The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-10-27

group the men wear their hair long, do
Ing it up in q big plug at the back, into
which they stick long fancy pins, whose
ends are tipped with feathers"
Hoy do they take to the clothes Of
| Civilizations"
"The moment a native Is converted
he immediately wants to put OH white
mans clothes; whenever he 'backslides
the first indication Of this that he gives
is an instant abandonment of the clothes
1t is amusing to see them put on our
garments. One native will get pair
or boots and dance around with only
those and his native skirt on, dressed
for aught he knows in thorough fashion.
One man I know, when he was given q
fshirt, with the most innocent simplicity
at once'put his feet through the sleeves
and proceeded to wear that upper gar
ment as an originally conceived pair of
pantalO0ns.
"You speak Of dancing. Do they
nave war dances like our North Amori-
can 1ndians2"
Eyes, but their war dance are very
low and obscene. Moreove they are
fond OF perfumes-if you can call such
things as Kerosene oil porfumery-and
especially before dancing they daub
themselves with these oils. You can
imagine The result for Il sensitive nasal
organ. Then they paint themselves,
anu the people Of the Caroline Island
Dcuaub their persons with yellow paint,
which they make themselves. All the
natives are tattooed. The tattoolng is
begun as soon as the child is born, and
Cnc proceSss Is extremely cruel on the
chlldren. Only persons OF high rank can
nave their faces tattooed, and tho more
marks there are OH the face the higher
is the rank of the chieftainn
wv hat arc their customs as regards
marriage and other personal obligationsP
DO they have any code of verbal laws?"
NIhey live according to old traditions
and habits. Their marriages, which
are made at as early an aye rs eleven
years, are planned by parents and
friends. They have great respect for
their supcriors. They always 20 in
and out Of the room where a king or
clllef is in a crouching position, and
when they pass their superiors ALWAYS
assume tho same lowly attitude. Their
chiefs obtain their rank by descent. not
from any prOweSS of their own. The
women are held as slaves and compelled
to DO most of the work. They have a
respect for one another's property and
land. If Il man does not want any
trespassers on his particular piece Of
Soil he winds pandana leaves around the
tees and the boundaries and no ono
then attempts to pass by the tree SO
marked. This they call tabbooing. )
ard the word 'tabboo,' meaning tits
prescription, is used on all the islands
however different their language may
be-"
1--WE have the same word, meaning
the same, i'll the English language, cap
tam: do you suppose it arose original
~ from tho white men who had at
sometime or other run across thess is
laiuiers?"
ut is probable.
"What is their native religion? DO
they worship idols?'
NO, they are spirit worshir,rs.
Their spirit gods, they think, live in
certain liSh--most prominently, tho col.
They will never touch al eel, and al
ways run away from il AZ fast AS possible.
They are, in fact, terribly afraid of their
spirits. There are numberloss sacred
spots which the natives mover dare ap.
proach."
Are these islanders intelligent?n
"Ihey are Of simple nature, but
have, considerable ingenuity. On the
Marshall group especially, they rival our
ankoes. They are natural nayigators,
and have charts made Of long twigs in
tersccteu with one another in lattice
work, and in tho Intersections tlloy
place little stones to represent the is-
lands. | have found these charts won-
derfully correct, far moro mathemati-
cally accurate than our English charts.
The natives are queer in their love for
firearms. They like the noise, but al.
ways want to put in ball or shot, even
when firing III the air merely to hear
the report. ] remember q missionary
and myself were wading along Il brook
ono day, when, whish, came q ball
directly between us. We looked up,
and there sut an old native in front Of
his hut, popping off his gun, regardless
OF where he aimed, merely for the fun
Of the thing"
y "What about the few traders who
came to Micronesia2'
'Ihey aro the scum Of different na .
tions. They upset our work by selling
liquor, tobacco and guns to the natives,
and by prejudicing them against tho
missionaries. Some however, were once
prominent men. L remember one, an
English noblcman, who had been oblig-
ed to fly Great Britain and was hiding
among these far-olf islands Several other
mobiles from Europe have found refuge
among these islands. But, in spite of
the opposing work Of such mon, the
missionaries and teachers have done
done much good, and will do more in
future time. | hope the means Of OK
tending their work will be Forthcoming,
but at present their work has almost
reached its limit until a larger vessel is
provided to take more supplies to tho
iislandS.n
Ann or Ammo.
This name first appeared among us about