The Solomon Islands and Their Natives
CHAPTER VI.
THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERS AND RACE-AFFINITIES OF THESE ISLANDERS.[80]
[80] My observations on the physical characters of these islanders were embodied in a paper read before the Anthropological Institute in July, 1885. They were to be published in the Journal of that society.
I WILL in the first place briefly refer to the position assigned to these islanders in the classification of the different races of man. Professor Flower, in a recent address,[81] divided the different varieties of the human species into three principal divisions, the Ethiopian, the Mongolian, and the Caucasian, a system of classification which, although often advanced and as often disputed, has now been preferred to other more complicated methods of classifying the different varieties of man. Around or between these three types all existing varieties can be ranged.
[81] The President’s Anniversary Address to the Anthropological Institute, Jan. 27th, 1885.
The Solomon Island natives are usually referred to the Melanesian group of the Ethiopian division, a group which includes the Papuans of New Guinea and the majority of the inhabitants of the islands of the Western Pacific; but my observations on the physical characters of these natives have shown that the type of a Solomon Island native varies considerably in different parts of the group, in some islands approaching the pure Papuan, in others possessing Polynesian affinities, and in others showing traces of the Malay. The _prevailing characters_, however, are distinctly Melanesian or Papuan. The Melanesians, who, according to Professor Flower, are chiefly distinguished from the African negroes by the well developed _glabella_ and supra-orbital ridges in the male, greatly excel the true African negroes, the Hottentots and Bushmen, and the Negritos of the Andaman and Philippine Islands, who are included in the Ethiopian division, in all that affects their social condition. In their usuages, their rites, their dwellings, their agriculture, their canoes, and in many other respects, the Melanesian or Papuan peoples display a far greater intellectual capacity than we find exhibited by the other members of the Ethiopian division.
I cannot here enter at length into the question of the peopling of the various groups of islands in the Pacific. It is a question on which conclusions drawn from the linguistic and physical characters of the inhabitants of these islands do not always agree. Professor Keane[82] holds that the three principal divisions of the varieties of man are represented in this region; the _Caucasian_ in the Polynesians inhabiting the islands of the south-central Pacific (Marquesas, Samoa, Tonga, &c.); the _Mongolian_ in the Micronesians of the islands of the north-central Pacific (Gilbert, Marshall, Caroline, Ladrone Islands); and the _Ethiopian_, or as he terms it the Dark Type, in the Papuans of the Western Pacific (to whom he restricts the name Melanesian), New Guinea, and the adjacent islands of the Indian Archipelago. It is to the different mingling of these three principal types, that the widely varying characters of the peoples dwelling in the several regions of the Pacific are attributed. According to Professor Keane, the Polynesians of the south-central Pacific are almost purely Caucasian, without a trace of Mongolian blood. This view, however, is not supported by Professor Flower who contends that the combination of the Mongolo-Malayan and Melanesian characters, in varying proportions and under varying conditions, would probably account for all the modifications observed among the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands.
[82] _Vide_ a series of three papers in vol. XXIII. of “Nature” on the Indo-Chinese and Oceanic Races.
The theory advanced by Professor Keane with reference to the peopling of the Pacific Islands, is one on which some of my observations in the Solomon Islands, although not directly connected with the subject, have some bearing. The primitive Negrito race, as now exhibited in the Andaman Islander, according to this view is the original stock of all the dark races. From its home in the Indian Archipelago, it extended westwards to Africa across the now lost continent of Lemuria, and eastwards “across a continent of which the South Sea Islands are a remnant--to become slowly differentiated into the present Papuan or Melanesian peoples of those islands.” Subsequently, the Caucasians of southern Asia, impelled before the southerly migration of the Mongols from higher Asia, occupied the islands of the Indian Archipelago and extended eastwards to their present homes in the south-central Pacific (Samoa, Tonga, the Marquesas, Society Islands, &c.). The Mongols following close upon them, finally reached the groups of islands together known as Micronesia in the north-central Pacific (Ladrone, Caroline, Marshall, Gilbert Islands, &c.).
The reference to the supposed sunken continents in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, which served as stepping-stones in these migrations, merits my attention. From our most recent knowledge of the geological structure of tropical islands, to which my observations in the Solomon Islands have in some measure contributed, it may be inferred that there is but little geological evidence to support the view of the existence of these submerged continents. The theory of subsidence, on which Mr. Darwin’s explanations of atolls was based, cannot now be urged in support of prolonged periods of subsidence in the tropical regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The groups of atolls, which there occur, were formed, as shown by recent investigations, around and over oceanic peaks of volcanic formation, and independently of any movement of subsidence.[83]
[83] _Vide_ the writings of Murray, Agassiz, Geikie, and others. In my volume of geological observations, to be shortly published, I have referred at length to this subject.
With reference to the migration eastwards of the Eastern Polynesians, I would allude to a piece of evidence which was advanced by Mr. Hale in support of the view that the island of Bouro in the Malay Archipelago was the starting-point of the migration. Quiros, the Spanish navigator, was informed in 1606 by a native captured at Taumaco, near the Santa Cruz Group, that there was a large country named Pouro in the vicinity of that region. This _Pouro_, however, was without doubt the neighbouring island of St. Christoval (one of the Solomon Group) which retains the native name of _Bauro_ at the present day, and as we learn from Gallego’s journal,[84] was called by the natives _Paubro_ rather over three centuries ago. Mr. Hale, however, who of course was not acquainted with the native name of St. Christoval, endeavours to identity this Pouro, of which Quiros was informed, with the distant Bouro of the Indian Archipelago. (_Vide_ note xv. of the Geographical Appendix). . . . The foregoing remarks have not been offered with any object of criticising a view on which I am not competent to speak. The misconception having come under my notice, I considered it my duty to refer to it.
[84] _Vide_ page 229 of this work.
In the course of my researches I came upon a circumstance which appears to point in an unmistakeable manner to the Indian Archipelago as being the highway by which the Eastern Polynesians have reached the Pacific. The circumstance, to which I refer, is that it is possible to trace the native names of some of the common littoral trees, such as the _Pandanus_, _Barringtonia speciosa_, &c., from the Indian Archipelago across the central Pacific to the Austral and Society Islands. In illustration, I will take _Barringtonia speciosa_, referring the reader, however, for the other trees to page 186 of this work. In the Indian Archipelago, I find the native names of this tree to be _Boewa boeton_ and _Poetoen_.[85] In the islands of Bougainville Straits in the Solomon Group, it is known as _Puputu_. In Fiji, it is known as _Vutu_;[86] in the Tongan Group, as _Futu_;[87] and in the Hervey and Society Islands as _E-Hoodu_[88] or _Utu_.[89] It is interesting to notice the modifications which the name of this tree undergoes, as one follows it eastward from the Indian Archipelago to the centre of the Pacific Ocean, a distance of between 4,000 and 5,000 miles; and it is equally instructive to reflect that without the intermediate changes, intermediate it should be added in a geographical as well as in an etymological sense, the names at the end of the series would scarcely seem to be related. The Indian Archipelago would appear to be the home of this littoral tree, which on account of the buoyancy of its fruits has not only been spread over Polynesia, but has reached Ceylon and Madagascar.[90] From its home in the Indian Archipelago, it has therefore extended to the eastward as far as the central Pacific, and to the westward nearly across the Indian Ocean. . . . It is obvious that much information of this kind might be collected which would be of considerable value to philologists; and even in the case of this single tree I have only, so to speak, broken the ground. The tedious character of the research necessary to collect the scanty information I have obtained on this subject, will be amply compensated for, if my remarks should prove suggestive to residents in the different islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
[85] “De Inlandsche Plantennamen,” by G. J. Filet (_vide_ reference on page 186).
[86] “Year in Fiji,” by J. Horne: p. 70. (1881.)
[87] “Ten years in South-Central Polynesia,” by the Rev. T. West: p. 146. (1865.)
[88] “Observations made during a Voyage round the World,” by J. R. Forster. (1778.)
[89] “Jottings from the Pacific,” by Wyatt Gill: p. 198. (1885.)
[90] “Report on the Botany of the Challenger,” by W. Botting Hemsley: vol. I., part iii., p. 152.
_The physical characters of a typical Solomon Islander._--Notwithstanding the variety in some of the characters of these natives, it is not a difficult matter to describe a typical individual who combines their most prominent and most prevalent characteristics. Such a man would have a well-proportioned physique, a good carriage, and well-rounded limbs. His height would be about 5 feet 4 inches; his chest-girth between 34 and 35 inches; and his weight between 125 and 130 pounds. The colour of his skin would be a deep brown, corresponding with number 35 of the colour-types of M. Broca;[91] and he would wear his hair in the style of a bushy periwig in which all the hairs are entangled independently into a loose frizzled mass. His face would have a moderate degree of subnasal prognathism, with projecting brows, deeply sunk orbits, short, straight nose, much depressed at the root but sometimes arched, lips of moderate thickness and rather prominent, chin somewhat receding. His hairless face would have an expression of good humour, which is in accord with the cheerful temperament of these islanders. The form of his skull would be probably mesocephalic. The proportion of the length of the span of the extended arms to the height of the body, taking the latter as 100, would be represented by the index 106·7. The length of the upper limb would be exactly one-third the height of the body; and the tip of his middle finger would reach down to a point about 3⅓ inches above the patella. The length of the lower limb would be slightly under one-half (49/100) of the height of the body; and the relations of the lengths of the upper and lower limbs to each other would be represented by the intermembral index 68. I was only able to obtain the measurement of six women who belonged to the small islands of Ugi and Santa Anna, off the St. Christoval coast. Their average height was 4 feet 10½ inches, which corresponds with the rule given by Topinard in his “Anthropology,” that for a race of this stature 7 per cent of the height of the man (5 feet 3½ inches, in this part of the group) must be subtracted to obtain the true proportional height of the woman. The hair of the women has the same characters as that of the men. Their figures have not usually that breadth of hip which the European model would possess. The general appearance of the younger women is not unattractive, but they soon lose their good looks after marriage. In Bougainville Straits, it was often possible to notice amongst the wives of the chiefs two castes of women of very different appearance, the one with elegant figure and carriage, slim limbs and more delicately cut features, the other more clumsily proportioned with stout ungainly limbs and a coarse type of features.
[91] The colour-types employed were those given in the “Anthropological Notes and Queries,” published by the British Association in 1874.
I found that two constant variations in the type of the Solomon Island native are presented by the natives of the islands of Bougainville Straits (including Choiseul Bay), and the natives of St. Christoval and its adjoining islands at the opposite end of the group. In the former region there exists a taller, darker, more robust, and more brachycephalic race; whilst in the latter locality the average native is shorter, less vigorous, of a lighter hue, and his skull has a more dolichocephalic index. From 35 to 40 natives were examined in each region, and some of the principal distinctions may be thus tabulated:
Average Colour of Skin. Cephalic Index Height. of living subject.
St. Christoval, 5 ft. 3½ in. Colour-types, 35 & 28 76 Bougainville Straits, 5 „ 4¼ „ „ „ 35 & 42 80·7
In the districts of Urasi and the Uta Pass on the north coast of Malaita,[92] there would appear to exist an almost brachycephalic race, of a lighter hue than is possessed by the natives of Bougainville Straits. Differences are in fact constant in their localities throughout the group, the most marked that came under my observation being between the natives of Bougainville Straits and those of St. Christoval at the opposite end of the group, as already alluded to. D’Urville, the French navigator, who visited this group in 1838, contrasts in a similar way the natives of St. Christoval and Isabel with those of Bougainville. The former appeared to him small and feeble in comparison with the more vigorous, sturdier, and much blacker natives of the latter island. He was particularly struck with the diminutive and wretched appearance of the natives of Isabel around “Thousand-Ships Bay,” as compared with the vigorous well-made natives of Bougainville.[93] . . . . . In some islands of small size, we find the natives markedly different from those around them. In the small island of Santa Catalina, off the eastern end of St. Christoval, the natives are distinguished from all others in this part of the group, by their finer physique, lighter colour, and greater height. They do not appear to intermarry much with the surrounding tribes; but they are, strange to relate, in friendly communication with the natives of some district on the coast of Malaita, with whom they probably intermarry. On the coasts of Guadalcanar there would appear to be some of the finest types of the Solomon Islander. Unfortunately, I had but little opportunity of observing them.
[92] I was indebted to the Hon. Curzon-Howe, Government Agent of the labour schooner “Lavina,” for the opportunity of examining these Malaita natives.
[93] “Voyage au Pole Sud et dans l’Océanie,” (Tome V., p. 105, hist. du voyage.)
* * * * *
Having briefly referred to some of the general facts resulting from my observations on the physical characters of these islanders, I now come to refer to the observations themselves. They were confined for the most part to the natives of the opposite extremities of the group--at the eastern extremity to the natives of St. Christoval and of the adjoining small islands of Ugi, Santa Anna, and Santa Catalina; and towards the opposite extremity to the natives of the islands of Bougainville Straits, which include Treasury Island, the Shortland Islands, Faro Island, together with Choiseul Bay. Observations, although fewer in number, were also made on the natives of the following intermediate islands, viz., Malaita, the Florida Islands, and Simbo or Eddystone Island.
All the measurements, unless otherwise stated, refer to male adults.
STATURE.
Height in feet and inches. Number of Measurements.
4 feet 11½ inches to 5 feet 0 inches. 2 5 „ 0 „ -- 5 „ 1 „ 5 5 „ 1 „ -- 5 „ 2 „ 6 5 „ 2 „ -- 5 „ 3 „ 13 5 „ 3 „ -- 5 „ 4 „ 18 5 „ 4 „ -- 5 „ 5 „ 9 5 „ 5 „ -- 5 „ 6 „ 10 5 „ 6 „ -- 5 „ 7 „ 6 5 „ 7 „ -- 5 „ 8 „ 2 5 „ 8 „ -- 5 „ 8½ „ 1 -- Total, 72
The foregoing table includes all the measurements of height which I obtained in the various parts of the group. The range of these 72 measurements is 4 feet 11½ inches to 5 feet 8½ inches. Fifty of these are gathered together between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 6 inches. Arranging the whole series in order, I find that the value of the central number (36th) is 5 feet 4 inches; of the quarter-points, the value of the 18th is 5 feet 3 inches, and of the 54th, 5 feet 5½ inches; and the values of the 9th and 63rd in the scale are 5 feet 1¼ inches, and 5 feet 6 inches respectively. There is a disturbing element in this series, which is probably the result of combining in the same series the natives of the Bougainville Straits islands and those of St. Christoval, the latter being rather shorter, as noticed below. We may, however, take the value of the median as representing the average height of a native of the Solomon Islands, viz., 5 feet 4 inches, or 1·625 mètres, which is somewhat below the medium height of the human race, as stated by Topinard at 1·65 mètres. It is, however, in a marked degree in excess of the height which Mayer gives for the Papuans, viz., 1·536 mètres (_vide_ Topinard’s Anthropology).
Deviations of a constant character are found in different parts of the group, and often in different districts of the same island. The natives of the islands of Bougainville Straits, for instance, are noticeably taller than those of St. Christoval at the opposite end of the group, the averages of about thirty measurements in each region, differing by from one half to three quarters of an inch. This difference of height in these two localities is accompanied by other important changes in the physical characters which will be subsequently referred to.
The range of my measurements may be contrasted with those obtained by Miklouho-Maclay on the coast of New Guinea (_vide_ “Nature,” Dec. 7th, 1882).
Papua-Koviay coast, 1·75 to 1·48 mètres. Maclay coast, 1·74 to 1·42 „ Solomon Islands, 1·74 to 1·51 „
CHEST-GIRTH.
The range of the eighteen measurements given in the subjoined table is 31½ to 37 inches: and since half of these are included between 34 and 35 inches, we may consider these as the limits of the average chest-girth of the natives in the portions of the group in which the measurements were made, viz., the islands of Bougainville Straits and St. Christoval, with its adjoining islands.
Girth in Number of Stature taken inches. Measurements. as 100.
50...1 31½ to 32 1 52-53...3 32 to 33 3 53-54...7 33 to 34 3 54-55...3 34 to 35 9 55-56...2 35 to 36 0 56-57...1 36 to 37 2 57·2 ...1 -- -- Total, 18 Total, 18
Taking the average height (5 feet 4 inches) as 100, the proportion, which a chest girth of 34½ inches would bear, would be 53·9. This very closely corresponds with the values of the median of the accompanying series, which itself agrees with the value of the average of the indices. This index of chest-girth may be compared with results given by Topinard:
Englishmen, 54·0 Negroes, 52·3 New Zealanders, 51·4 Solomon Islanders, 53·9
WEIGHT OF BODY.[94]
[94] Mr. Evered, ships-steward assistant, obtained these weights for me.
Twelve natives of the Shortland Islands were taken promiscuously and weighed, the following being the results, stated in pounds:--100, 103, 116, 117, 120, 120, 123, 130, 148, 148, 150, 154. The mean of these numbers is 127; and the average weight would probably vary between 125 and 130 pounds, or between 57 and 59 kilogrammes. This probable average weight is quite in accordance with the size and build of a typical Solomon Island native; and agrees with the general rule that the weight in pounds ought to be about twice the height in inches; the average height being 64 inches, and the average weight 125 to 130 lbs.
LENGTH OF LIMBS.
The points of measurement employed were:--
(_a_) _For the upper extremity_: (1) a point half an inch outside, and on the level with the apex of the coracoid process of the scapula; (2) the centre of the hollow of the elbow on a line drawn from the interspace between the head of the radius and the external condyle of the humerus (indicated by a dimple when the fore-arm is extended) to immediately below the internal condyle; (3) the centre of a line joining the apices of the styloid processes of the radius and ulna on the front of the wrist.
(_b_) _For the lower extremity_: (1) a point on the middle of the front of the thigh on a level with another point midway between the anterior superior spinous process of the ilium and the upper edge of the great trochanter; (2) a point on the “ligamentum patellæ” on a level with the upper edge of the external tuberosity of the tibia; (3) the centre of the front of the ankle on a level with the base of the internal malleolus.
(1) _The intermembral index_, or the ratio between the length of the upper and lower limbs, taking the latter as 100. From the table subjoined, it will be seen that the range of 26 indices is 64 to 73. Eleven of these lie between 67 and 68: and since the average of my numbers, which is 68, corresponds with the value of the median of the series, we will take this index of 68 as representing the average ratio of the lengths of the two limbs compared together.
Intermembral Number of index. measurements.
64 1 65 2 66 3 67 6 68 5 69 3 70 1 71 3 72 1 73 1 -- Total, 26
(2) _The index of the fore-arm and arm_, or the ratio between the lengths of the fore-arm and arm, taking the latter as 100. The range of 27 indices is 79 to 100. Of these 16 are included between 87 and 91; and the average of the numbers is 88.
Indices. Number of Measurements.
79 1 80 1 82 2 83 2 84 1 86 1 87 6 88 2 89 1 91 7 95 1 100 2 -- Total, 27
(3) _The index of the leg and thigh_, or the ratio between the lengths of the leg and thigh, taking the latter as 100. The range of 27 indices, as shown in the subjoined table, is 68 to 97. Of these, two-thirds are included between 74 and 83: and since the value of the median, which is 80, corresponds nearly with the average of the numbers, we may take it as representing the average proportion which the leg bears to the thigh amongst these natives.
Indices. Number of Measurements.
68 1 69 1 70 1 72 1 73 1 74 2 75 2 78 1 79 1 80 3 81 2 82 2 83 4 88 3 92 1 97 1 -- Total, 27
(4) _The index of the arm and thigh_, or the ratio between the lengths of the arm and thigh, taking the latter as 100. The range of 27 indices is 56 to 73. Of these, three-fourths are grouped between 61 and 69. The average of the figures is 65, and the median of the series is 66.
Indices. Number of Measurements.
56 1 57 1 60 1 61 2 62 2 63 3 64 2 65 1 66 3 67 4 69 3 70 1 71 1 73 2 -- Total, 27
(5) _The proportion of the length of the upper limb to the height of the body_, taking the latter as 100.
Indices. Number of Measurements.
32 1 32-33 10 33-34 10 34-35 4 35-36 2 -- Total, 27
These 27 indices range between 32 and 36: three-fourths of them are included between 32 and 34. Since the average of the numbers, which is 33·3, nearly corresponds with the value of the median, we may take it as representing the proportion which the length of the upper limb bears to the height of the body amongst these natives.
(6) _The proportion of the length of the lower limb to the height of the body_, taking the latter as 100. The range of these 27 indices is 46·9 to 51·6. Two-thirds of the total number are included between 48 and 50; and since the average of the numbers, which is 49·1, corresponds nearly with the value of the middle index of the series, we may take it as representing the proportion that the lower limb usually bears to the height of the body amongst these natives.
Indices. Number of Measurements.
46·9 1 47-48 4 48-49 8 49-50 10 50-51 3 51·6 1 -- Total, 27
(7) _The span of the outstretched arms._--The following indices--69 in all--show the ratio of the span of the arms to the height of the body, taking the latter as 100:--
Indices. Number of Measurements.
100 1 101-102 4 102-103 2 103-104 4 104-105 5 105-106 5 106-107 18 107-108 11 108-109 6 109-110 9 110-111 3 112·6 1 -- Total, 69
The range of these indices is 100 to 112·6; and the indices of greatest frequency are those included between 106 and 107. Placing all the indices in their order, I find that the value of the central of the series is 106·7, and of the quarter-points 105·2 and 108·6 respectively. Taking 106·7 as representing the average proportion which the span of the arms bears to the stature amongst these natives, I may compare it with similar results given for other races in Topinard’s Anthropology:--
American soldiers (10,876), 104·3 Solomon Islanders (69), 106·7 Negroes (2020), 108·1
(8) _Distance of the tip of the middle finger from the upper edge of the patella._
Distance. Number of Measurements.
2 inches. 2 2 to 3 „ 6 3 to 4 „ 11 (9 of these at 3½ inches). 4 to 5 „ 2 -- Total, 21
From this table it will be seen that amongst 21 natives the tip of the finger never approached the patella nearer than two inches, and was never farther removed than five inches. The value of greatest frequency is 3½ inches, and it may be taken as approximating to the average distance. Comparing it with the average stature (64 inches) taken as 100, we obtain the index 5·46; but by comparing the distance of the middle finger above the patella with the stature as 100 in each individual measurement, we obtain a more reliable average index somewhat smaller than the preceding.
Indices. Number.
3·12-4·00 4 4·00-5·00 5 5·00-6·00 9 6·00-7·00 1 7·00-7·94 2 -- Total, 21
In this table the indices range between 3·12 and 7·94: nearly half are included between 5·00 and 6·00; the value of the median is 5·24, and the average of the numbers is 5·19. Accepting the value of the median as our average index for these natives, it may be compared with similar results for other races given in Topinard’s Anthropology:
American soldiers (10,876), 7·49 Negroes (2020), 4·37 Solomon Islanders (21), 5·24
* * * * *
I will conclude my remarks on the length of the limbs by giving from the preceding “data” the limb measurements of a Solomon Island native of average height:
Height of body, 64 in. } Index of height, and } length of upper limb, { Length of upper limb, 21⅓ „ } 33·3. { } { Length of arm, 11⅓ „ } Intermembral { } Index of arm and { Length of fore-arm, 10 „ } fore-arm, 88. index, 68. { } { Length of lower limb 31⅓ „ } Index of height, and { } length of lower limb, { } 49. Length of thigh 17⅓ „ } Index of thigh and } leg, 80. Length of leg 14 „ }
_The form of the skull as indicated by the relation to each other of its length and breadth._--A hundred measurements, which I made of the heads of natives in this group,[95] in order to obtain their proportional breadth, taking the length as 100, gave indices varying between 69·2 and 86·2. The whole series, however, displays a tendency to grouping around different medians, and thus points to the important inference that we cannot accept one type of the skull as a distinctive character of the Solomon Islander. As shown in the subjoined table, which gives the indices corrected to actual skull-measurements by subtracting two units as proposed by M. Broca, there would appear to be a marked preponderance of mesocephaly; but from my measurements being limited both in number and locality, the safest conclusion to draw will be the most general one, viz., that all types of skulls, brachycephalic, mesocephalic, and dolichocephalic, are to be found prevailing amongst the islands of the Solomon Group, the particular type being often constant in the same locality.[96] If my measurements had been five times as numerous, and had been spread equally over the group, I might somewhat narrow my conclusions; and in truth brachycephaly might have formed a more important factor in the series, if I had measured the heads of the same number of natives from the north coast of Malaita which I measured in the districts of St. Christoval and of Bougainville Straits. In the subjoined table I have accepted all indices below 75 as dolichocephalic, those between 75 and 80 as mesocephalic, and those above 80 as brachycephalic.
[95] The localities were--St. Christoval and the adjoining islands of Ugi and Santa Anna, Florida Islands, north coast of Malaita (Urasi and Uta Pass), Simbo or Eddystone Island, the islands of Bougainville Straits, including the west end of Choiseul.
[96] This conclusion is in accordance with the extensive observations of Miklouho-Maclay in New Guinea and in the Melanesian Islands. He found brachycephaly common in the New Hebrides, indices of 81, and even of 85, not being rare. The indices of several hundred measurements of New Guinea natives varied between 62 and 86. This eminent traveller therefore arrived at the conclusion that no classification of these natives can rest on the form of the skull. (“Nature,” xxvii., pp. 137, 185. Proc. Lin. Soc, N.S.W., vol. VI., p. 171.)
_Cephalic indices which have been reduced to actual skull-measurements by the subtraction of two units._
Dolichocephalic indices 29 Mesocephalic 52 Brachycephalic 19 -- 100
I now come to consider more in detail the series of measurements given below. In this series, which ranges from 69·2 to 86·2, there is a want of uniformity arising from the fact that the numbers tend to gather together around three centres, one between the indices 75 and 76, another between the indices 80 and 81, and the third between the indices 82 and 83. We have thus in this series of a hundred indices, obtained by measurement of the head of the living subject, evidence of different prevailing types of skull amongst the natives of the Solomon Group; and it will be subsequently shown that each locality has usually one prevailing type.
Cephalic Indices Number of (Living Subject.) Measurements.
69·2 to 70 2 70 „ 71 1 72 „ 73 3 73 „ 74 3 74 „ 75 6 75 „ 76 8 76 „ 77 6 77 „ 78 6 78 „ 79 11 79 „ 80 12 80 „ 81 16 81 „ 82 7 82 „ 83 10 83 „ 84 7 85 „ 86 1 86 „ 86·2 1 --- Total, 100
(1) _St. Christoval and the adjoining islands of Ugi, Santa Anna, and Santa Catalina._ As shown in the subjoined table, this series of 35 indices has a wide range between 69·2 and 86·2. The value of the median index of the series is 75·9; and the average of the numbers is 76·6. Out of the 35 indices, 11 are included between 74 and 76. On the whole, however, I should take 76 as representing the average cephalic index in this part of the group, although even here, as shown in the series, there is some disturbing element.
Cephalic Indices. Number of Measurements.
69·2 to 70 2 70 „ 71 1 72 „ 73 2 73 „ 74 2 74 „ 75 6 75 „ 76 5 76 „ 77 3 77 „ 78 2 78 „ 79 4 79 „ 80 3 80 „ 81 1 82 „ 83 2 83 „ 84 1 86 „ 86·2 1 -- Total, 35
(2.) _The Islands of Bougainville Straits_, which include Treasury Island, the Shortland Island, Faro Islands, and the western extremity of Choiseul.
The range of the subjoined forty indices is 75·9 to 85·2. The contrast between this and the preceding St. Christoval series, as shown in the grouping in the indices, well illustrates the prevalence of distinct types in these two regions of the group. The indices of greatest frequency are included between 80 and 81: the average of the figures is 80·6, and the value of the median index is 80·7, which may be accepted as the typical index.
Cephalic Indices. Number of Measurements.
75·9 to 76 2 76 „ 77 1 77 „ 78 2 78 „ 79 6 79 „ 80 3 80 „ 81 9 81 „ 82 5 82 „ 83 5 83 „ 84 6 85 „ 85·2 1 -- Total, 40
(3.) _The North Coast of Malaita._--Through the kindness of the Hon. Curzon-Howe, government-agent of the labour schooner “Lavina,” I was enabled to measure ten natives who had been recruited from the districts of Urasi and the Uta Pass on the north coast of Malaita.
Cephalic Indices. Number of Measurements.
79·3 to 80 2 80 „ 81 4 81 „ 82 1 82 „ 83 3 -- Total, 10
This series, though small, is compact, its range being 79·3 to 83. The average of the numbers is 81·2, which I will take as typical of these localities.
(4.) _The Island of Simbo or Eddystone._--From the head-measurements of nine natives I obtained the following cephalic indices--72·9, 73·8, 75·8, 76·6, 77·0, 78·0, 78·7, 79·3, 80·4--the average of which just falls short of 77, which however may be taken as an approximation of the prevailing index.
(5.) _The Florida Islands._--Measurements of six natives of Mboli Harbour gave the following cephalic indices,. . . . 77·2, 79·3, 79·3, 80·0, 80·7, 81·4,. . . . the average of the numbers being 79·6.
I will now proceed to sum up briefly the results of the foregoing hundred measurements of the head of the living subject. It will first be necessary to reduce them to the form of measurements of the actual skull by subtracting two units from the index, as proposed by M. Broca. The effect of this correction is shown in the following table:
Number of Living Measurements. Subject. Skull.
St. Christoval and adjoining islands, 35 76·0 74·0 The islands of Bougainville Straits, 40 80·7 78·7 The north coast of Malaita, 10 81·2 79·2 The island of Simbo or Eddystone, 9 77·0 75·0 The Florida Islands, 6 79·6 77·6
Accepting all indices below 75 as dolichocephalic, those between 75 and 80 as mesocephalic, and those above 80 as brachycephalic, we find therefore that mesocephaly, as represented by an average index of 78·7, prevails amongst the natives of the islands of Bougainville Straits; whilst dolichocephaly, as represented by an average index of 74, prevails amongst the natives of St. Christoval and its adjoining islands at the opposite end of the group. On the north coast of Malaita exists a type of native with an almost brachycephalic index. The foregoing remarks refer only to the average in each locality. When we apply the same correction to the table of the hundred measurements as given on page 112, we find, as stated on a previous page, that 29 are dolichocephalic, 52 are mesocephalic, and 19 brachycephalic. It would, therefore, appear from these observations that, whilst brachycephaly is not uncommon, dolichocephaly is more frequent, and mesocephaly prevails. Although this result may give an indication of the truth, at present it would be safer, for reasons given on page 111, to accept the general conclusion that these three types of skulls prevail in the Solomon Group.
As confirmatory of the foregoing corrected measurements of the head of the living subject, I will add the indices of nine skulls procured amongst the eastern islands of the group.[97]
[97] I take this opportunity of expressing my indebtedness to my messmates Lieut. Leeper and Lieut. Heming, and to my friend Dr. Beaumont, staff-surgeon of H.M.S. “Diamond,” for the majority of the skulls in this small collection. The officers of the survey, whilst away in their boats, had more opportunities than I had of obtaining those specimens. As I was usually accompanied by natives, I was often unable to take advantage of occasions.
74·1 } Rua Sura Islets, off north coast of Guadaleaner. 74·1 } 74·1 Ugi Island. 74·5 Port Adam, Malaita. 75·5 } 75·9 } Ugi Island. 80·0 } 80·0 } 84·9 Kwahkwahru, Malaita.
_Measurements of Women._--I was only able to obtain measurements of six women, all of them from the small islands of Ugi and Santa Anna, off the St. Christoval coast.
Span of Arms. Intermembral Distance Height. (Stature--100.) Index. between middle finger and patella.
4 ft. 8 in. 100·8 65 3½ in. 4 „ 9 „ 102·1 68 3½ „ 4 „ 9¾ „ 104·3 68 4 „ 4 „ 10 „ 104·7 71 -- 5 „ 0 „ 106·9 -- Average, 3⅔ „ 5 „ 3 „ 108·3 Average, 68 ------------ ----- Average, 4 ft. 10½ in. Average, 104·5
Arm and Height Leg and Height Cephalic Index. Index. Index.
32·5 48·5 71 33 48·5 75 33 50 76·8 33·5 51·5 76·8 34·5 ---- 79·6 35·5 Average, 49·6 82·1 ---- Average, 33·7
Considering the paucity of the observations, the average indices of the limb-measurements agree closely with those obtained for the men. The average height of the women would appear from these few measurements to be that which they ought to possess as compared with the height of the men. This conclusion is based on the rule given by Topinard in his “Anthropology” that for a race of this stature 7 per cent. of the man’s height must be subtracted to obtain the proportional height of the woman.
_The Features._
The facial angle taken was that between a line dropt from the forehead to the alveolar border of the upper jaw, and another line drawn from the external auditory meatus through the central axis of the orbit, the angle being taken with a goniometer. Amongst eighty natives from different parts of the group, the angle varied between 87° and 98°. Seventy-five of the natives had facial angles between 90° and 95°; and the average of the whole number of angles was 93°. On applying the method for obtaining the facial angle of Cloquet to two large photographs of the faces in profile of two typical natives, I find the angles to be 63° and 67° respectively.
The common characters of the features may be thus described: face rather angular, with often a beetle-browed aspect from the deeply sunk orbits and projecting brows; forehead of moderate height and breadth, and somewhat flattened; middle of face rather prominent on account of the chin receding; moderate subnasal prognathism as indicated by Cloquet’s facial angles of 63° and 67°; lips rather thick and often projecting; nose usually coarse, short, straight, and much depressed at the root, with broad nostrils and extended alæ; in about one man out of five the nose is arched in a regular curve, giving a Jewish cast to the face.
_The Hair, Colour of Skin, Powers of Vision, &c._
Amongst the natives of the Solomon Group, there are four common styles of wearing the hair, which I may term the woolly, the mop-like, the partially bushy, and the completely bushy: these prevail with both sexes, the fashion varying in different islands. From frequent observations of the different modes of wearing the hair, I am of the opinion that their variety is to be attributed more to individual caprice than to any difference in the character of the hair. According to his taste, a man may prefer to wear his hair close and uncombed, when the short matted curls with small spiral give it a woolly appearance,[98] somewhat resembling that of the hair of the African negro. Should he allow his hair to grow, making but little use of his comb, the hair will hang in narrow ringlets three to eight inches in length, a mode which is more common amongst the natives of the eastern islands of the group, and which is best described as the “mop-headed” style. More often, from a moderate amount of combing, the locks are loosely entangled, and the hair-mass assumes a somewhat bushy appearance, the arrangement into locks being still discernible, and the surface of the hair presenting a tufted aspect.[99] The majority of natives, however, produce by constant combing a large bushy periwig in which all the hairs are entangled independently into a loose frizzled mass, the separate locks being no longer discernible. Of these four styles of wearing the hair, I am inclined to view the “mop-headed” style as the result of the natural mode of growth, it being the one which the hair would assume if allowed to grow uncombed and uncut. The native of these islands unfortunately makes such a constant use of his comb that one rarely sees his hair as nature intended it to grow. When, however, a man with bushy hair has been diving for some time, the hairs, disentangling themselves to a great extent, gather together into long narrow ringlets, nature’s “coiffure” of the Solomon Islander. I was pleased to find that Mr. Earl[100] and Dr. Barnard Davis,[101] in writing on the subject of the hair of the Papuans, also consider that the hairs would naturally arrange themselves in long narrow ringlets if left uncombed, and that the bushy frizzled periwig is produced by teasing out the locks by means of the comb. This bushy frizzled mass of hair is sometimes referred to, as if it were one of the natural characters of the Papuans: but since it is also characteristic of other dark races of Africa and South America, and may be produced in Europeans, it has but little distinguishing value.[102] Mr. Prichard in his “Physical History of Mankind” (vol. v. p. 215), expresses himself to be in doubt whether the bushy frizzled hair affords any racial distinction, but he seems to have lost the point of the remarks of Mr. Earl (to whom he refers) concerning the natural mode of growth of the hair in long narrow ringlets. The term “mop-headed” is often applied to the Papuan with a bushy frizzled periwig: but since a mop is neither bushy nor frizzly, the term is more appropriately employed as I have used it, and as I see Dr. Barnard Davis uses it, in connection with that style in which the hair hangs in long drawn-out ringlets. The tendency of the hair to roll itself into a spiral of small diameter is attributed to the thin flattened form of the hair in section. According to Dr. Pruner-Bey, the hair in the Papuan is implanted perpendicularly and not obliquely, as in the great majority of the races of man.[103]
[98] With the bushmen of the interior, the hair appears to be permanently woolly (_vide_ p. 121).
[99] My experience, however, goes to prove that of Miklouho-Maclay that the hair grows uniformly over the scalp and not in little tufts separated by bald patches as described by Topinard.
[100] “The Papuans” by G. W. Earl (page 2). London, 1853.
[101] _Vide_ a paper by Dr. J. Barnard Davis in vol ii. (p. 95), of Journ. of Anthrop. Inst.
[102] These bushy periwigs are found also among the Kaffirs in Africa and among the Cafusos of South America. Dr. Pruner-Bey, who appears to view these bushy periwigs as resulting from the natural growth of the hair, remarks that he has met in Europe three individuals whose hair had the same aspect. I have seen a characteristic Papuan periwig produced in England in the case of a fair-haired girl. (Anthropological Review: Feb. 1864.)
[103] The Anthropological Review for February 1864 (p. 6).
The hue of the hair in adults varies usually in accordance with the changes in the colour of the skin. Amongst the St. Christoval natives it agrees with the numbers 35 and 42 of the colour-types of M. Broca: whilst amongst the darker-hued natives of the islands of Bougainville Straits the hair is of a deeper hue, corresponding with the colour-types 34 and 49. The average thickness of eleven samples of hair from the former locality is from 1/260 to 1/270 of an inch; whilst in the latter locality, where the hair is of a darker hue, the hairs are individually coarser, ten samples giving an average thickness of 1/210 to 1/220 of an inch. The diameter of the spiral, when measurable, varies between 5 and 10 millimètres,[104] its usual range throughout the group; but on account of the practice of combing, it is often difficult to measure it with any degree of accuracy. These measurements, however, are double the size of the curl (2 to 4 mm.) which Miklouho-Maclay[105] has determined to be characteristic of the Papuan. The difference may be due to the greater intermingling of the eastern Polynesian element amongst the Solomon Islanders.
[104] In young boys in different parts of the group, the hair sometimes grows in larger flat spirals having a diameter of from 12 to 15 millimètres.
[105] “Nature.” Dec. 21st, 1882.
The natives of the eastern islands of this group frequently stain their hair a light-brown hue by the use of lime, a practice which frees the hair of vermin. The passing visitor might easily carry away with him the impression that such light-brown hair was a permanent character; but on examining adults, he would usually find that the hair is much darker at the roots. The natives (women and boys) of the islands of Bougainville Straits, and according to Labillardière,[106] those of the adjacent island of Bouka, stain the hair by the use of a red ochreous earth, the colour of which, blended with the deep colour of the hair, produces a striking magenta hue.
[106] Labillardière’s “Voyage in search of La Pérouse,” vol. i. p. 246. London 1800.
With regard to the amount of hair on the face, limbs, and trunk, great diversity is observed even amongst natives of the same village. Epilation is commonly employed, a bivalve shell being used as a pair of pincers; but there can be no doubt that the development of the hair varies quite independently of such a custom. Out of ten men taken promiscuously from one of the villages on the north coast of St. Christoval, perhaps, five would have smooth faces; three would possess a small growth of hair on the chin and upper lip; the ninth would possess a beard, a moustache, and whiskers of moderate growth; whilst the tenth would present a shaggy beard, and a hairy visage. With the majority of the Solomon Islanders, the surfaces of the body and limbs are comparatively free from hair; but hairy men are to be found in most villages, and in rare and exceptional cases, the hairy-bodied, hairy-visaged men are the rule. It would appear that in this group, the qualities of treachery and ferocity are possessed in a greater degree by those communities in which hairy men prevail. Hairy-visaged men are commonly found amongst the natives of the Florida Islands. In Bougainville Straits, the great majority of the men keep their faces and chins free from hair, which the chiefs and the older men usually permit to grow.
With age the hair generally assumes an iron-grey hue, as if the decoloration was incomplete. In one old man, however, who was the patriarch of Treasury Island, the hair was completely grey. Baldness usually commences over the fore-head; and is not uncommonly observed beginning amongst middle-aged men. The old women apparently regard hair as an unnecessary encumbrance, the little that remains in later life being generally removed.
I have not yet referred to an almost straight-haired element which has been infused amongst the inhabitants of Bougainville Straits. The individuals, thus characterised, have very dark skins, the hair being even darker, and corresponding in hue with the colour-types 34 and 49. With such natives the face is flatter, and the nose is more _écrasé_ than usual. The hair may be almost straight: and, if not very long, it is often erect, giving the person a shock-headed appearance; whilst in some cases it tends to gather into curls of a large spiral. Other natives possess hair which combines the straight and frizzly characters, giving the whole mass, when combed out, an appearance partly wavy and partly bushy. Small boys in this part of the group have frequently curly heads of hair with large flattened spirals. Traders tell me that straight-haired individuals are found amongst the hill-tribes of St. Christoval at the opposite end of the group. I have seen two such natives, one a woman, and the other a man whom I met near Cape Keibeck on the north coast of the island.
A few remarks with reference to the prevailing hues of the skin may be here interesting. It would seem to be a general rule that the darker-skinned natives occur in the western islands of the group, such as New Georgia, Bougainville Straits, and Bougainville; whilst the lighter-coloured natives are more restricted to the eastern islands such as St. Christoval, Guadalcanar, &c. In different parts of the Solomon Group, the colour of the skin, as may have been already inferred, varies considerably in shade from a very deep brown, exemplified by colour-type 42 of M. Broca, to a copperish hue, best typefied by colour-type 29. The prevailing darker hue of the western islands is represented by type 42, and the prevailing lighter hue of the eastern islands by type 35. Where there is no means of comparison, the darker hues of the skin might be called black. The lightest hues, such as would appear to characterise natives in isolated localities, as in Santa Catalina, and on the north coast of Guadalcanar opposite the Rua Sura Islets, would be best exemplified by colour-type 28. The elderly natives are, as a rule, more dark-skinned than those of younger years, the difference in shade being attributable partly to a longer exposure by reason of their age to the influence of sun and weather, and partly to those structural changes in the skin which accompany advancing years. The colour is usually fairly uniform over the person, but in the case of the Malaita natives, before referred to, the colour of the face and chest was of a lighter hue than that of the limbs and body, as exemplified by contrasting the colour-types 28 and 35.[107]
[107] _Vide_ page for remarks on the effect of the prevailing skin-disease, an inveterate form of body-ringworm, on the colour of the skin.
I would draw attention to the circumstance that my observations were confined to the coast tribes of these islands. The larger islands, which may be compared in size to the county of Cornwall, are but thinly populated in their interior by tribes of more puny physique and less enterprising character, who are ill-suited to cope with their more robust and more war-like fellow-islanders of the coast. These “bushmen,” as they are called, are accredited by the coast-natives with inferior mental capabilities as compared with their own. To call a man of the coast a “bushman” is equivalent to calling him a stupid or a fool, a taunt which is commonly employed amongst the coast-natives. The stone adzes and axes, which have been discarded by the inhabitants of the coast, are said to be still employed by the bushmen. I was unable to make any measurements of these natives; but those I saw were usually of short stature and of a more excitable and suspicious temperament. The hair is worn in the woolly style, is short like that of the African Negro, and its surface has often a peculiar appearance from the hairs arranging themselves in little knobs. I believe that these bushmen, and at the present time I am recalling to my mind those of the interior of Bougainville, have naturally shorter hair than those of the coast, and that the peculiar character of the hair just described is a permanent one.[108] These bushmen probably represent the original Negrito stock of these islands, which, at the coast, often loses many of its characters on account of the intermingling with Eastern Polynesian and Malayan intruders.
[108] Mr. Earl, who well describes this knobby appearance of the surface of the hair of some Papuan tribes, also believes that these tribes may sometimes have naturally short hair. (“Papuans,” p. 2.)
With the object of testing the powers of vision possessed by the natives of these islands, I examined the sight of twenty-two individuals who were in all cases either young adults or of an age not much beyond thirty. For this purpose I employed the square test-dots which are used in examining the sight of recruits for the British army, and I obtained the following results. Two natives could distinguish the dots clearly at 70 feet, one at 67 feet, two at 65 feet, three at 62 feet, four at 60 feet, two at 55 feet, three at 52 feet, four at 50 feet, and one at 35 feet. I roughly placed the average distance at which a native could count the dots at about 60 feet, which is a little beyond the standard distance for testing the normal vision of recruits, viz., 57 feet; but I laid no stress on this difference, and briefly noted in my journal that these natives possessed the normal powers of vision. The quickness of the natives in perceiving distant objects, such as ships at sea, was a matter of daily observation to us; and I was often much surprised by their facility in picking out pigeons and opossums, which were almost concealed in the dense foliage of the trees some 60 or 70 feet overhead. I was therefore impressed with the greater discriminating power possessed by these savages; but the results of my observations on their far-seeing powers were not such as would justify the conclusion that they excelled us very greatly in this respect.
Having read an interesting correspondence in “Nature” during February and March, 1885, on the subject of “civilisation and eyesight,” I forwarded the results of my observations to that journal (_vide_, April 2nd). A fortnight afterwards there appeared a communication from Mr. Charles Roberts, in which he added greatly to the value of my observations by comparing them with results obtained by the use of the army test-dots in the case of English agricultural and out-door labourers, results which were extracted from the Report for 1881 of the Anthropometric Committee of the British Association. After making this comparison Mr. Roberts remarked that _the figures gave no support to the belief that savages possess better sight than civilised peoples_; and he pointed out that my average of 60 feet, which, however, I had only roughly estimated, was somewhat excessive and should have been 57·5 feet, which is only half a foot more than the distance at which Professor Longmore has determined these test-dots ought to be seen by a recruit with normal powers of vision. My observations were comparatively few, but, as above shown, they give no support to the view that savages possess superior powers of vision as compared with civilised races.
In the correspondence in “Nature,” above referred to, Mr. Brudenell Carter supported the “commonly received view” that the savage possesses greater acuteness of vision; but Lord Rayleigh held that it would be inconsistent with optical laws to hold that the eyes of savages, considered merely as optical instruments, are greatly superior to our own; and he observed that it appeared to him that the superiority of the savage is a question of attention and practice in the interpretation of minute indications. The same opinion was expressed by Mr. Roberts, when he referred to the common mistake of travellers in confounding acuteness of vision with the results of special training or education of the faculty of seeing, results which, as he remarked, are quite as much dependent on mental training as on the use of the eyes.
There is a circumstance which may influence the powers of vision possessed by these islanders; and it is this. With the object, I believe, of excluding flies and other insects from their dwellings, the natives keep the interiors dark, the door being usually the only aperture admitting light. Coming in from the direct sunlight, I have often had to wait a minute or two before my eyes became accustomed to the change; but the natives do not experience this inconvenience. Some hours of the day they commonly spend in their houses; whilst at night they use no artificial light except the fitful glare of a wood fire. It would seem probable that the influence of the opposite conditions presented by the darkness of their dwellings and the bright sunlight, would be found in the increased rapidity of the contraction and dilation of the pupil with the enlargement, perhaps, of the retinal receiving area. It is, however, a noteworthy circumstance that these natives are able to pass from the bright tropical glare outside their dwellings to the dark interiors, and _vice versâ_, without showing that temporary derangement of vision which the white man experiences whilst the iris is adapting itself to the new condition.
My attention was not attracted by the size of the pupils; but I paid no especial attention to this point. Mr. J. Rand Capron in the correspondence in “Nature,” above alluded to, refers to the circumstance that the pupil varies in size in individual cases; and he instances the case of one of his assistants possessing unusually large pupils who had a singularly “sharp” eye for picking up companions to double stars, small satellites, &c., and who could read fine print with a light much less bright than is usually required. “The peculiarity affecting my assistant’s eyes,” as Mr. Capron writes, “may be more common with the savages than with us.” I am inclined myself to believe that, on a careful comparison being made, the pupils of the savage will be generally found to be larger. If such should be the case, we shall have a ready explanation of his better discriminating powers of vision.
The eyes of these natives have usually a soft, fawn-like appearance with but little expression. Of the twenty-two individuals whose sight I examined, I came upon only one whose powers of vision seemed at all defective. In this instance--that of a man about thirty years old--the nature of the cause was sufficiently indicated by the prominence of the eyes and the nipping of the lids, especially when the sight was strained by trying to count the test-dots at a distance. The limit of distance at which this man could count the test-dots was 35 feet. The question which presented itself to my mind in this case was, whether a white man, who could count the dots at the same limit of distance, would exhibit to the same degree the external signs of myopia.
I also made some observations on the colour-sense of the inhabitants of Bougainville Straits. Although able to match the seven colours of the spectrum, viz., red, orange, yellow, green, Prussian blue, indigo, and violet, they have only, as far as I could ascertain, distinctive names for white, red, yellow, and sometimes blue; whilst all the other colours, including black, indigo, dark blue, violet, green, &c., are included under one or more general names for dark hues, as shown in the list below. Some of the names of the colours have been suggested by the colours of objects with which the natives are familiar. Thus, one of the names of dark hues is evidently taken from that of charcoal (_sibi_). Again, one of the names for red is but the native term for blood (_masini_); whilst the commonest word for yellow (_temuli_) is also the name of a scitamineous plant, the bulbous root of which possesses a yellow juice. Yellow must be a familiar colour to these natives, as they sometimes decorate their persons with the yellow juice that exudes from incisions into the fruits of _Thespesia populnea_, one of the commonest of littoral trees. They possess also the _Morinda citrifolia_, the roots of which supply a bright yellow dye that is employed in other Polynesian groups, such as in the Society Islands, for staining purposes. The circumstance that different men often applied different names to the same test-colour, shows that they have no recognised list of colour-names; and it would appear probable that all the names are of a suggestive nature, or in other words that they are derived from the names of objects with the conspicuous hues of which the natives are familiar.
NATIVE NAMES FOR COLOURS.
WHITE, Anaa; Ana-anaa. RED, ORANGE, Alec; Masi-masini; Loto. YELLOW, Temuli; Samoi; Latili. BLUE, Totono. BLACK, INDIGO, VIOLET, GREEN (dark), BLUE (dark), Söipa; Kia; Sivi-sivi; Malai.
The pigments employed in decorating the posts of houses, canoe-ornaments, carved clubs, &c., are white, red, and black. Blue is a favourite colour with the natives of Bougainville Straits when choosing beads and other articles of trade; and, in fact, blue is the favourite colour for beads in most of the islands.
In the eastern islands, pigments of white, red, and black are also those which are commonly employed for decorative purposes. In the island of Ugi, as Mr. Stephens informed me, the same word is used to indicate all the dark colours. A native of this island cannot distinguish the different colours in the rainbow: and it should be here remarked that he views the appearance of a bow with a large arc as a warning of the approach of hostile canoes, and he retires accordingly to his house.
The following notes on the gestures and the expressions of the emotions of the Solomon Islanders, which I was led to make after a perusal of Mr. Darwin’s well-known work on these subjects, occur scattered about the pages of my journals; and I must crave the indulgence of my reader if they are, from this reason, of a somewhat disconnected character.
The natives of Bougainville Straits and of other parts of the group _beckon_ with the hand, in a manner almost the reverse of our own. Instead of holding out the hand with the palm uppermost and motioning with the forefinger, they beckon with the palm downwards, and motion with all the fingers. On several occasions, when motioning a native to approach by means of our own gesture, I have had to adopt his own mode of beckoning before he could understand me. . . . . Clapping the hands is a common means of evincing _astonishment_ and _delight_, the hands being usually held up before the face as in the attitude of prayer, but little noise being made. Mule, the Treasury chief, clapped his hands before his face, when Lieutenant Leeper showed him some of his paintings; and surprise was exhibited in a similar manner by the men of Alu, whilst I was taking a sample of hair from the head of one of their number. Some young lads of Fauro clapped their hands noiselessly during their laughter when I gave them a tune on the Jews-harp: whilst a party of Treasury boys, who accompanied me on one of my rambles, thus evinced their pleasure when some matches for lighting our pipes were unexpectedly found in my bag.
The following mode of signifying _hunger_ was often adopted by my youthful native companions in my excursions, when the sun was near its meridian altitude, in order to remind me of the biscuit I generally carried for them; and the little imps used to repeat the gesture in an exaggerated form for my amusement. The belly is drawn in to a surprising degree by the powerful contraction of the abdominal muscles; and, assuming a dismal expression of countenance, the hungry individual points with his finger to this unmistakeable sign of the apparently empty condition of his stomach, and says “kai-kai, muru” (food for stomach). Labillardière tells us that the natives of New Caledonia signified their hunger in a similar manner by pointing to their bellies, and contracting the abdominal muscles as much as they could.[109] . . . . The natives of Bougainville Straits make use of the exclamation, “Agai,” to indicate _pain_ and _suffering_. This cry often rang pitifully in my ears when, from the prejudices of the natives, I was unable to render much surgical aid in the case of the severe gunshot injuries, which resulted from the conflicts between the Treasury and Shortland islanders.
[109] “Voyage in search of La Pérouse” (Eng. edit.: London 1800) vol. ii., p. 213.
Elevation of the eyebrows with a slight throwing backward of the head is the gesture of _assent_. A native sometimes raises his eyebrows slightly to indicate _caution_ or _reticence_ under circumstances in which we should employ a cough or a wink; and, by the same sign, a _question_ may be asked, and as silently answered by a similar movement of the eyebrows, accompanied by a throwing up of the head. A native of Simbo, on one occasion, because I would not give him tobacco, signified his _contempt_ for me by spitting on the ground. A woman of Alu informed me that she was the _mother_ of two girls standing near, by first pointing to her daughters, and then touching her breasts. When _puzzled_, a native sometimes adopts our sign of perplexity by frowning, and scratching his head.
On one occasion, I was much amused by the behaviour of some of the Treasury boys, lively young imps who used frequently to accompany me on my excursions. One of their number had been offended by his companions, who immediately began to caper round him, distorting their faces in a peculiar manner by drawing the eyes and mouth towards each other with their fingers, and producing an appearance reminding me of the human faces on the dance-clubs of Bougainville Straits and New Ireland. Sometimes they would only go through the motions by scraping their fingers down their cheeks. The object was evidently to create terror, but only in a mimic fashion.
But little gesticulation is used in ordinary conversation. A native of Cape Keibeck, on the north coast of St. Christoval, who went through the motions of throwing a spear in time of battle, assumed a hideous expression of countenance with eyes starting and knitted brows, much as Mr. Mosely describes in the instance of a native of Humboldt Bay, New Guinea.[110] A native, who is planning the performance of an act of treachery, usually exhibits during his conversation an excited, restless manner, with a slight trembling of the limbs and a partial loss of control over the facial muscles. It is in this manner that white men, resident in the group, when approaching a village with which they are unacquainted, often find an indication of the hostility or friendliness of the inhabitants by observing the unconscious bearing of the first men they meet.
[110] “Naturalist on the Challenger,” p. 441.
These islanders converse in a low, monotonous voice; and are unaccustomed to loud, stentorian tones, such as those in which words of command are given. I was told a story of a white man who had engaged some natives to take him out in a canoe to the site of a sunken rock, which he intended to blow up with dynamite as it obstructed the channel. Immediately on dropping the charge, he shouted out to his crew to paddle away as quickly as possible and at the same time gesticulated wildly. The men opened their eyes wide and stared at him with astonishment, but never moved; and before they could recover themselves, off went the charge, and the canoe and its occupants were blown into the air. However, but little damage was caused except to the canoe. My informant told me that if the men had been told quietly to paddle away, the accident would never have happened.
I now come to the subject of the disposition of these islanders. There is a generosity between man and man, which I often admired, although it was easy to perceive that there was a singular relation between the giver and the recipient. A native rarely refuses anything that is asked; but, on the other hand, he is not accustomed to offer anything spontaneously except when he expects an equivalent in return. His generosity is, in truth, constrained by the knowledge of the fact that by a refusal he will incur the enmity of the person who has made the request. Often when during my excursions I have come upon some man who was preparing a meal for himself and his family, I have been surprised at the open-handed way in which he dispensed the food to my party of hungry natives. No gratitude was shown towards the giver, who apparently expected none, and only mildly remonstrated when my men were unusually voracious. I was often amused at noticing how a native’s friends would gather around when there was a sago palm to be felled.
But there is one occasion when the existence of friends must be very trying to a Solomon Islander, and that is when he returns to his island after his term of service in the plantations of Fiji or Queensland has expired. He brings with him his earnings of three years in the shape of a musket, a couple of American axes, and a large box filled with calico, coloured handkerchiefs, tobacco, pipes, knives, beads, &c. On landing at the beach, he is greeted by the greater portion of the village. The chief at once appropriates the musket, as his way of welcoming the wanderer on his return. His father selects, with due deliberation, the best tempered of the axes. The chief’s son relieves him of one of the largest knives. His numerous relations and friends assist themselves to some of the more valuable articles in the box; whilst the calico and beads are evenly appropriated by the different ladies of the village, as their manner of evincing their pleasure at his safe return. The unhappy man dares not refuse, and he finally leaves the beach for his own house with a very light box and a heavy heart. But his friends in the neighbourhood think it their duty to convey their congratulations in person; and in a few days the box alone remains, which it is very likely that the chief has already secured “in prospectu.” The foregoing is by no means an exaggerated account of the reception which awaits a Solomon Islander when he returns from his term of service in the colonies.
The natives of this group have obtained for themselves the reputation of being the most treacherous and bloodthirsty of the Pacific Islanders. Here, however, as in other groups, the inhabitants have been judged according to the circumstances attending the visit of the navigator. If he has come into collision with them, he paints their conduct in the darkest colours; but if, as has rarely been the case, there has been nothing to interrupt the harmony of his intercourse, he is apt, in his description of the peaceful character of the natives, to reflect on the want of humanity which marked the dealings of his predecessors. But for us a middle course would seem preferable; and in approving the mild measures of the one, we must not forget that the harsh treatment of the other may have arisen in circumstances over which he had little control. The early intercourse between civilized and savage peoples must of necessity be fraught with peril, until the latter cease to look upon every stranger as a probable foe. It is not often that we have the pleasure of reading such accounts as are given by Kotzebue and Chamisso of their intercourse with the Radack Islanders; yet we must remember that the humane principles of La Pérouse led, unfortunately, to the massacre of M. de Langle and eleven others in the Navigator Islands. Here again the middle course is to be followed; and the traveller most successful in his dealings with these races will be he who obtains for himself their fear as well as their affection.
The early intercourse of the Solomon Islanders with the Spaniards, and with the first French navigators, was too often marked by bloodshed to enable us to form a correct estimation of the disposition of these natives. We therefore turn without regret to the more pleasing experience of a later voyager in these seas. In his account of his intercourse with the natives of Isabel in 1838, D’Urville thus refers to these islanders: “Nous sommes les premiers à inscrire dans l’histoire des habitants de ces îles, une page en faveur de leur caractère: ils auraient pu, presque sans dangers, massacrer ceux de nos officiers qui sont allés chercher l’hospitalité aux villages d’Opihi et Toitoi, et j’aime à croire qu’ils n’auraient pas résisté à la tentation, si dans leur caractère il n’y avait pas eu quelques sentiments d’affection ou de probité.”[111]
[111] “Voyage au Pole Sud,” etc. Vol. V., p. 106.
In recalling my own experiences, I can scarcely remember a single instance in which I was aught but kindly treated by a race of savages who have been so often characterised as the most treacherous and bloodthirsty in the Pacific. I was constantly in their power, since, in my excursions, I very rarely had any other companions. I will, therefore, frame my estimate of their character in the words of the French navigator, that they would not have been able to resist the temptation of harming me, if there was not in their disposition something of the sense of honour and affection.