NEW HEBRIDES

Southland Times, Issue 20495, 25 May 1928, Page 9

NEW HEBRIDES

THE MISSION WORK. REV. W. B. MILNE AT BLUFF. LIFE AND CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. (From Our Correspondent.) The life and customs of the natives of the N»w Hebrides Islands and the work of the Presbyterian mission there’formed ’he subject of an inter\iew by a reporter with the Rev. W. B. Milne, at Bluff, yesterdaj. The Rev. Milne is now on furlough and is spending his time interesting the people of New Zealand in the work which is being carried on. He was born on the islands where his father was the first missionary from the Southern Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. At the time when the mission was founded the church was divided into two parts—the northern and southern —but these have, of course, amalgamated since then. The Rev. Milne was educated in the Dominion and joining the same mission as his father was sent as assistant to him, and took over his work on his death. There are eleven Presbyterian missionaries workmg in the group in addition to others from the Church of Christ, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Melanesian mission and French Roman Catholic priests. The population of the islands is estimated at 40,000. Two hospitals have been established by the missions, but at f he present time both are without doctors, who have been forced to resign on account of illhealth. On the southern islands, where the Rev. Milne is stationed, the natives are more or less evangelized, and are nominally Christians, but those in the north portion of the group are still untouched by civilization, and live after the fashion of their forefathers. When the Rev. Milne left to come to New Zealand a vendetta was going on on the island of Santo, and at one stage three bushmen were killed. As an example of the barbarous practices of the natives, the pastor stated that the widows of the dead men had been strangled in accordance with the custom so that their spirits might accompany those of their late husbands’ and work for them in the next world as they had done for them in this. On some islands the caste system is in vogue. The men rise in caste according to the number of pigs they sacrifice to their heathen gods. To reach the highest caste a man must sacrifice 1000 pigs, and this takes a lifetime to accomplish. The pigs have to be boars with tusks, and no others will do. The tusks and jaws are always preserved after the ritual that is gone through on the dancing ground. One rule under the caste system is that those of one caste must not eat any food that has been cooked by one of another caste. As the women have no caste whatever this means that practically every man has to cook his own food despite the fact that he might be the possessor of two or three

wives. It is interesting also to note that wives are bought by bartering pigs to the father. Distance has something to do with the price. For instance, if a man desired to take a woman of his own village for his wife she would cost him about five pigs, but on the other hand if she came from another village on the same island she would be counted worth ten pigs. If she were taken from one of the other islands the price would be about 20 pigs, and so it goes on. Then again, on some of the islands the totem system is followed. There are such totems, or clans in reality, as the coconut totem, the yam totem and the octopus totem, and the established rule is that the men and women must marry persons in a different totem. A coconut may not marry a coconut, but a yam may marry a coconut, and so on. This means that there is practically no inter-marriage and morality from this particular standpoint is high. If, say, one of the coconut totem visited another island he would be taken care of, housed and fed, by those of his own ilk on that island. This refers of course to islands where the same language is spoken as it should previously have been explained that there are many dialects spoken widely different. Insect pests with the exception of fleas are rarely troublesome. There are a fewsnakes mostly of a harmless species. Centipedes and lizards abound in all parts, and moths and butterflies in the most brilliant colours are to be seen everywhere in the evenings. Cockroaches, which have been introduced on the islands, are the worst pest. It is almost impossible to keep books there as the bookworms and cockroaches make short work of the binding and even the leaves. Fleas are very bad in the cooler weather, especially in the native houses, the flooring of which consists of gravel covered over with layer upon layer of leaves and mats. The Rev. Milne said he had frequently gone into the houses and had always to change his clothing afterwards. It was not that the natives were dirty, but because so much covering was provided for the pests, and they seemed to thrive verywell in a warm climate. The climate itself is tropical, and an oppressive, muggy heat is experienced continuallv. Several changes of clothing are necessary every Yams form the staple diet of the people, and could be described as being what rhe potato is to the Irishman. The plant is creeper and the fruit is underground. With cultivation they grow to an enormous tn*; Mr Mllne bas S€en tbem 80 b’g that they required two men to lift them bweet potatoes and manioc, from which tapioca is manufactured, are also cultivated Arrowroot is manufactured by the people at the mission station from the plant of that name which in its natural state is The root of the plant is ground up and the juice strained out into tubs containing water. After it has settled the water is run off and the sediment or precipitation is m the familiar form of arrowroot. This last operation is repeated several times to thoroughly cleanse it The arrowroot is sold by the mission and the proceeds go to the printing of the Bible in the Nguna language, a translation having taher” M e r W B Ml"’ Milne ’ * in revisit the work ' * h ‘ mSe,f eDgaged