ABSTRACT
The Gazelle Peninsula, called after the German scientific exploration vessel Gazelle which operated in the area in 1877, occupies the north-east corner of New Britain. The Tolai reside on the northern coastal tip of the peninsula, in an area of about 300 square miles. About 40 per cent of this area was alienated by the German administration to foreign interests prior to the first world war and is under expatriate control. Humidity in the area is high at all seasons: the average relative humidity in Rabaul is 76 per cent. Seasons in New Britain are primarily distinguishable by the changes in the winds and the resultant variations in rainfall. The Tolai are a people of Melanesian stock, who in 1960 numbered about 40,000. They are culturally and linguistically fairly homogeneous, except for minor differences in dialect, and are thus a large group by Melanesian standards. Nevertheless, they had no traditional system of centralised authority.
