unfeminine, and hard work, privations, and very early marriages soon destroy
whatever of beauty or grace they may for a short time possess. Their toilet is
very simple, but also, I am sorry to say, very coarse, and disgusting. It consists
solely of a mat of plaited strips of palm leaves, worn tight round the body, and
reaching from the hips to the knees. It seems not to be changed till worn out, is
seldom washed, and is generally very dirty. This is the universal dress, except in
a few cases where Malay "sarongs" have come into use. Their frizzly hair is tied
in a bench at the back of the head. They delight in combing, or rather forking it,
using for that purpose a large wooden fork with four diverging prongs, which
answers the purpose of separating and arranging the long tangled, frizzly mass of
cranial vegetation much better than any comb could do. The only ornaments of
the women are earrings and necklaces, which they arrange in various tasteful
ways. The ends of a necklace are often attached to the earrings, and then looped
on to the hair-knot behind. This has really an elegant appearance, the beads
hanging gracefully on each side of the head, and by establishing a connexion
with the earrings give an appearance of utility to those barbarous ornaments. We
recommend this style to the consideration of those of the fair sex who still bore
holes in their ears and hang rings thereto. Another style of necklace among these
Papuan belles is to wear two, each hanging on one side of the neck and under the
opposite arm, so as to cross each other. This has a very pretty appearance, in part
due to the contrast of the white beads or kangaroo teeth of which they are
composed with the dark glossy skin. The earrings themselves are formed of a bar
of copper or silver, twisted so that the ends cross. The men, as usual among
savages, adorn themselves more than the women. They wear necklaces, earrings,
and finger rings, and delight in a band of plaited grass tight round the arm just
below the shoulder, to which they attach a bunch of hair or bright coloured
feathers by way of ornament. The teeth of small animals, either alone, or
alternately with black or white beads, form their necklaces, and sometimes
bracelets also. For these latter, however, they prefer brass wire, or the black,
horny, wing-spines of the cassowary, which they consider a charm. Anklets of
brass or shell, and tight plaited garters below the knee, complete their ordinary
decorations.
Some natives of Kobror from further south, and who are reckoned the worst
and least civilized of the Aru tribes, came one day to visit us. They have a rather
more than usually savage appearance, owing to the greater amount of ornaments
they use—the most conspicuous being a large horseshoe-shaped comb which
they wear over the forehead, the ends resting on the temples. The back of the
comb is fastened into a piece of wood, which is plated with tin in front, and