THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
THE L1BKAK*
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
ins ANGELES
ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO
ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO
TYPICAL ISLANDERS.
SOUTHERN MELANESIA.
NORTHERN MELANESIA.
Frontispiece.
ISLANDS
OF ENCHANTMENT
MANY-SIDED MELANESIA
ILLUSTRATED WITH 100 PHOTOGRAPHS
BY J. W. BE ATT IE
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON
1911
DU
49 O
PREFATORY NOTE
IF a book of this kind had any claim to invention
it would be valueless. No apology, therefore, is
offered for the debt which it owes to the information
of others. Indeed, the material derived from the
writer's personal observation and experience will
perhaps be of the smallest interest to the reader.
The writer only asks that errors and defects be
accredited to her, and all illuminative facts to those
who have communicated them.
Especial gratitude must be expressed to the
following members of the Melanesian Mission, past
or present, whose experiences have been freely drawn
upon : The Right Rev. Cecil Wilson, D.D., late
Bishop of Melanesia ; the Rev. C. H. Brooke ; the
Rev. Preb. Codrington, D.D. ; the Ven. R. B.
Comins, D.D. ; the Rev. W. J. Durrad, B.A. ; the
Rev. C. E. Fox, B.A. ; the Rev. W. C. O'Ferrall ;
the Rev. L. P. Robin. To the last-named additional
thanks are due for kind assistance in reading the
proofs.
Passages of interest have also been culled from
the contributions to the monthly organ of the
Melanesian Mission, The Southern Cross Log, by
the late Rev. F. Bollen ; the late Rev. C. C.
1178233
vi ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
Godden ; the late Ven. Archdeacon Palmer ; the
late Rev. H. Welchman, M.R.C.S., as well as from
some anonymous articles.
Two books of reference have been consulted, viz.
The Solomon Islands and their Natives, by H. B.
Guppy, M.B., F.R.G.S., where an excellent transla-
tion in full may be found of Gallego's Journal, and
The Melanesians : their Anthropology and Folklore, by
the Rev. Preb. Codrington, D.D., a veritable mine
of treasure for all who are interested in the subject-
matter of this book.
The illustrations are from photographs by Mr. J.
W. Beattie, of Hobart, Tasmania, with two exceptions,
viz. that of the Santa Cruz sailing canoe, contributed
by the Rev. W. C. O'Ferrall, and the two groups
of Tikopians, contributed by Mrs. Cecil Wilson.
F. C.
NORFOLK ISLAND,
\^th July 1911.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION xxi
PART I
IN SOUTHERN MELANESIA
CHAPTER I
RAGA (PENTECOST), NEW HEBRIDES
Natural features Status of the pig Native house The gamal The
secret society Dances Cannibalism Story of chief "Is it
peace ? " Feasts The maternal uncle A wedding Snakes The
mae Charms Recipe for rain Burial custom ... 3
CHAPTER II
OMBA (LEPERS' ISLAND), NEW HEBRIDES
Name Natural features Connection with Raga Decline of population
Character of people Attack on Bishop Patteson, 1864 Murder
of Rev. C. C. Godden, 1906 Murders by suggestion The first
field-glasses Cannibalism Story of Charles Tariqatu The Suqe
Kava-drinking Social laws Chiefs Folk -tale : "How Tagaro
the Little found Fish " . . . . . .18
CHAPTER III
MAEWO (AURORA), NEW HEBRIDES
The waterfall Price of wives Population Pigs Sacred stones, plants,
and animals Society of the Qat Initiation rites Burying alive
Native beliefs A mysterious light Spectacles Smoked mats
Poisoned arrows Betrothal rite Folk-tale: "The Child who
issued from a Rock " . . . . . .30
vii
viii ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
CHAPTER IV
MERALAVA (STAR PEAK), BANKS ISLANDS
PAGE
Natural features Discovery Interior Augury Suqe Native idea of
justice The bird of evil Contrast : 1874 an d present day Extract
from native's letter Everyday life The priest in various capacities
The mago dance " The Fools" Canoes Products of the island
Folk-tale: "The People from Above" An Ocean language
Merig . . . . . . . .41
CHAPTER V
GAUA (SANTA MARIA), BANKS ISLANDS
Lakona and Gaua Discovery Lake Character of people Battle and
murder Story of quarrel Surrender of arms A Lakona revenge
Debts Distribution of property Death-feasts and kindred customs
Mana superstitions Recipe for sunshine Kingfishers The
casuarina-tree Death-stones Qat the sprite Story of flood, etc.
Traces of former population Song from Lakona . . .56
CHAPTER VI
MOTA (SUGAR-LOAF ISLAND), BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features Description of people Account of 1857 Natives'
impression of white men Lack of water Fishing The un Social
laws Weather charm Children's games Social custom Qat
superstitions Folk-lore . . . . ' . .70
CHAPTER VII
MOTALAVA (SADDLE ISLAND), BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features Origin of earthquakes Ra Lagoon-fishing Suqe
Superstitions Ghost-shooters Story from Ra Native beliefs
Funeral custom Shell-money Money-spinners Social customs
Folk-lore : " Qat and the Nutmeg Tree " . . . .86
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER VIII
VANUA LAVA (GREAT BANKS ISLAND), BANKS ISLANDS
PAGE
Natural features Native life The Great Ghost Society The cry of the
Ghosts St. Patrick's School Mosquitoes A shark story Qat
superstitions Recent encounter with a sprite Folk-tale : " Qat's
First Meeting with Marawa " ..... 101
CHAPTER IX
ROWA, BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features The people " William " anecdotes Arts and crafts
The ways of turtles The ways of sharks Rowa's pride and joy
Native discipline . . . . . . .112
CHAPTER X
UREPARAPARA (BLIGH ISLAND), BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features Life within a crater Suqe Concerning the women
Funeral customs Expulsion of ghost Chiefs A narrow escape
Folk-tale: " Qat and the Ogre " . . . . .120
PART II
IN CENTRAL MELANESIA
CHAPTER I
TOGA, TORRES ISLANDS
Natural features of group A warm climb Visit to village Crabs and
souls Funeral customs Death-feasts Sores Musical instruments
Charm to create disease Death charm . . . 133
CHAPTER II
LOH, TORRES ISLANDS
A coral strand Visit to village "Thief-ships" A wonderful cure
The Crab Dance A Suqe incident Land purchase : a misunder-
standing Folk-tale: " How Qat brought about Night " . . 140
x ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
CHAPTER III
TfiGUA, TORRES ISLANDS
PAGE
A school inspection Melanesian arithmetic A native house House-
warming A lost art ' ' The moon is dead ! " Custom of Uloulo . 1 48
CHAPTER IV
Hiu, TORRES ISLANDS
New ground Suqe laws and customs Weapons A fight that did not
come off . . . . . . . .152
CHAPTER V
TlKOPIA
Natural features The people: appearance and ornaments "Trade"
Concerning the women Token of grief Betrothal by a nut Mark
of friendship "What is your name?" Song and dance Wailing
for the dead The great lake Visit to the chief A returned
wanderer Native house A forced gift A born histrion
"Good-bye!" ....... 157
CHAPTER VI
SANTA CRUZ
Utupua Vanikolo Discovery of Santa Cruz Natural features The
people Canoes Kite-fishing Sharking Tinakula Graciosa Bay
Cruzians on board Their wares The loom Cruzian character-
istics Ornaments Nose-boring feasts, etc. Adventures in the
island Arrows After a fight Story of a chief Concerning the
women A successful pursuit The little-known interior The gamal
Round houses Death customs Feather - money Betrothal
customs Ghost-houses Beliefs and superstitions The ghost of the
crops Folk -tales: "Concerning the Sun and Moon" "How
Santa Cruz was made " . . . . . .169
CHAPTER VII
MATEMA, REEF ISLANDS
Natural features of group Melanesians and Polynesians A hearty
welcome Products of island Canoes Fishing Temper Walled
villages Tribal defence The ghost-house Native beliefs "What
happens after death " . . . . . 195
CONTENTS xi
CHAPTER VIII
PILENI, REEF ISLANDS
PAGE
Characteristics Dancing-grounds Ghost-house Love of fun Native
silo Offering of first-fruits ..... 202
CHAPTER IX
NUKAPU, REEF ISLANDS
Characteristics of island and people How to get rid of a nuisance An
old story retold Folk-tale : "About an Ogre and a very Big Pig" 207
PART III
IN NORTHERN MELANESIA
CHAPTER I
SAN CRISTOVAL, SOLOMON ISLANDS
History Natural features Head-hunting Story of same Cannibals
classified When heads are wanted War summons Sacrifices to
ghosts Peace-making Chiefs Taki, chief A cannibal missionary?
David Bo, chief Infanticide Children Tattooing Dogs
Trials by ordeal Snake-worship Santa Anna Wizardry Sea-
ghosts How men become ghosts Beliefs and fables Ugi The
coco-nut crab Folk-tale : " The Snake who turned into a Man " . 217
CHAPTER II
ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS
History Natural features The people A bathing adventure Shark-
worship Shark stories Degradation of women Banana super-
stitions Story of Wes Two murderers Traces of totemism
Spirits and sacrifices The white man's Akalo Martin A very
new religion Bonito-catching Fish - hooks A wedding The
Three Sisters A pebble for a soul Legend of Rapuanate The
call of the dead A man-eating ghost Story of a tank . . 245
xii ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
CHAPTER III
MALA (MALAITA), SOLOMON ISLANDS
PAGE
A needless scare Natural features Character of people Ornaments
Bush v. Shore Armed sentries A distressful country " A head ! "
An interminable blood-feud Islets of refuge Sacred draw-net
Poor women ! A judicious truce Food customs " Bishooka ! "
Porpoise-hunting Shark story Crocodile-worship Trial by ordeal
Ghost sacrifices In a cannibal village An escape from cannibals
Chiefs Dorawewe Hanetarana Oikata Death customs Canoes
South Mala : a contrast The first soap The first umbrella
Folk-tale: "Vulanangela and the Sun" Ogres "The little
people " Bewitched by a Dodore Mala fairies . . . 264
CHAPTER IV
GELA (FLORIDA), SOLOMON ISLANDS
History Natural features Civilization Coco-nuts Honggo to-day
Honggo in 1873 The two Pengoni A war dance A dance of
death An ugly record Kalekona, chief Tindalo worship The
six Kema "Abominations" Killing ghosts Tindalo rites
Sacrifice of first-fruits A secret society The tyranny of vengeance
Break-up of the tindalo worship David Tabukoru, chief " Taboo
with 100 porpoise teeth" Sermonizing "The wild man-eating
pigs" Bound by vows A foundation-stone laying A native
parliament A female creator Burial customs Crocodile-catching
Out of the monster's jaws Folk-tale : " The Heron and the
Turtle" ........ 295
CHAPTER V
GUADALCANAR, SOLOMON ISLANDS
Natural features " The wild Mumoulu " Story of the past Sulukavo,
chief The difficulties of a rain-maker A strange reward for courage
A chiefs feast A feminine vanity Shark worship Funeral
custom The Vele magic Populous with ghosts Legends of the
spirits ........ 322
CONTENTS xiii
CHAPTER VI
SAVO, SOLOMON ISLANDS
'PAGE
History and characteristics " Hottest and sharkiest " The true Savoans
Peculiarity of language Mesmerism Poisoned weapons Story
of a revenge Tree-houses Death customs Brush-turkeys The
only woman . . . . . . . 334
CHAPTER VII
BUGOTU (YSABEL), SOLOMON ISLANDS
History Natural features Scourged by head-hunters Visit to a village
Story of a raid Tappa-cloth A rescued " head " Cannibalism
Chiefs Wizardry Story of Bera, chief Soga, chief Marsden
Manekalea Figirima, chief Charms and counter-charms Bonito-
catching Children's games A pygmy race Fireflies The frigate-
bird Gardens of the Ghosts Story of Kia . . . 342
INDEX ........ 373
ILLUSTRATIONS
TYPICAL ISLANDERS
(a) Southern Melanesia . . . '\ F /' A'
(b) Northern Melanesia . . . ./ U ^ U
RAGA
FACE PAGE
Steep Cliff Bay Landing-place
A Raga House ......
Old Raga . . ...
Young Raga ......
OMBA
" Ever a fighter " Man of Omba . . . .19
"Their home shone out white among the trees" Lolowai Bay .)
The Home of Tagaro the Little Lolowai Bay . . ./ 2O
MAEWO
A Maewo Gamal . . . . . .}
In the Distance, from the South . . . /
After Coco-nuts . . . . . -37
MERALAVA
" The character of the interior " . . . .42
" Its own native priest " William Vaget . . . ^
A Snapshot on the Landing-rock . . . . /
" Every small boy has his own welewele " . . .49
MERIG
" The Little Child " . . . . - 49
GAUA AND LAKONA
A View on the Coast, Lee Side . . . . ) ,
A Village in Lakona . . . . . . /
" Let the Koro man choose ! " Man of Lakona with Tomahawk")
A Lakona House . . . . . . J
xv
xvi ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
MOT A
FACE PAGE
" When we neared it " . . . . . .~|
" The usual crowd on the landing-rock " . . ./
In the Village . . . . . . .82
MOTALAVA
Kaspar, a Motalava Boy . . . . ."1
Ra and the Lagoon . . . . . . I 87
Tinesara at Ra "The longest gamal I saw" . . J
VANUA LAVA
Vureas Bay . . . . . . .~\
Landing-place, Vanua Lava . . . . ./
A Vanua Lava House . . . . . \ A
St. Patrick's School-house . . . . . / ]
ROWA
"William" ...... A
" The whole population was assembled " Vanua Lava in distance / ^
" What Rowa is most famed for " the Church . . . "I
" Just big enough for its purpose " the School-house . . J r * '
UREPARAPARA
" The Ogre " Ureparapara from the North-west . . ~|
"The walls of scoria and lava are beneficently hidden " . ./
Houses at Leha, Ureparapara . . . . . "I
Leha " Right in the heart of the crater " . . ./ I22
TOGA
A Peep during the Climb Loh and Tegua in the distance . 1
The Village on the Hill-top . . . . ./ I34
LOH
The Coral Strand . . . . . .140
A Happy Little Family . . . . .*\
Boys of Loh . . ./ ]
TEGUA
"The house is worth more than a passing glance" . .149
Church Parade . . . . . .151
TlKOPIA
"Whatever is the white man doing?" . . . .\ ,
Some of the Inhabitants . . , , ./
ILLUSTRATIONS xvii
VANIKOLO
FACE PAGE
" The people have a sinister reputation " . . .170
SANTA CRUZ
" The natives came paddling out to us " . . . \
" The canoes swarm around the ship " . . . /
A Sailing Canoe . . . . . .172
A Weaver at his Loom . . . . . .}
183
The Chiefs of Graciosa Bay ... ./
Graciosa Bay . . . . . . '\ 188
Dancing-ground and Round Houses, Te Motu . . . /
MATEMA
" Their wonderful canoes " . . . . . \
The Stocks in the Ghost-house . . . . ./
Village with Walled Enclosures . . . . . \
A Ghost-house . . /
PlLENI
Approaching Pileni Nifiloli and Fenualoa in distance . .1
A Man of Pileni . . . . . . /
Gamal and Dancing-grounds ..... 205
NUKAPU
" This small emerald isle " . . . . .\
The Men-folk . . . . . . . / 2 7
The Women-fi
The Children
The Women-folk . . . . .}
> 211
SAN CRISTOVAL
"A crocodilean world" River in San Cristoval . .218
" Attractive little people " Boys of San Cristoval . . "I
John Still Taki, Chief . . . . . .)''
David Bo, Chief, and his Canoe . . . .230
ULAWA
Shall it be " Smith's Island" ? Landing-place. . .\ ,
" Wonderfully clean " . . . . . . / '
The Possibilities of Ear-lobes an Ulawa Dandy . .\ ~
A Fighting Man . . . . . ./
" We think we're handsome !" . . . . .258
MALA
" Bravest and strongest in the Solomons" Man of Mala .\ ,
On Sentry Duty . . . . . )
b
xviii ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
FACE PAGE
Interested Spectators . . _ . . . . ^
" Nearly every village is fortified " . . . .]
An Artificial Islet of Refuge . . . . . ^
Where the Alligator is worshipped . . . /
Fishing-fences and Perches . . . . . )
" The women are expert traders " . . . ]
The Cannibal Village of Foate . . . . .281
GELA
" This was Honggo " . . . . . ] ,
" Second to none in natural beauty " . . /
Pere et Fils the Rev. John Pengoni and his Father . . \
Going to Confirmation . . . . . j
Alfred Lombu, Native Priest . . . . .\
Listeners at the Vaukolu . . . . /
GUADALCANAR
" This beautiful, mysterious land " . . . .)
" The first Christian village " . . . . ./ 323
Boys with Bows and Arrows Southern Cross in background . )
Women returning from Work in their Gardens . . .}
SAVO
Four Savoans ....... 336
A Portion of the Beach Guadalcanar in the distance . . )
A Typical House . . . . . ./ 34
BUGOTU
All among the Mangroves ..... 343
The Village in Pirihandi Bay " As pretty a spot as could well
be found " . . . . . . . 344
Cockatoo Island . . . . . . ) ,
" By no means a mere figure-head " a Bugotu Chief . J
The Gardens of the Ghosts . . . . \ sfiR
A Bugotu Boy . . . . . . . J
Map of Melanesia .... End of Volume
NOTE ON NATIVE WORDS
The spelling is phonetic. In the Oceanic words and
names introduced in this book the vowels may be pronounced
as follows :
a as " a " in " pass."
e as " e " in " fete."
i as " i " in " sardine."
o as " o " in " tone."
u as " oo " in " fool."
fi is pronounced " ng " as in " sing."
g is pronounced " ng " as in " finger."
e is pronounced somewhat like the German " 6."
xix
INTRODUCTION
SCATTERED over the bosom of the South- West Pacific
they lie, the Islands of Enchantment, far away
from the haunts of civilization, and well out of the
route (save in one or two cases) of steam-boat traffic.
This is why they are so full of fascination ; the brown
peoples who inhabit them are yet in their unspoiled
primitiveness.
One feels it is a bold adventure this, to open the
door a little way, and show to whomso turns the
pages a glimpse of these world-children in their island
homes. It is a wonder-region, a region of mystery
and magic, in which the unseen has a greater influence
upon men's actions than the seen. With a hand, as
it were, upon the portal, the writer hesitates. By
what right shall one act as guide who has but of
recent years entered upon the enchanted ground ?
By one right only, the compelling right of love love
of these people, their folk-lore, their life-stories.
Men call the region Melanesia, over part of which
we are to travel. The name is a misnomer, for the
inhabitants, though brown of every shade, are never
really black. The only approach to a black skin seen
by the writer was that of the people of Vella Lavella,
in the far Western Solomons, whither we shall not
reach in this book. Our journeyings will take us
xxi
xxii ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
far enough, for they will touch the Northern New
Hebrides, the Banks Islands and the Torres Islands,
Santa Cruz and the Reef Islands, and the Eastern
Solomons.
It was the writer's privilege to visit these groups
on board the Southern Cross, the steam-yacht which
does the business of the Melanesian Mission in great
waters. And it is not as tourists and strangers that
her passengers go to and fro among the groups, but
rather as " friends of the family," knowing somewhat
of each island's story, and having familiar acquaint-
ances among the brown folk everywhere, so that
one is received and made welcome in the homes of
the people.
The language difficulty presented by Melanesia
is notorious. Every island, however small, in every
group, has developed its separate speech, too distinct
from all others to be lightly set down as a different
dialect. And in an island of any size there are to
be found tongues so various that those on the lee
side cannot converse with those on the weather side,
nor those in the interior with those upon the coast.
For members of the Mission this difficulty is mini-
mized by the cultivation of a lingua franca, which
is used exclusively in the Training College at Norfolk
Island. It is the language of Mota, one of the small
Banks Islands ; and as this is understood by all the
seven hundred teachers who have passed through
their course at S. Barnabas' College, an interpreter
can be found almost everywhere.
The Melanesian knows nothing of the past history
of his race. That he is not the aboriginal inhabitant
of these islands is practically certain, but whether we
shall ever know confidently whence and when he
INTRODUCTION xxiii
came seems doubtful. Various theories have been
propounded, but we are not concerned here with the
discussion of scientific hypotheses, so we will not
linger over the subject. Enough that our islander's
origin is rather Asiatic than African.
By nature they are creatures of the present
moment children in their outlook. By a long stretch
one might carry back his mind to things told by a
great-grandfather, but their interest is brief in what
is matter of tradition, if unconnected with the super-
natural. The memory of a great chief or warrior is
green for fifty years perhaps, or until another great
man dies. Then gradually the old name and fame
cease to be mentioned or honoured. Probably it
is always so where there is no written language nor
stone building. Where the architecture must be
carried out in reed and palm, bamboo and creeper,
the track of the past is quickly obliterated.
As a general rule photographs do scant justice
to a Melanesian, for on the rare and solemn occasions
when he confronts the white man's magic box, he has
not the faintest idea of looking pleasant, yet it is in the
expression that the charm of his face pre-eminently
lies. But you can see his features the fuzzy hair,
fine dark eyes, well-shaped brow, chin, nose, and
neck, the wide-splayed nostrils and full lips, which
curtain glistening teeth. The four boys' heads I
have selected for illustration are fairly representative
of Northern and Southern Melanesia.
The colour of the skin ranges from that of darkish
oak to the sallow complexion of a Southern European,
but it is dusky-clear, not sleek and shiny. And a
laugh is never a great way off no, not even when
the bright eyes blaze with anger or well forth tears
xxiv ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
of grief. Proud, hot-headed, sensitive, shy, jealous
all this to a degree often ludicrous in a stranger's
eyes ; then what a blessing that to the Melanesian
has been granted the priceless gift of a sense of
humour ! Where the kernel of the joke exactly lies
is not always patent to a Britisher, but that is a
matter of indifference to the Melanesian, whose laugh
is, in the writer's ears, among the most delightful
sounds of nature.
Every island seems to have evolved its own cast
of countenance whilst leaving plenty of room for
individual distinction ; and the larger division of the
groups shows, of course, more marked types of
physiognomy. The new-comer to Norfolk Island
begins to differentiate the individuals from the crowd
by the character of ornament favoured, say, in the
Solomons or the New Hebrides, but by degrees one
comes to recognize the various islanders by a subtle
difference in type impossible to convey in words.
Where the Polynesians blend with the Melanesians
or remain unmixed, in such islands as Pileni or
Tikopia, the difference is manifest. They are bigger
made, lighter skinned, the hair is often straight, the
cheek-bones high, the gaze fair and square, with no
self-consciousness.
The question is frequently asked, What religion
have the Melanesians ?
Whatever may have been the case in bygone ages,
it is impossible now to detect among the untaught
islanders any serious belief in one Supreme Being,
or in any supernatural order of intelligences far enough
removed above humanity to merit the title of gods.
Yet are the Melanesians by no means a material-
istic people. So firm is their faith in things unseen
INTRODUCTION xxv
that " faith " seems too blind a word to express it :
it is conviction, unshakable conviction. The world
of everyday is full of spirits : the spirits of the de-
parted, who still concern themselves with the affairs
of mankind, and can variously affect them ; and
another class of spirits, who never indwelt men, and
yet are endued with many human attributes in addition
to the superior power which makes them valuable
patrons and dangerous enemies.
In Northern Melanesia the belief in both classes
of beings, which for convenience' sake we may term
ghosts and spirits, exists ; but far more attention and
honour are paid to the ghosts. In Southern Melanesia
both are recognized also, but the ghosts are regarded
with less respect than the spirits. In Central Melan-
esia the ghosts are again powerful, but the spirits
share the honours almost equally.
With regard to the future life, again, we find a
contrast in opinion. In Northern and Central Melan-
esia departed souls travel to desolate regions, which
yet are upon the earth's surface, such as the volcano
in Santa Cruz, or a barren tract of land in Bugotu.
But in Southern Melanesia the dead go to a shadowy
world somewhere beneath the earth, which is termed
Panoi.
It must be understood that it is an extremely
difficult thing to sort out and unravel the thoughts
of the Melanesian upon abstract subjects ; and to set
down in black and white the articles of his dim and
shadowy creed is an impossibility. A Melanesian is
not given to definition in mental matters : he sees no
need for it. And he does not care to talk freely or
often about the things he sees which you do not see,
which he fears, and you do not fear.
xxvi ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
There are many reasons against it. Speaking
in a foreign language, explanations become necessary,
and explanations are abhorrent to the lotus-eater.
The brown man wants you to see what he means
without expressing every word, and white men are
slow in the uptake from his point of view. Then,
again, he is content to accept things vaguely himself;
why are not you ? Moreover, white men laugh at
the idea of ghosts, or tell you it is wrong to conjure
with the spirits : then why should the brown man
lay himself open to ridicule or rebuke by talking to
you about them ? And the new-born Christians shrink
from chattering anent their old-time charms and
terrors.
But this seems clear. The root of the matter lies
in one word common to nearly every Ocean language :
Mana. Mana is a mysterious power which may be
attached to, or inherent in, any person, object, or
spirit. It is discoverable by experiment and experi-
ence. If a man is successful in fight, he is so by
virtue of the mana residing in him ; should he be
killed in the next battle, it is because the mana in the
enemy, or the mana of the enemy's patron ghost, was
stronger than his own. A great chief dies who was
rich in mana ; there will still be mana in his bones
which, when not carried or worn as a mascot, may
be kept in a house for the general benefit of a family
or village.
You see an oddly-shaped pebble as you walk
through the bush ; it is strangely round. Depend
upon it, it has mana for something. Perhaps it
suggests the shape of the sun ; employed with the
proper charms, it will probably turn out to have mana
for making sunshine. If this fails, perhaps it is mana
INTRODUCTION xxvii
for coco-nuts. Put it against the stem of a palm,
and see if an abundant crop does not result. Par-
ticular leaves are hot with mana, and therefore much
employed in charms.
So much by way of a brief and general introduc-
tion. Let us hurry to the Islands, and meet the
Melanesians on their own soil.
PART I
IN SOUTHERN MELANESIA
CHAPTER I
RAGA (PENTECOST), NEW HEBRIDES
Natural features Status of the pig Native house The gamal The
secret society Dances Cannibalism Story of chief "Is it
peace ? " Feasts The maternal uncle A wedding Snakes
The mae Charms Recipe for rain Burial custom.
LONG, narrow, tapering both to north and south, the
outline of Raga somewhat resembles an oleander leaf.
Like all the volcanic islands, it is hilly. And it is
undeniably beautiful, clad from end to end in a heavy
green mantle of tropical foliage. But the trees and
shrubs and creepers are too luxuriant ; the island
looks almost suffocated with clothing as if you met
a friend in the dog-days clad as an Eskimo.
It is hard to believe that what to the eye appears
to be a mass of impenetrable bush is intersected with
paths, dotted with gardens, and interspersed with
villages. Only a little blue smoke-wreath here and
there tells its tale.
Landing on the coral beach at the spot pictured,
we were warmly greeted by the brown folk, clad
very slightly, but sufficiently, waiting to shake hands
and pronounce our names with laughing lips, or eager
to help pull up the whale-boat out of reach of the
surf. Then a move was made to the village, a small
collection of native houses, surrounding a cleared
3
4 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
space rudely fenced, where stand the little church and
school-house. This open space in the centre of a
village is called the tinesara, and as such I shall
refer to it when necessary.
The object of the fence is to keep out the Pigs. Let
us for once at least distinguish the word with a capital
P, for it is of the greatest importance in Melanesia.
The pig and the rat are the only native quadrupeds,
and the pig receives in his noble self the appreciation
due to the whole of the animal creation. Many a
man's highest ambition, the purpose of his life-work,
is to get pigs. In Ireland we meet the pig with due
respect as " the gintleman that pays the rint," but
here he is much more. He represents the highest
form of currency, the gold and bank-notes of Melanesia.
With pigs you rise to the heights of the aristocracy,
and may even attain the chieftainship ; with pigs you
pay your debts, entertain your friends, and buy your
wife (a good strong one will cost as much as four pigs
in Raga) ; for pigs you dance till you are ready to
drop, over pigs you fight for your life, if necessary.
And yet the pig has not a blissful time in Raga or
any other island. Unfortunately for him, there is
no sanctity attaching to him, as there is, say, to a
kingfisher ; and your natural Melanesian has no idea
whatever of being consciously kind to any creature.
The pig gets plenty of kicks and blows, and often a
torturous death ends his existence. But at least he
is fed and guarded, so we must hope he is not ill-
content while his brief life lasts.
I inquired the name of the village. It seemed
a little difficult to make out. The traders call it
Steep Cliff Bay ; the inhabitants call it Qatnapne ;
the dwellers along the coast to the north know it by
RAGA.
STEEP CLIFF BAY LANDING-PLACE.
A RAGA HOUSE.
P- s-
CHAP, i RAGA, NEW HEBRIDES 5
another name ; those on the south call it by yet
a fourth. One would think the poor people must
begin themselves sometimes to wonder where they
really do live.
In Melanesia if you want to know the name of
an island it is wise to ask those who live upon one
adjacent, rather than the inhabitants themselves
They have never felt the need of a name for their
own home, unless they have travelled far afield.
Pressed for one, they will tell you what the district
is called by those who live outside it. And so, in
early days in the Mission, sometimes the part got put
for the whole San Cristoval, for instance, being
called Bauro, though that is only a portion of the
island.
It was in Raga that I first entered a native
Melanesian house. A photograph shows the exterior.
The plan is oblong ; the walls are of reed and bamboo ;
the roof is thatched with sago palm leaf. There is
an opening for entrance at one end, sometimes at
both, but no chimney or window. In many houses
the far end is partitioned off to make an inner
chamber.
A hole in the middle of the ground forms the
fireplace. This is lined with stones, and kindling
fills up the centre. When there is cooking to be
done, the fire is lit, and covered over again with
stones. By the time it is burnt out the stones are
almost red-hot. The outer ones are lifted off with a
stick bent into tongs-shape, and the food is placed
among the ashes in the hollow. Yam-mash, taro,
sweet potatoes, fish whatever be the dainty it has
been divided into portions, carefully wrapped in
banana leaves, and tied up in the neatest parcels with
6 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART:
fibre from the mid-rib. The stones that were removed
are quickly replaced so that the food is surrounded by
heat. Mats of thick leaves plaited and sprinkled
with salt water cover up the oven, and from the
odour that issues the natives can tell to a nicety
when the food will be cooked and the oven may be
opened.
There was copra drying (and smelling !) over the
fire in this house, where in the heat and smoke sat a
mother nursing her week-old baby ; for there are
traders within call who are ready to buy all the
coco-nuts that the natives can prepare for them.
Copra, it may be well to explain, is the kernel of the
coco-nut made ready for export. The nut is split
in half and dried over a slow fire till the kernel
shrinks from the shell. In this condition there is an
unlimited demand for it for soap manufacture and
other purposes, the oil being expressed by machinery.
In the houses live the women and children, and the
men go in and out as they list, but for purposes of
smoking, eating, and sleeping they have their own
club-house in every village.
This club-house (or gamal, as we call it in the
Mota language) we shall often have occasion to
mention, so we will pause over it at the outset. In
the Solomon Islands the big, admirably-constructed
canoe-house supplies the men's want. But in the
Southern groups we find the gamal the lodge of
the great semi-secret society, membership of which
is practically universal among the males of the islands
where it exists. The name of it in Mota is Suqe.
The Melanesian is the most sociable creature on
the earth's surface. Rooks are not more gregarious
than he and his. To do a thing alone is a penance ;
CHAP, i RAGA, NEW HEBRIDES 7
to adopt an independent attitude is entirely contrary
to his instinct. A man of position and strong will
can, and does, lead his fellows, but let his influence
for any reason wane, and the average Melanesian will
quickly fall back among the herd. It is the rare
exception who maintains an unpopular attitude. To
these folk the tribal and national punishments recorded
in the Old Testament suggest no hardship or injustice.
To suffer severely en masse is to them far more
tolerable than to bear individually a lighter sentence.
Gardening, house-building, whatever the occupation,
they make a "bee" for the purpose, and go at it
cheerfully enough in company.
This spirit of sociability has led to the creation of
a large number of societies akin to the Suqe, most
having something of a secret nature about them, many
professing to have traffic with ghosts and charms.
Nearly every man and boy in an island will belong to
one or more : the rare bird who, for some extraordinary
reason, has never sought initiation, is known as "a fly-
ing fox " a queer creature with queer ways of his own.
Probably no European is perfectly acquainted with
all the ins and outs, the rules, penalties, and customs
of any of these societies. But the Suqe is the best
known, perhaps because it professes no connection
with the supernatural.
There is no caste in Melanesia, but there are many
ranks ; and a man's prestige is gauged entirely by his
position in the Suqe. This is indicated by his
cooking-place in the long row of ovens down the
length of the gamal hollows in the ground, divided
from one another by logs of wood. Each oven repre-
sents a grade in the Suqe, and one has a right to eat
only at that to which he has attained.
8 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
The newly-initiated young boys mostly, females
of course being strictly excluded share the oven
nearest the door, whence they work their way up
by degrees. Rank can be bought by pigs, and
ratified by dancing and a feast.
Raga has a very elaborate series of ranks and
titles, and the Suqe laws are stringent accordingly.
The solemnity of the rites of initiation, and of taking
a fresh rank, is marked by the candidate's going
unwashed and unshaven for perhaps three months,
during which time his house is also untended and
unswept.
The lower stages in the Suqe are not expensive,
but the high ranks are extremely costly. The
members of the grades above that he is seeking
divide the money received from the candidate, and
as it is naturally a case of " the higher, the fewer," the
Suqe nobles become veritable plutocrats. But as
many as a hundred pigs may be slain at one feast by
the aspirant for high rank.
As soon as serious preparations for a feast are set
on foot, the native drum (the hollowed trunk of a tree)
will be beaten each morning before sunrise to give
notice by the number of strokes how many days
remain before the feast takes place.
It is always preceded by an elaborate dance.
From Peter Pan we learn that " Fairies never say
' We feel happy ' : what they say is, ' We feel dancy ! "
From this I suspect that our Melanesians are akin to
the fairies, for it is exactly what they say too. "Nina
we malakalaka" means just that. I should think they
are about the danciest people in the world, and there
are few more entrancing spectacles than a Melanesian
dance in the moonlight or the firelight. The Raga
CHAP, i RAGA, NEW HEBRIDES 9
folk are as light-footed as any, and we always watch
them with keen enjoyment. But these Suqe dances
where the pig victims often have to play an unwilling
part must be somewhat gruesome. The host performs
marvellous and lengthy capers around each distracted
animal, winding up with a knock on its head from his
club, after which, leaving it to die, he dances on to
the next. With even fifty pigs the process is exhaust-
ing, and after one of these dances and feasts the
village sleeps a whole day.
No case of cannibalism has lately, so far as I know,
been reported from Raga. I am not sure that they
were ever among those who eat man with a relish, but
to be eaten was the extreme penalty of chiefly law if,
say, a great man's pig be stolen or one of his wives
kidnapped. Where extenuating circumstances can be
urged, the culprit will be sometimes let off lightly by
being only burnt to cinders. But to carry the sentence
out strictly, the body must be cooked in the gamal, and
portions distributed among every man, woman, and
child in the village. This is the only exception to the
general rule limiting women to woman-cooked food
and man to that cooked by man. After a bitter
fight, too, a body from among the enemy's slain
will be treated in the same way as a sign of rage
and indignation.
I know of one instance in which a man was added
to fifty pigs for a feast that signified a chief's rise in
rank.
It was in this very Steep Cliff Bay that in 1897 tne
Bishop of Melanesia was hospitably received by the
chief, and made welcome to the accommodation of the
gamal. In polite return the Bishop offered the chief
some of his tinned meat, gladly enough accepted in
io ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
the ordinary way. But on this occasion it was firmly
refused, and at last the reason was ascertained. The
chief was "holy," and could not eat ordinary food,
as he had just finished making a feast which included
a human sacrifice. In this the chiefs share is the
heart, brains, and feet. The usual row of fifty pigs
had been tied to the quasi-sacred cycas trees in front
of the gamal, and last of the row a man. Imagine
the poor wretch being compelled to watch the long,
long dance and ceremony with which each pig was
killed, knowing that when the last was dispatched
he in his turn would be treated precisely the same.
It is a nightmare.
But now Steep Cliff Bay is a Christian village.
A dramatic incident took place not long ago in the
middle of a great native feast in North Raga. The
biggest chief of the whole district was present one
of the few then still heathen. He stepped forward,
and handing his war-club to the giver of the feast,
announced that it was to be chopped up and distributed
among the other chiefs as a declaration of peace and
goodwill.
The question, " Is it peace ? " is one of no small
importance to a dweller in Raga whose lot it is to
travel from one village to another. The native method
of ascertaining the answer is simple. You just stretch
out your arms and fingers. If the joints crack, don't
proceed on any account ; you will certainly be shot.
If they don't crack you may go on quite cheerfully.
Sometimes in approaching a village a pile of
stones will be noticed on either side of the track.
These are " Peace stones " a sign that the inhabitants
of the village and their chief are at peace, and wish
to remain so. It is the rule, therefore, for all weapons
RAGA.
OLD RAGA.
YOUNG RAGA.
CHAP, i RAGA, NEW HEBRIDES n
to be laid down outside the boundary, and whoso
wishes to enter the village must do so unarmed. A
tree at hand will probably be found stuck with toma-
hawks and warlike tools, left to be called for when the
owners return. Sometimes a bundle of cycas fronds
serves instead of the heap of stones, but in one way or
the other every path leading to the village is marked,
so that no one can plead ignorance.
The usual greeting on the road is not " Good day!"
but " Where did you sleep ? " and " Where are you
going ? " One gets rather tired of replying. If a man
meets a woman, it is customary for her to turn off the
path with her back to him, but even standing so, she
can seldom resist putting the habitual questions,
"Where did you sleep?" and "Where are you
going ? "
When a big Raga chief makes a feast, the neigh-
bouring villages are invited, and bountiful packages of
food are methodically prepared and assigned to each.
There will be no mistake in the distribution, for under
the fibre-lashing of each is slipped a sign. Here is a
chip of bamboo, which is au in the Raga language.
People are expected from Tabuau. There is a scrap
of cycas frond, and the name for it is mele. The
inhabitants of Vaume/e will be among the guests. If
a name occurs which suggests no rebus, some well-
known man in that village must be thought of. There
is Lalau, for instance, and the word means a cock's
feather. Two long cock's tail feathers are inserted.
In other packets you find fragments of coral, wild yam,
and so forth. Ingenious, is it not?
They are a most generous people. A few years
ago our food supply at Norfolk Island ran low, and a
drought threatened. They heard of it in Raga when
12 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
the Southern Cross called, but it was in the middle of
their planting season, when a yam can hardly be
bought. Yet fifty men from Qelhuqe village, where
there is a school, came to meet the Bishop, each
carrying a large yam for Norfolk Island. And these
are they who have no word for "Thank you" or
" Please," and of whom you may hear it said, " There's
no gratitude in their nature " !
A native wedding, needless to say, involves a feast.
The bride has been bargained for while still a child,
and the amount agreed upon is paid by instalments.
The couple most nearly concerned have often the least
say in the matter the bride never has any. It is
arranged by the elders. Women's opinions are of no
account in Melanesia, so mothers too are left out of
the question. The father can often put his spoke in,
but there is a relation more important still with both
parties, who must be consulted and appealed to about
everything that concerns the children namely, the
maraui, or maternal uncle.
Little as women are esteemed, it is by the mother
that descent is reckoned in the islands. This seems
the natural and primitive view. But they go farther.
The father is held to be not of kin to his own son.
The degrees within which marriage is permitted by
native law are arbitrarily and very strictly defined.
In every island of the New Hebrides and Banks
group the population is divided into two parts, or sides
of a house, as they call it, and each individual is free
to marry only with one of the opposite side. The
family ensuing is reckoned to the mother's division.
Qua mother, then, she is of importance, but qua
woman, not to be considered. From this it will be
understood why her nearest of male kin, her own
CHAP, i RAGA, NEW HEBRIDES 13
brother, plays so large a part in all that concerns her
family. A man's nephew succeeds to his pigs, house,
and garden ; the son gets nothing from his father but
what was given him in life.
At last the final instalment due from the bridegroom
has been paid, and he declares himself anxious to
settle down. A day is fixed, and the people crowd
the tinesara, where the feast is prepared. The bride-
groom exhibits the pigs, the food, and the mats that
he has paid for his wife. Then a friend of the lady's
very likely her uncle makes an appropriate speech.
He adjures the husband to feed her well and treat her
kindly, and therewith gives the bride away, dressed in
the glory of a new petticoat and wrapped modestly in
a new mat. In return, the happy man walks round
the uncle, stroking him in sign of gratitude.
The merai, or Raga wedding dance, is a very
pretty affair. With white feathers, grasses, and
shredded palm bark the men manufacture most
marvellous head-dresses and girdles. Though the
bride takes no part, she is represented by some boy
dressed in imitation of her, who enters dancing behind
the bridegroom at a given signal. It is intensely
amusing to see the pseudo-bride's assumed bashfulness,
as " she " minces with dainty steps demurely behind
" her " lord and master, whose energy is only equalled
by the magnificence of his get-up. Having curveted
for a while on the outskirts of the company who have
been dancing vigorously for quite a long time, both
suddenly enter the heart of the whirling maze ; and I
can say from experience that an onlooker's pulse beats
quicker and the breath comes fast and short, and even
a European foot tingles at sight of that infectious
rhythmic frolic.
i 4 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
The dance is sometimes followed here by a sort of
playful fight between the bride's kinsfolk and those of
the bridegroom. Playful, yet it is not so sham an
affair but that hurts are often received. The idea
probably is to indicate the value set upon the bride's
services, and the reluctance of her relations to finally
give her up. The poor little bride's reluctance to be
given up is often quite as great, and it is no uncommon
thing for them to have to drag her by force to her
future home.
I have alluded to the people's awe of the spirits.
They will endure much rather than risk their dis-
pleasure. Some years ago the rains failed, and there
was a scarcity of water in the island. One of the
Mission clergy came unexpectedly upon a goodly
stream of fresh water within easy reach of his house.
He asked in amazement why no one had told him of
its existence. The answer was that it was sacred.
The spirits would be angry if men drank from it.
And yet, oddly enough, no one hesitated to eat the
fish of this same stream.
As in some of the far-away Solomon Islands,
snakes seem here imbued with something of the super-
natural. If a man happens to come upon a snake,
either in a place sacred to the spirits or in his own
house, he thinks himself marked out by good fortune
for a prosperous career. He pours over his body the
juice of a young coco-nut, and is perfectly happy.
There is a sea-snake, which I have seen, with its
head erected and body floating in a coil, from which I
suppose first sprang the superstition, extraordinarily
widespread, not only in Melanesia, but in Polynesia,
concerning the mae.
The mae is an amphibious snake, dreaded by every
CHAP, i RAGA, NEW HEBRIDES 15
native, which has the power of transforming itself into
the likeness of a young man or maiden. It is generally
seen in a dim light. A young man returning from
fishing or garden work sees an attractive girl not far
off, decked with flowers, beckoning and alluring him.
Should he yield to her invitation he goes home to die.
But there are many tests by which a maes true
character may be discovered, and these vary in
different islands. The skin at the back of the neck
remains always that of a snake ; the tongue is a
brilliant scarlet ; and if the elbows and knees bend
ever so slightly the wrong way, it is no human being,
but a mae. Should a nettle-tree be at hand, a mae
will accept an invitation to sit upon it, recking nothing
of its sting, and thus will reveal itself. If a coco-nut
is handed to it to drink from, it will hold it upside
down in ignorance and spill the milk.
The mae never appears to those who walk in
company. Only the man or woman who is alone need
fear its approach, and the possession of a croton leaf,
or the white flower of an amaranth, spells absolute
safety. It is said that if the mae be struck with a
croton leaf, the serpent tail shoots out and the
creature's disguise is pierced.
Whatever view is taken of the mae by white
people, it is doubtful if a native's belief in it has
ever been permanently shaken ; and it is certain
that numerous deaths have occurred from supposed
contact with mae, and that countless natives are
profoundly convinced that they have seen them. We
have our own theories about these and similar appear-
ances. Few who have had much to do with the
Melanesians can doubt that they are peculiarly
susceptible to occult influences, and have a more
i6 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
than Celtic power of vision. Suffice it that the
Christian Melanesian who believes in the reality of
the mae, believes as firmly in a stronger Power Who
will not fail those who trust in Him.
Natural death was until recent years a thing
unheard of and unknown in Raga and many other
islands. Perhaps in truth it was a good deal less
common than it is nowadays. But whether illness
or accident befell, it was always accounted for by
malice a man's or a spirit's, or both in co-operation,
working by charms.
To work a charm expert knowledge is needed,
handed down from some past-master or mistress, for
female magicians are not unknown either in Raga
or in Omba.
The principal wonder-working spirit in Raga is
one Tagaro, and it is his name, occurring in most of
the charm-songs, that adds peculiar efficacy. Here
is a recipe from Raga for making rain. First be it
understood you have found a stone which has mana
for the purpose, if it be but assisted by a charm.
You take a tuft of leaves ; they look very ordinary,
but the magician knows they are hot with mana. Put
them in the hollow of a stone which serves as basin.
Pound and crush some branches of the piper methysti-
cum (or pepper-tree) upon it, but not too hard, or
you'll get a gale thrown in ! Add your mana stone,
all the while singing charms with very little sense,
but a great deal of " Tagaro " ; cover the whole over,
and wait.
The vegetable mash ferments, the steam ascends,
charged, of course, with mana. Result first, clouds ;
then, heavy rain!
The Raga folk bury their dead quite respectably.
CHAP, i RAGA, NEW HEBRIDES 17
The place is always near the gamal and dancing-
ground, as being, I should fancy, the most lively and
sociable position for the poor bodies. It is walled
and heaped with stones, and is frequently, they say,
shaped like a canoe, with the thought of the voyage
the departed have taken. Sometimes it is planted
with the sacred cycas palm. In the wall is a small
hole through which the ghosts may escape into the
future world a provision (as there is no roof) which
reminds one rather of Sir Isaac Newton and his
kitten.
I left Raga with a laugh. A young teacher whom
I had known at Norfolk Island asked me if I would
like a bit of sugar-cane to chew. I thought I should.
A minute or two later he came tearing towards the
boat in which we were just pushing off with a mighty
stem in his hand, beside which the bassoon of an
orchestra were a toy. Thus armed I returned to
the ship.
CHAPTER II
OMBA (LEPERS' ISLAND), NEW HEBRIDES
Name Natural features Connection with Raga Decline of popula-
tion Character of people Attack on Bishop Patteson, 1864
Murder of Rev. C. C. Godden, 1906 Murders by suggestion The
first field-glasses Cannibalism Story of Charles Tariqatu The
Suqe Kava-drinking Social laws Chiefs Folk - tale : "How
Tagaro the Little found Fish."
THE sinister name of Lepers' Island, which was given
we know not when or why, seems to be gradually
yielding even among traders to the more innocent
native appellation by which we know it. Leprosy,
whatever was the case in former days, is no longer
apparent here, and one is tempted to wonder whether
it was not the very common skin diseases and open
sores from which every native suffers at some time
or other that gave rise to the suggestion of leprosy.
The shape of Omba resembles nothing so much
as a sheep's head. Like its neighbours, volcanic in
formation, it is somewhat the size of the Isle of
Wight, measuring 22 by 12 miles. Its hills rise to
over 4000 feet, but none of the people live at a greater
height than 2500 feet. It lies about eleven miles
to the east of Raga, which island is a good deal more
closely related to it than to Maewo, though connection
by canoe with Omba is distinctly more dangerous,
and Maewo is less than four miles away. Omba inter-
18
OMBA
EVER A FIGHTER " MAN OF O.MHA.
P. 19.
CHAP, ii OMBA, NEW HEBRIDES 19
marries with Raga, and has many practices in common.
The favourite Raga songs are in a language so akin
to Omba % that one would think they were borrowed
from there. This, however, the people emphatically
deny. Is it conceivable,' then, that their antiquity
reaches back to a time when both islands spoke
one tongue?
It seems impossible to gauge at all accurately the
population of any of these islands where many are
still heathen. One thing is grievously certain : the
numbers are decreasing steadily and rapidly in Raga,
Omba, and Maewo. The decline is due to many
causes, some connected with heathen practices, some
with white men's diseases ; but above all, sad to say,
to the old-established custom of deporting the strongest
and healthiest of the men in the flower of their age to
labour in distant sugar plantations, whence but a small
proportion return.
The character of the Omba people has been de-
scribed as "a perfect paradox; they are so peculiarly
amiable and so particularly quarrelsome ! " By nature
undoubtedly the man of Omba is fierce, revengeful,
and merciless "ever a fighter," and troubled by no
scruples of honour. But the only natives I know are
Christians, and there is all the difference. Bright,
affectionate, generous, and chivalrous, the boys and
girls of Omba are as attractive as any. But they
seem incapable of excelling, for the same reason as
the tribe of Reuben ; they are " unstable as water."
They are also terribly impulsive. Quick to appreciate
kindness, the instinct to avenge an injury often works
more swiftly still.
In 1864 Bishop Patteson narrowly escaped in
Omba the very death he met in the Reefs seven years
20 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
later. A few weeks previous to his visit an Omba
man had been shot by a trader for stealing calico,
but of this the Bishop knew nothing. He was sitting
talking among a crowd on the beach when, to his
surprise, they jumped up and left him. Turning
round, he saw a native advancing upon him with his
club raised. The Bishop did not move, but calmly
held out some fish-hooks towards him. Courage
returned to some others at sight of this, and the
would-be avenger was seized by the waist and dragged
away.
Forty-two years later in October 1906 the life of
one of our Australian priests was sacrificed in Omba
to the same mad instinct. A half-witted labourer had
been brought back from Queensland, where he had
suffered imprisonment, vowing vengeance on the first
white man who crossed his path.
And that white man was Charles Christopher
Godden, who had only four or five months before
returned to his beloved Omba in company with his
bride. Their home, a timber three-roomed house,
shone out white among the trees as we neared Lolowai
in the Southern Cross. It is a bay of surpassing
loveliness.
Down on the green sward, just out of the surfs
reach, you can see even in the photograph the little
boat-shed where the weeping boys laid their white
father's body while they clambered up to the house to
tell the news to the one within who was expecting
her husband's return from one of his customary
missionary journeys. And when they got there they
could not tell it ; they could only lead her to the
boat-house.
We visited the lonely grave. It is marked by an
OMBA.
"THEIR HOME SHONE our WHITE AMONG THE TREES" LOLOWAI BAY.
THE HOME OK TAC.ARO THE LITTLE LOLOWAI BAY.
P. 20.
CHAP, ii OMBA, NEW HEBRIDES 21
iron cross, whereon is inscribed above the memorable
date these words :
CHARLES CHRISTOPHER GODDEN
PRIEST. MISSIONARY. MARTYR.
Faithful unto Death.
There is something truly demoniacal in the per-
sistence with which the heathen native encompasses
his enemy's death. It is often a clear case of murder
by suggestion, though neither party would acknow-
ledge that.
Some man has the misfortune to become the
enemy of another, who forthwith resolves to shoot
him. The arrows must be carefully prepared, and
furnished with mana to kill. They are tipped with
human bone, which is joined to the shaft to the
accompaniment of charm-songs and much calling for
help upon the ghost to whose body the bone belonged.
The arrow is then smeared with acrid juices in order
to inflame the wound.
An ambush is laid, and all too easily the victim is
surprised and shot. Now comes the crucial question,
who will extract the arrow ? Is there a friend at
hand, or will the enemy come rushing up to do so ?
If the latter, the arrow-head will be promptly burnt
to accelerate the death of the wounded man, who is
perfectly aware of what is being done, for he would
have done the same had the positions been reversed.
A bundle of mana leaves is tied on the bow, which is
put in some ghost-haunted cave, the string kept taut
and pulled from time to time, with the idea of thus
straining the nerves and muscles of the wretched
victim and super-inducing tetanus. The murderer
can do one thing more, and he does it, inviting his
22 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
friends to join in drinking and chewing such leaves
and juices as will sting and irritate, while pungent
herbs are burnt to make a choking smoke. The
victim lies maybe a mile away, but each symbolic
action adds to his agonies.
Suppose, however, the poor fellow were walking
in company when he fell, and the arrow is extracted
by a friendly hand. Damp leaves and a cool spot are
prepared for it, and the cooler the arrow can be kept,
the more quickly, it is believed, will the inflammation
of the wound subside. Charmed shells are procured
from the most powerful magician in the village, and
are kept rattling upon the roof to ward off the inimical
spirit. Wizards here have a horrid habit of transform-
ing themselves into blow-flies, so the sick man must
never be left untended ; every fly must be driven off.
Dr. Codrington l tells of the case of two devoted
brothers in this island, one of whom died. The other
in course of time dug up his body and headed arrows
with his bones. Thenceforward he was wont to speak
of himself as " My brother and I," and all regarded
him with gravest awe, believing the dead brother to
be always at hand to supply mana to his efforts.
The first field-glasses seen in the New Hebrides
brought bitter disappointment in their train. As one
of the Mission clergy was walking along the shore,
the native at his side pointed out a tiny figure in the
distance.
" There goes one of my enemies ! " said he.
The white man drew out his field-glasses and ad-
justed the focus, then handed them to his companion,
who gazed through them in excited amazement, behold-
ing his foe apparently close at hand. Dropping the
1 The Melanesians : their Anthropology and Folk-Lore.
CHAP, ii OMBA, NEW HEBRIDES 23
glasses, he seized his arrows and looked again. The
enemy was far away as at first. Once more he snatched
the magic glasses, once more exchanged them for his
arrows, and once more was baffled. To lose such
an opportunity was hard indeed. A bright thought
suddenly occurred to him.
" You hold the glasses," said he to the priest, " and
then / can shoot him ! "
The tenure of life is frail indeed where Omba is
still heathen. When the cause of a man's death is
not obvious, suspicion falls first on the wife. It were
meet that she show her grief by sharing his grave.
One poor thing stood weeping beside the pit in which
her husband's corpse had just been laid. Suddenly
by the chief's order she was pushed into it, along with
a dog that the dead man had acquired, and buried alive.
Cannibalism is a custom still resorted to occasion-
ally in Omba. It is recognized that to be roasted and
eaten like a pig is the worst thing that can be done to
man by man, and indicates the fiercest anger or most
deep contempt. But it is not done lightly or for the
palate's pleasure. The awfulness of such food is felt
strongly, and a man who has eaten human flesh is
regarded as a dare-devil who will stick at nothing.
In consequence, some have been known to partake
of it in order to win a brave name and inspire fear.
It may well be believed that the spirit of revenge
dies hard. Yet it does die under " The New Teach-
ing" or "The Way of Peace," as Christianity is called
by the Melanesians.
Some years ago there was a great feast in Omba,
to which neighbouring villages were invited, and
among the guests was one of our native head-teachers,
Charles Tariqatu. A scholar of his named Samuel
24 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
was standing near him, a loaded musket in his hand.
It exploded accidentally, and a bullet entered Charles's
shoulder.
Such an accident was calculated to set the whole
district ablaze and to divide the population into oppos-
ing forces. What in fact happened ?
Charles was tenderly laid in a canoe by his people
and paddled home, where for ten days he lay conscious,
then died. During those days he used, all his dimin-
ishing strength in urging the school people to hold
fast to what they had learnt. His relations gathered
from distant parts with the idea of avenging his blood,
but Charles assumed his authority as a teacher and
sternly and absolutely forbade it.
He called Samuel to his side in their presence,
put his hand on the youth's forehead and said a form
of words, of which the effect was to prevent any from
compassing the offender's death. Then he asked
Samuel to take his own place as a son to the aged
father he was leaving, to supply him with firewood,
and to dig his garden. And the solemn promise was
given.
On the morning of his death he would have none
stay with him, but bade them all go as usual to Matins,
saying he would be with them in prayer. On their
return they found him dead.
Omba has its roll of heroes, and I think Charles
Tariqatu is one.
In every island the Suqe regulations differ slightly,
and it is a peculiarity of Omba that there is no initia-
tion ceremony. All males are members when they
reach a certain age, and take their meals in the gamal.
The first advance may be bought with a fowl, but the
high ranks are powerful and difficult to acquire, since
OMBA, NEW HEBRIDES 25
those above may if they list refuse leave to rise to
those below, whose business it is, therefore, to win
their favour. If any one should attempt to eat at an
oven above that which is his right, they have a short
way with him in Omba. He is promptly clubbed or
shot.
In such a fiery island it may be imagined how
disastrous has been the illicit introduction by traders
of fire-arms and " fire-water." The dual Government
(France and England) is seeking now to put down
these and other irregularities with a strong hand, but
it is to be feared the gin still leaks in. There is an
indigenous fermented liquor, kava, made from the root
and stem of the piper methysticum, which the natives
do not allow their women to touch. It is, however, of
a very mild character, and even if drunk in quantity
has no more than a stupefying effect.
Throughout Melanesia there exist most curious
and stringent social laws restricting intercourse
between certain relations and marriage connections.
Nowhere are these laws more peculiar or more strict
than in the New Hebrides. The caste and class
distinctions of a higher civilization fix barriers between
members of the same race ; but the Melanesians draw
the fence nearer still and make barriers between
members of the same family.
As they grow in years a reserve grows between
brother and sister in Omba, until the time comes when
they may no longer meet or speak to one another
namely, when the boy first puts on a loin-cloth.
Neither may so much as name the other ; and if the
girl sees her brother coming along the path, she runs
and hides herself! Worse still, the mother and her
grown son are forbidden intercourse. To her son-in-
26 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
law a woman may speak, but she must not approach
him. An Omba man must never mention the name
of his wife's brother.
These instances are by way of illustration. We
shall see the principle more minutely developed in the
Banks Islands. They sound arbitrary and capricious,
but there is no doubt whatever that every such law
finds its origin and its justification in a Melanesian's
instinct.
The maternal uncle is still of first importance,
though it would seem that here the son is wont to
succeed to his father's property. Dr. Codrington
thinks it probable that the cousins are bought off in
practice, or at least given a good share.
Omba rejoices in some fairly powerful chiefs. I
have read of one interesting specimen, Guevu by
name, a cannibal with seventy wives, who was found
by one of our missionaries to be as a host " most kind
and amiable," and positively lavish in his generosity.
He believed himself to have the power of driving away
sickness and commanding life and death. He was
also a sunshine -maker, and when it rained went
through a solemn and imposing ceremony of blowing
away the clouds.
Theoretically speaking, the chieftainship is not
hereditary. Whoever has most money and most
mana is the greatest. Practically, however, it generally
descends from father to son, because the father does
his best to secure it by buying his son a high rank in
the Suqe, and giving him his property, and also what-
ever charms, songs, stones, and magical appliances go
to make up his reputation for mana.
In writing about Raga I mentioned the important
name of Tagaro. He is a sprite whose home is in
CHAP, ii OMBA, NEW HEBRIDES 27
Omba, so it is meet that we should hear a little more
about him in that island.
There are really two Tagaros, Tagaro the Big
(and Bad) and Tagaro the Little (and Good). Let
me quote a few sentences from the late Rev. Chas. C.
Godden's account of them :
In the beginning of things these two roamed the bare
hills of Omba. . . . The bad spirit said, " Let it be always
night ! " But the other objected, and said that it was good
that there should be day as well as night. Then Tagaro
the Big wished to make all trees and plants to be of no use
to man for food. But again the kind little spirit said, " No !
Let some be good to help men, but let some be bad, so that
men must work and not be lazy." And so with everything.
Whenever Tagaro the Big suggested anything, immediately
Tagaro the Little said, " No, that is not good ! " and sug-
gested something exactly opposite. And being little, he
always managed to get his own way.
At length this habit of contradiction so exasperated the
big bad spirit that he retired to the lake on the top of Omba,
where he has remained ever since. Occasionally when his
wife vexes him he shakes the island in his fury. Occasionally
also he burns something on his fire (which issues from under
the ground) that causes the yams to die, and the bananas to
yield very poorly for some distance around. On account of
these little traits in his character, the Omba people prefer to
be civil to him when they are unfortunate enough to be
forced to go near his habitation.
When Tagaro the Little resolved to settle down, he chose
as his home a high cliff rising sheer out of the water on the
north-east of Omba [beside Lolowai]. Here he enjoyed the
society of his wife for some time, but at length she died, and
a long rock in the water, which uncovers at low tide, marks
her burial-place.
A folk-tale from Omba, in which Tagaro the Little
plays the hero, has been translated by Dr. Codrington l
1 The Melanesians.
28 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
as literally as possible, so as to convey as far as may
be its Melanesian atmosphere. It tells
How TAGARO THE LITTLE FOUND FISH
They say that he drew down his canoe, and paddled out
in search of fish ; and he saw a great rock standing in the
sea, and he floated gently without paddling to see whether
he would find fish or not. And he saw many fish rising up
to the surface from under his canoe, and he fed them with
the food he had in his hand, and he perceived that these fish
knew how to eat the food of the land. Then said he, " I
am going to leave you ; but the day after to-morrow I shall
grate some loko * for you to eat and shall pour coco-nut
sauce over it, and bring it here to you."
So he left them, and stayed, they say, one day at home.
And when the second day came for him to go, he took that
loko which he had sauced with coco-nut juice, and launched
his canoe, and paddled out to the place where those fish
were. And he called them with a song which he sang like
this :
My fish, whatever you are !
Nice little fish !
Here is your food with sauce,
Your food done with coco-nut sauce.
But there was another person, whose name was
Merambuto, who stood on the beach and heard Tagaro
calling his fish with a song like that, and next day
Merambuto, having made haste to prepare food in the night,
drew down the canoe in the early morning Tagaro's canoe
and paddled out till he came to the place where Tagaro
had floated before. And he also sang that song, " My fish,
whatever you are ! "
Then those fish heard his voice that it was loud, and did
not rise ; and he altered his voice so as to be small like
Tagaro's. And he called them with a small voice, singing
that song, " My fish, whatever you are ! "
Then those fish heard that the voice was small, and they
1 Loko, a vegetable mash, very popular in Melanesia.
CHAP, ii OMBA, NEW HEBRIDES 29
rose all of them to the surface, and he caught every one of
them with a hook. And he made haste to paddle ashore,
and went back into his village, and made up a fire, and put
the fish in the oven.
But when it was broad daylight Tagaro went himself,
and they were all gone ; and he understood that this thief
Merambuto had caught all the fish, and paddled quickly
back, and hauled up his canoe. And he looked for foot-
prints to know which way he had gone round ; and he
found footprints and followed them, following on till he
came to Merambuto's place. And there he went into the
house to him, and sat down with him in a friendly way.
Then said Tagaro, " What is that in the oven ? I am
hungry."
And Merambuto said, " That is my food, but it is very
bad, you cannot eat it."
Then says Tagaro, " Indeed ! Is your food so very bad ?
But those are my fish, and you have caught them all ! "
And he struck him, and killed him in his house, and
set fire to the house, and it was burnt and destroyed. And
Tagaro took back the fish from the oven, and went back,
and put them into a little pool of salt water. And the fish
revived ; one side of them was gone, one side still remained.
And we call them Tagaro's half-fish soles !
CHAPTER III
MAEWO (AURORA), NEW HEBRIDES
The waterfall Price of wives Population Pigs Sacred stones,
plants, and animals Society of the Qat Initiation rites Burying
alive Native beliefs A mysterious light Spectacles Smoked
mats Poisoned arrows Betrothal rite Folk-tale : " The Child
who issued from a Rock."
WITH my recollection of Maewo is wrapped up a
sense of personal injury.
Maewo has a famous waterfall. I believe it is a
magnificent waterfall. Waterfalls are rare enough in
Melanesia to make me particularly anxious to see this
one.
The rest of the company were familiar with it, and
there was the usual Mission business to attend to ;
whilst, as the waterfall turns into a broad, cool river
which flows close to the landing-place, all who were
at liberty elected to bathe. So a native named
Matthew was told off as my escort and guide to show
me the waterfall. Perhaps he was not keen on the
expedition, wanting rather to hear the news and chat
with his friends. But he did not say so, and it does
not excuse him.
We climbed up steep banks, over rocks and
through mud, the sound of the water in our ears, until
we came upon a small cascade. It looked quite pretty,
30
MAEWO.
A MAEWO GAMAL.
IN THE DISTANCE, FROM THE SOUTH.
P. 31.
CHAP, in MAEWO, NEW HEBRIDES 31
and I said so. It was very ordinary, but I did not
say so. I praised it and admired it, feeling that I
was giving my guide pleasure by expressing my own.
It was a mistake. Matthew must -have argued with
himself that if I thought so much of this it would be
foolish to take me any farther.
He made no move onward, so I began to wonder if
this could be the overrated waterfall I had heard so
much about. Anxious not to hurt Matthew's feelings
by evincing disappointment, I asked as contentedly as
I could, " This, then, is the waterfall ? "
Matthew assented cheerfully.
"Oh! It's a very nice one a very nice one!"
said I, and walked back with a conviction that one
need not leave one's native shores to see the superior
of Maewo's waterfall.
Later on, when we had left Maewo and Matthew
behind us, I found out my mistake. The real water-
fall was considerably farther on. Hence my sense of
personal injury.
Women are cheaper here than in Raga. The
standard is fixed. You can buy any wife, I hear, for
one pig, small or large.
A photograph shows the contour of the island as
we approach it from the south. A narrow waterway,
some three miles in width, separates Maewo from
Raga. Both islands are long and narrow, and you
would expect from their geography to find Maewo a
sort of lesser Raga. Strange to say, it is far more akin
in language and in customs to the island of Mota,
which lies ninety miles to the north, than to its close
neighbour, Raga.
It has been estimated that Maewo contains about
800 people ; but if the population continues to decline
32 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
at its present rate, the time is not far distant when it
will become a desert island unless, as is more likely,
it is opened up for trade and peopled with white
planters and Asiatic coolies.
If Maewo is famous among its white acquaintances
for the waterfall, it is more famous among its brown
neighbours for its superior breed of pigs. Perhaps that
is why a woman only costs one in Maewo ! The Raga
and Omba people paddle over and barter for them
in order to buy themselves new dignities at home.
There are stones with special mana for multiplying
pigs. Certain leaves are placed upon these, with
the expressed wish that the petitioner's pigs may be
prolific.
Should one of these most precious pigs wander
away, it is customary to imbue some dead relative
with the virtue commonly attached to St. Anthony of
Padua. The pig's owner goes to the grave, lays upon
it some leaves of the croton, and expresses his wish,
" Get back my pig for me ! " If the ghost is good-
natured it will drive the truant back into the village.
Otherwise I suppose one has to go and hunt for it.
This brilliant-leaved croton has in many islands
rather a sacred character, and I fancy it was among
the beautiful foliage - plants that one of our early
missionaries in Maewo collected for the adornment
of the little garden round his house. Just in time he
made the tiresome discovery that all these were tapu l to
ordinary folk, and that therefore not only would no
women venture near, but no one could come to school
save the few who had attained a rank in the Suqe high
enough to admit them to familiarity even with the
1 " Tapu" i.e. forbidden, often with the idea of something supernatural
attaching. From this common Oceanic word we get " taboo."
CHAP, in MAEWO, NEW HEBRIDES 33
plants of the ghosts. The natives were quite as sorry
as the white man for his mistake, and did their best to
make him amends by fetching quantities of unfor-
bidden roots and planting them all over.
Certain birds, fishes, and reptiles are considered
by the natives to have a close connection with spirits,
and therefore to be regarded with respect, though not
in all cases with awe. Sharks and snakes stand out
prominently in this class throughout Melanesia.
They are credited with superhuman intelligence and
faculties, and it would seem that the former are more
frequently tenanted by ghosts, the latter by spirits.
But in the New Hebrides you will also find owls,
eagles, kingfishers, lizards, crabs, and eels looked upon
as in some degree sacred. The wizards of Maewo are
supposed to convert themselves at will into eagles,
owls, or sharks.
The Suqe is not so strong now in Maewo as in the
other islands. It seems that of yore it was chiefly
prized here for the advantages it secured a man after
death. The Suqe pig bought the entrance to Panoi,
the world of shadows, and so a man's first thought for
his infant son was the gift of the pig for Suqe
membership. Should one die having offered no pig,
his soul is left for ever hanging to some tree-branch
like a bat.
But as we said before, there are plenty of other
and more secret societies than the Suqe. The society
of the Qat, for instance, appears to be powerful here.
Qat is the shortened word for head, and the especial
feature of this society is the colossal head-gear which
is manufactured for the high days of the Qat. It is
made of tree-fern trunks, and completely extinguishes
the wearer's head. So heavy is it that one man
D
34 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
cannot support it, but requires the assistance of three
companions !
The ceremony of initiation into the most important
section of the Qat is cruel and hideous. They say the
trials to which the young candidates are put are
contrived with the view of testing their powers of
endurance. For some time all food is withheld from
them ; then portions are meted out to them half-
cooked and covered with dirt and ashes. Weak and
wretched, the lads are beaten with salted nettle-leaves,
are flung down and .trodden upon, pulled up and shot
at with blunted arrows, compelled to grasp burning
faggots in short, their existence is made a torment in
a score of similar wavs.
4
Why, then, are they so foolish as to join the
society ? is the natural question. And the only
answer one can offer is that it takes a Melanesian
of more than average independence to withstand the
pressure of public opinion. Social position depends
upon a man's place in the society, and an outsider
is of less than no account among his fellows. In the
Christian villages, of course, there is freedom, and one
cannot imagine a baptized boy willingly submitting
himself to the futile bondage of the Qat.
During the long period of his seclusion the candi-
date may not wash, but the privilege is accorded him
before he returns to the village. It was a fatal accident
when a girl one day happened upon the scene of such
a washing. In an instant she realized the terrible
nature of her misadventure, and fled for her life to
a school village for refuge. .Sad to say, it was of
no avail. The secrecy of the great Qat had been
violated. The poor girl was pursued, captured, and
buried alive!
CHAP, in MAEWO, NEW HEBRIDES 35
There has been a good deal of burying alive in
Maewo. Really the correct thing when a person
dies is for the next of kin to request to be at once
killed and buried with him. If the petition is granted,
the mourner is wrapped up alive with the corpse and
then trodden to death.
One poor woman, in great grief at the loss of her
daughter, was heard to exclaim, "Let me die too!"
She was forthwith tied to the dead body, and then
deliberately trodden to death by her own son.
One naturally shudders at such facts, but be it
remembered that to the son it was a pious duty that
he was performing to both mother and sister in
setting free the mother's soul to keep company with
that of her daughter.
In Maewo the body and soul are regarded rather
as the white and yolk of an egg. At death the
invisible centre of the body flies into a tree and
laughs at the mourners down below. The body has
been cast aside, but the individual is still close at
hand, and the friends' tears seem meaningless. It
is the custom to place a little food on the grave while
the soul, or ghost, is still hovering around, as is its
wont for a few days not with any idea that material
food can be consumed by spirits, but that the in-
tangible essence or shadow of the food having been
abstracted, the soul may travel on happily to Panoi,
the realm of ghosts.
When Maewo people become Christians the spirit-
world does not recede from them. It comes nearer
unless, indeed, as, alas, sometimes happens, the vision
is obscured by the pursuit of pigs.
Two women who turned into their little bamboo
church one evening to say their prayers, because
36 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
quiet is so hard to get at home, saw a bright, unearthly
light shining over the altar. And they said very
simply that they knew it must proceed from Our
Lord Himself. Quite independently the same thing
was reported from a bush village. Some late traveller
passing by glanced through the church door and saw
this strange light streaming from above the altar.
He awoke the school people and their teacher, and
all gathered round the entrance to the church and
saw the light for themselves. He would be a hardened
materialist who would laugh to scorn the story told
by these childlike hearts.
Yes, they are childlike, very quaintly childlike
sometimes.
I think of two dear old Maewo friends, the head-
teacher and his wife, Harry and Clara. Both are
getting on in years now, and Harry's sight is failing.
Spectacles have come to his aid, however (the first,
perhaps, worn in Maewo), and with their help he can
read as well as ever. A year or so ago they were
spending a summer with us in Norfolk Island, and
Harry took his turn in reading the daily lessons.
But a sad thing happened. The glasses fell and
were broken, and poor Harry had to ask to be
excused from reading at Evensong on account of
the accident.
"So Simon read instead," said old Clara, "but
I don't know why ! As I told Harry, it was only
the glass of the things that was gone, and when he
put them on he looked just the same, and no one
would have known the difference ! "
I have said that pigs are the gold and bank-notes
of Melanesia ; in Maewo the large silver is repre-
sented by mats ! The mats are of grass, and very
MAEWO.
'AFTER COCO-NUTS.
I". 37-
CHAP, in MAEWO, NEW HEBRIDES 37
skilfully plaited. Mats are used in every island
for bedding, carpeting, even for clothing and um-
brellas. But the absurd thing in Maewo is that their
value is enhanced by smoke ! The mats must be
made as black as possible, and the smoking of them
becomes a regular industry. Small houses are speci-
ally built for the mats to hang in, and men in charge
live and sleep there, and keep a constant slow fire
burning under them. Here they remain till great
stalactites of black smoke hang from each one, and
the owners gloat over the ever-increasing blackness.
The preparation of poisoned arrows in the heathen
parts of Maewo is another serious business, rather
more elaborate, I fancy, than in Omba. Of course
there must be the fine, sharp tip of human bone to
begin with. Then an ointment is prepared by scrap-
ing the root of a certain creeper, roasting it over a
fire, and mixing with it the juice of the screw palm.
The arrow is smeared all over with the mixture, and
after an interval of ten days is treated again. This
time it is with the sap of a tree that has the property
of hardening. One moon must now elapse, towards
the end of which the hard coating cracks and the fluid
beneath oozes through. The arrow is ready for its
deadly errand.
There is a curious betrothal rite in Maewo. A
baby girl is born, and the relatives of an eligible baby
boy immediately apply for her. The match having
been arranged, the future husband is carried into
the house with a bamboo tube full of water. His
hands are then guided to splash his bride-to-be,
and from the day of this ceremonial washing the
betrothal is regarded as an accomplished fact. What
the symbolic idea underlying it is, I cannot make out.
3 8 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
Here is a characteristic folk-tale from Maewo,
which was written down for me in Mota by a Melan-
esian, and which I will try to English without angliciz-
ing. To one point I would direct attention. The
crime of the story is not the massacre which ends it,
but the harsh speaking that drives the spirit-child
away. It has been said by one who knows well the
Melanesian mind that to these people " a harsh word
is more immoral than a lie." In Maewo it would
seem to be regarded as more immoral than a murder.
But here is the story. It is headed
THE STORY WHICH HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN ABOUT
THE CHILD WHO ISSUED FROM A ROCK
Of old a father and a mother : their children were nine.
Upon a day they went for a walk. The father and
mother walked following the road, but those nine children
of theirs walked following a river, gathering chestnuts, yet
not far off from them. Then they clambered down to the
beach.
And the father and mother roasted the boys' chestnuts
which they had gathered by the river-side. But the boys
bathed on the sandy beach near the two. And when they
were bathing their mother counted them, for she saw that
they were not nine, but ten. Then spoke she to her
husband about it thus, " But the children of us two are
nine, yet I have counted them, and they are ten."
Then the couple fixed their eyes hard upon them, and
they saw clearly that one of them was very beautiful, and
not a son of theirs. So the two called them hither, and they
saw that they were nine again. And they asked them,
" Did you see any one at all with you when you were
bathing ? "
And they, " No one ! "
But the two disputed with them, saying, " We two saw
one little child bathing together with you. He is fair, and
his hair is yellow, and he is very beautiful."
CHAP, in MAEWO, NEW HEBRIDES 39
Then they sat down to eat. When they had finished
eating, their father and mother sent them back to bathing.
So they went back again to bathe, but as they were diving,
that beautiful child came forth suddenly from a rock and
dived together with them. So the father and mother
then saw how that he came forth from a rock.
And the man said to his wife, " You will stay here and
watch them intently. I will go for a net to the village."
So he went and got quickly a net, and ran quickly
back to the beach. Then he made stealthily for that rock
out of which the child had come. He laid the net over
that rock, and when he had finished arranging it, he signalled
to his wife that she should call them. After that she called
them, and they came prancing up out of the water to come
to her, but that beautiful little child went in the other
direction, in order to climb back again into his place the
rock, that is. But he sat down, not as before upon the
rock, but upon that net the man had spread. So that man
drew it_ up. After that he questioned him, thus: "Where
do you come from ? "
But the child did not at once answer, only cried and
cried. However, presently he answered him : " Nowhere ;
I live here always."
And the man said to him, " I want to take you to be
my son."
But the child answered him, " I fear your sons ; before
long they will be angry with me."
And the man said; to him, " No, I shall not allow them
to scold you. I shall love you exceedingly, because you
are exceedingly beautiful."
Then the little child rose up and went with him, and he
returned with them into the village.
So they dwelt and dwelt there. But upon one day the
father and mother said to the children, " We two are going
out to work, but you will behave properly, and don't scold
that little child."
Then they answered them, " Yes, indeed, we will behave
properly."
But they lied to those two. When the pair had gone
40 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
they began playing properly, but presently they fell to
wondering who should shoot at the tusk of their father's
pig. Then they said that that child should shoot.
But he refused, saying, " Presently I shall hit and break
it, and then you will be angry with me about it"
And they said to him, " No ; if it should be broken we
shall not be angry with you."
So he shot according to their will. He shot ; but the
pig's tusk was broken. Thereupon they began to scold
him.
That poor little child began to cry. Then he rose up.
He would go back to the beach to his own place. And as
he went and went along the road he sang a song and wept.
So he went straight on until indeed he reached the beach.
Now his father heard the voice ; he listened carefully,
then heard distinctly that it was the voice of that beautiful
little child. So he started up from the garden and ran
swiftly to the beach. And he arrived there, but that child
was in the surf already ; only his face could be seen.
Then that man cried and cried, saying, "A wo ! My
dearest son, do not go away ! "
But the little child paid no attention to him. Diving,
he returned thus to his own true home, that rock. And
that man sat down on the sand and wept and wept over
that little child because he loved him exceedingly. Then
he rose up and returned into the village.
But his wrath blazed out fiercely against those nine
children of his. So he killed them every one.
CHAPTER IV
MERALAVA (STAR PEAK), BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features Discovery Interior Augury Suqe Native idea
of justice The bird of evil Contrast: 1874 and present day
Extract from native's letter Everyday life The priest in various
capacities The mago dance " The Fools " Canoes Products
of the island Folk-tale : " The People from Above " An Ocean
language Merig.
BOTH the names of this island are significant.
Meralava means " Big Child," and is in contradistinc-
tion to Merig, or " Little Child," a very small neigh-
bour to the north.
It will be seen from the map that Meralava itself is
not a very big child. Perhaps it is fifteen miles round
the base, and three miles in diameter. Star Peak well
describes its shape. It is just the cone of a volcano,
rising steeply out of the sea at an angle of about 45
to the height of some 4000 feet. There are several
shoulders, which, spreading at the base, make a star-
like figure.
When this island peak was discovered by Quiros
the Spaniard in 1607 the volcano was active, but it
has now long been dormant. It would seem that the
steep mountain slope is continued beneath the sea,
for there is no anchorage obtainable, and the one
landing-place needs its whitened stone, which glistens
like a spark in the distance, to mark where the dark
41
42 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
stream of lava, still uncongealed perhaps when Quiros
came, has solidified into a rocky ground, where the
whale-boat may be beached.
Meralava is the southernmost of the Banks Islands,
politically and geographically included in the New
Hebrides, yet in many ways strikingly distinct, as, for
instance, in the fact that there appears no trace or tradi-
tion of cannibalism in this smaller group. They were
named by Captain Bligh of Bounty fame after Sir
Joshua Banks.
On nearing Meralava even the least observant
eye must be struck with the character of the interior
of the island. There is scarcely a rood of level
ground from base to summit, yet the mountain-side
is cut up into artificial terraces, divided into gardens,
and planted with yams and other vegetables. Truly
a wonderful evidence of industry !
Over the crater there usually hangs a cloud, as in
the photograph, but upon one of my visits I had the
good fortune to see it absolutely clear, with the only
patch of bare earth on the island at the top. Time
did not admit of our climbing to the crater, but whoso
can do so must be well repaid. You find there a basin
within a basin, the innermost being perfect in form.
The sides are clothed with lovely ferns, and owls and
hawks make it their home.
A primitive augury was formerly practised here.
A man who desired to read his future had but to
repair to the crater and mark what bird within first
met his eye. He who was greeted by an owl might
look forward to a long life, but woe to him whose
glance fell first upon a red-crested bird or a black
one. The former betokened a bloody death in
battle, the latter an approaching illness. A hawk
MERALAVA.
THE CHARACTER OF THE INTERIOR."
P. 42.
CHAP, iv MERALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 43
brought promise of future importance a high rank in
the Suqe.
There was once an old chief here who in rank far
outdistanced all competitors. He rose higher than the
highest stage hitherto dreamed of. So he invented
an extraordinary head-gear for himself, and created
a new title, " We Tuka" which signified that he had
reached the sky ; to rise higher was impossible !
The Suqe and its laws used to be taken very
seriously in this small island. Its nobility alone might
sit upon the platform of stones to be seen in each
village. One of our native teachers, building himself
a house here, thought to improve and strengthen it
with a raised foundation of big stones. His action
was interpreted as an infringement of the law of the
Suqe, and the unconscious offender found himself
penalized almost to bankruptcy by the inexorable law
of the society.
Action of this sort is probably grounded on sheer
cupidity. But it may be said once for all that the
native idea of justice often differs widely from our
own, and is hard to understand. Here is an illustra-
tion from Meralava.
A certain youth went over to Merig and died
there. Witchcraft was said to be the cause. The
husband of his father's sister, having for some reason
ill-will to the lad, had obtained a fragment of his food
(one of the commonest ways of encompassing a man's
death in Melanesia), and by use of a charm with it
had done the deed.
If this could be proved, most of us would feel
inclined to pass sentence upon the man. Not so with
the Melanesian.
It was the melancholy duty of the afflicted father
44 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
to let fly an arrow at his sister, because her husband
had charmed his son to death. The whole island
looked upon the affair as a matter of course, and the
father did what was expected of him, being careful,
however, to hurt his sister as little as might be in the
process.
Some strange superstitions linger on in Meralava,
and will probably be generally believed as long as the
people retain their unquestioning faith.
The kingfisher is no longer here in any sense
sacred. On the contrary, the poor little creature is
called "the bird of evil." But they still impute to it
a superhuman intelligence, and no one would kill or
eat a kingfisher on any account. " He knows too
much," they say. The bird's especial function nowa-
days seems to be the carrying of bad news. If a
kingfisher perches near one, it is a sure sign that he
has ill tidings, and the custom is to ask him, " Is so-
and-so dead? Or so-and-so?" naming any friends
who are absent. By the jerks of his head the bird
signifies "Yes" or "No." I know a Meralava boy
who spent a very sad day in the Norfolk Island
hospital, the trouble being that a kingfisher had
knocked against the window three or four times as if
anxious to come in with news.
Meralava is now entirely Christian. It is in the
charge of its own native priest, and from it many have
gone out as missionaries to distant islands, of whom
some have been admitted to Holy orders. It is one
of the brightest spots in all Melanesia, a miniature
picture of what Christianity can do for a people.
Here is the report of Meralava in 1874 :
" Found to be in a very hopeless condition ; de-
populated of all able-bodied inhabitants by labour-trade ;
MERALAVA.
ITS OWN NATIVE PRIEST " WILLIAM VAGET.
A SNAPSHOT ON THK LANDING-ROCK, p. 44 .
CHAP, iv MERALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 45
the old or weak dying or dead, and labourers return-
ing with fire-arms, shooting and poisoning at will, the
corpses being left unburied beside the paths."
In 1 88 1 the first baptism took place, when fourteen
catechumens were made Christians in the presence of
more than 250 heathen.
What is the latest news ? The whole population
(475) baptized, and nearly 200 communicants. And
what can be said of them ?
" The people here are so happy and hospitable,
and so devoted to their lovable old priest, William
Vaget, that one's stay on this island, however short,
is always pleasant and inspiriting. Preparations are
being made for the building of a large church at Leqil,
the increasing population now proving far too large
for the present building."
And here I will translate a paragraph from a letter
I received the other day from William's only daughter,
now the girl-wife of a young Meralava teacher :
To-day the people have been to fetch sago palm leaves
from the mountain, for they want very much just now to
renew the thatch of the school-house, and also to make it
rather higher and wider than before, for the children are
very many, and the room is not sufficient. . . . The people
from every school are gathering here to help with it. ...
Presently everybody will be busy beginning to clear their
garden-ground, and it is well that the school-house should
be finished first.
I can see them all vividly as I write, for the
Meralava people are my especial friends. Their bright,
laughing faces, their eager, outstretched hands, their
clear voices would that those who read this could
see them too !
Finding the Suqe was a barrier to progress, of
46 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
their own accord they put an end to it many years
ago. And yet there is no white man mimicry among
them. They find an interest and pride in work >that
they never knew in the old days, but they work in
native fashion and live the simplest native life. Only
in all the villages the day's work is begun and
ended with united prayer and praise in the village
church " in a tongue understanded of the people." And
since there are no magistrates, or police, or councils,
the Church governs. Her laws express the public
Christian opinion of the natives, approved and con-
firmed by the Bishop, and to them all submit.
It might be one day you would find the gentle old
priest administering discipline twelve strokes in the
presence of the village is the Meralava rule for certain
offences, together with excommunication for a consider-
able time; and the punishment and shame are keenly
felt. But the next day, Sunday, will see William in
the more congenial role of host, entertaining three or
four villages (who bring their provisions) to the weekly
social feast following on the service, where men and
women sit down together, a thing unknown in Suqe
times.
The one feature worth preserving from the Suqe
still remains namely, the dances. I think there is
no daintier or more graceful dance in all Melanesia
than the mago, and this has never been, nor will be,
I think, allowed to drop. There is a real enchant-
ment in the ceaseless triple thrum-thrum-thrum of
the little drum which accompanies every movement
of the dances, even when heard afar off. But to
watch the mago is to realize the existence in these
dark-skinned "savages" of the spirit of true art.
Apart from the terpsichorean genius, there is evidence
CHAP, iv MERALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 47
of a feeling for quite poetic beauty, a strong sense
of rhythm, and an appreciation of dramatic effect.
Stand in a shadow when the moon is full and
watch the tinesara. Two and two from all sides
come strange and eerie figures, with streaks of white
paint on their faces, wonderful white feather-tufted
head-gear, girdles with fringes of shredded palm bark
reaching to the knee, and round every ankle a string
of dry bean-pods that rattle as they dance. On they
come, scudding into the bright moonlight, career
once madly round, and then fall into their places
in that company a little way off, whose advance,
dancing in two rows, is so gradual as to be hardly
perceptible. Up and down the centre prances the
leader, singing a sort of story prologue.
This is the opening of the mago. There is
symbolism in every figure such as the imitation of
birds in one of the prettiest, where the call-notes are
clearly to be recognized. But something of the old
Suqe mystery still clings to the mago, and much of
its meaning is hard to grasp. "We know there is a
thought in every bit of the dance, and we would very
much like to know what it is," said a Meralava girl to
me as we sat watching it. " The men know it, but
they do not tell it to us women."
The speed and excitement increases as the avenue
of dancers reaches the central space and becomes
a whirling circle. But perfect time is maintained
throughout. The hands play a part as well as the
feet, and there is much clapping in the air and patting
of the ground to punctuate the jumping, skipping,
and hopping, all being done in regular process to
the beat of the little drum, and without confusion of
the complicated evolutions. A single word from the
48 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
leader, " Zito /" marks each change. Ever and anon
all stop for an instant, in the strangest conceivable
attitudes, in the midst of the dance, as if suddenly
turned to stone. Or again, there comes with a shout
a backward scurry, scattering in star-like pattern
from the centre on to the outskirts of the ground.
In Melanesia the consecration of the village
church, a confirmation, or a large baptism is celebrated
by feasting and dancing. Does it sound incongruous
to English ears ? To us it seems entirely congruous,
and methinks it would have been so to our forefathers.
Is it the advance of religion that makes any frown
to-day at the notion of such a connection ? I am
afraid it is rather the narrowing and retreat of it that
sets up here and there an impenetrable barrier between
secular and sacred earth and heaven.
There are plenty of other recreations in happy
Meralava ; and though the people are such great
gardeners nowadays, they can thoroughly enjoy the
holidays prescribed by the Church. If a Saint's Day
means a sermon at Evensong, it also probably means
a long day's enjoyment in fishing, bathing, boating,
cooking, and feasting. Then there are no end of
native games for the children. And when one is
tired he can lie on his back and get a friend to amuse
him with telling stories.
They never weary of repeating anecdotes con-
cerning a certain race of people "The Fools,"
Meralava tersely calls them who in the long ago
inhabited one side of the island. Many were the
adventures and misadventures by which they justified
their name. One may suffice.
They grew coco-nut palms, but did not know
the fruit was good to eat, till one from the other side
MERIG.
THE LITTLE CHILD.
MERALAVA.
EVERY SMALL BOY HAS HIS OWN WELEWELE.'
P. 49 .
CHAP, iv MERALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 49
of the island visited them and asked why they did
not gather the nuts which abounded. When he had
gone they made up their minds that his suggestion
was a good one ; but as it never entered their heads
to climb the trees, they agreed that the only way to
gather the fruit was to chop down the palm. Half-
way through the task it occurred to them that if the
tree fell heavily the nuts would be smashed and
wasted, so a dozen of them were posted on the side
it would fall, to catch it and let it down gently in
their hands. But the tree, heeding not their kind
intentions, fell with a crash, and they were all crushed
beneath it !
The natural (though generally tragic) finale is
accompanied by roars of laughter from audience and
narrator alike, and the last sentence is always in-
controvertible " For they were such perfect fools."
I mentioned boating. The canoes throughout
this group are most enticing just the hollowed-out
trunk of a tree, steadied by an outrigger, and forced
through the water with short wooden paddles like
big spoons. Such are the welewele, and every small
boy has his own small one, and paddles whither he
lists.
The generosity of the Melanesians has been
already alluded to, and those of Meralava find their
chiefest pleasure, I verily believe, in giving. We
left Meralava with a boat full of love-offerings, yams,
bananas, pineapples, coco-nuts, and almonds by the
sack. Every year brings such gifts as these from my
friends of Star Peak, and, in addition, exquisitely
woven bags of dried grass, fans plaited from palm
fronds, platters of the finest wicker-work woven from
creeper stems and stained brown, bamboo ear-sticks
E
50 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
the size of a penholder, and pearly bangles hand-
ground between stones out of giant nautilus shells.
Here is a Meralava fairy-tale of the past that was
written down for me in Mota by a native. It is
headed
ABOUT THE PEOPLE FROM ABOVE
Long ago they lived and lived up above, and gazing down
below saw there was a wonderful low tide. They thought
they would go down to fish. So down they came, and put
away, all of them, their wings beneath a gire [pandanus]
tree, then after that went down to the beach to fish.
Now presently a man belonging to that place came
hither, and then discovered them. And he wondered
about it thus : " Where do these come from ? For their
faces are far fairer than the fellows here below."
Then he saw and gazed at the wings beneath the
gire. And he took one wing and hid it secretly under a
rock, then went away and concealed himself.
But when they returned hither every one put on again
his or her wings and flew. One of them, however, had
put on one of her wings, but searched in vain for her other
wing. And she said to her companions, " Ke, sisters !
where is my wing ? "
But they all flew away from her, and she just sat down
and cried and cried.
And when all of them had gone back and left her, then
that man who had hidden away the wing came forth to her
and stood beside her and asked her, " Where do you come
from ? "
But she did not answer him. So then he asked her
again, and so now she answered him, " I am from above."
Then the man said to her, " Let us two go back into the
village."
But the woman replied, "The people in the village are
many."
But he played the strong man over her and said, " Let
us go ! There are no people in the village."
CHAP, iv MERALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 51
That woman arose and went with him. So the two
reached that man's house. And he hid the woman in the
house and went to the gardens to look for his wife.
When he reached her he asked her, " Are you willing
or not ? "
Then his wife, " What about ? "
So he asked her again, " But are you willing or not ? "
And she said, " I am willing."
So the two returned to the village, and he brought forth
that woman to his wife.
And she, " Ke ! What an exceedingly lovely woman ! "
So because both of them loved her so, that man married
her, and his real wife became just a servant to the two.
They would not permit her [the stranger] to work ; she
stayed entirely in the house weaving mats. But that man
and his true wife went every day to work in the gardens.
But always when the pair returned she had made ready the
food, and the three ate.
Now by and by she gave birth to a son, who was a
lovely boy. But still as before it was not permitted to her
or her son to go out to work. Presently, when that child
had grown, she again gave birth to a son. But all three
stayed entirely in the village.
Now when they were getting rather big their father
made for them small bows, and the two went out every
day to shoot blue lizards. And on one day they went
again and shot one, and brought it back to their mother,
and asked their mother thus, " Mother, is this good eating
or not ? "
And she answered them, " No, not for eating." Then
they threw it away.
Now the next morning they went again, chase-chasing
little blue lizards with white tails. Then one of these fled
under a rock to hide, and the two tried to roll away
the boulder, but strove in vain. So the younger sent the
elder to go and fetch their mother. And off he went and
said to their mother, " Mother, come and roll away the
rock from this creature ! We two have tried, but are not
able."
52 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
And his mother rose up and went with him. And when
the two arrived at that place the mother then rolled away
the rock. Thereupon she saw her wing !
And her son asked her, " Mother, what is that ? "
And she, " You two think that we three belong to here.
We three belong above. This is my wing that they hid
away. Come! Let us go and make everything ready for
my going back."
Then the sons wept and asked her, " Where are you
going ? "
And she to them, " I am going back."
So the three killed a pig, and she divided her portion,
and the portion of those who were remaining. And she
said farewell to her children, then went back !
Her sons stood gazing upwards overhead, gaze-gazing
still at their mother until she was lost from their eyes.
Then they went back again into the house, lit a fire,
and cooked the others' food. After that, when the couple
had returned from the gardens, they asked the two boys,
" Where is your mother ? "
And they, " She has gone back ! "
Now one day again those two brothers went out to shoot
pigeons. And they went under a banyan-tree, and, looking
up, discovered a big pigeon sitting there. So the elder shot,
but the pigeon caught hold of his arrow. By and by the
younger also shot, but it caught hold of that also.
After that the two talked together : " Look, it is killed,
but why does it not fall ? "
So they thought that they would climb up and see.
Then the elder climbed. But when he got there, the pigeon
spoke to him : " Are you alone, or is your brother there ? "
And he, " My brother is here. That is he standing."
So the pigeon, " Call him here."
So he went down and called him. And the two
climbed up.
Then the pigeon said to them, " Are you two the sons
of my daughter who came down ? "
And they, " Yes, truly."
So the pigeon said to them, " We three will go back."
CHAP, iv MERALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 53
So the three went back above.
And when they reached that pigeon's house, she hid
away the two, then went and called her daughter who was
their mother.
" My daughter, come here ! You will see clearly if
these are the two or not."
So they went together, and the pigeon brought out
those two to her.
Then she, " Yes, indeed ; these are the two ! "
So she took the younger, but the elder remained with
their grandmother, that is, the pigeon.
How blunt and crude it sounds in literal English I
In vain one tries to reproduce the Ocean atmosphere
with which the Mota surrounds it.
As primitive languages go, I believe Mota is con-
sidered easy. If you hear that there are no inflections,
no genders, no plural suffixes, no voices, moods, or
tenses, you are sure it must be child's play. Well, it
is not quite that. We part with the old worries of
our grammar lessons only to find fresh complexities.
One has not merely to learn new words and ways of
speaking, but new ways of thinking too, which is not
easy. And where we English find one word sufficient,
the Ocean folk will have at least a dozen, none of
which is synonymous.
The pronouns we think at first will turn our hair
grey. A certain vocabulary of nouns (which you can
only find out by experience ; there is no mechanical
rule) must have the possessive pronouns tacked on as
tails. Here is an example :
O tuqei) the garden. Natuqenatol, the garden of you and
Natuqema^ your garden. me and one other.
Natuqenara, your garden and mine. Natuqemam, our gardens, we be-
Natuqek, my garden. ing several, but not including
Natuqena, his or her garden. you.
Natuqenkara, his or her and my Natuqemrua, the garden of you two.
garden. Natuqemiu, the garden of you all
54 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
Natuqenratol, the garden of those Natttqemtol, the garden of you
three. three.
Natuqenkatol, the garden of two Natuqenrara, the garden of those
others and myself, but not you. two.
Natuqenina.) the gardens of all of Natuqera, their gardens.
us, including you.
This is how the Melanesians deal with one class
of nouns. There are other ways for other nouns.
But we will be merciful !
I have been hesitating as to whether it is incum-
bent on us to call upon Merig, the little child, or not.
Cons : It is against my rule in these pages to talk
about any island I have not myself visited, and we
did not touch there, though we saw it in passing.
It is almost too small to talk about.
It is the most inaccessible spot in the Banks.
There is nothing very interesting to tell about it.
Pros : Poor little Merig gets passed by so often,
it seems unkind to pass it by unnecessarily.
The Pros have it !
Merig, like so many of the Banks Islands, owes
its existence to the now extinct volcano which rises
in the centre. To the base of this a wide margin of
coral has advened, so that it would probably take a
good half-hour to walk round the island. There is
no anchorage, nor even a landing-place worthy of
the name. The sea is deep on every side and the
surf is heavy.
When first visited, the people (about forty souls
in all) were split up into hostile factions at war with
one another. But now Merig is Christian, and the
people are famous instead for the neatness and pro-
ductiveness of their gardens.
If the Southern Cross cannot get a boat ashore,
the population "pretty, friendly, and merry," as
CHAP, iv MERALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 55
they are said to be come swimming out en masse,
generally bringing with them samples of their varied
garden stuff. They are intelligent and earnest, and
one of them has now gone as a missionary-teacher
to another island.
Yes, it would have been too bad to pass Merig
by without a word.
CHAPTER V
GAUA (SANTA MARIA), BANKS ISLANDS
Lakona and Gaua Discovery Lake Character of people Battle
and murder Story of quarrel Surrender of arms A Lakona
revenge Debts Distribution of property Death-feasts and
kindred customs Mana superstitions Recipe for sunshine
Kingfishers The casuarina-tree Death-stones Qat the sprite
Story of flood, etc. Traces of former population Song from
Lakona.
WE generally call it Gaua, although, strictly speaking,
that is only the name of the weather side of the
island, which is divided into two districts, lee and
weather, Lakona and Gaua, these being almost as
distinct in speech and customs as if they were separate
islands.
As the European name suggests, this island also
owes its discovery to the Spaniards three hundred
years ago. It is one of the largest of the Banks
group, both width and length being about twelve miles.
Obviously volcanic in origin, two peaks are noticeable
to the north of the island, perhaps six miles apart.
Between them lies an immense crater, or, as some
think, two craters merged into one. This hollow,
1350 feet above the sea, is occupied by the only
lake really worthy of the name which has yet been
found in Melanesia. It is quite five miles in length,
and of unknown depth. At one end there are springs
56
GAUA.
A VIEW ON THE COAST, LEE SIDE.
A VILLAGE IN LAKONA.
P. 56.
CHAP.V GAUA, BANKS ISLANDS 57
of boiling water. Oddly enough, the only fish found
in the lake are eels of a gigantic size, some exceeding
30 inches in girth ! There is an outlet from the lake,
which flows over the cliff into the sea in a goodly
waterfall that is most refreshing to the eye though
it did not make up for my disappointment at Maewo!
Landing on the weather side is a very difficult
matter. It is hard to cross the coral reef that sur-
rounds the coast, and even when once in the lagoon
it is by no means easy to beach the whale-boat and
land dry. We were particularly fortunate here in
our weather conditions, and I found myself on shore
safe and sound, the second white woman to visit
Gaua, my predecessor being the wife of Bishop John
Selwyn many years ago.
There are some delightful people both in Gaua
and Lakona. Christianity is making steady progress
on both sides, and nothing could have been more
kind and courteous than the reception I experienced.
With particular gratitude I remember the Gaua pine-
apples and coco-nuts, for it was a day of parching
heat when we landed.
But I am bound to tell the truth, however regret-
fully ; and it is a sad fact that the Gaua and Lakona
natives are as quarrelsome and revengeful as any in
Melanesia. Battle, murder, and sudden death have
formed until recently the customary routine of native
life by "sudden death" being understood death
caused by charms and wizardry.
When. Gaua fights it is on a wholesale scale, but
the resultant fatalities are generally few. It would
seem they are braver in boast than when the action
comes to close quarters. But peace is made impossible
by the series of planned murders that follows a battle.
58 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
It is contemptible work. Six men will lie in wait to
shoot one unhappy victim. Should they fail to hit,
they all take to their heels and hope for better luck
next time. If they succeed, the dead man's kin will
attempt to avenge the deed in the same way.
Some years ago a school village was terribly upset
by one of these deliberate murders. The white man
in charge of the district paid a visit to the assassin
and began to speak his mind on the subject. It must
have been rather disconcerting to learn when he
allowed the criminal to get a word in that the deed
was done at the request of the murdered man's rela-
tions, who believed him guilty of practising upon them
with charms in a wholesale and unpleasant manner.
The sacrosanct laws of social order would have been
violated had the aggrieved kinsfolk themselves used
violence, so they found this way out of the difficulty !
Considering the fatal end of most quarrels, it is
strange that it should be so "dead easy" (as the
Americans say) to pick one in Gaua. The trouble
is generally connected with charms and sorcery.
Some one's ill-will is suspected as the cause of every
sickness or mischance, and revenge is sought.
It is no uncommon thing when a man dies for
another to be heard to boast in the gamal, " My
doing, that ! " He risks being shot in retaliation, but
on the other hand there is something to gain of no
small importance to a native, and that is the reputa-
tion of powerful mana. One likes to keep on good
terms with a man who can charm you to death if
he pleases, and he would be no true Melanesian who
did not make his fame a source of profit to himself.
Two Gaua friends fell out over some trifle, who
had formerly been intimate. Y. managed to get hold
CHAP.V GAUA, BANKS ISLANDS 59
of a little bit of black tobacco from the stick with
which Z. had filled his pipe. You can kill a man with
less than that in Melanesia. Saliva scraped from the
ground, a crumb of food anything connected with
him will do. Off went Y., gloating over his treasure,
to the village wizard, and contrived that Z. should
hear of it. Upon the instant Z. began to feel seedy,
but determined to get revenge before he breathed his
last.
So that evening when Y. was gaily returning from
his garden he found himself expected on the path.
A suspicious click gave him pause, and he turned to
see his quondam friend only a few yards away pointing
a loaded gun full at him. The same moment he
twisted himself aside and escaped with a trivial wound.
But the fire was now alight. The village was
emptied and the inhabitants split into opposing forces,
all mad with excitement, yet not willing to bring the
matter to an issue of open war. For some time it
dragged on, both sides ever on the look-out for
opportunities of cold-blooded murder.
Happily, the village concerned had accepted a
school, and made the acquaintance in consequence of
a white man possessing tact and will-power in equal
measure. He managed to persuade each side to
surrender the dreaded fire-arms, though this was not
the work of a moment. Fortunately, everybody knew
exactly how many muskets there were in the place,
and each side came to the point of agreeing to give
them up ifihe adversaries would do the same. So
Y.'s friends might safely be trusted to count the weapons
handed over by the friends of Z., and vice versa. In
the end I believe every gun was accounted for satis-
factorily, and there was peace.
60 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
About ten years ago there was another fine
surrender of fire-arms. The chiefs (who are of more
importance here than in the Banks generally) met in
conclave, and came to the decision that if they meant
to follow "The Way of Peace" they were bound to
give up their much-prized guns and forbid the carry-
ing about of fighting arrows. Twenty-six muskets of
ancient pattern were yielded up to the missionary, who
was implored to take them right away. They made
ballast for his whale-boat in crossing over to Mota,
and when still in deep water the wise man sent them
all down to the fishes.
The Lakona method of fighting is certainly more
bold and above-board. They thoroughly enjoy the
occupation, and enter upon it in a business-like way
that recalls the methods of Tweedledum and Tweedle-
dee. The day and place are settled beforehand by
both sides, and when they are tired of fighting, a halt is
called by common consent, and the fight is continued
on the following day, if convenient to both parties.
So strong is the belligerent spirit that outsiders
often seize bows and arrows when they hear of a
battle being arranged and hurry to the fray from
adjacent villages which are no wise concerned in the
quarrel. The social division of the island that
is, the two " sides of the house " already referred to
constitutes a natural ground for opposition, and the
young men will range themselves accordingly and
fight madly, it may often be with no idea of the true
cause. It is said that if one of these outsiders should
kill a man of his own village, he will never return
there.
Revenge does not inevitably involve murder. A
choice is sometimes offered. A Lakona man who had
LAKONA.
LET THE KORO MAN CHOOSE!" MAN OF LAKONA WITH TOMAHAWK.
A LAKONA HOUSE.
P. 61.
CHAP.V GAUA, BANKS ISLANDS 61
a faithful friend was killed in battle by a man of Koro,
the south end of the island. The friend (brother, it
may have been) having discovered who shot the fatal
arrow, sent a message to Koro to this effect :
Let the Koro man choose ! Either let him await the
death-stroke, which will surely descend upon him, tarry we
never so long ; or else let him forsake Koro and become
a man of Lakona ; let him take the place of him whom he
has killed, accept his property [and presumably his debts],
marry his widow, and adopt his children.
The Koro man selected the alternative, and, so
they say, lived happily ever after. Of course the
suggestion is obvious that the Lakona man knew he
was contriving a more exquisite revenge in this re-
marriage ! But, considering the status of women in
Melanesia, that is unlikely. It is more probable that
he of Koro was a courageous warrior famed for his
mana in fighting, of value, therefore, to the ranks of
Lakona.
When I interpolated the reference to the dead
man's debts I was mindful of the fact that in these
islands everybody is always in debt. Our own fiscal
policy appears to many lay minds a trifle intricate. It
is clear as daylight when compared with the financial
laws that run throughout this part of Melanesia.
They are too complex and elaborate altogether for the
mind of a European and a female.
This much is plain : if you wish to borrow, you
must first pay an instalment of the interest. That is
an inviolable law in the Banks group at all events. If
your creditor presses for payment, settle his account
at once, even should you have to borrow from several
more in order to do so and thus plunge yourself into
still deeper waters. I advise this especially in Gaua,
62 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
because there is a process of dunning in vogue here
which must surely be as disagreeable as effective.
A creditor, having applied in vain for payment,
invites some friends to join him in a nocturnal excur-
sion, to be followed by a series of picnics. Very
quietly, under cover of the darkness, a cordon is
drawn round the obdurate debtor's house. At daylight
an entrance is made, and the party breakfasts upon
whatever food can be found within or fetched from
the man's garden. If he has a pig or so, there are
some very enjoyable meals. The visitors settle down
upon the poor fellow's substance like flies on a lump of
sugar, but are a good deal harder to dislodge. They
stay stay stay, and eat eat eat (as they would
themselves express it), and nothing but payment of
the debt in full will remove them. The food consumed
is not reckoned in any way as a set-off! I think this
method would provide a good illustration of the mean-
ing of the word " drastic " !
A mathematical mind among Melanesians has not
yet been discovered. It therefore seems the more
surprising that they should be continually involving
themselves in problems that would baffle most of us.
Whether property is being acquired or dispersed, so
many different agents are concerned that there must
be some hard sums of addition and division to be
grappled with by some one. This complexity is a
concomitant of the semi-tribal system. Twenty people
may have to be considered in connection with one
man's debts and dues. If a wife is in the buying, her
purchase-money will probably be divided amongst eight
or nine relatives. After a man's death his garden-
property is distributed amongst his sister's children,
while his personal belongings may be claimed by his
CHAP, v GAUA, BANKS ISLANDS 63
own. And by a curious concession the trees on his
land descend to his sons and daughters.
In Lakona it is a common thing for a man to hide
a portion of his wealth, and only to reveal it to his son
if the latter perform his filial duties satisfactorily when
old age creeps on. If the father thinks he has just
cause for resentment, the buried treasure will remain
lost for ever.
When a husband dies, the social laws of Lakona
compel from the poor widow a very hideous duty.
The corpse is hung above the ground in the house
for a long period before burial, and the miserable
woman must sleep and live immediately under it.
That she can survive such an experience is surprising.
Burial of the dead is general in the Banks Islands,
and the grave is dug by those on the other "side of
the house " from the deceased.
A fainting attack is accounted for by the temporary
departure of the soul. They say that it started for
Panoi (that is, the nether-world, somewhere under-
ground), but was sent back !
Respect to the dead is shown by the survivors in
a series of death-feasts. In the case of an important
man there may be one every morning for a hundred
days, then one every fifth day, then every tenth, and
so on till a thousand days have been completed. The
fronds of a cycas palm will serve for calendar, one
leaflet being pinched off or turned down every day.
There will be a death-dance too, performed probably
by outsiders who are paid for their services. The
object, the people say, is to drive away grief and
enable the guests to enjoy the feast with a light heart.
It will be readily understood that the island of
Gaua is a very hot-bed of mana superstitions. There
64 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
are round stones with mana for sunshine, long ones
for sickness, and others warranted to cause wind, or
rain, or death, to catch turtles, to bring in pigs and
shell-money, or to ensure fruitful crops. Candidates
for baptism will bring quantities of mana stones to be
carried out to sea, and two old boilers were added on
one occasion as being quite peculiarly full of mana.
So implicitly is the power of rain-makers and sunshine-
makers believed in, that in time of drought a party
went in force and attacked the village of a certain sun-
wizard in Lakona to make him withdraw the charm.
And be it recognized that the magicians themselves
have unquestionably as profound a faith in the charms
as have any of the people. They are no charlatans,
whatever else may be said of them. As a rule they
act as specialists rather than as general practitioners.
There will be one wizard for weather, another for
sickness, another for malevolent purposes, and so on.
For a price the spells may be taught and the magic
stones bought, but the usual custom is for the practice
to descend from father to son, or from a man to his
sister's child.
It was only recently that, a fair passage having
actually been effected to Gaua (the weather side), the
missionary entered the little school-house to find a
heap of stones on a sort of platform over a fire. On
inquiry he learned that to these mana stones he was
indebted for the favourable crossing, and his Gaua
friends were keeping them warm in order that the
calm they had brought about might last.
I have given a recipe for making rain. This is
the way to make sunshine.
A very round stone suggests the sun's shape.
Wind about it a reddened string to give an impression
CHAP.V GAUA, BANKS ISLANDS 65
of brightness, and stick owls' feathers round it to
represent the rays of light. While doing this the
proper spell must be sung in a low, mysterious voice.
The words call upon the kingfisher (and I think this
is an interesting fact when connoted with the Greek
legend of " halcyon days ") to eat the rising waves and
make a calm. For here in the South-West Pacific
not only has the kingfisher a generally supernatural
character, but it is especially accredited with the power
of controlling storms and rain. If a man is starting
on a journey and hears the kingfisher cry, he con-
cludes that it is angry and averse to his plan. He
will therefore sing a charm to propitiate it.
Having done as directed, hang your sun-stone on
a casuarina tree as being also sacred and wait for
the sunshine !
There is something about the casuarina tree that
does impress the imagination. " Nothing can be more
weird and ghostly," says Dr. Codrington, 1 "than an
aged casuarina standing alone on a wind-beaten beach,
or rising on a lofty cliff, with bare grey stem and
shadowless foliage, never without a voice whispering
in a calm, or shrieking in the breeze."
Such is the reputation of this tree that the meaning
of our word "sanctuary" seems best translated as
tano-aruaru, that is, place of casuarina trees.
In the Banks Islands we lose sight of Tagaro the
Little, his place being filled by a sprite named Qat,
who is the hero of many stories, and always seems to
me a very near relation to " Brer Rabbit." The great
lake and the waterfall here have a legendary, diluvian
connection with Qat's departure from this world.
They say that long ago all was forest-land between
1 The Melanesians.
66 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
the two mountains where the lake now lies bosomed.
And Qat made a mighty canoe up there from the
wood of a mighty tree. And while he was a-building
of it his brothers mocked him ceaselessly, asking him
how he proposed to drag a boat of that size down to
the sea. But always his one reply was the same,
" You will see hereafter."
Now when the great canoe was finished he com-
pelled his wife and his brothers to get into it, and he
gathered together every kind of living creature in the
island, even down to the smallest ant. And he had
woven a covering to the boat, so that he could enclose
them all beneath it, and himself to boot.
Then down came the rain, and it rained, and
rained, and rained, and rained, gradually filling that
valley with water, which flowed until it forced a
passage between the hills that stood around it. And
where it poured down to the sea is now the great
waterfall of Gaua.
And the canoe made for itself a course through
the water, and down the fall, until it reached the sea.
Then it vanished. But the people say that with Qat
went the best of everything in the island, and some
day he will surely return. Bishop Patteson, when
first he visited Gaua, was taken by some of the natives
to be Qat redivivus.
There is a spider-spirit, Marawa, a little old grey-
beard, who is generally Qat's good genius and faithful
friend, but in Lakona we find a legend that varies
from most in this respect.
Why do people as time goes on lose their eyesight,
hair, and teeth ? In Melanesia grey hair is called
one's "second hair," as if it were different from the
first. And they say it all began with Qat. He
CHAP.V GAUA, BANKS ISLANDS 67
had made a woman for himself (creation was Qat's
favourite pastime, as that of Tagaro), and Marawa
stole her. While both were asleep, up came Qat in
anger, pulled out their teeth, shaved their heads,
putting coarse hairy fibre from a tree-fern on their
bald crowns, and finally spread cobwebs over their eyes.
So when we buy our first spectacles we may blame
Qat for the cobweb !
Was it in the days of Qat, I wonder, that the Gaua
villages swarmed with inhabitants, energetic folk who
worked with huge stones, building solid pedestals
and wall-foundations for their gamal and houses, the
remains of which can still be seen, pathetic witness
of an age that is past? Here and there stand great
hollowed stones, resembling the wine-vats found in
Pompeii. Everywhere are traces of a formerly large
and strong population.
What is left ? Villages with only thirty to fifty in-
habitants apiece, and amongst them not half a dozen
babies. Magic and poisoned arrows have been doing
destruction for generations, and sheer ignorance and
laziness account for the scarcity of young children. It
may be that brighter days are now in store for
Gaua.
I have ventured to express my opinion that the
Ocean people are an artistic race. Their canons (if
they possess any) are naturally different from ours, and
when one is asked, for instance, if there are poets
among them, it is hard to answer in the affirmative,
knowing what construction a European questioner puts
upon the word. Perhaps the reminder is hardly neces-
sary that there is no written language in Melanesia,
and no prior acquaintance with any form of literature.
But here is a specimen of a native song, after which
68 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
the reader may form his own .conclusion. Of course
it is meant ("measured" is the native expression) to
be sung, not said, and each division is repeated. The
words are always put together for the music, so the
poet is the " song-measurer." There is especial pleasure
in producing an example from Lakona, where the
general intelligence is reputed of a low standard.
The idea is that a Lakona man named Maros has
left the island in his canoe, and been long gone. The
song was measured in his honour, and to please his
relations, so it is called
THE SONG OF MAROS l
Leale ! Ale!
I am an eagle ! I have soared to the farthest dim horizon.
I am an eagle ! I have flown, and lighted at Mota.
I have sailed with a whirring noise round the mountain.
I have gone down island after island in the west to the base of
heaven.
I have sailed ; I have seen the lands.
I have sailed in circles, I have been strongly set.
An ill wind has drifted me away, has drawn me away from you two.
How shall I make my way round to you two ?
The sounding sea stretches empty to keep me away from you.
You, Mother, you are crying for me : how shall I see your
face?
You, Father, are crying for me : how shall I see your face ?
I only long for you and weep ;
It is irksome to me ;
I go about as an orphan,
I alone, and who is my companion ?
Rolusulwar [his little daughter], you are crying for me with-
out the house !
[Then the poet addresses Maros.]
Youths !
My friend, you have lingered ;
1 From The Melane starts : their Anthropology and Folk-Lore, by the Rev.
R. H. Codrington, D.D.
CHAP, v GAUA, BANKS ISLANDS 69
I have lingered over your song.
I have measured it, and lengthened out my voice.
The sound of it has spread down hither to my place.
Ask ! Hear !
Who was it that measured the Song of Maros ?
It was the song-measurer that sits by the way to Lakona.
CHAPTER VI
MOTA (SUGAR-LOAF ISLAND), BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features Description of people Account of 1857 Natives'
impression of white men Lack of water Fishing The un
Social laws Weather charm Children's games Social custom
Qat superstitions Folk-lore.
IT is an unromantic simile, but when I recall my first
sight of Mota in the distance I shall always think of
a coal-heaver's hat. From another point of view the re-
semblance of the volcano to a sugar-loaf is clear enough,
but a first impression is not easily wiped out. When
we neared it, however, one cried out at the sheer
loveliness of it. The mountain, which is 1350 feet
in height, is covered with dense bush, but there is
a rich variety in the vegetation, and it rises from a
coral plain, now very fertile. Round the coast there
are fine cliffs and caves, against which the blue sea
ever beats and breaks in dazzling surf.
The usual crowd of friendly natives was on the
landing-rock to greet us, the air was musical with
laugh and chatter, and for a few minutes my progress
was somewhat painful and unsteady, tottering over
jagged coral and stumbling over the tree-roots whilst
shaking hands unceasingly with the eager, hospitable
people of Mota. What struck me most at the outset
was the positive beauty of the boys and girls. I did
70
MOTA, BANKS ISLANDS.
WHEN \VE NEARED IT."
THE USUAL CROWD ON THE LANDING-ROCK."
P. 70.
CHAP, vi MOTA, BANKS ISLANDS 71
not notice a really plain one. Perhaps the type is
rather sensuous than virile, but it is very pleasant to
look upon. Large, dark, bright eyes with long curved
lashes, small, well-shaped faces with full red lips, and
softly curling hair, more often brown than black, some-
times tinged with a light reddish hue. And from out
the dusky face flash the white teeth continually, for
in Mota there is much laughter, especially when the
Southern Cross " our own ship," as all the islanders
call her arrives.
We have not yet entered the borders of those who
chew the betel-nut, so there is no disfigurement from
that cause. And the ears and noses are not distorted
by heavy rings. But, best and strangest of all, what
tattooing is done here is of the slightest. When the
ship first visited Mota, in 1856, I find it recorded that
" the natives wear neither clothes, nor ornaments, nor
tattoo."
Since jotting down my own impressions I have
come upon those of Bishop G. A. Selwyn on his visit
to Mota in 1857, fifty years before our own :
The island " is of a peculiar form, having a volcanic cone
in the centre, resting upon a flat base, as if an eruption of
igneous rock from below had pierced through a flat coral
reef, raising it 50 or 60 feet above the water, without alter-
ing its level. ... It is in islands like these that we grow
out of conceit with Heber's missionary hymn, because ' every
prospect pleases,' and man is not vile ! "
Mr. Patteson (afterwards the martyred bishop)
adds his account :
The scenery was lovely. First, a steep wall of coral
40 or 50 feet high, covered with foliage, the parasites and
creepers giving to the trees a regular dense roof; then the
sugar-loaf peak, and a backbone running from it, towering
72 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
above the coral wall, so steep that it could be seen from the
beach itself and all covered with trees, coco-nuts, bread-
fruit, etc. ; a bright coral beach, and two hundred and fifty
clear, tawny - coloured forms running, jumping, bathing,
swimming, chattering, and laughing.
Now shall we hear what were the first impressions
of the Mota folk when visited by the white men ?
Bishop Patteson, to pave the way for a friendly foot-
ing, presented the chief with an axe.
"He loves me!" exclaimed the man. "It must
be my father ! He had a dark skin when he died, but
now he has left that in the ground and come forth
white." And for some time the belief held that the
white men were the ghosts of Melanesian ancestors.
" He is not a real man," they said of the Bishop,
" for he has no feet, only something like hard stones ! "
And even when he took off his boots, they were still
uneasy, for he had no toes !
Some of those on the ship wore red shirts, and the
idea got afloat that such must hail from the place
where the sky begins, and catch the redness of the
sun when it sinks over there in the evening. The
ship itself, though only a sailing vessel, was to them
a magic monster. One of the natives has written
down his first thoughts about it :
I thought the ship was made by a spirit. For why did
it not drift ashore ? I thought the ship must be like a man ;
it would move or stay as it was ordered, and I supposed it
had been told to stay still.
The white men remained for three days, then went
away :
The ship began to sail. We did not know they had
weighed anchor, but one man gave orders to the others
about the sails. I thought he was speaking to the ship,
CHAP, vi MOTA, BANKS ISLANDS 73
telling it to go out of harbour. It sailed out quite straight.
I saw no one steering with a rudder oar, so I again thought
the word of that man had mana, and that he had told the
ship to sail, and the ship obeyed, and I saw the ship sail
straight out.
The same writer adds, with regard to themselves:
We lived at enmity then, one with another ; we were
always fighting, and always lived in fear.
For many years now all have been baptized, and
fighting is at an end.
Mota has no water-supply. The natives drink
coco-nut milk, or what brackish water can be found in
holes in the coral. When the precious rain falls, it
is collected with great care, and saved as long as
possible. For the rest, there is always the sea to
plunge in, and I have heard of washing in the juice
that oozes from banana stems. The fishing is good,
and there is no lack of fruit and vegetables, nuts and
almonds.
No Mota native, by the way, will throw the shell
of a coco-nut that he has eaten upon the fire, for the
result anticipated would be a swelling of the roof of
the mouth correspondent with the blistering of the
inside of the shell.
The flying-fish are as big as a man's arm, and are
excellent eating. But there is a piscine delicacy still
more highly esteemed here and throughout all the
Banks and some other of the Pacific islands. This
is the strange and mysterious un t known to zoologists
as the Annelid palolo viridis.
The un is a sort of sea-worm centipede, of thread-
like thinness, but sometimes measuring a foot in
length. Its colour seems to vary between black, dark
74 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
brown, and green, down to a very light shade. The
appearance is uninviting, but the taste is said to be
like shell-fish in the form of vermicelli. The natives
everywhere agree in pronouncing it to be by far the
nicest of all the things produced by the sea.
The curious part about it is that the un only makes
its appearance twice a year on a particular night for
a few hours, well known beforehand to every native.
The two un moons (which are named accordingly)
correspond to our October and November, and on
each occasion the un may be looked for six days after
the moon has passed her fullness. And it never fails
to appear.
The previous evening the natives all leave their
villages, and, carrying long torches, made from palm
leaves, wend to the shore, where they will spend the
night in readiness for the coming of the un. It appears
to be born in the cracks of the coral a little while
before daybreak, and at sunrise disappears ! For this
brief space the sea around and inside the reef literally
swarms with wriggling masses of these creatures.
Some take them in nets by the thousand and put
them into pots or baskets. But most are content to
scoop them up in their hands until they have enough
and to spare. For two days we can fancy the gor-
mandizing that goes on, and then one can almost
hear the smack of the lips and the wistful sigh as the
islanders resign themselves to another year of waiting
for the too-retiring un.
I wonder whether it was originally an instinctive
desire to add zest to daily life in these remote islands
that led to the creation of all the complex social
customs which are as binding in the little Sugar-loaf
Island as anywhere in the Pacific.
CHAP, vi MOTA, BANKS ISLANDS 75
The word un reminded me of them, for it has
another meaning, which I will give directly.
There is an innate reluctance in nearly all Melan-
esians to pronounce their own names. The name, of
course, is not the patronymic, but the individual
appellation given to a child in infancy by its friends. It
becomes a part of its owner, as it were, and there is
possibly a feeling that to give out one's own name is in
some way to cheapen oneself. At any rate I always
have the conviction that it is not mere shyness, but a
sort of self-reverence that deters them.
It does not last. Mixing with white folk, who are
wont to ask the embarrassing question pretty frequently,
the boys and girls by degrees grow accustomed to
answering. But we on our part fall into the native
way of asking, not the owner, but his or her companion,
for the desired name, and then by turning the tables
learn that of the other.
I was talking to a dear old woman in Mota, whose
widowhood was marked, according to custom, by a
rope tied round her neck. I asked her name, for she
had formerly been at Norfolk Island, and might have
been willing to enlighten me herself. But she only
broke into a merry laugh, and, turning to a friend who
stood by, said, " Her heart is dark concerning my
name ; tell it her ! " And so I learned that it was Ro
Ruav.
But this is a small thing. When you get to con-
nections by marriage it seems to me it is hardly safe
to name any one. A man may not name his father-in-
law, his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, his son-in-
law, or his daughter-in-law. But if he pleases he may
name his sister-in-law! A woman never names her
son-in-law. A wife's parent may not name the
;6 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
husband's parent, and vice versa. By the intermarriage
of their children the Melanesian imagination sees them
meet upon the same path, so henceforward they
designate each other as "fellow-traveller." A girl
once betrothed will not name her fiance or his sister.
If he is a John, or has any other name that occurs
elsewhere, it is taboo when met with, even in the
books of the Bible.
One feels that these few examples (and probably
the list of tabooed names could be vastly extended)
must call for a gift of recollectedness in everybody, for
to make any mistake is a serious error, and may
involve a heavy fine. But not only is the entire
name forbidden, but no part of it may be used in
conversation.
For instance, a woman is named Ganvalqori.
Qon means day. She marries, and thenceforward the
unfortunate father-in-law is forbidden the convenience,
if not necessity, of mentioning a day ! The name of
Ganvalqori's husband is Ulgau. Ul means to untie,
or set free, andgau is the all-essential fish-hook. In
what a predicament then is the lady's poor father
placed by his son's betrothal !
The difficulty is met by an extra vocabulary of
native words, employed to express all common objects,
or actions, or qualities by those whom the social law
has placed in a dilemma. These words are not
fabricated : some are archaic, some are only an indirect
way of expression, as one might say " cloud- water " for
"rain." They are understood by all, and are known
as un words. To employ one is to un.
There are other methods of showing respect to
one's relatives. A parent speaking either to his son-
or daughter-in-law uses the dual pronoun " you-two "
CHAP, vi MOTA, BANKS ISLANDS 77
even when one alone is concerned. The mother
must not come near her son-in-law. If they meet
accidentally, she steps aside and stands with her back
to him till he has passed. But the father need not
avoid his daughter-in-law.
It is considered the height of disrespect to take
anything from above the head of another or to step
over any one's legs. When a husband or wife dies,
the survivor shows respectful grief by abstaining
from some special food for perhaps a year. Women
are hired to come and wail for the dead as in oriental
lands.
The Suqe has not yet been abandoned in Mota, 1
and it is only one of quite a number of similar societies
in vogue here. The everyday life of the people seems
to be inextricably knit up with them. One's debts are
so connected with the Suqe that they cannot be either
paid privately or forgiven altogether. The business
must be transacted publicly, and a feast made about it.
There seems no instinct of shame or discomfort in
connection with money owed. As is the case in Gaua,
so here. All are in debt more or less, and creditors
are for ever roaming about trying to raise at least
some of the money and pigs due to them, that they in
turn may in part satisfy their own creditors. It has
been said that the whole complex system is " a hopeless
muddle." But those most concerned seem satisfied
with it, so we can but shrug our shoulders.
There is also a custom of friendly loans between
Mota and the adjacent islands. The money may not
be especially needed, but it gives an object for a boat
journey. Suppose a pig is lent, and the recipient in
1 At the time of writing (1911) a serious attempt is being made to extinguish
it throughout the Banks group.
78 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
return gives some strings of shell-money as a first
instalment of repayment. Some little time afterwards
the creditors row over and call for what is due to them,
and, following the lavish rate of interest common in
these parts, they get two pigs for the one lent. Here
the matter might end, but that would be thought a
close-fisted way of acting. Instead, the visitors will
before leaving request a loan, which will involve a
return visit by and by, and matters will be fairly
equalized. So "the ball is kept rolling, money is
made, feasts are eaten, and friendships sealed."
We climbed up to the nearest village, a very small
one, but not without its long gamal. The entrance to
this was screened with cycas fronds, a taboo sign put
up by the Suqe with reference to a kolekole which had
taken place a week before.
A kolekole is a festival in connection with some
society, got up by a man who has built a new house,
acquired some new possession, or is advancing to one
or more of the eighteen steps in rank, each of which
has its special name and privilege. The first step in
the Suqe costs here but half a fathom of shell-money,
and the early ranks are usually paid for by the useful
" Tata" or mother's brother, the father and friends help-
ing towards it. The new member has no share in the
feast made on his account. After fasting and living in
concealment for about five days, he must cook and eat
only at his own oven in the gamal. In the higher
ranks, where one step may cost as much as five pigs
and sixty fathoms of shell-money, a man will have to
cook for fifty successive days in his new oven.
Sometimes four steps are taken at once, and then
the junketing is prodigious. The orchestra will consist
of native drums of various sorts, one thumped on with
CHAP, vi MOTA, BANKS ISLANDS 79
fists, another beaten with sticks, another lightly tapped,
while for treble instruments are shells tied up to rattle,
and the elsewhere^mentioned anklets of dry beans.
Ceremonious dancing (prancing better describes
the action) takes place between the great man to whom
the money is paid and the happy candidate. The
former makes a flattering speech as he trots about,
approving the latter's zeal. The pigs are produced ;
each is solemnly smacked by the candidate, and at
every smack three men of rank sound a blast upon
conch shells. Then the shell-money is spread out in
its strings, and the conches sound again. One pig at
least will form the chef-d'oeuvre at the feast, and after
the feast comes more dancing, even the women con-
tributing their quota in the Lena, a dance in which, I
fear, there is nothing of grace or beauty.
And when the festivities are over, what does the
result amount to ?
The giver of such a kolekole may move four ovens
higher up in the gamal. " There's glory for you ! " as
Humpty-Dumpty would say. He may sit upon the
stone platform just outside the gamal. (I saw an aged,
aged man sitting blinking there, surrounded by pine-
apples, and tried to realize the tremendous honour of
such a position.) He may wear the feathers of a fowl
dyed crimson round his neck and ankles. He may stick
up a bit of sago palm to make a " taboo." He may also
wear or set up certain very " taboo " kinds of hibiscus.
All this is splendid indeed, and he doubtless lies down
in the gamal that first night with an overwhelming
sense of his own greatness.
It might be thought that wild flowers could be
picked by any one and stuck anywhere. Once an
innocent missionary put some red and white hibiscus
80 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
into the little school-house to make it look bright for
Christmas. To his dismay he learned that he had used
a taboo sign of the Suqe and incurred the anger of all
the most important people. Not only must the flowers
be at once removed, but the white man found it advis-
able to pay the fine to which an offender was liable.
If a native dares to adopt the badge of a society
to which he does not belong he is mulcted in a pig.
This he has to bring in person, and suffer a beating
from a member of the offended society for his
impudence. After that he must find the requisite
sum to cover his entrance fee and be initiated
whether he likes it or not.
As I have inferred, the number of societies in
Mota is extraordinary. Entrance to some costs very
little, others are so expensive that none but the elders
could dream of joining. The Great Ghost Society is
the chief, and nearly everybody belongs to that at any
rate. Of old it was supposed to enable the initiate to
communicate with departed souls, but little if anything
of the supernatural clings to it now.
Writing from Mota in 1877, one of the first
members of the Mission says :
To-day I met a wild and grotesque-looking party of
men ; they belonged to a society called Tamate [ghosts],
and had been to pull a house to pieces in order to compel
the owner to join them. They were adorned with hibiscus
flowers and croton leaves, their faces were smudged with
charcoal, in every mouth was a leaf, and each carried a stick.
Two or three had on a kind of hat and mask, with a long
fringe of leaves reaching down to the heels, completely
hiding all the body but the legs. They danced along in a
comical way.
In such disguise as this a gang of members would
CHAP, vi MOTA, BANKS ISLANDS 81
sally forth armed with clubs and visit the displeasure
of the society with great violence on any unfortunates
who had been known to hold aloof from it. The
lodge of the Ghosts is not thegamat, where the Suqe
reigns supreme, but the salagoro, an enclosure the
secrecy of which is rigorously maintained. When any
function takes place here, every path leading to it is
made taboo with cycas fronds or some other recognized
sign, and woe betide the unauthorized wight who
ventures along one ! A candidate for initiation must
keep his fire burning in the salagoro for a hundred
days before he is admitted, and then payment must be
made to all the members.
Another society has no lodge, but a specially
intricate dance which is taught in secret to every
candidate. It was the custom when the newly admitted
came out to perform the dance for the first time, for
the old members who could no longer dance to gather
round to criticize with bows and arrows. Keenly
would they watch the steps, and if any one made a
mistake, whizz went the eager arrow at the culprit !
Supposing injury to be the result, it was universally
regarded as the debutant's own fault ; no blame
attached to him who let fly the arrow. Methinks it
must have been rather nervous work dancing then !
The women are not quite left out in the cold.
They have a sort of Suqe of their own, a kind of
feeble imitation of their husbands ! There is paying
of money, and making of feasts, and gaining of rank.
A lady may advance to the tattoo stage, or to the
wearing of a shell bangle, or, higher still, till she has
the felicity of being allowed to improve her face with
smudges of red ochre. But I have never heard that
there is any secrecy in the women's Suqe.
G
82 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
An injured wife in Mota has a possible remedy, if
she choose to apply it, as has often been done. She
can take to the water by night and swim out of her
husband's clutches. The drawback is that instead of
reaching a neighbouring island, one is apt in error to
crawl ashore on the opposite side of one's own, and
thus get caught and subjected to an intolerable deal
of chaff. On the other hand, a case is known of a
woman swimming from Mota to Lakona, a distance of
twenty miles. She landed, and found a new husband
and home there. Another more recently reached
Motalava, eight miles off. The journey took six
hours, but though her husband gave chase in a canoe,
by diving and swerving she managed to avoid capture.
Of course I dared not peep through that palm-leaf
screen into the long gamal, and doubtless one is much
like another in these islands. The ovens vary in size,
growing larger till the middle of the gamal, when they
begin to diminish as fewer feed at each.
Sometimes a weather charm might be found within.
Perhaps it is a large shell full of earth, in which is
planted a longish stone smeared with red ochre. It is
fenced round with sticks, about which the stem of a
creeper is twined. And if you ask what this means,
why, it binds up the wind so that we can't have a gale !
Do they really think the wind will blow no more ?
Well, it can't while this is kept in good condition ;
when it rots, the wind will be set free. They are
fortified against all mischance. If the wind rise to-
night, the explanation is always the same, and incontest-
able. Somebody else is working a charm to make
wind, which evidently has stronger mana than this one.
Turning from the gamal to the women and
children's part of the village, my eye was caught by
CHAP, vr MOTA, BANKS ISLANDS 83
the little thatched sheds on piles, shown in the
photograph. They looked like toy houses, but I
soon found them to be larders. The children of a
family will have their own apart from their parents,
where their private pineapples, yams, etc., are stored.
I visited Mota twice, but did not sleep ashore.
The custom of returning to the ship before dark had
to be strictly observed (I only broke it once to prove
the rule) by those who did not wish to contract
malarial fever. The malignant mosquito (Anopheles
is his name) is reputed to bite only after dusk. But a
tropical island under the moon has a charm it knows
not in the garish day.
And the children, who have no nurse to hurry them
to bed at sundown, choose the moonlight hours for
their play in the tinesara. Many and various are their
games, and all have a singing accompaniment, as in
our oldest English ones.
In one the little brown feet trace circles on the
ground, big enough for three or four players to stand
in, no ring being very close to another. They call the
circles their ovens, with thoughts of the gamal and the
Suqe. Then a round shell is thrown from one oven
to another, and if it fall face downwards there is a rush
of all the players to the oven of him towards whom
the shell was thrown, and the owner tries to touch
somebody before safety can be won by getting inside
the circle. Even if a fugitive can only hold the hand
of one of the occupants he is counted safe, and can
save a friend with his own hand. But if one is caught,
then there is another rush for that one's oven under
the same conditions. If all find refuge together, the
players sing a little song in words of an archaic Mota
language and the shell is thrown afresh. Should it
84 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART ,
fall on its back there is no rush. The owner of the
nearest oven merely tosses it on to his next neighbour.
There are other games which must have originated,
one fancies, far back in our planet's history, when all
the children of the earth played together; such are
on the ancient principles of "Tig "or "Blind Man's
Buff." But here is another, more definitely Melanesian
in type.
It begins wtih the bright-eyed brownies all sitting
in a big ring stroking their outstretched legs, which
by and by are doubled up underneath them. Then
one after another carefully rises, all listening meanwhile
whether his joints crack. If they do, he is a flying- fox,
and goes off inland. If they don't, he is a hermit
crab, and goes seawards, but neither company travels
far. Next, one crab hits another, who forthwith yells.
There is a shout from the flying-foxes, " Who are you
yonder?" "The children of the hermit crabs are
we ! " comes the reply. More questions and answers
follow, in which each side insults the other, until,
worked up to mimic fury, the two bands rush blindly
backwards towards each other, upset as many as may
be, and themselves probably, and the battle ends in a
hurricane of laughter.
The birth of the first-born son in Mota is marked
by a curious custom. When he is a day old the father
carries him without the house, where a friendly little
crowd awaits them, armed with wild oranges, with
which they are gently pelted. The father is careful
that the child be not hit, for if such a thing befell, it
would augur that hereafter he would be shot with
an arrow. When the playful attack is ended, the
father distributes largess on a modest scale amongst
those who took part in it.
CHAP, vi MOTA, BANKS ISLANDS 85
We have already made acquaintance with Qat,
and Marawa, his friend, the old man spider. In former
days, if not actually worshipped, their help was sought.
It was thought they had the power to give a boat a good
voyage by holding fast to the mast, keeping danger
away, and making the course smooth. This is how
the Mota man in his canoe would appeal to them :
"Qat! Marawa! May it be let the canoe of
you-two-and-me [it was prudent to give them the
honour of part-proprietorship] turn into a whale, a
flying-fish, an eagle ! Let it leap on and on over the
waves ! Let it go ! Let it pass out to my land ! " l
In Mota they say that when Qat began creating
he made men and pigs to walk alike on two feet.
But his brothers suggested variety, so the obliging
Qat beat down the pigs to go on all fours, and left the
men on their hind-legs !
They say, too, that at first death was unknown.
As old age approached, mankind shed their skins
snake-fashion, and behold, they were young again.
But there was one, a mother, who did so, and, on
coming back to her house, found herself a stranger to
her own child. In grief she went back to the bush,
hunted till she found the cast skin, and clothed herself
once more in it. The child knew her again, but the
skin grew older and older, and the mother paid the
penalty at last with death. From that day men cast
their skins no more.
This mother has now the post of guarding the
entrance to Panoi, the unseen world. When a ghost
draws near she looks to see if his ears are pierced.
If not, it is her prerogative to break her bamboo
water-carrier on the head of the unlucky wight.
1 The Melanesians.
CHAPTER VII
MOTALAVA (SADDLE ISLAND), BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features Origin of earthquakes Ra Lagoon-fishing Suqe
Superstitions Ghost-shooters Story from Ra Native beliefs
Funeral custom Shell-money Money-spinners Social customs
Folk-lore : " Qat and the Nutmeg Tree."
SOME eight miles to the north of Mota lies an island
with some resemblance to it in section outline, but
fully three times its size. In plan it is lozenge-shaped,
with one corner elongated into a tail. This is
Motalava, or Great Mota, in contradistinction to its
little neighbour. There is a depression in the volcanic
mountains which make the island's backbone that
suggested to Captain Bligh the name he bestowed
upon it of Saddle Island. In common with Mota,
Motalava has an expansive surround of flat coral land
between hill and sea.
Earthquakes are common here, as in most of the
volcanic Melanesian islands, and the old-time mythology
of Motalava supplied an explanation of them. The
world so far as they knew it (consisting of a few little
islands and an expanse of ocean) was borne Atlas-
wise upon the shoulders of a being whom they named
" Father-of-us-all." Sometimes, excusably, growing
tired of the weight, he was wont to shift his burden
86
MOTALAVA.
KASPAR, A MOTALAVA BOY.
RA AND THE LAGOON.
TlNESARA AT RA "THE LONGEST GA.MAL I SAW."
P. 87.
CHAP. v,i MOTALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 87
from one shoulder to another, and it was this abrupt
movement that shook the islands.
The tail of land I have referred to is cut off from
the mainland at high tide, and forms then a separate
islet called Ra. Part of it is visible in the foreground
of the accompanying picture. The sea retires to leave
it a coral-reef peninsula, stretching less than a mile.
But the Ra people will not allow that they live in
Motalava. " No," say they, even when so far off as
Norfolk Island, "No, we are not from Motalava;
we come from Ra ! "
A sheet of water lies inside the reef, perhaps
two hundred yards across. This is a favourite
fishing-place when the tide is low, but the method
adopted may not commend itself to followers of the
gentle art in more civilized countries. On a selected
evening you may see a number of the natives busily
engaged in scraping the bark of a certain shrub into
the water. It is one of those of which the milky sap
has poisonous qualities. They say it is astonishing
how little is required to infect the whole lagoon.
Before the sea returns at break of day the surface
is dark with canoes and swimmers, hard at work
collecting their spoils. The dead fish in quantities lie
at the bottom of the water, and must be dived for.
Some, merely stupefied, are shot with bow and arrow.
The strange part seems that the poisoned fish convey
no harm to those who eat them, and it is said that the
flavour is in no wise affected by the manner of their
death !
It was at Ra that I saw the longest gamal, of
which a photograph is appended, and here there was
no taboo sign, so one might even venture to look in
and see the row of ovens. It has been added to
88 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
again and again to provide cooking-places for those
who have attained to the very high ranks.
The Suqe and the Great Ghost Society have still
no small power in Motalava. If a man is taking one
of the higher steps in rank, or if the society merely
wishes to add to its wealth, the whole island is
" bound " for one day it used to be for five by order
of the two societies. At such a time it is dangerous to
leave the village, for there is risk in every path of
being met and punished with violence by members
disguised as ghosts. As the people submit implicitly,
it is not surprising that we hear sometimes of the
" ghosts " robbing gardens and stripping fruit-trees.
While the island is thus "bound" no one may speak
above a whisper ! Of old no fire might be lit, but this
rule, I am told by a Motalava woman, is now relaxed.
Of course a fine is exacted for any infringement, and
the society benefits !
The Christian religion has taken firm root in
Motalava, but it need hardly be added that the super-
stitions of heathen days linger on, when, after 1500
years of Christianity, England is not yet rid of them.
A man gets ill, and then remembers he trespassed
near some spot that was taboo in heathen days
because pervaded by a spirit of power. Perhaps he is
suffering on that account ! At any rate, while the first
instinct will now be to apply to the clergy or teachers
for medicine and ask God's blessing on it, the second
instinct may be (on the principle of leaving no
stone unturned) to send a little gift of money to
the owner of that uncanny bit of ground, on the
understanding that he will use his influence to undo
the mischief.
The ceremony to be employed in such a case is
CHAP, vii MOTALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 89
simple enough. It may not even be necessary to go
as far as the spot indicated ; for if by chance the man
is met by one of the lizards so common in these
islands, and it does not avoid him, that is a sure sign
that the creature is possessed of the sufferer's soul, and
if carried back it will restore it and the patient will
recover. If, on the contrary, the lizard vanishes, the
offended spirit's sanctuary must be visited and the sick
man's name called aloud there twice a day. Each call
is followed by a tense pause. Should a kingfisher cry
in response, the soul may be prevailed upon with an
entreaty to return, and the good news that he can
recover at once is carried to the sick man, who
naturally proceeds to do so.
There is a projecting cliff still known at Motalava
against which a heavy surf beats ceaselessly with a crash
of spray and foam, always followed by the menacing
roar of the baffled enemy, retreating only to return
untired to the attack. Standing on this cliff in former
days, men would throw food or money into the foaming
billows to obtain success in gardening or in fighting,
as the moment's need dictated. Away beyond is a
rock only to be reached by diving, but from which
mana can be obtained at a touch.
Among very harmless notions entertained both in
the Banks and also in the far-away Solomons is one that
on a long walk, a difficult path, or a steep scramble a
man can ward off fatigue and make better progress by
throwing some leaves, or sticks, or stones to one side,
with the words, " There goes my tiredness ! "
But in the bad old times there was wizardry of the
blackest in little Ra, to-day all smiles and sunshine.
Yes, and the old times are not yet very old, not as old
as a grown man. There were ghost-shooters in those
90 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
days, from which the white man's guns take their
Mota name.
The wizard must be persuaded with money to
prepare a ghost-shooter. With preparatory fasting, ,
and the accompaniment of the inevitable magic song,
the bamboo is packed with its fatal ingredients, such
as dead man's bone and leaves hot with mana. The
weapon is then ready to be delivered to the man who
has set his heart upon killing his enemy. It is such
a little bamboo that it can be carried in the hand
without attracting notice, and the open end is covered
with the thumb until the unsuspecting foe is near at
hand. Then with malicious triumph the hand is
outstretched towards him not in friendship ! The
thumb is lifted and the magic influence released in
his direction. If the unlucky mortal sees the ghost-
shooter he loses all power of resistance and falls to
the ground. He might not die at once, but he will crawl
home a doomed man whose hours are numbered. Yet
nothing external has so much as touched him. Such
was the power of the ghost-shooter.
A story comes from Ra of a rich man with a
grudge against somebody, unknowing and unknown.
All that was known was that the great man had made
ready a ghost-shooter and a feast at the same time.
So strong is Melanesian curiosity that all the Ra
world came to the feast, whilst perfectly aware that
amongst them must be the individual whose life was
forfeit. The feast would be crowned by a " kill," but
who would be the victim ?
The host, to make his magic stronger, fasted
unwashed for so many days beforehand that the feast
found him too weak to walk forth to it. The excited
guests assembled in the tinesara for the dance which,
CHAP, vii MOTALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 91
according to custom, must precede the feast, and
presently a grisly object appeared, carried between two
supporters a blackened, shrunken skeleton of a man.
There they set him down, at the edge of the dancing-
ground, and all saw the thin trembling arm
straightened ready, holding the ghost-shooter.
The drum began to tap and the dancers to circle
round, while two burning eyes from out a wasted face
watched each as he passed and waited still for his
opportunity. The time went on, the dancers passed
and repassed, and the watcher's gaze from intensity
gradually gave way to bewilderment. Which was his
victim ? This ? He raised his arm and uncovered
the bamboo. Even in the midst of the dance's whirl
all saw, all felt what had happened. The wretched
man who stood in the line of the magic shot fell stiff
and prostrate, and the dancing stopped. The same
moment the shooter became aware that he had felled
the wrong man, and loudly proclaimed his distress.
Friends gathered round the poor fallen one, and
urged him to put out his strength to resist the magic,
since there was no harm wished to him in the act.
And when the fainting man understood, he revived,
and presently recovered. Of what afterwards befell
the unknown who had so fortunately escaped I can
find no record.
In Motalava from earliest times there seems to
have been a recognition that by their conduct in
this life men prepared for themselves their abode
hereafter. Those who behaved in accordance with the
native ideas of goodness departed after death to a
vaguely happy, shadowy Panoi ; those reprobated by
their fellows were condemned to be vaguely miserable.
If any one of importance died, before burial his
92 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
corpse was carried into the tinesara, and there publicly
harangued. If he were popular he would then be
well-spoken, and doubtless even flattered. But if
his character had not been above reproach, now was
the time to say quite openly what was the general
opinion concerning him. On one occasion the funeral
address was heard to end pathetically, " Ah, poor
ghost! will you be able to enter Panoi? It's hardly
likely ! "
A good deal of the shell-money current in the
Banks Islands is ground in Motalava. Each disk
is about an eighth of an inch in diameter, pierced in
the centre, and strung upon tough thread made from
the fibre of a creeper. And each is laboriously
chipped with a stone to its present size and shape.
But the people tell one of a much quicker and easier
way than this of coining ^money by magic, the power
of which abides with a certain lucky few to whom
the spirits have confided it.
It was only quite recently that the Bishop of
Melanesia, having heard of such a one in his neigh-
bourhood, went on a visit of inspection to try and
extricate the truth from the marvellous tales reported
to him.
He found a quiet, harmless-looking old woman
living with her husband, a man of sufficient wealth
to have risen to the style of chief, which is of no
great importance in the Banks Islands. Both are
members of the Church, well reported of by all, and
regular in attendance at prayers. Judging from the
appearance of the money-spinner herself, one would
say she must be rather stupid and unimaginative.
Her own account of the matter is that a certain rock
is the abode of a sprite (" Vui"} with a family of four
CHAP, vii MOTALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 93
children, and that it is one of these juvenile sprites
who influences her.
She was quite ready at the Bishop's request to
give an exhibition of her powers. The performance
began by dancing and singing. Then, rubbing her
hands together after the manner of a European
conjurer, sure enough forth came some native shell-
money, apparently out of space. It must be re-
membered there were no sleeves where anything
could be concealed. The Bishop examined her hands.
Some remains of the money were clinging to them,
and there were some leaves, chosen, no doubt, for
their mana. The husband now came forward and
began playing a little tom-tom, again there was the
shuffling of the bare feet as if in a sort of dance,
again the hands were rubbed together, and out came
a long coil of fresh shell-money.
No explanation can be offered of this. There is
no doubt that everybody in Motalava believes im-
plicitly in the power of these money-spinners, and
if one's own intellect did not stagger at such a
possibility, it might be declared that the woman
herself was convinced she had a supernatural power.
The Bishop asked how it came to pass that her
husband was not an exceedingly rich man if his wife
could make money at will. The answer was ready :
" Because whenever he displeases her in any
way the money all vanishes."
A Motalava friend informs me that now one well-
known money-spinner has died, but the mysterious
power has lately made its appearance in a little girl of
three or four years. Long strings of shell-money are
found in her hair, and if she drinks the juice of a
green coco-nut or water from a cup, money is always
94 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
found afterwards in the shell or cup from which she
has drunk !
"In truth it is mysterious ! " was the final comment
of my informant, and I can close the subject with
no better one.
From what has been already written, it will have
been inferred that customs in Melanesia have so
strong a hold upon the natives that they develop into
laws, unwritten, but well understood and universally
obeyed. There is one such custom common through-
out the Banks Islands, which is slowly dying, but
will die very hard. Yet it is one that makes such a
cruel demand upon parents that there will undoubtedly
be rejoicing among many when it becomes extinct.
This custom rules that parents must give away
their first-born son, should those relatives who have
the right make request for him. Four instances spring
at once to my own remembrance, and certainly in
three of them the heart-strings of the parents were
sadly torn in making the sacrifice. Two of these
cases belong to Mota, and one to Motalava. Albinos
are not uncommon here, and very odd the pink skin,
flaxen hair, and weak, light eyes look in conjunction
with the native cast of countenance. But they are
admired by the people, and the albino child seems
particularly treasured in a family. So one was really
taken aback when a little pink and white infant of
two years, who was the delight of its parents' eyes,
was given away unhesitatingly on request being
made for it.
And such surrender of a child is final. The
relationship is broken off completely, never to be
regained. But very commonly parents who have
suffered a loss like this seek to console themselves by
CHAP, vii MOTALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 95
adopting in their turn a foster-son. The adopted
child is of the same side of the house as his foster-
mother, so he takes the position of a true child of
the family. If out of pity an orphan, say, from the
husband's side of the house should be adopted, it
is all - important that the fact be kept from his
knowledge as he grows up. Sooner or later the
truth leaks out, and great is the distress of the lad.
He will forsake his foster-parents, and seek a home
on the other side of the house.
Remembering how strong the tribal feeling is
among the islanders, it is surprising to find a child's
individuality accepted and respected in Melanesia
in a marked degree. You meet a mother on the
path, her baby slung at her side, and remark, " You're
going to work in your garden ? " " We-two ! " will
be the gentle correction. The baby is regarded as
an associate in whatever its mother undertakes, and
must not be omitted in your consideration. The
mother wants some cotton for her sewing, but " We-
two want it " is her formula. And when the formality
of shaking hands is gone through, a native will not
omit to solemnly shake hands with the unconscious
baby.
In Motalava every child has its own garden in
which (as soon as old enough) to cultivate the roots
for its own consumption. At about eight years old
a boy is free from the care and control of his parents.
He sleeps in the gamal with the men, cooks in the
oven of his own rank, and shoots with his own bow
and arrow.
In the accompanying photograph of a Motalava
boy, attention may be drawn to the ear-sticks, which
are an ornament very common in the Banks Islands.
96 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
They are made of bamboo, upon which minute devices
are scratched, and then coloured by smoking over a
fire.
With the advance of Christian habits, family life
and family government are finding their way into the
homes of the teachers, at all events ; and it will be an
excellent thing for the youth of the islands when they
learn all that fatherhood and motherhood should
imply. As it is, they are fortunately controlled to a
great extent by their innate respect for custom and
by a natural docility.
Qat and Marawa have their due place in the myth-
lore of Motalava, so I will here translate another
Banks Island story from the traditional adventures
of Qat.
QAT AND THE NUTMEG TREE
Qat's brothers were never tired of trying to deceive him,
and Qat was never tired of foiling their plots. Once upon
a time
They gathered together and discussed how they might
do^ him, and they agreed to cheat him over setting bird-
snares in the nutmeg trees. Now a piece of ground was
prepared by each containing his own nutmeg tree, but that
of Qat they prepared a good way off from the village, while
the rest were close to.
And on a certain day they went, and took Qat with
them, and started out to snare the birds in the nutmeg
trees. And his brothers told him to go to that place away
off, and he went.
They, however, did not go on long, but as soon as the
brother who was nearest saw that Qat had climbed up, he
got down from his own tree, stood on the ground [beneath
Qat's nutmeg] and said, " My nutmeg, swell ! "
And the nutmeg became very big, so that Qat could not
1 Literal translation.
CHAP, vii MOTALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 97
clasp it with his arms, even the top shoots and all swelled
exceedingly.
But Qat did not see at once, for he was arranging the
snare, and he who had charmed the nutmeg tree ran back,
gathered his companions, and they hurried back to the
village, carried off Ro Lei [Qat's wife] by force, drew down
the boat, and paddled swiftly away. And when they were
out of sight of land, then they blew a conch-shell so that
Qat might hear.
And he heard, and he was sure that his brothers had
seized his wife and his canoe. Now to get down quickly
from the tree ! But he could not, because every bough of
the nutmeg had grown so big. In vain he tried and tried
to descend. And he could do nothing but cry.
Then that sprite Marawa, Qat's friend, heard his loud
crying, and, coming up, saw Qat weeping and weeping.
So Marawa said to Qat, " What's the matter ? "
And he answered, " My brothers have cheated me
properly, for I cannot get down."
Then the other said, " Come down ! "
Now Marawa had flowing hair, and he lifted up his hair
to Qat, and Qat was able to come down by it, 1 and Marawa
set him free, and off he went.
Now Qat arrived at the village, and saw only the rollers
left which were used for dragging the canoe. And he
looked in vain for his wife, for his brothers had fled, taking
the canoe to be their canoe, and they had taken his wife
also to be their wife.
After that Qat went inside the house and took a cock's
feather, and some of the very small shell-money which is
used as an ornament, and a clam-shell adze, and some red
earth. Then said he to his mother, " Mother, where are my
bananas ? "
And his mother said, " The others have stripped
the bunch clean, there are only the tiny ones at the end
left."
So Qat tore off the very last ones. Next he took a
coco-nut-shell water-bottle, packed these things into it, and
1 Another version makes the Marawa (spider) spin a web-ladder.
H
98 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
this food of his. And [having first been rubbed small by
Marawa, according to another version] he said, " Now,
mother, do you shut me in and stop the bottle, and when
you see three large waves roll on to the beach, and a
small one following, then throw me on to the fourth small
wave."
And Qat sat down inside the coco-nut. So Qat's
mother counted the four waves and threw him in.
His brothers meanwhile had sailed right away past
Gaua, then Meralava, and were near to Maewo and out in
the open sea when Qat was thrown upon the wave. But
away he floated floated floated, fast fast fast after the
canoe, and kept beckoning that canoe towards him.
The brothers were paddling as hard as they could in
the opposite direction. Presently one turned round and
exclaimed, " Hullo, what's this ? We are drifting fast back
to Meralava. We had almost lost sight of it some time ago,
and now we are nearing it again. How is it ? "
They settled to their paddling more earnestly than ever
in hopes of making way, but all to no purpose. Qat
was beckoning them back, and the canoe drifted towards
him.
By and by Qat floated forward to the bow of the canoe,
and he ate a banana and threw the skin into the sea ahead
of the boat. And his brothers came upon the banana skin,
and said, " Eke I That banana skin reminds one of Qat's, of
which we took some." And they all asked one another if it
was their eating, but everybody denied having eaten it.
Then said the Wisest Brother, " You fellows, it is Qat
who has eaten this banana, and he has thrown the skin
hitherward as a sign to us that he is not dead, but has
escaped, and is coming after us."
But the others disagreed : " No, that cannot be ! Qat
is sitting in the nutmeg tree crying for his wife and his
canoe."
" I know that that is the skin of Qat's banana," said the
Wisest Brother.
Presently they saw that coco-nut that had Qat within
it : it floated to the side of the canoe. And one of them
CHAP, vii MOTALAVA, BANKS ISLANDS 99
took it up, saying, " My coco-nut ! Mine to eat ! " But he
smelt it. " Ugh ! it is bad ! " and threw it away.
And it floated to the stern ; and another took it up and
said the same thing, and then threw it away ; and so on,
one after another. Only the Wisest Brother did not see
this coco-nut they threw away.
Then Qat floated away before them, and floated to land
at Maewo. And he came forth from the coco-nut, and he
smeared his head red, and wreathed it with the fine shell-
money, and decked it with the cock's tail. He looked quite
spruce, considering that he was an ugly fellow. And he
sat on the top of a gire tree on the beach and waited for
the coming of his brothers in the canoe. Presently they
came through the reef and neared the land. And they
looked up and saw him sitting in the gire tree.
" Brothers, who is that sitting up there ? "
" That is Qat," said the Wisest Brother.
But the others contradicted him. " It can't be Qat !
It's too good-looking for him ! And how could he have
come here? He must be dead by now."
" Not so," said the Wisest Brother ; " this is Qat
indeed ! " For that Wisest Brother knew more than all
the rest.
And soon they found out that it was Qat.
" Qat, how did you come here ? " said they.
" Oh, my own way," said Qat.
Then they struck on a rock ; and Qat made the rock
rise out of the sea, and the canoe was lifted high on to the
rock. And Qat helped them all out of the canoe, and they
arrived safely on shore.
And Qat said, " Now an ugly fellow lives here who eats
men. We must mind what we are about or he will eat us.
Hitherto we have not lived together as one in a friendly
way. Our only hope now is to live together and help one
another, or we shall all be killed."
Then he sprang forward with his shell adze and chopped
the canoe up into little pieces, singing as he did so
" Whose canoe is it ?
Why, Marawa's canoe !
ioo ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
My brothers hoaxed me
About setting a snare :
1 Swell, nutmeg tree ! '
The snare was loosed !
I had a canoe ;
It sailed away from me."
And after that Qat made friends with them again.
CHAPTER VIII
VANUA LAVA (GREAT BANKS ISLAND), BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features Native life The Great Ghost Society The cry of
the Ghosts St. Patrick's School Mosquitoes A shark story
Qat superstitions Recent encounter with a sprite Folk-tale :
" Qat's First Meeting with Marawa."
VANUA LAVA, being interpreted, is Large Island, and
as Gaua is very distinctly larger, it does not strictly
deserve either of its names, the English or native.
Nevertheless, the islands nearest it look very small
in comparison, and as Gaua is too far away to appear
as a rival, it undoubtedly gives one the impression
of great size.
There is a splendid view-point for the Banks
group when Ureparapara lies immediately behind
one, Rowa in the near foreground, with Motalava
in the background, to the right of that Mota, still
farther away to the right Gaua, and here in the right
foreground Vanua Lava, its mountains and gullies
all " with verdure clad."
I seem to see it now as I saw it first, looming
gigantic before our face, vividly verdant after a spell
of wet weather, and surrounded by a sea, still foaming
and fuming, but of the most brilliant blue, flecked by
" white horses " and flying-fish. A cloud of smoke
from the heart of a mountain marked not an active
102 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
volcano, but a sulphur spring, and I remember our
Vanua Lava anchorage one Sunday becoming some-
what malodorous towards evening by reason of the
sulphur wafted on the breeze.
A French company made an adventurous effort
here to work the sulphur mines, but when they had
lost 1,000,000 francs in the enterprise they retired
from the field. The remains of their rail-track are
still visible.
Vanua Lava plumes itself, on the strength of
having two or three trading stations and a Central
School connected with the Mission, as of importance
equal to its size. But it is really sparsely inhabited,
and the standard of enlightenment apart from the
school is not high.
They are a bright, friendly people, eager enough
when the Southern Cross appears to come swarming
out to the ship in boat-loads, decked with fragrant
coloured leaves and white blossoms. They are
forward too with gifts yams, and almonds, and
woven girdles wrapped in palm leaves.
The village of Pek, which we visited first, was
scrupulously clean and tidy, with its church and school
fenced off from the pigs in the tinesara ; and I spent
a very pleasant morning there among the women.
The houses are long and airy, with a door at either
end. Over the door of the one in the picture are
the words, Ni tamata alo ima iloke, i.e. Peace be
to this house ! Outside lie native bags and mats,
the bamboo water-carrier, a few oddments of Euro-
pean extraction, and (on the reader's left) what looks
like a birch-rod, but is really a besom composed of
the midribs of sago frondlets. Where I sat, inside,
there was a fine native chest full of almonds, with
CHAP, vin VANUA LAVA 103
the ashes of a fire beneath it. Mats were spread on
either side for sleeping on, and cooking utensils were
hung about. The house was shared by plenty of
shabby chickens and a scraggy little dog or two ;
the pig for once lay outside.
I have several friends among the Vanualavans,
and one naturally dislikes to say anything to the
people's detriment. But they do not enjoy a
blameless reputation, and if they are not your
friends they are likely to become very bitter, sullen
enemies. Progress is slower here than it should
be in the island which contains (here at Pek) the
first church in all the diocese to be set apart for divine
worship.
The fact is, we should soon see a very different
state of things in Vanua Lava were people and
teachers not overruled as they are by their secret
societies. The Great Ghost Society is very strong
here, and the little boys are initiated while quite
young. An account, from another pen, of all that
may be seen at an initiation may be of interest.
The inevitable feast begins the function. Then,
in response to a long, loud cry from a man, the
" Harmless Ghost " appears, rushing towards the
tinesara from an inland path.
He came along with a light, springy step, two white
rods in his hands, which he jerked up and down. All you
saw of the man were his two legs. On his head was a
curious kind of hat [made of bark dyed and decorated with
scarlet seeds] which is also a mask, with holes for the eyes.
From the head fell long fringes of blanched coco-nut leaves
which covered the body entirely, and "formed a kind of
Inverness cape, through which the hands protruded. He
rushed about with a peculiar, high trotting action, the leafy
cloak flying about him with a rustling noise.
104 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
Presently he came leaping over the stone wall into the
central space with a springy bound, and danced round and
round the group of children who were to enter upon their
initiation. All at once with a shout he rushed into the
midst of them, and beat his two wands together till they
were broken over the boys' heads.
A tall enclosure close by, formed with a screen
of coco-nut fronds about 20 feet high, conceals
the precincts of the Ghost Society's lodge, which is
always hedged round with secrecy. Into this en-
closure the Harmless Ghost now retires, and the
group of candidates file off in procession round the
tinesara^ where are many pigs tied to stakes. Every
pig is solemnly smacked by every child, then all
disappear one by one into the tall enclosure, to be
seen no more for perhaps forty or fifty days, by which
time the full payment in money and pigs necessary
for membership will have been made up by the
candidates' relations.
In Vanua Lava originated the peculiar and un-
earthly noise which of old much affrighted the innocent
villagers, for it betokened that the Ghosts were out,
and mischief might be expected. For long enough
no one but the performers knew how the cry of the
Ghosts was caused, but that little mystery is now
solved and its origin.
It was two members of the society who one day
heard this same curious sound proceeding from a
point of rock always regarded by the islanders as
ghost-haunted. On wending their way thither they
discovered an old woman sitting on the beach making
shell-money. She was shielding off the sun's rays
with a palm frond, and using the stalk-end of the same
to hold the shell. The rubbing of the stalk-end upon
VANUA LAVA.
VUREAS BAY.
LANDING-PLACE, VANUA LAVA.
P- 105.
CHAP, vin VAN U A LAVA 105
the stone caused the fan to vibrate, and a really extra-
ordinary, penetrating noise was the result. Pleased
with a discovery which they saw promised to be
profitable to them, they killed the unfortunate money-
maker and carried off the stone and palm leaf for
use in their mysteries.
There are two or three excellent anchorages off
Vanua Lava, perhaps the best being Port Patteson
on the lee side, named by Bishop George Augustus
Selwyn after Judge Patteson, the martyred Bishop's
father. Vureas Bay is another, which is overlooked
by St. Patrick's Central School, with its mission-
house and school buildings, church and cemetery,
its beautifully-kept gardens and lawns, its bathing-
pool, and the successful little coco-nut plantation.
The school-house is picturesque enough to merit
illustration. The fruit trees conspicuous are mummy-
apple, which form a cool and luscious addition to the
table in this climate. The boys were probably on
the beach when the photograph was taken, but they
may generally be seen enjoying themselves thoroughly
in their play-time, looking trim and clean in their
dark-blue striped singlets and malo^ with leathern
belts.
In Vureas Bay there is (or was till recently) a
teacher's house built so close to the sea that it was
said that in a strong north wind the fish were blown
into the oven and the pigs up into the trees !
The mosquitoes are a terrible pest in parts of Vanua
Lava ; in the rainy season even the natives are driven
at night to leave their houses and bury themselves in
the sand on the beach in order to obtain rest. Social
1 Malo, a male garment, consisting of a piece of cloth fastened round the
middle, and falling to the knee.
106 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
custom makes it rather tiresome for a man if his
mother-in-law also finds shelter on the beach and
happens to return to the village before him. He
cannot follow the path as long as her footsteps are
traceable, but must either wait till they have been
obliterated or else make a circuitous detour.
From Vanua Lava comes one of the shark stories
which are believed or not according to one's disposition.
While in Melanesia it is certainly easier (if you can)
to believe than to disbelieve them, because they are
so numerous, and the people are themselves so certain
of their authenticity.
The son of a chief paid a Maewo man a sum of
money to have a shark sent to him. I italicize the
word " sent," because there was no conveying of the
shark. The creature simply received his orders
from his friend in Maewo, who knew the way to talk
to him, and off he swam, north-north-east, till he
reached Vanua Lava, where he was met as arranged
by this Manurwar. The two became intimate. When
Manurwar went down to the beach, the shark would
swim towards him, and follow him in the surf as he
walked along the shore. There are many strange
things in the Pacific !
Vanua Lava has the honour of boasting Qat's
birthplace, and the Hill of Qat is a familiar land-
mark. The stump of the tree which he cut for his
canoe is still there ; a little Vanua Lava maiden has
just told me with pride that she has herself seen it,
and it is very old ! Canoe-makers are wont to put a
little money on the root with the hope that Qat will
give their canoes mana for swiftness and strength and
ensure them against sinking.
To judge from an incident said to have occurred
VANUA LAVA.
A VANUA LAVA HOUSE.
ST. PATRICK'S SCHOOL-HOUSE.
p. 1 06.
CHAP, viii VANUA LAVA 107
here not long ago, Marawa must have remained in
the world when Qat left it.
Early one morning a man was walking by the
river-side when he saw before him a little pygmy with
flowing hair. Of course it was a vui (sprite), and none
other than Marawa himself. The mortal followed him
up the valley till it narrowed into a rocky gorge, closed
at the end by a rock. Marawa tapped upon the rock
with his knuckles, and it opened to him like a door.
Marawa entered, and the man followed close behind ;
then the rock-door shut upon them both.
At once the man saw he was in the house of
Marawa, and the vui directed him to return to the
village and fetch him some money, on which condition
he promised to reappear to him and become his friend.
From that day the man prospered in everything he
undertook, and made no secret of the source of his
success.
This is the story of
QAT'S FIRST MEETING WITH MARAWA l
It was proposed that Qat and his brothers should make
'canoes, so that they might sail to the different islands of
Gaua, Motalava, etc., so they set to work and made axes
out of a large shell. Qat alone remained idle, and to all
their questions he gave some evasive answer. Soon they
began cutting their canoes out of different trees ; each one
chose a separate kind of tree. They went away each
morning, and came back late in the evening. When they
went away, Qat found a shell, and began rubbing it down
to the right shape, doing it all secretly, and hiding the
shell about evening time. When his brothers came home
they found him lying down, pretending to sleep.
" Qat, why don't you make yourself a canoe ? What
1 Mainly translated by the late Archdeacon Palmer.
io8 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
do you lie there all day for ? By and by you will want to
sail, when we go, and you will have no canoe to go in."
" Oh," said Qat, " I will stay at home and take care of
the village whilst you all are away."
" No ! " said they ; " go and make a canoe ! "
This happened day after day. Soon Qat's shell-axe
was finished, and directly his brothers had left to go to their
work, Qat took his shell-axe and went in search of a tree.
After a time he found the right one a long way off.
" Ah ! " said he, " this will do for me. I will make a
fine canoe of it ! " and began cutting it down.
He had nearly cut it so that it was ready to fall when,
seeing the sun about to set, he hurried home and lay down
in the gamal.
" Q at > g an d cut yourself a canoe, you lazy fellow ! By
and by you will want to sail with us."
" Very well," said Qat ; " you are making canoes for us
all. I will go in one of yours."
" Not in mine ! " " Nor in mine ! " " Nor in mine ! "
said they all. " Qat, you are a bad fellow, and we will not
take you."
" They are our canoes you are making, and I will go
with you."
" That indeed you shall not," said they all, " unless you
make yourself a canoe."
" All right ; you'll see if I don't," said Qat.
The next morning Qat went to the tree, and to his
surprise he found the tree which had been almost cut through
quite sound again ; each chip had been replaced, and the
tree was perfectly whole.
" Hallo ! " said Qat ; " what's this ? I cut this tree all
but through yesterday, and now it is as sound as ever.
Who has been at work here, I wonder ? What shall I do ?
Shall I cut this again, or find out another one ? I will have
another try at this, at all events."
So he set to work, and got it nearly cut through when,
looking up, he saw the sun almost setting.
" I wish," said he, " I could wait and cut it right down,
but I must hurry back, or my brothers will be home first."
CHAP, vin VANUA LAVA 109
So he left the tree and hastened home ; and then the
same scene occurred as on the preceding night, Qat pretend-
ing he would go in one of their canoes, and they one and all
refusing to take such a bad fellow with them.
Next morning Qat returned to the tree, and found all
the chips replaced again. This happened three times, and
then a happy thought struck him. He cut out one very
large chip, and instead of going home as usual, went to some
distance in sight of the tree he had cut and lay down, cover-
ing himself with the large chip he had with him, to see who
it was that kept hindering his work.
After a time a form like a very small old man with the
longest white hair imaginable crept out of the earth and most
diligently collected each chip and replaced it in the cleft, so
that the tree was sound again, with the exception of the one
large chip under which Qat was lying.
The little old man hunted about for this, but could not
find it, and seemed terribly perplexed as to what to do.
Qat saw him, and knew him to be Spider (i.e. Marawa)
After a time the Marawa discovered the chip, and went to
fetch it. He took hold of one end and drew it off Qat,
who jumped up and made as though he would have killed
Marawa.
" What do you mean," said he, " by hindering my work
in this way ? I want to make a canoe of this tree ; why
do you prevent me ? "
" Look here ! " said Marawa, " I will help you and make
a canoe for you. How are your brothers getting on with
their canoes ? "
" They will soon be finished."
" Well, in how many days do you want your canoe ? "
" Ten," says Qat.
" Oh, that is too long ; five will be enough."
" Well, do you make the canoe, and I will make the
paddles, and the sail, and the outrigger."
And so it was agreed, and Qat returned to his village.
When there, his brothers began again about the canoes :
" Why don't you make yourself a canoe, Qat ? "
" Oh," said Qat, " I won't go at all I'll stay behind and
no ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
watch you sailing about, and take care of the village." And
so he was left alone.
Qat's brothers having finished their canoes, they deter-
mined to have a sail, and so prepared food the day before,
that they might have plenty to eat with them. Then in
the morning, everything being ready, they went down to
the beach, each with his wife, Qat sitting apart on the shore.
First one canoe was pushed into the water, and one
brother and his wife sprang into the boat. But Qat lifted
up his hand, and down went the canoe to the bottom, and
the unfortunate couple swam ashore with their food in their
hands and dried themselves in the sun. The next pair
thought they would be more careful, but the same thing
happened. And so it was with all the rest. Eleven new
canoes were lost, and eleven husbands and wives scrambled
ashore to dry in the sun.
Then Qat disappeared, and ran away to where his canoe
was in the bush, and he and Marawa carried it down to the
sea [in another bay], hoisted sail, and steered for the place
where the brothers were, they in the meantime sitting on
the rocks, disconsolate at the loss of their canoes, but trying
to comfort themselves with the food they had saved. By
and by they heard the blowing of a conch-shell.
And the Wisest Brother said, " The sound of that conch
is as if Qat were blowing it."
But the others said, " No, he is moping in the village,
sitting in the dust, staying at home all day."
And still the Wisest Brother persisted, " Qat has made
himself a canoe ! "
" Nonsense ! " said his brothers ; " how can he have a
canoe? The lazy fellow was sleeping all day long. He
can't have made a canoe ! "
" But I tell you I'm sure he has, and you will soon see
if what I say is not true. Look, he is away now ! Let us
wait here, and I'm sure we shall soon see him on the sea in a
canoe. Don't you know that he always deceives us because
he was born first ? " And so they sat, the Wisest Brother
keeping a sharp look-out.
In the meanwhile Qat was sailing towards the place
CHAP, vin VANUA LAVA in
where his brothers were, Qat and his wife, Ro Lei, in the
bow, and Marawa steering. Just as they were coming in
sight of the brothers they turned round, and so Qat steered
and Marawa sat in the bows.
The Wisest Brother saw them first.
" There ! " said he ; "I told you so. There are Qat and
Ro Lei in his canoe. But who is the little old man in the
bows ? It is Marawa ! "
" Hallo, Qat ! " said they ; " where did you get your canoe
from ? "
" We two made it," said Qat.
After which he went and made all the lost canoes rise to
the surface and float, and he drew them on shore.
CHAPTER IX
ROWA, BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features The people " William " anecdotes Arts and crafts
The ways of turtles The ways of sharks Rowa's pride and
joy Native discipline.
A FEW miles to the north of Vanua Lava lies Rowa,
an island too small, and low, and insignificant to have
received an English name from Captain Bligh or any
other voyager. It is just Rowa tout court, and nothing
else. I doubt if any Europeans except ourselves have
ever visited it.
You can hardly discern it at all until you get quite
close to it, for it is only a little line of sand and coral just
above the surface of the sea, distinguishable by the
plumy coco-nut palms that twinkle fairy-like through
the quivering, glassy heat.
I shall always see it so, as it was that wonderful,
dazzling blue morning when we swung down by the
rope ladder from the big ship's side into the whale-
boat and set sail for that dream -shore. The oars
were shipped, for the stiff breeze blew just as it should,
and the boat cut a smooth, swift course for the land.
It was too fine a day to be clear. The boundary
between sea and sky was obliterated : we swept along
through a water-world that seemed all blue, and white,
and gold.
ROWA.
; WILLIAM."
"THE WHOLE POPULATION WAS ASSEMKLED " VANUA LAVA IN THE DISTANCE.
P. 113.
CHAP, ix ROWA, BANKS ISLANDS 113
The enchanted island is guarded. An endless
barrier-reef surrounds it, marked every here and there
by projecting masses of coral rock that take the shapes
of bears, whales, and fabulous monsters. Three times
our boat struck rock in crossing the reef, but sustained
no damage.
In the lagoon the water shallowed rapidly. The
sail was furled, and oars were plied as long as
possible, yet still a stretch of water lay between boat
and shore.
But the whole population of Rowa, including babies
(thirty-five souls), was assembled on the sparkling,
powdered coral beach to welcome the expected visitors,
and now they plunged into the water and came wading
out to meet us. The dark skins were refreshing to the
eye, tired by so much brightness. Two men, Sogotle
and Alfred, carried me ashore sedan-chairwise, many
brown friends surrounding.
Then came the happy, mirthful reception on the
beach, dear old William Qasvaroii, the native deacon,
a true father of his people, and his fine, virile-looking
wife Lydia doing the honours. Two or three warm-
hearted, laughing women took possession of me with
arms and hands, and hurried me off through the grove
of palm-trees to the village.
Before reaching it let me say a few words about
the inhabitants of this little island, so unimportant from
the exterior, so noteworthy from the inside.
In 1886 the population was recorded as twenty-
three, and I don't think that within the Mission's
memory it has exceeded forty. Yet the Rowa people
have a particularly marked individuality. Nature has
endowed them with excellent gifts of mind and tempera-
ment. They are intelligent, friendly, and attractive.
ii4 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
Of course they have a language of their own, but their
linguistic skill is such that they can converse equally
well in any of the languages common to the surround-
ing islands Mota, Vanua Lava, Ureparapara, Mota-
lava, it matters not which.
Rowa has been a Christian island for many
years now, and the people make keen and excellent
missionaries, their facility in speaking, combined with
their comparative independence and strength of
character, helping to equip them for the task.
But Rowa has a temper to reckon with, which is
not least conspicuous in the family circle of our
excellent William. His daughter Clara, a handsome,
well-built woman of some thirty summers, should have
been married long ago, according to Melanesian
custom ; but the island is small, and it was said
significantly that every one knows her ! Reuben, the
son, a man full of attractive qualities, is marred by his
overbearing temper among his own people, though he
works well now on a heathen island. And my old
friend Lydia has the sharpest and longest tongue of
all when she is provoked.
Poor William has a hard time at whiles, but one
day a bright idea broke upon him. Lydia had been
on the war-path and had refused him any opening.
He longed to speak his mind, but the clattering tongue
never ceased. Presently the church bell rang, and
William hurried to his vestry to robe, Lydia to her
place among the women. Prayers being ended,
William came forward in his surplice to say a few
words. What must Lydia's feelings have been when
she found that she herself was the text of her husband's
discourse! As she sat there, meekly and tearfully
below him, for once William had his heart's desire
CHAP, ix ROW A, BANKS ISLANDS 115
and could say exactly what he really thought. And
he had the first word, and the last word, and all the
words between ! I believe Lydia was greatly edified
by that sermon, and the rest of the island enjoyed it
more than most.
For a long time Rowa was the mint of the Banks
group, and possessed the monopoly of making the
shell-money. But, as we saw, the occupation has now
spread to neighbouring islands. And it is said that
they used to weave here the malo, or covering worn
from waist to knee, but that art is lost. They are
very expert fishermen, shooting their fish with reed
arrows, tipped nowadays with fencing wire. The
silver mullet is plentiful in the lagoon, but to shoot
them is no easy matter, and the Rowa folk are reputed
deadly shots. A catch of seventy fine mullet is not at
all uncommon in one day.
When more fish are obtained than can be consumed
on the island, the men row across with them to Vanua
Lava and exchange them for yams. In old times
there were no yams at all grown on Rowa, for there
was a rooted belief that, should Rowa plant yams, all
the Vanua Lava yams would die.
As a young man William made it his metier to
break down the island superstitions, and he succeeded.
He grew yams, and still the yams across the water
flourished as they did before. No sow had been
allowed among the few Rowa pigs, for it was held that
if she littered there, the people would be outnumbered
by the pigs, who would devour them. William tried
the experiment, and now Rowa breeds swine with a
tranquil mind.
The sandy shore is a hatching-ground for turtles,
whose eggs are regarded as a great dainty, the more
n6 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
so as they are not easy to discover, the turtle having
developed a pretty ingenuity in the art of deception.
Of course the turtle itself is most valuable, but harder
to catch than one would imagine. There are two
signs by which the natives tell when turtle will come
ashore. The first is that a pig sneezes a most
obliging indication. The second is when certain red
streaks are seen in the sky. Intelligent Rowa people,
to discover facts like these !
There are other hints they can give you. Sharks
abound in the surrounding water, but Rowa men say
it is only black sharks who hate and pursue mankind,
and that they would hardly ever do you injury but for
their familiar, the pilot-fish. When a man swimming
is seized by cramp, or is in difficulty of any kind, the
pilot-fish bites him, and goes back to tell his friend the
shark, who comes upon the instant. If, therefore, you
can only seize and kill the pilot-fish in the act of biting,
you may save your life. If a shark nears you in
shallow water, your wisdom is to stand quite still, and
the shark, whose lack of curiosity seems only equalled
by his lack of gumption, will mistake your lower limbs
for permanent features of the submarine world. In
contrast with those we hear of everywhere else, me-
thinks these Rowa sharks must be a feeble-minded race !
Of late some new varieties, including the hammer-
head, have appeared, to the perplexity of the fishermen,
who may possibly find some of the old articles of their
shark beliefs shattered by the newcomers.
Some years ago it seemed only too probable that
the population of Rowa would soon be extinct. A
disease fearfully resembling leprosy appeared in Mota-
lava, and threatened Rowa. The white priest in
charge of the Banks group wisely persuaded the
ROWA.
"WHAT ROWA is MOST FAMED FOR" THE CHURCH
"JUST BIG ENOUGH FOR ITS PURPOSE" THE SCHOOL-HOUSE.
P. 117.
CHAP, ix ROWA, BANKS ISLANDS 117
people of Motalava to establish a system of segrega-
tion, and this proved, most happily, to be an effectual
means of stemming the disease's advance.
Rowa has an advantage over such islands as Mota
and Meralava in its proud possession of a fresh-water
pool. There are also one or two smaller sources,
which a wandering ignoramus might in error term
puddles. They assured me the water was excellent
drinking, but I seemed to prefer the nectar furnished
by a green coco-nut. The still water attracts myriads
of mosquitoes, which make night on Rowa a very lively
purgatory for a white man.
Just one small point of rock may be seen in the
island which evidently represents the original nucleus
that attracted round it the grains of sand and the
minute polyps which together have formed the island
as we see it.
But what Rowa is now most justly famed for is an
edifice to which, in order that I might see it, my escort
guided me through the fine coco-nut grove of Reuben's
planting into the tinesara of the beautifully kept village,
its ground of fine white sand dazzling in the sun.
There before us we beheld the church, a really re-
markable monument of purely native architecture, and
of the spontaneous love, zeal, ambition, and persever-
ance of this small handful of dusky Christians.
With William at their head to design, to lead, and
to encourage, these people, perfect novices all in the
science of stone building, most of them strangers even
to the sight of such a thing, have built a church of
white coral rock, cemented with lime made by burning
this same coral a church 54 x 42 feet in area. Think
of the labour involved to, say, fifteen unskilled work-
men, and as many women and children. And these
n8 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
not energetic folk of cold climate and Teutonic blood,
but slow, tropical, ease-loving Melanesians. Truly it
is a standing marvel !
The roof is of sago palm leaf thatch. There are no
conventional windows, but a generous space for air
and light is left below the roof. Then comes a sort
of screen or fence of bamboo, meeting the coral wall,
which finishes with a zigzag edging. Outside, over
the west front, is a striking, bright-hued cross.
Half the church is occupied by an apsidal chancel
and ambulatory, which is ascended by three broad
steps of the white coral. Indeed, the whole interior is
of the same substance. Even the twelve long seats,
which face each other choir-fashion, are of the smooth
coral cement, the backs and ends being ornamented
with nautilus and iridescent shells, inlaid in patterns.
Unfortunately it has been found impossible to get a
successful photograph of the interior, so bright and
white is it.
The altogether disproportionate size of the church
to its possible congregation is remarkable and sug-
gestive. It recalls at once the ambitions and ideals
of our mediaeval builders. The instinct is surely a
worthy one not to build God's house to the measure
of the men who will worship there, but to make it
bigger, grander, nobler than any other house, just as
big and noble, in fact, as the designer's mind can plan
and the workmen's hands accomplish. As a matter of
fact, Lydia told me that when the church was first
built, the roof was much higher than at the present
time, but the Bishop recommended lowering it for
greater safety in the event of a hurricane, and William
lowered it accordingly.
From the great church we passed into the tiny
CHAP, ix ROWA, BANKS ISLANDS 119
school-house, just big enough for its purpose and no
more. School is held here every day except Satur-
day, when there is a quaint custom of native dis-
cipline. The grown men and women come of their
own accord at William's suggestion, gather around
him, and in turn stand up and confess their principal
offences of the week past, while he metes out penalties
appropriate to each case. I feel sure he is very
merciful when Lydia's turn comes, but no doubt he
is sometimes able to jog her defective memory !
Good-bye, wonderful little Rowa ! The glistening
beach is shelving into the clear warm water of the
lagoon. I hear the splash of many waders, the laugh
and liquid talk of many voices ; I feel the grasp of
many brown hands ; I see the waving arms grow doll-
like in the distance. I turn, and Reuben is standing
in the bows, seriously attent on piloting us through
the treacherous reef back to our own ship ours and
the brown people's the Southern Cross.
CHAPTER X
UREPARAPARA (fiLIGH ISLAND), BANKS ISLANDS
Natural features Life within a crater Suqe Concerning the women
Funeral customs Expulsion of ghost Chiefs A narrow escape
Folk-tale : "Qat and the Ogre."
NOT far from the Fairy Princess lives the Ogre. Not
far from Rowa lies Ureparapara, called by Bligh after
himself on passing close by it in the open boat after
being cast adrift from the Bounty.
Once upon a time Ureparapara was a mighty
volcanic mountain, measuring it were hard to guess
how many thousand feet from base to summit, since
no bottom has been found there by sounding. Then
how long ago who can say ? came the stupendous
catastrophe. Were the mountain slopes then the
abode of men ? We can only hope not. An eruption
occurred of such appalling force that the mountain
itself was almost shattered. As a fact, only the rim
of the colossal crater remains above water, and of this
the east side was blown clean away and the sea rushed
into the Titanic bowl. But for 2000 odd feet the
slopes still rise, and the walls of scoria and lava are
beneficently hidden by luxuriant bush and garden
clearings, where coco-nut palms, bananas, and yams
grow for food to the people to whom Ureparapara is
home.
UREPARAPARA.
; THE OGRE" UREPARAPARA FROM THE NORTH-WEST.
THE WALLS OK SCORIA AND LAVA ARE BENEFICENTLY HIDDEN."
P. 120.
CH. x UREPARAPARA, BANKS ISLANDS 121
It was late in the afternoon when the Captain
called me to the bridge to get the most effective view
of the giant's cauldron in which we were to spend the
night. Nothing can be well conceived more grim and
eerie than was the appearance of the horse-shoe-shaped
island " of slopes " (ure parapara) as we approached
it. Shrouding mists parted here and there, giving
visions of peaks and hollows, and gradually, reluctantly
as it seemed, they cleared away. But there was no
suggestion of sunshine. I find it hard to imagine the
sun shining on Ureparapara.
Through the breach in the wall we glided into the
smooth dark waters of the bowl the bowl that is a
mile in width and two in length (following the propor-
tions of a Melanesian food-bowl), but only Neptune
knows how many in depth. This is Dives Bay, and
it was a work of time to find the anchorage obtainable
only at the far end. Then we saw the smoke that
told of a native village close to the shore, and a boat
was lowered for the land.
Can it be wondered at if their environment affects
the temperament of the natives ? Life on the island
cannot be healthy. The population is diminishing
with hopeless rapidity ; a village in Ureparapara may
consist of one house and a gamal. Sickness and death
are always ravaging them, and a gloom of melancholy
is natural enough. But to this is added a gloom of
fear. The native imagination peoples the crater with
malicious spirits. Magic has sway, and no man trusts
another. The tiniest crumb of taro or yam eaten
thoughtlessly without the gamal may be seized with
avidity by an enemy and used to work a man's death.
There are several Christian villages in Ureparapara,
but a large part of the island is still shrouded in this
double gloom. The Suqe and the Ghost Societies have
a powerful grip upon the people, and at one school
village we found they had been withheld by the
Suqe from attendance at school or prayers for a
hundred days, during which the society's feast had
lasted.
The first period of initiation, too, extends for a
hundred days, during which no fires may be lit any-
where. If a puff of smoke is detected, the Ghosts set
up their sign and a pig must be paid. The candidate
is hidden in the society's secret lodge during these
hundred days, in which he is forbidden to wash, and
when he reappears report says that the poor wretch is
unrecognizable. " So dirty you can't see him ! " is the
people's account.
But I have a very pleasant memory of the twilight
village of Leha, right in the heart of the crater. The
people were so glad to see us, and eager for the
privilege of being rowed out to the ship and allowed
to wander about her. I was as usual taken charge of
by the women, who in their demonstrative welcome
embraced me till I could hardly breathe. One pretty
maiden called Hanson, whose eyes and teeth vied in
shining contrast, constituted herself my especial escort
and never left me.
The report of the two native teachers contained
two accusations concerning the women. The first was
that they would persist in smoking ! This practice is
a matter about which the Mission lays down no rules.
It is left to the judgment of the Church in each island,
and in some it is condemned, in some approved. It
may be remarked that the island has yet to be dis-
covered where the men have condemned it as concerns
themselves ! But that is beside the mark. Here in
UREPARAPARA.
HOUSES AT LEHA, UREPARAPARA.
LEIIA " RIGHT IN THE HEART OF THE CRATER."
P. 122.
CH. x UREPARAPARA, BANKS ISLANDS 123
Ureparapara the Church considered it unadvisable, and
the women must submit.
The second trouble was infinitely more serious from
our point of view, for it touched one sad and avoidable
cause of the decline of the population. There was
some straight speaking on the subject, followed by an
unusual silence in the group around me. I asked a
question to see if the Bishop's points had gone home,
and Hanson was quick with her answer, " We must
not smoke, and we must have children ! "
Where infanticide still prevails in Melanesia it is
the boys who are put to death rather than the girls.
A girl is of less importance as a person, but as a
chattel she is valuable. As soon as she can walk alone
she begins to be useful, and her use to her relations
as a worker increases up to the time of her marriage,
when her loss is atoned for by the handsome solatium
which her purchase-money provides.
I felt sorry in a way that the Ureparapara women
were debarred the recreation of a pipe. Of course the
principle of deferring to native judgment in non-
essentials is of first importance, and one would not
tamper with it for worlds. But it just seemed a pity
to knock off what was evidently a pleasure to the poor
dears. So few of this world's good things seem to
come in their direction, and so many hard jobs fall to
their share. They can all play cat's-cradle in many
complicated forms (strange that that nursery game
should be common to the whole wide world ! ), but even
cat's-cradle must pall in time.
The natural man is rather selfish in Melanesia.
In heathen belief there is no after-life of repose for
women. They have no money and make no feasts,
so no one will want them in Panoi. The woman's
124 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
soul hangs like a bat on to creepers in the bush, and
waves to and fro in the wind. Poor women-folk !
How different is it when a man dies ! As in
Motalava, the body is carried into the tinesara, and
there laid out, quantities of food being hung all round
it. Then a speech is made to the dead man. He
is entrusted (for his ghost has not yet quitted the
village) with messages for others departed, and is
adjured to bear the news of the place the account of
the last initiations, or the last steps bought in the
societies, and finally he is instructed with whom the
food is to be shared over there. For though to human
eye the yams and bananas will hang on and on till
eaten by human mouths, the spirit, the essence, of the
dainties will be extracted as aforesaid and borne off
by the contented ghost.
Five days after death the ghost is made to under-
stand that it is high time he was off. Two of his
friends take up their position in the house of the late
lamented, a white stone in each hand, which they
clack together. The .ghost, if he is still loitering
about the place, gets worried by the noise and passes
out. The people, who have gathered at one end of
the village, now sweep down, allowing no quarter for
stray ghosts. They throw stones from side to side
and make a clatter with bamboos. The ghost, finding
that no peace is' to be had in the old place, thereupon
sets off, to return no more. The widow is now free
to leave the mat whereon her husband lay, beside
which she has hitherto kept watch like a faithful dog.
If for any reason she should leave the house, she
places a coco-nut to represent her until her return.
There are plenty of so-called chiefs in Ureparapara,
as in all the Banks Islands. But they are not regarded
CH. x UREPARAPARA, BANKS ISLANDS 125
with awe, nor even here with very great respect. The
chief is simply the richest man in the place, who has
gained the highest rank in one of the societies. It
may well be that he has also the reputation of mana,
by which he has acquired pigs or made his crops to
prosper. He is therefore envied, and to a certain
extent, no doubt, admired, and his wishes are politicly
considered. But he has less authority among the
people than many an English squire of former days.
He may be said to be a leader of fashion, and his
example is therefore of great value, but his commands,
if issued, will be obeyed just so far as suits the con-
venience of his people.
I have said that we found anchorage in Dives Bay
for the night. So we fondly hoped when as it grew
dark we returned to the ship. But the wind got up,
and began blowing in squally, gusty fashion. About
midnight the ship dragged her anchor and began to
drift. Almost before the truth had been realized, the
bridge detected a sunken reef just ahead of our keel.
Detected it in the nick of time. There was no bump.
The engines were started immediately. A hurried
consultation among the authorities (while the unim-
portant passengers woke up to wonder whether
another eruption was taking placejr and off we
steamed, out of the ogre's cauldron, to find safety in
flight upon the open sea.
QAT AND THE OGRE
Now there was a mighty one in that land, but he was
exceeding fierce ; his name was Qasavara. And he came
upon Qat and his brothers, and said to them, " Where are
you from, you people ? "
126 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
Then he bore them off to his own place and kindled
the fire in his oven for them.
And when evening came he said to them, " Come, you
fellows, and sleep in the gamal\ You shall be by
yourselves."
But Qat and his brothers saw clearly that Qasavara and
his men meant to murder them in the night, and the brothers
were terrified. Presently their eyes grew heavy, and they
were about to fall asleep.
But Qat said to his brothers, "Come along and sleep
here ! " With that he rapped upon a rafter with his fingers ;
it opened, and they slept inside it.
Now Qasavara and his men collected their clubs and
bows and went to murder Qat and his comrades. But,
however, they could not see them on their mats in the gamal,
for they were asleep hidden in the rafter, and so back they
fled to their place.
It was near daybreak when the cock crowed, and Qat
awoke his brothers, saying, " Come along, let us leave this
place and go out into the daylight." So they went out.
And when the sun was fully up, Qasavara and his men
were going towards the gamal, but there were Qat and his
brothers gathered together, chatting away.
Then said Qasavara and his men, " Where did you
sleep ? "
And they all told lies about it ; but there was one of
them who was a perfect fool in everything his name was
Tafiaro the Fool and he blurted out, " We slept in this
rafter."
And they were all very angry with him because he had
betrayed their hiding-place. So Qasavara and his men
consulted together how in some other way they should
murder Qat and his brothers when that night closed in.
But when it was night Qat rapped upon one of the side-
posts of the house, and it opened, and they slept within it.
And Qasavara and his men came in the night to kill them,
and smashed open the rafter with heavy blows, but there
was no one inside it, so they fled away again.
Next morning Qasavara and his men were making their
CH.X UREPARAPARA, BANKS ISLANDS 127
way into the gamal, but Qat and his brothers were on the
spot already.
" Where did you sleep ? " said Qasavara.
And they lied, and said they had slept in the places he
had arranged for them. But that Tafiaro the Fool went
and told their hiding-place again.
The following night Qat opened with a rap the middle
post of the house, and they slept inside it ; and Qasavara
and his men came during the night and smashed open the
side-post, but Qat and his brothers were not within.
And when morning came they were going into the gamal,
but Qat and his brothers were there all ready.
" Qat, where did you all sleep ? " said Qasavara.
And again they all lied all except Tariaro the Fool,
and he said straight out that it was in the middle post of
the gamal. And they felt furious with him, because they
had forbidden him to let out where their place had been, and
yet when Qasavara asked them he forthwith told him !
Now Qasavara was most terribly anxious to kill Qat and
his brothers, and he talked it over with his people, and they
agreed, " To-morrow we will kill them ! " They decided to
hoax them in a matter of cooking, and when they were
sitting at meat then they would smite them.
Night came, and with his rap Qat made the ridge-pole
open, and they slept inside it.
And when it was light Qasavara kindled a fire in his
oven for them, but Qat and his brothers were already aware
that the purpose was to kill them. So Qat thought out a
plan by which they should be saved. And first he planted
a casuarina tree. Then he made an arrangement with his
brothers beforehand, as follows :
" When they are busy preparing the meal, all of you
wash your hands and use up all the water in the bamboo-
carrier. And if they look about for water, and order that
some shall go and fetch it from the sea, let two of you say,
' We will go ! ' And two only must go, and instead of
water, collect heaps of biting ants in a coco-nut shell. And
when you return, climb up into the casuarina. You will all
do the same." And they agreed.
128 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTI
Now the oven full of food was covered over with the
mat of leaves. And Qasavara's men exclaimed, " What !
There is no salt water ! Who's to go for it ? "
So two of Qat's brothers said, " We will go ! "
And away they went. But they only collected biting
ants in their coco-nut shells and sprang quickly up into the
casuarina tree.
The rest waited for them, but as they did not return
they said again, " Who else will run and fetch it ? "
And two more of Qat's brothers said, " We will ! "
So off they went towards the beach and filled their
shells with ants, and climbed up and up into the casuarina.
And the others waited ; but again their waiting was in
vain. And so it went on ; all the brothers acted like this,
and assembled in the casuarina tree to wait for Qat.
But Qat was by himself with Qasavara and his men at
the oven.
Presently the cover of leaves was turned back and the
oven was opened. Qat took up a lot of the rough baskets
that he might pack some food away. Then they separated
the food, and Qasavara struck at Qat across the oven, but
missed him. And Qat always threw one of the hot stones
at him and went on taking food out of the oven, saying as
he did so, " This is for my brother ! This for my friend ! "
And he packed the baskets. And Qat went on like this till
he had taken all the food out of the oven and every one of
his baskets was full, and he threw the last hot stone at
Qasavara.
And then Qat sprang up and ran after his brothers ;
but Qasavara was close behind, and as he went he kept
striking at Qat and missing him, and thus he chased him
until he reached his brothers.
Then Qat leaped away from him and climbed up to his
brothers in the casuarina tree. And Qasavara climbed up
after them. But just as he was very close indeed, Qat
poured down some ants upon him, and he had to stop and
scratch himself, because they bit so. So Qat and his
brothers went on climb-climbing as fast as they could.
And ten times they poured ants over him.
CH. x UREPARAPARA, BANKS ISLANDS 129
And Qat and his brothers clustered together in the tree-
top, and Qasavara climbed close up to them, and he stretched
out his arm to strike them with his club, and they sat still.
Then said Qat, " My casuarina tree, stretch out ! "
And the tree stretched with them out of the reach of
Qasavara. And it went stretch-stretching on right until
it reached the sky.
Then Qat spoke again, " Bend down, my casuarina
tree ! "
And the tree bent down with them over the place called
Tatgan, where was the gamal of Qat and his brothers.
And there they descended, and Qat was the last of all.
Now he had not yet let go of the end of the bough, but
was holding fast on to it. And there was Qasavara descend-
ing in their wake ! He reached the end, and Qat said,
" Now I have my revenge ! "
" Awo ! Qat ! " cried Qasavara ; " don't punish me !
Receive me kindly as one of your household, and I will be
your servant."
But Qat said, " Not so, but I will have my revenge,
because you have persecuted me."
So he let go of the end of the bough, and the casuarina
sprang back and flung Qasavara right away, and his head
struck against the sky, and then fell on to the ground, and
rolled forward face down, and turned into a rock. And in
the old days they used to offer sacrifices to that rock. The
sacrifices were for the obtaining of valour ; whosoever wished
to be mighty in battle, he would offer sacrifices to that
stone. Which is Qasavara.
K
PART II
IN CENTRAL MELANESIA
CHAPTER I
TOGA, TORRES ISLANDS
Natural features of group A warm climb Visit to village Crabs
and souls Funeral customs Death-feasts Sores Musical in-
struments Charm to create disease Death charm.
THE four inhabited Torres Islands are situate about
fifty miles to the north-east of Ureparapara, whence
they stretch in a line, like beads loosely strung, away
to the north-north-east.
They are all of coral formation, but submarine
volcanic action has subjected them to a succession
of upheavals. So that now, although their terrace
configuration reveals their origin, yet their appearance
is so hilly, and in parts precipitous, that before landing
there is a temptation to wonder whether one be
mistaken in calling them coral islands.
Toga is the southernmost of the little group, and,
where all are fair, I think the fairest.
" It's a terrific climb in the heat up to the village,"
I was warned, " but you'll perhaps say it's worth it."
I did say so, for worth it it certainly was. The
track wound up and up through the bush that kindly
screened us from the sun's fierce rays whilst it cruelly
shut off from us the faintest suspicion of a breeze.
But in determining to do a thing one often reckons
up the cost so liberally that the estimate exceeds the
133
i 3 4 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART u
event. It was thus with this climb of ours in the
hottest part of the day in Lat. 1 3 J S.
A lovely flowering tree gave forth the scent of
a tuberose all the way, and the trees and plants
were so strange and beautiful that our attention was
effectually diverted from our condition. Ever and
anon a bluff of coral rock shouldered up before our
winding path with startling suddenness ; one such
there was most curiously suggestive of a ruined
Norman keep. As we ascended we were granted
occasional and refreshing peeps of wide blue ocean
far below us, dotted in the foreground with the
green companion islands of Loh, Tegua, Metome
(where the Tegua people have gardens), and Hiu.
Presently we sighted the hill-top, and a vigorous
spurt brought us out on to the coral plateau where
stands one of the prettiest villages in Melanesia. No
doubt on this day we found it extra clean and fair, for
the first confirmation ever held in Toga was about
to take place, and the women were in spotless white
garments, and the men in white shirts, and all the
Toga world was bright and smiling.
The eye is caught at once by a white cross of
coral cement which evidently marks a Christian grave.
The wife of a former teacher was buried here. A
year or two ago the priest-in-charge saw a crowd
clustered round this grave, the centre of their interest
being a woman who was handling a land-crab of a
species whose bite the natives fear. She, however,
seemed quite unafraid, allowing the creature to crawl
about her at will. Presently she put it down on the
ground, and at once it sidled off into a hole under
the cross.
The scene was interpreted afterwards in the
TOGA.
A PEEP DURING THE CLIMB LOH AND TEGUA IN THE DISTANCE.
THE VILLAGE ON THE HILL-TOP.
P. 134-
CHAP, i TOGA, TORRES ISLANDS 135
confidence that evening brings. The woman was
one reputed to be in touch with the spirit-world, and
able to communicate with ghosts and see beings
invisible to ordinary eyes. When she was thus
engaged it was said that her face changed and her
eyes protruded crab-wise. The crab itself was the
soul of the teacher's dead wife whose remains were
buried there. The hole was the passage by which
it came up from Panoi, always taking the same
visible shape.
Remembering the legend, I questioned one of the
women who was standing by me, and she corroborated
it, adding that the Toga belief is that all dead
folk's souls go down into Panoi by crab holes, and
reappear on occasion in crab form. "But some
there are among us now who do not believe it,"
she added.
It was a plucky act of Simon's when Toga was
still mostly heathen to dig that Christian grave in so
prominent a spot and set up the cross in the confines
of the village. The Toga line of action in the event
of a death was so different that I suppose this simple
burial must have seemed to them very summary and
disrespectful. The native way, however, scarcely
commends itself to us.
A platform is erected near the gamal, screened
from view with bamboo and sugar-cane. Upon this
the corpse is laid as soon as the last breath has expired,
and for twenty days there it remains ! During the
first ten days no one leaves the village, but all blacken
their foreheads in token of mourning. When the
atmosphere becomes absolutely unendurable the
people thrust sprigs of a very strongly-scented herb
through their nose -rings. These are usually of
136 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
bamboo, and distend the cartilage of the nose some-
times to the diameter of an inch. On the tenth day
comes the burning of the screen aforementioned, the
ashes of which are seized upon by the people and
rubbed over the chest and forehead. They must not
be washed off for another ten days.
It is generally on the twentieth day after death
that the most solemn part of the obsequies is per-
formed. The friends of the deceased have fulfilled
their duty of clearing a wide path from the village to
the sea. This Torres funeral custom is the raison
d&tre of the really very respectable roads, wide
enough to allow three or four men to walk abreast,
found here, but in no other Melanesian group, leading
from a village direct to the sea. Four of the most
important men of rank in the village having removed
the head from the body, march down with it to the
sea, singing as they go a sort of dirge. The people
follow at a distance of perhaps 400 yards.
On arrival at the beach the head is carefully
washed clean in the salt water, and the skull is brought
back and placed in the gamaL What remains on the
platform is deposited in a small walled enclosure, it
being understood that when arrow-tips are wanted
by the relatives the leg and arm bones are at their
disposal !
Little altar-like erections may be seen close to the
houses in heathen villages with a few skulls upon
them (probably female) and a few yams or coco-nuts.
The idea in placing food is doubtless similar to that
in other islands not in any way sacrificial, nor yet
material. May it be akin to the feeling which prompts
the placing of odd titbits, biscuits, etc., one sometimes
sees before images in French churches ?
CHAP, i TOGA, TORRES ISLANDS 137
Keeping the death-days of the departed, here as
elsewhere, provides a pleasant occupation for the
mourners. Certain days are fixed say, the fifth,
tenth, twentieth, fiftieth, and so on at longer intervals,
until in the case of very important persons the
thousandth and even two thousandth is reached. On
these days presents are exchanged, the death-feast is
eaten, and kava is drunk from sunset to sunrise.
Here in the Torres, by the way, we reach the
boundary-line that separates the drinkers of kava
from the chewers of the betel-nut. The latter habit
begins in Santa Cruz, and is followed all through the
Solomons. But the coco-nut-shell cups, lined with
that prized blue enamel that the kava deposits, are
never found alongside the ornamented bamboo lime
boxes which accompany every betel-chewer.
The lack of water is a serious drawback to life in
the Torres. The people are dependent upon holes in
the coral rock and a few brackish springs which lie
below high-water mark. This may be one reason for
the terrible sores to which these people are subject,
especially on the legs. They not infrequently result
in premature death, and even with the greatest care are
amazingly slow to heal, and quick to break out anew.
As heathen the Torres natives are reputed among
the fiercest, but as I know them they are full of charm.
Gentle, merry, warm-hearted, generous, and intelligent,
the savagery dies away, and leaves little if any trace.
Our Torres friends love music, but the music they
make is of a different kind from ours.
They have four wind instruments. One is a kind
of long flute with three holes that produces some
sweet, soft notes. The other three are formed of
reeds. There are the pan-pipes, large or small, with
138 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
their succession of shrill notes which rise and fall in
unvarying repetition. A single reed is also popular,
which produces about three whistling notes. And
last come the reeds in bundle form the only instru-
ment favoured by the women, who blow down the
pipes, two women performing a duet, as it were, upon
one instrument. Even so, one who has heard it says,
" As a musical instrument it is of the feeblest. . . .
The sounds produced are of the slightest, and would
be inaudible except in a silence. Probably the pleasure
derived from the instrument is shared only by the
performers."
There are plenty of native songs or chants, but
these are mostly connected with charms and magic.
The air is nothing simply a monotonous sing-song,
but the words recited over, and over, and over again
are everything. They have mana for cursing yams
or blessing taro, for catching fish, causing death,
bringing rain or sunshine.
The sickness and death charms in the Torres seem
to differ from those used in other islands in one im-
portant particular. The fact of their preparation is
kept a secret from the victim, thus precluding here the
theory of sickness or murder by suggestion. Here is
the Torres recipe for causing a painful disease.
Take about two inches of the wood of a certain
tree, and bind tightly on either side a little bit of
human rib. Hide this where the enemy is sure to
pass over it, and wait in the bush till he does so.
Take up the charm, and send it with instructions to
a wizard on another of the islands. On receipt of it
he fasts for forty days before setting to work upon it.
To the charm are added mana leaves, and it is then
wrapped in many shrouds of coarse, strong cobweb.
CHAP, i TOGA, TORRES ISLANDS 139
Here and there, by no means at random, long, sharp
thorns are inserted, each with the object of inducing
a piercing pain in separate parts of the victim's body,
according to their exact position and the precise
incantations used. The magician keeps a slow fire
always burning, over which the charm is hung. If
ever the fire should go out and the charm grow cold,
its mana will be entirely lost.
The death charm only varies slightly. It is
manufactured with still more exquisite attention to
detail. Only the finest cobwebs are used, and instead
of the thorns, little bits of bamboo are introduced,
containing powdered human bone. The charm is
worked very slowly, so that the victim may waste
away gradually and not reach the end of his sufferings
too quickly.
One need hardly add that only in the heathen
districts of any island are the malevolent charms still
resorted to. But the fact of the existence of such
hideously ingenious inventions serves to bring out
the unspeakable contrast between the "light-heart"
and the " dark-heart "the phrases by which the
natives distinguish between Christian and heathen.
CHAPTER II
LOH, TORRES ISLANDS
A coral strand Visit to village " Thief-ships " A wonderful cure
The Crab Dance A Suqe incident Land purchase : a misunder-
standing Folk-tale : " How Qat brought about Night."
WHEN Bishop Heber wrote of a " coral strand " I
wonder what mental picture he formed of it. He had
not yet visited India. My own conception of it has
undergone a material change since voyaging amongst
the Pacific islands. Where the coral is crushed to
a white sparkling powder, or into tiny, china-like
fragments, as at Rowa why, then it is pretty and
pleasant enough. But when the shore is just the
bare bed-rock of coral, while one would not deny
that there is something very remarkable and wildly
picturesque about it, no one could possibly term it
either pretty or pleasant.
Appended is a photograph of the shore of Loh.
I shall not soon forget my walk across it. Of course,
ordinary leather would be in holes and strips before
one had proceeded far, but even thick rope shoes
could not protect one altogether from the knives
and daggers formed by the asperities of the coral
rock.
Two powerful and good-natured women, barefoot
of course, undertook to conduct me over all difficulties
140
' : .-. \'i
>
*
-i_'j#T ".'.:
CHAP, ii LOH, TORRES ISLANDS 141
and seized my arm on either side. The journey was
not a long one, only it seemed so. It was rather like
dancing on hot coals from my point of view. At
every other step one either slipped or landed on a
spike, and whenever this happened, my guides,
anxious to assist, squeezed me with a grip of iron,
so that I cried out in fresh pain. Then they laughed
hilariously, not knowing why I cried out, while I took
advantage of the relaxation to stumble on two steps,
chuckling weakly myself, though at a different facet
of the joke. And presently we reached smooth
ground in triumph, and walked with composure to
the capital of Loh, a little village called Vipaka,
which means " Under the Banyan tree."
As usual, while Mission affairs were occupying
the men, I was taken everywhere and shown every-
thing by the bright, hospitable women, and I duly
admired the school, church, houses, and children.
One woman brought me two eggs, and another gave
me a fine tortoise-shell cooking-knife. In return for
such gifts I ransacked the big pocket I always filled
before coming ashore, and everybody seemed de-
lighted. The Torres Islanders are notably good-
looking, and as one took in the happy scene one's
heart was filled with indignation to think how the
population of Loh had suffered from the kidnapping
of the people in the past (one can use no milder word)
by labour vessels, " thief-ships," as the natives every-
where significantly term them.
Attracted by youthful love of adventure and
curiosity touching the unknown, the boats are filled
with ignorant natives ready to make a mark on any
paper, to agree to anything to-day and bitterly
to repent to-morrow. So many, many have gone
i 4 2 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
away ; so very few return. It is no use crying over
spilt milk. For the present, at any rate, since the
Australian field was closed to coloured men, there is
comparatively little transport trade, but it is easier
to depopulate than to repopulate.
When the trade was at its worst a white priest-
in-charge made a successful effort to stem the tide.
Four labour ships called for hands, and the missionary
spent all his time on the beach. Not one man went
aboard.
" Are you going to stop about here long ? " in-
quired one of the agents.
" I propose keeping you company," was the
Englishman's reply, "just as long as you like to
stay yourself."
"In that case I guess I may as well get back to
my ship," said the agent. And went.
The same missionary was enabled to effect a
notable cure in the eyes of the natives. His attention
was caught by a sort of booth of tree branches in
front of a gamal, and in answer to a question he was
told that a man within it was dying. Pursuing his
inquiry, he found the dying man had a strong pulse
and normal temperature. What was the nature of
his illness ?
" This morning his nose bled bled long ; before
night he will die."
And before night it is quite possible the poor
fellow would have died, as many a native has done
before him, simply in response to the general expecta-
tion. But a strong white will opposed itself. A drop
of brandy was administered. Assuredly there was
powerful mana in water that stung and burned like
that.
CHAP, ii LOH, TORRES ISLANDS 143
" Now you will go to sleep, and awake better,"
said the white man, and sent the anticipatory mourners
off to their gardens, looking a trifle disappointed. A
dead man is rather exciting, with his feasts and his
skull-washing ; a living one is so very ordinary. But
the patient preferred to postpone his friends' junketing,
and got well rapidly.
The people of Loh have originated a unique form
of recreation which they call the Crab Dance. Their
copyright of the performance is not likely to be in-
fringed, since only in Loh are the necessary properties
(a particular kind of crab) obtainable in sufficient
quantity. I have not myself witnessed the Crab
Dance, but from one who has I take this account
of it.
The peculiar feature of personal decoration for this
dance consists of elaborately oramented belts. Beside
the dancing-ground a fire is lit, and the drummers with
their bamboo drums, perhaps twenty of them, take
their places. The bandmasters cry "/ . . . wa/" and
at the slow first syllable all drum-sticks are raised, and
brought down together upon the slits of the bamboos at
the sharp "wa!" with the effect of a roll of kettle-drums.
There is no baton, but Accelerando is indicated by
shouting " Op-op-op-op-op /" very loud and fast.
The orchestra being ready, some children are told
off to feed the fire with dry coco-nut shells, which burn
fiercely and make a splendid blaze, and the rest of the
people stand by, armed with empty baskets.
Soon the dancers in pairs come into the circle of
light out of the surrounding gloom, each couple carry-
ing a stick between them on which is slung one or more
large baskets, full of a struggling mass of crabs.
All the spectators stand waiting developments.
144 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PAR
When the dancers have circled the orchestra several
times the excitement grows hot, for they start throw-
ing out crabs from their baskets, and as the creatures
scuttle rapidly away they are pounced on by any one
who can catch hold of them and transferred to the
empty baskets.
The whole dancing-ground becomes thick with
people moving round and round, dancers and crab-
catchers being mixed up in a confused crowd, while
the cries of excitement and the laughter and the
shouting are mingled with the calls of the drummers
as they cheer one another on to beat faster and more
furiously. Gradually the dancers' baskets become
lighter, and those of the catchers heavier, till the
transference of the last terrified crab is the signal for
the end. " We-i-o / " cry the bandmasters, and on the
final vowel the drum-sticks fall for the last time, and
the people retire to their homes to perform there the
last figure cooking and eating !
Some years ago Loh decided to abandon the Suqe
(called here Hugo), not entirely on the same grounds
as Meralava. The especial difficulty felt here was
the eating in common necessary for all who became
communicants.
Two men there were who had mounted in rank so
high (they could wear a pig's tail in their hair !) that
no one else in the village could eat with them. Presently
one died. After his skull had been washed it was
placed regularly beside his quondam friend whenever
he ate from his exalted oven ! The daily meals must
have been very cheerful.
As the " New Teaching " won its way, many began
to talk over its requirements, and the difficulty of
complying with them. When once a man had attained
LOH.
A HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY.
BOYS OF LOH.
P. i 45 .
CHAP, ii LOH, TORRES ISLANDS 145
rank, how could he possibly dispossess himself of it,
and become a nobody ?
At length a brave decision was come to by two
Christian chiefs of rank. As they had " eaten up,"
stage by stage, so now they must "eat down," in order
to break free from the trammels of high estate.
Perhaps one needs to have some acquaintance with
Melanesians, and the value they attach to their Suqe
ranks, to rightly appreciate the sacrifice involved in
such an unheard-of resolve. The pair embarked on a
course of evening meals, of which each was eaten in
the oven below that where they had dined the day
before. Day by day they humbled themselves, grade
below grade, each of which had cost so much to gain,
until they reached the little oven at the entrance
where the newly-initiated children cook their meals.
And after the chiefs had thus literally "become as
little children," they emerged into the open air free
men. And a great united feast among the Christians
fittingly celebrated the event.
The experience of sixty years has taught us native
law respecting land-purchase, and our agreements are
now made out very fully and carefully. When you
buy land in Melanesia, the trees upon it must be
specifically included, as they were by Abraham in his
purchase of the Field of Machpelah from the sons
of Heth. Otherwise they and their produce remain
the property of the vendor, and a man will find him-
self unable to clear his own land without exciting the
ire of the people, while the previous owner will come
to gather the fruit which the purchaser fondly thought
his own !
At Loh the Mission learnt another lesson in the
same connection. A piece of land was bought for
L
146 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PARTH
Mission purposes by one of the native clergy, but not
at once made use of. A few years later it was resolved
to build a church on this site, and preparations were
set on foot. But among some of the people murmur-
ings were heard : " The land belongs to X." Of
course the matter must be at once threshed out.
"What, did you not know that so much money
was paid for it by Edward ?"
"Yes, truly, but Edward is dead, and X., whose it
was formerly, still lives."
According to native custom, in this case the land
reverts to the former proprietor, and the ground had
to be bought back in the name of the Mission.
In one of the Qat legends, and that really the
earliest in the series, the island of Loh plays a part,
for which reason I here translate it. It will afford us
our last glimpse of Qat, who goes no farther afield
than this from his home in the Banks Islands.
How QAT BROUGHT NIGHT
This Qat, he did not always exist. He had a mother,
whose name was Ro Qatgoro, and it is said that this mother
of his burst forth from a rock, but what manner of rock
that was is not known. And he had brothers too ; they
were twelve in all, called after the leaves of certain Mota
trees, and Qat was the twelfth. 1
Now they dwelt in Vanua Lava, in the place called Alo
Sepere, and they were still living there when Qat created
everything. And he had finished creating things ; but he
didn't know how to make night, it was always day and
daylight.
But his brothers said to him, " Look here, Qat, this
isn't good, always nothing but daylight ! Can't you do
something to it ? "
1 Yet he is generally regarded as the eldest.
CHAP, ii LOH, TORRES ISLANDS 147
Then Qat considered what he could do about that
daylight.
Now he heard that there was night at Loh, so he tied
up a tusked pig, put it in a canoe, paddled to Loh, and with
it bought the night from some person there, who also gave
him a cock to tell when the morning came, and it should be
light again.
After that he returned to his brothers, and said to them,
" Now, all make ready places for you to lie down in ! "
So they took palm-leaves and plaited them, and spread
their mats in their places. Then Qat asked them, " Are you
fellows perfectly ready ? "
And they said, " Yes, we've finished."
Then Qat let out the night that it might be dark.
And he said to them, " If you see the face of the land
looking strange, but that is //, and all lie down on your
mats."
To which they replied, " All ri-ight ! "
After that they saw that it was dark, and they said, " Oh,
what's this, Qat ? "
And Qat said, " Why, this is // already ! And if your
eyes feel funny, all lie quiet ! "
He spoke like this about sleepiness, because they didn't
know what sleepiness was.
So when it was quite dark, they felt their eyes grow
heavy, and they said to Qat, " Oh, Qat, what is the matter
with our eyes ? "
And he said, " That's the thing I told you about. Lie
quite still, shut your eyes, and go to sleep ! "
And they slept just as Qat told them to.
But when it had been night a long time, Qat took a red,
glassy stone [obsidian] and with it cut the night, and the
day emerged once more, because the night had only spread
over it.
And they dwelt a long time in that place Lo Sepere :
he created everything there.
CHAPTER III
TEGUA, TORRES ISLANDS
A school inspection Melanesian arithmetic A native house
House-warming A lost art " The moon is dead ! " Custom
of Uloulo.
TEGUA possesses a coral strand like Loh. Here, again,
I was taken into friendly custody by two strong
women, and repeated my former experience with im-
material variations. There was a short climb up to
the village through the bush, and then, for me, the
round of inspection and admiration, followed (for the
heat was extreme) by green coco-nuts and fans.
Yet I remember a home-like feeling coming over
me in the bush we were then fresh from the torrid
Solomons at the sight of patches of a sort of grass,
and drifts of dead leaves.
The people, the tinesara, houses, church, and school
were alike the pink of propriety and order. The
blackboard was covered with an addition sum of quite
formidable length, but on looking into it, one row ran
thus " ooooo " ! I remarked upon it to my chief com-
panion here, Amina, a teacher's wife.
" There ! that was Robin ! " she exclaimed, triumph
and pleasure mingling equally ; " and I knew it was
wrong ! " Robin was another teacher, not her husband.
Human nature is the same everywhere.
148
CHAP, in TEGUA, TORRES ISLANDS 149
I have said already that the Melanesians as a race
are weak on the mathematical side. Their reckoning
is always in concrete fashion, with fingers and toes,
frondlets, etc., and it is no easy matter to teach them
to add and subtract correctly in their heads, and write
the result on slates. It becomes to them just a sort
of elaborate and rather interesting puzzle. But why
it should matter whether you begin to add from the
right or the left of the sum ; why, when you cannot take
9 from 5, you should not turn it upside down, and take
5 from 9 ; why 305 may not equally well be written
350 these are things past understanding.
" A chief had a hundred pigs : ninety-nine were
killed ; how many had he left ? "
And the chances are there will come a prompt
reply, " One hundred and ninety-nine ! "
" God has given us no thinking like He has given
you ! " once said a girl. Our way of thinking is un-
doubtedly different. And what seems essential to us
is often supremely unimportant to the Melanesians,
who never so much as reckon the years of their age,
content to rank as tiny babe, little child, young boy,
youth, adult, middle-man, old one.
We passed into the cool darkness of Patrick and
Amina's house, and sat there to exchange news with
one another. The house is worth more than a pass-
ing glance.
In the Torres Islands the roof of a house is made
first, and set upon posts, which support the ends and
sides, and even divide the house within like pillars.
The walls are added afterwards. A solid and elabor-
ate affair this roof is, with its thatch often reaching to
the ground, like hair upon a head. The long strong
roots of the banyan tree form the ridge-pole and the
150 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
wall-plates. The rafters are of a special timber, and
across them are long bamboos laid parallel with the
ridge. But the roof is not yet ready for the thatch.
Across the bamboos, again, are laid a number of tough,
peeled saplings. Be it understood there is no nailing
or mortising in the Melanesian house- or church-build-
ing. Everything is secured by tying. The string is
manufactured in the Torres by the women from the
stem of a creeper. They peel it with their teeth, and
roll up the rind ready for use.
The framework of the roof being finished, the
thatching remains 'to be done. It is the women's
business to prepare the leaves of the sago palm, fold-
ing and pinning them in substantial sections, so thickly
as to be tropical rainproof. The men apply this thatch
to the roof when the green has hardened and yellowed,
tying each piece to the sapling rafters.
The walls are made of bamboo sections, kept in
their place by lashings of the bark string.
In connection with the building of a house there
are certain culinary ceremonies most religiously ob-,
served here. The roofing-in is celebrated by a dainty
dish for the workmen of sliced yams, cooked with
coco-nut cream. Then the future tenants come and
consume young coco-nuts within the still unwalled area.
When the walls are finished, the oven-holes are
dug in the ground, and fires are lit in them before
the lining of stones has been added. A series of
three feasts follows, each with its especial chef-
d'oeuvre ; on the first day yams sliced, on the second
day yams mashed, and a week later a fish-dinner.
The house may then be considered to have been
"warmed" in regulation fashion.
Clever as these people are at house-building, is it
CHAP, in TEGUA, TORRES ISLANDS 151
not a surprising fact that not a soul in the Torres
Islands can build a canoe ? Once the art was known
as well here as elsewhere, but the knowledge was con-
fined to the skilled few who formed a sort of guild of
canoe-makers. One by one these men died, and the
rising generation was presumably too lazy to seek
admission to the craft. The inevitable day arrived
when the last canoe-maker died, and all knowledge
of canoe-making with him. The canoes he had left
behind existed a little while longer, but soon the last was
broken up, and there was no boat left in the group.
Yet still no man was found with energy, or ambition,
or desire enough to set him to solving the boat-problem
for himself.
There are plenty of bamboos, and they will float.
Tied together with creeper string, one can make a rough-
and-ready raft of any size. And so they make shift !
A very primitive people ! A year or so ago the
priest-in-charge was staying at Tegua, and (since it was
midnight) fast asleep. He was awakened by terrified
cries and terrified figures. It was a nocturnal fishing-
party that had come running back to the village with
the tragic news that the moon was dead ! An eclipse
is a dreadful event in Tegua.
Here and throughout Oceania runs the custom,
common, they say, to every primitive people in the
world, of hailing each new moon with a united shout,
"Uloulof" The actual meaning of the cry, which
takes the same expression everywhere, is unknown.
Every time I hear it, it sounds to me just a glad wel-
come back of the sky-friend whose absence is always
missed. This seems probable that " Uloulo ! " was
first cried in those far-off days when the human race
on earth lived as one family, speaking one tongue.
CHAPTER IV
HIU, TORRES ISLANDS
New ground Suqe laws and customs Weapons A fight that did
not come off.
UNTIL lately Hiu has been a sealed book to us, and
personally I only know its beauty from the outside.
In consequence we have no photographs to illustrate
this island. To-day the doors are flung wide open,
and the people are eager to be taught, and most
pleasant to teach, but we have not known them long
enough to speak familiarly of them or their land. A
few facts, nevertheless, have already been ascertained.
The Suqe exists here, and is known, as at Loh,
under the name of Huqa. In each village you will
find the long gamal opposite the people's own houses,
sometimes extending to the length of 70 and 80 feet.
Within, bamboos mark divisions of rank, one of which
will perhaps enclose three ovens. Down the centre
of the gamal lie long bamboo pipes full of water, and
every division has its own supply, propped up with
a forked stick. Beside each oven is the heap of
cooking-stones, and close to the water-vessel may be
seen the coco-nut-shell drinking-cup with its shining
lining of blue enamel.
No space in the gamal is wasted. The food-dishes,
the mats of plaited leaves that cover the oven, and
152
CHAP, iv HIU, TORRES ISLANDS 153
such things lie overhead upon the lower rafters, and
pudding-knives of carved wood and polished tortoise-
shell are stuck in the thatch. A sort of pestle with a
carved handle, for mashing vegetables, lies ready to
hand, and equally ready to hand hanging within
reach, or leaning against the wall are the bows and
arrows, too quickly seized.
The Huqa laws in the Torres are more rigorous
than in the Banks. The rite of initiation lasts less
than a fortnight, but every male inhabitant takes part
in it, and the village is strictly "bound." In taking
fresh rank, only members of equal or higher degree
attend at the ceremonies.
Men may at no time eat anywhere except in their
rightful oven-spaces, unless seriously ill, when it is
permitted them to partake of food in their houses.
They may not even eat of their own fruit in their
gardens ! Probably such a law as this has evolved as
a protection against the garata magic or charming
with fragments of food. The yam that a man intends
to eat must be dug and handled by him alone.
In the gamal he is prohibited not only from
touching the food or belongings of any of different
rank from his own, both higher and lower, but he may
not even look at the cups, dishes, etc., of those who
are above him. Should he in passing up the gamal
accidentally touch some cooking utensil belonging to
another space, he will pay a fine as a penalty for his
clumsiness. If he wants a fire-stick from which to
kindle his oven, he may seek the favour only from
those of equal rank with himself.
The Huqa aristocracy are looked up to with much
respect as men of powerful mana, and no boy or man
of humble rank would dream of passing upright before
154 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART H
them. The dignitary might profess himself as willing
to condone such effrontery, but his mana, or the spirit
behind it, would certainly take revenge. And if
revenge is taken with a Hiu arrow, tipped with
about 9 inches of human bone well, one is generally
sufficient !
A Hiu fight is no playful game, but is arranged
beforehand with a coolness and method worthy of the
most precise duellists. Archery is employed till the
arrows are exhausted. Then recourse is had to clubs
from 6 to 8 feet in length, and about an inch thick,
and the battle becomes a hand-to-hand mele"e.
The following account by the present priest-in-
charge of a Hiu fight that did not come off is best
copied verbatim :
I am spending a week or so on the island of Hiu, and
Sunday, September 29, passed tranquilly enough, as most
Sundays do. We had our usual school and services, and
during the afternoon several of the heathen came down and
paid us a visit, and stayed talking for some time. But
about nine o'clock at night, when nearly every one had turned
in, I learnt there was war afoot.
My Motalava teacher came and told me there was going
to be a fight early in the morning between the school people
and the heathen of a distant village about a piece of garden
ground for which there were two rival claimants.
We had a talk with William, the son of the chief, my
right-hand man in school affairs, and he told me that the
arrangement had been made during the afternoon, actually
in the school-place itself. The heathen had wanted to fight
at once, but the school people had declined an immediate
set-to, because Sunday was a day of rest. They agreed
that Monday morning would do, and the place of battle was
appointed. I do not think they wished to fight, but they
would not yield their claim to the land without a struggle.
William and I determined to be ahead of the rest, and
CHAP, iv HIU, TORRES ISLANDS 155
just as dawn broke, we got up and set off for the fighting-
ground. But happening to look behind me after going a
little way, I saw the whole crowd of school people following
in single file along the narrow path, armed with fighting-
clubs, muskets, and bows and arrows the last very deadly-
looking things. All these had been hidden in the bush.
Thus, instead of heading an embassage of peace, I found
myself leading a party of warriors to the fray, and scarcely
knew whether to laugh or be angry at the turn things had
taken.
As they would not go back, I went on. It was a
charming morning, the sky lighting up with soft and
glorious pink and gold. The first early breeze gently
stirred the fresh, cool, dewy foliage, and the pigeons cooed
their matin-song in the trees above us. All the peace of
nature seemed to rebuke the procession of men on warfare
intent.
By and by we heard a shrill cry through the woods.
We answered it, and it was repeated, and all of us stood
still to listen.
" It is the enemy ! " said William ; and every man spat
in his palm, and grasped his club tighter, and some lit their
pipes and smoked furiously, and we all began to feel the
excitement of the fray.
Running up the slope we were climbing, we soon reached
a village, the people of which were friends of my party.
There they were sitting about, awaiting our arrival, and their
weapons lay beside them. After resting awhile, I gathered
that the place appointed for the fight was some distance on,
so telling the rest to stay where they were, I took three
unarmed men, and followed the track.
As we turned a bend in the path, we saw right in front
of us, beneath a huge banyan tree and near an open space,
the enemy drawn up in line, naked and armed, in all a
party of about thirty men, while a little group of women
stood some distance off. Calling out to them that we had
come to make peace, we advanced, and sat down on a log
in front of them.
Then my party came up, but at my request laid down
156 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
their arms ; there ensued a parley of prodigious length, and
chosen orators of either side harangued the assembly, their
speeches being interspersed with a great gabble of talk.
Obvious suggestions from myself, such as that the parties
should divide the ground with a fence, and each take half,
were set aside as crude and impossible.
After several futile attempts at a settlement, the two
men who had originated the disturbance agreed to share the
ground between them, and if either were to die, the other
should take the whole. When the matter was thus settled,
every one seemed wonderfully amicable, and men who had
just been ready to smash one another's heads with clubs,
grasped hands, laughed, talked, and even playfully hugged
one another by the neck. When I had been assured that
there would be no fighting at all, I returned with a very
good appetite to a belated breakfast.
CHAPTER V
TIKOPIA
Natural features The people: appearance and ornaments "Trade"
Concerning the women Token of grief Betrothal by a nut
Mark of friendship " What is your name ? " Song and dance
Wailing for the dead The great lake Visit to the chief A
returned wanderer Native house A forced gift A born
histrion " Good-bye ! "
THE island of Tikopia lies away by itself, out of
sight of any other, more than a hundred miles east-
north-east of the Torres group, and about 120 miles
north-east of the Banks.
Our voyage thither was accomplished in the night,
and we awoke to behold the island clear and green
before us. A gully seems to divide it roughly into
two parts. To the left is a hill, to the right an
elevated plateau.
Soon we could descry little dark canoes setting
out in our direction, and gradually their occupants
became discernible. A strange, magnificent people
are the Tikopians. So totally unlike any of our
Melanesian islanders that coming into their midst was
like taking a plunge out of the everyday world into
some land of romantic fiction. On they shot towards
us, paddling vigorously in their plain, workmanlike
dug-outs.
The first canoe to approach us was a fair sample
157
158 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
of the fleet. It contained seven tawny giants of pure
Polynesian type, all well over 6 feet in height, their
skin a pale, coppery hue, their hair long yellow
manes floating in the wind, their features and
expression strong and striking. Standing to their
work, they came gaily along, laughing and shouting
in rich, deep voices, clearly delighted to see us.
Leave was asked and obtained to come aboard
our ship, the only vessel that can be reckoned upon
by lonely Tikopia ; and we all felt very small and
insignificant when these great fellows, having
scrambled monkey-like up the ship's sides, walked
about amongst us.
The Tikopians do not go in much for ornament.
It is as if instinct taught them that their natural form
is comely enough, and more dignified, unadorned.
They seem as a rule to be born with black hair, and
then to treat it with turmeric or some other yellow dye.
Only in a few cases I detected a glitter which might
indicate a natural colour. There is very little face-
tattooing, but elaborate devices down breast and back
like columns of tiny fish, and rows of straight lines
and curves, give a curious impression at a short
distance of jackets or jerseys.
Many methods are employed to keep the hair out
of its owner's way. Some wearing a sort of rounded
comb, after the fashion of long-ago childhood, are
suggestive of a burlesque Alice in Wonderland !
Others coil the mane at the back of their heads into
a massive chignon. But the favourite plan is to bind
a strip of calico or native cloth over the forehead and
round the hair, so keeping it partially out of the way.
A good many wear tortoiseshell ear-rings, and
just a few a small inconspicuous ring in the nose.
CHAP.V TIKOPIA I 59
Necklaces are not common, but we noticed some
composed of black seeds. From a string round the
neck frequently hangs either a fish cut in mother-of-
pearl, or a single cowrie, and armlets of pearl shell
are occasionally worn. Sometimes a rather elaborately-
woven grass mat is wrapped over the tappa-cloth
apron, but further adornment is not attempted. The
children only are quite unclothed.
It was our pleasure to be bringing the Tikopians
not only a brave and eager little party of Motalava
teachers, but also a friend of theirs named Simon,
who had left them two years before.
The Bishop was the first person to be sought out,
and then Simon. And here for the first time I saw
the ceremony of rubbing noses, which is not a
Melanesian custom. It really consists in Tikopia,
at all events of a brief contact and pressure of nose-
tips. They all looked delighted to see Simon again,
and greeted our whole party effusively myself with
some curiosity too. It was just a merry, noisy crowd
of gigantic boys, with somewhat the aspect of ancient
Britons.
Most of them had furnished themselves before
setting out from home with articles they thought likely
to strike the fancy of their white visitors, and result
in an exchange for things dear to the Tikopian heart,
such as calico, knives, or hatchets. The sticks of
black trade -tobacco, so welcome in nearly every
island, meet with no appreciation here. There were
grass mats of every size, all beautifully woven, for us
to select from ; palm-leaf fans, which they use them-
selves constantly, and carry stuck upright in the loin-
cloth behind ; and shells : no great variety of goods.
I was buttonholed by one man who had an
160 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
article to dispose of that was clearly of exceptional
value, for it was wrapped first in about three yards
of native cloth, then in a second wrapping, so that it
took a long, long time to unfold. However, he was
patient, and so was I, and at last we came to the
kernel. And behold ! an English sixpence ! ! Poor
fellow, I fear he was grievously disappointed to find
the bidding for his treasure did not run very high.
Soon we set off in boats for the shore, and on the
way some men in a neighbouring canoe entertained
us with one of their peculiar, plaintive songs, sung
with faultless precision and accompanied by curious
actions swaying of the body, shaking of the mane,
etc. The singing was punctuated by bursts of most
hearty laughter a sort of chorus in which we
could all join.
A long wade was necessary in order to get to land.
Scarcely was I clear of the ocean before the women
were upon me. And truly they bestowed a right
royal welcome. The glamour of rarity was about me,
for I was but the second white woman who had been
seen ashore, my predecessor (the wife of the present
Bishop) having visited Tikopia about three years
before.
The hair of all the women is cropped short, and
it was dark in every instance that I could see. By a
curious custom, grief over death is signified by the
chief male mourner cutting off his mane, which is
then twisted into a rope and coiled round the head of
the deceased's nearest female relation. We saw
several of these mourning tokens.
While writing of customs I must mention that
which concerns betrothal. An offer of marriage in
Tikopia is made by the handing of a nut to a girl by
TIKOPIA.
WHATEVER is THE WHITE MAN DOING ? ;
SOME OF THE INHABITANTS.
P. 161.
CHAP. V
TIKOPIA 161
her admirer, and if she accepts him she accepts the
nut. Nor will she refuse him lightly, for if that
significant nut be rejected, the girl by her action
signs her own death-warrant. She is actually
compelled by social custom to commit suicide, and it
is said that every year several girls drown themselves
rather than marry the man who handed the nut.
I was appropriated at once, quite as a matter of
course, by the four or five young women who had
begun to attend our school, and who had picked up
from the native teachers a few words and sentences of
the Mota language. In the accompanying photograph
some of the women may be seen peeping in the back-
ground, the foremost of whom wears the hair coronet
of mourning.
The feminine attire, if certainly scanty, is quite
sufficient for Tikopia ; and they were adorned, as
were also the men, with wreaths of orange flowers on
their heads, fragrant white lotus blossoms stuck here
and there in the hair, necklaces of fringy grass, and
bunches of scented leaves sticking out of their armlets
and girdles. Several girls presented me with their
flower garlands, which I twined about my hat and
hung round my neck, till I could dispose of no more,
and then they gave me single lotus flowers to stick
behind my ears.
So, with their arms embracing me with a torrid
fervour (the bare remembrance of it makes me hot !),
they led me to the village just above the beach.
Here great forest trees cast welcome shade upon the
hot white sand. The women spread a palm frond as
a mat and bade me sit down. Then it seemed as if
the entire female population of Tikopia surrounded
me and subjected me to a prolonged examination,
M
162 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
verbal and physical. I was stroked, and patted, and
gently pinched ; my blouse sleeves were turned up
above the elbow to see if the white really went on all
the way, and many searching questions were put to
me.
And how they laughed and ejaculated ! Every-
thing dark was bad, we white people alone were good,
and everything belonging to us ! I meanwhile was
absorbed in silent admiration of the children. Such
beautiful little creatures, perfectly proportioned, with
brilliant, intelligent eyes and clear, soft skins!
But next they must needs hear my name, and I
theirs. Which hearing was immediately followed by
the pretty Polynesian custom of sealing a friendship by
the exchange of names. One by one the girls assured
me earnestly that my name was theirs. And with
equal gravity I responded by claiming as my own
one long liquid name after another, which I could not
even pronounce aright.
If you ask a Polynesian his name he will tell
-you instead that of his brother, a habit which,
unless you are aware of it, is apt to lead to comical
mistakes.
A thing that struck me during my short stay
among these people was that, in contrast with the
Melanesian ignorement of the names of their own
islands, these sought every opportunity of introducing
the word Tikopia with evident pride. It was uttered
on all hands. " The way of Tikopia," " We are of
Tikopia," " A song of Tikopia," " You have come to
Tikopia." There was no doubt about the name of
this island.
Suddenly, in the midst of all the chatter, as if
by a simultaneous impulse so unanimous that it
CHAP.V TIKOPIA 163
reminded me of the chorus of a comic opera they
began to sing in their mellow, tuneful voices and to
dance about me, clapping their hands in strict time,
but between the words in such a way as to give the
effect of syncopation. And as it is, I believe, with
most native races, all the music of these merry-hearted
folk is in a minor key. Again and again the per-
formance was repeated, till at last they constrained
me to take part. I stood up, and my hands were
lifted up and down on either side, and waved about
by a couple of supporters.
The fun and laughter were at their height when
I felt my arm roughly seized and jerked by a young
woman who rushed into the group. Abruptly the
song and dance ceased, and the whole tribe was
transfigured in a moment. The change took my
breath away. One and all turned upon the newcomer
with glaring eyes and furious faces. She fled pre-
cipitately, and immediately all was once more smiling
peace. A girl on my left whom I questioned told
me the intruder came from another village, with
which these were not friendly, and added that she
was a fool !
I fancied I heard singing in the distance, and said
so. But my companions corrected me.
" Not so, it is the weeping of women over the
death of their sons." And later on this was cor-
roborated by those who went inland, and had come
upon the women " keening " for their dead.
A Tikopian wailing is accompanied by the beating
of breasts and the singing of funeral songs, of which
every phrase is concluded by the word "Seauwe/"
uttered, says one who has heard it, " in a tone like
the passionate, intense, despairing cry of a person
164 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
in the utmost abandonment of inconsolable grief and
mental anguish."
The house of death is crowded with kinsfolk and
friends. In the centre lies the body, adorned with a
necklace of leaves and a bright orange-coloured girdle
of tappa-cloth, the knees crooked, the head and breast
smeared with a blood-red pigment. Near by sit
the immediate relatives, and one by one from time
to time they come shuffling forward on their knees,
and, leaning over, lay their cheek beside the cheek
or forehead of the dead. As they do so, they tear
with their nails the flesh of their own cheeks just
beside the corners of the mouth, till the blood trickles
down upon the crimson face of the dead.
It was an interesting expedition that was made by
the Bishop and some others of our company, though
a long hot walk was involved. They saw the great
lake of Tikopia, which must be beautiful, covered
with white water-lilies. Wild duck abound there,
so unused to sportsmen that they are pathetically
easy to kill. It is reported of Tikopians that they
shed no blood, either human or otherwise. Twenty-
five birds were shot on this occasion, and we were
thankful for the fresh food.
The old king, chief of the lesser chiefs, who was
the object of the Bishop's visit, is truly patriarchal-
looking. He was seated in state outside his house,
his subjects keeping a respectful distance only one,
who might be a sort of prime minister, venturing
close beside him. The Polynesian conception of
chieftaincy is far removed from that which prevails in
Melanesia.
Most impressive must have been the reception of
Simon after his two years' absence. In obedience to
CHAP. V
TIKOPIA 165
Tikopian etiquette, he approached the old king on
hands and knees, his face to the ground. Then he
placed his head between the feet of the great man,
who lifted it in his palms and brought it to knee-
level, where he laid his hands upon it, muttering
words that were apparently of a benedictory nature ;
and finally he turned up the downcast face, breathed
thrice upon it, and pressed his nose to that of Simon.
The scene might have well represented, all agreed, a
prodigal's return.
While this was going on in the interior of the
island I was beginning to think I had surely played
out my r61e as a curio, and might fairly be allowed
to express a little curiosity on my own part, so I
remarked once or twice how much I should like to
see inside one of the houses. This seemed to surprise
them, but one of the younger women offered to take
me to hers, which was near to, and I was not sorry to
get quietly away for a little while.
The houses are built close together, with the usual
thatch roof, but the walls seemed to be mostly con-
structed of plaited palm leaves. A few holes here
and there let in some light ; but in place of the large
entrance at one or both ends, there were five little
low, rounded apertures at various angles of the house,
to pass through which it is necessary to drop on to
hands and knees. The ostensible purpose of these
low entrances is that of shade and coolness, but one
fancies there must also be the intention to secure the
house against the intrusion of undesirable visitors.
If a man began to enter against the will of the tenant,
the latter could obviously make it very uncomfortable
for him with a club or spear. From within all five
entrances can be easily commanded, but when used
1 66 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
as exits the number and variety of positions would
assist in making escape possible.
Two or three others joined us, unwilling to lose
sight of the new and strange visitor, and as our small
procession crawled into the house I felt for all the
world as if we were playing at bears !
Inside there was the usual oven, or hole in the
ground, in the centre, and grass mats spread around.
Fishing - nets, clubs, dried fish, and canoe paddles
formed the furniture. It was spacious enough, and
the atmosphere was not bad. Coming in from the
sunshine, it seemed pleasantly cool, and I sat there
for a good while.
The young mistress of the house pulled off one
of her shell armlets and put it on my arm over my
sleeve. Of course, following the rules of island
courtesy, in return for each present I offered another.
Matches had never been seen before, and when I
struck one there was huge excitement and delight.
Their gifts were mostly in food shape, refreshing
green coco-nuts and sugar-cane. Every now and
then I would feel a squeeze of my hand or arm, and
hear a soft voice at my side " Pulsala / " (friend), and
then would be sung very slowly and carefully some
fragment of a Mota hymn.
In the past the Tikopians have earned on the
Southern Cross the name of consummate thieves, but
this notoriety they are fast losing as they come under
the new teaching. On the occasion of the present
visit for the first time nothing was stolen from any
of our persons or missed off the ship. Only for one
moment was I the least uncomfortable when a man
took a particular fancy to a tortoise-shell finger-ring
from Santa Cruz that I was not disposed to part with.
CHAP.V TIKOPIA 167
He had asked to look at it, and I had too confidingly
handed it over. Now, " with nods, and becks, and
wreathed smiles," he indicated that he would wear
it himself. At first I firmly declined, but he would
take no denial. As he had got the ring, I soon found,
indisposed as I was to give it up, I was still more
indisposed to displease my giant friends while I was
alone in their midst. I therefore smiled rather artifici-
ally and acknowledged defeat.
On returning to the ship we found it fairly in the
hands of our mighty visitors, who were swarming
everywhere and driving a brisk trade in mats. One
man attracted my attention above the rest. He is
a chief's son, and a born actor, but whether tragedian
or comedian I could not finally decide. Every gesture
and expression was theatrically significant, and he
was never for an instant at a loss. Watching him,
it was hard to believe he had neither seen nor heard
of a stage.
But they are surely a dramatic people. To witness
the children dancing and singing with an unconscious
grace no white youngster could rival strengthens
this opinion. And here on the ship, in the midst
of the jabber and barter, a little troop happened to
come together, and began to dance and sing with
a sort of exuberance of excitement.
The exhibition of our ship's gramophone had the
same effect. The Tikopians stood still and silent
for a moment, marvelling, then decided it was first-
rate to dance to, and so danced afresh.
The time came to bid farewell to Tikopia and its
people. But our guests were not at all anxious to
go. It was necessary for both missionaries and sailors
to say " Good-bye ! " in peremptory, stentorian tones
i68 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
over and over again, and not only shake hands, but
take the gentlemen by the arms and lead them to
the ship's side.
Even then they hesitated, but one of their number,
who was evidently a kind of policeman, armed himself
with a most uncompromising spear and hurried to
and fro, speeding the parting guests, who at the
approach of the spear-tip lingered no longer, but
toppled abruptly over the ship's side, careless whether
into a canoe or into the sea, shouting with laughter
either way. Last of all the old policeman dived in,
and our final glimpse of him was a grinning face,
bobbing above the water, nearly three-quarters of
a mile from shore, and a hand upraised, grasping the
trusty spear.
Thus we bade farewell to Tikopia and our plucky
little band of brown missionary-teachers.
CHAPTER VI
SANTA CRUZ
Utupua Vanikolo Discovery of Santa Cruz Natural features
The people Canoes Kite-fishing Sharking Tinakula
Graciosa Bay Cruzians on board Their wares The loom
Cruzian characteristics Ornaments Nose-boring feasts, etc.
Adventures in the island Arrows After a fight Story of a chief
Concerning the women A successful pursuit The little-known
interior The gamal Round houses Death; customs Feather-
money Betrothal customs Ghost houses Beliefs and supersti-
tions The ghost of the crops Folk-tales : " Concerning the Sun
and Moon " " How Santa Cruz was made."
WE are approaching one of the most interesting
islands in the realm of Oceania.
Santa Cruz proper lies 170 miles to the north of
the Torres Islands, but before reaching it two islands
are passed which should strictly be included in the
Santa Cruz group. These are sparsely populated,
and I have little to say about them, although the
Melanesian Mission is now at work in both.
Utupua, the northernmost, forty miles from Santa
Cruz, is a small, hilly, very pretty island of horseshoe
shape, whose inhabitants are Cruzian in appearance.
I was not among those who went ashore here, but
they reported that the natives show skill in carving
and decorating, and a gamal was observed ornamented
with elaborate care.
169
170 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
Vanikolo is the larger and more southerly island,
its size being 15 miles long by 7^ broad, with a great
encircling coral reef, our crossing of which furnished
some excitement, as the tide was ebbing, and there
was only one spot where the waves had not yet
broken. The people have a sinister reputation for
cannibalism, which may be no longer deserved, and
for battle and murder, which they certainly live up
to at present. The latest letter I have from a native
teacher in Vanikolo says, " There is much fighting
going on. They have killed five men." When
Bishop Patteson landed here in 1856 the remains
of a recent cannibal feast were discovered, and also
sixty European skulls, unmistakable relics of the
crews of two French vessels on an exploring expedi-
tion wrecked here in 1788. And only last year the
Bishop obtained two old coins of the period (French
and Russian) which had been found here and preserved.
We did not see many people, and not one who
could speak Mota, so my tongue was tied. A few
women I met, but they were shy and apathetic-look-
ing, and the habit of shaking hands has not penetrated
to Vanikolo.
The main island of Santa Cruz is about twenty-two
miles long, and half as broad, of very irregular outline.
It was discovered and named by the Spaniards in
1596-1597. They proposed to settle there and found
a colony, but the murder of a chief by some of the
sailors made a continued residence dangerous, and
after two months' stay the white people departed. Of
their visit no tradition can be discovered, and very few
traces of them have come to light. A small and
exceeding rusty cannon now in our museum at Norfolk
Island is the only one I have seen. As no very
SANTA CRUZ.
THE NATIVES CAME PADDLING OUT TO U.S.
THE CANOES SWARM AROUND THE SHIl'."
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 171
pleasant memories could have been transmitted, the
blank is scarcely to be regretted.
A range of hills forms a watershed in the centre of
the island, some parts of which rise quite impressively
to about 3000 feet. Like the more southerly islands,
Santa Cruz is a mass of luxuriant foliage and dense
forest which extends right down to the beach.
As we steamed along the coast in the early morning
the natives came paddling out to us in crowds in their
canoes. Friendly sticks of tobacco were tossed
towards them, and the men leapt into the sea and
dived for them without hesitation, though sharks
abound here. The Cruzians are among the bravest
and most timid people of the Pacific. Of men,
creatures, and things they know no fear ; of the
unseen they have a quite fathomless terror.
The scene and the sound as the canoes gather
numbers and swarm around the ship are not to be
described in words. The Cruzians are altogether such
an extraordinary-looking people, thanks principally to
their grotesque ideas of personal adornment. Fortun-
ately an illustration will help to convey an impression
of the spectacle.
The canoes here are still the simple dug-outs,
fashioned (like Qat's) with a clam-shell adze from a
tree trunk, with an outrigger, and a little stage in the
centre on which the " trade " to be offered is piled.
The hollow of the canoe is only 6 or 7 inches
across, while the length may be as much as 1 2 feet.
Some of the smaller ones are only occupied by one
man, but most are paddled by two, who, if they sit, put
only one foot inside, the other being left to swing
temptingly in the water.
For sailing purposes the Cruzians make canoes of
i;2 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
a more imposing size than these, though constructed on
the same principle. But the log is caulked, there is a
central well, and the stage is large enough to support
a palm-leaf hut where a voyager can shelter himself
from sun or rain. The sail is of a curious shape,
plaited by the women, and the boat is steered by a
long paddle.
The craft of canoe-making is confined to the few
to whom the knowledge has been formally transmitted.
A Cruzian's account of the matter is as follows :
Only some men may dig out canoes, those whose
ancestors dug them out. When a father is near death, that
father takes water and washes his son's hands, and they
think that the father is giving to his son understanding and
wisdom to make canoes, and he signifies it through water.
When a man has finished a canoe, he takes it down to the
sea, and paddles very far, and makes it roll on the surf, and
thus he thinks that he drives away the ghost from the adze
with which he dug out the canoe, and the ghost of the spot
where he cut down the wood for the canoe.
There are no Melanesians more at home in the
water than the Cruzians. The very infants swim and
dive as soon as they can walk, and we saw a crowd of
boys inshore having rare fun on surf-boards.
We were still steaming along the coast when 1
noticed what I thought was a big black bird hovering
over the sea, but the Bishop explained it to be a
fishing -kite. The garfish is a great delicacy, but
rather hard to catch in an ordinary way. The natives
accordingly avoid alarming them with the shadow of
the canoe by employing a kite to carry the line, which
is manufactured from the bark of a tree. In a calm
the kite is kept up by the pace of the canoe ; in a
breeze it obviates the necessity of paddling by acting
as motive power.
SANTA CRUZ.
A SAILING CANOE.
P. 172.
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 173
At the end of the kite tail, and floating on the
surface of the water, is a large ball of strong cobweb,
of the stuff that tropical spiders can spin. For what
toothsome morsel the garfish takes the cobweb is more
than I can say, but for some mysterious reason it is
attracted by it, and the anglers have no need of hook
or bait. The long snout is darted into the thick of
the glutinous web, and the curved back teeth take
a bite from which they cannot release themselves.
Sometimes the first victim is used as a decoy, and his
fellows who come up to see what's the matter with
him are caught in a hand-net.
Sharking again is a favourite sport, often under-
taken by one man in a small canoe, with a powerful
noose hanging over the side. By rattling coco-nut
shells the savage monster is attracted. When he is
alongside the boat the man dangles a tempting bit of
raw pig in front of the noose. The shark makes a
dash for the dainty, and the man at the same moment
hauls tight the noose with all his strength, catching
the shark if possible between the fins. Then it is just
a question of holding on till the creature is exhausted.
Often enough the canoe is upset by its struggles, but
the man will manage to right it and climb in again
without releasing his prey. Probably for a while there
is no need to paddle, since the shark will drag the
canoe for a considerable distance. At length he
grows tired, and the canoe drags him instead, until he
is weak enough for the man to get him on to the out-
rigger and club him on the head. There follows a
feast.
Viewed from the sea, Santa Cruz at first looked
very different from the other islands we had visited,
as the mountains are in the background, and a long,
174 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
verdant ridge is alone visible, green to the water's
edge, with here and there a clearing. Presently, how-
ever, Tinakula comes in sight, a lonely volcanic cone
still active, over 2000 feet high, where departed souls
are sent to undergo purification. Tinakula lies about
eleven miles to the north-west, but in the clear atmo-
sphere it seems close to. Then Te Motu stands before
us (or Trevanion), a three-cornered islet to the north-
west just cut off from the mainland. And now the sea
takes more vivid colours and we enter Graciosa Bay,
well named by the Spaniards, a lovely, spacious sheet
of water where a fleet might ride at ease. Here we
dropped anchor, and immediately a siege by eager
Cruzians began in downright earnest.
Cabins were locked and port-holes closed, for where
Cruzians are not yet Christians they are superlative
pilferers. There was no need to lower the rope-ladder
to assist our visitors. They were up the sides and all
over the decks in a moment, every man jabbering at
the top of his voice as only Cruzians can jabber.
Wonderful shopmen these fellows would make, with a
little cultivation and taming ! Willingly granting that
their voices need moderating, they have a peculiar
skill in bargain-making without actually pestering one
as Orientals do.
And their wares ? Well, I jotted down what I
happened to see, and this is my list. Fowls, fish,
pigeons, pineapples, bananas, pumpkins, nuts and
almonds, shelled and unshelled, mats and bags woven
from the fibrous banana stem, bows and arrows, shells,
plates of tortoise-shell, armlets of mother-of-pearl,
scoops and spoons of the same, tortoise-shell ear-rings,
nose-rings, and finger-rings, pieces of the native tappa-
cloth beaten out of the bark of a tree, bone needles,
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 175
looms, floats, tortoise-shell fish-hooks, snake skins, food
bowls, fishing-lines of various thicknesses, nets, lime-
boxes, girdles, and wooden models of men, pigs, birds,
and canoes.
There was nothing about them which they were
not ready to part with for a price ! Stay, there was
one thing they were very chary of selling indeed, in
some cases they absolutely refused to consider any
offer. This precious thing was the tema, or moon, a
mark of rank hung round the neck and falling on the
breast. It is a large round clam-shell disk, which in
the case of high rank is overlaid with a carved tortoise-
shell ornament.
I mentioned looms. In Santa Cruz, alone of all
the Melanesian islands, is a loom found ; but here it
is, and a wonderful one too, upon which the bags and
mats are exquisitely woven, patterns being introduced
with the fibre of a black -stemmed banana. The
nearest islands where looms are found are in the
Caroline group, about a thousand miles away. Of
course the first tempting suggestion that springs
to the mind is that they were introduced by the
Spaniards. This would be a romantic solution, but,
strange to say, Mendafia, the leader of the expedition,
remarks upon these same looms as in use when they
arrived.
Looms run comparatively cheap. The Cruzians
know they are in demand, and provide accordingly.
But with an astuteness one can hardly help admiring,
they carefully contrive to sell the loom and half-woven
mat rolled and tied tightly in a bundle, if possible the
last thing, when time will not allow of examination
and the shuttle is left out, the making of that being
rather an intricate matter !
176 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
I have said that the appearance of the Cruzian is
extraordinary. Let me try to be more explicit.
The Cruzian language, an extremely difficult and
peculiar one, has yet certain features in common with
other Melanesian tongues and cannot be reckoned as
Polynesian. Yet among the people themselves we
find many traits and customs distinctively Polynesian.
How, then, are they to be reckoned ? Their physiog-
nomy should help us to a conclusion, but it is still the
subject of debate.
Magnificently developed men many of them, com-
paratively fair-skinned, it is a pleasure to the eye to
trace the curves and lines of their muscular, well-
proportioned bodies. The only garment is a square
of native cloth, before and behind, that falls some
18 inches from the waist "spotlessly clean and
squarely put on. No one can compare with him in
Melanesia," says the Bishop. The hair is fuzzy, and
almost always whitened or reddened with lime or
turmeric. In this matter a whimsical fancy often has
play. I saw one man whose hair was most evenly
divided into longitudinal halves, black and white.
Another's was entirely white, except for a thick black
line all down the middle.
But what, it will be noticed from the pictures,
gives to each face a ludicrous and even animal effect
is the tortoise-shell disk, which begins with the nose-
ring, and hangs over the mouth, making eating and
smoking awkward and speech inarticulate. Frankly,
it is the ugliest so-called " ornament " I have seen.
The poor ears, too, are horribly distorted. When
but a few days old the first boring is accomplished
and rings are inserted. By a system of plugging the
hole is extended, until from eight to fifteen large
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 177
tortoise-shell rings may be seen dragging from either
ear, the lobe of which touches the shoulder, being
often stretched to breaking.
Six to eight armlets of shell or beads, a necklace,
anklets, and a girdle of shells, beads, or the stem of a
creeper coiled round so closely as to give the wearer
quite a waspish waist ; such is the Cruzian full-dress.
But the right to it is only gained by a series of
feasts given by the father and his relations. The first
of these inaugurates the ear-boring. In a few weeks
another celebrates the boring of the nose, on which
occasion also the head is shaved, one small lock being
left to hang over the forehead. At the age of six or
seven another feast is given, when the lock is cut off
and the hair thenceforward allowed to grow. As
soon as the father can afford it, after the boy is about
fourteen or fifteen, another and larger feast wins for
him the right to don the coveted loin-cloth. But if
the father chance to be a poor man, his son has often
to wait long for this public recognition of his adult
status.
Sometimes twelve villages will unite over a feast
of this kind, which may celebrate the boring of a dozen
babies' noses and the first loin-cloths of six boys. On
such an occasion about 150 pigs will be consumed,
they being killed by drowning in the holes on the
reef. There will be all-night dancing in the smooth
round space preserved in every village, enclosed by a
rough coral wall, and for this the men get themselves
up with exquisite care. The women dance alone, but
are on rare occasions allowed to follow the men on
all fours ! The accompaniment is the stamping of
feet ; no drum is employed. In some dances there
is also clapping of hands, but in most either the bow
N
178 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
and arrow are carried, or a dancing-club never used
in fight.
Occasionally a great man will bequeath his dancing-
ground to his son, but unless the latter be already rich,
it must be hard to feel grateful for this particular
legacy. According to social custom, friends are liable
to arrive at any time, from any distance ; they ask for
a dance, and it is de rigueur that all be fed with pigs by
the hospitable host. There are some men to-day who
are kept poor, and have no hope of ever being comfort-
ably off, because their fathers were so good as to leave
them their dancing-grounds !
Excitable, impulsive, loud-voiced, pugnacious, the
Cruzians have managed to create a strange fear and
dread of themselves amongst other Melanesians. And
in truth he is no genuine Cruzian who does not love a
fight. Yet withal the hot blood flows from a warm
heart, and the excitability is accompanied by a keen
sense of fun. " A lovable fellow " is the verdict of
one who has lived some time in their midst, but
perhaps it needs an Irish nature to sympathize fully
with their Irish traits of character.
The amazing variableness of these people's moods
involves a glorious uncertainty which must add zest
to life in Santa Cruz. With regard to the heathen,
you will be wholly unaware how you may be greeted
to-morrow by those who hobnobbed with you to-day
cheek by jowl. We have had plenty of experience
of this in the Mission, dating back from the year 1864.
Bishop Patteson went ashore where we did, in
Graciosa Bay, and all seemed as usual. Just as he
was about to re-embark, bows and arrows appeared,
and the natives aimed deliberately at the boat. The
Bishop on this occasion escaped, but three of his
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 179
companions were shot, of whom two Norfolk Islanders
died of tetanus a few days later.
In 1873 Commodore Goodenough was murdered
by the natives in this same island for no ascertainable
reason.
Te Motu has been friendly to us for many years.
In 1889, however, when the missionary -in -charge
called in the ordinary way, he was received with drawn
bows, and to his astounded surprise a native rushed
towards him brandishing an axe. Another tripped up
the would-be murderer, but a regular pandemonium
ensued. The air rang with shouts and yells as the
natives ran madly about with bows and arrows, their
eyes starting from their heads, the veins on their
foreheads standing out.
The white man gained his house, came out on to
the veranda, and vainly strove to make his voice
heard. The cause of this outburst of violence was
quite undiscoverable, then or since, but it seemed as
if the missionary's life must be taken before peace
could be obtained. Just, and only just, in time some
young men rushed into the gamal, brought out a pile
of feather- money, and laid it at the Englishman's feet.
His life was ransomed. In another hour all was
peace where tumult and violence had so lately
reigned.
The next day the matter was calmly discussed.
In answer to searching inquiries, many reasons for
the attack were offered, of which none was probably
the true one. Finally it was agreed that the three
ringleaders should pay a fine, and that yesterday's
truce-money should to-day be handed back. Then
all was peace hand-shaking and nose-rubbing, for
the last-named Polynesian custom holds in Santa Cruz.
i8o ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
" The more I saw of these people the better I
liked them," is the remark of the man who was so
nearly their victim.
The only weapon of war is the bow, fitted with the
horrid bone-tipped arrow about 4 feet long, smeared
with vegetable juices, deadly in its effect. It is said
that when a truce is made a fine is forfeit for every
arrow that has found its mark. The number of slain
is carefully reckoned on both sides, and the account
must be equalized in a very barbarous manner.
Little boys to the required number are sacrificed
handed over to the enemy, ordered to try and climb
a tree, and there shot with arrows.
One would surmise that such a custom could only
originate in hearts of stone. Yet these same people
are positively lavish in their generosity. If a white
man comes amongst them, they will bring food daily
in quantities. At sunrise the patter of their feet on
the veranda may be heard, and the missionary on
going out finds baskets of nuts, yams, tomago, and
coco-nuts. Even when he is absent on a boat journey
the gifts continue to flow in. A teacher remonstrates
in vain, " Why bring food when our father is at
Nelua ? " The rejoinder is conclusive. " What if he
by chance came back to-day, and there was nothing
ready for him ? "
Perhaps incidents best illustrate the Cruzian mind
and manners.
Natei, a chief of Te Motu, appeared one day in
the Mission school, and took his place among the
hearers. He came daily for a week, then asked the
missionary to buy from him a coil of money. The
white man agreed, and offered a fair price. Natei
asked more, and the missionary consented. But the
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 181
price was again raised, and the Englishman refused
thereupon further traffic with him.
Off went the offended chief, and presently a
message was brought by two men to the effect that
Natei's anger had arisen, and he had tabooed the
school for himself and his men. The idea was quite
obvious : the missionary in dismay would pay what-
ever was required to secure the continuance of Natei's
valuable friendship.
Not a bit of it ! The messengers were refused
admittance, and the Christians were strictly forbidden
to pay Natei anything whatever. The business was
the white man's, not theirs. Late at night, however,
he was called to the gamal, and informed by the
school folk with most cheerful faces that they had
paid up the amount Natei wanted, and all was well
once more. To their surprise and disappointment
their "father" was by no means pleased. It was
a sheer case of blackmail, and could not be allowed.
The next day Natei, with a serene countenance,
presented himself once more as a scholar. But he
was promptly turned out, and forbidden further
entrance. Then it was announced clearly and
decidedly that the money paid must be fetched back,
and that there would be no more school till it re-
appeared.
Very soon back came the money. About noon
a messenger arrived from the chief, bringing mats
and more money. " Natei wishes to make amends
for his great foolishness."
The peace-offering was accepted for the use of
the school, but Natei was requested to appear in
person. He was rebuked publicly, then readmitted
to the school.
182 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
It was not long after this that the Bishop made
Natei's acquaintance in strict accordance with native
etiquette. The chief received the Bishop seated,
outside the gamal. He then took him inside, gave
him a head-rest and a fan, and bade him lie down.
It is not correct in Santa Cruz to talk much to one's
host, so the Bishop talked to his companion, and
Natei to his followers. The former admired the
shark-line, the pig-net, and other hangings of the
gamal. Natei discussed the Bishop's blazer, legs, etc.
Thus each showed that he could get on without the
other, and mutual dignity was preserved !
When this had gone on long enough, Natei made
signs that he wished his guest to visit his own house,
to see his eight wives, and all his feather-money.
The Bishop acquiesced, and became the recipient
of a shower of gifts from the chief bags, mats, and
food. These were received by the Bishop with cool
equanimity, and carefully examined, he in return
presenting red and blue calico, tobacco, and beads.
To evince much gratitude is the reverse of com-
plimentary in Santa Cruz : does it not imply that
you regard the giver as a poor man, to whom the
gift involves a sacrifice ?
But now it was the turn of the eight wives, who
threw mats and nuts across the room to the visitor,
whose goodwill was indicated by going round and
shaking hands with each, presenting each with a
necklace of blue beads. All was now done comme il
faut, and the visit was at an end.
Cruzian wives are not always so pleasantly engaged.
Women's lot is here a hard one. From dawn to dark
they are toiling in the gardens ; all the heavy labour
falls to them, in addition to the care of the children.
SANTA CRUZ.
A WEAVER AT HIS LOOM.
THE CHIEFS OF GRACIOSA BAY.
P. 183.
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 183
The men's time is spent in weaving mats, smoking,
chewing betel-nut, fishing, and so forth. The wife
comes home to cook the meals for husband and brothers.
If she excites her lord's displeasure he fells her with
his club. When a few years ago the Mission purchased
a site in Graciosa Bay for a station, a proviso was
inserted by the old chiefs (here pictured) to the effect
that women must not be invited to attend the school.
They think a little learning would be a very dangerous
thing for wives to acquire !
It is in consequence a hard matter to get into touch
with these poor drudges, who are never allowed within
speaking distance of the white man. My own first
glimpse of them was at some distance as we neared
the shore at the above-mentioned station. It was a
group of veiled figures on a rock to the left of the
landing-place, across a stream.
" Those are women," said the Bishop ; " you must
try and get at them."
" I'm afraid it'll be all trying," remarked the priest-
in-charge.
"Of course there's no chance while we are about,"
said the Bishop ; " but if you don't mind being
deserted, you might bridge the gulf."
" There they go ! " said the other as we landed ;
and the women vanished exactly like rabbits. "And
you can't cross the stream dry-shod," was the last
word of cheer.
However, all one wanted was to be left alone and
to have a try. Just one or two of the mysterious
forms still lingered, and I strove with gestures to show
them that I wanted them to come to me and make
friends. It was with the same vague hope that one
fans the last spark in the kindling that will not
1 84 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
burn. Out it goes ; and away went the last of the
women.
I walked a few yards up the stream, seeing the
gorgeous butterflies, foliage, crabs, fishes, and lizards,
and only thinking how to reach those tantalizing
fugitives.
The first step seemed to gain the rock where we
had detected them, behind which they might be hiding.
After studying the situation, I thought I saw a chance
of crossing the stream if I could reach a midway stone
by one short leap. It was accomplished, and I was
delighted to find myself crunching the white coral
and wading through the glistening silver sand on the
far side.
I soon arrived at the rock, but though there were
plenty of naked foot-marks, no other trace of the
women was to be seen. I followed the prints as far
as I could, but they grew confused among some
boulders, and as the ground became hard they dis-
appeared. I began to feel less hopeful.
Just then a little canoe came paddling by close to
the shore, and one of its occupants made a remark
which I could not, of course, understand. He was a
quite exceptionally ugly person, decked out with a
plethora of rings for every member and feature of his
body, and much betel-nut chewing had made his lips
and tongue a brilliant scarlet and his teeth coal-black.
He was further distinguished by wearing upon his fore-
head a native sunshade, like the peak of a cap woven
in grass. He grinned benignly at me, and beached
the canoe close to where I stood, so we entered into
communication. Somehow, somewhere, he had picked
up a word or two of pidgin-English, but the thing he
knew best was, " Cum-on ! " By signs I made him
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 185
understand that I was in search of the women ; by
signs he indicated that they had gone into the bush,
but that I was to " cum-on " after him.
So, one behind the other, we plunged into the thick
bush. The track along which he led me was very
narrow, but clearly defined. It wound and twisted
continually, but on we went, he shouting the while to
the unseen females, or turning round to encourage me
with renewed " Cum-ons ! "
When we had travelled some five hundred yards I
came tentatively to a halt with a " S'pose me stop
here," but this suggestion found no favour, and the
" Cum-on ! " became so urgent I thought I might as
well accede. The surroundings were beguiling in
loveliness, but this insistent old heathen gave me no
pause for enjoyment.
By the time we had panted on nearly as far again
I felt that my total disappearance might presently
occasion trouble, so I came to an uncompromising full
stop upon a fallen log, and showed that I meant to go
no farther. The heathen looked disappointed, but
impressing upon me by signs that I was at all costs to
remain in that spot, he set off at a gallop, yelling and
waving.
In a few minutes back he came into sight, prancing
triumphantly, and emitting " Cum-ons ! " so powerful
that there was no resisting them. I arose, and came
on a little farther. Presently, at a turn in the path
where it was crossed by another, he motioned me to
stand.
There, in the path at right angles, a few yards
away, I sighted my quarry dodging in and out among
the trees. Six or seven women were there, ranging
from an ancient dame to bright little girls and a baby.
186 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
All were decently wrapped round with bits of bark
cloth, and I especially noted that all had their heads
covered with a cloth twisted into half-turban, half-veil
a custom not common in Melanesia.
It was the old withered woman who first summoned
up enough courage to approach me, then the little
children, and last the younger matrons. I took their
hands, smiled and patted them, and made their eyes
shine with some gay knots of ribbon that I distributed
amongst them. When once the ice was broken they
were quite ready to be friendly, and presently produced
a gift in the form of a monster bunch of plantains, of
which my guide made himself the porter, trotting off
with it upon his head.
Then we retraced our steps through the bush, the
women clustering around me whenever space per-
mitted. But when we reached the rock where I first
saw them they stopped, and no persuasion would
induce them to cross their Rubicon. So we parted,
the best of friends, with pats, and waves, and smiles.
There was no great difficulty in crossing the stream
from this side. I returned to the boat to find the
bunch of plantains deposited in it, and to learn with
pleasure and surprise that my guide had refused the
stick of tobacco he was offered, signifying that it was
a free gift !
Little is known of the interior of Santa Cruz, the
greater part being still untrodden by a white man's
foot. One of our missionaries made a three days'
expedition, during which he never set eyes on a
human being. He reports that the heart of the island
" appeared to be like a huge basin, surrounded on all
sides by high hills, densely covered with bush." There
were " numerous streams, with beautiful clear water,"
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 187
and "a large river, with waterfalls and deep pools,
flowing between banks of coral rock." Of fish might
be caught a considerable number, both large and
small, and " any quantity of prawns ! " The bush
people of Santa Cruz live mostly on the western side
of the island. To them belongs the monopoly of the
manufacture of feather-money and of arrows.
Of arrows there are different kinds for different
purposes beside the bone-tipped fighting ones. There
are solid-headed ones for shooting birds, others with
tree-fern tips for shooting fish, and four-pronged arrows
for shooting flying-foxes.
You may see all kinds around the walls of the
Santa Cruz gamal (or mandai, as it is called by these
people), of which every village has one or more. It
is a strongly-made square building, the walls usually
constructed of slabs of wood, the framework being
held together with bands of split cane. There will be
a little low entrance on each side for the men to creep
through. The floor is formed of big coral blocks,
which raise it a foot or so from the ground. It is
beautifully dry and clean, shingle is scattered over it,
and upon it are spread mats of coco-nut leaves. The
Cruzians are scrupulously careful of it, being in this
respect quite un-Melanesian. It is the rule for every
one before entering to kick against some stones out-
side and stamp their feet upon a board.
When we left the Torres Islands we left behind us
the Suqe. Instead of the row of ovens with which we
are familiar, we find here a big central fireplace, over
which is supported what looks rather like a four-post
bedstead. It is a stage with three or four platforms,
one above another, very black and smoky, laden with
dried food, nuts, gourds, etc. There are long bamboos
i88 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
reaching from one wall to another, and from these
hang nets, shark ropes, shark rattles, native cloth, and
fishing-lines with their tortoise-shell hooks. Along
with the arrows I have mentioned you may see canoe
paddles, with short blade and long handle, strong
enough to punt with when required, and dried palm
leaves like mighty fans, which serve the purpose of
umbrellas. Further furniture is neither wanted nor
provided, unless one dignify by such a name the
wooden head-rest, sometimes beautifully carved, which
marks each sleeping-place. From the smoke-blackened
roof hang rather gruesome-looking objects. They
are mementoes of past feasts, the skulls and bones of
pig, fish, and turtle.
Another Cruzian characteristic is the fancy which
dictates the building of the family residence on a
circular plan. So unusual is it that we find these
round houses remarked upon by the Spaniards on
their visit in 1596. It will be seen in the accompany-
ing illustration from Te Motu that the conical, palm-
leaf-thatched roof is the principal part of the building,
finished off with a piece of coral of a peculiar kind,
shaped like a miniature tent. The very low walls are
generally thatched also, though sometimes timber is
laboriously hewn and cleft for the purpose. A circle
of coral slabs around the base is a protection from flood
in heavy rains. The native tools are few and primitive.
There is a rude drill, a file made from the skin of the
giant ray, the clam-shell adze we saw in the Banks and
Torres, and a shark's tooth ! Te Motu having long
had a school, the women here are comparatively
friendly and approachable. They have even in this
photograph come within reach of the camera.
In Santa Cruz we find a fresh species of currency
SANTA CRUZ.
GRACIOSA BAY.
DANCING-GROUND AND ROUND HOUSES. TR MOTU.
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 189
in the highly valued and most toilfully manufactured
feather- money.
It consists of a flat rope about fifteen feet long, upon
which are gummed (in narrow sections, one fringe laid upon
another) the red breast-feathers of a small bird. A man
will spend days in the forest catching these birds. He
covers himself with leaves, and imitates their note ; the
victim is attracted, and settling on one of the twigs which
has been smeared with bird-lime, is easily taken. The
hunter will return home with several of the birds, alive, tied
to his belt. When the red feathers have been plucked the
bird is released. The money is kept carefully coiled and
covered up on the platform over the fireplace. A rich man
will sometimes build a hut in the bush for his money. As
the feathers wear off, the coil depreciates in value.
We were sympathizing with the hard lot of the
women in this island. It is only fair to add that they
have one compensation. They are allowed the chief
voice in all that concerns the children. Soon after the
Loin-cloth Feast the mother begins to look out a wife
for her son. Terms having been agreed upon, the
lad is by and by informed that a nameless she has
been selected for him, and that he must avoid going
near a certain house. When the payment is completed
the bride -elect is required to live a while with her
future mother-in-law, where no doubt she is taught the
" little ways " of her fiance which must be humoured,
the little dishes that please him most (for in Santa
Cruz the women cook for the men), and so forth.
Meanwhile the young husband busies himself in
building the house to which he presently takes his
bride. His father-in-law he must never notice or
address, nor will the elder hold any communication
with him. If any matter of importance arise, an
interpreter must be obtained. But as to his mother-
i 9 o ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
in-law, he must never even see her face, nor may
either mention the other's name. The man must not
so much as allude to anything belonging to her.
The social law requires that if the wife die in
childbirth, the husband " pay for her again " (the
native phrase) to those from whom he has already
bought her !
Every house is a mausoleum. The Cruzians bury
their dead at home close to the central oven ! The
usual wailing and weeping mark the event, and friends
who lend their voices to swell the chorus expect to be
rewarded with money as well as with food. The
widow remains a prisoner till the interment is accom-
plished, and all the mourners blacken their bodies and
faces with charcoal and abstain from food.
Through the noise of the wailing penetrates the
interminable, lugubrious death-song, a strain so
mournful that it seems to have the effect of compelling
tears. A man will come to lament, and squat on the
ground with the mourners, the tears raining down his
face. By and by he slips away, and may be discovered
in the gamal, chewing betel-nut, yarning and joking
with the merriest ; but when refreshed he will return
to the house of mourning, to weep as loudly and
copiously as ever !
In due time the remains are disinterred, what
bones are desired are taken for making arrow-heads,
and the skull is preserved in a basket.
There is no heathen village in Santa Cruz but has
its ghost-house filled with stocks of wood to represent
departed ancestors. The Te Motu one is quite
elaborate, with carved beams and painted walls. Here
one may see pictured ghosts shooting, ghosts fishing,
ghosts making canoes even ghosts smoking ghost-
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 191
pipes ! And whenever the artist paused to think what
he should paint next, he put in a pig !
The souls, as I have said, go to Tinakula, the
burning mountain, but some haunt the bush, and are
occasionally reported to have been seen. In some
way they must also be held to be cognizant of what
goes on in the ghost-house, where a bedstead-shaped
"altar" may be seen near the entrance, upon which
food is offered. This is subsequently consumed by
human mouths, but the idea elsewhere referred to
exists here also, namely, that the spiritual essence of
the banana or yam is abstracted by the ghost.
A man setting out upon a canoe voyage of some
length or danger will customarily take with him a
wizard in charge of his own familiar ghost (repre-
sented by the wooden stock), who undertakes to
provide at his need a fair wind or calm. If
danger is encountered the ghost is called upon, and
a bit of food is thrown out with, " This is for your
eating ! "
One recovering from sickness will present the
wizard with a pig for the ghost who cured him, a
portion of which will be placed in the ghost -house
before his stock as a thank-offering. Propitiatory
offerings, too, are made at regular seasons to the ghost
who presides over the garden crops.
In Santa Cruz we come again upon mana stones
(though the word is here malete) which are sometimes
hired from those lucky enough to possess them. At
Te Motu there is a large stone called after a bird,
upon which a fowl is offered when it is desired to
protect newly-planted gardens from the depredations
of the feathered folk of the bush. Perhaps it is as
effectual as a scarecrow.
i 9 2 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
Appended are two legends told by the natives.
The first is very brief.
CONCERNING THE SUN AND THE MOON
Long ago we thought about the sun and moon in this
manner. They two always went together in the day.
And the Sun thought to himself thus : If we always go
together, the earth will become very hot, and the trees will
all die. So it came to pass, as they drew near a marsh, the
Sun crossed over before the Moon ; but he tricked her,
saying he had crossed on the branch of a tree. Now that
branch was rotten. So the Moon tumbled into the marsh,
and after that she was black, and then she partly washed
herself. But the Sun had already gone a long way ahead
while she was washing, and it became night And a part
of the Moon was black.
She has not finished washing yet, for she wants to catch
up to the Sun, so that they can walk together as at the
first.
The second is a page from very ancient history.
It tells
How SANTA CRUZ WAS MADE
There was one named Mosigsig who lived in Utupua.
One day he said to his mother, " Let us go and climb
bread-fruit trees ! "
So they went, and Mosigsig threw down fruit. When
he came down, he saw one he had thrown down which was
rotten inside, and he looked at it, and said, " This is my
canoe ! " for it was hollow. Then he washed himself in
a pool by the shore, and afterwards put the hollow bread-
fruit in the water. He said, " If I dive, it may become a
sailing canoe ! "
And it did.
Then he said, " If I dive again, it may get a mast and
sail!"
And it did
CHAP, vi SANTA CRUZ 193
Then he said, " If I dive again, it may have an outrigger
and cabin ! "
And it did.
Then he called his mother to come and see his canoe,
and he bade her prepare plenty of food for him to eat at
sea. But his mother told him not to go to sea, as there
were large fish that would break his canoe and eat him.
But he said he would go. And he did.
And when he had sailed with his younger brother near
to where Santa Cruz now is, suddenly some fish began to
jump in shoals on the canoe, so that it began to sink.
Then he took a net, and caught them as they came on
board, and carried them back to Utupua. And he called
his mother, and said, " Make a fire to cook the food I have
brought." And so they ate together.
Then he said again to his mother, " Prepare food for me
to eat at sea."
But his mother said he must not go, for the big fish
would kill him. And he went.
And when he came to the same place, a large clam
tried to break the canoe ; but he dived into its open shell,
and killed the clam, and took it to his mother.
And he went again, and a large pearl-shell oyster tried
to destroy his canoe ; but he dived into it, and killed it, and
carried it to his mother.
And he went again, and that sharp shell, which stands
upright and pierces men's feet, tried to bore a hole in the
bottom of the canoe ; and he let down a hook, and pulled
it up, and took it to his mother.
Then his mother told him that the fish which killed
men was the one with eight fins like sails.
And so he went again, and presently he saw a fish with
eight fins like sails, and he said to his younger brother, " Do
you see one sail ? "
And he said, " Yes, I see one sail."
And he said, " Do you see two sails ? "
And he said, " I see two sails."
And so he asked him until he said he saw eight sails.
Then Mosigsig said, " That is he who will kill us ! "
o
i 9 4 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
Now the fish saw them, and said he would destroy the
canoe.
But Mosigsig said, " Don't do that, for you are my
grandfather ! " And he invited him to come on board.
So he came, and ate some food. Then that fish said,
"Where shall I sit?"
And Mosigsig said, " Sit there ! " and he put a large
knife under him.
And the fish cut himself upon it, and cried, "What
shall I do ? "
So Mosigsig pointed to another knife and said, " Sit
there ! "
And he cut himself again, and died. Then Mosigsig
took him home to his mother, and they ate him.
After that he asked his mother if there were anything
else that killed men ; and she said, " Yes, near that same
place."
So he went with a large hook and line, and let it down ;
and it caught round two trees. He hauled on them, and
up came the bottom of the sea with them and made
Santa Cruz !
Now the sun was setting when they went ashore, and
Mosigsig's younger brother was afraid, and ran away.
He ran out into the sea, and back to the land ; and when
he came to the point he ran beyond it. So that is why
there is a lagoon on that side of the island, and a long
point at that end of it.
But Mosigsig was not frightened : he stood still.
Therefore this side of Santa Cruz is all even.
Mosigsig was very angry with the younger brother for
spoiling the island he had created, and making such a long
point for people to have to walk round.
Then he went on board his canoe, and returned to
Utupua, and lived there ever after. And you can still see
the pool he dived into, and the bread-fruit which turned
into a canoe. Every one seeing that pool for the first time
must wash his face in it.
CHAPTER VII
MATEMA, REEF ISLANDS
Natural features of group Melanesians and Polynesians A hearty
welcome Products of island Canoes Fishing Temper
Walled villages Tribal defence The ghost-house Native
beliefs " What happens after Death."
To the north and east of Santa Cruz, about twenty
miles distant, lies a miniature archipelago or chain
of eleven small coral islands which roughly form an
arc. No proper survey of these islands has yet been
made. They are often included as part of the Santa
Cruz group. On the chart, however, we find them
distinguished as the Swallow group, whilst to the
few white people who visit them they are most
commonly known tout court as " The Reefs,"
from the wide-stretching reef by which each is
surrounded.
Most of these islands are very small, and now
sparsely populated. Four of them Matema, Pileni,
Nupani, and Nukapu are inhabited by Polynesians,
who, from intermarriage with their seven Melanesian
neighbour-islands, have acquired a Melanesian element
discernible in appearance, custom, and speech. The
frizzy hair of the Melanesian, for instance, is every-
where common. At the same time the distinction
is far more apparent than any similarity. The
195
i 9 6 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
language remains closely akin to the Maori, and a
long way away from Mota, and the Polynesians are
taller, fair-skinned, and perhaps even better-looking
than the average Melanesian.
The only Reef Islands with which I am personally
acquainted are Matema, Pileni, and Nukapu. The
small one named Nifiloli, with a circumference of
perhaps a mile and a half, now scarcely contains
twenty people, but it is of peculiar interest from a
philological point of view, because its language, whilst
following the usual Oceanic construction in grammar,
contains a large number of roots that have not as yet
been connected with any known stock. It has been
conjectured to be a legacy from the pre- Melanesian
inhabitants of the Pacific Ocean, of whom we may be
said to know absolutely nothing !
The surface of the island of Matema being but
little raised above high-water mark, it only becomes
clearly visible as you near it ; but evidently the
Southern Cross had been sighted long before from
the land, for a whole fleet of dug-outs had reached us
before our whale-boat was clear of the ship. The
surrounding reef stretches for miles, and is bared
every low tide.
Our welcome could not have been heartier. The
familiar laughing face of one of our Norfolk Island
trained girls caught my eye, and the next minute
all her friends and relations were pressing round me,
loading me with fruit, nuts, and freshly broiled fish !
There are no gardens in Matema, and so the women
have an easier time than elsewhere. Besides, in
Polynesia they are no longer drudges. They fetch
their firewood and water and cook the food. For
the rest, their leisure is spent in plaiting and weaving
MATE MA.
THEIR WONDERFUL CANOES.
THE STOCKS 'IN THE GHOST-HOUSE.
P. 197
CHAP, vii MATEMA, REEF ISLANDS 197
the pretty bags and mats which always find a ready
market when the Mission vessel appears.
The island abounds with bread-fruit, coco-nut,
almonds, etc., and the surrounding water swarms
with fish. Sometimes a voyage is made in their
wonderful sailing canoes to Santa Cruz or even Vani-
kolo seventy miles away. Mats are exchanged for
yams, fish for feather-money, and the sailors return in
triumph. The men of Matema are famous throughout
the Reefs for their skilful and fearless seamanship, and
the art of canoe-building rests with certain Matema
families.
The sailing canoe, which will carry about ten
people, has for hull a hollowed tree that lies low in
the water. On one side a large outrigger supports
a slanting deck, and upon this stands the steersman,
with his long paddle over the stern. On the other
side is a small and cosy cabin, where all perishables
are stored for the voyage. The sail is a mat, which
the women plait of grass, V-shaped, with tapering
ends, fixed right forward on the bows. These vessels
cannot beat to windward, but then time is no object
hereabouts, and the natives will await, with perfect
equanimity, for weeks at a stretch, the favourable
wind. When beached, the canoe is carefully covered
with coco-nut matting.
About once a month a trader from Santa Cruz
will call for beche-de-mer, which the natives pick up
on the reef, receiving in exchange tobacco and calico.
Where fish is so plentiful little art is required in
capturing. The men wade out armed with hand- nets
at the flowing tide. Some one sights a small shoal
and raises the cry. With a dash the fish are sur-
rounded, and the circle draws closer and closer. The
198 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
fish try to escape out of it, and in their effort for
freedom are taken in the nets. Each is swiftly re-
moved, a bite at the back of the head kills it, and
the men fling them over their shoulders to the eager
boys, waiting to seize and thread them on a string
of cane-grass for cooking.
It is almost impossible to realize when visiting these
merry, child-like, affectionate Polynesians, whose life
seems all sunshine and laughter, that the good-humour
may at any moment, without warning, give place to
a fury that can only be described as savage. The
cause of offence is often a complete mystery, but like
a bolt from the blue flashes forth the anger, which
is so dangerous because completely uncontrolled.
The bow is seized, and without an instant's pause
the deadly arrow is launched into the body of the
man with whom the minute before the archer was
chatting and laughing in friendship. Death is not
inevitable, but probable, and, what is worse, the
tortures of tetanus.
Exactly similar are the quarrels which are con-
tinually arising between village and village. Of old
there were five villages in Matema ; to-day there are
only two. Three may be said to have been exter-
minated by internecine slaughter no one could call
it war.
We visited both villages. Shaded by great trees,
which are the glory of Matema, the palm-leaf houses,
cool and clean, stand two or three together, with a
massy low stone wall surrounding, from 3 to 5
feet in height. One village contains five of these
walled enclosures, each of which represents a clan
or family, the members of which chum together thus
for mutual protection. The tie of relationship is very
MATEMA.
VILLAGE WITH WALLED ENCLOSURES.
A GHOST-HOUSE.
P. i 99 .
CHAP, vii MATEMA, REEF ISLANDS 199
strong. Though a man make an altogether inexcus-
able attack, he can count upon the support and
defence of all his enclosure. Who quarrels with
me, quarrels with my brothers, and uncles, and
cousins, and grandfathers ! That is the law of the
Reefs.
The wall struck me in some cases as very low,
but it was shown to be quite protection enough for
the archer, having let fly his shaft, to crouch behind
while he fits another arrow to his bow.
Each village has its own ghost-house, standing
within its own wall. These were not very elaborate
indeed, they had rather a deserted appearance, but
this may have been partly due to the fact that the
former ghost-house keeper has become a Christian
and a teacher. No doubt they received more care
when the ghosts were more esteemed. Where
heathenism is strong, you will find a ghost-house to
each enclosure the lares et penates. Here one
suffices for the five clans.
Each village acknowledges one great spirit, whose
followers the inhabitants are, and who they trust
regards them with especial interest a sort of pre-
siding genius, of a temper as uncertain as their own.
The stocks in the ghost-house represent the departed
members of the tribe, whose names are remembered
with honour or affection, and every canoe in passing
a ghost-house lowers its sail in respect for the dead
who are commemorated in it. But the spirit alone
is the object of awe and propitiation. The ghosts
were his men when living ; they are his ghosts when
dead. The offerings of food which the villagers make
are primarily to do honour to the spirit, but I imagine
it is hoped that he generously shares the good things
200 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
with his people, for certainly there is an accompany-
ing idea of pleasing the ghosts as well.
The position seems to be this : When a man offers a
sacrifice, the ghosts run and tell the spirit that one of his
men is calling to him, and is killing a pig in his honour.
The spirit then bids the ghosts go back and make sure that
this really is the case. When they return to him, and con-
firm the report, he comes himself, sees the pig, and goes
back well pleased with the man who has sacrificed to him.
The women have no part or lot in all this. As
girls they know they are destined to marry men of
another village, or even island, which acknowledges
another spirit. They seem to feel it is not worth
while to curry favour with a spirit which can do
nothing for them in the future, seeing that a spirit
has no power outside its own village. The teaching
of Christianity comes to them as a great surprise, and
at first the women and girls find it hard to believe
that they are really wanted in the New Way.
The following is a native's account of
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH
A man's soul is distressed when it has just left its body,
and goes to and fro crying for its mother, or wife, or children.
The ghosts try to comfort it, pointing to this or that, and
saying, " This is your mother!" or " There are your children ! "
But the soul sees that they are deceiving him.
Then after a few months he becomes weak, and the
ghosts take him to the river Tevaiieke, and they put him on
a piece of wood over the water. Then they turn the board
over, and he falls into the river, and a large fish eats him up.
Then his ghost-relations catch a drop of his blood and
work this miracle. They put it in a bowl and cover it with
leaves. After five days they lift the leaves and look, and
they see that the change has already taken place, for the
blood has turned into a ghost. Five days later they lift
the leaves once more, and they see that he has become a
CHAP, vii MATEMA, REEF ISLANDS 201
strong ghost-man or if he was a boy, he is now a strong
ghost-boy. After another period of five days he goes about,
and grieves no more for his friends.
If a man is shot with an arrow he is treated differently
from one who dies from sickness, for he goes to Temaunga-
nefu, the mountain in Vanikolo. This is how it is. When
there is fighting here [in the Reefs] the ghosts come from
Vanikolo to see if any one is shot ; and if so, they go back
and cut bananas, and hang them up in the house in the
mountain. When these ripen, it is a sign that the man
who was shot is dead, and they go to meet him. The
ghosts know according to the road he come by whether it
is the man who was shot, for if he come by another road,
they know he is a man who has died from sickness.
When they approach the house, the ghost who guides
those who are bringing him cries, " Open the door ! " And
the ghosts inside repeat, " Open ! " Then the man is
brought in, and the door is shut. And the shutting of that
door sounds like a gun-shot ; it can be heard all over Vani-
kolo and the Reef Islands. There are men in Matema who
say they have heard it.
Not all souls in the Reefs go to Vanikolo, but according
to their families. One goes to Taumako ; another goes to
Temapapa [in Santa Cruz] ; and another to Tinakula, the
volcano, where they turn into ghosts in the fire in the crater.
When the volcano sends out flames every one knows that
some one has been shot. All who have been shot live round
the tops of mountains, for they were strong men when killed ;
those who died from sickness live down below.
A Matema boy who had been for a short time at
Norfolk Island developed tuberculosis, and died soon
after his return. But the native diagnosis was, " Shot
by the spirits ! " because he had ventured to eat some
coco-nuts which his mother had made taboo. It must
have been rather a problem for the ghosts whether
his future abode should be the summit or the base of
the mountain.
CHAPTER VIII
PILENI, REEF ISLANDS
Characteristics Dancing-grounds Ghost-house Love of fun Native
silo^Offering of first-fruits.
A WATER-WAY not more than a couple of miles in width
appears to divide the Polynesian from the Melanesian
peoples in the Reef Islands, and just to the west, or
Polynesian side, of this imaginary line lies Pileni, a
little low, long, green island about a mile and a half
in circumference. It has less timber than Nukapu or
Matema, but otherwise there is little to distinguish it.
A similar reef, or fringe of coral rock, surrounds it at
the distance of a few hundred yards, protecting it from
the force of the waves.
There are three villages, in which, as at Matema,
relations live together in walled compounds. There
is the gamal standing square and solid, fronting the
sea, with the houses of the families half-hidden in the
trees behind. And now there is the school-house,
which is quite an addition to the village, with its neat
thatch and clean matted floor. And of course there
are the dancing-grounds.
At first I was a little surprised to see two of these
in one village, but I was speedily enlightened. One
is for men and one for women ! These are circular
enclosures, with ground beautifully smooth, walled
PILENI.
APPROACHING PILENI NIFILOLI AND FENUALOA IN DISTANCE.
A MAN OF PII.ENI.
P. 202.
CHAP, vin PILENI, REEF ISLANDS 203
with flat slabs of coral set on edge, and with three
or four entrances to each. I have been told that the
Reef Island dances are neither graceful nor lively,
chiefly consisting of shuffling, stamping, and clapping,
but I have never seen one. They certainly give
great pleasure to the performers, to whom an all-night
dance, with no sitting-out and no supper interval, is
quite an ordinary event
The Pileni ghost-house was the first I ever entered.
Outside I saw nothing to distinguish it from any other
house. Within all was plain and simple, but a certain
amount of decoration caught the eye, the wall-plate,
ridge-pole, and principal rafters being adorned with
native devices painted in red, black, white, and
yellow.
The chief objects of interest, however, were of
course the row of carved stocks or posts, each of
which has a human interest. There were seven big
ones a very tall one in the centre and three rather
shorter on either side. The carving is rough ; no two
are alike, but there is no attempt to portray a human
head. They showed us which were men and which
women. Each is decked with a fringe of grass. On
the ground, leaning against the big ones, are a number
of little stocks eight or nine perhaps each with its
little grass fringe. These, they said, were the children.
In the Matema ghost-house these juvenile stocks, it
may be noticed, are bound to their parents. No sign
was there of any other ornament, or offering, or
garland. We were allowed to handle and examine
the ghost -posts quite freely, and the people who
accompanied us showed no sign of respect or awe-
even laughing, talking, smoking, and chewing betel-
nut within the house.
204 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
Of the Pileni folk I shall always have an affection-
ate recollection. It happened that here all were
strangers to me, yet their eager reception, their
generous hospitality, showed a true spirit of brotherli-
ness. And their sense of fun the dancing eyes, the
infectious peals of laughter a smile springs at the
remembrance ! With all the hot-headedness to which
I have alluded, the reckless disregard of life, and hasty
appeal to bow and arrow, I can only think of them as
children dear, lovable children !
The Bishop made a short stay here recently.
"They were always laughing and joking," he writes.
"A favourite practical joke was to fix a string to a man's
loin-cloth as he lay asleep in the gamal, and tie the other
end to the mat on which he lay. Then some one would cry,
' Te puke ! ' (a sailing canoe) a cry equivalent to our ' Sail
O ! ' at which he would start and fly out of the door,
dragging the mat after him. I saw this hoax perpetrated
dozens of times, but no one seemed to tire of it not even
the victims ! "
Amongst the young men of whom the Bishop saw
most, he happened to know that three had quite
recently killed men, but no one seemed to think
much the worse of them for that. " They say, " There
is always a good reason ! "
Food is generally abundant, without the trouble of
garden labour. For a small piece of feather-money,
worth about a shilling, one can buy five large baskets
of broken and dried bread-fruit, sufficient food for
several months. And there is an ingenious method
of storing practised which provides for the seasons of
the year when fruit is scarcely to be obtained.
At the close of a plentiful bread-fruit crop a sort
of silo is made by digging a large hole, and lining it
CHAP, vm PILENI, REEF ISLANDS 205
with the ubiquitous and useful banana leaf. This is
crammed with bread - fruit, covered in with more
banana leaves, and finally the pit is walled round
against porcine incursions. In time of need it is
opened, and the strong -smelling mash (which has
become really a sort of ensilage) is by degrees con-
sumed, and highly appreciated.
A ceremony is customary in connection with the
fruit crops, akin to those observed in several of the
Solomons, which certainly is reminiscent to us of the
ancient Feast of First-fruits and the modern Harvest
Thanksgiving. Here is a native description of it :
When the fruit of trees that are eatable is nearly ripe
such as bread-fruit or almond-nuts about a month before
the time that people eat it, they all go together into the
bush. They must all go together for this holy eating, and
when they return they all assemble in one place, and no one
will be absent ; they sit down and cook bread-fruit. While
it is being cooked, no one will begin to eat, but they set it
in order, and cook it with reverence, believing that the spirit
has granted that food to them, and they return thanks to
him for it.
When it is cooked, a certain man takes a bread-fruit
and climbs up a tree, and all the people stand on the
ground, and they all look up ; and when he has reached
the top they shout out ; and after that shout they cry, " This
is the bread-fruit of the whole land ! " Then he throws
down the bread-fruit, which they pick up, shouting out
again and giving thanks, for they think that the spirit who
protects the fruit will hear.
We left Pileni laden with presents, chiefly coco-
nuts and plantains. And our friends were made gay
and happy in return with ribbons, flags, calico, and
tobacco. The send-off was characteristic and charm-
ing the people crowding round us to the last, and
206 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
then, oh, the shrieks and peals of laughter, as all the
child-population of Pileni plunged into the clear blue
water in our boat's wake, capering, diving, swimming
after the sticks of tobacco freely tossed to them.
Pretty, laughing water-babies !
NUKAPU.
"THIS SMALL EMERALD ISLE."
THE MEN-FOLK.
p. 207.
CHAPTER IX
NUKAPU, REEF ISLANDS
Characteristics of island and people How to get rid of a nuisance An
old story retold Folk-tale : " About an Ogre and a very Big Pig."
No spot on earth's surface can be imagined more
suggestive of peace than this small emerald isle, about
fifteen miles westward from Pileni, girdled by a ring of
glittering sapphire and reef-guarded, as a thin line of
white foam bears menacing witness. Basking and
twinkling in the sunshine of early morning, could this
really be Nukapu of baleful memory, the island where
those deadly wounds were inflicted which added three
martyr names to the roll of the Melanesian Mission ?
Before we had hove to, the little fleet of dug-outs
had pushed off to us, the people to-day as fearless as
friendly, scrambling on board, the chief first, followed
by the teacher, at the earliest opportunity. Plenty of
the rank and file followed, carrying finely -plaited
baskets, mats, and bags for purposes of trade. Canoes,
ornaments, hairdressing all were after the fashion of
Santa Cruz, yet the Nukapuans are undeniably Poly-
nesian, and their language has little in common with
the Cruzians'.
Alas ! the tide was low too low to admit of our
whale-boat crossing the reef; the very canoes had to
be carried across by hand. We made the attempt,
207
208 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
being very anxious to land if possible, but had to
return foiled.
It is a lovely little island a natural temple, pillared
by forest trees, curtained with creepers, and carpeted
with ferns of somewhat the same shape and size as
Pileni. Winding tracks everywhere lead to the shore.
Strange to say, birds seem to shun the groves of
Nukapu, and the fauna is almost comprised in one
word rats ! These swarm everywhere, but they
cannot grow very fat, for food seems generally to be
scarce here.
Our Polynesians are a lazy folk ; they do not
believe in making themselves hot and tired. Enough
trouble is involved in gathering the fruit from the
trees which grow of their own accord, without toiling
and moiling over gardens. It is curious to note the
contrast in this respect between the two races. At
certain seasons you may pass from a Melanesian island
to another close to, crossing in your passage that
invisible dividing-line, and you leave behind an abund-
ance of food, to arrive where there is practically none.
The Reefs are fortunate beyond some of the Banks
in one respect : all can boast a good supply of fresh
water, obtainable from wells whenever the tide is high.
The present population of Nukapu is only forty
odd, divided between two villages. There were three
formerly, but one was exterminated by fights. An
illustration of the " kill-kill " tendency of these people
was afforded us when, at their urgent request, a school
was started here three or four years ago. One man
who attended at first gave up doing so and adopted a
hostile attitude. So to put an end to his obstruction
the school people killed him ! They had a secondary
reason for hating him : he was a braggart ; and to
CHAP, ix NUKAPU, REEF ISLANDS 209
boast of one's strength and courage is the most
heinous offence in the Reefs that can be committed.
But the murder was to them the most ordinary action
just a common-sense thing to do when you want to
get rid of an obnoxious person. They never dreamed
of being hauled over the coals on account of that \
Surely white people would have done the same !
During the Bishop's last stay in Nukapu he
obtained some details of Bishop Patteson's murder
which have never before been furnished, from natives
who well remembered that fateful 2Oth September
1871.
It was, as we have always conceived, a matter of
revenge for wrong committed by white men labour-
agents in name, kidnappers in fact who had visited
Nukapu and carried off certain of the natives. One
of these escaped, but in the act was nearly murdered
by the savage recruiters. This man, Teaduli, thirsting
for revenge, readily agreed with the relatives of the
lost men, to shed blood for blood, to help take as
many lives as had been taken, white in exchange for
brown.
The Southern Cross was in due season sighted ;
to Teaduli was granted the privilege of dealing with
the Bishop, the others would attack the less important
white men. Nothing was said to the rest of the
people or to the chief of this conspiracy. Their
welcome of the Bishop was genuine. He was their
friend and powerful ; he would recover their lost
ones and avenge their cause.
The tide was low that day, as it was with ourselves
thirty-six years later, and the Bishop came ashore in a
native canoe. As was his custom, he entered the
gamal for friendly converse, close to the chief's house.
p
210 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART n
One can picture the scene perfectly. The central
oven, and the men lounging around on mats, feet
towards the middle, heads resting on the low, four-
legged wooden supports, all smoking or chewing
betel and sucking lime. When a visitor enters,
etiquette demands an exchange of nuts, in place of
which the Bishop was provided with presents.
The tale of trouble was poured into sympathetic
ears. How must the Bishop have burned with
indignation at the disgrace to the name of " white
man " ! Then came a pause. The Bishop lay down
as one of themselves and closed his eyes. All saw
Teaduli enter, but none noticed what he held behind
his back until too late. The Bishop's head was close
to the entrance and the fresh air. The murderous
blow was easily struck with a club such as is used for
beating out tappa-cloth.
A panic seized the gamal, and all fled from the
house. The chief, who had not been present, rushed
in with bow and arrows on hearing what had occurred,
to take vengeance on Teaduli, but he had already
fled into the bush. The next idea was to conceal
the body as quickly as possible to bury it, but as
far away as might be. Some men paddled at once
to the north point of the island and began to dig a
grave, whilst the women, according to custom, pre-
pared the body for burial, wrapping it in a mat of
woven grass, and laying those palm leaves, uncon-
sciously emblematic, on the breast. It was placed in
a canoe, ready for conveyance to the grave, when the
ship's whale-boat was seen approaching. In fear the
canoe was cast adrift, and those in charge returned in
haste to land.
Teaduli was fined four coils of feather-money for
NUKAPU.
THE WOMEN-FOLK.
THE CHILDREN.
CHAP, ix JNUKAfU, Kiiiir IbLAlNJJb 211
his deed. Afterwards he went' to Santa Cruz, and
was there shot by a Matema man, dying subsequently
at Pileni. Three of the kidnapped Nukapuans eventu-
ally returned, bringing dysentery with them, which is
said to have swept away half the population.
To-day not only Matema and Pileni, but all
Nukapu is following the new teaching, and amongst
the scholars comes an old woman, the sister of Teaduli.
She may be identified in the picture as the one on
the reader's extreme right.
ABOUT AN OGRE AND A VERY BIG PIG
They two ate human flesh, and dwelt on the other side
of Taumako, and that man was called Tepkakhola, and that
pig was called Ulaka. And they two ate men until there
was scarcely any one left only ten brothers and one woman.
So these met together and said, " Let us make a canoe, and
flee away from here."
And they worked until the canoe was finished ; then
they made ready the food.
After that, in the evening they were to start ; but their
sister had a very large foot, and alas for her ! when she put
in one foot the canoe turned over. She tried with her first
brother, but when her foot went up, down went the canoe !
And so she tried with all her ten brothers, but it was the
same with them all.
Then she said to them, " No matter ! It's all right,
those two can devour me ! "
And they were very sorry for her, and said to her, " We
will make a cave for you."
So they dug out a very big cave, and carried much food
into it, and very many coco-nuts, and placed slats of wood
at its mouth ; and when they had covered them over with
earth, they sailed away and reached Metema, and dwelt there.
But the woman lived entirely in the cave her brothers
had made for her. And the slats at the cave-mouth rotted.
212 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT FAITH
One day as she was sitting, two lizards came into the
cave, one chasing the other, and they jumped down her
throat. And she thought to herself, " Why have these two
lizards entered into me ? "
So by and by twins were born to her, and she nourished
her two children till they were grown up and were very
strong. And while they were still children they asked their
mother, " Why do we three live together in this cave ? "
And when they had become young men, one shot and
pierced through the door, and for the first time they saw
light. Then they spake together, " What is this thing ? "
And their mother told them.
Then they said to their mother, " Make a torch with
coco-nut leaves ! " and their mother did as they told her.
She took some, and dried them in the sun ; and when it was
evening she made them into a torch for fishing. And the
twins directed her to go to the place where the water springs
forth from the rock, and that water is called Tutu.
So she went ; and while she was seeking it, Tepkakhola
saw the flame from afar, and he said, " Who is this ? I have
sought in vain for a man, and who is this ? " And he ran,
and when he saw her coming, he drew near and met her
near the shore, and said, " Is it you, my friend ? "
And she said, " It is I."
And he said, " Where do you live ? I have not seen you."
And she said, " I live here."
And he said, " Give me some fish ! "
And she gave him one bag full. And he came rather
nearer, and followed her, and when he had finished one bag
he said, " Give me more ! If not, I will eat your sons." So
she gave him another bag.
Now he came near the place where her two sons were.
And they had made a cross-stick, and she had taken the
midrib of the sago-palm leaf and made it like a fish-bone,
and had put it into the net, in the place where the water
flows forth from the rock.
As the woman neared the place, she drew forth the rib,
and Tepkakhola said, " Give me that fish ! "
But she said, " That is my sons' food."
CHAP, ix NUKAPU, REEF ISLANDS 213
And he said, " Give it to me ! "
And she said, " There is only one fish, and I want it
very much for my two sons."
And he said, " Give it to me ! "
So she said, " I will put it into your mouth."
And when he opened his mouth wide, she thrust the
midrib of the leaf down his throat, singing a song. And it
stuck in his throat ; and so it was that he cried out, " My
sister, I am dying ! "
And the Twins came suddenly upon him, and shot him,
and he died. So they three dwelt in peace.
Now the Twins used to go shooting fish ; and their
mother said to them, " When you are fishing, don't go far
away, lest that evil thing see you."
And they went and climbed a tree, and shouted out,
' " Ulaka ! Ulaka ! "
And the pig heard afar off, and ran ; and as he ran, his
tail struck the trees, and it snapped them off short. But
the Twins kept quiet, for when they saw him they were
afraid. And he went away ; then they climbed down.
But one day they made a number of spears, and
climbing into another tree, again they called out, " Ulaka !
Ulaka!"
And the pig ran, and they kept quiet, and he came
and found some coco-nuts, and he ate them. And his
countenance was very terrible, and when he had eaten he
lay down. And when they saw that he was gorged, they
came down and speared him.
Now they had put spears ready in the path ; and as he
fled, one on the one side of the road, and the other on the
other stood ready ; and he turned to one to gore him, and
the other speared him, then he turned again to that one, and
the other speared him. And they kept on doing this till
they reached the beach, and he died there.
CHAPTER I
SAN CRISTOVAL, SOLOMON ISLANDS
History Natural features Head-hunting Story of same Cannibals
classified When heads are wanted War summons Sacrifices to
ghosts Peace-making Chiefs Taki, chief A cannibal mission-
ary? David Bo, chief Infanticide Children Tattooing Dogs
Trials by ordeal Snake-worship Santa Anna Wizardry Sea-
ghosts How men become ghosts Beliefs and fables Ugi The
coco-nut crab Folk-tale : " The Snake who turned into a Man."
MYSTERY, beauty, romance, blood-curdling adventures
are not these things bound up in the very name of
the Solomon Islands, which we are now to visit ?
The group was christened by Mendana when dis-
covered by him in the latter part of June 1567. The
excited imaginations of the Spaniards conjured up
traces of gold and silver in one of the islands, and hope
arose of creating here a Spanish colony. Knowing
the prevailing lust for ore, they thought to entice
their countrymen by dangling before them a tempting
name. They professed to have discovered the source
of King Solomon's wealth, the lands of gold which
provided material for the Temple.
But Fate had in store a revenge for Fallacy. The
Solomon Islands were no sooner found than they were
lost again, not to be rediscovered for 230 years, in
spite of several voyages of search. It was in 1797
217
2i8 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
that a white man's eye once more sighted them, to
Captain Wilson of the Duff (a mission vessel) falling
this great good fortune.
I am limiting myself in this book to islands of
which I have some personal acquaintance, and we
shall therefore visit only seven of the easterly members
of this archipelago namely San Cristoval (including
Ugl and Santa Anna), Ulawa, Mala, Guadalcanar,
Gela, Savo, and Bugotu.
Of these the first to be reached is San Cristoval,
lying 200 miles to the east of Santa Cruz. The island
is about seventy miles long and twenty wide. Its
mountains rise to over 4000 feet, and form a back-
ground of grandeur and wildness. A lovely island it
is, but with the lust of the vampire behind the mask of
beauty La Belle Sauvage !
The opening line of one of old Francis Quarks'
" Emblems " sprang to my lips when we first dropped
anchor off the northern shore of San Cristoval : " Oh,
what a crocodilean world is this ! "
The wide mouths of various streams, heavily over-
hung with branches, the grotesque reptilian shapes
assumed by the ancient tree-roots, gnarled and bare
everything seemed to suggest the proximity of
crocodiles.
But there are worse than crocodiles. We have
reached the Dominion of the Head-hunters ! Cannibal-
ism and head -hunting may be said to be national
customs in most of the Solomon Islands. The head-
hunter no longer stalks naked and unashamed. The
chief no longer ornaments his house and establishes
his eminence with so many hundred human skulls.
But the pagan sport is rather scotched than killed.
San Cristoval was formerly a great head-hunting
SAN CRISTOVAL.
A CROCODILEAN WORLD " RlVER IN SAN CRISTOVAL.
}>. 218..
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 219
district. The avowed object of a raid was chiefly
aggrandizement. A chiefs mana was estimated by the
number of skulls that decorated the entrance to his
house, ranged in row above row on projecting slabs.
These might amount in the case of a regular war-lord
to as many as a thousand, but a petty chief might per-
force be content with less than thirty. Some would
have been slain in battle, the corpses being then
decapitated and the bodies devoured, while the skulls
were added to the chiefs collection. But war was too
slow, uncertain, and expensive a method to be the
most popular. The favourite plan was to fix upon
some distant village it might be in another island
and to organize a nocturnal excursion.
The chief and his warriors would hold their
council in the large canoe-house, which in all Solomon
Island villages serves also the purpose of club-house
or gamal. The great war-canoes are prepared and
drawn down to the sea. The head-hunters smear
their bodies with lime so that they may distinguish one
another in the dark. Clubs, knives, hatchets, bows
and arrows, every obtainable weapon is stored in the
boat and the start is made.
The landing is seldom effected till darkness has
fallen and the unsuspecting village is asleep. Silent
as ghosts the dusky companies disembark, arm them-
selves, steal like shadows through the bush and
surround the village. Sometimes they wait for the
first glimmer of dawn, that no victims may escape
under cover of the night. But whether sooner or
later, the awful yell is heard that strikes paralyzing
terror into the hearts of the doomed and stirs to
excitement the men of blood.
The attack is simultaneous. Organized resistance
220 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
is impossible. There is no pity ; every corner is
ransacked, and the inhabitants are clubbed, or stabbed,
or shot, then fiercely beheaded, till the massacre is
complete. Every head is equally valuable, male or
female, infantile or adult. As many as a hundred were
not infrequently the harvest of a single raid.
Ten years ago a singular instance of Nemesis
occurred among the head-hunters of New Georgia.
The entire fighting strength of a certain village some
sixty men set forth upon a distant raid, with shields,
spears, axes, and rifles. They landed unseen near
their destination and concealed themselves in the
bush ; but the spies sent forward returned with the
report that the villagers so far outnumbered them that
an attack was not to be thought of.
On the way back to the beach, however, the angry
head-hunters fell in with a returning fishing party a
score of defenceless souls, including some women and
children. The whole were massacred and their heads
carried off.
But while this was going on, it chanced that the
people of Sibo, finding themselves also in urgent need
of heads, had visited New Georgia with the very same
object. The fates proved peculiarly propitious, since
in the village they attacked was found no one capable
of offering resistance ; there were only the women and
children and some aged men. Having captured
every head, they amused themselves by ransacking the
village and spoiling the gardens.
And when the men of the place returned from their
own raid, it was to find the village a desolate wreck,
devoid of a living soul.
When heads are wanted, live ones are as good as
dead ; so a certain number of prisoners would often be
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 221
taken, as many as could be packed into the canoes,
their limbs being broken first as a precautionary
measure, if there were danger of escape or rescue.
Some such would furnish fresh food on the homeward
journey.
Head-hunters may be generally assumed to be
cannibals, but it must be clearly understood that feast-
ing is not the object of the hunt.
And here one may be allowed to digress for a
moment on the subject of cannibals, who have been
much misunderstood by the outside world from time
immemorial.
The obnoxious custom seems to spring (in
Melanesia at all events) from four principal and
distinct grounds.
Rarest of all, we may place the sheer gross
appetite for human flesh. By this I do not mean
that it is commonly distasteful, but that it is not
common to find a man killed simply to serve as a
chef cCceuvre at a feast. But reluctantly I must
confess that where, as in San Cristoval, after a battle
we find dead bodies hawked up and down the coast
in canoes for sale, we come very near the cannibalism
of our boys' story-books. In Mala also we meet
apparent cases of man-eating for pleasure. In this
first class we must also include the instances of
cannibalism in consequence of famine, such as was
evidenced among the Maoris long ago.
In the New Hebrides we have seen cannibalism
spring from another ground, and that a penal one,
as a form of capital punishment. Men in general
seem particularly to dislike the thought of being eaten,
so the fate is held in reserve for overweening and
obstinate offenders.
222 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PABT m
Yet again, cannibalism is the most effective ex-
pression of contempt that the native mind has
succeeded in devising, and with this view the body
of a dead enemy will often be consumed with gusto.
Some years ago the priest who was then working
in San Cristoval came upon a party of natives in the
act of cooking an enemy. He writes that his " sense
of disgust and indignation was great ; one felt inclined
to upset the oven and its contents, but the thought
occurred that he who did so would in all probability
be the oven's next occupant ! "
They seemed to have no ide,a then of a white
man's horror, continuing to laugh and joke about
their victim's last struggles, and sticking the finger-
joints jauntily in their hair with their combs.
But here in the Solomons we find traces of still
another idea struggling thus repulsively yet surely
to our sight with a wonderful pathos to realize
itself. A powerful chief who has long been dreaded
and admired is slain in battle, and the yearning of
all the men who were his enemies to obtain a portion
of his spirit that mana which was the secret of
his valour and success develops into an almost
religious ceremony. A mouthful of the brave man's
flesh and blood is thought to convey his coveted
power. In this act of cannibalism we seem to detect
the germ of a Divine truth.
Head -hunting on the barbaric, wholesale scale
began to wane many years ago. The order for
" heads ! " was not given so frequently or indis-
criminately as of yore. The headsmen sometimes
deigned to bargain with a tribe. " Give us five
heads ten heads twenty, and we will go ! "
Then, if the chief dare not fight, he would hand
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 223
over a batch of captives taken in one of his own
raiding expeditions, to whom it would be no shock
or surprise, for every such prisoner knows himself to
be only a " head," to be decapitated when wanted.
It was quite customary, when enough heads had
been obtained to satisfy a chief's immediate desire,
thus to keep the rest, not only alive, but unharmed
and unbound until required. Escape spelt death ;
submission spelt not slavery, for slave-servitude is
not an Ocean custom, but freedom and food, a treat-
ment, in fact, almost such as they would have received
at home, and which might conceivably continue for
many years. And in these strange, unrealizable
circumstances many lads grew to men's estate before
the fatal day arrived on which the head was wanted !
What head-hunting goes on to-day is mostly on
an individual scale. A heathen chief has erected a
new canoe-house, and it needs "washing down,"
and nothing but human blood will suffice for the
purpose. The skull will be witness that the rite
was duly performed. Or it is a new canoe that has
been made, and it will have no success until it has
been smeared with man's blood : another " head "
is wanted. Or it may be the spirits of late have
shown themselves malevolent. The ghost of a
deceased chieftain is said to demand a head, and
his blood-thirst must at all costs be assuaged. So
liers-in-wait are stationed, and woe betide the solitary
villager who ventures into the bush when chiefs have
given the order for a head and there is none on hand !
It must not be assumed that because such ugly
and treacherous means are resorted to, the natives
are cowards and fear an open fight. Far from it !
But fighting is a different game.
224 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
By an elaborate and ingenious method of tele-
graphy, the chief when necessary summons his
adherents to the fray. The message is beaten out
on the hollow hard-wood trunk that constitutes the
native drum.
" Let all the villages who espouse my cause turn
out with spear and shield, for the enemy is at hand !
Think not that all is well, for danger is imminent ! "
These drum messages carry for miles in the still,
warm air. In every village there are some who can
read them, and so the warning flies around.
Before the battle begins, the Ghost of War must
be propitiated. His name is Harumae, and roast pork
seems to be his fancy. Certain men are acquainted
with the rites and forms of words which win favour
with Harumae. I suppose we might call such priests.
There is a small house in the village which is the
sacred shrine of Harumae. Having killed and cut up
a pig, the priest washes his hands, and then with
solemnity and respect carries a portion of the flesh
into Harumae 's house. There he calls upon him :
" Harumae ! Chief in war ! we sacrifice to you
with this pig, that you may help us to smite that
place. Whatever booty we carry away shall be
your property, and we ourselves also ! "
He then lights the fire on the sacrificial stone
and burns the flesh upon it. He also pours the
blood upon the fire, and the flame blazing up to the
roof is a sign that Harumae has heard the petition.
The carcass of the pig is afterwards cooked and eaten
by the people.
When the fight is over, terms are concluded, and
a formal peace-making takes place at a fixed rendez-
vous. The rival forces assemble in their diminished
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 225
numbers, still armed with clubs, and spears, and bone-
tipped arrows, and something of the nature of a
mutual review is held. Each side in turn squats
tranquilly on the ground while the enemy of yesterday
charges up to within three or four yards of them.
One of the tribe, chosen as orator, runs backwards
and forwards incessantly, working himself up to a
condition of effective excitement. He is making
his speech meanwhile a long harangue about the
war and those who were killed in it gesticulating
with his spear, which he brandishes in a menacing
manner, especially on nearing the chief, who seems
in imminent danger of being stuck through. That
great man is probably occupied with his pipe or
betel-nut, and ostentatiously takes no notice whatever
of the performance until the end.
The orator then subdues his emotions and pro-
duces some money from a bag he .carries. This
interests the chief more than his eloquence or his
spear -play, and he condescends to step forward,
count, and accept the sum offered. Then a similar
performance is gone through by himself and his men,
and the opposition has its sweet revenge in sitting
down and taking no notice !
The money paid is a fixed sum in compensation
for every man killed, so as a curious ensuing result
the winning side has to pay the most ! The fines
are distributed among the relatives of the dead.
Chiefs in the Solomons are more powerful and
important than in any of the islands we have visited
hitherto, with the exception of Tikopia. It is a
serious matter to be in the black books of one's chief
in San Cristoval. The ingenuity of his malice is
sometimes worthy of a Gilbertian invention.
Q
226 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
Old Taki, the chief of Wario, evolved a grudge
against a certain man, and resolved to punish him
for it. He killed a large pig, and sent it as a gift
to the offender, accompanied with a huge quantity
of yams.
San Cristoval etiquette does not admit of the
refusal of a chiefly gift : such would be an open and
flagrant insult, bringing speedy chastisement. It
is obligatory on the recipient to accept both pig and
yams, and to make therewith a banquet. This does
not sound like a very dire punishment. But the
sting lies in the tail.
By the inexorable law of native custom the poor
fellow knew himself compelled to send in return a
present equal to, if not exceeding in value, what he
had received. Taki was rich ; his victim, poor already,
was by the chief's lavish generosity (?) reduced to
beggary. His small garden was insufficient to supply
the yams required, and all his money was exhausted
in buying food for the man of abundance !
Taki still lives and flourishes an interesting
character, whose portrait I am able to reproduce.
Until about 1890 he was notorious as a leading head-
hunter and cannibal.
Perhaps thirty years ago some influence induced
him to give his son to the white men to be trained
in our Norfolk Island Industrial College. But on
the lad's return Taki would have none of his new-
fangled ways. He dragged the lad down again into
shameless savagery, and gloried in it. But the youth
had hardly attained maturity when he was killed by
a bite from a shark, and about the same time Taki
lost both wife and brother. We have in our posses-
sion the stock which Taki caused to be carved to
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 227
memorialize his son. It represents a shark's head,
with the miniature figure of a man in its jaws.
Thenceforth Taki declared war upon all sharks ; the
whole ocean tribe suffer for the act of the one. But
he wanted something more valuable than the life of
many sharks in revenge for the loss of his nearest.
He wanted heads\ And they were not so easy to
obtain in 1885 as they had been in, say, 1880.
In vain he urged and gibed at the young men of
his village for their cowardice ; in vain he lamented
and bewailed their desertion and his desolation.
They were learning the new way, and could not
be prevailed upon to organize one of the night-raids
so dear to them of old time. Taki bound around
him the girdle that signifies married-womanhood in
San Cristoval. It was a sign to the world that he
was in the position of an old woman, having lost his
nearest and dearest, and yet being unable to obtain
human heads with which to honour their tombs.
But in 1887 the girdle was put off. His desire
was fulfilled. Two labourers returning from the
Queensland sugar plantations, afraid to set foot in
their native land, the wild island of Mala, pleaded
for shelter in Taki's village, hoping for safety, no
doubt, where a Mission school was planted. Taki
was more than willing to receive them, he was de-
lighted. Forthwith he sent money and instructions
to some heathen down the coast, and the heads of
the two Mala men were added to Taki's trophies.
The murder accomplished, Taki explained that
a vow he had made necessitated his action, but that
now all was over he would like to make a fresh start,
follow his people in forsaking savagery, and learn the
Peace Teaching !
228 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
It need hardly be said that the resolution was of
a very transitory character. He did indeed for a
short time attend school, but in 1891, when he had
a grand war-canoe made for him in Mala, it was his
ambition to celebrate the event in the good old way
obtain a head for the canoe's ornamentation, make
a feast off the body, and go for an exhibition voyage
round all the neighbouring villages to receive com-
plimentary offerings.
But the difficulty was that by this time nearly
all his followers were baptized Christians. He called
upon them for their assistance in the matter, and
instead of prompt acquiescence they replied with a
stipulation. There must be no " washing " of the
canoe with blood and no sacrifices to ghosts. Seeing
no help for it, Taki gloomily assented. The canoe
was launched in state ; the voyage was smooth and
prosperous ; the villages visited were lavish with their
gifts. In spite of all disasters prophesied by the
heathen, success attended the expedition from start
to finish. And instead of man-eating and ghost-
worship, there were Matins and Evensong in the
vernacular every day prayer and praise.
Even after this, it was not at once that Taki
surrendered to the new teaching. But the gradual-
ness and deliberateness of his steps made for per-
manency. After long and careful schooling came the
old chief's baptism, and he has been true now for
many years to his Christian profession.
Last year the Bishop spent a few days in Waiio,
Taki's village. He writes as follows :
What a service we had at Wario ! They have built a
beautiful church there wonderful outside with its dog-tooth
pattern in red, white, and black ; and two doors side by side
SAN CRISTOVAL.
"ATTRACTIVE LITTLE PEOPLE" BOYS OF SAN CRISTOVAL.
JOHN STILL TAKI, CHIEF.
P. 229.
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 229
at the west end, with large crosses on them in relief, and
locks (without doubt, taken off their Norfolk Island boxes !).
The inside was still more wonderful : a decorated, painted
font ; well-made seats, placed College-Chapel wise ; book-
desks resting on the tails of carved bonito-fish ; a bark
floor, and cement altar-steps.
On Sunday morning, after Holy Communion in the
new church, the people who had come from Christian
villages in all parts, gathered for the Dedication ceremony.
About 1 60 of them marched two and two in procession
round the church, singing, and all taking part in it, the
1 2 2nd Psalm. Then John Still Taki, the old Chief, led
the men in at one door, and two women-teachers led the
women in by the other, and the church was filled, leaving
little room for myself and the teachers to enter after them.
A bountiful feast followed, in which some of the heathen
joined. It was a great day for old Taki, and he prowled
around, leaning on his long stick, not unlike a good-natured
gorilla to look at, seeing that all were well supplied and
happy.
In connection with Waiio a rather comical incident
occurred, in which a white priest was concerned.
The mother of one of our native teachers, herself
still a heathen, met with an accident while bathing,
and was nearly drowned. She was rescued with
difficulty by the missionary and her son, and carried
to a hut near by, where various methods were
employed to revive her, but in vain. The body was
icy cold, and on finding that the stones of the ground
oven were still burning hot, the missionary decided
to apply artificial heat. He wrapped the unconscious
woman in a thick mat, laid her upon the hollow, and
piled the hot stones upon and around her.
Scarcely had he done so when the poor woman's
husband and friends, having heard she was drowned,
came rushing in. Imagine their feelings on finding
230 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
the white man apparently intent upon cooking the
corpse ! The temptation had been too great for him
he had turned cannibal at last !
Fortunately for himself, the old mother obligingly
yielded to the stimulus of heat, revived and sat up,
and the missionary was able to hand his recovered
patient over to her friends.
Another fine old San Cnstoval chief died last year
David Bo of Heuru, also in his time a notorious
head-hunter. Unlike Taki, his brother, as a heathen
he was a worshipper of sharks. It was the wont of
him and his followers, when starting on an expedition,
to place food on a sacred block of red jasper, with
prayers to the sharks that they might be propitious
and guide the canoe safely. This block of jasper has
a place now in the uppermost step leading to the altar
in the church at Heuru, where I saw it. I was told
that of old it had mana for inducing a prodigious
appetite in its devotees !
Touching David Bo it may be mentioned that one
of our head boys at Norfolk Island, a native of Heuru,
remarked one morning a few months ago that he
believed his chief had died. On inquiry he said that
he had dreamed of him, and that although the chief
seemed perfectly happy and full of life, he himself had
wept greatly. A few weeks later the Southern Cross,
returning from the islands, brought news of David
Bo's death on the very night of the lad's dream.
David Bo's son (and Taki's nephew), Martin Taki,
is one of our most promising cricketers at the present
time.
From what has been written of the head-hunters
it will rightly have been inferred that human life is
little regarded in San Cristoval. Until recent years
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 231
infanticide was frightfully common. The legend ran
among the younger matrons that a mother's strength
was sapped by suckling her infant. But the old
women were the chief offenders in the crime of baby-
murder, and for the simple reason that when the
young wives were kept from field-work by child-
bearing the labour fell upon the elders. So these
used all their powers to imbue the rising generation
with the idea that to rear one's own children was a
quite unnecessary labour.
It was a village chief in this island whose apologia
pro vita sua in pidgin-English ran as follows :
" My mamma when me born she no want piccaninny,
so she dig hole, put me in. But 'nother woman she
say, ' Me want piccaninny ! ' so she take me out an'
feed me."
The antithesis to the story of Moses is provided
by another, somewhat similar case. A mother having
reared her first-born son, absolutely declined to under-
take the business a second time, and the next little
one was doomed to death. The mother insisted on
the father's killing it, but his heart must have failed
him. The grave was dug and the new-born child
laid within it, but the earth was not stamped down.
A woman of compassion heard the feeble wail and
rescued the child to bring it up as her own. Unable
herself to nurse it, she applied to the mother-murderess,
who consented to feed her own child, on condition of
being paid so many strings of money, with the under-
standing that it was to belong entirely to its saviour
and adopter. The general feeling was that this was
a very reasonable arrangement.
The usual practice, and one still prevalent in
many of the Solomons, was to buy boys and girls, as
232 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
they were wanted, from the Bush people, at an age when
they could look after themselves. Such children are
adopted into the family, and treated exactly as if born
there. Their foster-parents' relations are regarded as
their own, so much so that here they are prohibited
from marrying within the same limits as if they were
indeed of kin.
The San Cristoval children are most attractive
little people, clean-skinned, graceful, well-proportioned,
with refined faces and musical voices. The heads are
shaved, except for three poodle-tufts of wavy hair, one
over the brow, one on the very crown, and one at the
back. I was struck by the large proportion of indubit-
ably almond eyes amongst them, often accompanied
by a slight droop of the eyelids. Seeing them, it
would be hard to dispute the existence of a Mongolian
strain.
Tattooing is dying out among the Christians, and
that is well, for it is a barbarous process enough. The
favourite pattern is as follows : above the nose, a
frigate-bird, and lines over the eyebrows to represent
the evening sky ; beside the eyes, circles to suggest
the fruit of a certain tree ; and on the cheeks, clouds
and birds' wings alternately.
The child to be tattooed is tied firmly down, and
his friends assemble for the ceremony, which is per-
formed with the sharpened bone of a bat's wing, drawn
heavily over the skin. The sufferer's cries are pitiable,
and no wonder, for the blood flows freely, and has to
be continually mopped away, and all acknowledge that
the process is exquisitely painful. When one-half of
the face is done, drums are beaten to announce the
fact to the neighbouring villages ; and when the
frigate-bird is finished, the drums are beaten again.
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 233
An entire day is occupied by the operation, at the
conclusion of which the tattooing expert receives a
heavy fee. They say that for three ensuing days the
child suffers grievously, and for weeks to come the
poor little face is swollen and repulsive to the eye.
Happily, there is no overloading with ornaments
nor distorting of the features. I was presented with
a necklace of tiny grey seed -husks, which are here
the token of widowhood, whether worn in tassels as
ear-rings or round the neck. The hair too is cropped
and the body daubed with soot and ashes.
In pitiful contrast to the well-fed and well-favoured
children are the dogs one sees everywhere so appal-
lingly thin for the most part that you can almost see
through them ! And no wonder, for they are never
fed. If one by any chance puts on a little flesh, it is
promptly cooked and eaten. But they are owned and
kept, poor wretches, for the sake of the two money-
teeth which each possesses. At a given age they are
buried up to the neck in sand and the owner knocks
out the two teeth. These are not worth more than a
penny apiece in San Cristoval, where dogs are plenti-
ful, but they can be realized in Gela for sixpence each.
In a hundred ways one sees that the natural
compassion of these people has either been long
smothered or indeed has never yet awakened. In
any case it is not dead, only waiting to be brought
forth, as the tenderness and pity of the Christian
natives evidence.
After all, maybe they are hardly more cruel than
our own forefathers. Did they not make use of
barbaric trials by ordeal, with implicit faith in the
result ?
In San Cristoval, when a man is persistently
234 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
accused of an offence which cannot be proved against
him, he is similarly put to the test. First, his own
familiar ghost is invoked to assist by his presence,
and presumably to see that his man does not suffer
unjustly. Then the ordeal is undergone.
It may be by red-hot stones which he must lift
bare-handed above his head three times. And if his
hands show no burn, he is innocent.
Or he must eat unslaked lime, or suffer a burning
wick to be thrust between his teeth ; and if his mouth
is not burnt, he is innocent.
Another plan is to heap dry, inflammable coco-
nut leaves into a mighty pile and then lay a tree trunk
over them. Fire is set to the leaves, and the accused
walks down the log. If his legs are not scorched, he
is innocent.
There is a pool, notoriously full of sharks and
crocodiles. The accused is condemned to swim
across it. If the monsters separate into companies
and make way for him, then he is innocent.
Ask a native if any have ever succeeded thus in
establishing their innocency. The only answer will
be if not, it is because all have been guilty.
We have already found serpents regarded with
reverence and awe in Melanesian islands, but here in
San Cristoval we seem to reach the very centre and
source of snake-worship.
The creator of men, animals, and all good and
pleasant things was a female spirit in the form of a
snake, and in those days there was no death. Her
name varies in every district of the island, but the
legend is universal.* To take one of her shorter
names, this Kahuahuarii had her home in the great
central mountainous mass of the interior of San
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 235
Cristoval. She made the first man out of a coco-nut ;
you may still see what suggested the eyes and mouth.
How woman occurred tradition does not relate.
She just came somehow and then the first child was
born. Kahuahuarii loved it, and offered to take care
of it, setting the woman free for her field-work. So
the mother went away, and Kahuahuarii coiled in a
circle round the baby. But the baby began to cry,
and the snake could not stop it. In her efforts she
coiled closer and closer round till the child was
strangled. Back came the parents, and, seeing what
had happened, tried to chop up Kahuahuarii with an
adze. As fast as the adze cut through the body the
pieces joined together again. But the serpent was
offended, and glided away saying, " I go, and who will
help you now ? "
She left San Cristoval for Mala, and finally settled
in the south-east of Guadalcanar, and since her
departure everything has deteriorated. Yet there are
some who say she lives still at Haunuru, a cannibal
village on the south side of San Cristoval. Be this
as it may, snakes in general are venerated and
approached on account of Kahuahuarii, especially
those in Bauro, and it is certainly from Haunuru
that word goes forth when sacrifices are to be offered
to her namely, at the ripening of the bread-fruit,
yams, and nuts. An offering of first-fruits is
made, and the serpent's blessing is asked upon the
crops.
Some of the natives keep snakes as their familiars.
A certain chief who had buried treasure in his ground
set his snake to guard the same, and the creature
would lie coiled over the spot. If one man wishes ill
to another, thither he sends his snake. It neither
236 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
bites nor strangles its victim ; it merely watches and
follows him until he sickens and dies.
Off the south-east end of San Cristoval lie two
small islands, Owa Raha and Owa Riki, or the Great
and Little Owa. The former is better known to us
by its Spanish name of Santa Anna. But as a
matter of fact the Melanesian Mission knows but too
little of Santa Anna. In vain has the opportunity
been sought to establish a school here. The natives
decline to have anything to ' do with the Peace
Teaching.
Only the other day some light was thrown on
the cause of their persistent refusals by a San
Cristoval boy at Norfolk Island, a young fellow of
eighteen or nineteen who is acquainted with Santa
Anna. In conversation with one of the clergy he
gave the following account of serpent-worship in this
islet, where it seems to have reached a ceremonial
development not met with elsewhere.
The people worship a great snake, Kauraha, and
her brood, who inhabit a small cavern. Over and
round this the people have built a long native temple,
like a canoe -house, that would hold about sixty
people. At the far end is the snake's cavern, walled
off. On the walls of the temple are drawings and
carvings of sharks, frigate-birds, and a strange
monster, with a bird's head and turtle's flippers, which,
according to San Cristoval belief, lives under the sea
and is the cause of earthquakes.
Only certain men can enter the temple, and these
are all old. When they go in, it is bowing down,
their arms on either side slightly raised, the hands
horizontal, the palms down-turned. They enter to
take part in sacred feasts, to sacrifice, and to ask what
CHAP.: SAN CRISTOVAL 237
is the will of the snake. Kauraha sometimes swells
to a huge size when she is displeased, and on rare
occasions she comes out of the rocky cavern with her
brood, all swelling with anger. They begin to swell
out, for instance, if a woman approaches the spot.
The snake asks her worshippers for what she
wants a pig, or even sometimes a human sacrifice.
If any one falls ill, the old men are bidden to buy a
pig and eat it before the snakes in their temple, a
portion being set apart for the latter.
As on the mainland, these snakes also receive an
offering of first-fruits. When a coco-nut palm first
bears, some of the milk of the first young nut is drunk
in the serpent's presence, before any one dare help
himself to the fruit of the tree. When the yams
are dug, the first yams are eaten before the snakes,
and before the people plant their crops they offer
sacrifices to them. If they wish to know whether to
go to war or not, the old men take into the house a
red strip of the sacred dracaena leaf. They then pull
apart the two ends, and if the strand breaks they do
not go to war, for the breaking of it presages defeat
and death.
When the white priest landed here, Kauraha and
her family were very angry indeed, and began to swell.
But when the Bishop himself visited Santa Anna,
asking the people to accept a school, and they inquired
the snake's will concerning it, the whole brood swelled
as they had never swelled before, and in their ire they
even came forth from their inner chamber into the open
space of the temple. So the people were forbidden
in this way to accept Christianity.
It must not be imagined that in San Cristoval the
high position of the ghosts is usurped by the serpents.
238 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
By no means. Honours are divided. The wizards
are as powerful and necessary here as anywhere. It
is not every man who can boast his own serpent.
Among the rank and file if a man has a grudge
against his neighbour he pays a wizard a pig to
obtain a ghost that will " eat " his enemy that is,
cause his death.
The poor fellow falls ill and guesses what has
happened. He sends to another wizard (or, as it
sometimes transpires, to the same !) with, if possible,
a larger bribe to secure a stronger ghost to rescue him
from the clutches of the first. The two ghosts meet
upon the mat where the sick man lies, and fight it out
over his body with ghost spears. The result of the duel
will be apparent in the man. If he dies, it is because
ghost No. i was victorious ; if he recovers, it is thanks
to the superiority of ghost No. 2.
There are sea-ghosts also, who are particularly
unpleasant because they act on their own account and
are impartially malignant. Their favourite sport is to
shoot men as they fish on the reef by darting invisible
fish at them. Any native can draw you the likeness
of a sea-ghost. In San Cristoval they will represent
him as human -headed, with pronounced features,
straight hair, and long, drooping moustaches. How
did this conception originate? If you ask the artist
whether he has seen one he will say no, but that they
are always like that ; their fathers drew them so, and
their fathers' fathers. It is an interesting speculation
whether in these sea-ghosts, who habitually deal death
from a distance, we find at last a tradition of the Spanish
visitants who, one fears from their own account, only
too often dealt death from a distance along all these
coasts.
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 239
"Seeing the insolence of the Indians" [they were
all " Indians " in 1567], " some shots were fired at them,
and two were killed."
" On account of the audacity " of another he was
" knocked down with a shot"
"When" [on another occasion] "we saw their
determined daring, shots were fired by which some
were killed and many wounded."
Again, "Seeing their daring," the muskets were
brought into action, "and many Indians were killed."
Later on, when the " Indians " actually ventured to
throw stones, "some shots were fired, which killed
two of them."
" Seeing their determined perseverance, we fired
some shots, and having killed some, we ceased firing."
But the pen wearies of transcribing a multiplicity
of these instances, tranquilly noted in the journal of
Gallego, the Chief Pilot of Mendana's expedition, the
professed motive of which was religious "to enable
the missionaries who are to guide the infidels into the
Vineyard of the Lord, to know where these places will
be found."
Perchance it is as well that the Solomon Islanders
had about 300 years in which to forget the first Christian
emissaries before the next visited them !
It is not at the moment of death that a man
becomes a ghost. He travels to an islet at some
distance, feeling still a man ; finds there his departed
friends, and gives them the news of the village. But
presently his head is pecked by a kingfisher (an un-
canny bird in Melanesia, it will be remembered), and
he forthwith develops into a full-fledged ghost.
Sometimes the soul of a man will migrate at the
hour of death into another body. A sickly infant was
2 4 o ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
born shortly before a certain old man died. Mysteri-
ously the child's weakness departed, and he began to
thrive exceedingly. Then it was recognized that the
spirit of the dead Waiau had taken possession of the
babe's body, and he was named " Waiau " accordingly.
To the ghosts of chiefs high honours are paid.
When a great man dies, his followers may not wash
themselves until a human life has compensated for that
of the chief. A murder is accomplished as soon as
may be, and then, a few days after the chief's death,
the first death-feast is celebrated and the body is
buried. The second death-feast is held a little later
on, when the skull is exhumed and placed upon a
shelf in the canoe-house. First-fruits are hung around
it and sacrifices of flesh and vegetables burnt below
it. A long fast of months follows this second feast,
and then those who have thus honoured the memory
of the dead keep their third feast. The fourth and
last occurs when a new canoe-house is built to the
glory of the departed chief and his figure carved on
one of the posts.
The evening star is known as "He who watches
the feasting," because feasts take place when this star
is in the sky.
They have some fanciful fables in San Cristoval
touching the heavenly bodies. Once, long, long ago,
they say, the Sun and the Moon were equal in strength
and heat. Day after day they crossed over the great
bridge of the sky the Sun chasing the Moon, and the
Moon for ever fleeing for his life. At last one day the
Moon fell into the sea, and ever since he has been
pale and cold. That is how Sun and Moon became
different. And now in the Moon there sits an old, old
woman weaving mats.
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 241
The Milky Way they call " The Valley of White
Pebbles." A rainbow is regarded with such awe that
none will venture out of doors while it is visible.
Should one be so foolhardy, boils will break out upon
him. And if a boy is reckless enough to point with
his finger at the rainbow, that finger will curl up,
fester, and never straighten again.
Off the north coast of San Cristoval, distant a
two hours' boat journey, lies the small island of Ugi,
of interest to the anthropologist as being one of the
few islands in Melanesia where descent is reckoned,
not from the mother, but as in Europe, from the father.
The ghosts in Ugi make themselves useful as
professors of music. All new songs are by them
taught to the people. One man is selected by the
ghost-composer, who visits him nightly in a dream,
and teaches the song carefully, over and over, until he
has learnt it perfectly and can instruct the people.
This little island is very green and pleasant to the
eye, with its coco-nut plantation and stretch of grass,
where real cows may be seen, the property of a trader,
and luxury of luxuries in the Solomons ! fresh milk
may be drunk.
Wherever in Melanesia you see coco-nuts, you
may be pretty sure that the coco-nut crab has seen
them too. There are many land crabs, but this Birgus
latro is as mischievous in the plantation as he is big.
He climbs the tree and selects his nuts. The young
ones he pierces through the eye and drinks. The old
ones he husks and smashes by throwing them from
the tree on to the ground. On dit, he aims at a
stone, and so breaks the shell at once ! If it fractures
smoothly, he condescends to eat it, but if with jagged
edges, he leaves that one and gets himself another !
242 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
When pursued, he throws earth and stones in the
face of the enemy. The native method of capture is
to tie grass round the tree the crab has climbed.
Coming upon it in his descent backwards, he con-
cludes that he has reached the ground, looses his hold
of the tree, falls, and is stunned.
The Banks Islanders say that when this nair seizes
anything with his smaller left claw, he will hold on to it
till the sun goes down, and they call this claw loaroro
(sunset) on that account.
The people of Wario have a legend about the crabs,
which I think in varying forms is common throughout
the groups. Just off Ugi, to the north-west, lies Biu,
a tiny islet, and here they say on moonlight nights
these coco-nut crabs hold high revel. Two of the
biggest and oldest take their places and beat time,
one claw upon another. The rest of the crabs circle
round them in a dance, waving their claws just as the
natives wield their dancing-clubs.
I believe it is an ascertained fact that all the land
crabs go down to the beach to bathe on certain nights,
and I have heard from an eye-witness that they do
perform remarkable and orderly evolutions.
From a native of Ugi I have the following snake
story :
Long ago there were a man and his wife. One day
they went to work in their gardens. The woman there
came upon a snake, short and extremely fat. Then she
lifted up that snake, and the couple took it back with them
into the village, and afterwards that woman put it in a
bamboo and it lived entirely in the house.
CHAP, i SAN CRISTOVAL 243
Next morning the pair again, went to work in the
garden, but when they returned from the field the woman
heard that snake weeping bitterly. So she asked him thus,
" What are you wanting, my son ? "
But the snake did not answer her.
She asked him concerning every kind of food, but the
snake only answered, " No ! "
Then his mother asked him again, " Is it a wife you
want ? "
And at once the snake replied, " Yes, yes ! "
The man and his wife knew about two sisters in another
village, that they were extremely good-looking. So they
made ready and set forth to go to that village where the
sisters were. And when they arrived they selected the elder,
and bought her to be the snake's wife. After that they took
the young woman, and the three returned.
Now it was not until they had reached the house that
the girl they had bought clearly understood that her husband
was a snake, and thereupon she rebelled. Every day the
couple were to bathe in the river, but the girl would not
hold the snake. She would pick him up with a stick and
fling him into the water.
But before long the snake's adopted mother saw plainly
that the bride they had bought disliked the snake. So
they took her back to her village, and bought her younger
sister in her stead. And she went back with them, and they
saw clearly that this girl liked that snake.
Every day the two went to bathe as before, but this girl
did not pick him up with a stick as her sister had done
formerly ; but she put him in a basket, and when they
reached the river she first bathed the snake, then put him
back into the basket, and after that, last of all, she bathed
herself. And when she had finished bathing, she would
take the snake, and the two would return to the village.
One day the man and his wife and that woman who was
the snake's wife went to work in the garden, but the snake
stayed in the village by himself. And when the three had
gone, that snake issued forth from his skin and turned into
a man. After that he went down to the beach to fish, and
244 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
he killed a great many fish. Then he returned to the village,
and hung up those fish in the house. Finally he climbed
back into that skin out of which he had come, and turned
once more into a snake.
Now by and by the three came home, and the snake
said to his mother, " Mother, the fish over there some fellows
brought ! "
So his mother took down the fish, and cooked it, and
they ate it.
The snake did the same thing every day. The father
and mother inquired about it, but could not find any one
who had brought the fish to them. So one day when the
three went out again to work, the wife of the snake went
straight forward to the garden, but the father and mother
hid by the side of the path.
And presently they saw that person coming out of the
house, and that he was no snake, but a handsome man. And
when he had gone down to the beach the parents returned
to their house, and found that skin, and they took it and
burned it. After that they followed their daughter-in-law to
the garden to work.
Now by and by that person came back from the beach,
and saw that his skin had been destroyed, and he sat down
and just cried. After that the three returned and saw him
sitting in the house. Ke ! How that wife of his rejoiced,
for she had no idea before that he was able to turn into
a man.
There came a day when they went to a great feast in
that wife's village. And the elder sister saw that her sister's
husband was a very comely man. And as they were going
back, the sister ran after them, crying, " Sister, let me go
back with you two, and I will be your servant."
But her sister refused, saying, " No : I am able to do the
work myself."
And because her sister would not allow her to do that,
the elder went back and hanged herself.
CHAPTER II
ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS
History Natural features The people A bathing adventure Shark-
worship Shark stories Degradation of women Banana super-
stitions Story of Wes Two murderers Traces of totemism
Spirits and sacrifices The white man's Akalo Martin A very
new religion Bonito- catching Fish-hooks A wedding The
Three Sisters A pebble for a soul Legend of Rapuanate The
call of the dead A man-eating ghost Story of a tank.
ULAWA is a small island lying perhaps thirty miles to
the north of San Cristoval, its length being not more
than ten miles, its breadth about four. It is generally
known now by its soft native name, spelt varyingly,
but in its time the little island has suffered from three
different names at the mouths of white men, and none
of them pleasant ones.
Mendana, its first discoverer, in 1567 dubbed it
La Treguada, in disgust at the "treachery" of the
" Indians," who did not give them the pig they asked
for, but instead " came out in their canoes with their
bows and arrows." The Spanish musketry was, of
course, promptly brought into action, and before an
arrow could be shot by the treacherous Indians, three
or four were killed, including a woman, and some of
their canoes were seized.
Two hundred years later (1769) Ulawa was re-
discovered by de Surville, a Frenchman, who intro-
245
246 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
duced the natives to the uses of grape-shot, because
they did not appear particularly friendly. Of the
number he slew there is no record. As he experi-
enced bad weather round about the island, he called
it He de Contrariete\
It was in 1790 that Ulawa was "discovered" for
the third time, on this occasion by an Englishman,
Lieutenant Ball, commanding the Supply. It was a
prosaic age, but one can hardly help a shudder at the
name he bestowed upon it Smith's Island ! Merci-
fully the designation failed to " catch on " with the
world in general, and I doubt if Ulawa ever answered
to the name of Smith. Lieutenant Ball must have
been a gentleman sadly lacking in the romantic sense,
as the nomenclature of Norfolk Island's loveliest
features bears unhappy witness. And Owa Raha
and Owa Riki became for him Sirius's Island and
Massey's Island ! All these he fondly believed no
white man to have before beheld.
The central hill of Ulawa, which rises to about a
thousand feet, is clearly of volcanic origin, but around
this the coral- workers have built up terrace on terrace,
so that we seem to need a " portmanteau word," as
invented in Wonderland, to describe its formation
" volcanicoral," say! It is a beautiful spot, and the
Christian villages are wonderfully clean. The pig
maintains his importance throughout the Solomons.
In the photograph he has unconsciously taken up a
symbolic position the centre of the stage !
Close to our landing-place slowly flowed a clear,
wide stream, emerging from the luxuriant forest, the
pools of which offered a paradise of rest for six ex-
hausted ducks which we had brought as a present from
Norfolk Island for the priest-in-charge. Two goats
ULAWA.
SHALL IT BE "SMITH'S /SLA.VD'-? LANDING-PLACE.
WONDERFULLY CLEAN."
P. 246.
CHAP, ii ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 247
were also landed here, but did not long survive, as
they refused the native herbage.
The Ulawa natives are bright and friendly as any,
and happily for us they have forgotten all about
Mendafia and de Surville. Were it not for the dis-
figurement of the mouth and teeth by betel-chewing,
and the ears by heavy rings, I think they would be
particularly attractive-looking. But it is not pleasant
to see a man's ear-lobes elongated until they can meet
under the chin. In running it is usual to turn the
lobes up over the top of the ear to keep them out of
the way, or to fasten them together behind the neck
by linking the attached rings.
In the case of two of the natives illustrated, the
ear ornament is not a ring, but a disk. This is not
suspended from the lobe, but the latter stretches
tightly round it as if it were an elastic band. Of
such ornaments I noticed abundant instances in the
Solomons.
We are safe enough in Ulawa nowadays, but not
so very many years ago the then priest-in-charge had a
somewhat exciting experience. He was bathing in a
secluded pool alone one day, when a heathen chief,
with his executioner, a man of enormous size and
strength (both, of course, cannibals), appeared suddenly
upon the scene with some companions. These latter
busied themselves with the clothes left on the bank,
but the chief and the executioner made straight for
the solitary white man with a briskness that was un-
pleasantly suggestive, and pinched and felt him all
over, much as a farmer examines a prize ox.
The subject of their attentions was wise enough to
take it all good-humouredly, but caused a distraction
at the earliest opportunity by exhibiting his soap,
248 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
showing its uses, and then presenting it to them.
The new treasure caused huge amusement ; bodies and
faces were lathered in a trice mouth, eyes, and all
and in the midst of the spluttering and blinking that
ensued, the white man found his chance to retreat
with dignity.
It was the fashion here formerly to honour a
departed chief by killing not one, but a fixed number,
of the first strangers who chanced to land on the
island after his death. This accounts for some of the
murders of the past which have seemed perplexing in
the groundlessness of their barbarity.
As San Cristoval is the heart of snake-worship, so
Ulawa seems to have been in former days of shark-
worship. Throughout the Solomons these creatures
are looked upon with much dread, and regarded as the
abode of ghosts. A man on his death-bed will predict
his future appearance in the form of a shark, and when
one distinguished in any way by its size or colour is
observed to frequent a certain rock or strip of beach,
it is regarded as representing the deceased or his
ghost, and his name is bestowed upon it. I believe
off Ulawa there still ranges a fierce man-eating shark,
called after one Sautahimatawa, to whom propiti-
atory money is offered in the much -prized porpoise
teeth.
In the two or three heathen villages yet remaining
in Ulawa, the sharks are worshipped by all the people,
who not merely expect to inhabit them hereafter, but
in a vague, quasi-totemic way consider themselves the
descendants of sharks. It is not every one who can
communicate with them ; only certain men are pos-
sessed of the requisite mana. The test is from a
canoe, by means of a very heavy red stone or a very
CHAP, ii ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 249
s
large, light fruit. The man who wishes to prove his
power throws out either one or the other, and should
the fruit sink or the stone miraculously float, it is
clear evidence that he has the desired mana.
The sharks seem to have a very proper feeling, for
it is said that where they are worshipped they harm
no one. They strictly confine themselves to killing to
order \ there is no freelance work. Their worshippers
supply them with occupation, dispatching them on
killing expeditions as far as San Cristoval and Ugi.
One of the villages boasts a famous school of
sacred sharks. A certain man has mana to summon
them when wanted, and a second knows how to send
them about their business. According to the native
account, which is very precise on the subject, they
come when called in a regular order two in front,
and ten couples behind, nose level with nose, swimming
straight into the small enclosed harbour where they
are to receive their instructions.
Every shark is named. The leader is addressed,
and to him is confided the name of his victim-designate.
If possible, something connected with the man is
supplied to the shark to assist the scent, even if it be
only a handful of sand scraped by his foe from his foot-
prints on the beach. Having heard their instructions,
the sharks turn again and swim orderly off to work.
The shark especially named selects a large skate
for its companion, whose duty it is to lash with its
tail the doomed man's canoe until it is upset. Then
it is the part of the shark to swallow the man head-
first, but without killing him. Off he goes, a pair of
legs sticking out of his mouth, to the spot where his
worshipper awaits him, and at his feet the prey is
disgorged. The man will not be dead : he must not
250 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
be ! No sacred shark will eat a man unless he has
been formally strangled to death. But he is extremely
weak, " trembling and sobbing," they say. He knows
he can hope for no mercy from the ruthless enemy at
whose feet he lies. He is strangled and flung back
to the shark for a meal.
Cases are told of a shark sent to destroy a man
taking instead a capricious fancy to him holding him
under water once or twice for fun, playing with him,
and then releasing him.
There was a famous shark-leader named Huaaha,
particularly proficient in his profession. One day
when the shark clan was summoned, Huaaha was not
amongst them. At the same time came the news of
the killing of a great shark in another village where
they were no longer held in honour. Thither hurried
the shark worshippers, to find that the body of the
shark had been already consumed, and only the head
remained on the shore.
The question was solemnly addressed to it, " Are
you Huaaha?" and forthwith it stood up on end!
Upon such conclusive evidence the infuriated people
went straight up into the village, where the terrified
inhabitants made no show of resistance, and ransacked
the houses, burningand destroying everywhere. Down
they surged to the beach, and broke up every canoe ;
up to the gardens in the bush, and ravaged them
utterly, and then, glutted with vengeance, returned
home.
In the same place there is said to be a hybrid sea-
monster, with the head of a shark and the legs of a
man, who harms no one, but swims sadly about, off
the village where sharks are worshipped, with which
he is friendly.
CHAP, ii ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 251
The bodies of great chiefs only are buried in the
heathen parts of Ulawa. All other corpses are the
recognized food of the sharks, offered, as it were,
in sacrifice to please them. Many were the battles
waged in the Mission's early days between Christian
and heathen relatives touching the disposal of the
bodies of the baptized. Great and real was the terror
of the sharks' indignation at being deprived of their
accustomed privilege. But now, of course, burial is
the rule, and shark propitiation the exception.
One of the first Ulawa teachers had an elder
brother named Wes, famous both as a fighter and as
a magician. He was wealthy, and it was upon his
land that the little school-house stood. Walter, this
brother of his, was much afraid of him and his violent
temper ; and when an infant son of the teacher's died,
bitter was the quarrel over the tiny body, which Wes
demanded for the sharks. Peace was at last made,
however, and sealed by sitting side by side, chewing
betel-nut and pepper leaves from the same basket,
and sucking lime out of the same lime-box. And
after that Wes gave permission for his own children
to attend the school.
Now as the sharks must be served and honoured
in the sea, that they might exercise their power in
man's behoof, so with the ghosts and spirits on land.
It was believed that these unseen beings had a pen-
chant for the fruit of the banana, so by common consent
a taboo rested upon all bananas as far as human beings
were concerned. They were the food of the spirits,
and theirs should be the monopoly. So it gradually
resulted in the eating of a banana becoming recognized
as the first step towards Christian instruction.
One day this man Wes presented himself at the
252 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
door of the Mission school and applied for a banana
from a bunch that was hanging there. But just as
he was about ceremoniously to consume it, it was
whispered that some of the schoolgirls had already
eaten one or two from this bunch, and no persuading
would induce Wes to touch one now. It would be an
indelible blot upon his name if he the great fighter
Wes were ever known to have eaten a banana from
the same bunch as a woman !
Where Ulawa is still heathen, the degradation of
women seems to touch bottom. A sick woman is
turned out of the house as defiling it, and even her
own sister thinks herself bemeaned if she should show
her any care. She is cast into the bush to die alone,
for if she died in the house it would have to be burned
down, since no one would enter it unless compelled.
The mysterious attraction of the New Teaching
proved, however, too strong for Wes to continue to
withstand. One evening a monotonous, curious kind
of chant was heard proceeding from his house, where
he was entertaining a great friend from a distant
village. What did it mean ? Simply this. After
years of opposition, followed by hesitation, Wes had
finally determined to give up his old life and follow
the new way. But the old magic was too valuable
to be cast off lightly. So here he was, divesting him-
self of his power to cure rheumatism, and so forth,
and handing on the knowledge of his charms and
incantations to his friend.
But having once turned his back on these things,
Wes threw himself heart and soul into the new teach-
ing, and proved himself a quick and intelligent learner.
It was in 1884 that a murder, flagrant in its
treachery, aroused a fire of indignation among the
CHAP, ii ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 253
people. A chief who was guest in a village was killed
by two of the inhabitants, who thereupon found their
own lives in jeopardy. Their steps were haunted by
would-be avengers of blood ; wait was laid for them
on every hand.
The miserable pair took refuge in the vicinity of
a school, where they seemed to feel more secure than
elsewhere. Day after day, week after week, they
hung about the place, and gradually, imperceptibly,
they found themselves influenced by the words they
heard. Publicly they owned their crime, expressed
their penitence, and made what atonement lay in their
power. This was followed by the eating of the banana,
the surrender of a piece of coral exceptionally full of
mana, and the two murderers became catechumens,
and in course of time were baptized and (in 1895)
confirmed.
Ulawa superstitions are very curious and numerous.
In one village the people when climbing the coco-nut
palm dare not throw a nut upon the ground lest a
ghost in waiting should put an evil charm upon it.
Instead, they string them together as they gather
them, and load their necks with them, and so
descend.
Ulawa custom, by the way, allows a man to plant
coco-nuts on another man's land ; and they will
remain his exclusive property, however often the land
may change hands.
Earlier in this chapter, in connection with the
sharks, I used the expression " quasi-totemic." And
I know no other way of explaining some of the
superstitions which here, as also, we shall find
presently, in Gela, make certain creatures taboo as
food to certain people.
254 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
A man among his catch finds a fish which is taboo
to him, and has to send for his boys to carry it home,
for he may not even touch it. The children will eat
and enjoy it, but were he to partake of the smallest
portion, the violation would be visited upon his sons,
one of whom would sicken and die.
A little fellow came to school one day with a huge
scar on his body. His account of the matter was
that it was caused by a crab. The white man was
puzzled, for, so far as he knew, the crabs there were
small and harmless, incapable of inflicting such a
wound as this. But the explanation was interesting.
No crab had touched him. But the crab as food was
taboo to his mother : she had ventured to taste
one, and no ill effect had resulted. But punish-
ment fell upon her child in the form of this dreadful
sore.
It would seem as if at the back of the native
mind rests the idea of Justice, stern, implacable, all-
powerful dealing out to every man his deserts, the
verdict, of course, being founded upon the instinct and
belief of the whole population. This might throw a
ray of light on the trials by ordeal, which are also in
vogue here.
An accused man is brought to a fire, and placed
with his back to it. A blazing palm leaf is then held
against the calves of his legs. If he flinches, or if
the skin be burned by the flame, he is guilty !
The gamal (or tohi, as it is called in Ulawa) has
here a sacred character, though unconnected with any
society. Within it sacrifices are offered to the spirits,
including the first-fruits of bush and garden, and
venerated relics are kept. It thus becomes a sort of
temple of the spirits, and no woman may enter, for no
CHAP, n ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 255
spirits would have anything to do with them. The
sacred bonito-fish is cooked and eaten exclusively in
the tohi, and turtles when caught are brought here
for consumption doubtless that the women may be
preserved from indigestion ! When a heathen village
is visited by Christians, though they are allowed to
enter the tohi, they may on no account pray there.
The daily offices must be said outside.
" Nothing will happen to you," says the native
frankly, "for your akalo" [spirit] "is more powerful
than ours, as white men are more important than
dark men. Yours is the white akalo, but He has no
concern with us. Our own akalo will be very angry
with us for allowing your worship in the tohi, and they
will take vengeance on us."
It must make the people marvel to see women
included in the care of that Akalo Whose superior
power they acknowledge.
When it is a matter of building the village church,
the men, women, and children all work together at
it. To the men falls the hard sawing and squaring
of the blocks, but the women carry them to the site.
The children fetch sand for the mortar and join
their mothers in bringing the coral from the shore,
while the men chop wood for the fire and all help
together in burning the lime.
The workmen, it may be remarked, are most
reverent. From the time the first stones are laid
there is no chattering or smoking ; they will not
even take their pipes or lime-boxes within the wall
boundary. Those natives who still pay allegiance
to the akalo of old time are scrupulous in averting the
head when passing the church, lest the powerful Akalo
should be vengeful ; and if shavings from the timber
256 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
used have fallen in the path, they brush them aside
most carefully, lest by treading on them the white
man's Akalo be affronted.
An incident which occurred just before we visited
Ulawa gives some impression of the native character.
I came across a bright, handsome lad among the
young teachers, with his wife, and was struck by his
intelligent manner and happy face.
" Yes, that young Martin is a very good teacher,"
I was told, " but, like many others, a bit of a fire-
brand."
There had been a wedding in Martin's village,
and among the congregation in church was a woman
with her small child. The latter, for some reason or
none, made an outcry, was removed by its mother,
and smacked. The father's ire was aroused by the
touch laid upon his child, and the woman was severely
beaten by him for her temerity.
Martin, who was aware of the facts, flamed out in
fury against the man, and deliberately burned down
his house. It is impossible to deny that the punish-
ment was excessive, and it was not Martin's business
thus to play the avenger. But of course an Ulawa
house is more easily rebuilt than one of brick or stone,
and they are often enough demolished by their owners
for one cause or another.
Still, having done the deed, Martin's conscience
accused him, and without so much as good-bye to his
wife, he fled into the bush, and for two or three days
the school found itself teacherless, and nothing was
seen or heard of Martin. Then early one fine morning
he presented himself before the priest-in -charge, calm
and penitent, quite ready to set to work again.
Just of such stuff are many Melanesians. Hot-
CHAP, ii ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 257
headed, abashed, sobered, over and over again, but
right-down good fellows at heart !
There was a very new religion introduced not
long ago into one of the Ulawa villages. A returned
labourer from Fiji, having brought back some floating
impressions of Christian customs, joined the old
magician of the place, and the pair set up as pro-
fessors of it. The most popular of the laws they
introduced was that which appointed three Sundays
in every week different days for men and women
on which it was incumbent upon everybody to do
absolutely nothing ! I know of such another one
who was content to institute a bi-weekly Sunday, but
insisted on baptising all his followers every morning
in the creek !
I have alluded to the bonito-fish. We shall hear
again of them elsewhere, but in Ulawa they are very
highly esteemed as food. They swim in shoals, and
are by no means to be obtained every day. When
they appear, it is on the track of small fish for their
own eating, and their presence is revealed first by
the excited flock of birds overhead who are preparing
to dart upon the bonito's prey. Then the bright lines
on the water, caused by the fishes' leaping, confirm
the hope aroused, and there is a general race among
the natives to reach the spot and secure a bite.
The Ulawa fish-hooks are among the loveliest
manufactures of the islands. Some have a pearl
back of about two and a half inches long, with a
notched end to which is bound by string a tortoise-
shell hook. But the most exquisite are from half to
three-quarters of an inch in size, the pearl carved into
the minute similitude of a fish. In either case the shin-
ing pearl seems bait sufficient, for nothing is added.
s
258 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
The canoes travel at an amazing pace (we have
left the rough dug-outs behind, as the illustration
shows), and when the shoal is neared, it is the work
of one man to look after the canoe and keep an eye
upon the line that is trailing astern, while his fellow
angles warily for the coveted bonito.
I must not omit to mention the one occasion
when women figure prominently. They form the
orchestra at the celebration of a wedding. The
interesting fact about a heathen wedding is that
neither bride nor bridegroom is present. The happy
man generally takes the opportunity for a quiet day's
fishing on the rocks ; where the girl is, who can
say? It were hard to believe that she does not
find a peep-hole in her hiding-place.
The feast is prepared at the village of the woman,
and hither repairs the procession from the bride-
groom's home, preceded by four women blowing
down short reeds, and others beating with sticks
upon bamboos. All travel single file, followed by
the population of the man's village, ornamented and
armed with spears.
The first item in the programme of festivities is
the payment for the bride. She is a fairly inex-
pensive luxury, costing here perhaps ten strings of
shell-money. Next the man's chief comes forward,
and, grasping a spear, runs to and fro shouting. He
is making request for the bride, and undertaking
that she shall find a home, protection, food, and
plenty of work ! The chief of the bride's village
replies in the same forcible manner, announcing the
general willingness to hand over the young woman.
The agreement is clenched by the chiefs and near
relatives chewing betel-nut together and sharing
CHAP, ii ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 259
some coco-nuts. And the formalities end with a
feast, it being remembered that what generally con-
stitutes a feast in Melanesia is the distribution of
food to all present, to be consumed by them hereafter.
Between Ulawa and Ugi lie three little green
islands in a row, which are known as " The Three
Sisters." They are uninhabited, and we could not
stop to land, but I eyed them with no small interest,
for according to native tradition they provide a
resting-place for the souls of the Ulawa dead when
they quit the body. A similar belief prevails in
Mala.
The ghosts (or souls) travel straight to the
southernmost point of their island, and thence cross
to the " Middle Sister" Olu Malau land and rest
there, so on to San Cristoval, where they climb up Hau
Nunu, or Earthquake Rock, so called because the
ghosts' clutch on landing causes it to tremble. From
San Cristoval the ghosts proceed to a part of Guadal-
canar called Marapa, which is the Panoi or Hades
of the Southern Solomons. Those men who happen
to touch at any of these ghost-frequented spots need
be very careful lest they lose their own souls.
In Olu Malau there is a small cave, its floor and
ledges strewn with round pebbles. The passing
voyager who calls here will, if wise, deposit a pebble
upon a ledge to compound for his soul, which the
ghosts will otherwise extract upon the spot, leaving
the poor owner to sicken and die, the ghost of him
having already departed.
A certain prominent rock is called the Women's
Rock, because female ghosts land there, and a con-
stant ghostly chattering and peeping goes on.
Ulawa legend tells of a stupendous warrior-chief
2 6o ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
named Rapuanate, whose birthplace was Olu Malau,
when all Three Sisters were inhabited. He exter-
minated entirely the population of the three islands,
and then attacked another no longer existent, called
Hanua Asia [Land of the Sea]. Having succeeded
in seizing a quantity of money, Rapuanate paddled
to Mala, and there bought a flood. With this he
returned, and completely swamped Hanua Asia.
One girl escaped, and reached Ulawa, twelve miles
distant, on a log. A woman I know well in Ulawa
is always said by the natives to be of the family of
this fugitive's descendants.
The shallow known to traders as Lark Shoal is
supposed to be this sunken island, and the natives
say that if you paddle across it you may see trees
still standing on the ground under the sea.
" As we rowed to the Middle Sister, and drew near
shore," writes from Ulawa one of the Mission clergy,
" a native suddenly said, ' Who was that calling ? '
There was a chorus of ' Where ? ' ' Why, some one
called on shore,' was the answer. ' Oh, nonsense ! '
said the white man, ' who could be there ? ' But
on returning to Ulawa the crew's first question was,
' Who's dead ? ' An answer was promptly given.
So-and-so, a heathen, had died during our absence.
' Ah, we heard him call,' was the rejoinder."
Was it some faint, long-buried tradition of the
visit of the Spanish ships that caused the natives of
Ulawa to fall into a panic of terror when once again
they saw afar off upon the sea a mighty black monster
that spouted forth black breath from a great long
neck ! At all events the whole island agreed that
the thing was a man-eating ghost, and that if they
were seen they would die instantly. They hid them-
CHAP, ii ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 261
selves in rocky hollows and among the tree-roots,
and called loudly upon the ghosts and spirits for
protection. Within the village most of the people
fastened themselves up in their houses, convinced
that their last hour had come ; but some were for
killing and eating all the pigs straight away, that at
least the last hours might be happy ones !
It appears that this ship in the long-ago did not
touch at Ulawa, and the natives' next experience of
civilization concerned a tank. The story is worth
copying from a translation of the account of an Ulawa
man which lies beside me :
ABOUT A TANK
For some three years after that ship had gone, nothing
of the sort was seen again ; their spirits had driven it away,
and they would not see it any more.
And now all their attention was fixed on catching
bonito out in the open sea. The weather was very favour-
able : there was a bright sun and dead calm, and all their
fear of man-eating ghosts had gone. One. day there were
great rejoicings, for those who were skilled in the
worship of the spirits had been very successful with their
sacrifices, and now every one hurried to get ready his rod
and line and his bonito-hooks, and to see to his canoe, for
on the next day they were to have a great haul.
The following morning when the people awoke, not a
bonito was to be seen, but right out there was a large tank
floating in the sea. It must have been lost out of some ship.
By and by the bonito were discovered in shoals, but no one
dared to paddle out after them through fear of that tank,
since they in their ignorance took it for a ghost, and they
thought it was the same one they had seen before, only in a
different shape.
For two days that tank floated about, and no one dared
to let down a canoe, but all hid away in canoes or in the
bush, and just peeped out to see if it was still there. Then
262 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
one old man went to his spirit, and asked whether the thing
was a man-eating ghost or not ; and the spirit answered,
" No, it is no ghost ; it will make axes for you. Paddle
after it ; I give it over to you ! "
For two days longer they watched the tank, and then
all the people of [four villages named] let down their canoes,
and paddled after it. They paddled with a will, and as
they drew near the tank, a number of sea-birds flew up from
off it. That set them all to calling on their spirits to save
them from the birds. Some of them in fear set off for the
shore ; the rest stayed near the tank, and called on the
spirits to cast a spell over it, and make it drift ashore, that
they might break it up, and make axes out of it. For a long
time they stayed near it, waiting for their spells to work,
but they only shouted themselves hoarse. Then they
went back ashore, and filled their canoes with cords to drag
the tank to land.
When they reached the tank again, they tied it with
cords, each man as he tied calling on his special spirit to
make the cord strong ; and then they began to paddle with
it, at the same time calling on all their spirits to help.
Presently they reached shore, but they were tired out, and
so they went off to sleep.
Early next morning they set about opening the tank,
but they could not break it open, it was too hard, and they
did not know of the lid. Different rocks were tried, but
none of them availed to break open the tank. Their one
idea was to break it in pieces to make axes, so they began
calling on the spirits to break it open for them.
Then one old man secretly took up a big rock, and went
off with it into the bush ; he was going to charm it that it
might break the tank. He called all the spirits, and the
ghosts of dead men whom he knew of, that they might
come and lie hidden in the rock. Then out he came, and
carried the rock to where the people were striking the tank.
They at once made fun of him and his rock, for what
could an old man do when the young ones were helpless ?
In reality, the tank was nearly broken through, but they
were all sitting down tired out, and calling on the names
CHAP, ii ULAWA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 263
of their spirits. However, the old man lifted up the rock,
and struck the tank twice with it, and lo ! the tank was
broken. Once more he struck, and a big hole was made.
Up rushed all the people to see the sight. The tank
was filled with biscuits ! Now no one knew what these
things were, but the people snatched them here and there,
calling them moons, for they were round, and saying, some
of them, " Do not put them to your mouths ! You may be
killed ! " while others said, " These things have a very fine
smell. If there had been death in them, surely we should
have been dead already." Others thought they must have
come up from the bottom of the sea. " Why, whatever are
you doing ? " cried an old man ; " do not eat these things,
or you will die ! A spirit told me so ; this is the flesh of
ghosts, and fell down from the skies."
Some of them threw the biscuits away ; others slily bit
pieces out of them, and thought they were very good. But
they did not know they were food, and so the biscuits were
thrown away into the sea or into the bush, or were put
up as a decoration in front of the doors of their houses and
gamal.
And now all the people gathered together, and the tank
was broken into pieces, each man getting four. These were
to make axes with, as in former days their axes were made
of flint, and were always breaking, and were never sharp.
This done, they returned home with great rejoicings ; the
spirits had been very good to them in giving them such axes
to work with.
CHAPTER III
MALA (MALAITA), SOLOMON ISLANDS
A needless scare Natural features Character of people Ornaments
Bush -v. Shore Armed sentries A distressful country "A
head ! " An interminable blood-feud Islets of refuge Sacred
draw-net Poor women ! A judicious truce Food customs
" Bishooka ! " Porpoise-hunting Shark story Crocodile-worship
Trial by ordeal Ghost sacrifices In a cannibal village An
escape from cannibals Chiefs Dorawewe Hanetarana Oikata
Death customs Canoes South Mala : a contrast The first
soap The first umbrella Folk-tale : " Vulanangela and the Sun "
Ogres " The little people " Bewitched by a Dodore Mala
fairies.
WE had no more than sighted our first landing-place
in the island of Mala when I was struck by a peculiar
feature of our reception. A number of canoes set out
from the shore to meet us in the customary way, but
instead of proceeding straight for the ship, they
paddled a few yards, then drifted about uncertainly.
Suspicion and caution were expressed as plainly as if
words had been spoken. The natives were doubtful
of our identity. The Southern Cross had recently
been painted grey, a colour ominously suggestive of a
man-of-war, and her tonnage (500) was not far off that
of the dreaded vessels with which North Mala is
unpleasantly familiar.
Presently a whale-boat dominated by a white
helmet was distinguishable among the smaller fry
which surrounded and followed it in confidence. It
264
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 265
contained a man whom all the natives, heathen and
Christian, could trust, and a nearer approach convinced
even the most shy that our vessel was an old friend
with a new face, a sheep in wolf's clothing ! In a
very short time the fleet had reached us, and the deck
became like a parrot-house, with the natives (both
men and women) screaming and chattering around us,
considerably more ornamented than dressed.
But the incident was characteristic of the island
we had reached, the wildest and most populous of the
Solomons. In configuration narrow and tongue-like,
Mala extends for close upon a hundred miles. The
interior is mostly dense forest and the mountains are
numerous, though nowhere probably reaching a
greater height than 4000 feet.
The natives have long borne an unenviable
character, and not without cause, as we shall presently
see. Until within the last two years no trader or
planter has ventured to settle here. The only white
resident has been our own missionary-priest. Now
at last the barriers are breaking down, the white
irresistible tide is creeping in. Plantations have been
started, and the Government has placed a resident
Assistant Commissioner on the island, supported by a
force of forty police.
For a longer period than we can say, Mala has
been accursed with blood -thirst. The year before
I made acquaintance with it, in the immediate
neighbourhood of our first landing, the white priest
had sadly counted fourteen murders within a period
of six weeks.
We shall have occasion to dwell upon the dark
side of Mala and its people. Let me here quote
the conclusion concerning the individual natives
266 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
deliberately expressed by one who has cause to
know them better than any man now living : " Yet
these people are, speaking generally, gentle and
tractable, lovers of quiet and order, affectionate to
children, good-natured."
And no better witness to their sterling worth and
fine physical capacity can be brought forward than
the fact that Mala was, of all the Solomons, the
favourite recruiting-ground for labour in the Queens-
land sugar plantations. With all their treachery and
cruelty, their cannibalism and head-hunting, the men
of Mala are the bravest and the strongest in the
Solomons.
The canoes that came out to meet us were loaded
with magnificent ripe pineapples, which were pressed
upon us for a stick of tobacco (about a penny) apiece.
The abundance of fruit might seem to indicate that
in the intervals of fighting a good deal of gardening
is accomplished. This is so, no doubt, in parts, but
out here the pineapple may be said without exaggera-
tion to grow itself. The prickly crown is thrown
away when the fruit is eaten, takes root where it lies,
and brings forth fresh pineapples.
I referred in passing to the personal adornments
of the Mala native. The workmanship of these is
really beautiful, and surprisingly varied. I noted
carefully the ornamentation of a single ear, merely
as a specimen ; no two are dealt with precisely alike.
In the top was a small hole, through which ran a
short ear-stick, of a different kind from those favoured
in the Banks, for though bamboo is the foundation,
dyed, parti-coloured grass is plaited over it with
exquisite fineness and invisible finish. From the
second hole, a much larger one, was suspended a
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 267
bunch of twelve tortoise-shell rings, each linked to
a white shell ring below it, about the size of a
sixpence. Below this again the lobe was converted
into one gigantic hole, from which dangled a heavy
object resembling a table-napkin ring.
Nose ornaments are very common and very
diversified. In one case I noticed a fancy-headed
gilt nail studding the tip, in others a little tail of
beads hung comically down, a tiny tusk tilted pertly
up, a carved shell ending in a bird's head, or a little
tuft of dried grass, stuck straight out. The ring
inserted in the cartilage is often varied by a sharpened
bamboo or splinter of bone that protrudes fully
three inches on either side. Some will pierce as
many as eighteen holes in a circle round the nostrils,
and carefully plug each one with a fragment of
mother-of-pearl, producing the effect of a jewelled
ring.
A fillet of the large white cowrie shells, such as
are used to deck a canoe, gives somehow an air of
aristocracy to those whose brows (as in the photo-
graph) are thus adorned. A beautiful pearl chest
ornament is often worn, frequently in the shape of
a crescent extending almost from shoulder to shoulder,
and these are not lightly parted with. I heard one
man price his own at ^5, and decline emphatically
to consider any smaller sum.
Of rings, necklaces, armlets (above the elbow),
bracelets, anklets, and girdles there seemed an infinite
variety, composed of pearl, clam, tortoise-shell, grass,
tusks, beads, seeds, fish teeth, according to the
wearer's taste. And here I first noticed what I
must distinguish as leglets, the most popular (just
below the knee) consisting either of cowries or a
268 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
string of white bone rings. The finish to the tout-
ensemble would be a plume of feathers or grass,
or a tasselled comb, set knowingly in the bushy
hair.
Mala has long been a " disthressful counthry,"
but all the evils originate from the discord and
disunion that prevail. It is divided up into number-
less small districts and tribes, all speaking very
different dialects, and the nearest approach to union
is obtained where the coastmen have been driven
to combine against their ancient common enemy.
Yes : still rages above all the petty quarrels and
revenges the old traditional war between Bush and
Shore, the natives of the inland fastnesses against
those of the sea-line.
The advantages of the former are obvious, with
their practically limitless cover, opportunity for hidden
preparations, ambushments, approach, and retreat. For
those who live on the shore, life is (or has been
hitherto) a long reign of terror. Where the stations
of the Cross have been set up, heathen animosity
has raged most fiercely, though the Law of Peace
forbids fighting save in self-defence.
At this, our first stopping-place, Nore Fou, where
there is a thriving school and church, the Government
has been compelled to allow a limited number of
fire-arms to the harassed inhabitants for purposes
of defence. The villagers have appointed certain
of their able-bodied men to take courses of sentry
duty at night when they are asleep, and also during
the hours of daily service and school.
Nearly every village in Mala is fortified with
stone walls, and though happily there are not a few
parts where this defence has long been uncalled for,
MALA.
INTERESTED SPECTATORS.
t(T*V*f.- -
NEARLY EVERY VILLAGE is FORTIFIED."
CHAP, m MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 269
yet the people are chary, and probably wisely so,
of casting away all means of protection.
Feasting and fighting are the principal interests
of life in heathen Mala. There is not sufficient
unity often to produce what could be called in any
way decisive battles. Big fighting expeditions are
suggested, and discussed, and noised abroad. A large
proportion of them never materialize, and evaporate
in threats and preparation of weapons, but they
terrorize a district, and keep it in a seething turmoil
for months together.
But "far more deadly," writes the priest-in-
charge, " are the incessant individual murders. No
one is safe, except perhaps the men who gain a
reputation as murderers. Most chiefs have a few
fighting men professionals who do the work (and
are well paid for it) while the others do the accompany-
ing, and make the noise over it."
The old cry for " A head ! " is often the beginning
of trouble. Some one has lost a child, built a new
house or a canoe ; a spirit has been angered or one
man has cursed another. The lust for bloodshed
makes a human life the favourite remedy, the most
popular charm, the lucky complement, the only
satisfactory retribution.
And, if convenient, a stranger or a foreigner will
be the selected victim, as having no dangerous
relatives to avenge his death. One of our young
teachers was murdered in cold blood a year or two
ago because he was a native of another island, and
a man wanted to get clear of some curse his wife
had uttered against him. On another occasion, when
the Southern Cross called, we were entreated by
the school people to take away with us one amongst
270 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
them who had lately returned from Queensland after
a long term of years, to find all his friends and
relations dead. On that account, we were told, the
heathen had " put out money for his life " that is to
say, they had made known that a specified sum would
be paid to any one who killed him. Their pretext
for this reminds one of Aesop's wolf: they said that
an ancestor of his had bewitched their ancestors in
old time, and so his life was forfeit.
But very frequently no friendless man is forthcoming.
The murder is committed, and a ghastly ball thereby
set rolling. The chief of the injured family gathers a
company of some 200 to 300 men, and they set off on
an expedition of vengeance in the great war-canoes,
capable of holding over 150 men apiece. The sight
of the canoe may be enough for the terrified population
of the threatened village. Perhaps they voluntarily
hand over a child to make amends. It is tied up in
the canoe, much as a pig would be carried, brought
back in triumph, and presented to the little boys of
the place to kill with their little bows and arrows !
This is not fiction : it is solid, stern fact.
Be sure, however, that unless, as sometimes
happens, the child was one previously bought from a
neighbouring tribe, its relatives will not regard the
score as settled. They will bide their time, lie in
wait, and watch their opportunity to steal a life in
return. And the enemy, knowing this perfectly well,
make the victim's nearest relatives the object of the
next murderous attempt, so as to remove if possible
the most formidable adversaries. And thus an inter-
minable blood-feud is kept alive.
Then again, the charge of poison is always
muttered when sickness befalls, unless the stricken
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 271
man be very old. A wizard is consulted, a culprit
named, and however innocent he may be, if death
ensues, revenge will be visited upon him or his,
even to the third generation. If he himself cannot
be reached, perhaps his brother can be murdered.
One sees how the knowledge that a man is vitally
concerned in his relatives' troubles must add incentive
to the prevalent system of family revenge, and
family defence, of the individual.
The Government takes action when a murder is
duly reported by sending a man-of-war and shelling a
village. Needless to say, the murderer takes care to
make good his escape, and those who suffer may be
perfectly innocent. But I have recorded above the
organization of a small body of resident police, and
we may anticipate hearing of more effective justice
henceforth.
And yet with the bush at the back it must surely
be a Herculean task to track a fugitive. Our hope
must lie among the people themselves, that they may
in time come to recognize the fact that it is for their
own good that murderers be put away from among
them, and may assist in bringing even their own
relatives to justice.
A few years ago there was a case in which three
murderers, having been captured and imprisoned,
escaped with a boat, rifles, and ammunition, and were
seen no more until three years ago, when one of them
paid a call on the missionary-in-charge, and with the
utmost effrontery requested him to lay before the
authorities an offer from him to surrender his stolen
rifle on receipt from them of the sum of 20 \
A teacher's wife told me that just before our ship
arrived, a bush-man (or " man-bush," as Mala-English
272 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
renders it) had sprung into sight, armed with a rifle
obtained from a recruiting vessel (" thief- ship," the
people poignantly call it), and had shot at one of the
Christians, but, happily failing to hit him, fled back
into the bush. 1
I have spoken of the natural advantages of the
Bush. But necessity is the mother of invention,
and the Shore is not content to sit at home and be
killed. The Shore's great and invincible ally is the
sea. Here is the retreat of outnumbered fugitives ;
for the Bush has no boats, and, it is to be presumed,
can neither swim nor dive. But canoes do not make
comfortable dwellings, so native wit has devised homes
at once stable and safe.
Off the north-east coast of Mala lies a coral reef
thirty miles long, forming a calm lagoon around large
tracts of the mainland. The lagoon is dotted with
some twenty islets natural in a few cases, but for
the most part artificial islets of refuge. These
latter are constructed of blocks of coral gathered from
off the reef, or rocks from the land, flung in quantities
in shallow spots until they rise above the surface.
Gaps and crevices are filled with refuse ; crushed
shells, sand, coral, etc., mixed with sea- water, form a
rough cement, which is pressed in with logs, and at
last a fairly flat surface is formed. Then bountiful
Nature comes along with her free greenery, and the
effect from a distance is charming.
The islets vary in size, the largest covering
perhaps three-quarters of an acre, and containing
about three hundred people, herded together with
1 The latest news from Mala (November 1910) tells of a man being shot on
the missionary's veranda. As a punitive measure the Assistant Commissioner
has burned three Bush villages.
MALA.
AN ARTIFICIAL ISLET OF REFUGE.
WHERE THE ALLIGATOR is WORSHIPPED.
l'. 27=
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 273
their pigs, fowls, and coco-nuts. The smallest is no
bigger than a moderate-sized schoolroom, but contains
three houses, these, as is usual, built on piles. As is
to be expected, the islet-dwellers fight amongst them-
selves, and huge logs are sometimes noticeable, set
up for defensive purposes, where one islet fronts
another.
It was the afternoon of our first day in Mala when
we came to anchor in a beautiful bay called Su Aba.
The sun was already low, and the blue, clear water
was dappled with reddening gold. The verdant islets
that caught the eye here and there looked like the
fairy creation of some magic wand. Fortunately there
was just time to visit one before nightfall, and we set
off in the whale-boat with all speed.
The islet which we selected for our purpose was
a fairly large one, fenced carefully round. The first
object that caught my eye on nearing it was the great
fishing-net, famous by report, which is hung all round
the men's quarters, keeping them sacred from the
profane foot of woman. In the illustration it can be
just discerned on the extreme right.
The manufacture of this great draw-net, which at
low tides is pulled over the reef by a couple of dozen
men or more, is generally left to the grandfathers.
The string is made from vegetable fibre, twisted and
rolled on the palm of the hand. Woe to the woman
who sees the net in the making ! Woe to her who
afterwards by cruel chance touches it ! Woe to her
who steps into a canoe where that net has previously
lain ! In every case swift death is the penalty.
Death happens also to be the penalty for the
woman who alights at the men's landing-place, so I
made careful inquiry before leaving the boat when it
274 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
was beached. But it was all right ; this was the
women's landing-place. It occurred to me that strict
equity would have slain my companions ; but men,
they said, might land anywhere, and we heard of no
death penalties for the lords of creation. We may
suppose that in this way the equality of the sexes is
preserved numerically !
Directly on our right was a wall of coral blocks,
and a hole therein. Manifestly this was the main
entrance to the quarters of the women, pigs, and
babies, who dwell together. Here, then, I parted
company from the rest and stooped through the
first white woman, I believe, to take that step into
the women's part.
No objection was raised. A little crowd of
females (poor, poor things !), with the scantiest possible
approach to decency in covering, but a plethora of
rings of all sorts, surged forward to touch and stare.
They did not know the practice of shaking hands,
but all could clamour with outstretched palms for
" tambaki ! " I made them understand I had none,
but the knots of red ribbon and gaudy handkerchiefs
with which I adorned them charmed their eyes.
Closer and closer they pressed around me pinch-
ing, patting, stroking. One seized my right hand,
and tried vainly to pull the ring off my finger. But
ecstatic was their delight when I showed them I was
wearing a shell bracelet like their own ; this caused
some affectionate and vehement squeezes that were
rather exhausting in that temperature.
And how they laughed and chattered all the time,
asking me a hundred questions, though they knew I
could answer none. I pointed to a pig and tried,
" Boe ! " which they understood, but replied with
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 275
" Bikki ! " evidently an imitation of the English word.
What pleased them most was attention to the babies,
of whom some smiled at the new, funny creature, some
howled in terror. A peep into the dark, dirty holes
they share with the pigs was more than enough.
They were indescribable. Then my new friends led
me through the narrow passages that separate these
kennels (I cannot even dignify them with the word
hovel !), cackling still.
Suddenly one put out her hand and made a snatch
at the little cross I was wearing. I saw her action just
in time, and quickly covered the cross with my hand,
saying gravely, " Tabu ! " [sacred]. There was a
sudden hush, then the word was repeated by them as
gravely ; they drew slightly away, and no one after-
wards attempted to touch it.
One of the old crones nodded, as if to say, " Yes,
yes, I know ! " and then, pointing to the cross, she
said, "Su-ku-lu!" I knew she meant "School," and
was not a little surprised, as we have no school in that
neighbourhood. But greater still was my astonishment
when, pointing again to the cross, she pronounced
quite slowly and distinctly one of the Divine Titles in
full. It was all she knew, and I could add no more.
Whence came that spark of light we know not.
The chatter began again, and soon after we heard
European voices close at hand. So they led me back
to the entrance hole, women and children still clinging
about me. And we stepped into our boat in the now
gathering darkness, waved good-bye, and rowed away.
One was glad to think that these poor creatures
are not perpetually confined to the pens and kennels
in which I found them. It is a curious fact that here
in Mala, once out of the village bounds, the women
276 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
have a measure of liberty and responsibility very
unusual in Melanesia. It may not have passed
unnoticed that women as well as men came out to
meet our ship in their canoes. In every other island
I know of, it is only by special invitation that even our
Christian women come out to the ship. But in Mala
the women are quite expert traders, and the market is
considered their especial province.
By mutual consent Bush and Coast have inaugur-
ated a judicious custom of occasional brief truce for
market purposes. The Bush has gardens, and grows
yams and taro, but has no fish to give the yams a
relish. The Coast has long ceased to attempt garden-
ing, as the Bush is adept at ravaging. So it gives
itself up to fishing, for fish are good, but better still
when accompanied by vegetables. Hence this wise
arrangement has been made.
The piece of land was pointed out to us where, I
think every fourth day, the adversaries meet. Four
canoes may be seen paddling towards this spot, all
laden with fish, and conveying perhaps over a hundred
women, and less than half a dozen men. As the canoes
are brought to shore, out from the bush pours a corre-
sponding regiment of women, loaded with garden
produce, and followed discreetly by a few men armed.
The company with fish is protected in a similar manner.
The parties meet, and a brisk barter is carried on, the
men at the back watching keenly to see that there is
no treachery. We were told that it would undoubtedly
be considered mean to kill during the truce, but
enemies are not always scrupulous, and it seems wise
to be prepared for emergencies. The market over and
all safely retired, the truce is at an end.
One fancies the change and excitement must be
MALA.
FISHING-FENCES AND PERCHES.
THE WOMEN ARE EXPERT TRADERS."
P. 276.
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 277
welcome to the feminine element, but all the best food
goes to the men, the very small fish being thrown to
the women, with, no doubt, the inferior vegetables.
When turtle is caught, or a pig killed, such are under-
stood always to be food for men only.
As a rule the people have only one meal per diem,
at about 5 P.M. Snacks of things may be eaten during
the day if one is hungry, or the juice of a green
coco-nut will quench thirst ; but usually nothing more
than the indispensable betel-nut and lime will pass
the lips.
I have said that the Coast gives itself up to fishing,
and we have seen the importance attached to the great
draw-net. But many other methods are employed,
including the ordinary rod and line, which is universal.
The delicately manufactured fish-hooks are rapidly
disappearing before the now easily obtainable metal
ones of civilization. These form most acceptable
presents at all times, and one of our former Bishops
must early have discovered and made use of the fact,
for it was in Mala that he found his title and gifts
delightfully confused when he was addressed by all
as " Bishooka ! "
Much skill is shown too in the art of spearing fish,
and we find here and in Ulawa the kite occasionally
employed as we met it in Santa Cruz. I noticed also
fences of sticks projecting above the surface of the
shallow water, and learned that into these the fish are
driven, and caught in nets as they rush out again.
But highest among the water occupations is
reckoned the porpoise-hunting. Porpoise teeth are
currency equally with dogs' teeth, and a porpoise is
furnished liberally with a hundred teeth. The flesh
also is esteemed for food, so that altogether the
278 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
creature is worth having, and it is pursued during two
or three months of the year in so serious a fashion
that only a proportion of the men care to practise it.
The canoes used are built and reserved for this
purpose, and during the manufacture of a porpoise
canoe a taboo is laid upon the whole village, so that
the inhabitants may mix with no other people. For
some time before a porpoise chase the men to engage
in it segregate themselves, living entirely in the gamal
or canoe-house, and eating no food save what is cooked
there for them. There is a special porpoise wizard
whose business it is to study the omens and give the
word when the propitious hour arrives. And there is
a special porpoise ghost who must be approached and
propitiated with prayers and offerings before the start
is made. No food of any kind must be carried in the
canoes.
One or two men in each keep clashing together
flat stones, while the rest are engaged in paddling.
A shoal when sighted is promptly surrounded and
the porpoises driven ashore. The entire energy is
concentrated upon preventing the prey from breaking
away and escaping. If all goes well, the porpoises
are captured en masse. Some are seized in men's
arms and dragged ashore, others in vain bury them-
selves in the mud or sand. They are flung into the
canoes, the flesh cut up, and every tooth extracted.
A hole is subsequently drilled in each, and they
become good money.
The porpoise ghost just referred to is a being who
may be called Patron of the Chase, but I know of no
ghost porpoises. There seems to be no respect what-
ever paid to them, but in Mala again we find ghost
sharks. In one village the coco-nuts of certain trees
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 279
are reserved exclusively for the food of one of these
favoured creatures, and only those men who purpose
after death entering into shark bodies are allowed to
partake of these sacred nuts in a reserved place. It
is told in another Mala village where sharks are
worshipped, how two small boys playing one day
on a bamboo raft floated too far away from shore
and were quickly surrounded by a crowd of hungry
sharks. The shark medium hurried to the edge of
the water and shouted aloud, " Harm not those two !
Know ye not they are your descendants ? " And upon
the word the sharks dived abashed and disappeared.
In at least one village in Mala the alligator is
worshipped. There is said to be a mutually defensive
alliance ; the people protect the alligators, and the
alligators the people. To the former is assigned the
responsibility of deciding the innocence or guilt of
accused men. If the crime charged against them be
serious, and they cannot clearly disprove it, such are
brought to a channel that is infested with crocodiles.
The monsters are called together with charms by the
alligator wizard, and the accused is condemned to
swim across the channel through their midst. If he
is eaten, he is guilty ; if he escapes, he is innocent.
One is really tempted to picture the poor fellow
shivering on the brink and enunciating the old
wheeze, " I deny the allegation, and I defy the
allegator ! "
Sometimes the man is lucky enough to succeed in
bribing the wizard to swim as his substitute. This is
not forbidden, but we may be sure it is bought at a
long price. Possibly the medium possesses some influ-
ence akin to that of a snake-charmer ; at all events it is
understood that he accomplishes the task unscathed.
2 8o ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
If news comes of the slaying of a crocodile, not
only are the worshippers naturally prohibited from
partaking of the ensuing feast, but their horror of the
crime must prevent their ever touching food in the
vicinity of the slaughterous deed. Death by the
breaking out of fearful boils is said to be the penalty
of harming a crocodile. Sometimes a pig is sacrificed
by cutting the flesh into fragments, which are wrapped
in the large leaves of taro and floated down to the
crocodilian haunts. If the wrapper leaves can after-
wards be discovered untorn, it is a good sign ; if the
leaves are found torn, sickness and death may be
expected in that village.
The sacrificial idea appears to be rather more de-
fined and developed in Mala than elsewhere. The
ghost-house, which one may find even in the artificial
islets (on the men's side), really serves the purpose of
a temple. There is a sort of recognized medium, or
high-priest, or magician in one case dwelling eighty
miles off who comes occasionally to sacrifice pigs on
a stone altar in the ghost-house to the spirit under
whose special protection is the great draw-net above
referred to.
Before any expedition is undertaken, or a new
house entered, the dance and feast in celebration is
connected with an appeal to the spirits or the ancestral
ghosts. If rain or sunshine is needed by the bush-
folk for their crops, the spirits are again invoked.
There is a domestic sacrifice sometimes offered, too,
which is called "clearing the soul." If a man is taken
ill, or heavy trouble threatens him, it is assumed that
he has incurred the wrath of some ghost. A wizard
is therefore called in, who cooks there in the house a
dog or young pig, repeating while he does so the
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 281
names of such ghosts as are likely to be the origo malt,
and beseeching them to do away with the mischief
and purify the afflicted victim. Then the charred
carcass is thrown into the sea, or set upon a stone in
the place sacred to the ghost whose ill-will is most
suspected. And a native's own comment on this
ceremony is instructive. The roasted animal " is not
put in a common place," he says; "it is holy, it has
taken away the mischief, it has cleansed." *
In Mala I had the interesting experience of paying
an afternoon call in a cannibal village where no white
woman had been seen before. Foate is its name, and
one could see even before stepping ashore amongst
what utterly uncivilized people we were coming. Full
dress consisted quite frequently of a necklace of human
front teeth, a decoration I could not manage to
admire !
A Mission school has been opened close by on the
shore, but the village is on a hill just above it, walled
round for defence like a little citadel. The men of
the place received us in a most friendly and hospitable
manner, but the women, quite unlike those of Su Aba,
fled rabbit-wise to their dark holes at sight of us. In
the end I managed to coax one or two back to their
entrances and take a step towards acquaintance, but
they seemed painfully frightened. The Bishop was
made very welcome, and he sat on the wall chatting
with the chief, perfectly at home. To me it was odd
to realize when shaking hands with them that, given
the opportunity, they would have enjoyed eating our
hands as much as shaking them and adding our front
teeth to their necklaces !
The ins and outs of that small village were by no
1 The Melanesians : their Anthropology and Folk-Lore.
282 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
means charming. I was extremely glad to have
visited Foate. It gave one an indelible picture of the
state which some arm-chair critics still scoff at or
scold a Mission for disturbing. Would that they
could have seen it and its inhabitants ! But having
visited it, I must confess to a sense of relief at return-
ing to the boat.
In 1877 two Reef Islanders were blown away
from home in a canoe, and drifted 160 miles to
westward, landing at Port Adam, in South Mala,
now a Christian district, where the chief, Paul,
teaches himself in the school under our native deacon.
But when Bishop John Selwyn arrived that year
in the Southern Cross he found the poor shipwrecked
strangers made captive, and being fattened for killing.
The Bishop offered the chief, one Oikata, a quantity
of goods to buy off the two Polynesians. At last the
thinner of the pair was handed over.
But it was no sooner done than repented of;
the war canoes were brought out, manned, and
launched, and it became evident that a bold attempt
was on foot to cut out the ship. The captain saw
what was planned, ordered a hurried start, and the
ship got out in safety. A few weeks later she called
again. The chief came aboard, all good-humour and
smiles, but his mouth watered and his eyes glistened
at sight of his recent victim, now the picture of health
and plumpness. He pressed him earnestly to come
ashore and visit his friend, who was still alive, being
not considered yet quite ripe for the oven. But the
invitation was stubbornly declined. The chief, on
his part, stubbornly declined to sell his second wind-
fall, so the ship left.
There is, however, a happy sequel. The night
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 283
arrived before the feast at which human flesh was to
form the piece de resistance. The Polynesian was to die
at sunrise, and by cooking all day would be ready for
the evening meal. The house in which he lay was
strongly guarded. But a strange deep sleep fell on
the guards. The man, noticing it, crept out of the
house and escaped to the beach. There he found
a canoe, but no paddle. A return to the house was
necessary. But the guards did not wake even when
he fumbled in the thatch and found the desired
paddle. Back to the beach the poor wretch stole,
pushed off, and paddled for some miles. At length
he landed, broke up the canoe lest it tell tales, and
took to the bush.
After a week of wandering he came upon the
village of Saa, and from a hiding-place saw his relent-
less enemy, Oikata, the chief of Port Adam, and his
men questioning the inhabitants. Again he fled, but
when another week had passed, he resolved, rather
than starve, to risk the consequences and surrender
himself to Saa. Fortunately the chief of that place
took a fancy to him and gave him protection. There
he was found in safety when the Southern Cross next
called, and the Bishop had the great pleasure of re-
storing him also to his home at Nifiloli in the Reefs.
Every village in Mala, however small, has one
chief, if not more. One village .we visited was
divided into a series of fenced enclosures, each having,
say, four or five houses and its own chief. But there
is generally one man in the district who, by sheer
force of character, comes to be recognized as the
big chief, and on him falls the direction of what may
be classed as communal affairs.
Such an one, Qaisulea by name, made himself a
284 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
persona grata with the Queensland recruiting vessels
by the number of hands his influence secured them
for the labour market. For a time, in consequence,
he rode on the top of the wave, and his house was
glorified by numbers of clocks, musical boxes, etc.,
the reward of his success. But the Mission never
did show him much favour, and though he came on
board to pay us his compliments, the old fellow was
rather dejected in spirits, finding that with the cessa-
tion of the " thief-ships' " calls his glory and honour
had departed.
There is an important chiefly family at Saa
distinguished by the prefix " Dora " to their names.
I believe all the members are now Christian, and
most have gone through the College training at
Norfolk Island. But in 1885, though a school had
been started, Saa was still heathen and Dorawewe
was the chief.
Trouble befell him in the death of a young
daughter, and he became almost wild in his inconsol-
able grief. The little body was buried near the sea,
and Dorawewe left his proper house and took up
his dwelling in a wretched hut beside the grave.
Of course the cause of the death must be imputed
to some one, and it was remembered that ten days
previously a friend from the interior had spent the
day with the chief, had noticed the child, and given
her some betel-nut. At once he was marked down as
the cause of her death, and a price was set upon his
head.
In order to compel his followers to share in his
grief, Dorawewe put a taboo upon the beach, the
river, almost the whole village. As it was thus
wellnigh impossible to move about, the school came
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 285
to a full stop, and the chief's next act was to forbid
all ordinary occupations or amusements. There was
to be no boating, bathing, fishing, or washing.
Those who were thirsty sneaked to the forbidden
river's edge and lapped hastily as much as they
dared, fearful of being seen.
Now it was well known to all that the chiefs
grief would be lightened if any head were obtained,
and there was universal relief when a large war canoe
arrived bringing a head to Dorawewe. A neighbour-
ing chief had taken the opportunity of getting rid
of an old enemy and enriching himself at the same
time, for Dorawewe was ready to pay highly for the
prize. At the end of a month the taboo was removed,
and when, not long afterwards, the suspected man
also was slain, the chief was quite happy.
The following year, however, Dorawewe amused
himself by laying such a heavy taboo upon the
Mission school that nothing less than a human head
and a large sum of money could remove it. A wizard
whom he had consulted declared the school to be
the cause of his rheumatism and other ailments. Of
course there was nothing to be done but to remove
the teacher till more auspicious times for the school
dawned.
This same Dorawewe on another occasion lost a
dog, it being killed by a man whose pigs it was
injuring. Promptly Dorawewe put out a large sum
of blood-money to be his who slew this man. And
the action was regarded by his people as quite natural
and proper.
In a story from Port Adam again we get an instruc-
tive glimpse into the native life. There was here a
great chief named Hanetarana, famed for his lavish
286 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
hospitality. One day a guest of his returned home
feeling unwell, took to his mat, grew worse, and died.
Needless to say, all his friends were convinced that
Hanetarana had poisoned his food, and so they
resolved to compass his death.
But when a chief is strong and popular, his
murder is not an easy matter. A magician notorious
for his skill was applied to, who lived at a considerable
distance. This man seems never to have visited
Port Adam, but so confident were his clients in his
power that no doubt was felt but that Hanetarana was
doomed.
Now among the magical mysteries in Mala is a
peculiar spark of light which serves as guide to those
who wish to track down the source of any trouble.
Some say that the wizards can transform themselves
into this spark of fire, and the rumour soon spread
that every night the magician might be seen floating
about the village in this form, and that he always
ended by a long stay in Hanetarana's house. Such
a rumour would not be long abroad before it reached
the ears of the chief, and there the suggestion might
safely be left to work.
One night he woke up in a fright, convinced that
above his head he could see the fatal spark darting
about among the rafters ; and from that moment he
gave himself up for lost. The thought of moving his
residence occurred to him, only to be abandoned. He
took the step of consulting a neighbouring chief, in
rank slightly his inferior. This man, who was none
other than the Oikata of whom we have already
heard, thought he saw an easy way of attaining to the
premier position. With deep sympathy he agreed
with Hanetarana that no escape was possible for him
CHAP, m MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 287
but one. Was it not nobler and simpler to rid one-
self of the burden of life than to peak and pine
ignominiously under the influence of a sorcerer ?
Hanetarana was not sure at first that he thought
so, but Oikata seemed positive about it ; and as he
harped continually and lugubriously upon the subject
the other at length decided to take his advice, so he
shut himself up in his house and hanged himself.
Oikata succeeded to the supreme power, and found
himself heir to all his predecessor's earthly goods.
He mourned for his departed friend with the utmost
decorum, and levied a heavy fine upon those who
were said to have sought Hanetarana's death by
magic. This is not poetic justice, but it is authentic
prose.
On the death of a chief, the figure of a great fish
is carved in wood, split, and hollowed. In this the
corpse is laid, the cracks are cemented with a sort of
mortar made from pounded nuts, and it is set up
inside the house. At the expiration of a year the fish
is broken open and the bones are removed. The
skull and thigh-bones are preserved in the house, the
rest are thrown into a sacred place in the bush.
The death-feast is held, when the debris of the
cooking is carefully preserved, and it is requisite that
one pig be burnt whole. In this there is very
probably a propitiatory idea, but it does not atone
for the human life, for which nothing but another
man's blood can compensate. Plans for a murder are
always set on foot, and the man who accomplishes the
deed gets high praise and high pay from all the late
chiefs loyal followers.
In South Mala a different custom is followed in
ordinary cases. The body is laid in the deceased's
288 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
canoe, and this is hoisted up beside the sea, some-
times in the upper branches of a tree on the beach,
sometimes on poles right out upon the reef. The
ornaments and favourite belongings of the man are
hung around it, and so it is left until the process of
decomposition is completed. The skull- is then
preserved by the dead man's kindred, but the other
bones are thrown into the sea.
It must have been rather grim to see a wedding
procession pass close by the tree in which rocked the
corpse of the girl-bride's father, but this occurred, and
in South Mala the bride is present at her own wedding
and formally conveyed home, although the presence of
the bridegroom is dispensed with. I cannot resist
inserting the delightful name of this particular bride
Ugenaramamukeni ! I don't know whether she was
called " for short " by any fraction of it.
I fancy the Mala folk must like a name that has
some sound to it, for we found in one village the native
deacon had recently baptized his infant son by the
name of " Williams Archdeacon " an inversion, but
yet a remembrance of a friend and benefactor in
New Zealand !
It seems to be the belief here that life after death
is continued, but only for a while. The soul takes its
long journey via the Three Sisters to the ghost realm
in Guadalcanar. Here it lives in a shadowy way like
a man. It can laugh, and talk, and bathe ; can make
shadowy houses, and gardens, and canoes. Its food
is the nests of white ants, and the more ntana was
possessed by the soul when in bodily form, the longer
will last its life after death. But at length comes
the end, and it is the same to all. The souls turn
into white ants' nests themselves !
CHAP, m MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 289
One has had cause to refer to the canoes, and it
would be a shame to leave Mala without a word
about them. Everywhere in the Solomons the war-
canoe is well worth inspection. I had an opportunity
of closely examining a fine specimen in Mala which
was built in one year as a gift of love by an expert
native and presented to the priest-in-charge. Some
are as long as 60 feet, made of planks shaped with
a rough adze, and smoothed with a hard flat stone.
Holes are drilled along each plank's edge, about the
size and distance apart of those for boot-laces. These
are indeed for lacing with dried and prepared creeper-
fibre, and the canoe is squeezed into shape by an
exterior frame, the pressure of which is counter-
balanced by the interior purchase exerted by ribs (of
the curved roots of the mangrove) and thwarts. The
lacing is gradually tightened till the planks meet as
nearly as may be. The joints are then caulked with
the nut cement mentioned above, which sets as hard as
iron. Carved wooden figures are added by way of
ornament ; for the same purpose cowries and other
shells are laid in the caulking material, and the canoe is
finally dressed with waving bunches of dyed grasses, etc.
A chief will spare no money or pains over the
glorifying of his canoe. He will send an order to
each village which recognizes his authority for one or
two thousand pieces of nacre, for which he pays fairly,
and his own artist will work these into marvellous
patterns on the side of the canoe such as birds,
clouds, etc. As many as 50,000 pieces may be
employed upon one boat. The first voyage is of the
congratulatory nature described in Ulawa.
South Mala is already largely Christian ; malice
and violence are no longer the usual causes of death.
u
2 9 o ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
When I think of the island, it is not always of the
degraded, terrified, heathen parts which will soon be
non-existent. My mind recurs with delight to the
sunrise of one Sunday morning when we rowed ashore
at one of the most picturesque landings imaginable
on the coral beach beside a tree-shaded stream. I
think of the dewy, grassy climb among ferns and
blossoming trees to the sunny village above, brilliant
and fragrant with flowers and shrubs. I see the
happy folk assembled ready, the men in their clean
loin-cloths, the women in gay petticoats, and I hear
the ting of the little church bell, and follow with
the bright-faced, but silent, reverent crowd into the
building for a Service in which the English Bishop is
served by a Mala deacon. And as Mala is in part
already, may it soon be entirely !
Civilization spreads fast, and soap and matches,
umbrellas and pipes, are familiar objects already. But
a few years ago, when the first cake of soap was seen
in Mala, it was taken for a seed, planted and watered
with care, and watched for the growth of a soap-tree !
As for the first umbrella, it was the envy and
admiration of a whole village. As a great favour the
loan of it was begged, and the owner's consent having
been obtained, the happy borrower ran off to get it.
It so happened that the umbrella was inside the
house, but open, in which form it refused to pass
through the narrow door. Puzzled, but not con-
founded, the man removed a sufficient portion of the
roof thatch to allow of the open umbrella's exit, and
so went off in triumph to enjoy an hour under the
wonderful, beautiful thing. One wonders whether he
spent a mauvais quart tfheure with the owner by
and by !
CHAP, m MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 291
Mala mythology has its hero, one Vulanangela,
who was unfortunate enough to be swallowed by a
fish while trying to catch it, and carried as an inside
passenger for a long ten days' swim to eastward,
where the fish grounded in a shallow, and Vulanangela,
remembering a flint-stone he had about him, cut his
way out.
On emerging he found that it was early morning,
but the sun had not yet risen ; so he sat down on the
beach to wait for it. It was very cold, and he sat
there a long time, but no sun appeared. What could
be the reason ?
Suddenly Vulanangela was startled by a violent
and tremendous knocking underneath him. Said he,
"Who knocks?"
" I ! " was the answer the inevitable Melanesian
answer.
" But who are you ? "
"Why, I am the Sun, of course, and I'm waiting
to get up, but can't because of you ! "
By this Vulanangela knew that he had sat down
over the very hole through which the Sun comes
forth. The man jumped up, and up jumped the Sun.
" Now, who are you ? " he inquired.
" I am Vulanangela."
" Is that so ? Well, do you want to stay here, or
are you coming along with me ? "
" Oh, with you ! "
And so off went the two together, and travelled
till they reached the house of the Sun, where
Vulanangela remained two years, and was then
lowered to earth again, carrying with him a precious
gift for the children of men, the gift of fire !
A myth of the past is this, but there is fairy lore
^292 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
of the present to be found in Mala, little as one
would expect it in such a lurid region. Perhaps
one might anticipate ogres, and to be sure they tell
of a similar order of malevolent beings with flowing
hair. Such inhabit caves far in the bush ; they scent
man's approach, and hunt him down. Very strong
and swift, human kind has little chance against them.
With their long-nailed, claw-like fingers they kill
their quarry. Sometimes a bush traveller comes
upon a mysterious fire. If one of the he-ogres has
built it, the wood will be laid horizontally, but if an
ogress, the kindling is set end up.
But besides these ogre folk of Mala, in most of
the Solomon Islands we find a firmly- rooted belief
in the existence of a little people far in the interior,
who occupy just the place that fairies did in the minds
of our own ancestors. Many natives will assert
positively that they have seen glimpses and traces
of them ; all can tell you something of their character-
istics and customs. It is an unanswered question
whether this widely-spread conviction has its origin
in the existence of some remnant of an anterior race
in Melanesia. What if in the long ago, when the
Melanesians landed in the islands from their unknown
land of origin, the aborigines, possibly very few in
number, retreated before them to the fastnesses of
the interior, to be thereafter but rarely encountered
in the bush ? Others have suggested the existence
of some race of apes to account for the legends told.
Be it as it may, here in Mala every one is aware
of the Dodore who live in the heart of the bush. A
dodore is a little man with only one foot and one
arm, and long, flowing red hair. A very wicked
old-woman dodore reigns over the tribe, and they
CHAP, in MALA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 293
are all dreaded because they have the power to
bewitch people and things, and many men, it is said,
have been lured away by the dodore, and such go mad,
and forget their home and friends, and wander on
till they die.
One boy here in the College at Norfolk Island
is quite sure that he was once bewitched by the
dodore, and only miraculously recovered by his friends.
When at last they found him, he says he only
wondered who they were and what they wanted. In
another case a man weaved himself a new mat for
his sleeping, and the plant he used grew in a dodore 's
lair. The first night he lay upon his mat he dreamed
the dodore came to him and said, "Give us back
what is ours ! " But he took no notice. The second
night he dreamed the same again, but still he took
no notice. The third night a band of dodore came
and carried him away, mat and all. But when he
awoke they were afraid, dropped him, and fled.
These Mala fairies do not seem to be seriously
malicious. They are playful and mischievous, and
more silly than children. They love to hide a man's
bag, or adze, or pipe which he has laid down for a
moment, and what they steal they often throw away.
On the tops of the banyan trees, by the side of pools,
in the midst of rain, they are heard laughing, shouting,
and singing. Sometimes they chance upon a human
being asleep, and great is their excitement. The
queer monster is discussed in whispers, poked with
sticks, and his fingers and toes are counted over
and over.
The Mala boys' account of them reminds one of
the Bandar-log in Kipling's Jungle Book, or the
doings of the Wise Men of Gotham.
294 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
" If they see a crooked tree, they begin to chatter
all together, ' Why is it crooked ? ' ' Why isn't it
straight ? ' ' What is the matter with it ? '
" One of them wishes to gather nuts, and he fixes
a long bamboo on his back to strike the nuts off with.
He begins to climb, and the long bamboo is dread-
fully in the way ; but he can't make out what is the
matter, and tries and tries to climb till he gives up
in despair. Another climbs a little way, and stops.
' Up you go ! ' says his mate below. ' I can't,' he
replies ; ' it's too dark up here ; the place is full
of clouds.'
" Then they throw spears at the glistening nuts,
but they never hit the fruit, only themselves, and
then they all yell, and say, ' Let's try again ! ' but
they never succeed.
" They go a-fishing, and catch a big red fish, and
put it in a bag, and tie it round the neck of one of
them. The fish struggles in the bag. ' A ghost
is after us ! ' cries one, and all begin to run. The
more the fish struggles, the faster they run ; but they
never think it is the fish ! "
Such is the light side of Mala.
CHAPTER IV
GELA (FLORIDA), SOLOMON ISLANDS
History Natural features Civilization Coco-nuts Honggo to-day
Honggo in 1873 The two Pengoni A war dance A dance
of death An ugly record Kalekona, chief Tindalo worship
The six Kema " Abominations " Killing-ghosts Tindalo rites
Sacrifice of first-fruits A secret society The tyranny of
vengeance Break-up of the tindalo worship David Tabukoru,
chief "Taboo with 100 porpoise teeth" Sermonizing "The
wild man-eating pigs " Bound by vows A foundation-stone laying
A native parliament A female creator Burial customs
Crocodile-catching Out of the monster's jaws Folk-tale: "The
Heron and the Turtle."
" IT is twenty-five leagues in circuit," writes Gallego in his
journal, "and is a fine island in appearance, with many in-
habitants, who are also naked as in the other islands ; and
they redden their hair, eat human flesh, and have their towns
built over the water as in Mexico."
This was the report of 1567, when the natives of
Gela had the privilege of coming into contact with
civilization first in the form of the Spaniards. They
do not appear to have appreciated the honour of their
acquaintance as they should have done. For though
they began in a friendly way by presenting hogs and
offering more than the Spaniards could accept, we
read the following day of twenty canoes of fighting-
men, " who planned taking us to their town and
295
296 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
capturing us, and displayed much delight amongst
themselves."
Their manner was " very fierce " and their hurry
was great, so
Seeing their daring, we replied with the muskets, and
many Indians were killed, and the whole were repulsed ;
and they rallied, and came on to the attack with greater
fury, but this time they suffered even more, and for the
second time they were repulsed and routed.
Deserting their towns, they went off with many howls
and cries to the higher land in the interior. Soon the
maestre de campo landed with twenty men, and he en-
deavoured to bring off some provisions to the brigantine,
and to restore friendship with the natives ; but from their
dread of the muskets they would never approach [What
foolish Indians !] and they kept far in advance, calling to
each other by conch-shells and with drums. Seeing that
there was no help for it [!] we set fire to a house, after
having taken possession of the island in the name of His
Majesty, as in the case of the other islands ; and we gave it
the name of La Florida.
Small as it is in comparison with its surrounding
neighbours Mala, Guadalcanar, San Cristoval, and
Bugotu La Florida is certainly second to none in
natural beauty. Intersecting waterways divide it
into three separate parts, and if we include the multi-
farious little islets cut off from the mainland on all
sides, it has been said that the island is not one, but
fifty. One of the two channels is scarcely more than
a salt river, but the other, the Ututha, measures
about ten miles in length, by a hundred yards in
width, and will permit of the passage of the Southern
Cross.
The scenery has a variety not found everywhere.
There are precipitous hills and deep ravines, luxuriant
GELA.
"THIS WAS HONGGO.
SECOND TO NONE IN NATURAL BEAUTY.
P. 296.
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 297
forest, and what at least gives the effect of grassy
slopes and knolls to the passing traveller. At closer
quarters the grass is found to be rank, coarse, and
waist-high, but it adds a very charming element to the
Gela landscapes. And often the air is disturbed by
the whirr of a hundred wings, and a flock of white
cockatoos, sunset-crested, contribute fresh picturesque-
ness to the scene.
For better, for worse, Gela to-day knows more of
civilization, than any other spot in the Solomons. It
is the seat of government, the point of call of many
vessels, the centre of a large trade in copra ; has its
post office and its stamps, its medical officer of health,
whose visit must be received before a landing is per-
missible, and its " store," where you may buy billy-
cans and bangles, and several other things you are not
likely to require.
However, it is neither the official nor the commercial
side of Gela which is of most interest, so we will not
linger over them. The plantations of coco palms are
happily things of beauty as well as of profit, with their
foliage like giant ostrich feathers, their stems like firm
and slender pillars in a dryad's temple. Well has the
coco-nut been called the island staff of life ! Its stems
make the poles which support the houses, and in the
fighting districts form spears ; its foliage makes mats,
thatch, torches, fans, umbrellas, and feminine costumes ;
the husk of the nut makes excellent firing, and the
kernel provides food and drink in all its stages. And
then civilization comes along, wanting soap and matting,
and finds even such luxuries obtainable by grace of
the Coco-nut !
It was in the Honggo district that I took my first
walk in Gela, through native gardens and plantations,
298 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
the blue water lapping on the dazzling sand just beyond
the shade of the trees. Again and again I noticed a
stick set up with a bunch of leaves tied thereto, so
asked John Pengoni, my companion, its signification.
He told me it was a taboo sign, protecting the
coco-nuts from pilferers just a primitive "Trespassers
will be prosecuted ! "
About a mile farther on we came to the village
clean, and bright, and pretty. The native deacon,
John Pengoni's house is distinguishable by a bright
new tank, and in the centre of things stands the church,
with brown stone walls, real glass windows, and a
beautifully thatched roof.
The Gela people are blamed for many things
self-opinionativeness, avarice, idleness, and much else.
No doubt they are full of imperfections, but there is
rare good stuff in them too, to be found by those who
look out for it. Nothing can exceed the heartiness of
a Gela welcome, and the affection of the children is
delightful. " Oh, stay with us ! Stay with us ! Don't
go away ! " was the chorus of entreaty.
But this was Honggo, and I must place against
this present-day visit to Honggo an account of the
first visit paid there by any white man, in 1873, when
a member of the Mission induced the men of Mboli to
escort him to the land of their hitherto fierce enemies,
the Honggo tribe.
It was an adventurous expedition, thirteen canoes
being employed the big war-canoe holding forty
men, the rest not less than twenty apiece. A formid-
able company of visitors ! The Honggoites and the
Mbolians were now formally at peace, but the latter
seemed to feel it was rash to put too much confidence in
ignorant savages like the Honggoites. And it seemed
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 299
prudent to make sure of the approval of the patron
ghosts first.
Off a pretty point our fleet drew up into line, and their
occupants became completely silent. Something evidently
was about to happen. Suddenly, but gently, all the canoes
began to sway slowly from side to side. This was the work
of the tindalo [ghosts], and the silence remaining still un-
broken, Takua [chief of Mboli, a noted head-hunter] exclaimed,
" Now ! Inquire of the tindalo \ Shall we go up, or shall
we forbear ? Now ! Inquire of this one ! " as a strong
ghost- wave rocked our war -canoe "Why are you all
silent ? "
Then rose the old Guavi, and cried, " At huatigo ! Ai
huatigo ! Huatigo ! tigo ! tigo ! tigotigotigo ! " (We inquire
of thee! 'Quire of thee ! Of thee ! Of-thee-of-thee-of-
thee ! etc.) And no response that is, no swaying being
forthcoming, he added, " Do you see ? He forbids us ! "
Then the names of several tindalo were proposed
Keramo [the generic name for tindalo of killing], Pandagi,
etc. etc. I was quite uneasy lest the tindalo should not
relent. At last Hauri [the shark-ghost] was inquired of,
and a wave of assent bowed our tall poop and prow, and
Guavi interpreted, " Let us go up to Honggo ! Let us
dance, and eat, and pipe, and betel," etc.
Honggo was presently reached.
The canoes grounded. Our party got out and stood in
a double line in front of them, across the mouth of a break
in the belt of bush. The order issued was to stand as still
and emotionless as death, happen what might.
I observed that our great orator, Sauvui, was gorgeously
arrayed in rings, and suns and moons on his forehead and
his breast, bearing a splendid shield with a cross of tufts of
red, blue, and yellow parrots' feathers in the middle, together
with a tomahawk glitteringly inlaid, and a long spear of
ebony, with point of elaborately carved and splintered
human shin-bone. A most military spectacle, truly ! He
was horribly afraid, but his look was imposing in the
300 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
extreme. Each individual of our double line stood on
guard, with shield up, and spear held back at arm's length.
After a short interval, a rustling was heard in the cover
to the left, whence defiled a company of the Honggo men,
about a hundred strong, armed with tomahawks and spears,
and carrying shields. I could not compliment them on their
erect military bearing, for they were all stooping so low
that each man's body was covered by his shield, the bottom
of which nearly touched the ground, the warrior's nose
resting upon the top. This fierce, grotesque array of
swaying bodies, wagging heads, rolling eyes, dancing legs,
hanging shields, and quivering spears, passed so perilously
close to our line that at one dreadful moment a Honggo
spear caught in a Mboli shield. The shield might have
been hanging on a post for any emotion discernible in its
bearer, but it was like watching sparks fall among barrels
of gunpowder.
Scarcely had the novelty of this troop worn off*, when
there emerged a second from the right, and lastly a third
marched down the opening in the middle, each of which
went through exactly the same performance as the first,
all forming into line a few yards from ours, the numbers
on either hand being nearly equal. After much fierce bo-
peep behind their shields, and threatening of our unwinking
eyes with their spear-points, the Honggo line broke up
and retired.
Then came to the front the Chief of Honggo, Pengoni,
a smiling, child-like man, who had to deliver the speech of
the afternoon, but, his memory proving inconstant, laboured
under great difficulties, and had to be prompted from
behind. He was understood to say : " Takua ! Sauvui !
(etc. etc.) Come on shore here ! We are all cousins,
and brothers, and uncles, and aunts, and mothers-in-law,
and fathers-in-law ! This is no strange land to my friends
of Mboli. Come on shore, say I, this bachelor here ! "
And away he walked, a bachelor by rhetorical licence
only, since Mrs. Pengoni was introduced to me after-
wards to receive a present, that I " might know her by
means of beads," in the technical phraseology of the locality.
GEL A.
PERE ET FILS
THE REV. JOHN PENGONI AND HIS FATHER.
GOING TO CONFIRMATION.
P. 301.
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 301
Several other speakers followed on either side, and guns
were let off by our party, after which a small Honggo band
burst through our line, and cast some baskets of food into
the nearest canoe.
Presents were exchanged and salutes of cheek
or hand, and the visit ended in the customary way,
with cries of " Go ! Go ! " on the part of the Honggo
hosts, and " Stay ! Stay ! " from the Mboli canoes
words which do not sound a particularly hospitable
farewell, yet are so considered.
Thirty - seven years have passed. The old
Pengoni is still unbaptized, for he cannot bring
himself to surrender either of his wives. But his
son John has been admitted to deacon's orders, and
is one of the hardest workers and best teachers
and organizers among our people.
From the description above of the war dance
I think I recognize the Siokoli, which we see danced
by the Gela boys in Norfolk Island. It has a
distinctly menacing appearance, increased by the
accompaniment of banging shields, rattling anklets,
and a sort of bouche fermde chorus, punctuated by
deep growls. When the boys told me it was
generally selected for performance by a dancing
party on tour of the villages, and added naively that
every one gives them money when they see it, I was
not surprised. One felt that it would need a man
of heroic mould to refuse his dog's tooth if that
spear- armed, growling company signified a desire
for it.
These dancing parties are a common occupation
in the piping times of peace, when the weather is
too rough for boating. The daily practising is
criticized by the chief, who, when calm weather sets
302 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
in, takes round his troupe and gives performances
all along the line, receiving food and money in
return.
This is all very well, but these good people, light
of heart and light of foot, could dance to another tune
not so long ago, a tragic dance of death. In 1876
Gela had as bad a reputation as any island in the
Solomons, and with reason. In the heathen parts a
white crew landed at peril of their lives. They might
seem to be received hospitably, and their sense of
security would be enhanced when the dance and
song began. But treachery lurked behind them, and
sudden, cruel death came with a stab in the back to
the jovial, unsuspecting sailors who were watching a
death dance, and knew it not.
It is an ugly record. In 1871 the Lavinia was
cut out and all hands massacred. In 1875 the
Dancing Wave was cut out and her crew murdered.
In 1880 the young Lieutenant Bower, in charge of
a boat's crew from H.M.S. Sandfly y was killed with
six of his men.
There is no question but that white men first
created for themselves an evil reputation among
the natives by their conduct towards them. Some
of these and other murders were committed while
the islanders were smarting under the treatment they
had met with at the hands of white men in labour
vessels, whose treacherous methods of kidnapping
were bound to recoil upon their own heads or those
of their brother whites.
But in the case of the Sandfly massacre the only
suggested motive was the pacification of a big chief,
Kalekona, who was furious over the loss of some
strings of money, and could be appeased with nothing
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 303
less than human blood. One only of the crew
escaped. He swam to an islet near Honggo, where
he found protection with the chief, Tambukoru, though
the people clamoured ruthlessly for his head.
I was talking about old days to a young Gela woman,
and asked if she knew the name of Kalekona, whose
collection of heads was among the largest in Gela. She
laughed. " Why, yes, Kalekona was my grandfather ! "
I have translated the word tindalo as equivalent to
" ghost," and this for the sufficient reason that the
people assert with one consent that every object of
their worship was once a man. In the case of such as
Hauri, the shark-ghost, his human progenitor has
passed entirely out of popular remembrance. But
some names have only become recognized as tindalo
of recent years. Ganido, for instance, was a famous
warrior, who died gloriously from wounds in battle.
Before the next killing excursion party set out, the
experiment was made of consulting Ganido in the
capacity of a tindalo. The expedition was highly
successful, the canoes returned laden with heads, and
the cry uprose, " Great is the mana of Ganido ! " A
little house was built for his bones, his shield, club, and
other relics, a man was chosen to be what we may call
the " priest " of Ganido, and the shrine was invested
with a very sacred character. When we speak of the
ghost experts as priests, it must be clearly borne in
mind that there is no priestly caste, and they are only
regarded as apart from other men when acting in this
particular capacity.
The little tindalo houses, or shrines, made of a few
sticks and leaves, used to be very numerous, and a
native guide would turn aside half a dozen times in a
short walk to avoid places sacred to tindalo.
304 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
Instead of the two "sides of the house" which
divide the population in Southern Melanesia, Gela is
cut up into six divisions or kema, members of which
may not marry within their own clan. Each kema had
of old its own patron ghost, and one forbidden creature
(their mbuto, the natives call it, which may be trans-
lated "abomination"); and this no member of the
kema must eat or touch.
" By my mbuto ! " is a strong asseveration. A
native of Gela has written as follows on the subject
(translated) :
If you were to bring an accusation against any one, and
he should say, " Not I, by my mbuto \ " it would be the
truth, for he swears by his Abomination by that which is
forbidden to him. And our belief is this, that should any
one eat of his abomination, he would die.
Now this is the explanation of the mbuto. We believe
the tindalo to have been men once upon a time, and some-
thing which they did, or had to do with, long ago, becomes
the forbidden thing of those who possess the tindalo. . . .
For instance, the Gaombata tribe have for their mbuto
the giant clam-fish. Now this is found on the spot where
they catch fish for Polika [their patron tindalo\ the fish,
that is, wherewith to offer sacrifice to him ; and they call
this clam-fish Polika, believing [in some vague way] it really
is Polika, this clam-fish. Wherefore the tribe of the
Gaombata do not eat the clam-fish.
To another kema a crab was thus taboo, to a third
a white pig, to a fourth a parrot, to a fifth a pigeon.
The patron ghosts were, of course, hereditary, and the
priestly power of " throwing the sacrifice " aright was
transmitted from one expert to another.
Beside the tribal ghost, every man would have his
own familiar killing-ghost, a relic of which in hair,
tooth, bone, or stone hung round his neck. Some-
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 305
times ill-luck would befall his venture, and, feeling
dissatisfied with his own demon, it was quite permis-
sible to buy another in his place ! From the same
native account from which I quoted just now we learn
that every man has to buy his own killing-ghost with
a large sum of money. It is not hereditary. With
the ghost the seller imparts information as to the
special plants, and leaves, and trees which belong to
this tindalOt by means of which a man can communicate
with him and obtain mana.
Then they take the things named and put them on their
shields, and with the flowers and the creepers they gird
themselves, and the sprigs they stick all about them, and
then they go to battle. Now all these things which they
take they suppose to belong to their own ttndalo, and they
take them in order that he may come upon them and
strengthen them, that they may prevail, and beat the enemy.
Moreover they eat all these things belonging to their tindalo,
and they call it eating him t in order that he may enter into
them, and make them strong. The enemy does the same,
and if he prevail, then they say, " His killing-ghost is a
powerful one ! "
Before killing a man the murderer calls upon the
name of his killing-ghost and dedicates his victim to
him for food. But " whoever commits murder, and
does not possess a killing-ghost, his body will suffer
from it, it will ache and waste away."
Then there are the local tindalo, too, which, even
if not one's patronal ghosts, may with advantage be
approached if an expert is present. For instance,
there is a certain harbour- crossing, dangerous for
canoes on account of the reefs. It is usual for those
desirous of coming in to shore to land on a small
central reef and hang some coco-nuts on a mangrove
x
306 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
tree to propitiate the antagonistic spirit and ensure a
safe crossing of the barrier-reef. Once well on the
other side, a frugal man will go back to recover his
nuts, the spirit's assistance being no longer necessary.
But when the tindalo of one's own neighbourhood
is hostile, it is an awkward matter, for ill-health is sure
to result, and a sick chief will leave home, not so much
for change of air as for change of tindalo, since by
passing into another part (even as we noted in the
Reefs) the spiritual authority is transferred.
A deprecatory offering, such as that of the coco-
nuts mentioned above, must not, of course, be confused
with a sacrifice. The sacrifices offered to tindalo seem
to vary in nature from a mark of genuine respect and
affection to an effort after conciliation.
The attitude of a man towards a tindalo is almost
invariably deprecatory. And for this reason the
ghostly instinct towards man is malevolent. A man's
bodily existence is per se an offence to the ghosts.
This is pointed out by Dr. Codrington, who adds that
" all human powers which are not merely bodily are
enhanced by death." Imagine, then, how must a
tindalo be feared whose disposition in life was fierce,
and whose mana for fighting was even then dreaded !
Generations of experiment have evolved certain
regular methods of propitiation, and the tindalo may
be placated to such effect that they become patrons
and benefactors instead of adversaries.
Twice in every season are general sacrifices offered
to the tindalo of the crops by their worshippers. The
first is that common to so many places and peoples
an offering of the first-fruits. The delicious Hai (an
almond), so highly appreciated by all the natives, must
not be touched until the priest has declared the time
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 307
ripe for the sacrifice to be offered in the grove of the
nai trees, and honour thus paid to their patron ghost.
The second sacrifice takes place two months later,
when the roots used for food have been dug. Three
men will be engaged first in a sacred enclosure fenced
off from the public, in making a great almond mash
and moulding it into cakes, which are deposited upon
stones. Then comes the ceremonial part. One of
these rolls or cakes is consumed by fire, whilst the
priest calls upon the spirit by name and invites him
to partake of it. The rest of the mash is then con-
sumed by all the men assembled. Throughout
Melanesia women and children have no part in
sacrificial rites. The ceremony and the formula are
probably very similar in all the ghost offerings, and
one account, furnished by Dr. Codrington in his book, 1
may be taken as typical of the rest.
The priest takes the dedicated food and heaves
it from side to side, crying as he does so :
"If thou dwellest in the east where rises the sun,
Manoga ! come hither and eat thy ^/w-mash ! If
thou dwellest in the west where sets the sun, Manoga !
come hither and eat thy ta^-mash ! "
Having cried to the four corners of the earth,
he proceeds :
" If thou dwellest in the heaven above, Manoga!
come hither and eat thy /#/#-mash !
" If thou dwellest in the Pleiades, or the Belt of
Orion, Manoga ! come hither and eat thy /w^-mash !
"If thou dwellest below in Turivatu, Manoga!
come hither and eat thy /&^-mash !
"If thou dwellest in the distant sea, Manoga 1
come hither, etc.
1 The Melanesia/us : their Anthropology and Folk-Lore.
3 o8 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
"If thou dwellest on high in the sun or in the
moon, Manoga ! come hither, etc.
"If thou dwellest inland, or by the shore, Manoga !
come hither and eat thy tata-mash ! "
The invocation thus completed, the mash is burnt
in the fire.
When on solemn occasions a human sacrifice was
offered to the ghosts, minute portions of the flesh
were consumed by the worshippers in order to obtain
mana for fighting.
It is by the operation of the tindalo that charms
take effect. When the death-charm is employed
that one common throughout Melanesia by which
a crumb of fallen food works a man's doom the
material is taken to a ^W<z/0-haunted spot and
deposited in a shell. The ill-wisher need do nothing
more : the accomplishment may be left to the tindalo.
So profoundly was the terror of this charm engrafted
into the native mind that not only every adult, but
even an infant of three or four years old might
formerly be seen making a tiny fire directly he had
finished his food, there to burn the shred of skin lest
it be used against him.
Strange to say, in Gela alone, so far as I know, of
all the, Solomons, we hear once more of a secret
society, with its ghostly associations, its frauds to
frighten folk withal, its dress and ornaments, its song
and dance. The Matambala is now almost, if not
quite, extinct. If it lingers anywhere, it will only
be away to the west, where Lipa, the old heathen
chief, maintains the old ways. But in its day it was
an awful power. If a man infringed a taboo set up
by the Matambala, death was his portion. Watch
was laid for him, he was seized, and his windpipe
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 309
bitten through by a human vampire. Then the neck
was wrapped round so that no marks were visible
and the body was freely exhibited " slain by the
tindalo \ "
Vengeance is the supreme law in heathen
Melanesia. It is pursued and wreaked by man
upon man, village upon village, district upon district.
Here in Gela if one village had or imagined a
grievance against another, a large sum of money would
be contributed by its inhabitants, and set aside as a
reward for whomso should avenge them. The news
of it was widely circulated ; and thenceforward the
threatened village knew not who among its most
familiar visitors might be tempted by the bribe to
turn traitor and assassin. Life became a voluntary
imprisonment and terror haunted every man, woman,
and child.
If ever there was an island "fast bound in misery
and iron," by reason of its lust, cruelty, and supersti-
tion, it was Gela in bygone days. And the release
came almost suddenly. In 1879 the first signs were
noted of a general move towards Christianity ; the
year 1883 saw the baptism of 200 instructed
natives and a mighty overthrow of the tindalo power.
The break-up began among Kalekona's people. The
old savage chief called his men together, and dared
to propose a general destruction of charms, images,
and tindalo relics. The assent was almost eager.
A great collection of all sacred properties was made
and the whole thrown into the sea. Kalekona pre-
served only the sacred image of his own tutelary
tindalo for a gift to the missionary. It is a lemon-
shaped stone, roughly carved into the semblance of
a human face. Hitherto no one had been allowed
3 io ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
to see it. It was kept by Kalekona in the secret
place where his father before him had kept it, and
before starting on a canoe voyage it was his habit
to visit the image and invoke the protection of the
tindalo. Of course the news of the action taken by
so famous a man as Kalekona and his company
spread like wild-fire. The chief and his followers
presented themselves like children at the door of
the Mission school and asked for teaching. The
rest of the people prophesied calamities untold at
the hands of the insulted tindalo, and when nothing
happened were forced to admit that there was mana
in the New Teaching stronger than that of all the
tindalo. This was confirmed when a chief who was
visiting this part, finding himself weather-bound,
exerted his arts to make a calm, and failed.
Kalekona's example was speedily followed by
individuals and by tribes. Among the former was
an inferior chief, noted for his courage as a pro-
fessional murderer. He had scarcely become an
adherent of the school when blood -money and in-
structions to kill were sent him by a superior chief.
But the money was sent promptly back, with a
declaration that he could do such work no longer.
One of the chief experts in tindalo mysteries,
referred and deferred to by all, also renounced his
profession, and when the time came to " throw the
sacrifice " which annually made the beach taboo for
more than a mile, the old priest refused to do his
part or transmit his knowledge, and so the tindalo
was unapproached. Children played on the beach
and canoes landed safely where formerly in such
a case every occupant would have been massacred.
Doubtless the prestige of the chiefs has diminished
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 311
with the overthrow of the tindalo which bolstered
their authority, and the indiscriminate bloodshed by
which they gained respect and fame. But still real
power clings to them, and they exert a very material
influence upon their people.
Tambukoru, the heathen chief whose protection, as
we saw above, saved a white sailor's life, found almost
as hard a task before him eight years later, when he
was a Christian. A European trader of vile character
had shamed his race, darkened David Tambukoru's
district, and behaved abominably to the chief himself.
At last retribution fell ; the man was deported, and
forbidden to return. But David laid a strict embargo
on his house and property, and not a stick was looted
by the indignant people. Not one even of the empty
bottles under the house might be carried away until
the chief had consulted his white friends upon the
subject and made sure that the owner would want
them no more.
In another part of Gela a white trader by his
conduct roused the righteous indignation of the chief,
who replied by putting a taboo of a hundred porpoise
teeth upon the selling of coco-nuts to him. In other
words, a native venturing to transact business with
him would be mulcted in a fine of this magnitude.
The consequence was that the trader left the place.
On one occasion the boat of the priest-in-charge was
injured by boys, and the chief promptly fined the
lads' parents a hundred porpoise teeth, at the same
time making the boat " taboo with a hundred
porpoise teeth." That is to say, no one might touch
it, save in helping to haul, on pain of such a fine.
The value of a tooth is slightly more than a penny.
Though still superintended by a white man, Gela,
3 i2 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
in common with many of the other islands, has now
its staff of native clergy, and, to judge by an extract
from the journal of one of them, the people cannot
complain that they are stinted in the sermon line :
In the evening all the congregation came together. I
talked a long time to them, and some of them went to
sleep and fell off their seats.
And later :
On such a night I spoke long to them, and some fell
from their seats, for sleep oppressed them greatly.
The adventures and accidents of translation form
the subject of many amusing anecdotes, but I cannot
resist retailing the quaint rendering that was furnished
by native assistants in Gela, in early days, of Psalm
civ. 1 1 (" the wild asses quench their thirst "), viz. " the
wild man-eating pigs drink to stop the hiccups " !
Like all Melanesians, the Gela people are quick-
tempered, and nothing would be commoner in a
moment of anger than to utter a vow of retaliation,
which might be repented of as soon as the hot
blood cooled down. Very often the vow would be of
such a nature as to rebound most unpleasantly
upon the one who uttered it. Now in old times the
remedy was simple. A small offering of food or
money to the tindalo made things all right and the
rash man was free from his vow. When Christianity
came in and ousted the tindalo a difficulty arose.
Tempers were still hot and quick, vows were still
made in haste and repented of at leisure ; but the
people saw now no means of release, and native
custom constrained them to stand by their oaths,
however absurd or inconvenient.
For some years the trouble was not divulged, but
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 313
at last the Bishop was confided in, and asked if he
could do anything to lift the burden. Of course he
gladly came to the rescue, and the news flew from
village to village that the Bishop would release any
from their vows who desired it. The extent of the
trouble may be gauged by the fact that during a few
weeks only no fewer than 966 persons appealed for
this help, and were set free from rash oaths taken as
long as twenty years ago.
The commonest form of vow was to the effect that
one would never again eat food cooked or grown by
some other. But there were girls who had sworn
not to marry, husbands not to live with their wives,
sons not to see their fathers, sisters not to be friends
again, brothers not to speak to each other, a
mother not to eat with her children, a wife not to
enter her husband's canoe, a woman not to nurse her
sick niece, and so on and so forth. So it was a great
day when it was discovered that even Christians
could be freed from the bondage of a rash oath.
I visited several parts of Gela, for we had to spend
some little time there, but the most important day
was when the laying of a church foundation-stone
coincided with the annual Vaukolu, or Church
parliament, held on that occasion in Mboli.
A stone church in England involves the selection
of an architect and a building firm, a subscription-list
and some collections, a few concerts, and a bazaar
probably. In Gela the native priest is architect,
clerk of the works, master-mason, and foreman. The
people are the building firm men, women, and
children. And their own ready hands and feet supply
the place of subscriptions and entertainments. Every
block of stone had to be fetched and conveyed by
3H ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
water, and hewn and squared with tools at which
white masons would have jeered.
The plan was Alfred Lombu's 1 own. It was
frankly reminiscent of the only other stone church
with which he is familiar St. Barnabas' Chapel,
Norfolk Island. And were not our earliest churches
in England reminiscent of the Roman basilica ? The
church at Halavo is none the less native for that.
Naturally it was still the day of small things when
the foundation-stone, graven with a small cross, was
laid in the groove appointed for it on the south side
of the sanctuary. The walls were already raised to
perhaps 30 inches from the ground, and as the site
occupies about 75 by 35 feet, some good hard work
was already represented. The east end is apsidal,
with projecting chambers both to north and south.
At the entrances and on all sides palm branches made
the place taboo against trespassers.
Alfred is an old man as Melanesians go, crippled
with rheumatism, but when he came limping and
smiling along, one felt he had still joy in life.
The whole service was a memorable experience,
for it was Alfred's arrangement from first to last the
long procession of native teachers of the district
preceding the clergy and Bishop ; the carefully-drilled
choir, singing in parts and antiphonally, male and
female ; the unpremeditated words spoken by Alfred
after the Bishop's sermon and the blessing of the
stone. And around the site a crowded assembly of
natives, singing, kneeling, listening with a unity and
reverence that would have been a lesson to many a
European congregation. There was no musical
instrument, but the plash of the waves on the beach
1 Native priest. See illustration.
GEL A.
ALFRED LOMKU, NATIVE PRIEST,
LISTENERS AT THE
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 315
within a few yards of us made an accompaniment
that beach where only some thirty years ago strangers
landed on peril of their lives.
We had but a short interval after the service, and
then made our way to the big shady booth that had
been erected of palm fronds for the accommodation
of the Vaukolu. Here were gathered the Bishop and
clergy of Gela, white and brown, the chiefs and the
teachers old heathen Lipa among the chiefs.
Various subjects were discussed, concerning
dancing parties, heathen marriages, burial-grounds,
coco-nuts, guns and dynamite, " undesirables," the
price of wives, and the abuse of tattooing.
The price of wives, it seemed, had really become
exorbitant ; fifty to a hundred strings of money, or if
in pigs, from ten to as many as twenty would be
charged for an attractive girl. The result was that
men were prevented from marrying unless they were
rich, and the women were developing an opinion of
their own importance that was highly inexpedient.
It has been the custom to enhance the market value
of the young girls by an elaborate but really cruel
system of tattooing, similar to, but even worse than,
that described in San Cristoval. I have often seen
the girl's face just a web of small concentric circles.
Instead of the bat's wing, a bamboo with chisel-like
edge is employed, and the cuts inflicted, failing to
heal, cause sometimes painful, suppurating wounds
which make a lifelong disfigurement. A long list of
villages was read out where this practice of Uhuuhu,
as it is called (and it sounds pathetically onomatopoeic!),
has been abandoned under the influence of the chiefs ;
and each name was received with applause by those
present.
3 i6 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
While the Vaukolu was proceeding, we could see
and hear the preparations afoot for the big feast which
always follows it. The food-laden procession seemed
almost ceaseless ; monstrous black porkers, trussed and
carried on poles, women tripping along with huge,
piled-up baskets on their heads these passed silently
by. But beyond we could hear the rattling of coco-nuts
and the squealing of unhappy pigs. And as soon as
the Vaukolu was closed we hurried to the scene
of action, where the food was already divided and
apportioned for all the different villages invited, the
names being called in turn, for the representatives
to come up and receive their shares. Not even yet
do all sit down and eat together here, so strong is the
force of old habit.
But the barrier between the sexes is less rigid in
Gela than in the New Hebrides or Banks Islands.
Betrothed couples are encouraged to become better
acquainted before marriage, and boys' are found
commonly to select wives older than themselves.
Cases actually of uxorial henpecking have been heard
of in Gela, a feminine vice almost inconceivable else-
where in Melanesia.
Does the position of womanhood in this island
owe anything to the old Gela tradition that the great
creator of all things was a female spirit? This
Koevasi seems to have nothing of the serpentine nature
of Kahuahuarii of San Cristoval. From Koevasi all
the people of Gela claimed descent, and she who was
the author of life was also the origin of death. The
confusion of tongues is ascribed to Koevasi too. It
seems that she took a voyage, in the course of which
she was attacked by ague, and shook so much that
her utterance was confused. Wherever she landed,
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 317
people caught from her lips an almost unintelligible
speech.
Gela buries the bodies of its dead, and with them
all personal possessions, such as money, pipes, tobacco,
and ornaments, but it is said these are often stealthily
dug up again. The corpse is laid with feet inland
and head seaward, and the people never return from
the grave by the same path as the body was carried,
lest the ghost follow them.
As in other islands we have visited, food used to
be provided for the deceased with the idea that the
soul does not at once depart to Ghost-land. But the
path it must presently travel was known to all, and
the twittering of the souls might be heard there as
they passed along to a rocky point where they wiled
away the time in dancing till the ghost-canoe from
Guadalcanar should arrive to transport them across.
It is only on landing, says legend, that they dis-
cover they are dead, when they are met by a ghost
with a rod, who thrusts it into their noses to discover
if they are pierced. If it be so, they may travel by a
good and easy path, but if not, they are condemned
to scramble painfully along a trackless way.
Apparently crocodiles have never found worshippers
in Gela. Indeed they are hunted in a scientific way in
the great Ututha Channel, where the mangrove swamp
is infested with them. A trap is laid, or rather hung
up, in a narrow fenced passage, consisting of a loop
of tough cord, slip-knotted, with a bait of pig's flesh
visible beyond, to reach which the crocodile pushes
his head through the interposing loop. This auto-
matically tightens its hold upon him, and there he
has to stay until speared to death by the villagers.
A remarkable and authenticated escape from a
3 i8 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
crocodile attack occurred in Gela. A man bathing one
early morning in dangerous proximity to a mangrove
swamp was suddenly seized by a crocodile. The long
teeth closed upon his chest, and penetrated some of
the intercostal cartilages of the ribs. One arm of the
man was in the creature's mouth, and with this he
made his fight for life, twisting the huge tongue and
striving to wrench it from the root. The monster was
compelled to expand his jaws, and his victim escaped,
though wounded almost to death, and was borne away
by his friends. The lung injury was such that at every
breath the wind whistled out of his wounded chest. Yet
eventually the poor fellow made quite a good recovery.
A Gela folk-tale, rather of the " Uncle Remus "
type, has been translated by Dr. Codrington, 1 which
I here append
THE HERON AND THE TURTLE
One day a Heron caught his foot fast in the coral ; the
tide came in, but his neck was long. When the tide reached
to the top of his neck, there came along a Shark.
" Come and save me ! " says the Heron.
" Wait a bit ! " says the Shark.
There comes a Boila [a large fish].
" Come and save my life ! " says the Heron.
And the Boila says to him, " Wait a bit ! " says he.
There comes the great Gar-fish.
" Come and save me, brother ! " says the Heron.
The Gar-fish says, " Wait a bit ! "
There comes a Rock-cod.
" Come and save my life ! " says the Heron.
" Wait a bit ! " says the Rock-cod.
There comes a Crocodile.
" Come and save me ! " says the Heron.
" Wait a bit ! " says the Crocodile.
1 The Melanesians : their Anthropology and Folk-Lore.
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 319
In the end all the fish came, and nothing could be done.
Then comes a Turtle.
" Brother, come here and save my life ! " says the Heron.
And the Turtle says, "You will pay me, of course?"
[This is a touch quite characteristic of the Gela native ! ]
And the Heron says, " I have nothing with me to pay
you with."
Now there was a Sea-urchin alongside the Heron. And
the Heron says, " I will pay you with money," says he.
But the Turtle says, " No ! "
And the Heron says, " Dogs' teeth and porpoise teeth ! "
But the Turtle says, " No, I don't want it."
Then he offers him the Sea-urchin, and the Turtle eats
it up with great delight, and says joyfully, " Now I will save
you ; you have given me my pay." So he smashes to
fragments the stone [that held the bird's foot], and the
Heron is saved.
And the Heron says, " Now you have saved my life ; if ever
hereafter you are in need, in case you are going to be killed,
and I should hear you call, I will come and save you," says he.
After this, the people of Hagelonga went to fish ; and
they let down their net, and sat holding the corners of it on
their tripods of poles. 1 There comes a Shark.
" A fish below ! Shall we pull up the net ? " say some.
" Not for that ! " say the others.
There comes a Rock-cod.
" A fish below ! Shall we pull up ? " say some.
" No," say the others.
In the end all the fish in the sea come along, and they
don't pull up the net. Then comes round the Turtle, and
comes into the middle of the net.
And they cry, " Here he is ! We will see what he is
worth."
And the Turtle comes right up into the net, and they
take him, and tie him, and carry him ashore, and make a
fence round him.
1 Lofty perches above the water, perilous-looking enough, three or four of
which mark the fishing-stations in the lagoon and channels here as in Mala and
several other islands. See illustration, p. 276.
320 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
And the Chief of Hagelonga says, " To-morrow we will
split firewood for him, and get leaves for him, and dig up
yams for him, this turtle of ours ! " says the Chief.
So as soon as it was light they went off, and they split
wood, and they gathered leaves, and they dug food ; and
they appointed the boys to watch the Turtle, and went
away.
And when they were far away, the Heron comes along,
and the boys say to him, " Where have you come from ? "
And the Heron says to them, " I'm just idling about."
And he says to them, " Should you like me to dance for
you ? " says he.
And the boys say, " Yes, we should like you to dance
for us."
And the Heron says, " Bring me the porpoise teeth and
dogs' teeth ornaments of your fathers and mothers, that I
may dress myself up in the best."
And they brought him the best ornaments, and he
dressed himself up in them, and then he danced for them.
So he danced along to the fence in which the Turtle
was, and the Turtle saw him coming, and cried out, " Now I
am to die, my brother ! " cries he.
And the Heron says to him, "And now I shall save
your life, because you saved mine before."
And the Heron came into the house where the boys
were, and there he danced for them. And he says,
" Kerembaembae ! Kerembaembae ! Loosed is your leg that
they have tied ! " And his leg is loosed.
" Kerembaembae ! Slipped out is your head ! " and his
head slipped out.
" Kerembaembae ! Clear the forepart ! " And the fore-
part of him was clear.
" Kerembaembae ! Clear the hinder part ! " And his
hinder part was clear.
" Kerembaembae ! Clear the rest of you ! " And the
rest of him was clear.
" Kerembaembae ! Follow the path ! . . . Kerembaembae !
Reach the sand ! . . . Kerembaembae ! Down with you into
the sea ! . . . Kerembaembae ! Dive out of sight ! . . .
CHAP, iv GELA, SOLOMON ISLANDS 321
Kerembaembae ! Go a fathom's length ! . . . Kerembaembae!
Go two fathoms ! " So he escaped with his life.
And the people returned from inland, and came out into
the open, and looked at the fence. But the Heron was
gone ; and they said, " Some one has stolen our turtle ! "
And they asked the boys, and said, " Who has been here
now ? "
And the boys said, " There was only a Heron came here
and danced for us, and we gave him all your things, and he
deceived us so that we did not go and look after the turtle,"
said the boys to them.
And bad were the feelings of the people of the village ;
and they went and looked at the path, and there they saw
the traces of the Turtle ; and they said, " Yes, he has saved
himself for certain ! Nobody has stolen him," said they.
CHAPTER V
GUADALCANAR, SOLOMON ISLANDS
Natural features "The wild Mumoulu" Story of the past Sulukavo,
chief The difficulties of a rain-maker A strange reward for
courage A chief's feast A feminine vanity Shark worship
Funeral custom The Vele magic Populous with ghosts
Legends of the spirits.
ABOUT twenty miles south of Gela we touch the shores
of the largest island in the diocese of Melanesia
Guadalcanar. Magnificent ! is the exclamation that
inevitably escapes one at sight and at memory of it.
Truly magnificent !
A luxuriantly wooded island, extending some
hundred miles by thirty, it is irrigated by " many an
ancient river," crocodile haunted, whose watershed is
in a massy backbone of mountains that run from end to
end of the island and rise to a height of 8000 feet.
From the base of this chain to the shore a fertile
wooded plain extends along the north side of the
island for fully thirty miles. On the precipitous
southern side the mountains seem to rise immediately
out of the sea.
The effect upon the imagination after visiting so
many lesser islands, and seeing for so long an all-
surrounding waste of waters, on gazing from the deck
at this beautiful, mysterious, awful land, is such that
322
GUADALCANAL
THIS BEAUTIFUL, MYSTERIOUS LAND."
THE FIRST CHRISTIAN VILLAGE.''
P. 323-
CHAP, v GUADALCANAR 323
one feels complete sympathy and comprehension with
Gallego on reading in his journal that he does " not
estimate its size, because it is a great land, and half a
year is needed to sail along its shores." A stupendous
lie like that needs not to be condoned. It seems in
keeping with one's own unenlightened sensations, and
possibly gives a more truthful impression than the
strictly accurate computation.
One hardly needed to be told that the interior was
still unexplored ; but one longed to pick up a staff and
set forth at once for the misty blue heart of the
unknown, where range the giant men with tails, and
hairy bodies, and heads of flowing hair the wild
Mumoulu, with their long, strong nails, who speak a
language of their own and live in caves. They hunt
men for food with spears and nets, spreading the latter
around trees where men climb. And on their hairy
backs they carry bags of a glassy, volcanic stone with
which to pelt their quarry. And when they cannot
smell man at all, they make shift with snakes and
lizards for food. Grim, uncanny creatures, these
Mumoulu ! One would expect just such a race to
inhabit the vasty, dim interior of Guadalcanal
This book does not profess to give an account of
missionary work in the Melanesian Islands. That may
be read elsewhere by whoso will. But for once I may
be pardoned if I sketch briefly the adventurous struggle
which the Faith has maintained in Guadalcanar.
My first landing was beside a big white cross that
marks the establishment of the first Christian village
in the island, and it only dates back from 1897. Up
to that time it seemed as if every effort to introduce
light and peace was destined to fail, and even to-day
a great part of the island is still heathen.
3 2 4 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
Yet as long ago as 1 883 three chiefs expressed them-
selves as anxious for the New Teaching. They gave
up boys to be trained at Norfolk Island, they asked
for teachers, and one set about building a house for
him. And then came a head-hunting chief from Savo,
raided a Guadalcanar village, killing thirty men and
capturing as many women. The priest-in-charge con-
fronted and rebuked him on the beach, where the heads
were smoking over fires, but to no effect. The friendly
chiefs were by him terrorized into an opposite attitude.
The boys at Norfolk Island were forbidden to return,
and a lad was nearly murdered for lending the white
man a hand with his boat.
A few very simple successes in medicine brought
the missionary spasmodic fame, but his patients were
avoided by their friends, who would not even touch
food they had cooked, lest the white man's mana should
influence them for harm. One chief, whose life was
being charmed away, recovered on being assured that
fear only was killing him. He said that after receiving
the message his pains gradually travelled down his
body till the last twinge oozed out at the toes. And
he would fain have presented his benefactor with a
pig. The rumour of this man's death had already
started, the announcement had been shouted from hill-
top to hill-top according to custom, and the dog-like
howling of the women (who cared nothing for him)
had been rending the air. The recovery became
notorious. But no school resulted from it.
When in 1893 a man-of-war visited the Eastern
Solomons to proclaim the establishment of the British
Protectorate and to hoist the national flag, the authori-
ties sought to leave a pleasant impression on the
natives' minds by means of gifts. Old Taki in San
CHAP.V GUADALCANAR 325
Cristoval was delighted with the white people's atten-
tion, and received with open arms all they had to
bestow ; but the chiefs of Guadalcanar handed back
flag, proclamation, and presents without thanks ! In
Mala, too, they refused to touch the proclamation or
accept the flag ; and the Rubiana folk fled before the
white company, so that the captain could only hoist
the flag and leave the proclamation in a bottle at the
foot of the mast. When the natives ventured to return
to the spot they divided up the flag into loin-cloths
and tried to drink the proclamation !
It was in the following year that a Guadalcanar
boy whose training at St. Barnabas' College was
completed, returned determined to win an entrance
somewhere, somehow, for the light. At his own desire
he was set down alone, and in six weeks he had been
robbed of everything he possessed. No one would
listen to him, and he had no books. Perhaps that was
as well, for the people said there were certainly ghosts
living within the covers, else how could words be found
in them ?
So the young man lived for two years far back in
the bush, among the savages and yet not of them,
trying to carry his religion into practice. And at last
the villagers began to question him as to why he was
different from themselves, and his answers made the
beginning of the first school in Guadalcanar. It was
scattered by head-hunters almost as soon as started,
but the brave teacher managed once more to collect
his little flock. In 1899 he died, and his place was
taken by Hugo Goravaka, his brother, now a deacon.
From that time onward the work has gone slowly
forward, though it has been at times a matter of build-
ing with sword in hand, for some of the chiefs were
326 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
fiercely antagonistic to the newly-formed schools, and
strove by raids, and murders, and threats to stamp
them out.
During my visit to Guadalcanar I had the pleasure
of gazing upon the countenance of the old chief who
was our arch-enemy in this island from the outset
Sulukavo. For some time now he has refrained from
harassing us, and on this occasion for the first time he
actually did us the honour of coming on board the
Southern Cross to meet the Bishop, whom he had
never encountered. Frankly, I have seldom seen a
more repulsive-looking individual. There was nothing
kingly in his appearance. Clad in a dirty shirt, with
ragged, unkempt hair and beard, a mouth dyed from
betel-chewing, and with a protruding under-lip and
light, restless, shifty eyes that never looked you in
the face, it was not hard to picture the old fellow
planning his siege of a school village and craftily
plotting the death of the white priest, which he failed
to accomplish.
When the Mission first made Sulukavo's acquaint-
ance he was hand and glove with another chief, and
the two were busy stirring up the people against the
white men, and calling in bushmen to their aid, because
the dwellers along the coast would persist in declaring
that they did want schools. In vain was the experi-
ment tried of throwing ghost-stones into the village at
night. If any were hit by them they refused to die
with amazing effrontery.
After employing various futile expedients, the great
rain-maker of the district was approached. Shortly
afterwards heavy floods of rain occurred, and, as was
only natural, the rain-maker gave out that they were his
doing, with the object of washing out the New Teaching
CHAP, v GUADALCANAR 327
and all who followed it. After one of the nights of
torrential rain some bushmen appeared at the priest's
house with a gift, and a humble assurance that they
were in no way concerned with the deluge, that in
point of fact it was spoiling their gardens and was
most unwelcome. Finally they inquired whether
they had permission to go and tie up the offending
rain-maker !
In this case Sulukavo adopted a righteously in-
dignant attitude. He sent an angry message to the
rain-maker to the effect that if he did not bring his
ridiculous downpour to a stop immediately, he should
be heavily fined. And then, of course, the rain-maker
could not asseverate with sufficient fervency that he
had had nothing whatever to do with it !
Like the rest of the chiefs, Sulukavo keeps a
regular harem, but some of the wives have a consider-
able amount of liberty, may work in the gardens, fetch
water, and so on, while a selection of the favourites
are kept in strict seclusion within the house. The
taboo wives these, who may never emerge even to
wash so long as they live. If any man catch sight of
one he is mulcted in a heavy fine.
One day Sulukavo, being vexed, beat one of his
wives within an inch of her life. Another of them
coming in from the gardens saw her lying on the
ground covered with blood. In a panic lest the same
fate should befall her, the second woman fled into the
bush, and after existing there in terror for about a
month, she found her way to the house of her father.
No refuge awaited her there, however. The
father, desperately afraid of the chiefs wrath, took
his daughter back at once to her cruel owner. But
Sulukavo was not to be pacified easily. He declared
328 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
that nothing less than a man's head and a large sum
of money could compound for the injury his dignity
had suffered.
News of his announcement reached the white man,
who, though he could not get an interview with the
chief, sent him a very strong remonstrance by one
of his head-men. The reply was a treacherous attack
upon a school village and the beheading of one of
the inhabitants.
To be chosen by a chief for his wife must be an
honour to be dreaded indeed. It was in Guadalcanar
that a chief went out pig-hunting with a girl-wife
in attendance on him. The man was attacked by
a boar, knocked down and injured. With great
bravery the girl succeeded in beating off and killing
the pig, thus probably saving her lord's life. Yet on
her return to the village she was deliberately put
to death because, forsooth, she had been unable to
prevent the animal from injuring the great man.
I have nothing exciting to recount from my own
experience in this island, for here I visited none but
school villages, where all was peaceful and happy.
But one Saturday afternoon we came into contact
with heathens mingled with Christians at a chief's
feast.
In his village there is a school and teacher, but he
had invited chiefs and people from the surrounding
neighbourhood for this occasion, and most of the
visitors were heathen. One fine -looking old chief
had hair which reminded me irresistibly of " Shock-
headed Peter." It was a surprise to a good many of
us when, just before the food was distributed, the
whole crowd rose to its feet at a sign from the young
teacher, who stepped forward and said grace in the
GUADALCANAL
BOYS WITH BOWS AND ARROWS SOUTHERN CROSS IN BACKGROUND.
WOMEN RETURNING FROM WORK IN THEIR GARDENS.
p. 329.
CHAP, v GUADALCANAR 329
most natural manner during perfect silence. Then
the roasted pigs were carved with axes, and we were
all given little banana-leaf parcels of a very stodgy,
dark " pudding " which I could not manage to enjoy.
The heathen women here seemed very forbidding,
but no doubt their moroseness of expression was
really shyness. They were but little ornamented.
A grass fringe round the waist by way of petticoat
and a short pipe in the mouth were in many instances
the only additions to nature. But I did notice
here, as well as in other of the Solomons, a most
atrociously tight armlet that seemed extremely
fashionable so tight that the skin above and below
was horribly puffed out. I spoke my mind about it,
and all seemed interested, but I saw no armlet cut off,
and indeed it involved an operation I should hardly
have liked myself to attempt.
Here and there in Guadalcanar are found evidences
of shark worship. There is a shark ghost one Luvusi
whose counsel is sought before a canoe ventures
on an uncertain landing. The sign granted is the
same as we saw in Gela ; if Luvusi is agreeable the
canoe sways from side to side. Luvusi also takes the
place of wireless telegraphy. If death or accident
occurs in a man's village while he is on a voyage,
Luvusi causes him to be aware of it.
At one village on the coast the celebration of a
feast must be accompanied by a gift to the sharks
of the entrails of a dog. Two men, recognized shark
mediums, swim out with the offering, and the sharks
collect in the sea to receive it. It is said that none
but these two men might perform the errand with
impunity, but no shark would harm either of them.
Many beliefs and practices in Guadalcanar are
330 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
too similar to those I have described in other islands
to be narrated. Head-hunting is dying out here as
elsewhere, but cannibalism is still practised in different
parts.
One of the native girls told me that, except among
the Christians, a man's death is always followed by
the destruction of all his goods and the cutting down
of his fruit-trees. " They say," she explained, " ' These
are his : let them follow him ! ' '
But there is one terrible instrument of death
wielded in this island, so potent that by those who
can best judge it is held accountable for the destruction
of scores of lives every year. It is the vele magic.
In the record of Sulukavo's efforts to oust the
white man I notice on one occasion " a little bag
of bones was shaken in the missionary's face." This
we now can identify as an attempt at vele magic, and
perplexed and amazed must the natives have been
when even the infallible vele produced no effect.
Whether vele be, as was formerly believed, the
name of the spirit who is supposed to give mana to the
charm-bag, I do not know. The word seems generally
used simply to denote this form of magic. Similar
as it is in some respects to the death-working "ghost-
shooter " of the Banks Islands, I doubt if that was
ever in such frequent use as is the vele in Guadalcanar.
In appearance the charm somewhat reminds me
of the wicker rattles of babyhood, for the mana bones
or leaves are enclosed in a small wicker casing about
three inches long. Nothing could be simpler than
the working of the vele.
A, let us say, has a grudge against B. B one
day, working alone in the bush, or in a corner of his
garden, or over his canoe on the beach, hears suddenly
CHAP, v GUADALCANAR 331
a hiss. Looking up with a start, he sees A standing
with his left arm stretched out towards him, and on
the little finger of that hand is the fatal charm.
Its effect is immediate. B falls helpless to the
ground. A advances, and with the charm he touches
B in various places ankles, knees, thighs, shoulders,
elbows, forehead, neck, chest, and stomach. Then
he speaks, and tells his wretched victim on which day
he will die ; and having done his work, A leaves him
and hides. Presently B crawls to his feet, and totters
back to the village, a doomed man with no hope. He
has neither wound nor malady, but on the day named
he assuredly dies.
Dread of the vele magic lies like a poisonous fog,
depressing and destroying, over all the inhabited parts
of Guadalcanar which are still heathen. Frequent
attempts have been made with vele upon school
people, but they tell with triumph that not a single
success has been scored amongst them. Those who
use the charm and fail go home, it is said, and die
themselves. If this be so, there will probably be
caution in future before this magic is brought to bear
upon a Christian.
Last year the Bishop had an opportunity of talking
to a Mission boy upon whom an attempt at vele had
been made. He said the sensation was as if a heavy
weight pressed upon him, his head swam with giddi-
ness, and he all but fell. Then he remembered Who
was stronger than the vele. " Yes, I remembered,"
he said simply ; " had I not I should have died."
Everywhere the old men tell the same tale. Long
ago the villages were many and large, and thickly
populated. But violence and magic have mown
down the people.
332 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
The ghost population, however, must be prodigious
in the eyes of the heathen, for here is the final home
of all souls in the Eastern Solomons. The majority
make for Marau Sound, but those from Savo and
part of Guadalcanar itself settle on Hausori, a low
hill on the Mission lands.
Many are the spirits worshipped in this island.
Probably, as in the case of Gela, all were once men.
If not, one would unhesitatingly call them gods, as
many have done.
Among them is Sovala, a sort of amphibious
Neptune, who is a thief, yet takes care of travellers
little in size, but important in position. He is patron
of gardens also, and his seasonable favour may be
won before beginning garden work by an offering
of money. Who offers not will miss the blessing
of Sovala. And when the time of ingathering arrives
it is to him that the first-fruits are offered. Of old
there was an image said to depict him, but this has
been lost.
Luvusi of the Sharks is represented by two bits
of wood from some special tree.
Then there is Bojabata, the Mars of Guadalcanar,
whose representation is a round stone. When men
are going out to fight, he appears in the path to
those he favours, and strengthens them so that they
are bound to win the battle. But if Bojabata be
not met, the hearts of strong men fail them, and they
will return and seek the protection of the mighty
brethren whose names should surely be Castor and
Pollux, but are instead Koko and Porobato. These
in their lives were powerful chiefs, and after death
they appeared to their mother, and now have been
installed as objects of worship. If offerings be made
CHAP, v GUADALCANAR 333
to them, they will direct their followers as to whether
they may confidently go forth to fight or had better,
and they value their skins, stay safe at home..
Tiahi is a spirit of the coast, whom the people
seem to fear greatly. Those who like to show off
their "Inglis" call him "Big fellow devil-devil."
Yet as a rule he appears to be quietly behaved. It
is only in February, his sacred month, that he bestirs
himself and takes his walks abroad along the beach.
So in February the shore people are full of engage-
ments in the bush, and you will hardly find one about
from the beginning of that moon to the end.
The return to the shore, when Tiahi has finished
his walking exercise, is celebrated by big feasts,
in which the spirit is not forgotten. Portions are
set aside for him, and carried with circumspection to
a headland not far distant where land crabs have
their holes. These holes form the entrance to Tiahi's
sanctuary (just possibly he is a crab ghost). The
food is placed at the mouths, and it soon disappears.
Tiahi is satisfied, and so are the crabs. All is safe
now. Once more the canoes are dragged down,
the fishing-nets brought out, and the beach is dotted
with happy natives.
Koevasi, the female creating spirit belonging to
Gela, once reached Guadalcanar on that voyage
when her ague had such strange effect. And here,
while the chill was still upon her, she bathed in a
certain river, the water of which became thereupon
so cold that to this day to wade in it makes one ill.
CHAPTER VI
SAVO, SOLOMON ISLANDS
History and characteristics "Hottest and sharkiest" The true
Savoans Peculiarity of language Mesmerism Poisoned weapons
Story of a revenge Tree-houses Death customs Brush
turkeys The only woman.
" THE hottest island in the sharkiest water in
Melanesia ! "
With this enticing description I was introduced
to Savo, an island off the north-west coast of
Guadalcanar, no bigger than Toga in the Torres
group, but of considerably greater importance.
Discovered by the Spaniards in the sixteenth
century, it was by them named Sesarga, but the
brief and convenient native appellation has ousted
its European rival. Its central position, limited
dimensions, and fertile soil probably account for its
popularity. European traders have resided here
for over forty years, and its population is shifting
and heterogeneous, including immigrants from Mala,
Bugotu, Russell Island, Guadalcanar, and Gela.
For its size (about fifteen miles round) little Savo
produces more coco-nuts than any of the surrounding
islands. The plantations of palm stretch along the
coast, a wide border of white, glistening sand dividing
them from the blue water, famed for its abundance
of turtles and sharks.
334
CHAP, vi SAVO, SOLOMON ISLANDS 335
The truth of the latter part of Savo's claim was
cruelly illustrated by the first news that greeted us
on landing. Kelo, a jolly little Savo lad who had
come home for a holiday, and was to return with
us to Norfolk Island, had just been killed by a shark
when bathing ! Shark worship is not universal here,
but at least one man is recorded to have had a
shark-familiar, to whom he would swim out fearlessly
with food, and who would come at his call. And the
natives say his intimate relations with the creature
were the result of some ancestral connection with it.
The heat of Savo is also proverbial. Of course the
sun alone in Lat. 9 S. has considerable power ; but
here added to this is subterranean heat. In the very
centre of the island is the crater of a still active
volcano, which is filled with smoking sulphur.
Besides this there are numerous boiling springs
which create mud pools hot enough for the natives
to cook their food over them and dispense with
the necessity for firewood.
I only spent one day in Savo, and on that
particular occasion the heat was not so overwhelming
as I had feared to find it. Indeed, when we got
under shelter of a canoe-house one could imagine
one felt something like a cool breeze.
But for the luxuriant vegetation, the jagged peaks
which crop up abruptly all over the island and the
precipitous ravines would give a wild and eerie effect ;
but creepers, bushes, and trees conspire to clothe
every spot and soften down all the sharp points and
sudden descents, making only beautiful contrasts of
light and shade.
A casual visitor does not at once differentiate the
true Savoan from his neighbours, but one has not to
336 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT .PART m
stay long to discover him. Out of the four here
illustrated, two are wearing native sunshades of
plaited grass, not very unlike those of Santa Cruz.
The Savoan appearance and demeanour are dis-
tinctive ; it is said that for true, old-world courtesy he
has few equals in Melanesia.
But especially is his language a thing apart. In
philological circles there is a serious opinion extant
that the language of Savo is a descendant of that
spoken by the long-forgotten aborigines of Melanesia,
the men who were in possession of the island in those
far-away days of which no historical record exists,
when our brown people came sailing in strange ships
from what lands we know not, came to settle down in
the Pacific, and by degrees to take the place of those
they found there. A very strange and thought-pro-
voking fact that in this one small spot a language
probably Papuan in origin is still spoken, with a
grammatical construction entirely distinct from those
of Melanesia or Polynesia. It will probably be
obsolete in the not very distant future, for the language
of Gela is that most commonly used here now, and
known to all the natives ; and doubtless in its turn this
will give place to the hideous mongrel jargon which is
rapidy encroaching everywhere on the vernacular, and
called "pidgin-English."
Handed down from antiquity would also appear to
be the knowledge of a seemingly hypnotic power
possessed by a certain few Savoans. With the ghost-
shooter and the vele material charms are regarded as
essential, and though the malevolent object in Savo
is similar, the method in this respect varies. It has
been sometimes exercised for purposes of murder, and
probably is still a screen for robbery. Occasionally it
SAVO.
FOUR SAVOANS.
P. 33 6.
CHAP, vi SAVO, SOLOMON ISLANDS 337
may be employed purely in mischief. It is generally
practised on a lonely nocturnal wanderer. He meets
a man who fixes his eyes on him, and stretches his
hand towards the other's face. The victim im-
mediately falls down in an unconscious condition, and
when found his body is rigid, his limbs stiff. Attempts
have been made upon traders, doubtless with the
motive of theft, but without success, and the natives of
Gela are said to be equally recalcitrant. They share
with the white man a mana that is superior to the
mesmeric witchcraft.
Instead of regarding themselves, as might be
expected, as closely related to the people of Guadal-
canar, who live, so to speak, just over the way, a most
cordial mutual hatred has for long existed. Now that
Savo is accepting Christianity the antagonism will
inevitably die down by degrees.
It is noteworthy that on our visit the teachers
brought to the Bishop the result of the first " Church
collections " that Savo had ever contributed, and bows
and arrows were the principal coins ! The recognized
method of poisoning weapons in Savo was to thrust
the spear or arrow into a man's dead body, and leave
it there for several days.
Savo is small, but her vengeance does not go
unwreaked for that. On a certain occasion a party of
Savo men paid a visit to a place named Gao, with
which they believed themselves to be at peace. They
were entertained hospitably and merrily ; the Gao
people fell to admiring of the Savo spears and arrows,
their value was discussed, bargains were effected, and
the weapons changed hands. Then without warning
the Gao hosts turned enemies, and the defenceless
Savoan party was massacred in cold blood.
z
338 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
How was revenge to be accomplished ? Mes-
sengers were sent in canoes to the island of Bugotu
with a large sum of money, and instructions how it
might be earned. The hire was accepted, and Gao
received a surprise party from Bugotu, whose errand
was recognized too late. A full tally of lives was
secured to equalize the losses of Savo, and one man
was carried away uninjured.
The next thing was the triumphant arrival at Savo
of a Bugotu war-canoe, containing about fifteen men,
of whom three stood brandishing shields and toma-
hawks, swaying and gesticulating in time to the
paddling. Amongst them was a prisoner, brought
whole and unharmed, as a proof of the deed's accom-
plishment, and a bonne-bouche for Savo. Two or
three hours later the Bugotu canoe returned with one
passenger the less, but stuck upon their weapons
were portions of a human body a heart on a spear-
point to hang as trophies of the day upon the trees
around their houses.
Until gunpowder found its way into the Solomon
Islands, Savo had wonderful citadels of refuge in the
tops of trees. None of these ingenious tree-houses
now remain, but beside me lies an account of a visit
paid to one in the year 1879 by members of the
Mission, which serves as a specimen.
A short, steep path led to the brow of a precipitous
cliff some hundred and fifty feet above the sea. On a
small level space at the cliff edge grew a large tree,
the lower branches of which had all been lopped off.
Up in the highest boughs could be seen a well-built
house, framed with bamboo, its A-shaped roof thatched
with sago palm leaf. It towered like a huge dove-
cote 60 feet above the ground.
CHAP, vi SAVO, SOLOMON ISLANDS 339
A very shaky ladder, made of rope-like creepers
twined together, led up to the entrance, which the
natives, young and old, men and women, some heavily-
laden too, scaled with the agile ease of monkeys.
With much more difficulty it was ascended by the
white men, who were well repaid for their pains.
The outlook was glorious, and the house was strong
enough when gained. How the bamboo platform
and framework was erected there they were fain to
acknowledge " a mystery." The house itself was
found to measure 31 by 13^ feet. In front and
at the back was a stage or look-out, extending
about 6 feet that in front actually overhanging
the precipice ! The walls were low, the roof long and
sloping. The floor was especially admired, it being
composed of split bamboos, woven together into a
strong plait.
Inside the house was the inevitable oven, or
ground fireplace, a circle of stones enclosing a sub-
stantial earth-foundation, upon which the fire was laid.
An ample stock of nuts and water secured against
starvation, in addition to which was a long fibre rope
for drawing up provisions from below. The only
other furniture was a menacing pile of rough stones
preserved as ammunition to be hurled down on the
heads of enemies who approached near enough.
It needed but a rumour of head-hunters to send
the villagers hot-foot up the ladders into their tree-
houses, the last to ascend drawing the ladder in after
him ; and once there they could tranquilly defy every
opposing force. Every opposing force as they then
knew it, but the demon balls that came from far away,
whistling death, proved even these tree-nests to be
pregnable, and from that day their doom was sealed,
340 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
and they gave place to the primitive fortresses afforded
by rocks and holes in the ground.
The dead are disposed of in Savo as in Ulawa,
being thrown into the sea ; chiefs only are buried.
These great men have other privileges ; I heard of
one who rejoices in thirty wives ; they will be a
stumbling-block to his acceptance of the New
Teaching.
We know little as yet about the ways and thoughts
of the real Savoans. Only I have heard of a fateful
snake, to see whom was of yore to die. But that
snake has vanished.
A little of our time in Savo was occupied in
counting eggs brush turkeys' eggs, of which our
ship was ready to purchase any quantity at the rate
of three a penny, without rejection. A certain pro-
portion always prove fit to cook, and if mixed with
herbs, etc., make fair imitation omelettes when no
other eggs are obtainable.
That is another thing for which Savo is famous
brush turkeys, but I knew nothing about these
creatures till I met them there. They are undeniably
of the queerest. The natives insist that there are no
males amongst them : all alike lay eggs ! The Savo
beach is deep sand, and this is their laying-ground.
The bird is reddish-brown, about the size of a moor-
hen. It never flies except in emergency. In the
day the turkeys flock together in the bush, but at
night come down to the beach to lay their eggs which
are large out of proportion to the parent's size in the
warm sand. They burrow a hole, often very deep,
deposit the egg, cover it with the sand, and from that
moment take no more interest in it. The soft sand
makes an excellent incubator, and, if undisturbed, the
SAVO.
A PORTION OF THE BEACH GUADALCANAR IN THE DISTANCE.
A TYPICAL HOUSE.
P. 341
CHAP, vi SAVO, SOLOMON ISLANDS 341
chick will hatch and emerge, and manage to shift for
itself from the beginning.
The natives divide up the beach into allotments,
and every man knows his own patch of sand. Daily
with a wooden spade he digs for eggs, finding them
sometimes at a depth of no less than 5 feet. A
fair number are duly left for hatching, for the birds are
highly valued. It is said to be a far more heinous
crime to kill a brush turkey than to murder a
mere man !
The women in Savo were conspicuous by their
absence on the occasion of our visit. Presumably
they were all in the bush, working in their gardens.
One only I caught sight of, peeping at me from
behind the grass screen that shaded her house door.
I could not help thinking as I neared her of primitive
man as pictured for us in Punch's " Prehistoric Peeps."
Her hair was a wild yellow mop, under which dark
eyes glittered Skye-terrier-wise, and her grin extended
right across her face when we shook hands. Her
costume was a poetic fringe of grass. I think our
interest must have been mutual, for though she had
seemed to be in the midst of cooking, I noticed her
long afterwards following us at a wary distance.
CHAPTER VII
BUGOTU (YSABEL), SOLOMON ISLANDS
History Natural features Scourged by head-hunters Visit to a
village Story of a raid Tappa- cloth A rescued "head"
Cannibalism Chiefs Wizardry Story of Bera, chief Soga,
chief Marsden Manekalea Figirima, chief Charms and
counter-charms Bonito-catching Children's games A pygmy
race Fireflies The frigate-bird Gardens of the Ghosts Story
of Kia.
SAINT YSABEL ! Thus was Bugotu named of the
Spaniards the first land that gladdened the eyes
of those intrepid explorers, and it was the first glimpse
of Melanesia ever gained by Europeans. The
expedition had started on S. Isabel's Day (Nov. 19),
1566; and though it was on the Feast of S. Polonia
that they landed here (Feb. 9, 1567), it was to the
patroness of the voyage that the first discovery must
be dedicated. As one reads the journal of Gallego, over
the 350 years since it was penned still is borne a thrill
of the doubt, the hope, suspense, fear, joy, and
thankfulness that surged successively through those
brave hearts. Whatever they lacked in sympathy
and pity, they lacked nothing in courage.
When the seaman aloft pronounced the " elevated
mass," that the chief pilot half doubted whether he
could detect in the south, to be land, the Te Deum
was sung. As they neared it, the mountains seemed
342
BUGOTU.
ALL AMONG THE MANGROVES.
P. 343-
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 343
very high and the coast so long that they thought
they had found a new continent. The utmost
difficulty was experienced in steering among the
surrounding shoals, and an anchorage at first seemed
impossible to find. Those of us who know what
it is to watch out for "green patches" in uncharted
and (what is worse) incorrectly charted waters, to
crawl, and stop, and turn, and twist among reefs and
shoals, to listen with tingling ears to the continuous
splosh of the lead and cry of the leadsman, " Mark
five, sir! ... By the deep four !" those, and only
those, can fully appreciate the Spaniards' position.
But suddenly a miracle !
Although it was midday, over the entrance of the
reef a star appeared to us ! ... We were cheered in spirit,
and became more hopeful. As we proceeded, little by little
the water deepened. . . . And presently we entered the
harbour with the star over the bow, and we anchored ! . . .
The harbour we named Saint Ysabel of the Star, and we
named the island Saint Ysabel !
It lies about twenty-five miles to the north-east
of Gela, and is nearly a hundred miles long, but very
narrow, like Mala. The usual backbone of hills
forms a watershed for many streams, and the bush
here, as everywhere, is luxuriant. The interior lacks
the magnificence and grandeur of, say, Guadalcanar,
but the coast is very lovely. The varying depths
and shallows, which spelt peril to the Spaniards, give
wonderful contrasts and varieties of colour to the
water, and countless islets, vividly green with man-
groves, and bordered each with a strip of bright,
tawny-gold sand, afford a fresh feast to the eye,
which in Melanesia can never go hungry.
The island is sparsely populated, containing, it is
344 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
computed, scarcely more than 2000 souls. There is
no doubt that, had head-hunting continued, it would
ere long have been completely desolated, for from
without and from within was poor Bugotu scourged by
these human beasts of prey. Here every little new
canoe must be crowned with a human head, while the
death of a chief or the launch of a war-canoe demanded
forty or fifty. The proof and ground of a great man's
mana was, like Sir Christopher Wren's epitaph, to be
reckoned by the eye " Circumspice / " It was shown
forth by the rows and rows of skulls that magnified his
house. So chiefs hunted for heads, dead or alive,
with the tireless zeal of collectors in all ages.
And to Bugotu were wont to come head-hunting
fleets from distant islands, with whom there might be
no previous quarrel, to land, to massacre, and to take
flight once more, all in an hour or two of the early
morning. A league of defence among adjacent
villages was impracticable, because long years of
habitual treachery had engendered habitual distrust,
and every man knew that he and every other man
was ready to buy his own safety by betraying either
his own people or those of a neighbouring village.
The last actual raid on record here occurred on
Trinity Sunday in the year 1900 or 1901, and the
murderers were from New Georgia, far away to the
south-west. It was a Christian village that suffered,
and one that we visited in Pirihandi Bay, as pretty a
spot as could well be found. Cheerful, hospitable folk
were they the women looking gaudy and quaint,
with brilliant calico petticoats over thick grass girdles,
which gave a very comical, almost Tudor-hoop effect !
Tobacco and betel-nut banished all shyness, and
among the presents I received there was what I can
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 345
only call a scent -sachet about 16 inches square,
a wrapping of dried leaves enclosing sweet-smelling
grass, and tied with creeper-fibre. Returning to the
ship that day in a deluge of rain, my kind brown
friends taught me the value of a native mat, which
served me effectively as umbrella and cloak combined.
But what about that other day, when the visitors
came from New Georgia, and not from Norfolk
Island ?
The villagers were assembling for their Sunday
Matins, when from the hill they espied three canoes
passing the mouth of the bay. Two of these were
large war -canoes, the third a small one. The
occupants were paddling along quietly enough, and a
red handkerchief was fluttering from each. That was
the signal arranged by two of the powerful Bugotu
chiefs, Soga and Rona, to indicate that the canoes
contained friends and not enemies. The canoes were
making for Cockatoo Island, quite near by.
The Pirihandi people discussed the unexpected
arrival. Judging by the signal, the canoes must be
from Vulega, where a party of the Pirihandi men had
lately gone. They were not expected back yet, but
perhaps something had befallen them and the visitors
were bringing news.
When service was over, Julian, the teacher, with
five companions (including a chiefs son, just
baptized), took canoe, determined to go and hear
what the visitors had to tell, and whither they were
further bound. They pushed off, and soon dis-
appeared round the point in the direction of Cockatoo
Island, while the villagers sat about gossiping and
smoking, awaiting their return. It was perhaps an
hour later that the three strange canoes again crossed
346 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
the mouth of the bay in the eyes of the people,
travelling now in the opposite direction, and with
haste.
Uneasiness was felt in Pirihandi when the fourth
canoe did not reappear. The chief especially was
disturbed, and he determined to set off alone and
make certain if all were well. The people followed
him down to the beach, there to wait anxiously.
Very soon he came paddling back to them in
grievous distress. All was but too clear. There on
Cockatoo Island, between two palms (the exact spot
was shown me) lay six headless bodies. A loud wail-
ing rent the air when the tidings were disclosed, and
a party of men went off laden with mats and cloth
to the islet, to return with the piteous corpses, which
received Christian burial on the hillside that same
day before sunset. But six heads had been borne
away in triumph to New Georgia.
I spoke of cloth and mats being used to shroud
the bodies. Bugotu is proud of its tappa-cloth, the
manufacture of which is carried on in many islands.
It is made, as is well known, from the bark of the
paper mulberry tree, which is soaked and beaten
long and hard with a short, heavy club. Bishop
Patteson, it will be remembered, was killed by a blow
from a tappa club. The strips are welded together to
any required width, and then very often a design is
stencilled upon it. In substance tappa-cloth is like a
thin and rather shoddy felt, but it is serviceable in
many ways.
It will have been noticed that only the heads of
the six men were carried away. I know nothing of
the customs of New Georgia, but the Bugotu head-
hunters would have acted similarly. If there had
COCKATOO ISLAND.
"BY NO MEANS A MERE FIGURE-HEAD" A BUGOTU ClIIEK.
]'. 346
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 347
been boys amongst them, such would probably have
been carried away as live heads, to be useful to their
captors until their heads were needed.
Not in Bugotu, but after a service in Guadalcanar,
my attention was drawn to one of the communicants,
a young man named Barnabas, who, when a little lad,
was captured and carried off by New Georgian head-
hunters, where he was kept alive and treated well
enough, but with the ever-present knowledge that
whenever another head was required, his might supply
the want. After he had been in exile for several
years, the tale was told to a member of the Mission,
who made a representation on the subject to the next
man-of-war that visited these parts. The matter was
taken up. Upon official inquiry being made in New
Georgia, it was found that the kidnapped boy still
lived, and he was restored to his home and friends.
During our stay in Bugotu another man was
pointed out to me, whose face was horribly disfigured
by a long, deep scar which seemed to cut it in half.
It was the work of head-hunters in his childhood, who
had for once failed to accomplish their desire.
Cannibalism is not unknown in Bugotu. Human
flesh is occasionally consumed for enjoyment, but
always by stealth, the practice being reprobated even
by the heathen.
The Bugotu chiefs are by no means mere figure-
heads. Their will and their word are law, and they
have power over the lives of their own people. " I
speak, and they do," as one of them remarked simply.
If one chief wishes to propitiate another, he will present
him with a boy, who becomes the recipient's absolute
property, to be kept for work, given away, sold, or
sacrificed to the tindalo at his owner's whim.
348 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
The sacrificial system here is similar to that de-
scribed in Gela. When the heads of enemies killed in
fight are captured, a small portion of the flesh of each
is burnt in sacrifice. But human sacrifices are in-
frequent, and they say the practice has only been
introduced among them from the islands farther west.
If a man falls ill who can afford to call in the
" doctor," he summons the wizard, whose first duty is
to find out which ghost is responsible for the malady.
The method is simple. At the end of a string a weight
is hung, and the wizard pronounces the names of all
those who have recently died, watching the string as
he does so. At the name of the author of the trouble
the string oscillates. The next thing to learn, and
this is done by the same means, is what object offered
will propitiate the offended tindalo say, a yam-mash,
fish, or pig ? And if the weight hangs obdurately still,
in the last resort the suggestion of a human life is
made. Whatever is indicated as being acceptable
must be laid in offering on the spot where the ghost's
earthly remains are interred, and is it necessary to
add ? the illness subsides !
Among the first of the chiefs of Bugotu with whom
the Mission came in contact was one Bera, a very
savage ruffian, whose worst barbarities were the off-
spring of his mother's brain, she being a terrible old
hag, who might have served as model for the character
of "Gagool" herself!
It pleased Bera (and his mother) to appoint as his
successor his grandson Kikolo, a quiet, well-disposi-
tioned young fellow, who had already joined the
Mission school as a hearer. But shortly afterwards
signs of wasting and decline were visible in the youth,
and Bera was almost beside himself with anxiety.
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 349
Curiously enough, he seems to have attached no
blame to the New Teaching with which Kikolo had
connected himself; but, making up his mind that his
grandson had offended the local tindalo, he bore him
hither and thither, from islet to islet, in a vain en-
deavour to escape out of his jurisdiction. Kikolo's
weakness increased, and at last in despair he was
brought back to Bera's own house, that there he might
die and be buried in chiefly fashion. But one last
resource remained, and that should be tried. The
tindalo might perchance yet be appeased by a human
sacrifice.
A mother was working in her garden with her
little child beside her, three or four years of age. She
never noticed the stealthy approach of one of Bera's
men, who, from a short distance away, attracted the
infant's attention, and lured it towards him. As soon
as it could safely be done, the child was seized and
carried off in a canoe to where Bera impatiently
awaited the fulfilment of his command.
The poor little innocent was borne into the presence
of the dying youth, and its throat was cut so that the
blood flowed around him, while Bera cried to the
tindalo to accept the child's life in lieu of his grand-
son's. But the same day Kikolo died.
On hearing of the death, the teacher hurried to
the chief, and offered to make a coffin and bury the
body. Something induced Bera to accede to his
suggestion, but he reckoned without his mother, who
insisted on the old ceremonies being performed.
A large, deep grave was dug according to custom,
in which the corpse was placed upright. Then Kikolo's
wife and child were dragged thither, strangled on the
brink, and cast into the grave. All the dead man's
350 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
goods followed his rifle, his money, and so forth.
Every one owning allegiance to Bera next advanced
bearing an offering of some sort, which was in like
manner thrown into the grave. Then the earth was
filled in up to the dead man's neck, the head protruding
from the ground. Round this fires were lighted, and
kept burning until the flesh was cinders and the skull
bare. This was then carried to the great canoe-house,
and there deposited, henceforth to receive worship and
sacrifice as a tindalo.
The dead man's property coco palms and banana
groves were all hacked down, a heap of stones was
piled over the grave, and the period of howling and
wailing set in. An expedition for compensatory heads
would be set afoot as soon as possible, for until these
are obtained, no one leaves the village or resumes
ordinary life.
Besides the destruction of his property (a custom
observed in common with Guadalcanar), there is in
Bugotu a taboo laid at a man's death upon the places
and things he commonly used e.g. his bathing-place,
the fountain where he drew his water, the landing-
place for his canoe, and the paths he most frequented.
The number of things which become taboo is pro-
portioned to the importance of the deceased. The
relations signify their grief in the usual manner, by
abstaining from washing, from cutting their hair, and
from changing their loin-cloth, and also from eating some
special food it may be coco-nut, betel, yam, or taro.
Before old Bera died (in 1884) the principles of
the New Teaching had begun to make their influence
felt upon him, although he never became a catechumen.
When he felt his end was near, he called some of his
people and pronounced his last commands.
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 351
" Let no one be killed on my account. Do no
damage to food or property when I am dead. Let no
trees be cut down or houses burnt because of me.
There has been enough of this. I did it myself when
I succeeded to the power with which I am now part-
ing. Yes, and I have often done so. Soga and
Nambe " [two inferior chiefs, brothers] " are to succeed
me, and to divide my power. I charge them to see
these commands carried out."
With a single exception Bera's wishes were
observed. One woman was tomahawked, but her
murderer, instead of being praised, was seized and
heavily fined.
Soga and Nambe succeeded to the power, and
both asked the Mission for teachers. Nambe, indeed,
married a Christian wife, became himself a hearer,
and tried to help on the work. But Soga was at first
afraid of it, and, when he fell ill, put it down to the
anger of his tindalo on account of the school. If Soga
was afraid of ghosts, however, he feared nothing else.
A man of valour and force of character, his influence
soon became paramount in the district and his rule
autocratic, his brother sinking contentedly into the
position of a village chief.
In 1886 he added immensely to his prestige by
carrying out with dclat a head-hunting raid in the
north and adding about forty skulls to his collection.
And when the Bishop arrived in the neighbourhood
shortly afterwards, a messenger came from Soga re-
questing a small present ! The Bishop decided to
pay him a personal visit, but, on nearing the house,
noticed a small red flag flying, and asked the meaning
of it.
" That shows us that the baby Soga's son has
352 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
been fed. Until he has had his morning meal, no
one may land here without payment of a fish's tooth.
But now the way is clear, and you may for the same
fish's tooth see the baby ! "
An attack of influenza gave the Bishop an oppor-
tunity of improving his acquaintance with Soga by
means of a medicine bottle. But the week following
the chief became seriously ill. Of course the suggestion
was bruited that the Bishop's medicine was responsible,
but Soga himself scouted the idea. It was the angry
tindalo again, and he left his own village to get out of
the ghost's power, and removed with all his people
to an islet off the south coast. The Bishop again
visited him, and boldly proposed a dose of quinine
and brandy, which he had himself found beneficial.
Soga was willing, so the Bishop mixed it ; but it was
considered necessary for himself, the teacher, and
every one in the house to take a sip out of the coco-
nut shell, to show there was no harm in it, before it
was handed to the chief. Then, with a very simple
explanation of the object in doing so, the Divine
blessing was invoked upon the medicine.
Soga's recovery ensued, and his goodwill was
ensured. He sent a large present to the Bishop,
gave encouragement to a school in his village by
lending a house, and consented to allow two boys to
come to Norfolk Island.
The next year he took another forward step by
ordering that all the children of the village should
attend the school. Something, however, happened to
revive his old fears of the tindalo, for a few months
later a handsome contribution of yams to the missionary
was accompanied by a polite notification that he no
longer desired a school, for other chiefs who had
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 353
allowed schools had died from the effects ! A further
interview with the Bishop, however (which Soga tried
hard to avoid), resulted in a renewed permission for the
school's continuance.
When 1888 dawned it found Soga amongst the
most regular of the Mission scholars. He had put
away all his wives but one, and when his old friends
visited him with the old purpose to bargain for
heads they found a new Soga, who would have
nothing to do with the traffic. In 1889 he was
baptized, with his wife and about seventy of his
people. He was able to read fluently and intelligently,
and to write well also. Indeed, the Book of books
fascinated him, and he would sit for hours poring
over it.
The following year Soga determined to revisit
the scene of one of his last head-hunting raids in a
different capacity. So the fleet of canoes was again
prepared, and Soga took his men thither on a dancing
expedition. The terrified villagers fled into the bush
at first glimpse of the canoes, and only a few of the
bravest were in sight when the chief landed.
" Where is Kahijagi [the biggest chief] ? " cried
Soga. "Where are all your great men? Bid them
come to me ! See, there is no weapon in my hand.
We come peaceably. Of old my intention was blood-
shed, but now you need fear me no longer. That is
all done with, for I am now one of Christ's men, and
I want to make friends, so I have brought my men to
dance for you."
Reassured, the chiefs ventured near and accepted
the gifts Soga had brought in reconciliation. Then he
persuaded them to sit down and hear about the
wonderful New Teaching which put away enmity.
2 A
354 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
Soga was changed, yet he was the same man still.
His force of character became a most valuable asset,
and he was none the less a chief because a Christian.
He took the deepest interest in the progress of the
school, and personally helped every day in the teaching.
He also threw himself whole-heartedly into the busi-
ness of translating fresh portions of the Bible.
An unpleasant task lay before Soga when a head-
teacher, of excellent character, was accused to him of
assaulting a man with a canoe paddle. But new convert
as he was, he did not flinch from his duty as a chief to
try the case.
He arrived at the village concerned with an escort
of five large canoes, beautifully ornamented, manned
by about thirty men, all paddling together in perfect
time. A new mat was spread on the beach for the
great man ; around him his bodyguard stuck their
spears and tomahawks in the sand and hung their
shields upon them.
Accuser and accused were brought before him,
and happily the teacher frankly confessed his fault. It.
was in a moment of passion, he said, and he was truly
penitent. This being so, Soga inflicted no punish-
ment, but boldly and unsparingly reprimanded him
before the people for so forgetting his position and
his profession.
Then the court broke up, and the evening was
spent in a typically Melanesian manner, with feast and
song, smoke and chatter.
On another occasion (it was in the year 1894)
Soga's own son was found guilty of wrong-doing.
His father fined him heavily to about the value of
j, a large sum for a native and instead of himself
receiving the fine, according to chiefly wont, it was
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 355
handed to the native deacon, who purchased with it a
canoe for church work in Bugotu.
Behind the village a large garden was fenced in
with coral and fringed with pineapples. Here wrong-
doers were set to labour as a punishment in cases
where a fine did not meet the case. It goes without
saying that sometimes misapprehensions occurred.
An accusation was brought in against a man for
robbery who lived forty miles away. Soga ordered
him to appear before him, but the man defied his
messenger. "Soga is a Christian now," he sneered;
" Christians don't kill ! "
But Soga was still Soga, and not to be braved
with impunity. He promptly dispatched a war-
canoe, with forty men, who had orders unfailingly
to bring the offender before him. These did their
work, and added something on their own account.
Having captured their man, they set fire to his
house, cut down all his trees, devoured all his
roots, and conveyed him to Soga. The chief de-
cided that he had been punished sufficiently, but
gave him a scolding and a warning that he was not
likely to forget, and then allowed him to make his
way back.
Head-hunting raids still occurred occasionally, and
when one fine day in 1897 a war-canoe from New
Georgia, containing sixty men, but no boys, landed in
Pirihandi Bay, suspicion was aroused in spite of their
assurances that they only came to pay a friendly call
and wanted nothing but food. Later on the real object
of their visit was proved by a headless body in a bay
on the opposite side of the peninsula, but the people
were wise enough to send messengers to Soga without
waiting till their suspicions were verified. At the
356 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
same time they busied themselves in preparing food
for their uninvited guests.
When the messengers reached Soga and told their
tale, his first answer was a refusal to " come down and
see them."
" I shall not come down," he said ; " I don't want
to see the New Georgia people. They are no friends
of mine ; you can tell them to go away."
" No, they are not your friends, and they are not
ours," was the plaintive reply, "and we don't know
what to do with them. You are our father, and if you
will come and talk to them, your words will have
weight. Come, Father ! "
Soga was prevailed upon, but he took strong
defensive measures, sending messengers to all the
surrounding villages bidding them arm and prepare
to join his force early on the morrow. When Soga
reached the entrance of Pirihandi Bay, it was in
company with twelve canoes full of men. Beside me
lies a translation of Soga's own account of this affair,
which I will transcribe :
There must have been 150 of us, and I think there
would be 70 or 80 men in ambush on the land. We came
down the bay, and did not land, but lay off the shore,
outside their canoes.
I called out, "Where is your chief?" and Kanijama
came out with spear and shield, and threatened me with his
spear. But I took no notice of that, and I said to him,
" What are you doing here ? You come here to disturb us
and kill our people. We don't come and trouble you. You
leave us alone, and we will leave you alone. We want
to be friends with every one, but if you come in this way,
we must punish you. My men are all round you, and if
I say the word, you will all be killed ; not one shall leave
this place alive."
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 357
With that Kanijama looked round, and he saw that
some people had come out of the bush behind them, and
were standing with their spears and fire-arms raised, waiting
for the signal ; and he knew there were more at their back.
Then he looked our way, and saw that all our men were
ready ; and he stood silent, and so did all his men. Then,
without a word, he came down to the water's edge with a
rifle, and fired it off in the air over our heads.
When the Chief began to fire, his men began to fire in
the air too ; and then my men began to get angry, and
some of them began to fire in the air as well. So I got
down out of the canoe, and went ashore, saying, " Stop, all
of you ! Stop, my men ! Kanijama, stop your men ! " So
they all stopped, and when it was quiet we went into the
canoe-house. All the New Georgian men were there, but
all my men stopped outside, and only two or three of us
went into the house.
Then I talked to him. I said, " Why do you still come
troubling Bugotu ? Do you not know that this is a for-
bidden place ? We do not follow your heathen ways, to go
and kill men, and take their heads. We live at peace, and
will have no bloodshed here. God forbids it. We follow
Him, and this is His land now, and we tell you to keep
away from us. But if you don't listen to me, the fault will
lie with you, and I must kill you to save my people."
Then he said, " Father, we did not come to kill you here,
but only the bush people. We know that this is your land,
and we mean no harm to you."
But he was lying to me, for I know what he had said at
Russell Island, and besides, that same morning he had
snatched two Pirihandi boys, but the second chief and the
teacher took them away again from them.
So I said to him, " It is all my land, and the bush people
are mine too. And now you have killed one of Figirima's
men, and have brought his blood into the Church of God.
You have done very wrong, and I must kill you all."
He was very frightened, and some of his men began to
weep. One man, a rather old one, cried out aloud, and
shook all over. And then another man got up and said to
358 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
him, " Why cry ? If the Chief kills us, he kills us. We are
in his power, and he can do what he likes, to save us or
kill us."
All this time my men were standing round the house
waiting for orders, and the New Georgia men were sitting
sulking inside, for they could see that they could do nothing:
we were four to one.
Then one said to me, " You are a friend of mine ; you
will not hurt me."
He was my friend in old days, and is a Bugotu man and
a relation of mine. But he was carried off in a raid, and
has married among them, and he has become worse than
them, for he shows them the way to come and attack us.
So I said to him, " You are my relation, and you were my
friend, but I shall kill you as well as them."
So he was silent. Then I said to their chief, " Now you
know my mind, and I tell you that if it had been a few
years ago, not one of you would have been living now to hear
me speak. But I have learnt to know and serve God, and
it will be well for you if you come to know Him too ; and
because I am a changed man, I give you all your lives this
time. Food shall be given you, and you shall go in peace,
but if you come again you shall not escape so lightly."
Then they were all comforted, for they had expected to
be killed at any moment. All their weapons were lying on
the ground, and no man attempted to take them to defend
himself. Then Kanijama gave me a sacred breast-ring, but
I gave him nothing in return ; and he gave the second chief
a shield. I sent for the food that was cooked, and then we
dismissed them. When they were well on their way, we
went home again.
Afterwards I heard that they said to the Russell Island
people, " We were all dead men : why did he not kill us ? "
Soga's last work involved a ten days' voyage in a
canoe to make peace between two hostile tribes. It
was successful, but before he could reach home the
chiefs last illness had begun, and both he and his
people realized its serious nature. Most tenderly was
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 359
he nursed and watched over, but he would not allow
the daily life of the village to be disorganized on his
account. The daily services in church, the morning
baths must all go on as usual. All agree that he had
felt he was dying, though he never thus spoke of it.
But several times he said, " My children, I am going
to leave you, but we shall meet again." His own son,
Ellison, has written in plain, unvarnished words the
story of that last week of the chiefs life. I will copy
the final part from a translation.
In the evening we went to church again, and he had
prayers in the house, as he had done morning and evening
since he was taken ill. When we came back he said, " I
think I am better, for all my pains are gone, and I feel
stronger." And he rubbed his shoulders and his body, and
laughed, and said, " There is nothing wrong here now. To-
morrow I shall bathe ! " But we were doubtful, for he could
not lie down, and his cough was very bad.
When it was quite dark outside, he said, " Put out the
light, and all of you go to sleep, for I too will sleep." And
they all lay down and slept, but we three still kept watch.
He did not sleep much, for his cough kept him awake, but
he lay back propped up, and was quite quiet.
In the middle of the night he startled us by saying,
" Who is this ? There is a white man beside me, ruddy and
beautiful. Who is it ? I do not know him."
With that he got up, and went to where Ben was lying,
and he found him asleep ; and then he came to me, and
I helped him to get back to the bed, for he was very weak.
It was quite dark, and we saw nothing, and we did not
answer him, for we did not know what to say. We thought
perhaps he had seen a spirit.
He sat up for a short time, and said, " Give me the
matches. I will smoke a little." And we gave him his
pipe. He did not smoke long, but gave the pipe back to
me, and he lay back. Then he began to talk again about
this man. " I do not know him ; he is very beautiful ! "
And very soon he lay quiet. I was fanning him.
360 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
Presently he said, " My children, do not grieve and be
troubled. This is my day !"
It was just about cock-crow, and I saw a change in him.
They lit the lamp, and we saw he was breathing his last.
It was not like the death we know ; it was just as if he
were falling asleep.
So passed away Monislaws Soga, the famous old
head-hunter.
The white priest had been already sent for from
Gela, but could not reach the village until after the
chief's death. He hurried to his house, where no
howling and shrieking were to be heard and the
broken-hearted widow craved for comfort.
" I then got up to take my leave," writes the missionary.
" The house was dark, but while I was talking I had a con-
sciousness of a man standing behind me, and when I stood
up, I found I had been sitting almost under the body all the
time. It was suspended from the rafters of the house by
strong native ropes, and a man stood at the head, and another
at the feet. They were changed at intervals, for watch had
been kept thus day and night ever since he died ; and except
for the singularity of the suspension of the body, no watch
could have been more solemn over any crowned prince.
"When night fell there was a change, and for two or
three hours the dirge was raised, but in subdued tones.
It was a plaintive wail, reciting his virtues, his deeds, and
sayings, sung only by men ; the very tone of the chant
carried sorrow with it. The body was coffined in a new
canoe, decorated with mother-of-pearl ; this was lined with
quantities of tappa-cloth and English calico, and the whole
was wrapped in many layers of each. A new quilt was
laid over all as a pall."
Directly after the funeral the chieftaincy had to be
arranged. Nambe declined the honour of succeeding
his brother, and the power was divided between the
two men, Lonsdale and Ellison, whom Soga had
designated as his successors. Ellison is now a senior
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 361
teacher as well as an influential chief, and is studying
for Holy orders. A cross marks his father's grave.
Translated, the words upon it run thus :
OUR CHIEF
MONISLAWS SOGA
15111 AUG. 1898.
HE WAS FILLED WITH LOVE.
Among the Christians, the chiefs and teachers are
generally excellent friends, and it is not uncommon
to find the former helping regularly in the schools.
But when a teacher is placed in a heathen district,
where the chiefs are opposed to the law of righteous-
ness, he needs the courage of a John the Baptist.
And such courage is not unknown in our annals.
One Marsden Manekalea came thus into conflict
in Bugotu with a heathen chief named Lambi ; for
although he lived on the opposite side of the bay
from Marsden's village, the latter fearlessly rebuked
him on his return from a head-hunting raid. The
chief in fury threatened to attack the Christian village,
and his purpose came to the teacher's ears.
" No, his quarrel is with me, not with all of you.
I will go myself to see him," said Marsden simply.
"If he kills me it is no great matter, for it is instead
of the many."
But some of the school people said among them-
selves, " We will go and die with him ! " And so
they paddled across too.
Lambi saw them coming, and they found him sur-
rounded by armed men, who were under orders to kill
Marsden only. The latter walked straight up to the
chief with the plain question, " Why are you angry ? "
362 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
" You have insulted me," blurted the chief, taken
aback.
" No, I have not insulted you," was the calm reply
" but I did tell you, and I tell you still, that this
hunting for men's heads is wrong."
While Marsden was speaking, one of Lambi's men
had crept up behind him with a tomahawk, ready to
strike when Lambi gave the signal. The teacher,
who was aware of it, took out his pipe and turned
abruptly round upon him with the inquiry, " Have
you got a light ? "
The would-be murderer, astounded and con-
fused, dropped his tomahawk, and after some more
quiet talk the chief allowed the teacher to return
unharmed, and the matter passed over.
When I visited Bugotu it was very interesting
to see the province where Soga held sway and the
villages where the various incidents recorded occurred ;
but place names on paper when multiplied are not
illuminating, and I have therefore for the most part
withheld them.
The priest-in-charge of Bugotu (who died at his
post in 1908) told us of an adventurous call he had
made at a remote bush village, hitherto unvisited by
any white man, but whose chief, Figirima, had been
reported favourable to the new teaching. A walk
of ten hours with a few native companions brought
them to Figirima's village, and before a meal could
be prepared the white man was sent for by the chief.
The little party was conducted into a large house
screened off at one end, where they sat on the ground
on one side, and Figirima's men opposite them, all
silent. Presently came a deep voice from behind
the screen, " What have you come for ? " Etiquette
CHAP, vir BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 363
forbade the great man's too readily exhibiting himself
before the eyes of strangers. Answer was given
that they had come in order to make his acquaintance.
Whereupon a civil surprise was expressed and the
long journey and bad roads were commented on.
He was clearly honoured and flattered by the compli-
ment paid him, and showed his sense of it by inviting
the visitors to stay two nights in his village.
The following morning Figirima condescended to
become visible, and graciously accepted the few small
gifts they had brought. In return he presented them
with a pig and the comprehensive message, " Tell
all the world I am the white man's friend." At the
same time he was careful not to commit himself to any
promise with regard to a school. " By and by I will
visit Soga," he said, " and hear more about the Way.
It would not accord with our customs to act in haste."
It was more than a year after this, I think, that
Figirima made the great decision that he, like Soga,
would accept the ruling of the Invisible Chief and
become " one of Christ's men." But when he had
thus resolved, he resolved also that it should not be
his fault if all his neighbours did not likewise accept
the Peace Law. To which end he sent word to all
the chiefs in the vicinity that it would be a good thing
for themselves from every point of view if they
applied for schools and teachers. This was a stroke
of policy ensuring, if successful, that though he could
raid no more, at least his village could not be raided.
But the chiefs considered that indecent haste in
such a matter would be very unbecoming, and
incidentally they wanted to make sure first how much
in earnest was Figirima.
He kept quiet, wonderful to relate, for fully twelve
364 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
months, and then something made him angry. A
petty chief took occasion to raid a distant village
against which lay some old score. One or two men
were killed, a few more taken captive, and what loot
could be found was seized. With Figirima's avowedly
peaceful propaganda there seemed no vengeance to
fear, But the aggressors were mistaken.
Figirima was on fire with rage at the breaking of the
peace and determined to inflict condign punishment.
His warriors were overjoyed on learning this. The
strongest and bravest were summoned, and instructed
to go to the petty chiefs village and do their worst
without shedding a drop of blood.
They did their best. The village was unprepared
for them, and the inhabitants were driven out naked,
neck and crop, into the bush. The houses were
stripped of everything worth taking, and then burned
to the ground, the gardens were ravaged and
destroyed, the pigs and fowls seized as spoil. Then,
well laden, they returned to Figirima.
The despoiled villagers emerged from the bush to
find but one relic from the universal wreck a little
pig that had somehow escaped. Upon this animal they
bestowed the name of Vasoesole, which means " made
naked." Who could object to this small, rather
humorous comment upon their aggrievance ?
Ah, we need native ears and native intelligence to
appreciate the insult thus subtly conveyed. Had they
dared, they would have dubbed the pig Figirima out-
right. They implied it, and every one who heard under-
stood. It was Figirima who had " made naked " the
village, and he was likened to a pig.
He heard all about it, and was very wroth, but
took no active steps to avenge the insult until the
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 365
word came that young Vasoesole was being fattened
up. Then he was rather frightened as well as freshly
enraged, for in the news he read a grim significance.
There was to be a feast, and the cause for rejoicing
was to be his death.
The chief was in a pitiable fix. Nothing but
blood could possibly wipe out such an insult as this,
and he was tingling to avenge himself. But he had
promised to raid and kill no more, and he was a
quarter of a Christian already. What on earth was to
be done ?
One can almost see the poor fellow biting his
fingers in perplexity, native fashion, trying to swallow
down all the foaming threats he longed to pour forth.
But presently a brilliant thought struck him. There
was Sorusage, who was still a wicked heathen, and
loved fighting. Lucky man ! There was no reason
why he should not act as Figirima's instrument and
deal as was fitting with these miserable scoundrels.
The chief sent an oblique message to his neighbour,
who perfectly understood and was quite agreeable.
Straight away went Sorusage to the offending village
and had good sport, killing two, capturing three, and
scattering the rest of the inhabitants. Then he sent
word to Figirima that his majesty was avenged for
the insult of the little pig, and the chief, we can well
imagine, grinned complacently.
Wizards and charms play their customary part
in Bugotu village life wherever there is no school,
and possibly sometimes where there is. The crumbs
and food fragments that one drops are collected with
as much care, and for the same reason. The makers
of winds and calms, of rain and sunshine, still find
their avocation a profitable one.
366 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
It was in Bugotu not very long ago that the house
of a weather wizard was blown down by a storm
on the very day when he had manufactured and
guaranteed a calm. Was anybody's faith shaken ?
Not in the least ! What had happened was so clear.
Some person or persons unknown had been working
a counter-charm, the mana of which exceeded his own.
Unfortunate, but was he to blame ?
The catching of the favourite dainty, bonito-nsh,
is a popular pastime here as elsewhere, but the
Bugotu method of attracting them is a variant. A
bamboo scoop is carried in each canoe and plunged
into the sea, the idea being that the fish shall hear
the splashing, and, deceived into thinking it is
produced by other bonito jumping out of the water to
feed, come swimming up to share in what good things
are going.
Of a moonlight evening on the beach the children
may be seen like dusky elves playing their quaint
island games. A favourite one concerns a magic
wand, which all are supposed earnestly to desire. A
rod is rubbed with smelling plants and decorated
with rings and rattling bean-pods. The players sit
facing each other in two rows, and a boy on one side
holds the coveted wand, and beats it in time to the
following words which are chanted by all :
Dukonio faafarakonio ! [no known sense attached]
Come here, some one !
Bimbi or his wife !
Come and take away
This wizard's staff.
It is rubbed with scent,
It smells beautiful,
The rings have jingled,
The beans have rattled ;
Come and take it away !
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 367
The invitation has quite a pressing sound, but the
point of it lies in the fact that only he or she may take
away the rod who can succeed in rousing a laugh from
the side that is in possession. If they fail, a nonsense
reason for refusing the stick is invented by the leader,
and the player retires defeated. One by one they try
their luck, twisting themselves into the most grotesque
attitudes, contorting their faces, and disguising their
voices ludicrously. Often they succeed, for at least
some one is constrained to laugh, and then the stick
changes hands, and it is the turn of the victors to
chant the invitation. It is a long while before
the powers of invention are exhausted and the game
abandoned.
Among the bush villages of Bugotu is found a race
of men so small that they may fairly be termed
pygmies dear little men and women, timid of
manner, towards whom one feels as towards children.
In visiting one of these remote villages, the people
are usually found drawn up in line, serious and still,
every one with the right hand stiffly outstretched,
ready to be taken and shaken by the visitors, but
looking for all the world like a row of automatic
figures, waiting for the penny in the slot !
My gravity was seriously threatened at a con-
firmation among these little people. One tiny old man
scurried up shyly, rather in the manner of the White
Rabbit of Wonderland fame, and then could not
remember the right posture to adopt before the
Bishop. He squatted tentatively on his heels, but
the teacher was behind, and unceremoniously upset
him forward on to his knees !
One of my rare evenings ashore was spent on
Bugotu, where I saw my first fireflies and felt my
368 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
first land crabs ! When I saw how astonishingly
bright a spark the little beetle emits, I could
appreciate the vraisemb lance of the stories told me
in more than one place of night alarms created
" Enemies approaching with torches through the
distant bush ! "-which turn out to be fireflies distant
less than a stone's throw !
Flocks of cockatoos we saw continually, and I
also noticed here an unusual number of frigate-birds,
or the man-o'-war hawk. This bird is sacred in
Bugotu and throughout the Solomons, with it being
connected many tindalo with mana to help one at
sea. The extended wings, forming a sort of W, con-
stitutes the most popular tattoo-mark in all Melanesia,
and in Bugotu it may generally be seen on the backs
of men's thumbs. For this there is a reason.
Steaming one day down the coast, my attention
was drawn to a desolate rocky point which I was
told was Tuhilagi, or the Bugotu Panoi (Hades).
The bare patches upon the slopes are the Gardens
of the Ghosts, where nothing will grow but spirit
yams and spirit bananas. But before the Gardens
can be reached there is a bottomless pit to be crossed
by a narrow tree -trunk. The Great Ghost who
rules over Tuhilagi sits ever on the rocks, with
outstretched arms beckoning the souls of the dead
towards him. But he sets his wife to keep guard
over the black pit. It is the duty of the old woman
to examine each soul that approaches, in order to see
whether upon their hand they bear the mark of her
lord (i.e. the frigate-bird on the back of the thumb)
which will admit them to her husband's realm. If
not, they may start the perilous passage of the tree-
trunk, but the old woman forthwith pushes them over
BUGOTU.
THE GARDENS OF THE GHOSTS.
A BUGOTU BOY.
P. 368.
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 369
into the abyss. Ultimately such unfortunate souls
emerge from the chasm in the form of butterflies.
At the extreme west end of the island of Bugotu
lies Kia, formerly a notorious stronghold of head-
hunters, but now a Christian village which we were
to visit. The men of Kia formed one of those two
tribes which it was Soga's last public work to reconcile.
But they did not at that time accept a school.
On the long way to Kia we heard a little of its
story. For so many years they had clung to their
old bandit life of kidnapping and murder, that when
first visited by the white man they were very shy
and unfriendly. But in or about the year 1904 the
ice was broken, and a teacher was applied for by one
of the Kia chiefs, who was fairly teased into doing
so by his wife. Slowly but surely the New Teaching
made its way, and one chief after another burnt his
boats and entered the school.
Yes, it is the period between becoming a hearer
and being baptized which is dreaded. You turn your
back upon your old familiar spirits, who will naturally
be enraged at the desertion, yet you are not at once
taken fully into the protection of the Great One Spirit,
and your position is therefore a parlous one.
Before any baptism could take place in Kia it
was required of the chiefs and catechumens to make
proof of their sincerity by formally demolishing the
altar-tombs where the ghosts of their buried ancestors
were worshipped and the skull-trophies of the old
head-hunting raids were preserved.
The deed was done, and by their own hands.
The slabs of coral that composed the tombs were
hurled down the hill into the sea, to form again a
part of their original reef; the venerated bones from
2 B
370 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT PART m
within them, and the victims' skulls from without,
were gathered into a great heap and burned to
ashes, while prayer was offered that the sacrifice
might be accepted. It was an entire and irrevocable
break with heathenism that was symbolized by this
dread and imposing ceremony.
The end of our journey was accomplished in a
delightful row of nearly an hour over the lagoon, all
among mangrove-covered islets, whence we suddenly
emerged upon the principal village of Kia, situated
a merveille just above the water. All the houses
are built on piles over the mangrove swamp, and we
clambered from the whale-boat up on to what looked
like a sort of pier, but which was really the veranda
of some one's house.
The teacher's wife promptly attached herself to me,
and I think we visited every house in the village, having
to enter each by a different variety of ladder. The
chiefs was especially lofty. We found him at home,
wearing a beautifully-cut pearl cross. He had lately put
away his superfluous wives and been baptized. The
wife he had kept was a nice-looking little girl, who
seemed rather pleased with her position. I was also
introduced to his father and mother, and to the woman
above mentioned, to whom the advent of the first school
was really due, but whose husband had since died.
While I sat in the teacher's house the church
bell rang for Evensong. The women approach by
a different path from the men (and a more difficult
and slippery one !) and enter by a different door.
The church is beautifully constructed and finished
off. The floor is entirely matted and the sanctuary
is raised by two steps. There is a wonderful native
reredos, made of wood and painted with various
CHAP, vii BUGOTU, SOLOMON ISLANDS 371
designs, including crosses and frigate-birds. On the
altar stands a really lovely little cross of dark wood,
inlaid with mother-of-pearl. A beautiful giant clam-
shell forms the font, with a post before it carved
emblematically of the Evil One as a crocodile with
gaping jaws. The whole is quite a triumph of
Melanesian handicraft. And the craftsmen are the
erstwhile ferocious savages of Kia !
The row back from Kia will always be one of
my favourite island memories. It was long and
slow, for we were hindered by cross currents, but
I think no one would have murmured had it lasted
longer still.
The sun sank soon after we started back, and
the brief twilight melted not into darkness, but into
a star-lit air. The phosphorescent water glittered
and glimmered all about our keel, and the warm,
still green of the growth around us was intermittently
lit up and obscured at the freakish will of the blue-
white silent summer lightning. The liquid plash
below and an occasional whirr of wings overhead
alone broke the silence.
Over many of the Islands of Enchantment day has
not yet broken. But where was once pitch darkness
there are stars in the sky. There are lights in sea
and air. And the morning is on its way.
160*
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Stanfbrciis Gecyr? EstaA t London,.
INDEX
"Abomination." See " Mbuto "
Adoption, system of, 94-5, 231-2
Adze, shell, 97, 99, 107, 171, 188
" Akalo" ( = spirit), 255-6
Albinos, 94
Alligators. See Crocodiles
Almonds, 49, 102, 174, 197, 205,
306
"Altars," 136, 191, 280
Anklets, 47, 79, 177, 267
Annelid Palolo Viridis. See " Un " (a)
Anopheles. See Mosquitoes
Ants, white, 288
Arithmetic, native, 148-9
Armlets, 159, 166, 174, 177, 267,
3 2 9
Arrows, 21-2, 34, 37, 44, 60, 81, 84,
87, 95. "5 153, 154, 155. 178,
179, 1 80, 187, 198, 199, 204,
210, 219, 225, 245, 270, 337
Ashes (token of mourning), 136
Augury, method of, 42
Aurora Island = Maewo, q.v.
Axes, primitive, 263
Babies, respect for, 95, 351-2
Bags, woven, 49, 102, 174, 182, 197,
207
Ball, late Lieut., 246
Bamboo, various uses of, 5, 90, 95-6,
102, 124, 137, 150, 151, 152,
258, 3i5 339
Bananas, significance of, 251, 253
Banks Islands, xxii, 41-129, 157
Banyan trees, 141, 149, 155, 293
Barnabas (an escaped Bugotu "head"),
347
Battles. See Fighting
Beche-de-mer, 197
Bera (a Bugotu chief), 348-51
Betel-nut chewing, 137, 183, 184,
190, 203, 210, 225, 247, 258,
277, 284
Betrothal rites, 37, 160-61
" Binding "
(a) wind, 82
(b) villages, 88, 153
Birgus /atfr0 = coco-nut crab, q.v.
Birth, custom connected with, 84
Biscuits, first acquaintance with, 263
" Bishooka," 277
Blackmail, case of, 181
Bligh, late Capt., 42, 86, 120
Bligh Jsland= Ureparapara, q.v.
Blood-money, 227, 270, 284, 309,
33*
Bo, David (a San Cristoval chief), 230
Boastfulness, danger of, 58, 208-9
" Bojabata " (a Guadalcanar spirit), 332
Bones, human, 21, 22, 37, 90, 136,
138, 154, 190, 299, 369
Bonito-fish, 255, 257-8, 261, 366
Bower, late Lieut., 302
Bows. See Arrows
Bracelets, 50, 81, 267
Bread-fruit, rites connected with, 205,
235
method of storing, 204-5
Brush turkeys, 340-41
Bugotu, 2 1 8, 296, 334, 338, 342-71
Burial customs, 16-17, 63, 135-6, 190,
240, 251, 287-8, 317, 340, 349-
50
Burying alive, 23, 35, 231
Bush v. Shore, 268, 272, 276
Butterflies, souls turn into, 369
Calendar, primitive, 63
Cannibalism, motives underlying, 221-2
where practised, 9, 10, 23, 170,
218, 266, 281, 330, 347
Canoe-building, 151, 171-2, 197, 289
Canoe-houses, 219, 240, 335, 357
Canoes, 49, 66, 82, 87, 106, 151,
157, 171-2, 184, 197, 210, 219,
221, 230, 245, 249, 258, 262,
373
374 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
264, 272, 273, 276, 278, 282,
288, 289, 298, 299, 303, 333,
338, 344, 345, 353, 354, 355.
356, 358
Casuarina tree, sacred character of, 65
Cat's-cradle, universality of, 123
Cement, native, 117, 134, 287, 289
Ceremonial, occasional practice of,
164-5, 172, 205, 236, 307-8
Characteristics, native, xxiii-vi, 19,
45,49, 57, 102, 103, 113-14, 137,
171, 178, 180, 198, 204, 256-7,
265-6, 298
Charms
(a) malevolent, 21, 43, 57, 58, 90,
138-9, 253, 308, 330-31, 365
(b) innocent, xxvii, 16, 26, 64, 65,
82, 252, 262, 366
Chiefs, 9-10, 26, 43, 60, 72, 92, 144,
145, 164-5, 180-82, 210, 225-31,
235, 240, 247-8, 251, 253, 269,
270, 281, 282-7, 289, 300, 302-3,
308-11, 315, 324-8, 340, 344-65
Chieftainship, nature of, 26, 60, 92,
125, 164, 347
Children, comeliness of, 7-7 I > 162,
232
paucity of, 67, 231
Christianity, Melanesian, 23-4, 35-6,
44-6, 48, 60, 73, 88, 103, 114,
117-19, 122-3, 134, 139, i44-5>
228-9, 230, 232, 252, 253, 255-
6, 289-90, 309-15, 323-5, 328,
33i, 353-63, 369-70
Churches, construction of, 117-18, 150,
228-9, 255, 298, 313-14, 370-71
Clam-shell, uses of, 171, 175, 267,
371
Clara, wife of Harry, g.v.
daughter of Rev. William Qasvaro'n,
q.v.
" Clearing the soul," 280
Cloth, tappa. See Tappa-cloth
Clubs
(a) dancing. See Dancing
(6) tappa. See Tappa-cloth
(c) weapons, 81, 155, 166, 183,
210, 219, 220, 225
Club-house. See " Gamal"
Cobwebs, uses of, 138-9, 173
Cockatoo Island, 345-6
Cockatoos, where common, 297, 368
Coco-nut crab, habits of, 241-2
Coco-nut palm, plantations of, 105,
117, 241, 297, 334
Coco-nut-shell drinking-cups, 137, 152,
352
Coco-nuts, superstitions connected with,
73, 235, 237, 253
Compensation, systems of, 180, 225,
270, 287
Complexion of natives, xxi, 158, 176
Conch shells, uses of, 79, 97, 296
Confusion of tongues, legend concern-
ing, 316-17
Cooking, method of, 5-6
ceremonial, 150, 205, 280
Copra, 6, 297
Coral formation, 112, 133, 134, 195,
246
Coral reefs, 57, 71, 87, 113, 170, 195,
196, 202, 207, 272, 273, 369
Coral shore, 54, 70, 86, 113, 140-41,
148, 184
Cowrie shells, 159, 267, 289
Crab dance, 143-4
Crabs, beliefs regarding, 33, 134-5,
242
coco-nut. See Coco-nut crabs
Craters, volcanic, 42, 56, 120, 122
Creation myths, 27, 85, 146-7, 194,
234-5, 3l6
Creepers, uses of, 49, 82, 92, 150,
151, 177, 289, 305, 339
Critics, severe, 81
Crocodiles, sacred, 279-80
method of catching, 317
haunts of, 234, 317, 322
emblematic, 371
Croton, 32
Cruelty to animals, natural, 4, 233
Cry of ghosts, 104-5
Currency, different species of, 4, 36-7,
92, 188-9, 233, 277-8
Curses, to annul, 269
Customs. See Birth, Betrothal, Burial,
Death, Fighting, House-warming,
Marriage, Mourning, Social, Suqe,
Truce, et al.
Cycas palm, taboo sign, 10, 78, 81
Dances, death-, 63, 302
"Suge," 8, 79, 81
wedding, 13
women's, 79
various, 46-8, 91, 93, 143-4, 163,
167, 177-8, 203, 280, 300, 301,
353
Dancing-clubs, 178
grounds, 177-8, 202-3
parties, 301-2
Dancing Wave, the, 302
Death, beliefs regarding, 35, 85, 135,
239
INDEX
375
Death, customs connected with, 35, 63,
77, 91-2, 124, 135-7, 287-8, 324,
330, 349-5 i, 36
Death-dances. See Dances
-days, 63, 137
-feasts. See Feasts
Debts, 6 1 -2, 77-8
Decoration, church or house, 118,
169, 190-91, 203, 228-9, 2 36
Descent, how reckoned, 12, 241
Dirges. See Songs
Discipline, church, 46, 119
Discoverers, early. See Explorers
Divisions, exogamous, 12, 60, 62, 63,
95. 304
" Dodore" (Mala fairies), 292-4
Dogs, 23, 103, 233, 280, 285, 329
Dogs' teeth, 233, 277
Dora-we-we (a Mala chief), 284-5
Dracaena leaf, sacred, 237
Dreams, 230, 241
Drum, uses of native, 8, 46, 47, 78-9,
93. 143-4, 224, 232, 296
Duck, wild, 164
Dug-outs. See Canoes
Dunning, method of, 62
Eagles, supernatural character of, 33
Ear ornaments, 49-50, 95-6, 158, 176-
7, 233, 247, 266-7
Ears, piercing of, 85, 176
distortion of, 176, 247
Earthquakes, legendary origin of, 86-7,
236
Eclipse, lunar, 151
Eels, 33, 57
Eggs, digging for, 340-41
Ellison (son of Bugotu chief), 359-61
Escapes from
(a) cannibals, 247-8, 282-3
(&) crocodile, 317-18
(c) head-hunters, 347
(d) various, 19-20, 179, 231, 303,
358, 362
Etiquette, native, 165, 182, 210, 226,
362-3
Exogamy. See Divisions
Explorers. See Ball, Bligh, Gallego,
Mendana, Quiros, de Surville,
Wilson
Eyesight, legend concerning failing,
66-7
Fainting, explanation of, 63
Fairies, 262-3
Fans, palm-leaf, 159, 182, 297, et al.
Fasting, custom of, 77, 78, 90, 138,
190, 240
" Father-of-us-all," 86
Feasts, " Suqe" 8, 9, 79, 122
" Tamate," 103
to pay debts, 77
death, 63, 240, 287
wedding, 12, 13, 258-9
Sunday, 46, 229
various, IO, n, 23, 90, 145, 150,
177, 280, 316, 328-9, 333,
354
Feather-money, 179, 189, 197, 204,
210
Feathers, sign of rank, 79
Fences, fish, 277
Field-glasses, first seen, 22-3
Fighting, 57, 60, 73, 154, 178, 180,
198, 208, 224-5, 268-9, 35
332-3
Figirima (a Bugotu chief), 357, 362-5
Financial laws, 61, 77-8
Fines. Sec Punishments
Fire-arms, 25, 45, 59-60, 155, 220,
271, 272, 357
Fireflies, 367-8
First-born sons, 84, 94
First-fruits, rites concerning, 205, 235,
254, 3o6, 332
Fish-hooks, 175, 188, 257, 277
Fishing, methods of, 74, 87, 115,
172-3, 197-8, 257-8, 277-8, 366
Fishing-lines, 1*5
-nets. See ^Jets
Flag, treatment of British, 324-5
Floats, 175
Flood, legend of the, 65-6
Florida = Gela, q.v.
Flute, native, 137
Flying-fish, 73, 101
Flying-foxes, 187
Folk - tales "Tagaro the Big and
Tagaro the Little," 27-29 ; " The
Child who issued from a Rock,"
38-40; "About the People from
Above," 50-53 ; " Qat and the
Nutmeg Tree," 96-100; " Qat's
First Meeting with Marawa,"
107-11; "Qat and the Ogre,"
125-9; " How Qat brought about
Night," 146-7; " Concerning Sun
and Moon,'' 192 ; " How Santa
Cruz was made," 192-4 ; "About
an Ogre and a very Big Pig,"
211-13; "The Snake who turned
into a Man," 242-4; " The Heron
and the Turtle," 318-21
376 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
Food, restrictions concerning, 9, 255,
277
charming with fragments of. See
" Garata"
-bowls, 121, 175
" Fools, The," 48-9
Fortified villages, 198-9, 202, 268,
281
Foster-children, 94-5
Fowls, native, 103, et al.
Frigate-birds, 232, 368
Future life, beliefs concerning, 35, 91,
123-4, 191, 200-201, 239, 259,
288, 332, 368-9
Gallego, extracts from journal of, 239,
2 95 323.. 342-3
" Carnal" (native club-house), 6, 9, 10,
24, 58, 67, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83,
87, 95, 121, 126-7, I35- 6 , "42,
152-3, 169, 179, 181, 182, 187,
190, 202, 204, 209-10, 254, 263,
278
Games, children's, 83, 84, 366-7
**Ganido" (a Gela " tindalo"), 303
" Garata" (a charm), 59, 121, 153,
308, 365
Gardens, cultivation of, 42, 54, 95,
120, 134, 153, 182, 191, 276,
297, 327, 355
"Gardens of the Ghosts," 368
Gar-fish, to catch, 172-3
Garlands, 161
Gaua, 56-69, IOI
Gela, 218, 233, 295-321, 333, 334,
337, 343
Generosity, instances of, 11-12, 49,
1 80
Ghost-houses, 190-191, 199-200, 203,
280
"Ghost-shooter," 89-91, 330, 336
Ghost Society, Great. See " Tamate"
Ghosts, beliefs concerning, xxv-vi, 17,
21, 32, 35, 92, 124, 135, 191*
199-200, 224, 238-40, 259-63,
278, 280-81, 299, 303-12, 317,
332, 347-5 2 , 368, 369
Girdles, 102, 177, 227, 267
Godden, late Rev. C. C., 20-21, 27
Goodenough, late Commodore, 179
Goravaka, Rev. Hugo, 325
Gourds, 187
Government, European, 25, 265, 271,
297, 324-5
Graciosa Bay, 174, 178, 183
Great Banks Island = Vanua Lava, q.v.
Greetings, II, 159
Guadalcanar, 218, 235, 259, 288,
296, 322-33, 334, 343, 347
Guevu (an Omba chief), 26
Hair -dressing, 158, 160, 176, 207,
232
Hanetarana (a Mala chief), 285-7
Hanson (an Ureparapara girl), 122-3
" Hanua Asia " (a mythical island),
260
" Harmless Ghost," the, 103-4
Harry (a Maewo teacher), 36
" Harumae" (a San Cristoval ghost),
224
Hats, ceremonial, 33-4, 80, 103
"Jfauri" (a Gela shark ghost), 299,
303
Hawks, significance of, 42-3
Head-hunting, 218-23, 22 7> 230, 266,
285, 324, 328, 339, 344-8, 351,
355, 36i, 369
Head-rests, 182, 188, 210
Hebrides, New, xxii, xxiv, 3-40, 221
Hibiscus, significance of, 79-80
Hiu, 134, 152-6
Houses, native, 5, 102-3, I 49-5,
165-6, 256, 338-9, 370
round, 188
House-warming, 150
'' Huaaha" (an Ulawa shark), 250
Humour, sense of, xxiv
" Huqa " = " Suqe" q.v.
Hypnotism, practice of, 336-7
lie de Contrariety = Ulawa, q.v.
Impressions, first, European and native,
71-2
Incantations. See Charms
Industry, evidences of, 42, 117-18
Infanticide, practice of, 123, 231
Initiation rites
(a) "Suge 8, 153
(b) Qat" 34
(c) " Tamate," Si, 103-4, 122
Isabel, Saint = Bugotu, q.v.
Islets, artificial, 272-5, 280
Jasper, sacred block of, 230
Joking, practical, 204
Julian (a Bugotu teacher), 345-6
Justice, native, 43-4, 234, 254, 354-5
Kahijagi (a Bugotu chief), 353
" Kahuahuarii " (a San Cristoval
spirit), 234-5
Kalekona (a Gela chief), 302-3, 309-
INDEX
377
Kanijama (a New Georgia chief), 356-8
" JCauraha" (a San Cristoval snake),
236-7
" Kava" (native liquor), 25, 137
Kelo (a Savo boy), 335
" Kema" (an exogamous division,
Gela), 304
" Keramo " (a Gela ghost), 299, 304-5
Kia t 369-71
Kikolo (a Bugotu chiefs son), 348-9
Killing. See Murder
Killing -ghosts, 304-5
Kingfishers, supernatural character of,
33, 44, 65, 89, 239
Kite, fishing-, .172-3, 277
" Koevasi " (a Gela spirit), 316-17, 333
" Koko" (a Guadalcanar spirit), 332-3
"JColekole" (a " Suqe" festival), 78-9
Koro t 6 1
Labourers, recruiting, 19, 141-2, 209,
266, 284
Lagoons, 87, 113, 272, 370
Lakes, 56-7, 164
Lakona, 56-7, 60-69
Lambi (a Bugotu chief), 361-2
Languages, Oceanic, xxii, 53'4> IJ 4
176, 196, 336
Larders, native, 83
Lark Shoal, 260
La Treguada = Ulawa, q.v.
Lavinia, the, 302
Laws. See Social, Financial, Property,
" Suqe "
Leaves, " J/<za,"xxvii, 16, 21, 90, 93
" Leglets," 267
" Leila " (women's dance), 79
Lepers* Island = Omba, q.v.
Leprosy, 116-17
Light, supernatural, 36
Lime-boxes, 137, 175, 251
Lipa (a Gela chief), 308, 3 1 5
Liquor, fermented. See " Jfava"
Lizards, supernatural character of, 33,
89
Loans, friendly, 77-8
Lodge, societies'. See " Gamal,"
" Salagoro"
LoA, 134, 140-47
" Loko " (a vegetable mash), 28
Lombu, Rev. Alfred (a. Gela priest), 314
Looms, 175
Lotus- flower, 161
"Luvttsi" (a Guadalcanar shark ghost),
329, 332
Lydia, wife of Rev. William Qasvaron,
q.v.
" (a demon-snake), 14-16
y 18, 19, 30-40, 106
Magic. See Magicians, Charms,
" Afana,'' etc.
Magicians, 16, 22, 33, 59, 64, 90,
138-9, 191, 238, 251, 257, 271,
278, 279, 280-81, 285-6, 348,
365-6
" Mago" (a dance), 47-8
Mala, 218, 221, 227, 228, 259, 264-
94, 296, 325, 334, 343
Malaita or Malanta = Mala, q.v.
Malaria, 83
" Malo" (loin-cloth), 105, 115
" Mana " (a supernatural power), xxvi-
vii, 16, 21, 22, 26, 32, 58, 61,
64. 73, 89, 90, 93, 106, 125,
x 38-9, 153-4, 191, 219, 222,
230, 248-9, 253, 288, 305, 306,
308, 310, 324, 330, 337, 344,
366, 368
" Mandai " = " Gamal," q.v.
Manekalea, Marsden (a Bugotu teacher),
361-2
Mangroves, 289, 305, 317, 343, 370
Afanurwar (a Vanua Lava chiefs son),
1 06
" Maraui" (maternal uncle), 12, 26,
78
" Maraiva " (a Banks Island spirit-
spider), 66-7, 85, 97, 107, 109-11
"Maros, Song of," 68-9
Marriage "customs, 12-14, 258-9, 288
Martin (an Ulawa teacher), 256
Masks. See Hats
Massacres of Europeans, 1 70, 302
Massey's Island = Owa Riki, q.v.
" Matambala" (a Gela secret society),
308-9
Matema, 195-201, 202, 203, 211
Mats, uses of, 6, 13, 36-7, 159, 166,
293, 345, 346
Matthew (a Maewo teacher), 30-3 1
"Ml/uto" (abomination), 304
Melanesians, general remarks on, xxii-
vii, 123
Mendana (a Spanish explorer), 175,
217, 239, 245
Men-of-war, 264, 271, 324, 347
" Merai" (a Raga dance), 13
Meralava, 41-55
" Merambuto " (a mythical character
of Omba), 28-9
Merig, 41, 43, 54-5
Metome, 134
" Milky Way," native name for, 241
Mistranslation, instance of, 312
378 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
Models, wooden, 175
Money. See Currency
Money-spinners, 92-4
Moon, eclipse of the, 151
hailing the new, 151
Mosquitoes, 83, 105, 117
Mota, 31, 70-85, 101
language of, xxii, 53-4
Motalava, 82, 86-100, 101
Mourning customs, 35, 63, 77, 124,
135-7. 163-4, 190, 284-5, 324,
35. 36o
Mullet, silver, 115
"Mumoulu " (a race of ogres in Guadal-
canar), 323
Murder of Rev. C. C. Godden, 20
Bishop Patteson, 209-11
Commodore Goodenough, 179
Lieut. Bower, 302
two Norfolk Islanders, 179
by suggestion, 21-2, 287
with charms, 43, 90, 308, 330-31
Murders, various, 58, 105, 180, 198,
204, 208, 240, 248, 253, 265,
269, 270, 305, 309, 328, 337-8
349, 364, 365
Music, native, 137-8, 163, 258
" Nai " = almond, q.v.
Nambe (a Bugotu chief), 351, 360
Names, personal, 75-6, 162
exchange of, 162
place-, 4, 5, 162
Natei (a Santa Cruz chief), 180-82
Nautilus shells, 50, 1 1 8
Necklaces, 159, 177, 233, 267, 281
Needles, bone, 174
Nets, fishing-, 74, 166, 188, 197-8,
273, 277, 333
New Georgia, 220, 344-7, 355-8
New Hebrides. See Hebrides, New
Nifiloli, 196, 283
Nose ornaments, 135-6, 158, 176,
267
Nose-rubbing, 159, 165, 179
Nouns, declension of Mota, 53-4
Nukapu, 195, 196, 207-13
Nupani, 195
Nuts, 160-61, 174, 180, 187, 287, 289
Ochre, use of, 81, 82
Offerings, sacrificial, 191, 199-200,
224, 235, 236-7, 240, 251, 278,
280, 306-8, 329, 332-3, 348-9
Ogres, beliefs concerning, 125-9, 211-
13, 292, 323
" Oikata" (a Mala chief), 282-3, 286 -7
Omba, 1 6, 18-29, 3 2
Omens, 42-3, 116, 280
Oranges, wild, 84
Orchestras, native, 78-9, 143-4, 258
Ordeal, trials by, 233-4, 254, 279
Origin, Melanesians', xxii-iii
Ornaments, personal, 71, 81, 95-6,
158-9, 176-7, 207, 233, 247,
266-8
Ovens, native, 5, 6, 166, 187, 190,
210, 339
marking rank, 7, 8, 25, 78, 82, 88,
95, 144, 145, 152-3
Owa Raha = Santa Anna, q.v.
Owa Riki, 236
Owls, supernatural character of, 33,
42
Paddles, canoe, 49, 166, 283
"Panoi" (Hades), 33, 35, 63, 85, 91,
123, 135, 259, 368
Pan-pipes, 137-8
Paper mulberry, 346
Parrot, taboo as food, 304
Patrick's, St., Central School, 102,
105
Patron ghosts, 304
Patteson, late Bishop, 19-20, 66, 71-2,
170, 178, 209-10
"Peace, is it," 10
Peace-making, 154-6, 179, 224-5
Peace stones, 10
Pearl shell, uses of, 159, 174, 257,
267, 289, 360, 371
Penalties. See Punishments
Pengoni, Rev. John, 298, 301
Pengoni (a Gela chief), 300-301
Pentecost Island = Raga, q.v.
Physiognomy, Melanesian, xxiii-iv, "J\,
176
Pigeons, taboo as food, 304
Pigs, importance of 4, 8, 9, 13, 32,
33. 79, 104, 177, 191, 246, 364-5
Pileni, xxiv, 195, 196, 202-6, 207,
208, 211
Pilot-fish, 116
Pineapples, 49, 79, 83, 174, 266, 355
Piper methysticum (pepper tree), 16,
25
Plantains, 186, 205
Platforms, stone, 43, 79
Poison
(a) arrows, to. See Arrows
(6) fish, to, 87
(c) spears, to, 337
Polygamy, 26, 182, 301, 327, 340,
353, 370
INDEX
379
Polynesians, xxiv, 158-168, 176, 195-
213
Population, causes of diminishing, 19,
67, 121, 198, 208, 211, 331,
343-4
" Porobato" (a Guadalcanar spirit),
332
Porpoise-hunting, 277-8
teeth, 248, 277-8, 311
Prawns, 187
Pre-Melanesian traces, 196, 292, 336
Pronouns, Mota possessive, 53"4
Property, laws governing, 13, 26, 62-
3, 145-6, 253
Pumpkins, 174
Punishment by " Afatambala" Society,
308-9
by " Qat " Society, 34
by " Suqe" Society, 25* 43, 80,
153
by " Tatnate" Society, 81, 88, 122
by chiefs, 210, 311, 327, 354-5,
364-5
by ghosts, 254
by Government, 271
for alleged murder, 44
for infringing social laws, 76
cannibalism a form of, 221
death, for women, 273
Pygmies, race of, 367
Qaisulea (a Mala chief), 283-4
" Qasavara " (a Banks Island ogre),
125-9
QasvaroH, Rev. IVm., 113-19
"Qat" (a Banks Island spirit), 65-7,
85, 96-100, 106-11, 125-9, 146-7
(a secret society), 33-4
Quasi-totemism, 248, 253-4, 279, 304-
5. 335
Quiros (a Spanish explorer), 41
Ra, 87, 89, 90
Rafts, 151, 279
Raga, 3-17, 18, 19, 31, 32
Raids. See Head-hunting
Rainbow, superstition connected with,
241
Rain-making, 16, 64, 326-7
Rank, native system of, 7, 8, 24-5, 43,
78-9, 88, 125, 144-5, 153, 175
" Rapttanate" (a mythical Ulawa
chief), 260
Rats, 208
Reeds, uses of, 5, 115, 137-8, 258
Reef Islands, xxii, 195-213
Reefs, coral. See Coral
Relics, venerated, 254, 369-70
Religion, natural, xxiv-v
returned labourers', 257
Christian. See Christianity
Respect, how marked, 76-7, 153, 164-
5, 199, 236
Restrictions, social, 25-6, 75-6, 189-
90, 273. See also Food
Reuben QasvaroH (a Rowa man), 114,
119
Revenge, law of, 58-9, 60-6 1, 209,
270-71, 309, 337-8, 364-5
Rings. See Ornaments
Rites. See Betrothal, Burial, First-
fruits, Weddings, etc.
Rivers, 30, 187, 284-5, 3 2 2, 333
Roads, 136
Rona (a Bugotu chief), 345
Roofs. See Houses
Ro Rttav (a Mota woman), 75
Round houses, 188
Rowa, 101, 112-19, I2O > I 4
Rubiana, 325
Russell Island, 334, 357, 358
Sacrifices, human, 237, 308, 348, 349
Saddle Is land = Afotalava, q.v.
Sago palm leaf, for thatching, 5, 45,
118, 150, 338
Sails, native-made, 172, 197
" Salagoro" (lodge of " Tamate "
Society), 81, 104, 122
San Cristoval, 217-44, 245, 248, 249,
259
Sand, hatching-ground for turtles, 115
hatching-ground for brush turkeys,
340-41
refuge from mosquitoes, 105
Sandfly, H.M.S., 302
Santa Anna, 236-7
Santa Cruz, xxii, xxv, 137, 169-94,
I 95> J 97> 201, 207, 211, 218,
277, 336
Santa Maria = Gaua, q.v.
Savo, 218, 324, 332, 334-41
Scoops, pearl-shell, 174
Screw palm, use of, 37
Sea-ghosts, 238
Selwyn, late Bishop G. A., Ji, 105
Selwyn, late Bishop J. R., 282
Sentries, native, 268
Sermons, native, 114-15, 312
Serpents. See Snakes
Sesarga Savo, q.v.
Shark rattles, 188
Shark ropes, 182, 188
Sharks, 33, 106, 116, 173, 226-7,
380 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
230, 234, 248-51, 278-9, 329,
334-5
Shell-money. See Currency
Shells, various uses of, 22, 79, 8l, 82,
83, 118, 159, 171, 267
Shields, battle, 224, 299, 300, 301,
338, 354, 356
Ship, native account of sailing, 72-3
Shirts, native explanation of red, 72
Shrines, ghost, 303
Sickness, how to cause, 138-9
how to cure, 88-9, 238, 280-81, 348
Silo, native, 204-5
Simon (a Tikopia man), 159, 164
" Siokoli " (a Gela dance), 301
Sinus's Island Santa Anna, q.v.
Skate-fish, 249
Skulls, regard for, 136, 144, 170, 190,
219, 223, 287, 288, 344, 350,
35i. 370
Smith's Island Ulawa, q.v.
Smoking, practice of, 122, 183, 210
Snake, sea-, 14
Snake skins, articles of trade, 175
Snakes, supernatural character of, 14,
15, 33. 234-7, 340
Soap, introduction of, 290
Social customs, 7, II, 25, 26, 63, 75-
7, 94-5, 106, 177, 178, 198-9,
226
Societies, secret. See " Suye," " Qaf,"
" Matambala," " Tamate"
Soga, Monislaws (a Bugotu chief), 351-
61
Solomon Islands, xxi, xxii, xxiv, 89,
137, 217-371
Songs, language of, 19, 83
specimen of, 68-9
as charms, 16, 90, 138
dirge, 136, 163, 190
game, 83, 366
how learnt, 241
various, 160, 163
Sores, bodily, 1 8, 137
Sorusage (a Bugotu chief), 365
Soul, beliefs concerning the, 35, 89,
124, 135, 174, 191, 200-201,239-
40, 259-60, 288, 317, 332, 368-9
Southern Cross, steam-yacht, xxii, 54,
71, 102, 119 et al.
" Sovala " (a Guadalcanar spirit), 332
Spanish explorers, 41, 56, 170, 174,
175, 188, 217, 245, 295-6, 334,
342-3
Spark, mysterious, 286
Spears, 168, 220, 224, 225, 258, 299,
300, 337, 354, 356, 357
Spectacles, Harry and his, 36
Spells. See Charms
Spirits, beliefs concerning, xxv, 14, 16,
33, 88, 89, 92, 93, 199-200,
234-5, 251, 255, 261, 280, 316,
332-3, 368
Springs, hot, 56-7, 102, 335
Star, name for evening, 240
Star Peak Meralava, q.v. >
Stealing, habit of, 166, 174
Steam-ship first seen, native account
of, 260-61
Stone, building, 67, 298, 313-14
Stones, cooking, 5, 229
ghost, 326
" Mana," 16, 64, 82, 191
peace, 10
various uses of, 17, 124, 234, 278,
.339, 350
Storing food, method of. See Silo
Strangers, murder of, 248, 269, 302,
315
Strangling, death by, 250
String, native, 150, 273
Success, to ensure, 89, 107
Sugar-cane, 17, 135, 166
Sugar-loaf Island '= Mota, q. v.
Suicide, reasons for, 161, 287
Sulphur, 102, 335
Sulukavo (a Guadalcanar chief), 326-8
Sun, legends concerning the, 192, 240,
291
Sunshade, native, 184, 336
Sunshine-making, 26, 64-5
" Suqe" (a secret society), 6-9, 24-5,
26, 33, 43, 45-6, 77-80, 81, 88,
122, 144-5, *$ 2 -3> l8 7
Surf-boards, 172
Survive, de (a French explorer), 245-
6, 247
Swallow Group = Reef Islands , q.v.
Swimming, 82, 87, 168, 172, 234,
279
Taboo, uses of, 32, 76, 78, 80,
88, 181, 201, 253-4, 278, 284,
285, 298, 304, 311, 314, 327,
350
" Tagaro" (a New Hebrides spirit), 16,
26-9
Taki,John Still (a. San Cristoval chief),
226-9, 230
Takua (a Gela chief), 299, 300
" Tamate " (Great Ghost Society), 80-
81, 88, 103-5, I2 .2
Tambukoru, David (a Gela chief), 303,
INDEX
381
" Tafiaro the Fool" (a Banks Island
sprite), 126-7
Tank, first acquaintance with a, 261-3
Tappa-cloth, 158, 159, 160, 174, 176,
346, 3 6
" Tapu" = Taboo, y.v.
Tariqatu, Charles (an Omba teacher),
23-4
Taro, 5, 121, 138, 276, 280
Tattooing, 71, 81, 158, 232-3, 315,
368
Teaduli (Bishop Patteson's murderer),
209-11
Teeth. See Currency
Teeth necklaces, 281
Tegua, 134, 148-51
" Tema" (moon), 175
Te Motu, 174, 179, 1 80, 1 88, 190,
191
Tests of " Mana" 248-9
cause of sickness, 348
innocence. See Ordeal
endurance, 34
Thank-offerings, 191, 205
Thatch. See Sago palm leaf
"Thief-ships," 272, 284
Thorns, use in death-charms, 139
Three Sisters, The, 259-60, 288
" Tiahi" (a Guadalcanar spirit), 333
Tikopia, xxiv, 157*68
Tinakula, 174, 191, 201
" Tindalo " (ghost), 299, 303-11, 312,
347, 348, 349. 350, 351, 352,
368
' Tinesara " (central space in village),
4, 13, 47, 83, 90, 92, 102, 117,
124, 148
Tiredness, to throw away, 89
Toga, 133-9, 334
" Tohi " = " Gamal," q.v.
" Tomago" (a vegetable), 180
Tomahawks, 299, 338, 351, 354,
362
Tombs, sacred, 369
Tools, native, 188
Torches, palm-leaf, 74, 212, 297
Torres Islands, xxii, 133-56, 157
Tortoise-shell, uses of, 141, 153,
158, 174, 176, 177, 188, 257,
267
Totemism. See Quasi-totemism
Traders, European, 25, 102, 241,297,
3", 334
native female, 276
Transmigration, belief in, 239-40,
248
Trap, crocodile, 317
Treasure, buried, 63, 235
Tree-fern, 33, 67
Tree-houses, 338-9
Trial by ordeal. See Ordeal
Truce -regulations, 180, 276
" Tuhilagi" (land of the dead), 368
Turmeric, use of, 158, 176
Turtle, 115-16, 255, 277, 334
Ugenaramamukeni (girl's name), 288
Ugi, 2 1 8, 241-2, 249, 259
" Uhuuhu " = Tattooing, q.v.
Ulawa, 218, 245-63, 277
" Ulotilo" (a cry), 151
Umbrellas, native, 188, 297, 345
European, 290
" Un" (Annelid palolo viridis), 73-4
11 Un" (to use particular words),
75-6
Uncle, maternal. See " Maraui "
Ureparapara, 101, 120-29, *33
Utupua, 169
Ututha Channel, 296, 317
Vaget, Rev. IVm., 45-6
Vanikolo, 170, 197, 201
Vantta Lava, 101-11, 112, 115
" yasoesole" (a pig), 364-5
" Vaukolu " (a church parliament), 313,
315-16
" Vele," magic, 330-31
Vella Lavella, xxi
Volcanoes, xxv, 41-2, 54, 56, 70, 86,
120-21, 174, 335
Vows, hasty, 312-13
" Vui" (spirit), 92-3, 107
" Vulanangela " (a Mala mythical
character), 291
Waiau (a San Cristoval man), 240
Wailing for the dead, 77, 163, 190,
324, 350, 36o
Walls, stone, for defence, 198-9, 202,
268
War-canoes, 219, 228, 270, 282,
285, 289, 298-9, 338, 344, 345,
355
" Washing down," 223
Water, supply of fresh, 73, 117, 137,
208
Waterfalls, 30-31, 57, 65-6, 187
Water-lilies, 164
Weather. See Charms, Magicians,
Stones, etc.
Weddings, 12-14, 258-9, 288
" Welewele " = Canoe, q.v.
382 ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT
Wes (an Ulawa magician), 251-2
Widowhood, token of, 75, 233
Widows, what is required of, 23, 124,
190
William Qasvaron, Rev. See Qas-
varoti
William Vaget, Rev. See Vaget
Wilson, Capt., 218
Wind, restraining the, 64, 82
Wives, buying of, 12, 13, 31, 62, 123,
189, 258, 315
runaway, 82, 327
treatment of, 256, 327, 328
Wizards. See Magicians
Yams, cultivation of, 12, 42, 102,
115, 120, 153, 226, 235, 237, 276
Ysabel=Bugotu l q.v.
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