MANGATOKI.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 7 September 1926, Page 6

MANGATOKI.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

MISSIONARY LECTURE. On Friday evening tlie Rev. Mr Avery gave' a lantern slide lecture in the local church on the mission work carried on in the Solomon Islands and in Papua-, in the former of which he had some years’ experience. The mission work in the Eastern Solomons commenced in 1891, and) in the Western group in 1892, hy the Methodist Church. Solomon Islanders and Papuans are eo similar to each other in appearance, habits, etc., that to those not intimately acquainted it is hard to tell 1 the difference between them. They have fuzzy hair, which the men often decorate with flowers and feath-

ers. The dress of the men consists of a loin cloth, while the women wear a “grass” skirt made of cocoanut or sago palm. It was a'revelation to see the in the face® of the Christian and heathen Islanders: The heathen had a sour, savage look, while the light of Christianity was clearlY reflected in the faces of the converts, and the Islanders do say that laughter was not known before the missionary arrived. In the heathen days Solomon Islander’s were cannibals, _ and! their chief food's at a feast consisted of fish, dog, pig and human beings, these being roasted alive over- a fire. This practice was continued until the Government made it comoulsory to kill all animals before cooking. One of the older native mission teachers was once asked by Mr Avery what human flesh tasted like, and he stated that human flesh was “true pig,” meaning that it was better even that pig. Headhunting and cannibalism, since the missionaries have been at work, is unheard of. The men hew canoes out of large logs, make fishing nets and fishing traps out of cocoanut palms, fish, build bouses land dig when necessary, using long poles, while the women do the bulk of the work such as planting, tending the plants when gnawing, collecting the yam®, kumaras, <and wood, all of which they carry on the top of their heads to food) platforms, which stand! about 10 feet high, where food is stored. The houses aTe_ made of sago palm, the Avails of midrib, and the roof thatched with the leaf. They are built from four to six feet above the ground, and last about 10 to lb years. All the villages,are small, the largest containing no more thau_ 300 people. The village,si are built in a cii’cle, the custom being to bury all their dead in the centre of this. This h'as now been stopped. Another peculiar custom is that it is not the right of the man to propose, this being left to the females "and, as they have the work of preparing the meals when married, so the man Avith the smallest stomach is considered the moist elig- - ilble. Missionaries have no trouble as regards hospitality, for so long as there is food the Islanders entertain, and sometimes as many as 30 guests are present at once. The cocoanut palm is one of the most useful trees on the islands, for the natives get from it material for building, for rope, food, thatch, sails on canoes, clothes and 1 copra. The method of sawing timber is mostly by sarwpit method, very similar to that used by earlier settlers in Taranaki. The sago palm is also used extensively, its leaf being about 15 feet long and having a very hard midrib, Avhalob is anything up to 18 inches in l thickness at the ha.se. The lecturer mentioned that, ini some parts of the Sojomons the rainfall Avas 400 inches a . year, about eight time's that of Taranaki. The missionaries have very strenuous work, despite the fact that they have numbers of native helpers. A large amount of AAx>rk depends on natdvei teacher's, and one of the most important parts of the work is the training of the native teachers, while numbers of teachers from, the, wholly evangelised islands of Samoa and’ Fiji are .secured to help. Mr Avery stated that it cost £lO to keep ,a single native teacher in the field, and £ls to keep a married one, and that the board would like some local persons to contribute this amount <so that - they Avouldi be represented in the field. The Methodist Missionary Society of Noav Zealand is responsible for the financing and staffing of the field, and the hoard had had to refuse seA r eral offers from New Zealand because it was not rich enough financially, so -here was ah opportunity to help the cause of Christ hy contributions.