beauty of which stay-at-home civilized people can scarcely
have any conception. What are the finest Grecian statues
to the living, moving, breathing men I saw daily around
me ? The unrestrained grace of the naked savage as he
goes about his daily occupations, or lounges at his ease,
must be seen to be understood; and a youth bending his
bow is the perfection of manly beauty. The women,
however, except in extreme youth, are by no means so
pleasant to look at as the men. Their strongly-marked
features are very unfeminine, and hard'work, privations,
and very early marriages soon destroy whatever of beauty
or grace they may for a short time possess. Their toilet is
very simple, but also, I am sorry to say, very coarse,
and disgusting. It consists solely of a mat of plaited
strips of palm leaves, worn tight round the body, and
reaching from the hips to the knees. I t seems not to be
changed till worn out, is seldom washed, and is generally
very dirty. This is the universal dress, except in a few
cases where Malay “ sarongs ” have come into use. Their
frizzly hair is tied in a bunch at the back of the head.
They delight in combing, or rather forking it, using for that
purpose a large wooden fork with four diverging prongs,
which answers the purpose of separating and arrangO ingO
the long tangled, frizzly mass of cranial vegetation much
better than any comb could do. The only ornaments of
the women are earrings and necklaces, which they arrange
in various tasteful ways. The ends of a necklace are often
attached to the earrings, and then looped on to the hair-
knot behind. This has really an elegant appearance, the
beads hanging gracefully on each side of the head, and by
establishing a connexion with the earrings give an appear- .
ance of utility to those barbarous ornaments. We recommend
this style to the consideration of those of the fair sex
who still bore holes in their ears and hang rings thereto.
Another style of necklace among these Papuan belles is to
wear two, each hanging on one side of the neck and under
the opposite arm, so as to cross each other. This has a
very pretty appearance, in part due to the contrast of the
white beads or kangaroo teeth of which they are composed
with the dark glossy skin. The earrings themselves are
formed of a bar of copper or silver, twisted so that the
ends cross. | The men, as usual among, savages, adorn
themselves more than the women. They wear necklaces,
earrings, and finger rings, and delight in a band of plaited
grass tight round the arm just below the shoulder, to
which they attach a bunch of hair or bright coloured
feathers by way of ornament. The teeth of small
animals, either alone, or alternately with black or white
beads, form their necklaces, and sometimes bracelets also.
For these latter, however, they prefer brass wire, or the
black, horny, wing-spines of the cassowary, which they
consider a charm. Anklets of brass or shell, and tight