196
Legends from Torres Straits.
millepunctatus. When cut transversely and polished it forms the shell armlets (also called wauri) [the waiwi of the Western tribe], which were so much prized that a fine one was worth a canoe or a wife. The cut-off, polished end of the shell formed the common circular breast ornament, or dibidibi. (2) In diving or swimming for turtle the fisher had a long rope tied to his right arm, so that when he had caught hold of a turtle both might be drawn in together. (3) The narrator said, "I think him (the turtle) lamar" (spirits). (4) In this paragraph I have largely retained the words of my informants. (5) Here we have divining with the loose bones of a dead man, the only instance I heard of. (6) I do not understand the significance of this custom. (7) So far as I could make out, these mythical beings were like an octopus, but without arms. (8) Quite a pathetic touch, and illustrating that black women behave just as white women would under similar circumstances. (9) Another incident of which I could not get a rational explanation. (10) The Erub men were evidently dismissed in a supercilious manner as coco-nut water-bottles usually have two of the "eyes" painted red; and in an island containing innumerable coco-palms these objects can have but the slightest value.
