nd the chiefs
are held in the highest veneration by their subjects. This state of
things was greatly to the advantage of the missions, as the chiefs,
even if converted, retained their authority, whereas in the north the
high castes, on their conversion, lost all influence and position,
as these only depended on the Suque. The brilliant results of the
missions in Tanna are due, apart from the splendid work of the two
Presbyterian missionaries, chiefly to this fact. If the missionaries
and the authorities would join forces for the preservation of the
native race, great good might be done. Intelligent efforts along
this line ought to comprise the following features: revival of the
wish to live and the belief in a future for the race, increase in
the birth-rate, rational distribution of the women, abolition of the
present recruiting system, compulsory medical treatment, creation
of law and order, and restoration of old customs as to daily life
and food.

The houses on Tanna are poor huts of reed-grass, probably because the
perpetual wars discouraged the people from building good dwellings. The
principal weapons are the spear and club, the arrow, as elsewhere
in Polynesia, playing a subordinate part. A weapon which is probably
peculiar to Tanna are throwing-stones, carefully made stone cylinders,
which were hurled in battle. If a man had not time to procure one of
these granite cylinders, a branch of coral or a slab of stone, hewn
into serviceable shape, would serve his turn; and these instruments
are not very different from our oldest prehistoric stone implements.

Quite a Polynesian art is the manufacture of tapa: bark cloth. The
Tannese do not know how to make large pieces, but are satisfied with
narrow strips, used as belts by the men, and prettily painted in
black and red.

The dress of the men is similar to that of Malekula, that of the
women consists of an apron of grass and straw; and they often wear
a hat of banana leaves, while the men affect a very complicated
coiffure. The hair is divided into strands, each of which is wound
with a fibre from the head out. A man may have several hundred of
these ropes on his head all tied together behind, giving a somewhat
womanish appearance. It takes a long time to dress the hair thus,
and the custom is falling into disuse.

On the whole, the culture of the Tannese is low; there is no braiding
or carving, and the ornaments worn consist only of a few bracelets
and necklace