I „';B£iACk,ntßßjiASQHs!;i^l I

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 266, 13 October 1883, Page 2

I „';B£iACk,ntßßjiASQHs!;i^l I

Two years . ; ago i w^g- on the f :norjth4 east coast of Gau .or Ysabel Islaudj' writeß,a correspondent of thd Age. We .were anchored here a few days/but'the iiatiyes were y^ild [and 1 shyj add we ' jiaii, ; at fics^ sonae V difficulty \A communieating'j but 1 aifter a day they oil tJoanJ,^ bat reused 'i^ 'recruiti . I w;ftß. ( preßsecl . to ; land, :%iit declined.' ' 1 naj) not been offered betal nut, and. as ait rile 1 don't go] aslior^ m tne Solomons "unless i hate eaten iti l,uoticed that many or the prihci^ai'inen' oa board wore wigs^, { and/;. some were young fellowa. Ibis pnizled me. We • ;iU : ' : ' L .= ( - i

I^Bno* interpreter ac first ; none cf as understood the local di»b<jt. At list wd got a lad who spoke pigeon English. I asked him about the wig o«en. He 8^ d | weaf ID B tQ e wig was a badge ot « secret society. They ruled the roost m tij&j neighborhood— big-wigs m more than one, m fact. He was not *one himself; wished he was. It cost a lot of money and pigs t> be admitted. If any outsider interfered or attacked one of the wig-men, all the rest rallied to his aosisttnoe, and the cbief himself was afraid of them. In the evening I saw eight'or ten of these wig fellows^ ekljfng betel nnta m a circle on the deck. I eat down next an old fellow, and j,owed < the:par,ty,,/I am a memb r of a\^i^ r^S .b^ lJMßnameleßP, and proceeded r -qafe^ly^ mike the usual signß ( andfs^mwls^ J eVery eye m the circle was-fixed on me as I : did so, < every jaw stopped wagging butqio result imaiediately followed, and I feltconsiderably disappointed.j bat after a bit, bow« ever, an ' old fello wJ ahandedinieTlin a friendly way, 1 his bete]-n'ut.and lime box, the sign of friendship, and my jaw wagged along withcthem ; another suddenly pulled off his big! wigi and! crowned me with it, and all the cireleiflpatied and grinned at me.- Presents of tobac co jfolldweai.anda-tnp^s&ljrSfiiai^opoaed. I agreed, i s^bto;-f entefedttlie town called^ iby'tlieiway^Sana^gfeaff/was the ..etoitemenf,- andiyellingmnd ment on seeing iinefßeiirigged. I was areceiFod wUfr/itie^reatesfe^HlSnegg i a every koukeX dntereavi.^nTs exceptional deference ->I owed Utov.ihy-.fiegi-dreßS. Af wr^this. ithe ; » vilhgersi-B&ame Terr friendly, iandj nexfindayvmy^riends the ibigwijrsgavrejup aix, oiss^afiboys, and appearea>eally sptr j fffrerilwe"<l T eft three or four days after.- I always, while there. ■ went* inr,4nylw!g,^hich t qs^a'oßt mi jgeniousljTplattedtogetlfe'tbf&^humaa boys>rfrom thatfttftfi on *oard > were alvykys'.] quiremjfnifcdly, igenerally looking -tb'orie'^ ali^ittle i thing they wantedfpbut^l ciufa^lean nothing, about .th«cfigwtgfJfrbfip4lem. On sewng a localwhite trader afterwards, . belaid/on bein£ apokelji fcbi"on the subject, liuhadxntpi^bleft otfaadabb of I black masons.' I-h»ve*nyiri£je^and intend keeping. i^attd^laughWl^hink of myiwild black \fri«nds^vbn^a v^eroe c»nmbal islandsin''thi»j Solbmorift"-R