generally it appears to be confined to the bodies of people killed in war or in private vendetta, and that, though other cases are recorded, they are regarded as a violation of a custom and are detested, might be equally well said of the Mafulu; though I did not actually hear of any known record there of the other cases mentioned. Again his statement that the actual killer must not share in the feast holds good with the Mafulu; but I believe that this idea exists elsewhere also.

Concerning the Kuni implements I can only refer to Dr. Seligmann's statement, [127] that they do not appear to use bows and shields—which, if correct, is a point of difference between them and the Mafulu—and to a few other things referred to by Father Egedi in his articles. From his descriptions I should imagine that the Kuni pig-bone implements and their bamboo cutting knives are similar, and that their wooden vegetable dishes are somewhat similar to those of the Mafulu. But the Kuni have cooking pots (which they get from the coast), and use forks and spoons and various other implements and utensils which are not found in Mafulu, and their mode of producing fire is quite different from the Mafulu mode.

I recognise that the above comparative notes on Kuni culture are only of a very fragmentary character; but Father Egedi expresses the general opinion that, though the language of the Kuni people is Melanesian, their habits and customs "may be considered as making one with those of the Mafulu people."

On the whole question of Kuni relationship it can, I think, hardly be doubted that the Kuni have some characteristics which are clearly those of the Mafulu and other central mountain tribes, and others which are obviously those of the Papuo-Melanesians of the adjacent plains and the coast beyond; and the only question seems to be the nature and origin of the Kuni relationship to these two types of people. It may be, as suggested by Father Egedi, that they are actually a cross between these two mixed types; or, if the suggestion in my concluding chapter as to the possible presence in these Mafulu and other mountain people of Negrito blood be correct, it may be that the Kuni people are merely another result of the general Negrito-Papuo-Melanesian intercrossing, in which the Papuan and Melanesian elements have been more predominant than they have been with the Mafulu.



CHAPTER XX

Conclusion

What is the origin of these Mafulu people, with their short stature, small and somewhat rounded heads, slight but active build, sooty brown skin, and frizzly hair, predominantly brown in colour, and with their comparatively primitive ideas of organisation, and simple arts and crafts?

The question is one of no mere local interest, as the answer to it will probably be the answer to a similar question concerning most, and perhaps all, of the other Papuan-speaking people of the mountainous interior of the Central District of British New Guinea, and may even be a key to the past early history of the entire island.

It has, I think, been hitherto believed that all these mountain people had a mixed Papuan and Melanesian ancestry; but it was impossible to be among them, as I was, for some time without being impressed by the difference in appearance between them and the people of the adjacent coast and plains, and suspecting that, though they had Papuan and Melanesian blood in their veins, there was also some third element there. And the name which obtruded itself upon my mind, whilst in Mafulu, was Negrito.

The dark skin and the comparatively rounded heads, and, I think, some shortness of stature are found elsewhere in British New Guinea; though shortness of stature and rounded heads are unusual, and, I believe, only local, and I do not know whether even the Papuan skin is ever quite so dark as that of the Mafulu people. But the almost universal shortness of stature, the comparatively slight, but strong and active, build and the brown colour of the hair seemed entirely different from anything that I had ever seen or read of as regards either the Papuans or the Melanesians; and all of these, coupled with the tendency to roundness of head, were consistent with a partial negrito ancestry.

Then on my return to England I learnt that dwarf people had been found by the recent expedition into Dutch New Guinea organised by the British Ornithologists' Union. Dr. Haddon has expressed the opinion that these dwarf people and some dwarf people previously found by Dr. Rudolph Poch in German New Guinea are all negritoes, or negritoes crossed with Papuans. [128]

Dr. Keith, to whom I submitted all my notes upon the measurements and physique of the Mafulu people, and who measured and examined the three skulls which I brought home, wrote to me as follows:—

"I have examined the observations you have made on the Mafulu. From your paper one can form, for the first time, a picture of the physical characters of this tribe; but, when I proceed to assign the tribe to its proper race, I am at once met by difficulties. In my opinion the short stature, the pigmented skin, and the small heads inclined to brachycephaly indicate a strong negrito element, which we know is widely distributed in the far east, and certainly, as we should expect, occurs in certain districts of New Guinea. In the three crania there were characters which one could assign to Papuan, as well as to a Melanesian stock.... A brown or reddish tinge is seen not infrequently in the hair of negritoes. You will see that I am inclined to look on the Mafulu as showing a very considerable degree of negrito blood, and to regard the more primitive tribes of New Guinea as being of this nature. If that were so, the Mafulu might be regarded as belonging to the older population of New Guinea, both Papuan and Melanesian having added something to their civilisation, as well as their physical characters."

Dr. Keith then is inclined to agree with my suggestion concerning the origin of the Mafulu; and Dr. Haddon, having seen my notes upon physique, said that he endorsed the views expressed by Dr. Keith. And if the view suggested be correct as regards the Mafulu or Fuyuge people, I am prepared to say that from what I have heard of the other mountain Papuan-speaking people of that part of New Guinea, including the Oru Lopiku (Kovio), Boboi and Ambo people, I am convinced that it must be correct as regards them also, though the relative predominance of the three strains may well vary with these different people.

I am hardly qualified to enter into the discussion as to the relationship, if any, existing between the principal hitherto known dwarf races, the Pygmies of Central Africa, the Semang of the Malay Peninsula, the Andamanese and the Aetas of the Philippine Islands, or to deal with the question whether or not all or some of them are to be grouped together as forming a distinct and related type, or are to be regarded as unconnected in the sense that each of them is merely a local variation, sharing a common ancestry with some other taller negroid race.

As, however, my suggestion of a partial negrito origin of the Mafulu people necessarily brings me into contact with this wider question, and the latter is still one upon which opinions differ, I may perhaps briefly tabulate some of the chief physical characters of the Andamanese, the Semang, the Aetas, the dwarf people recently found in Dutch New Guinea and the Mafulu. I think I may omit the African pygmies from my tables.

Stature.

Andamanese 4' 10 1/2''

This is the figure given by Mr. Portman (Journal of Anthropological Institute, vol. 25, p. 366) and by Dr. Haddon (Races of Man and their Distribution, p. 9), and is very near the 4'10 3/4'' given by Mr. Man (The Andaman Islanders, p. 5), and adopted by Messrs. Skeat and Blagden (Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula, p. 573).

Semang 4' 10 3/4'' Skeat and Blagden (Pagan Races, &c., p. 573) and Haddon (Races of Man, &c., p. 9).

Aetas 4' 10''

This is Dr. Haddon's figure (Races of Man, &c., p. 9), and it is within half an inch of the 4' l0 1/2'' given by Dr. Semper (Journal of Anthropology for October, 1870, p. 135). Dr. Meyer gives a number of varying measurements (see Journal of Anthropological Institute, vol. 25, p. 174), and Reed gives the average of 48 males, some of whom were not pure types, only 4' 9" (Negritos of Zambales, p. 32).

Dutch New Guinea dwarfs 4' 9''

Captain Rawling (Geographical Journal, vol. 38, p. 245).

Mafulu 5' 1''

It is merely suggested by me that they are partly negrito, which, if correct, would explain the somewhat higher stature.

General Physique.

Andamanese

Well proportioned, and with good muscular development (Man, Journal of Anthropological Institute, vol. 12, pp. 72 and 73).

Semang

Sturdily built (Haddon, Races of Man, &c., p. 9).

Aetas

Well formed and sprightly (Earle, Papuans, p. 123), and with limbs which, corresponding to their stature, are uncommonly slender, but well formed (Semper, Journal of Anthropology for October, 1870, p. 135). Well-built little men with broad chests, symmetrical limbs, and well-developed muscles (Reed, Negritos of Zambales, p. 34).

Dutch New Guinea dwarfs

Of sturdy build (Rawling, Geographical Journal, vol. 38, p. 241).

Mafulu

Fairly strong and muscular, but rather slender and slight in development.

Cephalic Index.

Andamanese 82

This is Dr. Haddon's figure (Races of Man, &c., p. 9). Messrs. Skeat and Blagden say they are decidedly brachycephalic (Pagan Races, &c., p. 573).

Semang 78.9

Dr. Haddon's figure (Races of Man, &c., p. 9). Skeat and Blagden describe them as brachycephalic to mesatecephalic (Pagan Races, &c., p. 34).

Aetas 80

Dr. Haddon's figure (Races of Man, &c., p. 9). Skeat and Blagden describe them as decidedly brachycephalic (Pagan Races, &c., p. 573). Reed gives 82 as the average (Negritos of Zambales, p. 34).

Dutch New Guinea dwarfs 80.2

This figure is calculated by me from the actual length and breadth given by Captain Rawling (Geographical Journal, vol. 38, p. 245).

Mafulu 80



Nasal Index.



Andamanese ?

Semang 101

Calculated by me from average of actual measurements of 5 people given by Skeat and Blagden (Pagan Races, &c., p. 577).

Aetas ?

Reed records highly varying indices, the bulk of which were hyperplatyrhine (87.9-108.8), and nearly all the others of which were ultraplatyrhine (109 and over) (Negritos of Zambales, pp. 34, 35).

Dutch New Guinea dwarfs 80.9

Calculated by me from Captain Rawling's actual figures.

Mafulu 84.3



Colour of Skin.

Descriptions of this are so general, and so much depends in each case upon the relative meanings attached by each writer to the terms used by him, that I prefer to depend as regards the Andamanese, Semang, and Aetas upon Dr. Haddon's descriptions, which are doubtless based upon his comparison of those given in previous literature.

Andamanese

Very dark (Races of Man, &c., p. 9).

Semang

Dark chocolate brown, approximating to black. (Ibid.).

Aetas

Dark sooty brown (Ibid.).

Dutch New Guinea dwarfs

Brown (Rawling, Geographical Journal, vol. 38, p. 245).

Mafulu

Dark sooty brown.



Texture of Hair.

This is frizzly in all cases, as with other negroids, the word "woolly" often used being, I imagine, intended to imply frizzly.

Colour of Hair.

This being a point which seems to me to be rather interesting, I propose to quote various descriptions.

Andamanese

Varies from sooty black to dark brown, old gold, red and light brown; and, though these may be the colours of individual hairs, the general appearance is sooty black or yellowish-brown. Portman (History of our Relations with the Andamanese, p. 30).

Varies between black, greyish-black and sooty, the last perhaps predominating. Man (The Andaman Islanders, p. II).

Black, with a reddish tinge. Haddon (Races of Man, &c., p. 9).

Semang

Brownish-black, not a bluish-black like that of the Malays. Skeat and Blagden (Pagan Races, &c., p. 46).

Brownish-black. Haddon (Races of Man, &c., p. 9).

Aetas

Brown-black, shining. Semper (Journal of Anthropology for October, 1870, p. 135).

Rich dark brown. Writer of article on Semper's work (Id.).

Varying from a dark seal-brown to black. Meyer (Journal of Anthropological Institute, vol. 25, p. 174).

Dirty black colour, in some instances sun-burned at top to a reddish-brown. [The italics are mine.] Reed (Negritos of Zambales, p. 35).

Black, sometimes tinged with red. Haddon (Races of Man, &c., P. 9).

Dutch New Guinea dwarfs.

Black. Rawling (Geographical Journal, vol. 38, p. 245).

The hair of some of the pygmies was decidedly dark brown. Statement made to me by Mr. Walter Goodfellow.

Hair of 3 men (out of 24) distinctly not black, a sort of dirty rusty brown or rusty black colour; all others black-haired. Extract supplied to me by Dr. Wollaston from his Diary.

Mafulu.

Generally dark brown, often quite dark, approaching to black, and sometimes perhaps quite black. But frequently lighter, and often not what we in Europe should call dark.



I think that the above tables indicate that, though there are differences, there are elements of similarity between (i) the Mafulu people, (2) the Dutch New Guinea dwarfs, and (3) one or more of the Andamanese, Semang and Aetas; but in my comparison of the Mafulu and the dwarfs of Dutch New Guinea with the other previously known dwarf races I would specially draw attention to their similarity in shortness of stature and (as regards most of the Mafulu and a few of the Dutch New Guinea people) colour of hair; and this impels me to venture to say a few words on the larger question.

I have searched through much existing literature concerning the various hitherto discovered dwarf races of the world with reference to the question whether, even assuming that these people have an original primary ancestry from which the taller negroid races also are descended, they must be regarded as having become a related type, separate and distinct from the latter, as now existing, or whether they must all be treated as merely separate local variations, each of them having failed to develop, or retrograded, and in other respects become different in type from taller negroid races among or near to whom they are found. And I am struck by the fact that, though the natural tendency to local variation in stature, shape of head, colour and other matters is brought forward in support of the latter theory, no one seems, in connection with the general question, to have noted the fact that, whilst the hair colour of negroes, Papuans and Melanesians is black, the hair of all these various dwarf people seems to be predominantly brown, and that this variation explanation, if regarded as applying to these dwarf races separately and independently of one another, involves a remarkable coinciding double variation (in stature and predominant colour of hair) exhibited by all these dwarf people as compared with the taller negroids.

On the other hand, if there has been an original separation of descendants of common primary ancestors of all the negroid races, which, through variation, has resulted in two main types, one predominantly full-sized and always black-haired, and the other always short and predominantly brown-haired, and the pygmies (negritoes and negrilloes) are to be regarded as being all descendants of the latter type, who have since for some reason become geographically separated, there would appear to be nothing remarkable in the double variation.

But in that case we are, I take it, justified in regarding the dwarf races as being a separate type, to be distinguished from the taller races; and, if that be so, there appears to be substantial ground for thinking that the Dutch New Guinea dwarf people and the Mafulu people are in part descended from people of that type.

I may also draw attention (for what they are worth as points of detail) to the facts already noted, that the Semang and Andamanese, who bury their ordinary folk under ground, adopt tree burial, and apparently, as regards the Semang, platform burial not on trees also, as a more honourable method of disposing of the bodies of important people and chiefs; and that as regards these matters the Mafulu custom is similar.

Also the very simple ideas of the Mafulu, as compared with Papuans and Melanesians, in matters of social organization, implements, arts and crafts, religion and other things may well, I think, be associated with a primitive negrito origin.

If the Mafulu people may be properly regarded as having a negrito ancestry, distinct in type from that of either the Papuans or the Melanesians, the negrito element would presumably be the earlier one, Papuan and Melanesian infusion having occurred subsequently. Indeed it may well be believed that the negrito element is derived from an original ancestry who were probably the earlier inhabitants of New Guinea.



CHAPTER I

A Grammar of the Fuyuge Language

Translated and Edited by Sidney H. Ray, M.A., from the Manuscript of the Rev. Father Egedi, S.C.

Phonology.

I. Alphabet.

Vowels: a, e, i, o, u.

Consonants: k, g; t, d; p, b, f, v; m, n; r, l; s; y.

The vowels are pronounced as in Italian, the consonants as in English. The sound of the Italian c is also found, but is rare.

It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between o and u. Ex. ombo(le) or umbo(le), belly.

G, b, and d, are often preceded by a nasal, sometimes constant (and then marked in the vocabulary), sometimes variable according to the pronunciation of individuals. For the nasals m is employed before p and b, and n before other consonants.

The i and y are very difficult to distinguish, especially when they follow one another. Ex. iye or ye, or ie, tree; iangolo or yangolo, ear. Father Egidi wrote j for y.

The l and r are very difficult to determine. Ex. aliete or ariete, to salute; naul'i and naur'i, my eye. In the vocabulary l is used generally.

The s is often ts. Ex. tsivu and sivu; su(le) and tsu(le grass. Also in the future suffix t or ts. Ex. nati or natsi, I will eat.

II. Elision.

A great number of Fuyuge words terminate in an open syllable of which the vowel is generally e. This syllable is usually omitted at the end of a phrase, and nearly always when the following word commences with a consonant. But if the following word begins with a vowel the final e only falls away. Thus the complete form of a word is rarely used, except to avoid confusion, or for the sake of emphasis. The following are examples:

ovo(le), pig: ovol' ovoge, boar, ovo momombe, sow.

ifa(ne), beautiful: ifa ta, very fine, ifan' aka, less fine.

da(le), who? nu da? who art thou? dal' aua? who is this?

i(nde), to give: ne i, give me, ne ind' u, give it to me.

-a(le), with: andal' a? with what? indiv' al' ongai, cut with the knife.

a(le), here: a mo ma? must I put it here? al' itatsi, he will sleep here.

u(ne), and: kitoval' u kene, black parroquet and white, amb' un' ale, banana and sugar cane.

Note (1). The b in an elision sometimes changes to p. Ex. obe, bud, op'indie, to bud.

(2). Sometimes two syllables are elided: Ex. taume, tame, from which comes ovo ta, a tame pig, and ovo taum' ifa, the tame pig is good.

(3). Words which do not end in e, rarely elide a final vowel, and never the last syllable. Ex. kuku, tobacco, kuk' oko nei, give me a little tobacco; na, I, nu, thee, ongo at the foot of, na n' ong' ando, I am at thy feet; umbubi, wash, umbub' u, wash him.

(4). Some verbs in -ri or -li however often omit this syllable. Ex. ivo(ri) to wipe, na ga kodig' ivo, I have wiped the plates; tsimi(li), to lick, ama tsimi, lick the salt; itu(lili) to split, ol' itu, split the wood.

In the grammar and vocabulary the syllable which may be elided is enclosed in a bracket, and in compound words and phrases the elision is marked with an apostrophe, as in the preceding examples.

III. Vowel Changes.

1. A final o sometimes changes to u if the word following begins with a vowel.

Ex. oko, some, a little, kuk' oku ind' uno, give him some tobacco to smoke.

2. An initial o, on the other hand, sometimes changes to u when the preceding word begins with a.

Ex. ongo, under; na ungo ando, remain at my feet.

3. The final a of the word na, I, becomes e when it is followed by the verb indi in the imperative.

Ex. ne i, ne inde, give me, but nuga na indi, thou hast given me.

Nouns.

I. Gender.

There is no modification or grammatical difference to mark gender.

Sex is indicated by separate words in the case of human beings: an(e) man, me(le) boy, ena(ne) brother, amu(le) woman, ame(le) girl, eta(de) sister.

For mammals the words avoge, male, or momobe, female, follow the noun: ovol' avoge, boar, ovo' momobe, sow.

Dr. Strong notes that the sex of birds is sometimes denoted by the adjective ifa(ne), good, i.e., "ornamented," for the male bird, and ifan' ul' amu, the "wife of the ornamented" for the female: uruv' ifa, the male hornbill; uruv' ifan ul' amu, the female hornbill.

II. Number.

Only nouns indicating persons have been found with plurals. These are formed by changing the final e to i. Sometimes the e is changed to a; this may indicate the dual.

Ex. amu(le) woman, plur. amuli and amula; so(le), young man, plur. soli and sola; me(le), child, plur. meli and mela.

Note (1). The word a(ne) man, has a double plural in two different meanings: ani, the men; ake(da) the married men.

(2). The shortened form of the word is often used in the plural. This naturally is the same as the singular.

III. Case.

1. There is no modification of the noun to express case, but the equivalents of cases are shown by suffixes. The vocative alone often takes a final a as in the interrogative form.

Ex. Tayova, a tsia! Tayo, come here!

The subject, direct object, and indirect object are however easily recognised by their position in the sentence. The subject comes first, followed by the direct object, then the indirect object if there be one, with the verb at the end. If there are complements they immediately precede the word which governs them.

Ex. naga kuku nu inde, I tobacco to thee gave; Baiv' u mega nembe u fod' al' ema, Baiva's child bird his bow-with killed; nuni ake mu letsi gatsi, thou men their village-to will-go.

2. The genitive is expressed by means of the possessive adjective.

Ex. ovo'u ma, hair of the pig, lit. pig his hair.

3. Persons belonging to a place sometimes omit the adjective.

Ex. A Kotsi, a man of Kotsi; An'Alol', a man of Alole; Alol' amu, a woman of Alole; Ambov'amu, a woman of Ambove; Tseluku ul' akeda, men of Tseluku.

4. Position in a place, or motion to or from a place is shown in the following ways. When the noun has a shortened for -tsi is suffixed. If there is no short form the final e of the noun is changed to i and -tsi is added.

Ex. nani etsi ando, I am in the house; nuni bulitsi gatsi, thou wilt go to the garden; naga Mambutsi l'a tela, I have come here from Mambo.

Note (1). Some proper names of places do not take the suffix -tsi. Ex. amul' Alol' itatsi, the woman will sleep at Alole.

(2). Other proper names, especially those of mountains and the villages built on them, take the suffix -tu (upon) instead of -tsi. Ex. Falitu gatsi, I will go to Faliba, lit. I will go upon Faliba.

IV. Interrogative Nouns.

The noun in Fuyuge has a special form to indicate the interrogative. If the noun ends in e, this vowel is changed to a. If already ending in a, the a takes a strong accent. To any other vowel ending a is added.

Ex. ovo(le) pig: interrog. ovola? is it a pig?

bulomakao, cow, &c.: interrog. bulomakaoa? is it a cow?

kuku, tobacco: interrog. kukua? is it tobacco?

kupa, sweet potato: interrog. kupa? is it a sweet potato?



V. Demonstrative Nouns.

These are similar to the Interrogative Nouns and are formed by the addition of the syllables -aua, -ana, or -ala instead of a. This form is both affirmative and interrogative.

Ex. oyand' aua? is it a flower? or, it is a flower.

Tayov' aua, it is Tayo; kuku aua, it is tobacco; an' ala, it is a man; Ambov' ana, it is Ambo.

Adjectives.

I. Adjectives have no Gender. In the expression of Case, Interrogative and Demonstrative forms they are the same as Nouns.

Ex. a baibe, amu baibe, man tall, woman tall; uli baibitsi mau, pot big-in put it, put it in the big pot; ifana? is it good? ifan' ala, it is good.

II. Adjectives of Quality.

1. Number.

Number is expressed as with nouns by changing e to i. Some adjectives in -a add i. There are no adjectives with the plural in -a. Some adjectives in -a(ne) have the plural -ai.

Ex. kakava(ne) strong, plur. kakavani; safa(le), plur. safa(li); isosonga, idle, plur. isosongai; aka(ne) small, plur. akai.

2. Agreement.

The adjective always follows the noun which it qualifies, and takes the suffix of the noun.

Ex. a sesada, fence long; emo gai, house old; kodige kisiakatsi, plate little-in: indiv' amoja(le) knife blunt-with; koua baibitu, box big-on.

Sometimes the pronoun u(ne), his, is placed between the noun and the adjective.

The meaning of this is uncertain, but it appears to be more emphatic, as e.g. "the road which is good," "the house which is bad."

Ex, enamb' un' ifa, the good road, em' u koi, the bad house.

The adjective used as predicate immediately follows the noun, without a substantive verb.

Ex. an' ala gududuba, that man (is) stingy; nuni sesada, thou (art) tall; amu safali, the women (are) weak.

Note.—When the subject is represented by a pronoun of the first or second person dual or plural, the predicate remains singular.

Ex. dini kakava(ne) we (are) strong; yani kapape, you two (are) weak; but, muni isosongai, they (are) idle.

When the predicate expresses a negation the word expressing the quality is followed by the adverb ua(ne) not.

Ex. sesad' ua, onov' aka, it is not long, it is short.

3. Comparison.

There is no special form for comparisons. Two positive statements are made, or a superlative may be used.

Ex. My house is larger than yours may be translated: naul' e baibe, nul' a kisiaka, my house is large, yours is small, or nul'e baibe, naul'a baibe ta, your house is large, mine is large much.

Equality is expressed by the suffix -umba or -yakala.

Ex. naul' e, nul' em' umba, my house is like your house; nuni sesada, nauyekala, you are tall like me.

A superlative is expressed by the prefix ande, or the suffix -ta. But if the adjective in the superlative expresses a lessening of the quality then -aka(ne) is suffixed.

Ex. baibe, large, ande baibe, larger; ifa, fine, ifata, finer; but ono(ve), short, onov'aka, shorter.

The prefix ande is used only with adjectives which express an idea of extension.

When the adjective expresses an actual state rather than a passive, it is preceded by the sign of past tense, the particle ga.

Ex. ant g'ifa, the breeches are (have become) good; ena ga ko, the road (is) bad.



III. Demonstrative Adjectives.

The demonstrative adjectives in Fuyuge are represented by the suffixes -ana, this, -ala, this, here, -vala that, there. The same expressions translate the French "le voici," "le voila."

Ex. indiv'ana, this knife; eni'ala, this house; enavala, that road.

There is no article, but the expression u mane is used in reference to any thing which has been previously spoken about.

Ex. enamb' ifa, or enamb' un' ifa, it (is) a good road; but enamb u man' ifa, the road (which has been mentioned) is good.

IV. Interrogative Adjectives.

For these. See Pronouns.

V. Indefinite Adjectives.

The indefinite adjectives are oko, some, a little, part of; tale(le), several, many; korio, several; gegeto, a few, several; alu(ve), all; urambe, another; none, together, one with the other; dovavemunge? domamai? how many?

Note.—When oko is followed by a word beginning with i, it becomes oku.

Ex. Kuku oko nei, give me some tobacco; nemb' oko ematsi, they will spear the birds; bodol' oko tsia, take one of his hands; indiv' oko ya, take a knife; kuk oko ua, (there is) no tobacco; indiv' oku i, give him a knife; ake talel' ando, there are many men; kupa korio inde, give several potatoes; me' gegeto indiatsi, some children will come; aked' aluvi etsi ando, all the men are in the village; nau mel' alu, all my children; indiv' urambe ya, take another knife; Pitsoke non' ade, the Pitsoke strike one another; oye non' ongete, the dogs keep beside each other; kokol' ul' ombo dovavemunge? how many eggs? nu sise domamai? how many dog's teeth?

VI. Possessive Adjectives.

See Possessive Pronouns.

Numerals.

I. There are only two numerals: fida (ne), one, and gegeto, two. Gegeto is also used for a small number, and gegetom'inda, is little used for three. For more than three, gegeto, meaning "a few," or tale(le), "many" is used.

II. There are no ordinals and the only distributive is fida fida, one by one.

Pronouns.

I. Personal Pronouns. Simple.

Singular.

lst Person na, nave, nani, I, me 2nd Person nu, nove, nuni, thou, thee 3rd Person u(ne), ove, uni, he, she, it, him, her

Dual.

lst Person da, dani, we, or us two 2nd Person ya, yani, you two 3rd Person tu, tuni, they, or them two

Plural.

1st Person di, dini, we, us 2nd Person yi yini, you 3rd Person mu, muni, they, them

1. The first form na, nu, u(ne) etc., is used either as subject or object of the verb, the meaning being only indicated by the position of the word.

Ex. na kuku nu inditsi, I will give thee tobacco; na un' adatsi, I will strike him; ya di ong' ando, you two are beside us.

When used before the imperative of the verb indi, to give, na becomes ne.

Ex. ne i, ne inde, give me.

2. The forms nave and ove are rarely used. The commonest use is with the words ete, to say, ende, also.

Ex. nav' elete, I said; ov' elete, he said; nav' ende, nov' ende, ov' ende, I also, thou also, he also.

3. The forms nani, nuni, etc., are employed when the verb is understood, or to indicate opposition or emphasis.

Ex. da gatsi? dini; who will go? we (will); nuni kakape ta, nani kakava, you are weak, but I am strong; nani a baibe, I am a great man.

4. The dual is generally observed by the natives. Adjectives used with the dual pronoun take the singular form.

Ex. dani sosonga, we (are) idle,

5. The dual is often employed with two subjects one of which is plural.

Ex. Kakao tu, tsimani u g'anga, Kakao they two, with the policemen, have started.

When dani is used alone it is generally inclusive of the person addressed, and means "I and thou." If the third person is intended the name is used: dani Okomi' u da gatsi, we two Okomi with we will go. Yani is used in a similar way, when one of the persons referred to is not present: ya, Dun'u yani natsi, you two Dune with you will go. The use of the conjunction u(ne) with the second member of the subject does not appear to be constant.

6. The pronoun of the third person singular u(ne) when it is the direct object of the verb usually follows, and often takes the form -unde.

Ex. kodigitsi mau, put it in the dish; nag' al' unde, I have seen him.

II. Personal Pronouns. Compound.

From the pronouns na, nu, etc., are derived by means of the suffix -muku, alone, the forms namuku, numuku, etc., with the meanings, "I alone, without company," etc.

The suffix -mule, is equivalent to self, namule, numule, etc., myself, thyself, etc.

From nani, nuni, etc., come the forms: naniende, or nanienge, etc., meaning myself in person, etc.; nanieke, nunieke, etc., from -eke, alone; naniova, etc., it is my business, nanibila, I by myself, without help. Nani endebila is more emphatic than nanibila.

Ex. numuku andola? art thou quite alone? da gatsi? uniende; who will go? he himself; nu da? nanienge; who art thou? it is myself; amed' unieke ando, the chief is alone; ake muniova, it is the men's business; dinieke al' andetsi, we will stay here alone; isong' unibila, his own rainbow appears.

III. Possessive Pronouns.

1. These are formed from the simple forms of the personal pronouns by suffixing -ula(ne) literally "his thing."

Singular. Dual. Plural.

1. naula(ne) 1. daula(ne) 1. diula(ne) 2. nula(ne) 2. yaula(ne) 2. yula(ne) 3. ula(ne) 3. tula(le) 3. mula(ne)

They translate the English mine, thine, etc. Sometimes in compounds the final n becomes nd. Ex. nauland' aua, here is mine.

2. The adjectival forms appear without the syllable la.

Singular. Dual. Plural.

1. nau(le) 1. dau(le) 1. diu(le) 2. nu(le) 2. yau(le) 2. yu(le) 3. u(le) 3. tu(le) 3. mu(le)

These adjectives precede the noun which they govern. With personal nouns the forms naula, etc., are sometimes used.

Ex. nau me and naula me, my son; diu vase and diula vase, our guest.

Note.—The form nulu is heard in the phrase nulu babe, thy father.

The suffix mule is also used in the sense of "own."

Ex. numul' ul' i to, n' alo, your own name, which I know; namul' ul i, my own name. These suggest that the true possessive is simply ul(e) or ula(ne).

IV. Interrogative Pronouns.

1. These are: Da(le)? dau(ne)? who, which? anda(le)? what? unau? which? They are used also as adjectives.

Ex. Nu da? who art thou? dau ga ne? who has eaten it? anda l' elete? what did he say? Ivi: unau? Ivi: which one?

2. When the verb is preceded by the particle ga, dau(ne) must be used instead of da(le).

V. Indefinite Pronouns.

These are the same as the Indefinite Adjectives.

VI. Relative Pronouns.

The suffix niu(ne) or u(ne) takes the place of a relative pronoun.

Ex. A yaigegemune, the man who descends; audati itedemu bulitsi jalo tolom elota, in the garden which they are cutting now when the food is ripe; ovo jamun' imbade, the meat taken from the pig; fal' itamun' akeda, the men who have dug the ground.



Verbs.

I. Conjugation.

The Fuyuge verb is conjugated by modifications of the terminal syllables, or by a particle added to the subject.

II. The Particle, Ga.

The particle ga (often g' before a vowel) is generally used with the past tense, and is rarely absent in the positive form of the verb. But it may be used also with the present and future. With the present it seems to indicate reference to a preceding action in the sense of "being on the point of," "ready to." With the future it has almost the sense of "go."

Ex. Ake ga nembe na, the men have eaten the bird; amu g'anga the women are gone; naga bulitsi gatsi, I am going to go away to the garden; naga sue, I am going away.

Note (1). Ga always immediately follows the subject, except with the past of the verb ange(ge), to go, which always has g'anga.

(2). When the subject is not a pronoun, the pronoun of the 3rd pers. sing. is often expressed.

(3). Ga never appears to be used in a negative expression.

Ex. Naga ipitsial' uruv' ema, I have killed with the gun a toucan; mel ul' etsi g'anga, the child to his village has gone; Okom' ug' nemb' ema, Okome has killed a bird; ake kupa me na, the men have not eaten the potatoes.

III. Person and Number.

These are not expressed by the verb in Fuyuge.

IV. Tense and Mode.

1. There are three principal tenses, present, past and future. The present is found in the indicative and imperative modes, the past in the indicative only, and the future in the indicative and subjunctive. Besides these, there is a method of expressing the infinitive, a passive participle, and two forms of verbal adjectives.

2. Paradigm of tenses and modes.

ememe, umbubi, isiei, pierce wash follow

Indicative present ememe umbubi isiei Indicative past (1) ema(me) umbubi(ne) isia Indicative past (2) emo(ne) Indicative future ematsi(me) umbubitsi(me) isiatsi Imperative (1) ema umbubi isia Imperative (2) emau umbubu Subjunctive (1) emo(le) umbubi(ne) isio(me) Subjunctive (2) emo(me) Infinitive ema(me) umbubi(me) isie(me) Past participle emam(ane) umbubim(ane) Verbal adjective (1) emabul(ane) umbubibul(ane) Verbal adjective (2) ememond(ana)

If the Imperative be regarded as the stem, there appear to be three Conjugations, but Dr. Strong gives four based on past tense, thus: i. Verbs with monosyllabic roots, 2. Verbs with roots in a, 3. Verbs with roots in i, 4. Verbs with roots in e.

His examples are:—

1. 2. 3. 4. nen, itede, ongai, bole, eat cut break leave

Present nene itede ongai bolo Past na ita ongai bole Future natsi itatsi ongaitsi bolatsi Imperative nu ito ongai bo(le) Subjunctive no ito ongai bolo Infinitive namubabe itamubabe ongaimubabe bolamane Past participle namane itaname ongaimane bolamane Adjectival nab'ula(ne) itedondona ongaibula(ne) bolabula(ne)

3. Notes on the foregoing paradigms.

a. Indicative present.

Most verbs double the last syllable of the stem, which in the first conjugation always ends in e. There are, however, some exceptions, especially among verbs in i, and those which have a verbal suffix. The syllable -te when doubled is always -tede.

Ex. Nag alili, I see; nani e gadi, I build (tie up) the house; nani okid' atede, I light the fire.

b. Indicative past.

The difference between the two forms, both of which are preceded by the particle ga, is not yet clearly made out. The ending e seems to refer to the time when the action finished, whilst -a has a more general signification.

Ex. Naga ne, I have eaten, naga kupa na, I ate the potatoes. There is another form which replaces the final syllable of the present tense by -ua. Verbs in -i add -ua to the final syllable. But it is uncertain whether this expresses the near past, or includes an idea of movement.

Ex. na bul' elelua, I have just worked in the garden; nu a gadi ua, you have just tied up the fence.

c. Indicative future.

If the syllables preceding the suffix -tsi also contain -tsi-ti. In monosyllabic verbs especially, a second form of the future is often found, which retains the doubling of the present tense.

Ex. etsiati, will come; nenetsi, will eat; yeyetsi, will take. For ga with the future, see below.

d. Imperative.

The first form of the imperative has less force than the second. In the first conjugation the second form always terminates in -au, even when the first form is irregular. The last syllable of the imperative is often lost, especially when the ending is -li.

Ex. aitodede, runs, imperat. aitode and aitodau; itulili, ward off, imperat. itu; bole, leaves, imperat. bole, bo, and bolau; ameme, puts, imperat. a and ama.

The imperative is only used for the second person. In the first and third (sometimes even in the second) it is replaced by the subjunctive.

Ex. di ango, let us go; to n'alo, speak, that I may know; go di go, go that we may go.

e. Subjunctive.

The two forms of the subjunctive are distinguished only in composition, and have not yet been clearly understood. The last syllable besides is rarely heard except in questions, and refers then to the interrogative form. The subjunctive without a conjunction is used in simple phrases consisting only of subject and object.

Ex. kuku gadi, di no, roll the tobacco (make cigarette), that we may smoke (eat).

f. Infinitive.

The forms given as infinitive are uncertain. They may be verbal nouns. They are used in phrases such as: nam' u babe, father of eating, for 'a great eater': tsimilim' u babe, father of licking, cf. andaval' u babe, father of crying, one who causes crying.

g. Past Participle.

This does not easily lose the final syllable when it ends a sentence. In other cases, when it is followed by the word it qualifies it loses -ane, if the qualified word begins with a vowel, and -ne in other cases.

Ex. iy' ongaimane, the cut tree, indiv' ongaima ya, or ongaim' indi' ya, take the broken knife, g'usangaman' ul' ande, the thing of death.

The past participle of some verbs has not yet been ascertained.

h. Verbal Adjectives.

The exact difference between the two forms is not accurately ascertained. The first seems to indicate an instrument, and is equivalent to the phrase "used for," the second appears to indicate habitual rather than momentary use. When qualifying persons -onde is used for -ondana.

Ex. indi kupa fifitabula, knife for scraping potatoes; ai safatsilibula, a yam which has rotted; kulule iy' adedondona, a hammer for striking wood; nuni oyatonde, you are only joking; nani falawa me nonde, I don't eat bread.

In composition -ande, or at least -nde, is lost when the word qualified follows.

Ex. ai filibulanda, a yam for planting, filibula' ai ne i, give me the yam for planting; ambe nenondana, the eatable banana, nenond' ambe ya, take the eatable banana.

V. Negation.

The negative of the verb is formed by the particle me or mi preceding. In the imperative it also precedes, but when emphasis is laid upon the negation mi follows. The difference between me and mi is not clear, but me appears to be used only before verbs beginning with a consonant, and mi with other verbs.

A negative participle or infinitive does not appear. For the verbal adjective the suffix -ua(ne) is used.

Ex. Na mi alele, I do not understand; nani matsine mi engatsi, I will not put on the (shell) bracelet; mi unde, do not fear; kolose mi, do not play; me ya, do not take; nenond' an' ua, what is not eaten.

VI. Interrogative.

The interrogative is only employed with reference to the verb itself, not to the complements. It changes with the conjugation and varies for present, past and future tense.

Present. Past 1. Past 2. Future 1. Future 2.

ememoma? emama? emena? emola? emoma? umbubima? umbibia? umbubina? umbubila? umbubima?

The present in the first conjugation keeps the reduplication of the stem, and changes the final e to -oma. The second conjugation simply adds -ma. The interrogative in the past simply changes the e of the positive indicative to a in both forms. The future is formed in the same way from the subjunctive with a stress upon the final a in the first conjugation.