4. Fig. 3. Sculptures on Gavr-Innis, showing rows of celts. 5. 6. Figs. 7 and 8. Ditto on Mané Kerion, near Plouharnel. DISCUSSION. Mr. F. G. H. PRICE did not agree with the author of the paper as to the antiquity of these monuments, as, had they existed before the time of the Romans, such huge monoliths would hardly have been overlooked and left unnoticed by their historians, who so fully described all the people they came in contact with, as well as their manners and customs. Roman interments, urns, fragments of Samian and other pottery, Roman coins, tiles, &c., had been met with beneath the dolmens, which proved them to have been post-Roman. These monuments were possibly erected by the Veneti in the latter part of the Roman occupation, which might in a measure account for some of the interments having been found in the earth over the dolmens. The speaker did not see why it was necessary to suppose that the sculptures were engraven by chert or quartz implements when there must have been plenty of bronze and iron at that period for the purpose. He agreed with Mr. Fergusson, in his "Rude Stone Monuments," in supposing these dolmens to date from the end of the fourth century A.D. to the sixth century A.D., when the custom of erecting such monuments was universal. MARCH 24TH, 1885. FRANCIS GALTON, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Minutes of the last meeting were read and signed. The following presents were announced, and thanks voted to the respective donors : FOR THE LIBRARY. From the AUTHOR.-The Mound Builders. By George Bryce, L'Anthropologie Générale a l'Exposition de Turin en 1884. Euvres inédites des Artistes Chasseurs de Rennes. By VOL. XV. I From the MANITOBA HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.-Papers read before the Society, 1884-5. Annual Report for the year 1884-5. From the ACADEMY.-Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias en Córdoba. Tom. VII, Entrega 3a. -Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. Serie Quarta, Vol I, From the SOCIETY.-Bulletin des Procés-Verbaux de la Société d'Émulation d'Abbeville, avec une table analytique des Séances. 1881-1883. -Bulletin de la Société d'Anthropologie de Lyon. 1883, Fas. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. March, 1885. From the EDITOR.-Matériaux pour l'Histoire de l'Homme. March, 1885. "Science," Nos. 108, 109. "Nature," Nos. 802, 803. Revue Scientifique. Tom. XXXV, Nos. 11, 12. Revue Politique. Tom. XXXV, Nos. 11, 12. The election of the Hon. CECIL DUNCOMBE, and of F. D. MOCATTA, Esq., was announced. The following paper was read by the author: On the NATIVES of NEW IRELAND. By A. J. DUFFIELD, Esq. BEFORE proceeding with the slight sketch which I propose to make of the Islanders of New Ireland, or Tombarra, as it is called by the natives, I should like to describe in two or three words the impression which these people made upon me when I first saw them, and the conviction I retain regarding their moral and intellectual state. The first impression I received was one of mingled shame and disgust. Here were grown-up beings, to all outward seeming men, playing the fool in broad daylight; painting their faces, making a hideous caricature of what had at least the semblance of beauty and good looks. But this impression was speedily displaced by another: closer contact drew from them, almost without exception, the most delightful, and at the same time novel delight in feeling a white man, trying to ascertain what relation his shirt had to his skin, or his white pith helmet to his skull. They gave way to unreserved admiration of what they saw, but could not understand; and just as town-bred children run to pluck the flowers of the field or the fruit of the hedge when they get the chance, so did these children of older growth, on my first making their acquaintance, proceed to help themselves to all that pleased them, and to everything in the form of ornament, or portable chain, button, or pocket cutlery. They showed no emotion on seeing a watch, but the sight of a common screw, when they saw it enter two pieces of wood, and hold them together, produced screams of joyous appreciative laughter. They were ready to part with anything they had for a brass screw. They understood at once the use of a file, a hammer, a saw, but the mechanism of a large clasp knife puzzled them. Their wonder and astonishment on seeing a large white drinking-glass, made it obvious that the thing was quite new to them; and they were not quite sure whether it was a product of nature or of art. They evinced a marked repugnance to a painted landscape, but the coloured photograph of a fair woman rivetted their silent attention. When shown a looking-glass, some were at first scared for a few seconds, but presently broke out into hearty laughter when they saw their reflected image laugh, but making no sound. Others were struck with fear, as if they had seen a ghost and closed their eyes. When shown its reflecting power by flashing it in the face of the sun, they were much pleased, but their attention was chiefly occupied by the idea of how they could manage to get hold of some of these wonderful things and keep them. One or two of the more daring at once took possession of some of the articles they admired, but readily gave them up when required to do so. It was quite impossible for me to resist the impression that it was as easy to train these people to the useful and the good, as it is by a happy knack to blow a smouldering wick into a flame. That is the permanent feeling which I retain regarding them. As a rule the women were much more communicative than the men, but the men were willing and docile; they soon learnt, when on board ship, how to wash decks, and this work was always done to songs of their own making; they submitted, without murmur, to occupy different parts of the ship during meal times. and at night. At first, when breakfast and dinner were prepared, the women waited on the men, but in a few days afterwards, to their infinite amazement, I made the women sit down, and the men got no food until they had first carried from the galley the food intended for the other sex. For some time the women did not like it. The men grew more and more sulky over it, and it was not until I took part in waiting on the ladies myself that the new arrangement was willingly carried out. They all went regularly to bed at a fixed hour, rose with the sun, cooked their own food, washed their own vessels, chopped firewood, and learnt to wash, sew, and mend clothes. The women took readily to clothing, but much preferred to make ribbons of calico petticoats to adorn their heads than to cover their bodies. They were nice and dainty in their food, and would rather die than take physic. Their keenness of sense was remarkable: any uncommon odour was repulsive to them, while carbolic acid drove them wild. Their eyesight was remarkable: they could, and frequently did, discover land which we were unable to make out with good glasses; they could pick out a small boat six or seven miles off at sea in bad weather, when we were unable to do so with binoculars or telescopes. But not only were they uncommonly good at long sight, they were equally so in making very small beads out of shells, and doing minute carving and engraving on spears and clubs, on canoes, combs, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and on musical instruments; not to mention the fine tattooings with which many women's faces were disfigured. The Indians of the South American deserts can see great distances, and distinguish the colours of mules and horses long before any European eyes can; but they do not surpass or equal these New Irelanders in their power of sight. But I attach more importance to the ready manner in which they took to habits of cleanliness, order, and regularity. They were easily taught many simple things, but the teaching had to be incessant, and the teacher always present to ensure a good result; when left to themselves they speedily relapsed into empty idleness. I assume then that these people are the offspring of remote but superior races, that they retain some inherited powers, which have become weak by lack of use, and that these moral and intellectual powers can be easily restored. New Ireland is situated about 300 miles south of the Equator, and separated by a strait, 50 miles wide, from the south-east coast of New Guinea. The island is some 250 miles long, and 30 or more miles broad. Viewed from seaward it is seen to be densely wooded and well watered. Cocoa and areca nut palms stand out against the sky along the summits, and grow in immense numbers all along the shore. Vast patches of the hillsides are under cultivation, and these are fenced with wickerwork. Yams and taro are the roots mainly cultivated. The food of the natives is chiefly vegetable, and consists of cocoanuts, yams, taro, arrowroot, nutmegs, haricot beans, bread fruit, the sweet potato, bananas, and other fruits. Sometimes they add fish, and now and then kill a pig; there is abundance of domestic poultry; we also found plenty of nuts, chili peppers, and the delicious mangostine. The only wild animal I found was a small opossum. The climate is humid, the vegetation a dark green, and every tree appeared to be overrun with parasitic plants. Although food appeared to be abundant, the natives were poor in flesh, lanky, short in stature, slight in weight. Their usual colour is a dark brown, but many are much lighter. No doubt there is a considerable mixture of blood among them. The hair of the head is crisp and glossy, and as dense and populated as their own hills. Many of the black men had abundance of hair on their bodies; the lighter-coloured had little or none. The tattooing and cuttings on the flesh were entirely confined to women and the head men. The tattooing is abundant at the corners of the eyes and mouth, and is darkened by rubbing in the powdered oxide of manganese, which they call labán. 39 The men go absolutely naked, but the women wear "aprons' of grass in front and behind, suspended from cinctures, made of beads strung on threads drawn from the leaves of the aloe. The women also make an excellent bonnet from palm leaves, and also a cloak which covers the back and head, used only in the rainy season; they evinced great fear of getting wet in the rain. I noticed no mutilations among them, no cutting off of eyebrows, or knocking out of teeth. The septum of the nose is perforated to receive rings of beads, and other ornaments, the only breach of good taste in adorning themselves to be found among them. They stick flowers and gaudy feathers in their hair, and wear garters on their naked legs under the knee, well knitted out of fibre. Many bleach their hair with coral lime, paint their bodies with red and yellow earths, and get up their faces like the clown and pantaloon in a pantomime. Their huts are singularly well thatched, and are raised from the ground on heavy logs about 2 feet high; there are no doors, windows, or chimneys. In pottery they make well-shaped water-bottles. Their They construct admirable canoes, but use no sails. The canoes are beautifully carved-are made of well-cut battens, inch thick, 20 feet long, and 5 inches wide, and pitched with some black resinous stuff which they call anteet. paddles are symmetrical, and oftentimes carved with taste and skill. The figure-head of the canoe is admirably sculptured. Twenty paddles in a canoe can raise the speed through the water to a good ten knots an hour, and I have seen canoes keep up this pace for at least an hour and half without stopping. Their weapons are clubs and spears. They have no bows and arrows. The clubs are of all shapes, of heavy, wellpolished, dark woods, and excellently carved. The prevailing form was that of the cricket bat. |