Head-hunters, black, white, and brown

The Expedition Dispensary—Investigations in Experimental Psychology: visual acuity, colour vision, mirror writing, estimation of time, acuity of hearing, sense of smell and tast...

The Murray Island oracle, Tomog Zogo—The village of Las—Tamar—The war-dance at Ziriam Zogo—Zabarker—Wind-raising—Teaching Geography at Dam—Tamar again—A Miriam “play”—How Pepker...

Our “boys” in Murray Island—“Gi, he gammon”—Character of some of our native friends—Ulai—Rivalry between Debe Wali and Jimmy Rice—Our Royal Guests—The Papuan method of smoking—A...

Leave Murray Island in the _Nieue_—Daru—Arrive at Saguane—Mission-work—Visit Iasa—Long clan houses—Totems and totemistic customs—Bull-roarers and human effigies as garden charms...

Mabuiag revisited—Character of the island—Comparison between the Murray Island and Mabuiag natives—Barter for skulls—Economic condition of Mabuiag—Present of food—Waria, a liter...

Totemism in Mabuiag—Significance of Totemism—Advantage of Totemism—Seclusion of girls—The Sacred Island of Pulu—The scenes of some of Kwoiam’s exploits—The Pulu Kwod—The stone t...

A dugong hunt—What is a dugong?—The dugong platform—Dugong charms—Turtle-fishing—How the sucker-fish is employed to catch turtle—Beliefs respecting the _gapu_—The _agu_ and bull...

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS: How girls propose marriage among the western tribe—A proposal in Tut—Marital relations—A wedding in church—An unfortunate love affair—Various love-letters. STA...

Our party breaks up. SAIBAI: Clan groupings—Vaccination marks turned to a new use—Triple-crowned coconut palm—A two-storied native house. TUT: Notes of a former visit—Brief desc...

The _Olive Branch_—Passage across the Papuan Gulf—Delena—Tattooing—A Papuan _amentum_—A sorcerer’s kit—Borepada—Port Moresby—Gaile, a village built in the sea—Character of the c...

Bulaa by moonlight—Hospitality of the South Sea teachers—Geographical character of the Hood Peninsula—Kalo—Annual fertility ceremony at Babaka—Canoe-making at Keapara—The fishin...

Port Moresby—Ride inland—Vegetation—View from the top of Warirata—The Taburi village of Atsiamakara—The Koiari—Tree houses—The Agi chief—Contrasts—A lantern show—The mountaineer...

Arrival at Yule Island—The Sacred Heart Mission—Death of a Brother—A service at Ziria—The meeting of the Papuan East and West in Yule Island—The _Ibitoe_—Making a drum—Marriage...

Arrival in Sarawak—Description of Kuching—The Sarawak Museum—Visit to Sibu—Stay in Limbang—A Malay sago factory—Visit to Brunei—Method and aims of Rajah Brooke’s Government _Pag...

Leave Limbang—A Kadayan house at Tulu—Rapids on the Limbang—Ascent of the Madalam—The Insurrection of Orang Kaya Tumonggong Lawai—Enter the Trikan—Durian—Met by Mr. Douglas—Old...

THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF BORNEO: Arrangement of mountains—The geology of the “Mountain-land,” Palæozoic—Mesozoic—the geology of the “Hill-land,” Cainozoic—The...

The Lelak house at Long Tru—Skull trophies—The settled Punans on the Bok—Sarcophagus in Taman Liri’s house—Divination by means of a pig’s liver in Aban Abit’s house—Purchase of...

Ceremony of moving skulls into a new house at Long Puah—Naming ceremony for Jangan’s boy—Peace-making—Conviviality—Malohs desire to marry some Sĕbop girls—Sĕbop dances—Scenery o...

Reasons for collecting heads—Head required for going out of mourning for a chief—Kenyah legend of the origin of Head-hunting—How Kenyahs leave skulls behind when moving into a n...

Padi competition—Obstacle race—Speech-making—The Lirong _jawa_—Fracas and reconciliation—Tuba-fishing in Logan Ansok—Great boat-race—Monster public meeting—Enthusiastic speeches...

We arrived at Torres Straits early in the morning of April 22nd, 1898, and dropped anchor off Friday Island, as the steamers of the Ducal Line are not allowed now to tie up at t...

Torres Straits were discovered and passed through in August, 1606, by Luis Vaez de Torres. They were first partially surveyed by Captain Cook in 1770, and more thoroughly during...

The first thing we did after arranging the house was to convert a little room into a dispensary, and very soon numbers of natives came to get medicine and advice. McDougall, Mye...

In various parts of the world there are very important ceremonies in which the lads are formally received into the community of men. Before undergoing these initiation ceremonie...

We all like to know what has happened recently, or what will probably take place in the immediate future, and so we read the daily paper to learn the news. Savages, after all, a...

I have previously mentioned that I had engaged two Murray Island natives, Debe Wali and Jimmy Rice, to assist Ontong, our Javanese cook. At first I offered them a shilling a day...

We left Murray Island at 10 a.m., September 8th, by the _Nieue_, which the Rev. James Chalmers very kindly sent to us. A small crowd assembled to bid us farewell, and I know man...

The day after we left Parama we had a long, disagreeable run against the tide to Dauan, only reaching a comparatively sheltered anchorage near this island late at night. In the...

It was very interesting living among a people in the totemistic stage of culture, but this custom is now gradually dying out, and the young men do not know much about it. An old...

During my former visit to Mabuiag I had an opportunity of witnessing the method of catching dugong. It was a morning in October, 1888, when I accompanied the Mamoose on a dugong...

There were formerly two ways by means of which a young Torres Straits islander might find favour in the eyes of a girl—the one was skill in dancing, the other was the possession...

It was sad to feel that the end of our stay in Torres Straits was drawing near. On October 19th Rivers left us, and two days later Wilkin also had to go. Ray, Seligmann, and mys...

On November 2nd, Ray, Seligmann, and I went with Mr. Douglas to Somerset, in Albany Pass, Cape York, to visit Mr. Frank Jardine. We reached Somerset early in the afternoon and l...

As explained in the Preface, I have not strictly followed a chronological order in this book, and the events narrated in this and the three following chapters took place from Ma...

We started next day, and arrived at Hood Point at 4 p.m., but owing to the water being very shallow we anchored a long way from the shore. As we had no boat on board we were obl...

I have as yet said very little about Port Moresby. It is a commodious bay with an inner portion (Fairfax Harbour), which is land-locked. The double bay is surrounded by thinly w...

We arrived at Hall Sound at 6.15 p.m., Thursday, July 6th, and visited the Sacred Heart Mission, where we were cordially received by Archbishop Navarre and his colleagues. Altho...

We left Singapore at ten o’clock of the morning of December 10th, on the _Vorwärts_, and arrived at Kuching about 1.30 on the 12th. The voyage up the twenty-three miles of the S...

Hose had arranged for us to go up the Limbang and the Madalam rivers, to walk across a low watershed, and to come down the Malinau, Tutau, and Baram to Claudetown. The greater p...

The centre of Borneo does not appear to be occupied by one great central continuous range of old folded mountains, but by numerous more or less isolated peaks and ridges which r...

The following is an account of some experiences on an up-river trip, when McDougall, Ray, and myself accompanied Dr. Charles Hose, the Resident of the Baram District of Sarawak,...

We reached the Sĕbop village of Long Puah, up the Lobong affluent of the Tinjar, on the evening of February 19th. Jangan, the headman, made us comfortable in the large new house...

The cult of the omen animals is of such importance in the daily life of most of the tribes of Borneo that it is desirable that more attention should be paid to it by those who h...

There can be little doubt that one of the chief incentives to procure heads was to please the women. Among some tribes it was said to be an indispensable necessity for a young m...

At the close of our stay at Baram we had the good fortune to be present at a great gathering of chiefs and representative men, with their followers, from all parts of this large...