Handbook to the ethnographical collections . and the south-east end of New Guinea. Traces oftotemism in more or less decayed form are p)-actically Fiji the natural wife for a man is his mothers brothersdaughter; in New Caledonia the cousins on the mothers side are 134 OCEANIA regarded as fitting consorts, but not those on the fathers. Inboth these islands, and part of the New Hebrides and SolomonIslands, brothers and sisters after puberty must avoid one laws relating to property, especially land, are too complicatedto discuss, but it may be mentioned that in New Caledo
Handbook to the ethnographical collections . and the south-east end of New Guinea. Traces oftotemism in more or less decayed form are p)-actically Fiji the natural wife for a man is his mothers brothersdaughter; in New Caledonia the cousins on the mothers side are 134 OCEANIA regarded as fitting consorts, but not those on the fathers. Inboth these islands, and part of the New Hebrides and SolomonIslands, brothers and sisters after puberty must avoid one laws relating to property, especially land, are too complicatedto discuss, but it may be mentioned that in New Caledoniaa dying man will frequently distribute his property, and that inthe Admiralty Islands the property of a deceased chief isdistributed ])y his son amongst the whole tribe. The disposal ofthe dead varies greatly, though burial is found almost everywhere;sometimes the body is subsequently disinterred, the skull pre-served (Solomon Islands, New Britain), and the bones reburied(figs. o2 and 112). In places the body or bones are sunk in the sea. Fig. 113.—Mask of turtle-shell, worn in ceremonial dances. Torres Straits. (locally in the New Hebrides. Solomon Islands, New Britain andAdmiralty Islands). Sometimes the body is exposed in a tree (NewCaledonia) or on a staging (New Guinea, Torres Straits), and thebones later may be put in a crevice in the rocks. In some cases thebody is simply left to decay, the juices being drawn off throughincisions in the feet, and the dried skin and bones are sometimeskept in the hut, and sometimes depcjsited elsewhere. In TorresStraits the skull is handed over to the relatives with muchceremony ; in the Admiralty Islands certain relatives receivecertain bones as mementos. In New Ireland the corpse is placedon a stage and a fire lighted beneath ; when the stage collapses,the liver is removed from the body and distributed ; the restof the body is burnt. In Tasmania the body was burnt and theashes buried, a bark shelter being erected over the spot. THE
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjoycetho, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1910
