The Trade in Heads
When the Rev. S. Leigh visited the Bay wf Islands in 1818 at the invitation of the Rev. 8. Marsden in Sydney, he visited the native villages preaching the gospel in English and having it interpreted by one of the lay missionaries. At one village the Natives hoped to do trade with him but, instead of offering the usual pigs, flax or spars, they had ready a heap of 12 tattooed dried beads placed beside the path so that he would be sure to see them. He asked why they were there, and they answered that they hoped he might want to buy them. After telling -them, through the interpreter, what he thought of such a trade, he was calmly informed by the chief of the pa as he ordered his slaves to remove them, “The next ship captain who comes will buy them.” This was before the New South -Wales Government made the traffic in dried heads illegal.—“M.»” (Wellington).
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 154, 27 March 1937, Page III (Supplement)
Word Count
164The Trade in Heads Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 154, 27 March 1937, Page III (Supplement)
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