[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

284 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

of tortoise-SHELL for a large, finely carved plate of
mother-of—pearl. In the perforated sides of the nose
they place thin sticks, which stand high up towards
the eyes. In the hair they wear sticks and small
boards covered with the same feathers as those used
for feather money. They have dancing—sticks of
a most elaborate description, heavy wooden clubs
of the shape of a canoe, painted in delicate designs
and with rattles at the lower end. The designs are
black and red on a white ground, and are derived
from shapes of fish and birds. Similar work is
done on carvings showing the different species of
fish and birds; the drawing is exquisite, and shows
fine feeling for ornamental composition.

The position of women in Santa Cruz is peculiar,
although the Suque does not exist, and therefore
no separation of fires is enforced. Masculine jealousy
seems to have reached its climax here, for no man
from another village even dares look at a woman.
The women’s houses are a little inland, away from
the gamal and separated by high walls from the
outer world. Most of the houses are square, but
there are some circular ones, a type very rare in
these regions. To my regret I was never able
to examine one of these round houses, so that I
have no idea how they are built. To enter the
women’s quarters, or to approach nearer than
100 metres to any woman, is a deadly offence,
and such breaches of etiquette are the cause of
frequent feuds. Only once I was taken by one of
my boys through the lanes of his village, and this