[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

96 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

strument for propagating the species, and nobody
takes care of them; so they} run wild, and have to
look out for themselves. They are much happier
than the males, which are tied all their lives to a
pole under a little roof; they are carefully fed, but
this, their only pleasure, is spoilt by constant and
terrific toothache, caused by cruel man, who has a
horrible custom of knocking out the upper eye-teeth
of the male pig. The lower eye-teeth, finding nothing
to rub against, grow to a surprising size, first upward,
then down, until they again reach the jaw, grow on
and on, through the cheek, through the jaw-bone,
pushing out a few other teeth en peasant, then
they come out of the jaw again, and curve a second,
sometimes a third time, if the poor beast lives long
enough. These pigs with curved tusks are the pride
and wealth of every native; they are the highest
coin, and power and influence depend on the number
of such pigs a man owns, as well as on the size of
their tusks, and this is the reason why they are
so carefully watched, so that no harm may come to
them or their teeth. Very rich people may have
quite a number of “tuskers,” people of average
means own one or two, and paupers none at all,
but they may have the satisfaction of looking at those
of the others and feeding them if they like.

It will be necessary to say a few words here
about the pig-cult and the social organization of the
natives, as they are closely connected and form a key
to an understanding of the natives’ way of living and
thinking. I wish to state at once, however, that the