New-York tribune., 1911-02-19

the tree down, and they have even been
known 10 ascend the tree while the inhab-
itants were of their guard and set fire to
the house.
Nowadays however. head hunting Is only
INDUCED In on special occasions. Often. In.
deed, when head is required. the chief
gives notice or the fact TO the different
tribes ard offers a reward for one The
chiefs OF the villages look around. and II
In any of them there is a native who has
made himself objectionable for any reason
they decide that his head shall come off
and the reward be earned. The victim Is
not told OF his impending fate, but is care
fully watched by man who has been told
to secure his head. He watches every
movement Of his victim, and at length.
when a favorable opportunity presents
itself-perhaps months q = r-quickly and
remorselessly Kills him. cuts off his head
and carries il TO the chief, who pays for II
i'm shell money. This even happens 10
white men II they have made themselves
unpopular. Money is paid over for the
skull which goes to Join the chiefs colec-
ton.
The chiefs OF the more northerly islands
of the group have many wives Quite an
The chief keeps his household in order by
terrorism. Furnishing with death even the
merest suspicion of infdelity The general
attitude toward women may be gagged from
the statement of the chief OF Tanna who
boldly declared 10 a missionary:
''If we did not beat our women they
would never work: they would not fear and
obey US; but when we have beaten and
Iii nd ha
are very quiet and good for long time 70
come" When the missionary tried 10 point
out that this treatment made them unable
to work. and that kindness would have a
much better effect. the chief promptly re-
piled that women could not understand
kindness"
The Solomon Islandegs are ancestor wor-
shippers, and great is their dread Of an
cestral spirits. The name given to these
spirits in the Florida Islands. in the Solo
mon group. is Tindalo. Many secret socie
ties exist, and the members of these take
advantage of the superstitious fears of the
uninitiated for their own benefit. An anus
ing case of this occurred one day. when mis-
sionary influence had succeeded to some ex-
tcnt in breaking down the natives horror
Of offending the Tindalos Two old men
were seen surrounded by a group Of half
a dozen mocking lads and crying bitterly.
They had been members Of a secret society.
When the missionary demonstrated with
the young men for their unseemly behavior
this was the story told.
'You blame US they said. "for torment
ing these men. but you do not know how
they have punished us while they were able
to do So This was one OF their lodges TO
get a feast They and their friends would
come to US who were not initiated and
say: You must prepare a feast for the
Tindalos: tonight they will come Then
they would stop up the windows and fasten
the door OF the house from the outside,
leaving only a small place open above,
large enough for their purpose. If you
look out or stop cooking till all is ready
YOU will die they would say, and then
they would so away till night. And we
would break nuts, scrape cocoanuts and
pound vans till the heat Of the cooking
fires and the dust inside the house and our
perspiratiOn would torture US. AT night
fall the Tindalos would come, screaming,
Whistling. kissing, their bodies covered with
leaves. so that even If We had dared 10 look
out we should not have recognized them,
and we. trembling and weary, would hand
out the bowls of food we had cooked
through the hole above the door. which
pairs OF hands would take and carry OFF
into the darkness"