men were formerly nude, and the women wore only a leaf petticoat,
but I gather that they were a decent people; now both sexes are
prudish. A man would never go nude before me. The women would
never voluntarily expose their breasts to white men's gaze; this
applies to quite young girls, less so to old women. Amongst
themselves they are, of course, much less particular, but I
believe they are becoming more so.... Formerly, I imagine, there
was no restraint in speech; now there is a great deal of prudery;
for instance, the men were always much ashamed when I asked for
the name of the sexual parts of a woman." (A.C. Haddon,
"Ethnography of the Western Tribes of Torres Straits," _Journal
of the Anthropological Institute_, 1890, p. 336.) After a
subsequent expedition to the same region, the author reiterates
his observations as to the "ridiculously prudish manner" of the
men, attributable to missionary influence during the past thirty
years, and notes that even the children are affected by it. "At
Mabuiag, some small children were paddling in the water, and a
boy of about ten years of age reprimanded a little girl of five
or six years because she held up her dress too high." (_Reports
of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits_,
vol. v, p. 272.)

"Although the women of New Guinea," Vahness says, "are very
slightly clothed, they are by no means lacking in a
well-developed sense of decorum. If they notice, for instance,
that any one is paying special attention to their nakedness, they
become ashamed and turn round." When a woman had to climb the
fence to enter the wild-pig enclosure, she would never do it in
Vahness's presence. (_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, Verhdlgen.,
1900, Heft 5, p. 415.)