QUEER PEOPLE I HAVE SEEN.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 August 1926, Page 4

QUEER PEOPLE I HAVE SEEN.

(By Lici;t.-Colonel I*. T. LtherUMi, Author of "Across the 800 lof the , World.’’) Now wonders of the world are continually crowding in upon us, yet spread over the word are races whose customs have not altered much in a thousand years. There are, for instance, the beau hunters of Sumatra, who regard the human skull as tho aristocratic form of wine cup. Jf contemplating marriage you cannot achieve your desire until you have presented your fiancee

with a number of heads, which are afterwards preserved in a casket like the freedom of tho City ol London. Only after a certain number of heads have been plated beneath tho foundations can you take up residence in your new house, and the iinest torm ol internal decoration is not a picture but the skulls of your enemies. In tho Papuan Islands, to the north-east of Australia, where cannibalism is popular. charms of human arm •bones worn round the neck are fashionable. Ciifs before marriage are shut up in a cage made from palm ami coconut leaves. The old women of the tribe do sentry-go over the cage, and the girl is allowed out lor a brief spell once every day, but beyond that quits it duty oil her wedding morn. In the Arctic. Circle water for washing is taboo, and so the Eskimo mother licks her baby clean before consigning it to its cot ol walrus bides and sealskin.

The tests in mediaeval Europe of these desiring knightly honours were supposed to he exhausting, but they pale into insignificance beside the rites of initiation among the North Aiuerie m Indians, who, it is interesting to note." have just sent three of their representatives in fil'd war paint on a mission to the King. Years ago I spoil! some time among tho JJlaekfoob Indians of the Ear AVest, where if aspiring to the rank and dignity of a. warrior, a strenuous ordeal' awaited you. The would-be warrior was fastened to a stake, incisions acre made in the muscles ol the chest, and through them cords of cowhide were passed and secured to the post. The lad could free himself only by letting the throngs burst through the muscles. The hideous struggle might go on for two or three days; some of the more stoical would saw themselves free within twenty-four hours. Throughout the ordeal men and women were continually passing, and the candidate could have a drink if lie wanted it or he released if lie felt unable to go on. But in either case lie was doomed. Feminine dress would he his for the rest of his d ivs, war and manly sports were prohibited, and. worst of all, no woman, however uglv and repulsive, would look at him. Small wonder then, that the Blnckfoot, warrior came out with (lying colours.

But ii is probably in South America that you find most strange customs. Marriage there, especially among the remote, tribes of Brazil and Bolivia, i° n strenuous affair. Custom do m a nds that on the birth of a child the father shall eat on'ly roots and nuts for a you-. His wife must not do any work or cooking—the mother-in-law or grandmother, if thorp is one. does this for them—and tho father must not scratch himself or partake of certain dishes, for fear his child may he unduly fat or lean, blind, deaf or dumb. In. fact, for months lie is menaced with disaster to his heir.

If you aspire to beiiijr a medicine man tlie course extends over nine or ton years. Ton must undergo solitary confinement in the jungle and practically fast for twelve months, you must be able to dance and work yourself into a frenzy and keep it going for whole nights in succession, and you must h;:ivo the capacity of a Falstaff for strong drink and yet maintain a steady eye and straight pace. Ailso, you must he able to swing heavy clubs for hours on end, smoke strong tobacco. and spit upon your patient with force and accuracy from a distance of several yards.

Of all the many tribes with which I have come in contact, the Kalmuks of Central Asia are tho most fascinating. They retain customs and beliefs whose origin may be sought tar back in the mists of antiquity. Their weddings :,i re always on horseback, for the belle Of the encampment has to be caught and gives the lead in a breakneck race to the young men aspiring to her lmml. To ward off undesirable lovers she has a heavy whip, and a welldirected slash across the eyes puts the umvejfome suitor out of action. The Kalmuks drink copiously and often of ‘• kumis'’ —fermented mare’s milk—from leathern bottles, exactly as the Jewish patriarch or their nomadic forbears did centuries befoic them, and it is regarded as the champagne of the wedding feast.