ave dwelt among, I was delighted
with the beauty of the human form-a 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. It 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 bench 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 arranging
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 appearance 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 wome