The Coolidge examiner., 1935-01-18
Prepared BY National Geographic Society.
Washington. - C.-WSU Service


waHhln gtou. u. C.-WSU Service
"O THE natives of Ontong
Java. a group Of isles lying In
Il the island-besprInkled sea off
the. northwest coast OF New Guinea,
coconuts are Synonymous with
money. for copra (dried coconut
meats) serves as Currency. Five
pieces of tobacco represent one
hundred copra; a bolt OF calico.
number of thousand copra accord
Ing to it's quality. ard so on.
The growing coconuts on the
palms are spoken OF as green"
although they may be either green
or yellow In color. At this stage
they are full OF the delicious sweet
milk, thIrst-quenchiag as lemonade,
and the flesh they contain is very
thin.
When the nuts are ripe, the flesh
is OF maximum thickness, and they
fall to the ground. Then they are
gathered and the thick husks are
removed. the nuts emerging as they
are sold in European and American
shops. They are split in halves, the
milk being now more or less sour.
and are placed open end downward
on the drying frame. a stand sup
ported on legs about four feet high.
Mats are put over the nuts. and
n fire lighted beneath the frame is
allowed to burn for about twelve
hours. The dried flesh then Is read
lily removed from the shell with
the aid Of porpolse bone Or sharp
ened stick. This operation over,
the dried flesh. or copra. as II Is
called. Is taken 10 the trading sta
ton In baskets and exchanged for
goods. when a ship calls. the copra
is put into bags and weighed and
then carried by natives into fiat
bottomed pUnts. which are towed
Off TO the ship by a motor launch.
The copra goes 10 Tulsgi. on
Florida island of the Solomon
group. where II IS trans-shipped TO
sydney. The oil extracted from
copra is used In making soaps,
candles. and butter substitutes;
the pulp becomes cattle feed.
The other and far less important
item OF exchange at Ontong Java is
trochus shell. This shell. like the
copra. ls shipped. 1t usually finds
its way TO Japan or Belgium, where
II is cut and polished into pearl"
buttons. The cOne-shaped, reddish
shell sometimes the red shows out
side II the button has been imper-
fectly cut) is washed up into shall
low water OF the reefs where 1t Is
collected By the natives.
Trepang and Ivory Nuts.
The lagoon abounds with beche
demer, the trepang or sea slug, a
food dellcacy Of the East. 1t is col
lected by japanese, who come out
from Tulagi In special luggers.
From dinghies they look out for the
slugs below. When a suitable spec
linen Is sighted. the diver goes over
the side, sinks about a fathom. then
transfxes his prey with the end of
sort of weighted harpOon, which
he might be said TO let fall upon 1t.
The slugs are cleaned. boiled,
and dried. A full cargo for a lug
ger, about five tons. usually takes
three months TO collect. Although,
of course. the price varies, it is
normally $4,000 to $1,000.
Ivory nuts, the products of
graceful palm. are used chiefly for
making buttons, knife handles and
similar articles. The nuts are
crushed and the objects nodded
from the paste made from them.
A native home on the Islands is
rectangular 1t has framework Of
poles, tied In position with rope
made from the fiber of the coconut
husk. No nails are used. The
peaked roof is thatched with pan
danus-palm leaf, the leaves bent
over and made fast to a stick about
four or five feet long. These sticks,
tied to the roof poles so that they
overlap, make a virtually rain
proof roof.
The walls of the house are made
OF mats of plated coconut leaf tied
to the upright sticks. The floor is
also covered with these mats, Ma
tives use these mats as beds. 9th
er mats are used for blankets, and
pieces of wood as pillows.
Clean, Charming Natives.
The natives are a clean, friend
Iy. and altogether charming people.
Fond of swimming, they always
battle at least once day. They
are well-bullt and handsome, many
reaching feet inches in height
and some 6 feet or more. Their
complexion, of light coffee color,
is similar to that of the Hawaiians.
Boys from about fourteen years
of age to twenty wear their hair
cut fairly close. From then until