Note 7 — Dress and Ornament

Chalmers describes a young woman in the foot hills behind Port Moresby who “had a net over her shoulders and covering her breasts as a token of mourning” (Work and Adventures in New Guinea p. 26). Compare also the Koita custom referred to by Dr. Seligmann (Melanesians of British New Guinea, p. 164) for a widow to wear two netted vests. The same custom is found at Hula.