Volume 2

The natural history of man : being an account of the manners and customs of the uncivilized races of men / by J.G. Wood.

Date:
1868-1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The natural history of man : being an account of the manners and customs of the uncivilized races of men / by J.G. Wood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    120/880 (page 108)
    palpable. This is the very lax code of morality which prevails among them, a young girl being permitted the utmost freedom until she is married, although afterwards she is a model of constancy. This privilege is exercised at a very early age, and the natural con- sequence is that the due development of the frame is checked. This vicious system is so much a matter of course, that it carries no reproach with it, and the young girls are remarkable for their modest and childlike demeanour. Of course they become aged much earlier than those whose development takes place at a later period of life; but they compen- sate for their deteriorated appear- ance by their peculiar kindliness of demeanour. Unlike the men, the women do not disfigure their faces by the tattoo, which gives to them the stern and fixed expression so characteristic of a New Zealand warrior; and they thus allow the really flexible and intelligent features to have full play. The only portions of the face that are marked with the tattoo are the lips, wliich are rendered blue by the process, as it is considered disgraceful for a woman to have red lips. The tattooing is always performed when the child is allowed to take her place among women ; and, as may be imagined, it gives a livid and altogether im- pleasant appearance to the mouth. The children are very pleasing and interesting little creatures. They are full of intelligence, and unusually free and open in their manner. Unlike the children of most savage nations, they live as much with the men as with the women, and partake even in the councils of their parents, thus having their faculties sharpened at a very early age. The illustration on page 109 gives typical examples of the New Zealander from childhood to age, and the reader will notice the contrast between the soft and rounded outlines of the youth and the harsh, rigid countenances of the old man and his consort. WOMAN AND BOY. In proportion to the dimensions of New Zealand, the population is very small; and, even in the earliest days of our acquaintance with it, the land seems to have been but tlunly inhabited. That such should be the case is very remarkable, as a very thin population is generally found in those countries where, as in Australia, the inhabitants live principally by the chase, and therefore require a very large tract of land to support them. The New Zea- landers, however, do not live by the chase, for the simple reason that there are no animals