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Amulets of Primitive Peoples and Modern Times: Australia

The natives of southwestern Australia regard shining stones with so much veneration that only sorcerers or priests are believed to be worthy to handle them, and so great is the faith in the innate power of such objects that any ordinary native does not dare to touch them and cannot even be bribed so to do. For the preservation of the virtue of these stones it is considered essential that no woman shall be permitted to touch them, or even to look upon them. A particular form of talisman is made by winding lengths of opossum yarn about a fragment of quartz, of carnelian, of chalcedony, or some other attractive stone, and thus forming a round ball about the size of a crochet-ball; these are worn suspended from the girdle. Talismans of this type are very highly prized for their supposed power to cure diseases, and in case of illness a tribe which is not provided with one will borrow it from a more fortunate tribe. White quartz is used by the natives in New South Wales, Australia, for the manufacture of a charm to cast a spell over an enemy. This charm is called muli, and consists of a fragment of white quartz to which a piece of opossum-fur has been gummed; it must then be smeared with the fat of a dead body and placed in a slow-burning fire. It is confidently believed that the person over whom the spell is cast wastes slowly away and dies. Jade carvings of an exceedingly peculiar type are the hei-tikis (neck-ornaments) greatly prized among the Maoris of New Zealand. The grotesque representation of the human form here realized by the native carvers, the association of these objects, treasured up as heirlooms, with the personality of some renowned ancestor, the story that the special portraiture to be made was sometimes communicated in a dream or vision, all this induces the belief that in former times, though perhaps not at the present time, the Maoris looked upon their hei-tikis as amulets, or possibly even as fetiches. The Dowager Queen Alexandra is said to greatly value as a talisman a pendant consisting of a nugget of massive gold surmounted by a figure of a hunchback, executed in green enamel. The nugget is hollowed out and opens when a secret spring is touched; within appears a heart-shaped ornament made of New Zealand jade. The story runs that this jewel was given to his mother by the late Duke of Clarence, the elder brother of the present King George V. The popularity in England of these queer hei-tiki amulets, made from the punamu or "green-stone" (nephrite) of New Zealand, has been ascribed by many to the wearing by Queen Alexandra of ornaments made of New Zealand jade, and to the report that every member of the "All Blacks," an almost invincible English foot-ball team, carried some little trinket made from this material while he was engaged in play. The popular faith in "lucky jade" was further corroborated by the story that Lord Rosebery had on his person a jade amulet when his horse Cicero won the Derby and that Lord Rothschild was wearing such an amulet as his horse St. Amand carried his colors to victory. When we consider to how great an extent popular enthusiasm is excited in England by her great and classic horse-races, we need not hesitate to believe that these reports did much to render jade amulets generally fashionable. An old Polynesian legend recounts that jade was brought to New Zealand from a distant land by a certain Ngahue, who sought by this means to save the precious material from an enemy who coveted it. He settled at Arahua, on the west coast of the middle island, and in this region he found an eternal and safe resting place for his jade, which he valued above all things. This legend has often been adduced as a proof that the New Zealand jade was brought from other countries, but as it proceeds to state that Ngahue made neck and ear ornaments of this material, there is at least as great probability that we have here the supposed origin of the hei-tiki ornaments, and that the legend testifies to the popular belief that the art of making these objects came to New Zealand from without.

The quasi-magic character of New Zealand jade (nephrite) in the eyes of Maoris of the olden time is proved by the fact that certain superstitious restrictions were established in regard to the cutting of nephrite, one of these being that no woman should be allowed to approach the jade-cutters while they were engaged in their task. For the drilling of holes in jade implements or amulets the cord-drill was employed, and the surface of the object received its polish by rubbing it with a piece of sandstone, after it had been roughly fashioned, by chipping, to the desired form. The toughness of jade is such that infinite patience and long-continued effort must have been necessary to complete any ornament or implement under these primitive conditions. A curious and characteristic jade artefact, known as nbouet or koindien, is found among the natives of New Caledonia. This is a more or less circular disk of jade, with a cutting edge. In most cases this disk is attached through two perforations to a straight cylindrical handle, having a slit at the upper extremity into which the jade disk is introduced. The lower extremity has an ovoid termination, or else it is set in a cocoanut shell, usually covered with the integument of a pteropod. Attached are pendants of beautiful marine shells, and sometimes the cocoanut shell is filled with small pebbles so that it can be used as a rattle. These nbouet were originally used as cleavers to cut up the dead bodies for the cannibalistic orgies, and this use seems to have been thought to impart a kind of talismanic virtue to the objects, for they eventually became insignia of the chiefs of the native tribes. The ornament most highly prized by the natives of New Caledonia is a necklace of perforated jade beads. One of these necklaces, in the rich collection of Signor Giglioli, contains 122 jade beads, somewhat larger than peas; another necklace comprises eight beads alternating with small shells of the oliva, a species of mussel. As a pendant hangs an oudip, or slung-shot, of steatite. Necklaces of this kind are called peigha by the natives, and the high esteem in which they are held probably arises from their supposed talismanic powers. The jade ornaments or artefacts found in the neighboring Loyalty Islands have all been brought from New Caledonia, and we are told that so great was the value placed upon them that the natives of the Loyalty Islands often traded their young girls in exchange for objects made from the greatly coveted jade. From a Fijian mission teacher at Goodenough Island comes a tale of a magic crystal. Many years ago some Europeans embarked in a boat manned by two Fijians to visit one of the smaller islands of the group. After they had landed and gone off to explore the island, one of the Fijians said to the other: "You look after the boat while I take a look around." He had not gone far when he saw two strange men, one of whom fled at his approach; the other he seized, holding on to him fast, although dragged along for a considerable distance until after scrambling up a hill the strange man finally loosed himself and disappeared in the hollow of a tree-trunk. For some time the Fijian lay in a trance, but awakening from this he found his way back to the boat. In the course of the afternoon the strange being appeared to him suddenly and told him "to go back to the tree, where he would find a small stone wrapped up in a piece of calico." This he duly sought and found; it proved to be a crystal, like glass. In the night time the man or spirit again appeared and strictly enjoined the Fijian not to let anyone see his crystal but told him that if he wished for anything he only had to look into the stone. The possession of this treasure earned a wonderful repute for the Fijian as a medicine-man, as when any sick person sought for help one look into the stone revealed the proper remedy for the disease. All this time, however, no one had been allowed to see his crystal, or to suspect the source of his wisdom. At last his fame reached the ears of some European doctors, who called him in to help them in their hospital work, and while he was at the hospital two young men came in and asked him to prescribe for a sick friend. The Fijian consented, but, unluckily for him, the men saw him take out his crystal and look into it before prescribing the treatment. They told this to the doctors and the man was locked up for two years, his crystal being taken away from him. The mission teacher who related the story believed that Sir J. Thurston, at this time governor of the islands, had secured possession of the confiscated crystal. It is rather difficult to determine in what proportions truth and fiction are represented in this tale.

The doctrine of sympathy finds an echo among the natives of Melanesia. In the Banks Islands, for instance, if a native comes across a piece of coral to which the action of the waves has imparted the form of a loaf of bread, this will be taken to signify that such a coral has an affinity with the bread-fruit tree, and the native will bury it under such a tree in the confident expectation that its fruit-bearing quality will be enhanced thereby. Chance may perhaps seem to prove the truth of his belief, and in this case he will permit his neighbors to bury stones near his own, so that somewhat of its virtue may pass into them.