M27 Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Ireland.
91 The Rev. G. Brown, quoted by the Rev. B. Danks, "Marriage Customs of the New Britain Group," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xviii. (1889) pp. 284 _sq._; _id._, _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), pp. 105-107. Compare _id._, "Notes on the Duke of York Group, New Britain, and New Ireland," _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, xlvii. (1877) pp. 142 _sq._; A. Hahl, "Das mittlere Neumecklenburg," _Globus_, xci. (1907) p. 313. Wilfred Powell's description of the New Ireland custom is similar (_Wanderings in a Wild Country_, London, 1883, p. 249). According to him, the girls wear wreaths of scented herbs round the waist and neck; an old woman or a little child occupies the lower floor of the cage; and the confinement lasts only a month. Probably the long period mentioned by Dr. Brown is that prescribed for chiefs' daughters. Poor people could not afford to keep their children so long idle. This distinction is sometimes expressly stated. See above, p. 30. Among the Goajiras of Colombia rich people keep their daughters shut up in separate huts at puberty for periods varying from one to four years, but poor people cannot afford to do so for more than a fortnight or a month. See F. A. Simons, "An Exploration of the Goajira Peninsula," _Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society_, N.S., vii. (1885) p. 791. In Fiji, brides who were being tattooed were kept from the sun (Thomas Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_, Second Edition, London, 1860, i. 170). This was perhaps a modification of the Melanesian custom of secluding girls at puberty. The reason mentioned by Mr. Williams, "to improve her complexion," can hardly have been the original one.
92 Rev. R. H. Rickard, quoted by Dr. George Brown, _Melanesians and Polynesians_, pp. 107 _sq._ His observations were made in 1892.
93 R. Parkinson, _Dreissig Jahre in der Südsee_ (Stuttgart, 1907), p. 272. The natives told Mr. Parkinson that the confinement of the girls lasts from twelve to twenty months. The length of it may have been reduced since Dr. George Brown described the custom in 1876.
M28 Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Guinea, Borneo, Ceram, and Yap.