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diff --git a/27578.txt b/27578.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a56439d --- /dev/null +++ b/27578.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7791 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Years with the Natives in the Western +Pacific, by Felix Speiser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific + +Author: Felix Speiser + +Release Date: December 20, 2008 [EBook #27578] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO YEARS WITH THE NATIVES *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ + + + + + + + + + + Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific + + By + + Dr. Felix Speiser + + With 40 illustrations from photographs and a map + + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +This book is a collection of sketches written on lonely evenings +during my voyage; some of them have been published in daily papers, +and were so kindly received by the public as to encourage me to +issue them in book form. In order to retain the freshness of first +impressions, the original form has been but slightly changed, and +only so much ethnological detail has been added as will help to an +understanding of native life. The book does not pretend to give a +scientific description of the people of the New Hebrides; that will +appear later; it is meant simply to transmit some of the indelible +impressions the traveller was privileged to receive,--impressions +both stern and sweet. The author will be amply repaid if he succeeds +in giving the reader some slight idea of the charm and the terrors +of the islands. He will be proud if his words can convey a vision of +the incomparable beauty and peacefulness of the glittering lagoon, +and of the sublimity of the virgin forest; if the reader can divine +the charm of the native when gay and friendly, and his ferocity when +gloomy and hostile. I have set down some of the joys and some of the +hardships of an explorer's life; and I received so many kindnesses +from all the white colonists I met, that one great object of my +writing is to show my gratitude for their friendly help. + +First of all, I would mention His Britannic Majesty's Resident, +Mr. Morton King, who followed my studies with the most sympathetic +interest, was my most hospitable host, and, I may venture to +say, my friend. I would name Mr. Colonna, Resident de France, +Judge Alexander in Port Vila, and Captain Harrowell; in Santo, +Rev. Father Bochu, the Messrs. Thomas, Mr. Fysh, Mr. Clapcott; in +Malo, Mr. M. Wells and Mr. Jacquier; in Vao, Rev. Father Jamond; in +Malekula, Rev. F. Paton, Rev. Jaffrays, Mr. Bird and Mr. Fleming; +in Ambrym, Rev. Dr. J. J. Bowie, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Decent; in +Pentecoste, Mr. Filmer; in Aoba, Mr. Albert and Rev. Grunling; in +Tanna, Rev. Macmillan and Dr. Nicholson; in Venua Lava, Mr. Choyer; in +Nitendi, Mr. Matthews. I am also indebted to the Anglican missionaries, +especially Rev. H. N. Drummond, and to Captain Sinker of the steam +yacht Southern Cross, to the supercargo and captains of the steamers +of Burns, Philp & Company. There are many more who assisted me in +various ways, often at the expense of their own comfort and interest, +and not the least of the impressions I took home with me is, that +nowhere can one find wider hospitality or friendlier helpfulness than +in these islands. This has helped me to forget so many things that +do not impress the traveller favourably. + +If this book should come under the notice of any of these kind friends, +the author would be proud to think that they remember him as pleasantly +as he will recall all the friendship he received during his stay in +the New Hebrides. + + +BASLE, April 1913. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + Chap. Page + Introduction 1 + I. Noumea and Port Vila 19 + II. Maei, Tongoa, Epi and Malekula 28 + III. The Segond Channel--Life on a Plantation 35 + IV. Recruiting for Natives 53 + V. Vao 85 + VI. Port Olry and a "Sing-Sing" 109 + VII. Santo 136 + VIII. Santo (continued)--Pygmies 161 + IX. Santo (continued)--Pigs 171 + X. Climbing Santo Peak 179 + XI. Ambrym 191 + XII. Pentecoste 224 + XIII. Aoba 241 + XIV. Loloway--Malo--The Banks Islands 250 + XV. Tanna 270 + XVI. The Santa Cruz Islands 277 + + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + Shore in Graciosa Bay Frontispiece + Facing page + Women From the Reef Islands in Carlisle Bay 3 + Native Taro Field on Maevo 10 + Man from Nitendi working the Loom 15 + A Cannibal before his Hut on Tanna 22 + Dancing Table near Port Sandwich 31 + Old Man with Young Wife on Ambrym 40 + Front of a Chief's House on Venua Lava 47 + Man from Nitendi 54 + Cannibal from Big Nambas 61 + Woman on Nitendi 70 + Canoe on Ureparapara 77 + Dancing-Ground on Vao, with Ancestor Houses 85 + Dancing-Ground on Vao 93 + Woman from Tanna 99 + House Fences on Vao 106 + Gamal near Port Olry 115 + Group of Large and Small Drums near Port Sandwich 129 + View along the Shore of a Coral Island 136 + Interior of a Gamal on Venua Lava 147 + Wild Mountain Scenery in the District of the Pygmies 163 + Irrigated Taro Field on Santo 179 + Dwelling of a Trader on Ambrym 191 + View from Hospital--Dip Point 199 + Women cooking on Ambrym 205 + Fern Trees on Ambrym 218 + Group of Drums and Statues on Malekula 227 + Cooking-House on Aoba 241 + Fire-Rubbing 244 + Tattooing on Aoba 251 + Dwelling-House on Gaua 255 + Ancestor-House on Gaua 258 + Drum Concert on Ureparapara 261 + Interior of a Gamal on Gaua 264 + Men from Tanna 270 + Women from Tanna 272 + Canoe from Nitendi 277 + Man from Nitendi, Shooting 279 + Man from Nitendi, with Pearl Shell Nose 284 + Man from Tucopia 287 + Map 291 + + + + + + + + + +TWO YEARS WITH THE NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Late in the sixteenth century the Spaniards made several voyages +in search of a continent in the southern part of the great Pacific +Ocean. Alvara Mendana de Neyra, starting in 1568 from the west coast of +South America and following about the sixth degree southern latitude, +found the Solomon Islands, which he took for parts of the desired +continent. In 1595 he undertook another voyage, keeping a more +southerly course, and discovered the Queen Charlotte Islands; the +largest of these, Nitendi, he called Santa Cruz, and gave the fitting +name of Graciosa Bay to the lovely cove in which he anchored. He tried +to found a colony here, but failed. Mendana died in Santa Cruz, and +his lieutenant, Pedro Vernandez de Quiros, led the expedition home. In +Europe, Quiros succeeded in interesting the Spanish king, Philip III., +in the idea of another voyage, so that in 1603 he was able to set sail +from Spain with three ships. Again he reached the Santa Cruz Islands, +and sailing southward from there he landed in 1606 on a larger island, +which he took for the desired Australian continent and called Tierra +Australis del Espiritu Santo; the large bay he named San Iago and San +Felipe, and his anchorage Vera Cruz. He stayed here some months and +founded the city of New Jerusalem at the mouth of the river Jordan +in the curve of the bay. Quiros claims to have made a few sailing +trips thence, southward along the east coast of the island; if he had +pushed on far enough these cruises might easily have convinced him of +the island-nature of the country. Perhaps he was aware of the truth; +certainly the lovely descriptions he gave King Philip of the beauties +of the new territory are so exaggerated that one may be pardoned +for thinking him quite capable of dignifying an island by the name +of continent. + +The inevitable quarrels with the natives, and diseases and mutinies +among his crew, forced him to abandon the colony and return home. His +lieutenant, Luis Vaez de Torres, separated from him, discovered and +passed the Torres Straits, a feat of excellent seamanship. Quiros +returned to America. His high-flown descriptions of his discovery did +not help him much, for the king simply ignored him, and his reports +were buried in the archives. Quiros died in poverty and bitterness, +and the only traces of his travels are the names Espiritu Santo, +Bay San Iago and San Felipe, and Jordan, in use to this day. + +No more explorers came to the islands till 1767, when a Frenchman, +Carteret, touched at Santa Cruz, and 1768, when Bougainville landed +in the northern New Hebrides, leaving his name to the treacherous +channel between Malekula and Santo. + +But all these travellers were thrown into the shade by the immortal +discoverer, James Cook, who, in the New Hebrides, as everywhere else, +combined into solid scientific material all that his predecessors had +left in a state of patchwork. Cook's first voyage made possible the +observation of the transit of Venus from one of the islands of the +Pacific. His second cruise, in search of the Australian continent, +led him, coming from Tongoa, to the New Hebrides, of which he first +sighted Maevo. + +Assisted by two brilliant scientists, Reinhold and George Forster, +Cook investigated the archipelago with admirable exactitude, determined +the position of the larger islands, made scientific collections of +all sorts, and gave us the first reliable descriptions of the country +and its people, so that the material he gathered is of the greatest +value even at the present day. The group had formerly been known as +the "Great Cyclades"; Cook gave it its present name of "New Hebrides." + +Incited by Cook's surprising results the French Government sent La +Perouse to the islands, but he was shipwrecked in 1788 on Vanikoro, the +southern-most of the Santa Cruz group; remains of this wreck were found +on Vanikoro a few years ago. In 1789 Bligh sighted the Banks Islands, +and in 1793 d'Entrecastaux, sent by Louis XVI. to the rescue of La +Perouse, saw the islands of Santa Cruz. Since that time traffic with +the islands became more frequent; among many travellers we may mention +the French captain, Dumont d'Urville, and the Englishmen, Belcher and +Erskine, who, as well as Markham, have all left interesting accounts. + +But with Markham we enter that sad period which few islands of the +Pacific escaped, in which the scum of the white race carried on +their bloodstained trade in whaling products and sandalwood. They +terrorized the natives shamelessly, and when these, naturally enough, +often resorted to cruel modes of defence, they retaliated with deeds +still more frightful, and the bad reputation they themselves made +for the natives served them as a welcome excuse for a system of +extermination. The horrors of slave-trade were added to piracy, so +that in a few decades the native race of the New Hebrides and Banks +Islands was so weakened that in many places to-day its preservation +seems hopeless. + +Thus, for the financial advantage of the worst of whites, and from +indolence and short-sighted national rivalry, a race was sacrificed +which in every respect would be worth preserving, and it is a shameful +fact that even to-day such atrocities are not impossible and very +little is done to save the islanders from destruction. + +The only factor opposing these conditions was the Mission, which +obtained a foothold in the islands under Bishop John Williams. He +was killed in 1839 by the natives of Erromanga, but the Protestant +missionaries, especially the Presbyterians, would not be repulsed, +and slowly advanced northward, in spite of many losses. To-day the +Presbyterian mission occupies all the New Hebrides, with the exception +of Pentecoste, Aoba and Maevo. To the north lies the field of the +Anglican mission, extending up to the Solomon Islands. + +In 1848 Roman Catholic missionaries settled in Aneityum, but soon +gave up the station; in 1887 they returned and spread all over the +archipelago, with the exception of the southern islands and the +Banks group. + +Of late years several representatives of free Protestant sects have +come out, but, as a rule, these settle only where they can combine +a profitable trade with their mission work. + +Owing to energetic agitation on the part of the Anglican and +Presbyterian Churches, especially of Bishop Patteson and the +Rev. J. G. Paton, men-of-war were ordered to the islands on police +duty, so as to watch the labour-trade. They could not suppress +kidnapping entirely, and the transportation of the natives to +Queensland continued until within the last ten years, when it was +suppressed by the Australian Government, so that to-day the natives +are at least not taken away from their own islands, except those +recruited by the French for New Caledonia. + +Unhappily, England and France could not agree as to who should annex +the New Hebrides. Violent agitation in both camps resulted in neither +power being willing to leave the islands to the other, as numerical +superiority on the French side was counter-balanced by the absolute +economical dependence of the colonists upon Australia. England put +the group under the jurisdiction of the "Western Pacific," with +a high commissioner; France retorted by the so-called purchase of +all useful land by the "Societe Francaise des Nouvelles Hebrides," +a private company, which spent great sums on the islands in a short +time. Several propositions of exchange failed to suit either of the +powers, but both feared the interference of a third, and conditions +in the islands called urgently for a government; so, in 1887, a +dual control was established, each power furnishing a warship and a +naval commissioner, who were to unite in keeping order. This was the +beginning of the present Condominium, which was signed in 1906 and +proclaimed in 1908 in Port Vila; quite a unique form of government +and at the same time a most interesting experiment in international +administration. + +The Condominium puts every Englishman or Frenchman under the laws +of his own nation, as represented by its officials; so that these +two nationalities live as they would in any colony of their own, +while all others have to take their choice between these two. + +Besides the national laws, the Condominium has a few ordinances to +regulate the intercourse between the two nations, the sale of liquor +and arms to natives, recruiting and treatment of labourers, etc. As +the highest instance in the islands and as a supreme tribunal, an +international court of six members has been appointed: two Spanish, +two Dutch, one English and one French. Thus the higher officials of +the Condominium are: + + + One English and one French resident commissioner, + One Spanish president of the Court, + One English and one French judge, + One Dutch registrar, + One Spanish prosecuting attorney, + One Dutch native advocate, + One English and one French police commissioner. + + +The Santa Cruz Islands were annexed by England in 1898 and belong to +the jurisdiction of the Solomon Islands. + + + +Geography + +The New Hebrides lie between 165 deg. and 170 deg. east longitude, and reach +from 13 deg. to 20 deg. south latitude. The Santa Cruz Islands lie 116 deg. +east and 11 deg. south. + +The New Hebrides and Banks Islands consist of thirteen larger islands +and a great number of islets and rocks, covering an area of about +15,900 km. The largest island is Espiritu Santo, about 107 x 57 +km., with 4900 km. surface. They are divided into the Torres group, +the Banks Islands, the Central and the Southern New Hebrides. The +Banks and Torres Islands and the Southern New Hebrides are composed +of a number of isolated, scattered islands, while the Central group +forms a chain, which divides at Epi into an eastern and a western +branch, and encloses a stretch of sea, hemming it in on all sides +except the north. On the coast of this inland sea, especially on the +western islands, large coral formations have grown, changing what was +originally narrow mountain chains, running north and south, to larger +islands. Indeed, most of them seem to consist of a volcanic nucleus, +on which lie great coral banks, often 200 m. high; these usually +drop in five steep steps to the sea, and then merge into the living +coral-reef in the water. Most of the islands, therefore, appear as +typical table-islands, out of which, in the largest ones, rise the +rounded tops of the volcanic stones. They are all very mountainous; +the highest point is Santo Peak, 1500 m. high. + +The tides cause very nasty tide-rips in the narrow channels between +the islands of the Central group; but inside, the sea is fairly good, +and the reefs offer plenty of anchorage for small craft. Much less +safe are the open archipelagoes of the Banks and Torres Islands and +of the Southern New Hebrides, where the swell of the open ocean is +unbroken by any land and harbours are scarce. + +There are three active volcanoes on the New Hebrides--the mighty +double crater on Ambrym, the steep cone of Lopevi, and the volcano +of Tanna. There is a half-extinct volcano on Venua Lava, and many +other islands show distinct traces of former volcanic activity, +such as Meralava and Ureparapara, one side of which has broken down, +so that now there is a smooth bay where once the lava boiled. + +Rivers are found only on the larger islands, where there are volcanic +rocks. In the coral rocks the rain-water oozes rapidly away, so +that fresh-water springs are not frequently found, in spite of very +considerable rainfall. + + + +Climate + +The climate is not hot and very equable. The average temperature in +Efate in 1910 was 24.335 deg. C.; the hottest month was February, with +an average of 27.295 deg., the coolest, July with 11.9 deg. C. The lowest +absolute temperature was 11.9 deg. C. in August, and the highest 35.6 deg. +C. in March. The average yearly variation, therefore, was 5.48 deg., +and the absolute difference 23.7 deg.. + +The rainfall is very heavy. In December the maximum, 564 mm., was +reached, and in June the minimum, 22 mm. The total rainfall was 3.012 +mm., giving a daily average of 8.3 mm. + +These figures, taken from a table in the Neo-Hebridais, show that the +year is divided into a cool, dry season and a hot, damp one. From May +to October one enjoys agreeable summer days, bright and cool, with a +predominant south-east trade-wind, that rises and falls with the sun +and creates a fairly salubrious climate. From November to April the +atmosphere is heavy and damp, and one squall follows another. Often +there is no wind, or the wind changes quickly and comes in heavy gusts +from the north-west. This season is the time for cyclones, which occur +at least once a year; happily, their centre rarely touches the islands, +as they lie somewhat out of the regular cyclone track. + +A similar climate, with but slightly higher temperature, prevails on +the Santa Cruz Islands. + + + +Flora and Fauna + +The vegetation of the New Hebrides is luxurious enough to make all +later visitors share Quiros' amazement. The possibilities for the +planter are nearly inexhaustible, and the greatest difficulty is +that of keeping the plantations from the constant encroachments of +the forest. Yet the flora is poorer in forms than that of Asiatic +regions, and in the southern islands it is said to be much like that +of New Caledonia. + +As a rule, thick forest covers the islands; only rarely we find areas +covered with reed-grass. On Erromanga these are more frequent. + +In the Santa Cruz Islands the flora seems richer than in the New +Hebrides. + +Still more simple than the flora is the fauna. Of mammals there are +only the pig, dog, a flying-fox and the rat, of which the first two +have probably been imported by the natives. There are but few birds, +reptiles and amphibies, but the few species there are are very +prolific, so that we find swarms of lizards and snakes, the latter +all harmless Boidae, but occasionally of considerable size. + +Crocodiles are found only in the Santa Cruz Islands, and do not grow +so large there as in the Solomon Islands. + +Animal life in the sea is very rich; turtles and many kinds of fish +and Cetaceae are plentiful. + + + +Native Population + +The natives belong to the Melanesian race, which is a collective +name for the dark-skinned, curly-haired, bearded inhabitants of the +Pacific. The Melanesians are quite distinct from the Australians, +and still more so from the lank-haired, light-skinned Polynesians of +the eastern islands. Probably a mixture of Polynesians and Melanesians +are the Micronesians, who are light-skinned but curly-haired, and of +whom we find representatives in the New Hebrides. The island-nature +of the archipelago is very favourable to race-mixture; and as we know +that on some islands there were several settlements of Polynesians, +it is not surprising to find a very complex mingling of races, which +it is not an easy task to disentangle. It would seem, however, that +we have before us remnants of four races: a short, dark, curly-haired +and perhaps original race, a few varieties of the tall Melanesian +race, arrived in the islands in several migrations, an old Polynesian +element as a relic of its former migrations eastward, and a present +Polynesian element from the east. + +Every traveller will notice that the lightest population is in the +south and north-east of the New Hebrides, while the darkest is in +the north-west, and the ethnological difference corresponds to this +division. + +In the Banks Islands we find, probably owing to recent immigration, +more Polynesian blood than in the northern New Hebrides; in the Santa +Cruz group the process of mixing seems to be just going on. + +The number of natives in the New Hebrides and Banks Islands +amounted, according to the approximate census of the British Resident +Commissioner in 1910, to 65,000. At a conservative estimate we may say +that before the coming of the whites, that is, a generation ago, it was +ten times that, i.e. 650,000. For to judge from present conditions, +the accounts of old men and the many ruined villages, it is evident +that the race must have decreased enormously. + + + +Language + +The languages belong to the Melanesian and Polynesian classes. They are +split up into numerous dialects, so widely different that natives of +different districts can hardly, if at all, understand each other. It +is evident that owing to the seclusion of the villages caused by the +general insecurity of former days, and the lack of any literature, +the language developed differently in every village. + +On some islands things are so bad that one may easily walk in one day +through several districts, in each of which is spoken a language quite +unintelligible to the neighbours; there are even adjoining villages +whose natives have to learn each other's language; this makes them +fairly clever linguists. Where, by migrations, conditions have become +too complicated, the most important of the dialects has been adopted +as a kind of "lingua franca." + +Under these circumstances I at once gave up the idea of learning a +native language, as I never stopped anywhere more than a few weeks; and +as the missionaries have done good work in the cause of philology, my +services were not needed. I was, therefore, dependent on interpreters +in "biche la mar," a language which contains hardly more than fifty +words, and which is spoken on the plantations, but is quite useless +for discussing any abstract subject. In nearly every village there +is some man who can speak biche la mar. + + + +Colonization + +As we have seen, colonization in the New Hebrides was begun by the +whalers, who had several stations in the southern islands. They had, +however, little intercourse with the natives, and their influence +may be considered fairly harmless. + +More dangerous were the sandalwood traders, who worked chiefly in +Erromanga. They were not satisfied with buying the valuable wood +from the natives, but tried to get directly at the rich supplies +inland. Naturally, they came into conflict with the natives, and +fierce wars arose, in which the whites fought with all the weapons +unscrupulous cruelty can wield. As a result, the population of +Erromanga has decreased from between 5000 and 10,000 to 800. + +Happily, the northern islands were not so rich in sandalwood, so that +contact with the whites came later, through the coprah-makers. Coprah +is dried cocoa-nut, which is used in manufacturing soap, and the +great wealth of cocoa-nut palms attracted coprah-makers as early +as the 'Seventies of the last century. They were nearly all ruined +adventurers, either escaped from the Noumea penitentiary or otherwise +the scum of the white race. Such individuals would settle near +a good anchorage close to some large village, build a straw hut, +and barter coprah for European goods and liquor. They made a very +fair profit, but were constantly quarrelling with the natives, whom +they enraged by all sorts of brutalities. The frequent murders of +such traders were excusable, to say the least, and many later ones +were acts of justifiable revenge. The traders were kept in contact +with civilization through small sailing-vessels, which brought them +new goods and bought their coprah. This easy money-making attracted +more whites, so that along the coasts of the more peaceable islands +numerous Europeans settled, and at present there are so many of these +stations that the coprah-trade is no longer very profitable. + +Naturally, many of these settlers started plantations, and thus grew +up the plantation centres of Mele, Port Havannah, Port Sandwich, Epi +and the Segond Channel. Many plantations were created by the "Societe +Francaise des Nouvelles Hebrides," but owing to bad management these +have never yet brought any returns. + +Thus, to the alcohol peril was added another danger to the +natives,--work on the plantations. They were kidnapped, overworked, +ill-fed; it was slavery in its worst shape, and the treatment of the +hands is best illustrated by the mortality which, in some places, +reached 44 per cent. per annum. In those days natives were plentiful +and labour easy to get, and nobody worried about the future; so the +ruin of the race began, and to-day their number hardly suffices for +the needs of the planters. + +Then the slave-trade to Queensland, Fiji, even South America began, +so that the population, relatively small from the first, decreased +alarmingly, all the more so as they were decimated by dysentery, +measles, tuberculosis and other diseases. + +Against all these harmful influences the missions, unsupported as they +were by any authority, could only fight by protests in the civilized +countries; these proved effectual at last, so that the missions deserve +great credit for having preserved the native race. Yet it cannot be +said that they have restored its vitality, except in Tanna. It seems +as if the system of imbibing the native with so much European culture, +and yet separating him from the whites and regulated labour, had been +noxious to the race, for nearly everywhere the Christianized natives +die out just as fast as the heathen population. + +About ten years after the French, the English began planting, and +to-day nearly all arable land along the coast is cultivated. The +English suffer much less from lack of labour, which is doubtless owing +to their more humane and just treatment of the hands. In the first +place, they usually come from better stock than the French, and, +secondly, they are strictly controlled by the Government, whereas +the French Government does not even attempt to enforce its own laws. + +There is now some question of importing Indian coolies; the great +expense this would entail would be a just punishment for the +short-sighted cruelty with which the most valuable product of the +islands--their population--has been destroyed. Only by compelling +each native to work for a definite period could a sufficient amount +of labour be produced to-day; but such a system, while extremely +beneficial to the race as a whole, stands but a poor chance of being +introduced. + +The products of the islands are coprah, coffee, corn, cocoa and, of +late years, cotton. The chief item, however, is coprah, for the islands +seem specially suited for the growing of cocoa-nut palms. Rubber does +not seem to thrive. + +In spite of the great number of officials, the Government does not +make itself much felt outside the larger settlements, at least on the +French side. There are not yet magistrates on each island, so that +the Government hears only so much about the crimes committed on the +islands as the planters care to tell, and naturally they do not tell +too much. The British Government is represented by two inspectors, +who frequently visit all the British plantations and look into labour +conditions; the activity of the French authorities is restricted to +occasional visits from the Resident. + +Thus the natives have no means of complaining about the whites, +while they have to submit to any punishment they may get on the +accusation of a colonist. This would be a very one-sided affair; +happily, the missionaries represent the interests of the natives, +and the power of the Government does not reach far inland. There the +natives are quite independent, so that only a few hours away from the +coast cannibalism still flourishes. Formerly, expeditions from the +men-of-war frightened the natives; to-day they know that resistance +is easy. It is, therefore, not the merit of the Government or the +planters if the islands are fairly pacified, but only of the missions, +which work mostly through native teachers. Still, the missions have +had one bad effect: they have undermined the old native authorities +and thus created general anarchy to complete the destruction begun +by European civilization. + +In the Santa Cruz Islands there is only one plantation, worked by boys +from the Solomon Islands, as the Santa Cruz natives are not yet used to +regular work. But to-day they frequently recruit for the plantations +on the Solomons, and there come into contact with civilization. There +the labour conditions are strictly watched by the British Government; +still, boys returning from there have sometimes imported diseases, +generally tuberculosis, which have reduced the population by half. + + + +Commerce + +Communications with Sydney, the commercial centre of the Western +Pacific, are established by means of a French and an English line +of steamers. A few small steamers and schooners ply at irregular +intervals between Noumea and the New Hebrides. + +The English steamers fly the flag of Burns, Philp & Company, the +great Australian firm which trades with numerous island groups of the +South Seas. Their steamers touch the Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, +stop for a few days at Vila, then call in a four weeks' cruise at +nearly all the plantations in the islands. They carry the mail and +ply a profitable trade with the planters; they also do errands for +the colonists in Sydney, procuring anything from a needle to a horse +or a house. Being practically without serious competitors they can set +any price they please on commodities, so that they are a power in the +islands and control the trade of the group; all the more so as many +planters are dependent on them for large loans. To me, Burns, Philp & +Company were extremely useful, as on board their ships I could always +find money, provisions and articles for barter, send my collections +to Vila, and occasionally travel from one island to another. + +The French line is run by the Messageries Maritimes, on quite a +different plan: it is merely for mail-service and does not do any +trading. Its handsome steamer travels in three weeks from Sydney +to Noumea and Port Vila, visits about three plantations and leaves +the islands after one week. This line offers the shortest and most +comfortable connection with Sydney, taking eight days for the trip, +while the English steamers take eleven. + +The port of entrance to the group is Port Vila, chosen for its +proximity to New Caledonia and Sydney; it is a good harbour, though +somewhat narrow. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +NOUMEA AND PORT VILA + + +On April 26, 1910, I arrived at Noumea by the large and very old +mail-steamer of the Messageries Maritimes, plying between Marseilles +and Noumea, which I had boarded at Sydney. + +Noumea impresses one very unfavourably. A time of rapid development has +been followed by a period of stagnation, increased by the suppression +of the penitentiary, the principal source of income to the town. The +latter has never grown to the size originally planned and laid out, and +its desolate squares and decayed houses are a depressing sight. Two or +three steamers and a few sailing-vessels are all the craft the harbour +contains; a few customs officers and discharged convicts loaf on the +pier, where some natives from the Loyalty Islands sleep or shout. + +Parallel streets lead from the harbour to the hills that fence the +town to the landward. Under roofs of corrugated sheet-iron run the +sidewalks, along dark stores displaying unappetizing food, curios and +cheap millinery. At each corner is a dismal sailors' bar, smelling of +absinthe. Then we come to an empty, decayed square, where a crippled, +noseless "Gallia" stands on a fountain; some half-drunk coachmen +lounge dreaming on antediluvian cabs, and a few old convicts sprawl +on benches. + +Along the hillside are the houses of the high officials and the better +class of people. There is a club, where fat officials gather to play +cards and drink absinthe and champagne; they go to the barber's, roll +cigarettes, drink some more absinthe and go to bed early, after having +visited a music-hall, in which monstrous dancing-girls from Sydney +display their charms and moving-picture shows present blood-curdling +dramas. Then there is the Governor's residence, the town hall, etc., +and the only event in this quiet city of officials is the arrival of +the mail-steamer, when all the "beau-monde" gathers on the pier to +welcome the few passengers, whether known or unknown. + +In Noumea itself there is no industry, and the great export of minerals +does not touch the town. Once, Noumea was meant to form a base of +naval operations, and strongly fortified. But after a few years +this idea was abandoned, after having cost large sums, and now the +fortifications are left to decay and the heavy, modern guns to rust. + +In spite of a prohibition, one may climb up to the forts, and be +rewarded by a beautiful view of the island, which does not impress one +as tropical. The rounded hills are covered with shrubs, and only in the +valleys are there a few trees; we are surprised by the strong colouring +of the distant mountains, shining purple through the violet atmosphere. + +Seaward, we see the white line of the breakers, indicating the great +barrier-reef which surrounds the isle with an almost impenetrable belt; +a few channels only lead from the shore to the open ocean. + +On the 1st of May the Pacific arrived at Noumea, and her departure +for Vila, next day, ended a most tiresome stay. + +It was a sad, rainy day when we left. Impatiently the passengers waited +till the freight was loaded,--houses, iron, horses, cases of tins, +etc. Of course we were six hours late, and all the whites were angry, +while the few natives did not care, but found a dry corner, rolled +themselves up in their blankets and dozed. When we finally left, +heavy squalls were rushing over the sea; in the darkness a fog came +on, so that we had soon to come to anchor. But next morning we had +passed the Loyalty Islands and were rolling in the heavy swell the +south-east trade raises on the endless surface of the Pacific. + +Next day, through the light mist of a summer morning, the forms +of islands appeared, flat, bluish-grey lines, crowned with rounded +hills. Slowly finer points appeared, the ridge of mountains showed +details and we could recognize the tops of the giant banyan trees, +towering above the forest as a cathedral does over the houses of a +city. We saw the surf, breaking in the coral cliffs of flat shores, +found the entrance to the wide bay, noticed the palms with elegantly +curved trunks bending over the beach, and unexpectedly entered the +lagoon, that shone in the bright sun like a glittering sapphire. + +We had passed the flat cliffs, covered only with iron-wood trees, +and now the water was bordered by high coral plateaux, from which a +luxuriant forest fell down in heavy cascades, in a thickness almost +alarming, like the eruption of a volcano, when one cloud pushes +the other before it and new ones are ever behind. It seemed as if +each tree were trying to strangle the others in a fight for life, +while the weakest, deprived of their ground, clung frantically to +the shore and would soon be pushed far out over the smooth, shining +sea. There the last dense crowns formed the beautiful fringe of the +green carpet stretched soft and thick over the earth. + +Only here and there the shore was free, showing the coral strand as +a line of white that separated the blue of the sea from the green +of the forest and intensified every colour in the landscape. It was +a vision of the most magnificent luxuriance, so different from the +view which the barren shores of eastern New Caledonia offer. + +The bay became narrower and we approached the port proper. Small +islands appeared, between which we had glimpses of cool bays +across glassy, deep-green water, and before us lay a broken line of +light-coloured houses along the beach, while on the plateau behind +we could see the big court-house and some villas. + +A little distance off-shore we dropped anchor, and were soon surrounded +by boats, from which the inhabitants came on board. A kind planter +brought me and my belongings ashore, and I took up my quarters in +the only hotel in Port Vila, the so-called "blood-house," thus named +because of its history. + +Vila is merely the administration centre, and consists of nothing but +a few stores and the houses of the Condominium officials. There is +little life, and only the arrival of the ships brings some excitement, +so that the stranger feels bored and lonely, especially as the +"blood-house " does not offer many comforts and the society there is +not of the choicest. + +I immediately went to present my letters of introduction to the French +Resident. The offices of the British Residence were still on the small +island of Iariki, which I could not reach without a boat. The French +Residence is a long, flat, unattractive building; the lawn around the +house was fairly well kept, but perfectly bare, in accordance with +the French idea of salubrity, except for a few straggling bushes near +by. Fowls and horses promenaded about. But the view is one of the most +charming to be found in the islands. Just opposite is the entrance to +the bay, and the two points frame the sea most effectively, numerous +smaller capes deepening the perspective. Along their silhouettes +the eye glides into far spaces, to dive beyond the horizon into +infinity. Iariki is just in front, and we can see the well-kept park +around the British Residence, with its mixture of art and wilderness; +near by is the smooth sea shining in all colours. While the shores +are of a yellowish green, the sea is of every shade of blue, and +the green of the depths is saturated with that brilliant turquoise +tint which is enough to put one into a light and happy humour. This +being my first sight of a tropical landscape, my delight was great, +and made up for any disappointment human inefficiency had occasioned. + +The French Resident, Mr. C, received me most kindly, and did me the +honour of inviting me to be his guest. I had planned to stay in Vila +a few weeks, so as to get acquainted with the country and hire boys; +but the Resident seemed to think that I only intended a short visit +to the islands, and he proposed to take me with him on a cruise +through the archipelago and to deposit me at the Segond Channel, an +invitation I could not well refuse. My objection of having no servants +was overruled by the Resident's assurance that I could easily find some +in Santo. I therefore made my preparations and got my luggage ready. + +In the afternoon, Mr. C. lent me his boat to go and pay my respects +to Mr. Morton King, the British Resident. The difference between the +two residences was striking, but it would be out of place to dwell on +it here. It may be caused by the fact that the French Resident is, +as a rule, recalled every six months, while the British Resident +had been at Vila for more than three years. Mr. King received me +most cordially and also offered his hospitality, which, however, +I was unable to accept. Later on Mr. King assisted and sheltered me +in the most generous manner, so that I shall always remember his help +and friendship with sincere gratitude. + +I also had the honour of making the acquaintance of the British judge +and of most of the Condominium officials. + +It was a dull morning when we left Vila on board the French Government +yacht. In days gone by she had been an elegant racing-boat, but +was now somewhat decayed and none too clean; however, she had been +equipped with a motor, so that we were independent of the wind. + +Besides the Resident and myself there were on board the French judge, +the police commissioner, and a crew of boys from the Loyalty Islands +near New Caledonia. These are excellent sailors and are employed in +Vila as French policemen. They are very strong and lively and great +fighters, and would be perfect material for a police force were they +not such confirmed drunkards. Because of this defect they all had +to be dismissed soon afterwards and sent back to their own country, +as in Vila, instead of arresting drunken natives, they had generally +been drunk themselves and were often fighting in the streets. But +on board ship, where they had no opportunity to get drunk, they were +very willing and always cheerful and ready for sport of any kind. + +We did not travel far that first day, but stopped after a few hours' +sail in Port Havannah, north of the Bay of Mele. This port would be one +of the best harbours in the group, as it is almost entirely landlocked; +only, the water is so deep that small craft cannot anchor. Yet it +would be preferable to Port Vila, as the climate is much better, Vila +being one of the hottest, stuffiest and rainiest spots in the group, +and its harbour is becoming too small for the increased traffic of +the last few years. Port Vila only became the capital of the islands +when the English influence grew stronger, while all the land round +Port Havannah belonged to a French company. + +We spent the afternoon on shore shooting pigeons. Besides a few ducks, +flying-foxes and wild pigs, pigeons are the only game in the islands; +but this pigeon-shooting is a peculiar sport and requires a special +enthusiasm to afford pleasure for any length of time. The birds are +extremely shy and generally sit on the tops of the highest trees +where a European can hardly discover them. The natives, however, +are very clever in detecting them, but when they try to show you the +pigeon it generally flies off and is lost; and if you shoot it, it is +hard to find, even for a native. The natives themselves are capable +of approaching the birds noiselessly and unseen, because of their +colour, so as to shoot them from a short distance. My pigeon-shooting +usually consisted in waiting for several hours in the forest, with +very unsatisfactory results, so that I soon gave it up. + +We were all unsuccessful on this particular day, but it ended most +gaily with a dance at the house of a French planter. + +We slept on board, rocked softly by the ship, against which the waves +plashed in cosy whispering. The sky was bright with stars, but below +decks it was dark and stuffy. Now and then a big fish jumped out of the +black sea, otherwise it was quiet, dull and gloomy as a dismal dream. + +Next day we rose early and went shooting again. Probably because we +had been given the best wishes of an old French lady the result was as +unsatisfactory as the evening before. We then resumed our journey in +splendid weather, with a stiff breeze, and flying through blue spaces +on the bright waves, we rapidly passed several small islands, sighted +"Monument Rock," a lonely cliff that rises abruptly out of the sea +to a height of 130 m., and arrived late in the afternoon at Maei, +our destination. + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MAEI, TONGOA, EPI AND MALEKULA + + +Maei is a small island whose natives have nearly all disappeared, as +is the case on most of its neighbours. There is one small plantation, +with the agent of which the Resident had business. After we had passed +the narrow inlet through the reef, we landed, to find the agent in a +peculiar, half-mad condition. He pretended to suffer from fever, but +it was evident that alcohol had a good deal to do with it, too. The +man made strange faces, could hardly talk and was quite unable to +write; he said the fever had deprived him of the power of using his +fingers. He was asked to dinner on board, and as he could not speak +French nor the Resident English, negotiations were carried on in biche +la mar, a language in which it is impossible to talk about anything +but the simplest matters of everyday life. Things got still worse when +the agent became more and more intoxicated, in spite of the small +quantities of liquor we allowed him. I had to act as interpreter, a +most ungrateful task, as the planter soon began to insult the Resident, +and I had to translate his remarks and the Resident's answers. At last, +funny as the whole affair was in a way, it became very tiresome; +happily, matters came to a sudden close by the planter's falling +under the table. He was then taken ashore by his native wife and the +police-boys, who enjoyed this duty immensely. We smoked a quiet pipe, +looked after the fish-hooks--empty, of course--and slept on deck in +the cool night air. Next morning the planter came aboard somewhat +sobered and more tractable. He brought with him his wife, and their +child whom he wished to adopt. As the native women do not as a rule +stay with their masters very long, the children are registered under +the formula: "Child of N. N., mother unknown," an expression which +sounds somewhat queer to those who do not know the reason for it. + +After having finished this business, we weighed anchor and set sail +for Tongoa. This is one of the few islands whose native population +does not decrease. The Presbyterian missionary there gives the entire +credit for this pleasant fact to his exertions, as the natives are +all converted. But as in other completely Christianized districts +the natives die out rapidly, it is doubtful whether Christianity +alone has had this beneficial effect, and we must seek other causes, +though they are hard to find. + +After a clear night we sailed along the coast of Epi. The bright +weather had changed to a dull, rainy day, and the aspect of the +landscape was entirely altered. The smiling islands had become sober, +lonely, even threatening. When the charm of a country consists so +entirely in its colouring, any modification of the atmosphere and +light cause such a change in its character that the same view may look +either like Paradise or entirely dull and inhospitable. What had been +thus far a pleasure trip, a holiday excursion, turned suddenly into +a business journey, and this change in our mood was increased by a +slight illness which had attacked the Resident, making the jovial +gentleman morose and irritable. + +The stay in Epi was rather uninteresting. Owing to the dense French +colonization there the natives have nearly all disappeared or become +quite degenerate. We spent our time in visits to the different French +planters and then sailed for Malekula, anchoring in Port Sandwich. + +Port Sandwich is a long, narrow bay in the south of Malekula, and +after Port Vila the most frequented harbour of the group, as it is +very centrally located and absolutely safe. Many a vessel has found +protection there from storm or cyclone. The entrance to the bay is +narrow, and at the anchorage we were so completely landlocked that +we might have imagined ourselves on an inland lake, so quiet is the +water, surrounded on all sides by the dark green forest which falls +in heavy waves down from the hills to the silent, gloomy sea. + +Immediately after our arrival my companions went pigeon-shooting as +usual; but I soon preferred to join the son of the French planter +at Port Sandwich in a visit to the neighbouring native village. This +was my first sight of the real, genuine aborigines. + +No one with any taste for nature will fail to feel the solemnity +of the moment when he stands face to face for the first time with +primitive man. As the traveller enters the depths of the virgin +forest for the first time with sacred awe, he feels that he stands +before a still higher revelation of nature when the first dark, naked +man suddenly appears. Silently he has crept through the thicket, has +parted the branches, and confronts us unexpectedly on a narrow path, +shy and silent, while we are struck with surprise. His figure is but +slightly relieved against the green of the bushes; he seems part of +the silent, luxuriant world around him, a being strange to us, a part +of those realms which we are used to imagine as void of feeling and +incapable of thought. But a word breaks the spell, intelligence gleams +in his face, and what, so far, has seemed a strange being, belonging +rather to the lower animals than to human-kind, shows himself a man, +and becomes equal to ourselves. Thus the endless, inhospitable jungle, +without open spaces or streets, without prairies and sun, that dense +tangle of lianas and tree-trunks, shelters men like ourselves. It +seems marvellous to think that in those depths, dull, dark and silent +as the fathomless ocean, men can live, and we can hardly blame former +generations for denying all kinship with these savages and counting +them as animals; especially as the native never seems more primitive +than when he is roaming the forest, naked but for a bark belt, with a +big curly wig and waving plumes, bow and arrow his only weapons. When +alarmed, he hides in the foliage, and once swallowed up in the green +depths which are his home and his protection, neither eye nor ear +can find any trace of him. + +But our ideas change when we enter his village home, with its +dancing-grounds with the big drums, the sacred stone tables, idols and +carved tree-trunks, all in a frame of violently coloured bushes--red, +purple, brown and orange. Above us, across a blue sky, a tree with +scarlet flowers blows in the breeze, and long stamens fall slowly down +and cover the ground with a brilliant carpet. Dogs bark, roosters +crow and from a hut a man creeps out--others emerge from the bush +and from half-hidden houses which at first we had not noticed. At +some distance stand the women and children in timid amazement, and +then begins a chattering, or maybe a whispered consultation about +the arrival of the stranger. We are in the midst of human life, in +a busy little town, where the sun pours through the gaps in the dark +forest, and flowers give colour and brightness, and where, after all, +life is not so very much less human than in civilization. + +Then the forest has lifted its veil, we have entered the sanctuary, +and the alarming sensation of nature's hostility is softened. We white +men like to talk about our mastery over nature, but is it not rather +true that we flee from nature, as its most intense manifestations are +oppressive to us? Is not the savage, living so very close to nature, +more its master, or at least its friend, than we are? We need space +and the sight of sun and sky to feel happy; the night of the forest, +the loneliness of the ocean are terrible to us, whilst to the native +they are his home and his element. + +It is evident that under our first strong impression of the native's +life we overlook much--the filth, the sores, the brutality of social +life; but these are really only ripples on an otherwise smooth +existence, defects which are not less present in our civilization, +but are better concealed. + +The next day we followed the coast of Malekula southward. There are +immense coral reefs attached to the coast, so that often the line of +breakers is one or two miles away from the shore. These reefs are a +solid mass of cleft coral stones constantly growing seaward. Their +surface is more or less flat, about on a level with the water at low +tide, so that it then lies nearly dry, and one can walk on the reefs, +jumping over the wide crevices in which the sea roars and gurgles +with the rise and fall of the breakers outside. These ever-growing +reefs would surround the whole coast were it not for the fresh water +that oozes out from the land and prevents the coral from growing at +certain points, thus keeping open narrow passages through the reef, +or wider stretches along the coast free from rocks. These basins form +good anchorages for small craft, as the swell of the open sea cannot +cross the reef; only the entrances are often crooked and hard to find. + +Our captain brought us safely into a quiet lagoon, where the yacht +lay in deep green water, smooth as glass, while beyond the reef the +breakers dashed a silver line across the blue ocean. + +Of course we immediately went shooting on the reef. I did not have +much sport, as I could see nothing worth shooting, but I was much +interested in wading in the warm water to observe the multiform animal +life of the reef. There was the "beche-de-mer," the sea-cucumber, +yellow or purplish-black, a shapeless mass lying in pools; this is +a delicacy highly valued by the Chinese and therefore a frequent +article of exportation. The animals are collected, cut open, dried +and shipped. There was the ugly muraena, which goes splashing and +winding like a snake between boulders, and threatens the intruder +with poisonous looks and snapping jaws. Innumerable bright-coloured +fish shot hither and thither in the flat pools, there were worms, +sea-stars, octopus, crabs. The wealth of animal life on the reef, +where each footstep stirs up a hundred creatures, is incredible, +and ever so many more are hidden in the rocks and crevices. + +The plants that had taken root in the coral were mostly mangrove +bushes with great forked roots. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SEGOND CHANNEL--LIFE ON A PLANTATION + + +When the tide rose, we returned to the yacht and continued our cruise +northward, passed the small islands of Rano, Atchin, Vao and others, +crossed the treacherous Bougainville Strait between Malekula and +Santo, and came to anchor in the Canal du Segond formed by Santo and +Malo. This channel is about eight miles long and three-quarters of +a mile wide at its narrowest point. On its shores, which belong to a +French company, is a colony of about a hundred and fifty Frenchmen. The +Segond Channel would be a good harbour but for very strong currents +caused by the tides, which are unfavourable to small boats; its +location, too, is not very central. The shores are flat, but rise +abruptly at some points to a height of 150 m. There are level lands +at the mouth of the Sarrakatta River and on the tablelands. + +The Sarrakatta is one of the sights of the New Hebrides, and a pull up +the narrow stream affords one of the most impressive views to be had +of tropical vegetation. The river cuts straight through the forest, +so that the boat moves between two high walls of leafy green. Silently +glides the stream, silently broods the forest, only the boat swishes +softly, and sometimes a frightened fish splashes up. Every bend we +round shows us new and surprisingly charming views: now we pass a +giant tree, which towers up king-like on its iron-hard trunk far +above the rest of the forest, trunk and limbs covered with a fine +lacework of tender-leaved lianas; now we sweep along a high bank, +under a bower of overhanging branches. The water caresses the tips +of the twigs, and through the leaves the sun pours golden into the +cool darkness. Again we glide into the light, and tangled shrubbery +seams the river bank, from which long green strands of vines trail +down and curl in the water like snakes. Knobby roots rise out of +the ground; they have caught floating trunks, across which the +water pours, lifting and dropping the wet grasses that grow on +the rotten stems. Farther up the bushes are entirely covered with +vines and creepers, whose large, thick leaves form a scaly coat of +mail under which the half-strangled trees seem to fight in vain for +air and freedom. In shallow places stiff bamboos sprout, their long +yellow leaves trembling nervously in an imperceptible breeze; again +we see trees hung with creepers as if wearing torn flags; and once +in a while we catch sight of that most charming of tropical trees, +the tree-fern, with its lovely star-shaped crown, like a beautiful, +dainty work of art in the midst of the uncultivated wilderness. As +if in a dream we row back down stream, and like dream-pictures all +the various green shapes of the forest sweep by and disappear. + +The Resident introduced me to the French planters, Mr. and Mrs. Ch., +and asked them to take me in, which they agreed to do. Having rented +an old plantation from the French company, they had had the good +fortune to find a regular frame house ready for them. + +After I had moved into my quarters the Resident returned to Vila, +and I remained on the borders of the wilderness. What followed now +was a most unsatisfactory time of waiting, the first of many similar +periods. Having no servants, I could undertake nothing independently, +and since the planters were all suffering from lack of hands, I could +not hire any boys. As the natives around the French plantations at +the Canal du Segond are practically exterminated, I saw hardly any; +but at least I got a good insight into the life on a plantation, +such as it was. + +With his land, Mr. Ch. had rented about thirty boys, with whom he +was trying to work the completely decayed plantation. Many acres were +covered with coffee trees, but owing to the miserable management of +the French company, the planters had changed continually and the system +of planting just as often. Every manager had abandoned the work of his +predecessor and begun planting anew on a different system, so that now +there was an immense tract of land planted which had never yet yielded +a crop. In a short time such intended plantations are overgrown with +bush and reconquered by the wilderness; thus thousands of coffee trees +were covered with vines and struggled in vain for light and air. It +seem incredible that in two weeks, on cleared ground, grass can grow +up as tall as a man, and that after six months a cleared plantation +can be covered with bushes and shrubs with stems as thick as one's +finger. The planter, knowing that this overwhelming fertility and +the jealous advances of the forest are his most formidable enemies, +directs his most strenuous efforts to keeping clear his plantation, +especially while the plants are young and unable to fight down the +weeds. Later on, weeding is less urgent, but in the beginning it is the +one essential duty, more so than planting. Mr. Ch. had therefore an +enormous task before him, and as he could not expect any return from +the coffee trees for two or three years, he did as all planters do, +and sowed corn, which yields a crop after three months. + +His labourers, dark, curly-haired men, clad in rags, were just +then occupied in gathering the big ears of corn. Sluggishly they +threw the golden ears over their shoulders to the ground, where it +was collected by the women and carried to the shed on the beach--a +long roof of leaves, without walls. Mr. Ch. urged the men to hurry, +as the corn had to be ready for shipment in a few days, the Pacific, +the French mail-steamer, being due. Produce deteriorates rapidly in +the islands owing to the humid climate, so it cannot be stored long, +especially where there is no dry storehouse. Therefore, crops can +only be gathered just before the arrival of a steamer, making these +last days very busy ones everywhere. It is fortunate for the planters +that the native labourers are not yet organized and do not insist on +an eight-hour day. As it was, Mr. Ch. had to leave more than half his +crop to rot in the fields, a heavy rain having delayed the harvesting. + +The humidity at the Segond Channel is exceptionally great. As we +stood on the fine coral sand that forms the shores of the channel, +our clothes were damp with the rain from the weeds and shrubs which +we had passed through while stumbling through the plantation. The +steel-grey sea quivers, sleepy and pulpy looking; in front of us, +in a grey mist, lies the flat island of Aore, the air smells mouldy, +and brown rainclouds roll over the wall of primeval forest surrounding +the clearing on three sides. The atmosphere is heavy, and a fine +spray floats in the air and covers everything with moisture. Knives +rust in one's pocket, matches refuse to light, tobacco is like a +sponge and paper like a rag. It had been like this for three months; +no wonder malarial fever raged among the white population. Mr. Ch., +after only one year's sojourn here, looked like a very sick man; +he was frightfully thin and pale and very nervous; so was his wife, +a delicate lady of good French family. She did the hard work of a +planter's wife with admirable courage, and, while she had never taken +an active part in housekeeping in France, here she was standing all +day long behind a smoky kitchen fire, cooking or washing dishes, +assisted only by a very incapable and unsophisticated native woman. + +On our return to the house, which lies about 200 metres inland, we +found this black lady occupied with the extremely hard and puzzling +task of laying the table. It seemed to give her the greatest trouble, +and the deep distrust with which she handled the plates found eloquent +expression in queer sighs and mysterious exclamations in her native +tongue, in resigned shakes of the head and emphatic smacking of the +lips. She was a crooked bush-woman from the north of Malekula, where +the people, especially the women, are unusually ugly and savage. A +low forehead, small, deep-set eyes, and a snout-like mouth gave +her a very animal look; yet she showed human feeling, and nursed +a shrieking and howling orphan all day long with the most tender +care. Her little head was shaved and two upper teeth broken out as +a sign of matrimony, so she certainly was no beauty; but the sight +of her clumsy working was a constant source of amusement to us men, +very much less so to her mistress, to whom nothing but her sincere +zeal and desire to help could make up for her utter inefficiency. + +It cannot be denied that the women from those islands, where their +social standing is especially low, are not half so intelligent and +teachable as those from places where they are more nearly equal to +the men; probably because they are subdued and kept in degradation +from early youth, and not allowed any initiative or opinions of their +own. But physically these women are very efficient and quite equal +to the men in field work, or even superior, being more industrious. + +The feat of setting the table was accomplished in about an hour, and +we sat down to our simple meal--tinned meat, yams and bananas. Then +the foreman came in. Only a short time ago he was one of the finest +warriors in the interior of Malekula, where cannibalism is still an +everyday occurrence. He, too, wears his hair short, only, according +to the present fashion, he lets the hair on his forehead grow in +a roll-shaped bow across the head. He is well built, though rather +short, and behaves with natural politeness. His voice is soft, his +look gentle and in the doorway his dark figure shines in the lamplight +like a bronze statue. + +Mr. Ch. tells him that the boys will have to work all night, at +the same time promising an encouragement in the shape of a glass +of wine to each. The natives' craving for alcohol is often abused by +unscrupulous whites. Although the sale of liquor to natives is strictly +forbidden by the laws of the Condominium, the French authorities do +not even seem to try to enforce this regulation, in fact, they rather +impressed me as favouring the sale, thus protecting the interests of +a degraded class of whites, to the detriment of a valuable race. As +a consequence, there are not a few Frenchmen who make their living by +selling spirits to natives, which may be called, without exaggeration, +a murderous and criminal traffic. + +Others profit indirectly by the alcoholism of the islanders by selling +liquor to their hands every Saturday, so as to make them run into +debt; they will all spend their entire wages on drink. If, their +term of engagement being over, they want to return to their homes, +they are told that they are still deep in debt to their master, and +that they will have to pay off by working for some time longer. The +poor fellows stay on and on, continue to drink, are never out of debt, +and never see their homes again. This practice has developed of late +years in consequence of the scarcity of labour, and is nothing but +slavery. It might easily be abolished by a slight effort on the part +of the Government, but there is hardly any supervision over French +plantations outside Port Vila, and in many plantations conditions exist +which are an insult to our modern views on humane treatment. On English +plantations there is but little brutality, owing to the Government's +careful supervision of the planters and the higher social and moral +standing of the settlers in general. + +My host had some European conscience left, and treated his hands +very humanely, but I dare say that in course of time, and pressed +by adverse circumstances, even he resorted to means of finding cheap +labour which were none too fair. The French by-laws permit the delivery +of alcohol to natives in the shape of "medicine," a stipulation which +opens the door to every abuse. + +The boys were soon on hand, each awaiting his turn eagerly, yet trying +to seem blase. Some drank greedily, others tasted the sour wine in +little sips like old experts; but all took care to turn their backs +to us while drinking, as if from bashfulness. Then they went to work, +giggling and happy. + +Meanwhile, those on the sick-list were coming up for the planter's +inspection. The diseases are mostly tuberculosis, colds, indigestion, +fever and infections, and it is evident that if they receive any +medical treatment at all, it is of a primitive and insufficient +description. The planters work with fearfully strong plasters, patent +medicines and "universal remedies," used internally and externally +by turns, so that the patient howls and the spectator shudders, and +the results would be most disheartening if kind Nature did not often +do the healing in spite of man's efforts to prevent it. Naturally, +every planter thinks himself an expert doctor, and is perfectly +satisfied with his results. + +Mr. Ch. was ill with fever, nevertheless we went down to the +work-shed. It was a pitch-dark night, the air was like that in a +hothouse, smelling of earth and mould. The surf boomed sullenly on the +beach, and heavy squalls flogged the forest. Sometimes a rotten branch +snapped, and the sound travelled, dull and heavy, through the night. + +From far away we hear the noise of the engine peeling the +corn-ears. Two of the natives turn the fly-wheels, and the engine gives +them immense pleasure, all the more, the faster it runs. The partners +are selected with care, and it is a matter of pride to turn wheels +as long and as fast as possible; they encourage each other with wild +shrieks and cries. It seemed as if the work had turned to a festival, +as if it were a sort of dance, and the couples waited impatiently +for their turn to drive the engine. The delight of the boys in the +noise of the machinery was very favourable to the progress of the +work, and at midnight a long row of full sacks stood in the shed. We +stopped the work and told the boys to go to sleep. But the demon of +dancing had taken hold of them, and they kept it up all night, and +then went straight to work in the fields when the sun rose. By the +third evening everything was ready for the arrival of the Pacific, +and the boys were deadly tired and lame. + +We were just sitting down to dinner one dull, heavy night, when we +heard a steamer's long, rough whistle. The Pacific. Everyone jumps up +in excitement, for the Pacific brings a taste of civilization, and her +arrival marks the end of a busy week and breaks the monotony of daily +life. We run to the shore and light strong lamps at fixed points, +to indicate the anchorage, and then we rush back to finish dinner +and put on clean clothes. Meanwhile, the boys have been roused, and +they arrive, sleepy, stiff and unwilling, aware that a hard night's +work is before them, loading the produce into the tenders. + +The steamer approaches quickly, enormous and gay in the darkness, +then she slowly feels her way into the harbour, the anchor falls, and +after a few oscillations the long line of brightly lit portholes lies +quiet on the water, only their reflection flickers irregularly on the +waves through the night. In all directions we can see the lights of the +approaching boats of the planters, who come to announce their shipments +and to spend a gay evening on board. There are always some passengers +on the steamer, planters from other islands on their way to Vila or +Sydney, and soon carousing is in full swing, until the bar closes. + +All next day the steamer stays in the channel, taking on produce from +every plantation, and for two days afterward merrymaking is kept up, +then the quiet monotony of a tropical planter's life sets in once more. + +Sometimes a diversion is caused by a boy rushing up to the house to +announce that some "men-bush" are approaching. Going to the veranda, +we see some lean figures with big mops of hair coming slowly down the +narrow path from the forest, with soft, light steps. Some distance +behind follows a crowd of others, who squat down near the last shrubs +and examine everything with shy, suspicious eyes, while the leaders +approach the house. Nearly all carry old Snider rifles, always loaded +and cocked. The leaders stand silent for a while near the veranda, +then one of them whispers a few words in broken "biche la mar," +describing what he wants to buy--knives, cartridges, powder, tobacco, +pipes, matches, calico, beads. "All right," says Mr. Ch., and some of +the men bring up primitive baskets of cocoa-nut leaves, filled with +coprah or bunches of raw cocoa-nuts. All of them, especially the women, +have carried great loads of these things from their villages in the +interior on the poorest paths, marching for days. + +The baskets are weighed and the desired goods handed to the +head-man. Here the whites make a profit of 200-300 per cent., while on +the other islands, where there is more competition, they have to be +satisfied with 30 per cent. Each piece is carefully examined by the +natives: the pipes, to see if they draw, the matches, whether they +strike, etc., while the crowd behind follows every movement with the +greatest attention and mysterious whispers, constantly on the watch +for any menace to safety. The lengthy bargaining over, the delegation +turns away and the whole crowd disappears. In the nearest thicket they +sit down and distribute the goods--perhaps a dozen boxes of matches, +a few belts, or some yards of calico, two pounds of tobacco, and twenty +pipes, a poor return, indeed, for their long journey. Possibly they +will spend the night in the neighbourhood, under an overhanging rock, +on the bare stone, all crowded round a fire for fear of the spirits +of the night. + +Sometimes, having worked for another planter, they have a little +money. Although every planter keeps his own store, the natives, as +a rule, prefer to buy from his neighbour, from vague if not quite +unjustified suspicion. They rarely engage for any length of time, +except when driven by the desire to buy some valuable object, generally +a rifle, without which no native likes to be seen in Santo to-day. In +that case several men work together for one, who afterwards indemnifies +them for their help in native fashion by giving them pigs or rendering +them other services. On the plantations they are suspicious and lazy, +but quite harmless as long as they are not provoked. Mr. Ch. had had +about thirty men working on his plantation for quite some time, and +everything had gone well, until one day one of them had fallen into +the Sarrakatta and been drowned. According to native law, Mr. Ch. was +responsible for his death, and should have paid for him, which he +omitted to do. At first there was general dismay, no one dared approach +the river any more; then the natives all returned to their villages, +and a few days later they swarmed round the plantation with rifles +to avenge their dead relative by murdering Mr. Ch. He was warned by +his boys, who were from Malekula for the most part, and this saved +his life. He armed his men, and after a siege of several weeks the +bushmen gave up the watch and retired. But no one would return to +work for him any more. + +Altogether, the bushmen of Santo are none too reliable, and only the +memory of a successful landing expedition of the English man-of-war +a year ago keeps them quiet. On that occasion they had murdered an +old Englishman and two of his daughters, just out of greed, so as to +pillage his store. They had not found much, but they had to pay for +the murder with the loss of their village, pigs and lives. + +I tried to find boys at the south-west corner of Santo, where the +natives frequently descend to the shore. A neighbour of Mr. Ch., a +young Frenchman, was going there in a small cutter to buy wood for +dyeing mats to sell to the natives of Malekula, and he kindly took +me with him. We sailed through the channel one rainy morning, but +the wind died down and we had to anchor, as the current threatened +to take us back. We profited by the stop to pay a visit to a Mr. R., +who cultivated anarchistic principles, also a plantation which seemed +in perfect condition and in direct opposition to his anti-capitalistic +ideas. Mr. R. was one of those French colonists who, sprung from the +poorest peasant stock, have no ambitions beyond finding a new and +kindlier home. Economical, thrifty, used to hard work in the fields, +Mr. R. had begun very modestly, but had prospered, and was now, +while still a young man, the owner of a plantation that would make +him rich in a few years. This good, solid peasant stock, of which +France possesses so much, makes the best colonists, and as a rule +they succeed far better than those who come to the tropics with the +idea of making a fortune in a few years without working for it. These +fall into the hands of the big Noumea companies, and have the greatest +trouble in getting out of debt. Not only do these firms lend money +at exorbitant interest, but they stipulate that the planter will sell +them all his produce and buy whatever he needs from them, and as they +fix prices as they please, their returns are said to reach 30 per cent. + +Besides these two kinds of French settlers, there is a third, which +comes from the penitentiary in Noumea or its neighbourhood. We shall +meet specimens of these in the following pages. + +After having duly admired the plantation of Mr. R.--he proved himself +a real peasant, knew every plant by name, and was constantly stopping +to pick a dead leaf or prune a shoot--we continued our journey and +arrived at Tangoa. Tangoa is a small island, on which the Presbyterian +mission has established a central school for the more intelligent +of the natives of the whole group, where they may be trained as +teachers. The exterior of this school looks most comfortable. One +half of the island is cleared and covered with a green lawn, one +part is pasture for good-looking cattle, the other is a park in which +nestle the cottages of the teachers,--the whole looks like an English +country-seat. At some distance is a neatly built, well-kept village +for the native pupils. I presented an introduction to the director. He +seemed to think my endeavours extremely funny, asked if I was looking +for the missing link, etc., so that I took a speedy leave. + +We spent a few lazy days on board the little cutter; the natives would +not come down from their villages, in spite of frequent explosions of +dynamite cartridges, the usual signal of recruiters to announce their +arrival to the natives. It rained a good deal, and there was not much +to do but to loaf on the beach. Here, one day, I saw an interesting +method of fishing by poisoning the water, which is practised in many +places. At low tide the natives rub a certain fruit on the stones of +the reef, the juice mixes with the water in the pools and poisons +the fish, so that after a short while they float senseless on the +surface and may easily be caught. + +After a few days I was anxious to return to the Segond Channel, +as I expected the arrival of the English steamer, which I wanted to +meet. I could not find any guide, and the cutter was to stay for some +days longer, so I decided to go alone; the distance was only about +15 km., and I thought that with the aid of my compass I would find +my way along the trail which was said to exist. + +I started in the morning with a few provisions and a dull bush-knife, +at first along a fairly good path, which, however, soon divided +into several tracks. I followed the one which seemed most likely to +lead to my destination, but arrived at a deep lagoon, around which +I had to make a long detour. Here the path came to a sudden stop in +front of an impenetrable thicket of lianas which I could hardly cut +with my knife. I climbed across fallen trunks, crawled along the +ground beneath the creepers, struck an open spot once in a while, +passed swamps and rocks,--in short, in a very little time I made an +intimate acquaintance with the renowned Santo bush. Yet I imagined +I was advancing nicely, so much so that I began to fear I had gone +beyond my destination. About four o'clock in the afternoon I struck +a small river and followed its crooked course to the coast, so as to +get my bearings. Great was my disappointment on finding myself only +about 1 1/2 km. from the lagoon which I had left in the morning. This +was a poor reward for eight hours' hard work. I was ashamed to return +to the cutter, and followed the shore, not wishing to repeat that +morning's experience in the forest. The walk along the beach was not +agreeable at all, as it consisted of those corroded coral rocks, +full of sharp points and edges, and shaped like melted tin poured +into water. These rocks were very jagged, full of crevices, in which +the swell thundered and foamed, and over which I had to jump. Once I +fell in, cut my legs and hands most cruelly and had only my luck to +thank that I did not break any bones, and got safely out of the damp, +dark prison. But at least I could see where I was, and that I was +getting on, and I preferred this to the uncertain struggle in the +forest. In some places the coast rose to a high bank, round which +I could not walk. I had to climb up on one side as best I could +and descend on the other with the help of trees and vines. Thus, +fighting my way along, I was overtaken by the sudden tropical night, +and I had to stop where I was for fear of falling into some hole. A +fall would have been a real calamity, as nobody would ever have found +me or even looked for me on that lonely coast. I therefore sat down +where I was, on the corals where they seemed least pointed. I did not +succeed at all in making a fire; the night was quite dark and moonless, +and a fine rain penetrated everything. I have rarely passed a longer +night or felt so lonely. The new day revived my spirits, breakfast +did not detain me long, as I had nothing to eat, so I kept along the +shore, jumping and climbing, and had to swim through several lagoons, +swarming, as I heard afterwards, with big sharks! After a while the +coral shore changed into a sand beach, and after having waded for some +hours more in the warm water with the little rags that were left of my +boots, I arrived dead tired at the plantation of Mr. R. He was away, +so I went to his neighbour's, who was at dinner and kindly asked me +to join him. Although it was only a flying-fox, I enjoyed it as a +man enjoys a meal after a twenty-four hours' fast. + +The men were just starting for Mr. Ch.'s, and took me with them. My +adventure had taught me the impassableness of the forest, and after +that experience I was never again tempted to make excursions without +a guide. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +RECRUITING FOR NATIVES + + +A few days later the English steamer came, bringing my luggage but +no hope of improvement in my dull existence. A French survey party +arrived too, and set to work, but as they had not enough boys with +them, I could not join them. I spent my days as well as I could, +collected a few zoological specimens, and read Mr. Ch.'s large stock +of French novels until I felt quite silly. + +At last an occasion offered to see primitive natives. George, the +son of a neighbour, had agreed to go recruiting for Mr. Ch. As I +have said before, providing sufficient labour is one of the most +important problems to the planter in the New Hebrides. Formerly there +were professional recruiters who went slave-hunting as they would have +followed any other occupation, and sold the natives to the planters at +a fair profit. In their schooners they hung about the shore, filled +the natives with liquor and kidnapped them, or simply drove them on +board wholesale, with the help of armed Loyalty boys. Their methods +were as various as they were cruel, murder was a daily occurrence, and, +of course, the recruiters were hated by the natives, who attacked and +killed them whenever they got a chance. The better class of planters +would not countenance this mode of procedure, and the natives are +now experienced enough not to enlist for work under a master they +do not know. Also the English Government keeps a strict watch on +the recruiting, so that the professional recruiter is dying out, +and every planter has to go in search of hands for himself. But +while the English Government keeps a sharp eye on these matters, +the French Government is as lenient in this as in the question of +the sale of alcohol, so that frequent kidnapping and many cruelties +occur in the northern part of the group, and slavery still exists. I +shall relate a few recruiting stories later on: some general remarks +on the subject may not be amiss here. + +In years past the natives crowded the recruiting schooners by hundreds, +driven by the greed for European luxuries, by desire for change, +and inexperience; to-day this is the case in but very few and savage +districts. Generally the natives have some idea of what they may +expect; moreover, by trading with coprah they can buy all they need +and want. They enlist nowadays from quite different motives. With +young people it is the desire to travel and to "see the world," +and to escape the strict village laws that govern them, especially +in sexual matters, and to get rid of the supervision of the whole +tribe. Sometimes, but only in islands poor in cocoa-nut trees, it is +the desire to earn money to buy a woman, a very expensive article at +present. Then many seek refuge in the plantations from persecution of +all sorts, from revenge, or punishment for some misdeed at home. Some +are lovers who have run away from their tribe to escape the rage of an +injured husband. Thus recruiting directly favours the general anarchy +and immorality, and indirectly as well, since the recruiters do their +best to create as much trouble as possible in the villages, knowing +it will be to their advantage. If they hear of a feud raging between +two tribes, they collect at the shore and try to pick up fugitives; +if there is no war, they do their best to occasion one, by intrigue, +alcohol, or agents provocateurs. They intoxicate men and women, +and make them enlist in that condition; young men are shown pretty +women, and promised all the joys of Paradise in the plantations. If +these tricks fail, the recruiters simply kidnap men and women while +bathing. This may suffice to show that, as a rule, they do not use +fair means to find hands, and it is hardly surprising that where +they have been they leave behind them wrecked families, unhappiness, +enmity, murder and a deep hatred of the white man in general as the +cause of all this misery. This recruiting is not only immoral in the +highest degree, but also very harmful to the race, and it is to-day +one of the principal reasons for its decay. + +Those planters who from principle or from fear of the law do not +resort to such means generally have a special recruiting district, +where they are well known, and where the natives know the treatment +they are likely to get on the plantation, and feel sure they will not +be cheated, and will be taken back to their homes in due time. These +planters, I am happy to say, find hands enough, as a rule, while the +natives take care not to go to a French plantation if they can help +it. The system of recruiting is very simple. The cutter anchors at some +distance offshore, and a dynamite cartridge is exploded to announce +her arrival; some time afterwards one of the whale-boats goes ashore, +all the crew armed to the teeth, while the other boat lies a short +distance off, to watch the natives, and to cover the retreat of those +in the first boat in case of attack. The planter, as a rule, stays +on board his cutter. These warlike practices are really unnecessary +in many places, but as one never knows what indiscretions the last +recruiter may have committed, and as the natives consider all whites +as belonging to one organization, it is the part of prudence to follow +this old recruiting rule. + +I will not pretend to say that the natives will never attack +without provocation. Even Cook, who certainly was both careful +and just, was treacherously attacked in Erromanga, for the +Melanesian is bloodthirsty, especially when he thinks himself the +stronger. But to-day it may be stated as a certainty that no attack +on a recruiting-ship or on any white man occurs without some past +brutality on the part of a European to account for it. As one of the +Governments does nothing to abolish kidnapping, and as the plantations +go to ruin for want of labour, it would be to the interest both of the +settlers and of the natives to abolish the present recruiting system +entirely, and to introduce a conscription for work in its place, so +that each male would have to work for a term of years on a plantation +for adequate wages and good treatment. This would be of advantage to +the islanders even more than to the planters. It would create order, +and would employ the natives in useful work for the development of +their own country. + +It will appear from all this that recruiting is still a somewhat +dangerous undertaking, especially on the north-west coast of Malekula, +the home of the most primitive and savage tribes of all the group. + +George, our captain, was a strange fellow, about seventeen years of +age: he might just as well have been forty. Pale, with small grey eyes +and a suspicious look, a long hooked nose, and narrow, yet hanging +lips, he walked with bent back and crooked knees, always bare-footed, +in blue dungaree trousers, green shirt and an old weather-beaten +hat. He hardly ever spoke; when he did, it was very suddenly, very +fast and very low, so that no one could understand him except his +boys, who evidently knew instinctively what he meant. The natives +are very clever in these matters. He was brave, an excellent sailor +for his age, and he knew the channels and all the anchorages. His +boat may have been 6 or 7 metres long and 3 metres wide; she was +cutter-rigged, and was probably very suitable for a trip of a few +days, but quite insufficient for a cruise of several weeks, such as +we were planning. The deck was full of cases of provisions, so that +only a little space was clear for us at the stern. The cabin was +about 2 metres long, 1 1/2 metre wide, and 1 1/2 metre high, and +was crammed with stuff--tinned meats, cloths, guns, trading goods, +etc. One person could wriggle in it, crawling on hands and knees, +but two had to wind round each other in impossible positions, and +it was quite unthinkable that both should spend the night below. But +with the happy carelessness and impatience of a long-delayed start, +we did not think of the hardships of the future, and in fair weather, +when the stay on deck in the brisk breeze was extremely pleasant, +as on that first morning, existence on board seemed very bearable; +but when it rained, and it rained very often and very hard, it was +exceptionally disagreeable. + +Mr. George took no interest in such details. Although he could have +improved matters without much trouble, he was too lazy to take the +trouble. The sun- and rain-sail was fixed so low that one could not +stand upright, and anyone who has experienced this for some time +knows how irritating it is. For food George did not seem to care at +all. Not only did he lack the sense of taste, but he seemed to have +an unhuman stomach, for he ate everything, at any time, and in any +condition; raw or cooked, digestible or not, he swallowed it silently +and greedily, and thought it quite unnecessary when I wanted the boys +to cook some rice for me, or to wash a plate. The tea was generally +made with brackish water which was perfectly sickening. George +had always just eaten when I announced that dinner was ready, and +for answer he generally wrapped himself in his blankets and fell +asleep. The consequence was that each of us lived his own life, and +the companionship which might have made up for many insufficiencies +on board was lacking entirely. + +It was the first sunny day after many rainy ones when the current +carried us through the channel. When we got on too slowly the oars +had to help. After several hours we arrived in the open, and a fresh +breeze carried us quickly alongside the small islands of Aore, Tutuba +and Malo. Blue, white-crested waves lifted us up so high that we could +look far over the foaming sea, and again we sank down in a valley, +out of which we could only see the nearest waves rolling threateningly +towards us. Behind us the little dinghy shot down the swells, gliding +on the water like a duck. In the late afternoon we approached the north +point of Malekula, and followed the west coast southward, towards the +country of the "Big Nambas"--our destination. Contrasting with other +islands of the archipelago, Malekula does not seem densely covered +with vegetation at this point. We do not see much of the impenetrable +bush, but rather a scanty growth of grass on the coral reefs, a few +shrubs and she-oaks, then a narrow belt of forest covering the steep +cliffs and sides of the hills, on whose backs we find extensive areas +covered with reed-grass. Even a luxuriant forest does not look gay +on a dull day, and this barren landscape looked most inhospitable in +the grey mist of the afternoon. We slowly followed a coast of ragged +coral patches, alternating with light sand beaches. Towards nightfall +we anchored near a stony shore, flanked by two high cliffs, in about +10 fathoms of the most transparent water. We could see in the depths +the irregular shapes of the rocks, separated by white sand, and the +soft mysterious colours in which the living coral shines like a giant +carpet. The sea was quiet as a pond, yet we were on the shores of +that endless ocean that reaches westward to the Torres Straits. + +Torn clouds floated across the hills towards the north-west, the stars +shone dull, and it was very lonely and oppressively silent, nowhere +was there a trace of life, human or animal. Lying on deck, I listened +to the sound of the surf breaking in the different little bays near +and far, in a monotonous measure, soft and yet irresistible. It is +the voice of the sea in its cleansing process, the continual grinding +and casting out of all impurities, the eternal war against the land +and its products, and the final destruction of the earth itself. + +The district of the Big Nambas, to whose shores we had come, takes +its name from the size of a certain article of dress, the "Nambas," +which partly replaces our trousers, and is worn in different forms +over the greater part of the archipelago, but nowhere of such size +as here. It is such an odd object that it may well give its name to +the country. Big Nambas is still the least known part of the islands, +and hardly any white has ever set foot in the interior. Unlike those +of other districts, the natives here have preserved their old habits +and strict organization, and this is evidently the reason why they +have not degenerated and decayed. The old chiefs are still as powerful +as ever, and preserve peace and order, while they themselves do as +they please. Big Nambas has had but little contact with the whites, +especially the recruiters, so that the population is not demoralized, +nor the chief's power undermined. Of course it is to the chief's +interest to have as strong a tribe as possible, and they reserve to +themselves the right of killing offenders, and take all revenge in +their own hands. They watch the women and prevent child-murder and such +things, and although their reign is one of terror, their influence, +as a whole, on the race is not bad, because they suppress many vices +that break out as soon as they slacken their severity. The chiefs +in Big Nambas seem to have felt this, and systematically opposed +the intercourse with whites. But this district is just where the +best workmen come from, and the population is densest, and that is +why the recruiters have tried again and again of late years to get +hold of Big Nambas, but with little success, for so far only few +men have enlisted. One of them was on our cutter, and had to serve +as interpreter. The other four of the five boys were from Malekula, +a little farther south. Our man from Big Nambas was known on the +plantation as Bourbaki, and had enlisted two years ago. Before that +he had been professional murderer and provider of human flesh to the +great chief. Now he was a useful and quiet foreman on the plantation, +always cheerful, very intelligent, strong, brutal, with small, shrewd +eyes and a big mouth, apparently quite happy in civilization, and +devoted to George. He was one of the few natives who openly admitted +his liking for human flesh, and rapturously described its incomparable +tenderness, whiteness and delicacy. A year ago, when visiting his +village, he had been inconsolable because he had come a day late for a +cannibal feast, and had blamed his father bitterly for not having saved +a piece for him. Aside from this ghoulish propensity, Bourbaki was +a thoroughly nice fellow, obliging, reliable and as happy as a child +at the prospect of seeing his father again. We expected good service +and help in recruiting from him, and promised him ample head-money. + +Bourbaki had run away without the permission of his chief, who was +furious at the loss of his best man, and had given orders to kill the +recruiter, a brother-in-law of George. Some natives had ambushed and +shot at them while entering the whale-boat; the white had received +several wounds, and a native woman had been killed. The boat pulled +away rapidly. Bourbaki laughed, and, indeed, by this time the little +incident was quite forgotten, as its only victim had been a woman. + +The morning was damp and dull. The hills came down to the sea in slopes +of grey-green, the shore was a soft brown, and the rocks lay in dark +patches on the beach, separated from the greyish-green of the sea +by the white line of the breakers. The hollow sound of the dynamite +explosions glided along the slopes and was swallowed in distant space. + +A few hours later, thinking the natives might be coming, we got +our arms ready: each of us had a revolver and a repeating rifle, +the boys had old Sniders. The cutter lay about 200 metres off-shore, +and we could see everything that was going on on the beach. Behind +the flat, stony shore the forest-covered hills rose in a steep cliff +to a tableland about 100 metres high. On the water we were in perfect +safety, for the villages lie far inland, and the Big Nambas are no +sailors, hate the sea and possess no canoes. They only come to the +beach occasionally, to get a few crabs and shell-fish, yet each tribe +has its own place on the shore, where no stranger is admitted. + +We took Bourbaki ashore; he was very anxious to go home, and promptly +disappeared in the bush, his Snider on his shoulder. We then returned +to the cutter and waited. It is quite useless to be in a hurry when +recruiting, but one certainly needs a supply of patience, for the +natives have no idea of the value of time, and cannot understand the +rush which our civilization has created. + +Late in the afternoon a few naked figures appeared on the beach. One +of them signalled with a branch, and soon others followed, till +about fifty men had assembled, and in the background, half-hidden by +shrubs, stood half a dozen women. We entered the whale-boats, two +boys and a white man in each, and slowly approached the shore. All +the natives carried their rifles in their right hands and yams in +their left, making signs to show that they wished to trade. We gave +them to understand that they must first put down their muskets, +and when they hesitated we cocked our rifles and waited. Some of +them went back to the forest and laid down their guns, while the +others sat down at a distance and watched. We promptly put down our +rifles, approached and showed our trade-goods--tobacco, matches, +clay pipes and calico. Hesitating, suspicious, yet tempted, they +crowded round the boat and offered their yams, excitedly shouting +and gesticulating, talking and laughing. They had quite enormous +yams, which they traded for one or two sticks of tobacco or as many +pipes. Matches and calico were not much in demand. Our visitors +were mostly well-built, medium-sized men of every age, and looked +very savage and dangerous. They were nearly naked, but for a belt of +bark around their waists, about 20 cm. wide, which they wore wound +several times around their bodies, so that it stood out like a thick +ring. Over this they had bound narrow ribbons of braided fibres, +dyed in red patterns, the ends of the ribbons falling down in large +tassels. Under this belt is stuck the end of the enormous nambas, +also consisting of red grass fibres. Added to this scanty dress are +small ornaments, tortoise-shell ear-rings, bamboo combs, bracelets +embroidered with rings of shell and cocoa-nut, necklaces, and thin +bands bound under the knees and over the ankles. + +The beautiful, lithe, supple bodies support a head covered with long, +curly hair, and the face is framed by a long and fairly well-kept +beard. The eyes roll unsteadily, and their dark and penetrating look +is in no wise softened by the brown colouring of the scela. The nose +is only slightly concave, the sides are large and thick, and their +width is increased by a bamboo or stone cylinder stuck through the +septum. Both nose and eyes are overhung by a thick torus. The upper lip +is generally short and rarely covers the mouth, which is exceptionally +large and wide, and displays a set of teeth of remarkable strength +and perfection. The whole body is covered with a thick layer of greasy +soot. Such is the appearance of the modern man-eater. + +Just at first we did not feel any too comfortable or anxious to go +ashore, and we watched our neighbours very carefully. They, however, +were hardly less frightened and suspicious; but after a while, +through the excitement of trading, they became more confident, forgot +their suspicions and bargained noisily, as happy as a crowd of boys; +still, any violent movement on our part startled them. For instance, +several of them started to run for the woods when I hastily grabbed +a pipe that a roll of the boat had set slipping off the seat. + +After having filled the boats to the brim with yams, and the first +eagerness of bartering over, we ventured ashore. A suspicious crowd +stood around us and watched every movement. We first showed them our +weapons, and a violent smacking of the lips and long-drawn whistles, +or a grunting "Whau!" bespoke a gratifying degree of admiration +and wonder. The longer the cartridges and the larger the bullets, +the more they impressed them, and our revolvers were glanced at with +contempt and a shrug of the shoulders, expressing infinite disdain, +until each of us shot a few rounds. Then they winced, started to +run away, came back and laughed boisterously over their own fright; +but after that they had more respect for our "little guns." + +Soon they became more daring, came closer and began to feel us, first +touching us lightly with the finger-tips, then with their hands. They +wanted to look at and handle everything, cartridge-belts, pipes, +hats and clothes. When all these had been examined, they investigated +our persons, and to me, at least, not being used to this, it was +most disagreeable. I did not mind when they tucked up our sleeves and +trousers and compared the whiteness and softness of our skin with their +own dark hide, nor when they softly and caressingly stroked the soft +skin on the inner side of our arms and legs, vigorously smacking their +lips the while; but when they began to feel the tenderness and probably +the delicacy of our muscles, and tried to estimate our fitness for a +royal repast, muttering deep grunts, constantly smacking their lips, +and evidently highly satisfied with the result of their investigation, +I did not enjoy the situation any more; still less when I saw an +ugly-looking fellow trembling violently from greedy desire, rolling +his eyes in wild exultation and performing an anticipatory cannibal +dinner-dance. We gradually began to shake off this wearisomely intimate +crowd; the fact that there were two of us, and that I was not alone +in this situation was very comforting. However, in the course of the +next few years I became accustomed to this treatment, though I never +again met it in such crudeness. + +We had slowly approached the forest and could get a few glimpses of the +women, who had kept quite in the background and hid still more when +we came near. They had braided aprons around their waists and rolled +mats on their heads. Nearly all of them carried babies on their hips, +and they looked fairly healthy, although the children were full of +sores. Evidently the men did not like our looking at the ladies; they +pushed us back and drove the women away. We returned to the boats, +and the natives retired too, howling, shrieking and laughing. Towards +evening another crowd arrived, and the performance was repeated in +every detail. Happy over the bartered goods, they began to dance, +first decorating themselves with tall branches stuck in the back of +their belts. They jumped from one foot to the other, sometimes turning +round, and singing in a rough, deep monotone. We withdrew to the boats, +and they dispersed on the shore, lighted fires and roasted the yams +they had left. + +Far away across the sea there was lightning, the surf boomed more +heavily than by day, the cutter rolled more violently and restlessly +and the whaleboat scraped against her sides, while the wind roared +through the forest gullies and thunder threatened behind the hills. We +felt lonely in the thick darkness, with the tempest approaching +steadily, afloat on a tiny shell, alone against the fury of the +elements. The lamp was blown out, and we lay on deck listening to the +storm, until a heavy squall drove us below, to spend the night in a +stuffy atmosphere, in uncomfortable positions, amid wild dreams. Next +morning there were again about twenty men on the shore, and again the +same performances were gone through. Evidently the people, influenced +by Bourbaki, who was still in the village, were more confident, and +left their weapons behind of their own accord. They came to trade, +and when their provisions of yam were exhausted, most of them left; +only a few, mostly young fellows, wanted to stay, but some older +men stayed with them, so as to prevent them from going on board +and enlisting. Evidently the young men were attracted by all our +wonderful treasures, and would have liked to see the country where +all these things came from. They imagined the plantations must be very +beautiful places, while the old men had vague notions to the contrary, +and were afraid of losing their young braves. + +During a lull in the proceedings we climbed the narrow, steep and +slippery path up to the tableland in order to get an idea of the +country behind the hills. Half-way up we met two old men carrying +yam down to the beach. They were terrified at sight of us, began to +tremble, stopped and spoke to us excitedly. We immediately laid down +our rifles, and signed to them to approach, but they suddenly dropped +their loads, ran off and disappeared in the bush. They evidently feared +we had come to kidnap them, and we decided it was wiser to return to +the beach, so as not to irritate the people. Shortly afterwards another +crowd of natives came along the beach carrying yam. They approached +with extreme care, ready to fight or fly, but they were less afraid of +us than of the natives, for whom that part of the beach was reserved, +and with whom we had been trading. They were enemies of the newcomers, +who knew that they were outside their own territory and might expect +an attack any moment. Squatting down near us, they anxiously watched +the forest, ever ready to jump up. One of them, who spoke a little +biche la mar, came up to me and asked me to anchor that night near +their beach, and buy yams from them, which we promised to do. At a +sound in the forest they jumped up and ran away. George, wishing to +talk more with them, took his rifle and ran after them, but they had +already retreated behind some boulders, and were waving their rifles +and signalling him to stay where he was. They thought we were in a +plot with other natives, and had ambushed them. To such a degree do +these people live in constant fear, and thus arise misunderstandings +which end in death, unless the whites are very prudent and quiet. Many +a recruiter in our case would have welcomed this apparent provocation +to shoot at the natives from a safe distance with his superior rifle. + +All day it rained in heavy squalls, coming from over the hills; +everything was damp, the night was dark and still and we sighed in +our narrow cell of a cabin. Next morning Bourbaki came back with a +new crowd of natives, who again felt and investigated, happily, also, +admired us. So vain is human-kind that even the admiration of cannibals +is agreeable. I let some of them try my shot-gun, and everyone wanted +to attempt the feat, although they were all badly frightened. They held +the gun at arm's length, turned their faces away and shot at random; +it was clear that very few knew how to shoot, and that their Sniders +could be of use only at short range. This is confirmed by the fact +that all their murders are done point-blank. + +Bourbaki brought news that in a few days there was to be a great +sacrificial feast in the village, and that, everybody being busy +preparing for it, we had no chance of recruiting, neither could we +see the great chief, he being shut up in his house, invisible to +everybody except to a little boy, his servant. We landed a goat for +Bourbaki's father; the innocent animal caused terrible fright and +great admiration. All the men retreated behind trunks or rocks and +no one dared touch the strange creature. Bourbaki was very proud of +himself for knowing goats, and fastened the poor little thing to a +tree in the shade. He then coaxed three old men on board. Clumsily +they entered the whale-boats, and even on board the cutter they +squatted anxiously down and dared hardly move for fear the ship might +capsize or they might slip into the water, of which they were quite +afraid. They could hardly speak, and stared at everything, wide-eyed +and open-mouthed. They forgot their fears, however, in delight over +our possessions. A saucepan proved a joy; the boards and planks of +the ship were touched and admired amid much smacking of the lips; a +devout "Whau!" was elicited by the sight of the cabin, which seemed a +fairy palace to them. Smaller things they approved of by whistling; +in general they behaved very politely. If they did not understand +the use of a thing, they shrugged their shoulders with a grimace +of contempt. A mirror was useless to them at first; after a while +they learned to see; they were frightened, and at last they roared +with laughter, put out their tongues, admired their sooty faces and +began to pull out their bristles, for they all wore their upper lips +shaved. Naturally, they confused right and left, and became entirely +bewildered. A watch did not impress them; the ticking seemed mysterious +and not quite innocent, and they put the instrument away at a safe +distance. They asked to see some money, but were much disappointed, +having imagined it would look bigger and more imposing. They preferred +a little slip of paper, which they carefully hid in their belts. Our +stock of cartridges impressed them deeply, and there was no end of +whistling and grunting. Sugar and tea were objects of suspicion. They +thought them poison, and took some along, probably to experiment on +a good friend or a woman. Matches were stuck into the hair, the beard +or the perforated ears. Pictures were quite incomprehensible. + +After an hour they left, less frightened than before, but still very +glad to leave all the mysterious and uncanny things behind. Bourbaki +made fun of their innocence, and thought himself very civilized, +but he himself was dreadfully afraid of my camera: "White man he +savee too much." + +The weather cleared towards evening. Some natives stayed on the shore +all night, lighted fires and sang songs in anticipation of the coming +dance. Our boys mimicked them, laughed at them and felt very superior, +though we whites failed to see much difference, and, as a matter of +fact, a short time after having returned home these boys can hardly +be told from ordinary bushmen. The shrieks of the savages pierced the +velvet of the night like daggers, but by and by they quieted down, +and we heard nothing more but the rhythmic rise and fall of the surf. + +In the silver light of the rising moon the boats rolled gently behind +the ship like dark spots, and light clouds glided westward across +the stars, eternally rising behind the black cliffs and disappearing +in the universal dimness. We were asleep on deck, when suddenly a +violent shower woke us up and banished us into that terrible cabin. + +No natives came next day; they were all busy preparing the feast. We +had nothing to do but to loaf on the beach or on board, and smoke, +as we had no fishing-tackle and no animals to shoot. The grey sky, +the vague light, the thin rain, were depressing, and all sorts +of useless thoughts came to us. We noticed the hardships of our +existence on board, felt that we were wasting time, grew irritable and +dissatisfied. If only my companion had been less sulky! But with him +there could be no pleasant chat, no cosy evening hour over a cup of +tea and a pipe; and I would almost have preferred being alone to this +solitude a deux. I sat on deck and listened to the breakers. Often +they sounded like a rushing express train and awakened reminiscences +of travel and movement. The cool wind blew softly from afar, and +I could understand for the first time that longing that asks the +winds for news of home and friends. I gave myself up wholly to this +vague dreaming, call it home-sickness, or what you will, it enlivened +the oppressive colourlessness of the days and the loneliness of the +nights. As usual, a heavy shower came, luckily, perhaps, to interrupt +all softer thoughts. + +Then followed a few clear days, which changed our mood entirely. The +cutter rolled confidingly in the morning breeze, and the sun glowed +warm and golden. In picturesque cascades the green forest seemed +to rush down the slopes to the bright coral beach, on which the sea +broke playfully. Once in a while a bird called far off in the depths +of the woods. It was delicious to lie on the warm beach and be dried +and roasted by the sun, to think of nothing in particular, but just +to exist. Two wild pigs came to the beach in the evening to dig for +yam that the natives had buried there; a chase, though unsuccessful, +gave excitement and movement. We could venture far inland now without +fear, for the natives were all away at the feast. Brilliant sunsets +closed the days in royal splendour. Behind a heavy cloud-bank which +hid the sun, he seemed to melt in the sea and to form one golden +element. Out of the cloud five yellow rays shot across the steel-blue +sky, so that it looked like one of those old-fashioned engravings +of God behind a cloud. When everything had melted into one gorgeous +fire, and we were still helpless before all that glory, the colours +faded away to the most delicate combinations of half-tones; soon the +stars came out glittering on the deep sky, first of all the Southern +Cross. Halley's comet was still faintly visible. + +In the morning the sky was cloudless, and changed from one lovely +colour to the other, until the sun rose to give it its bright blue +and paint the shore in every tint. Then every stone at the bottom of +the sea was visible, and all the marvellous coral formations, with +their weird shapes and fiery colours, glowed in rose and violet and +pure golden yellow. Above lay big sea-stars, and large fish in bright +hues floated between the cliffs in soft, easy movements, while bright +blue little ones shot hither and thither like mad. + +Bourbaki arrived with his younger brother, a neat and gentle-looking +boy. The feast was to begin that evening, and I asked Bourbaki if +they had plenty of pigs to eat. "Oh no," he said; "but that is of +no importance: we have a man to eat! Yesterday we killed him in +the bush, and to-day we will eat him." He said this with the most +innocent expression, as if he were talking about the weather. I had to +force myself not to draw away from him, and looked somewhat anxiously +into his face; but Bourbaki stared quietly into the distance, as if +dreaming of the past excitements and the coming delights; then he +picked up a cocoa-nut and tore the husk off with his strong teeth. It +made me shudder to watch his brutish movements, but he was perfectly +happy that morning, willing and obedient. At noon he went away to +his horrid feast, and for two days we saw nobody. + +We passed the time as usual; the weather was rainy again, and +everything seemed grey,--the sky, the sea and the shore, and our +mood. One is so dependent on surroundings. + +On the third day Bourbaki came back, a little tired, but evidently +satisfied. Some of his friends accompanied him, and he brought word +that the chief had given permission for a few boys to enlist, but +that we would have to wait about ten days until he could come to +the shore himself. Not wishing to spend the ten days there, doing +absolutely nothing, we decided to go farther south, to Tesbel Bay, +and try our luck at recruiting there, as we had another boy, Macao, +from that district. George gave leave to Bourbaki, who had been +somewhat savage these last days, to stay at home till our return, and +he seemed delighted to have a holiday. We were all the more surprised +when, just before we weighed anchor, Bourbaki came back, shaking hands +without a word. We were quite touched by this remarkable sign of his +affection, pardoned his many objectionable ways, and never thought +that perhaps he might have ample reason not to feel altogether safe +and comfortable at home. + +The wind being contrary, we had to tack about all night long without +advancing. Squalls rushed over the water, and then, again, the breeze +died down completely, only black, jagged clouds drifted westward +across the sky, and here and there a few stars were visible. The +cutter's deck was crowded with stuff, and there seemed less room for +us than ever, except in the hateful cabin. The boys sang monotonously +"for wind," quite convinced that the next breeze would be due to their +efforts. A fat old man sang all night long in falsetto in three notes; +it was unbearably silly and irritating, yet one could hardly stop the +poor devil and rob him of his only pleasure in that dark night. We +felt damp, restless and sleepless, and tried in vain to find some +comfort. Next evening we reached the entrance of Tesbel Bay, and +the wind having died down, we had to work our way in with the oars, +a slow and hard task. Bourbaki yelled and pulled at the oars with +all his might, encouraging the others. These are the joys of sailing. + +Tesbel Bay is framed on two sides by high cliffs. Big boulders +lie in picturesque confusion where the surf foams white against +the narrow beach. Wherever there is a foot of ground, luxurious +vegetation thrives. Ahead of us lies a level valley that stretches +far inland to the foot of a high mountain, whose head is lost in grey +clouds. A little creek runs into the bay through high reed-grass, +behind a sandbank. Just before setting, the sun shone through the +clouds and smiled on the lovely, peaceful landscape, seeming to +promise us a pleasant stay. The smoke of many village fires rose +out of the bush at a distance. Two ragged natives were loafing on +the beach, and I engaged one of them for the next day, to guide me +to some villages. Bourbaki and Macao marched gaily off, as they were +to spend the night in Macao's village. + +Next morning, while being pulled ashore for my excursion inland, I +saw Macao on the beach, crying, waving and behaving like a madman. He +called out that Bourbaki was dead, and that we must come to the +village. I took him into the boat and we returned to the cutter. Macao +was trembling all over, uttering wild curses, sighing and sobbing like +a child. Between the fingers of his left hand he frantically grasped +his cartridges, and nervously kept hold of his old rifle. We could +not get much out of him; all we could make out was that Bourbaki had +been shot towards morning and that he himself had run away. We guessed +that Bourbaki must have committed some misdemeanour; as there was a +possibility of his still being alive, we decided to go and look for +him; for satisfaction it was idle to hope. + +According to Macao the village was quite near, so we took our rifles, +armed the boys, and in ten minutes we were ashore. The youngest, +a fourteen-year-old boy, was left in the whale-boat, so as to be +ready to pick us up in case of need. His elder brother, a tall, +stout fellow, also preferred to stay in the boat; we left him behind, +and this left five of us for the expedition. Macao showed us the +way, and as we followed him we watched right and left for a possible +ambush. It was a disagreeable moment when we dived into the thicket, +where we expected to be attacked any moment, and I could hardly blame +another fat boy for dropping behind, too, to "watch the shore," as +he said. Not wishing to lose any time, we let him go, for we were +anxious to be in the village before the natives should have time to +rally and prepare for resistance. + +The path was miserable--slippery slopes, wildly knotted roots, stones, +creeks and high reeds. We were kept quite busy enough watching our +path, and were not careful at all about watching the bush; but we +were confident that the natives, being very poor shots, would betray +their presence by a random shot. We were exposed, of course, to shots +from close quarters alongside the path, but we trusted to Macao's +sharp eyes to detect a hidden enemy. After an hour's brisk walk, +we asked Macao whether the village was still far off; every time +we asked, his answer was the same: "Bim by you me catch him," or, +"Him he close up." However, after an hour and a half, we began to +feel worried. We had no idea whether we would find a peaceful village +or an armed tribe, and in the latter case a retreat would doubtless +have been fatal, owing to the long distance we would have had to go +in the forest, where the white man is always at a disadvantage. But +we had undertaken the adventure, and we had to see it through. + +After two hours we unexpectedly came upon a village. A dozen men +and a few women were squatting about, evidently expecting some +event. The presence of the women was a sign that the people were +peacefully inclined. An old man, a relative of Macao's, joined us, +and a short walk through a gully brought us quite suddenly into a +village square. About thirty men were awaiting us, armed with rifles +and clubs, silent and shy. Macao spoke to them, whereupon they laid +down their rifles and led us to a hut, where we found Bourbaki, +lying on his back, dead. He had been sitting in the house when some +one shot him from behind; he had jumped up and tried to fly, but had +broken down and fallen where he was then lying. He must have died +almost at once, as the bullet had torn a great hole in his body. His +rifle and cartridges were missing, that was all. + +The villagers stood around us, talking excitedly; we could not +understand them, but they were evidently not hostile, and we told +them to bury Bourbaki. They began at once, digging a hole in the +soft earth with pointed sticks. We then asked for the rifle, the +cartridges and the murderer, and were informed that two men had done +the killing. After some deliberation a number of men walked off, one of +them a venerable old man, armed after the old fashion with a bow and +a handful of poisoned arrows, which he handled with deliberate care; +he also carried a club in a sling over his shoulder. Of all those +strong men, this old one seemed to me the most dangerous but also +the most beautiful and the most genuine. After a while they returned, +and two other men slunk in and stood apart. + +The natives seemed undecided what to do, and squatted about, talking +among themselves, until at last one of them pulled me by the sleeve +and led us towards the two newcomers. We understood that they were +the murderers, and each of us took hold of one of them. They made no +resistance, but general excitement arose in the crowd, all the other +natives shouting and gesticulating, even threatening each other with +their rifles. They were split in two parties,--one that wanted to give +up the murderers, and their relatives, who wanted to keep them. We told +them that the affair would be settled if they gave up the murderers; +if not, the man-of-war would come and punish the whole village. As my +prisoner tried to get loose, I bound him, and while I was busy with +this I heard a shot. Seeing that all the men had their rifles ready, +I expected the fight to begin, but George told me his prisoner had +escaped and he had shot after him. The man had profited by George's +indecision to run away. + +This actual outbreak of the hostilities excited the people so that +we thought it best to retire, taking our single prisoner with us. A +few of the natives followed us, and when we left the village the +relatives of the murderer broke out in violent wailing and weeping, +thinking, as did the prisoner, Belni, himself, that we were going to +eat him up, after having tortured him to death. Belni trembled all +over, was very gentle and inclined to weep like a punished child, but +quite resigned and not even offering any resistance. He only asked +Macao anxiously what we were going to do with him. Macao, furious +at the death of his comrade, for whom he seemed to have felt real +affection, put him in mortal fear, and was quite determined to avenge +his murdered friend. We shut Belni up in the hold of the cutter and +told the natives that they would have to hand over Bourbaki's rifle +and cartridges, and pay us two tusked pigs by noon of the next day. + +On this occasion we learned the reason for the murder: Belni's +brother had had an intrigue with the wife of the chief, and had been +condemned by the latter to pay a few pigs. Being too poor to do this, +he decided to pay his debt in an old-fashioned way by killing a man, +and Bourbaki was unlucky enough to arrive just at the right time, +and being a man from a distant district, there was no revenge to be +feared. Belni, therefore, chose him as his victim. The two brothers +chatted all night with him and Macao, and asked to see Bourbaki's +rifle, which he carelessly handed to them. When, towards morning, +Macao left them for a few moments, they profited by the opportunity +to shoot Bourbaki from behind, and to run away. Macao, rushing back, +found his friend dead, and fled to the shore. By this deed the wrong +to the chief was supposed to be made good--a very peculiar practice in +native justice. It may be a remnant of old head-hunting traditions, +inasmuch as Belni's brother would have given the dead man's head to +the chief in payment, this being even more valuable than pigs. + +The first excitement over, our boys were seized by fear, even Macao +and the other one who had accompanied us. Although they were in +perfect safety on board the cutter they feared all sorts of revenge +from Belni's relatives,--for instance, that they might cause a +storm and wreck the cutter. We laughed at them, but they would not +be cheered up, and, after all, Macao's horrible dread that his old +father was surely being eaten up by this time in the village was not +quite groundless. We were not in the brightest of humours ourselves, +as this event had considerably lessened our chances of recruiting +at Big Nambas; the chief made us responsible for Bourbaki's death, +and asked an indemnity which we could hardly pay, except with the +tusked pigs we demanded here. + +We could not stay longer in Tesbel Bay, as our boys were too much +frightened, and the natives might turn against us at any moment. We +could hardly get the boys to go ashore for water and firewood, for +fear of an ambush. In the evening we fetched Belni out of the hold. He +was still doleful and ready to cry, but seemed unconscious of any +fault; he had killed a man, but that was rather an honourable act +than a crime, and he only seemed to regret that it had turned out so +unsatisfactorily. He did not seem to have much appetite, but swallowed +his yam mechanically in great lumps. The boys shunned him visibly, +all but Macao, who squatted down close before him, and gave him food +with wild hatred in his eyes, and muttering awful threats. Icy-cold, +cruel, with compressed lips and poisonous looks like a serpent's, +he hissed his curses and tortured Belni, who excused himself clumsily +and shyly, playing with the yam and looking from one dark corner to +the other, like a boy being scolded. The scene was so gruesome that +I had Belni shut up again, and we watched all night, for Macao was +determined to take the murderer's life. It was a dry, moonlit night; +one of the boys was writhing with a pain in his stomach, and we could +do nothing to help him, so they were all convinced it was caused by +Belni's relatives, and wanted to sail immediately. A warm breeze had +driven mosquitoes to the cutter; it was a most unpleasant night. + +Next noon the natives appeared, about twenty strong, but without +the second murderer. They said the shot had hit him, and that he +had died during the night. This might have been true, and as we +could do nothing against the village anyway, we let the matter drop, +especially as they had brought us Bourbaki's rifle and two tusked +pigs. The chief said he hoped we were satisfied with him, and would +not trouble anyone but the murderers. + +We returned to the cutter, and the pigs were put in the hold, +where they seem to have kept good company with Belni, after a little +preliminary squealing and shrieking. Then we sailed northward, with a +breeze that carried us in four hours over the same distance for which +we had taken twenty-four last time. It was a bitterly cold night. We +decided to return home, fearing the boys would murder Belni in an +unwatched moment, as they had asked several times, when the sea was +high, whether we would not throw Belni into the water now. The passage +to Santo was very rough. The waves thundered against the little old +cutter, and we had a nasty tide-rip. We were quite soaked, and looking +in through the portholes, we could see everything floating about in +the cabin--blankets, saucepans, tins and pistols. We did not mind much, +as we hoped to be at home by evening. + +Rest, cleanliness and a little comfort were very tempting after a +fortnight in the filthy narrowness of the little craft. We had no +reason to be vain of our success; but such trips are part of the game, +and we planned a second visit to Big Nambas to reconcile the chief. We +were glad to greet the cloud-hung coast of Santo, and soon entered +the Segond Channel. There we discovered that the old boat had leaked +to such an extent that we could have kept afloat for only a few hours +longer, and had every reason to be glad the voyage was at an end. It +was just as well that we had not noticed the leak during the passage. + +We brought Belni ashore; the thin, flabby fellow was a poor +compensation for vigorous Bourbaki. He was set to work on the +plantation, and as the Government was never informed of the affair, +he is probably there to this day, and will stay until he dies. + + + + + +CHAPTER V + +VAO + + +I had not yet solved the problem of how to get away from the Segond +Channel and find a good field of labour, when, happily, the French +priest from Port Olry came to stay a few days with his colleague at +the channel, on his way to Vao, and he obligingly granted me a passage +on his cutter. I left most of my luggage behind, and the schooner of +the French survey party was to bring it to Port Olry later on. + +After a passage considerably prolonged by contrary winds, we arrived +at Vao, a small island north-east of Malekula. When one has sailed +along the lifeless, greyish-green shores of Malekula, Vao is like a +sunbeam breaking through the mist. This change of mood comes gradually, +as one notices the warm air of spring, and dry souls, weather-beaten +captains and old pirates may hardly be aware of anything beyond a +better appetite and greater thirst. And it is not easy to define what +lends the little spot such a charm that the traveller feels revived as +if escaped from some oppression. From a distance Vao looks like all the +other islands and islets of the archipelago--a green froth floating on +the white line of breakers; from near by we see, as everywhere else, +the bright beach in front of the thick forest. But what impresses +the traveller mournfully elsewhere,--the eternal loneliness and +lifelessness of a country where nature has poured all its power into +the vegetation, and seems to have forgotten man and beast,--is softened +here, and an easy joy of living penetrates everything like a delicate +scent, and lifts whatever meets the eye to greater significance and +beauty. The celestial charm of the South Sea Islands, celebrated by +the first discoverers, seems to be preserved here, warming the soul +like the sweet remembrance of a happy dream. Hardly anyone who feels +these impressions will wonder about their origin, but he will hasten +ashore and dive into the forest, driven by a vague idea of finding +some marvel. Later he will understand that the charm of Vao lies in +the rich, busy human life that fills the island. It is probably the +most thickly populated of the group, with about five hundred souls +living in a space one mile long and three-fourths of a mile wide; and +it is their happy, careless, lazy existence that makes Vao seem to +the stranger like a friendly home. Here there are houses and fires, +lively people who shout and play merrily, and after the loneliness +which blows chill from the bush, the traveller is glad to rest and +feel at home among cheerful fellow-men. + +About seventy outrigger boats of all sizes lie on the beach. On +their bows they carry a carved heron, probably some half-forgotten +totem. The bird is more or less richly carved, according to the social +standing of the owner, and a severe watch is kept to prevent people +from carrying carvings too fine for their degree. Similarly, we find +little sticks like small seats fastened to the canoes, their number +indicating the caste of the owner. Under big sheds, in the shade of the +tall trees, lie large whale-boats of European manufacture, belonging +to the different clans, in which the men undertake long cruises to +the other islands, Santo, Aoba, Ambrym, to visit "sing-sings" and +trade in pigs. Formerly they used large canoes composed of several +trees fastened together with ropes of cocoa-nut fibre, and caulked +with rosin, driven by sails of cocoa-nut sheaths; these would hold +thirty to forty men, and were used for many murderous expeditions. For +the inhabitants of Vao were regular pirates, dreaded all along the +coast; they would land unexpectedly in the morning near a village, +kill the men and children, steal the women and start for home with +rich booty. European influences have put a stop to this sport, and +with the introduction of whale-boats the picturesque canoes have +disappeared from the water, and now lie rotting on the beach. Their +successors (though according to old tradition, women may not enter +them) are only used for peaceful purposes. + +In the early morning the beach is deserted, but a few hours after +sunrise it is full of life. The different clans come down from their +villages by narrow paths which divide near the shore into one path for +the men and another for the women, leading to separate places. The men +squat down near one of the boat-houses and stretch out comfortably in +the warm sand, smoking and chatting. The women, loaded with children +and baskets, sit in the shade of the knobby trees which stretch their +trunk-like branches horizontally over the beach, forming a natural +roof against sun and rain. The half-grown boys are too lively to +enjoy contemplative laziness; gossip and important deliberations +about pigs and sacrifices do not interest them, and they play about +between the canoes, wade in the water, look for shells on the sand, +or hunt crabs or fish in the reef. Thus an hour passes. The sun +has warmed the sand; after the cool night this is doubly agreeable, +and a light breeze cools the air. Some mothers bathe their babies in +the sea, washing and rubbing them carefully, until the coppery skin +shines in the sun; the little creatures enjoy the bath immensely, +and splash gaily in the element that will be their second home +in days to come. Everyone on the beach is in the easiest undress: +the men wear nothing but a bark belt, and the women a little apron +of braided grass; the children are quite naked, unless bracelets, +necklaces and ear-rings can count as dress. Having rested and amply +fortified themselves for the painful resolution to take up the day's +work, people begin to prepare for departure to the fields. They have +to cross the channel, about a mile wide, to reach the big island where +the yam gardens lie, sheltered by the forest from the trade-winds; +and this sail is the occasion for the prettiest sight Vao can offer. + +The tides drive the sea through the narrow channel so hard as to start +a current which is almost a stream. The head-wind raises short, sharp, +white-capped waves; shallow banks shine yellow through the clear water, +and the coral reefs are patches of violet and crimson, and we are +delighted by constant changes, new shades and various colourings, +never without harmony and loveliness. A cloudless sky bends over +the whole picture and shines on the red-brown bodies of the people, +who bustle about their canoes, adding the bright red of their mats +and dresses to the splendour of the landscape. + +With sudden energy the women have grabbed the boats and pushed them +into the water. The girls are slim, supple and strong as the young men, +the mothers and older women rather stiff, and usually hampered by at +least one child, which they carry on their backs or on their hips, +while another holds on to the garment which replaces our skirts. There +is plenty of laughter and banter with the men, who look on unmoved +at the efforts of the weaker sex, only rarely offering a helping hand. + +From the trees and hiding-places the paddles and the pretty triangular +sails are fetched and fastened on the canoes; then the boats are pushed +off and the whole crowd jumps in. The babies sit in their mothers' +laps or hang on their backs, perilously close to the water, into +which they stare with big, dark eyes. By twos and threes the canoes +push off, driven by vigorous paddling along the shore, against the +current. Sometimes a young man wades after a canoe and joins some +fair friends, sitting in front of them, as etiquette demands. The +fresh breeze catches the sails, and the ten or fifteen canoes glide +swiftly across the bright water, the spread sails looking like great +red butterflies. The spray splashes from the bows, one woman steers, +and the others bale out the water with cocoa-nuts,--a labour worthy of +the Danaides; sometimes the outrigger lifts up and the canoe threatens +to capsize, but, quick as thought, the women lean on the poles joining +outrigger and canoe, and the accident is averted. In a few minutes +the canoes enter the landings between the torn cliffs on the large +island, the passengers jump out and carry the boats up the beach. + +A few stragglers, men of importance who have been detained by politics, +and bachelors, who have nothing and nobody to care for but themselves, +follow later on, and only a crowd of boys stays in Vao, to enjoy +themselves on the beach and get into all sorts of mischief. + +Obliging as people sometimes are when the fancy strikes them, a +youth took us over to the other island in his canoe, and was even +skilful enough to keep us from capsizing. Narrow paths, bordered with +impenetrable bush, led us from the beach across coral boulders up to +the plantations on top of the tableland. Under some cocoa-nut palms +our guide stopped, climbed nimbly up a slim trunk, as if mounting a +ladder, and three green nuts dropped to the ground at our feet. Three +clever strokes of the knife opened them, and we enjoyed the refreshing +drink in its natural bowl. Sidepaths branched off to the gardens, where +every individual or family had its piece of ground. We saw big bananas, +taro, with large, juicy leaves, yams, trained on a pretty basket-shaped +trellis-work; when in bloom this looks like a huge bouquet. There +were pine-apples, cabbages, cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees, bright +croton bushes and highly scented shrubs. In this green and confused +abundance the native spends his day, working a little, loafing a +great deal. He shoots big pigeons and little parakeets, roasts them +on an improvised fire and eats them as a welcome addition to his +regular meals. From sun and rain he is sheltered by simple roofs, +under which everybody assembles at noon to gossip, eat and laugh. + +Long ago there were villages here. An enormous monolith, now broken, +but once 5 metres high, speaks for the energy of bygone generations, +when this rock was carried up from the coast, probably for a monument +to some great chief. + +While the women were gathering food for the evening meal we returned +to Vao. The breeze had stiffened in the midst of the channel, and +one old woman's canoe had capsized. She clung to the boat, calling +pitifully for help, which amused all the men on the shore immensely, +until at last, none too soon, they went to her rescue. Such adventures +are by no means harmless, as the channel swarms with sharks. + +We explored the interior of Vao, going first through the thicket on +the shore, then through reed-grass over 6 feet high, then between +low walls surrounding little plantations. Soon the path widened, and +on both sides we saw stone slabs, set several rows deep; presently +we found ourselves under the wide vault of one of those immense fig +trees whose branches are like trunks, and the glare of the sun gave +way to deep shadow, the heat of noonday to soft coolness. + +Gradually our eyes grow accustomed to the dimness, and we distinguish +our surroundings. We are in a wide square, roofed by the long branches +of the giant tree. At our left is its trunk, mighty enough in itself, +but increased by the numerous air-roots that stretch like cables +from the crown to the earth, covering the trunk entirely in some +spots, or dangling softly in the wind, ending in large tassels of +smaller roots. Lianas wind in distorted curves through the branches, +like giant snakes stiffened while fighting. This square is one of +the dancing-grounds of Vao. The rows of stones surround the square +on three sides--two, three or more deep. Near the trunk of the great +tree is a big altar of large slabs of rock; around it are stone tables +of smaller size, and one or two immense coral plates, which cover the +buried skull of some mighty chief. A large rock lies in the middle of +the road on a primitive slide half covered by stones and earth. Long +ago the islanders tried to bring it up from the beach; a strong vine +served as a rope, and more than fifty men must have helped to drag the +heavy rock up from the coast to the square. Half-way they got tired +of the job and left the stone where it lies now, and will lie for ever. + +On the other side of the altar are the drums, hollow trunks, whose +upper end is carved to represent a human face with wide, grinning +mouth, and deep, round and hollow eyes. Rammed in aslant, leaning in +all directions, they stand like clumsy, malicious demons, spiteful and +brutal, as if holding their bellies with rude, immoderate laughter +at their own hugeness and the puniness of mankind, at his miserable +humanity, compared to the solemn repose of the great tree. In front +of these are figures cut roughly out of logs, short-legged, with +long bodies and exaggeratedly long faces; often they are nothing +but a head, with the same smiling mouth, a long nose and narrow, +oblique eyes. They are painted red, white and blue, and are hardly +discernible in the dimness. On their forked heads they carry giant +birds with outstretched wings,--herons,--floating as if they had just +dropped through the branches on to the square. + +This is all we can see, but it is enough to make a deep +impression. Outside, the sun is glaring, the leaves quiver, and the +clouds are drifting across the sky, but here it is dim and cool as +in a cathedral, not a breeze blows, everything is lapped in a holy +calm. Abandonment, repose, sublime thoughtlessness drop down on us in +the shadow of the giant tree; as if in a dream we breathe the damp, +soft, mouldy air, feel the smooth earth and the green moss that covers +everything like a velvet pall, and gaze at the altars, the drums and +the statues. + +In a small clearing behind the square, surrounded by gaily coloured +croton bushes, stands the men's house--the "gamal." Strong pillars +support its gabled roof, that reaches down to the ground; the entrance +is flanked by great stone slabs. Oddly branched dead trees form a hedge +around the house, and on one side, on a sort of shelf, hang hundreds +of boars' jaws with curved tusks. Inside, there are a few fireplaces, +simple holes in the ground, and a number of primitive stretchers +of parallel bamboos, couches that the most ascetic of whites would +disdain. Among the beams of the roof hang all kinds of curiosities: +dancing-masks and sticks, rare fish, pigs' jaws, bones, old weapons, +amulets and so on, everything covered with a thick layer of soot from +the ever-smouldering fires. These "gamals" are a kind of club-house, +where the men spend the day and occasionally the night. In rainy +weather they sit round the fire, smoking, gossiping and working on +some tool,--a club or a fine basket. Each clan has its own gamal, +which is strictly taboo for the women, and to each gamal belongs +a dancing-ground like the one described. On Vao there are five, +corresponding to the number of clans. + +Near by are the dwelling-houses and family enclosures. Each family has +its square, surrounded by a wall about 1 metre high of loose stones +simply piled up, so that it is unsafe to lean against it. Behind the +walls are high screens of braided reeds, which preclude the possibility +of looking into the enclosure; even the doors are so protected that no +one can look in; for the men are very jealous, and do not want their +wives observed by strangers. These enclosures are very close together, +and only narrow lanes permit circulation. As we turn a corner we may +see a woman disappear quickly, giggling, while children run away with +terrified howls, for what the black man is to ours the white man is +to them. + +Having won the confidence of a native, we may be taken into his +courtyard, where there is little to be seen, as all the social life +goes on in the gamals or on the dancing-grounds. A dozen simple huts +stand irregularly about the square, some half decayed and serving as +pigsties. One hut belongs to the master, and each of his wives has a +house of her own, in which to bring up her children. The yard is alive +with pigs and fowls and dogs and children, more or less peacefully +at play. + +In Vao, as in all Melanesia, the pig is the most valued of animals. All +the thoughts of the native circle round the pig; for with pigs he +can buy whatever his heart desires: he can have an enemy killed, he +can purchase many women, he can attain the highest social standing, +he can win paradise. No wonder, then, that the Vao pigs are just as +carefully nursed, if not more so, than the children, and that it is +the most important duty of the old matrons to watch over the welfare +of the pigs. To call a young beauty "pig's foot," "pig's nose," +"pig's tail," or similar endearing names is the greatest compliment +a lover can pay. But only the male pigs are esteemed, the females are +of account only as a necessary instrument for propagating the species, +and nobody takes care of them; so they run wild, and have to look out +for themselves. They are much happier than the males, which are tied +all their lives to a pole under a little roof; they are carefully fed, +but this, their only pleasure, is spoilt by constant and terrific +toothache, caused by cruel man, who has a horrible custom of knocking +out the upper eye-teeth of the male pig. The lower eye-teeth, finding +nothing to rub against, grow to a surprising size, first upward, +then down, until they again reach the jaw, grow on and on, through +the cheek, through the jaw-bone, pushing out a few other teeth en +passant, then they come out of the jaw again, and curve a second, +sometimes a third time, if the poor beast lives long enough. These +pigs with curved tusks are the pride and wealth of every native; they +are the highest coin, and power and influence depend on the number +of such pigs a man owns, as well as on the size of their tusks, +and this is the reason why they are so carefully watched, so that +no harm may come to them or their teeth. Very rich people may have +quite a number of "tuskers," people of average means own one or two, +and paupers none at all, but they may have the satisfaction of looking +at those of the others and feeding them if they like. + +It will be necessary to say a few words here about the pig-cult and +the social organization of the natives, as they are closely connected +and form a key to an understanding of the natives' way of living and +thinking. I wish to state at once, however, that the following remarks +do not pretend to be correct in all details. It is very hard to make +any researches as to these matters, as the natives themselves have +only the vaguest notions on the subject, and entirely lack abstract +ideas, so that they fail to understand many of the questions put to +them. Without an exact knowledge of the language, and much personal +observation, it is hardly possible to obtain reliable results, +especially as the old men are unwilling to tell all they know, +and the young know very little, but rely on the knowledge of the +old chiefs. Interpreters are of no use, and direct questioning has +but little result, as the people soon become suspicious or tired +of thinking, and answer as they suppose the white man would wish, +so as to have done with the catechizing as soon as possible. Perfect +familiarity with the language, habits and character of the natives +is necessary, and their confidence must be won, in order to make any +progress in the investigation of these problems. Missionaries are the +men to unite these qualities, but, unfortunately, the missionaries +of the New Hebrides do not seem to take much interest in the strange +cult so highly developed here; so that, for want of something better, +my own observations may be acceptable. + +The pig-cult, or "Suque," is found almost all over Melanesia. It +is most highly developed in the Banks Islands and the Central New +Hebrides, and rules the entire life of the natives; yet it forms +only a part of their religion, and probably a newer part, while the +fundamental principle is ancestor-worship. We must not expect to find +in the native mind clear conceptions of transcendental things. The +religious ceremonies differ in adjoining villages, and so do the ideas +concerning the other world. There is no regular dogma; and since even +the conceptions of religions with well-defined dogmas are constantly +changing, religions which are handed down by oral tradition only, +and in the vaguest way, must necessarily be fluctuating. Following +the natural laws of thought, religious conceptions split into numerous +local varieties, and it is the task of the scientist to seek, amid this +variety of exterior forms, the common underlying idea, long forgotten +by everyone else, and to ascertain what it was in its original purity, +without additions and deformations. + +My observations led me to the following results: according to native +belief, the soul leaves the body after death, and wanders about near +by. Apparently the idea is that it remains in connection with the body +for a certain time, for in some districts the corpse is fed for five +days or longer; in Vao a bamboo tube is used, which leads from the +surface of the earth to the mouth of the buried body. The souls of +low-caste people soon disappear, but the higher the caste, the longer +the soul stays on earth. Still, the natives have some conception of +a paradise in which the soul of the high-caste finds all bliss and +delight, and which the soul ultimately enters. This idea may have +come up since the arrival of Christianity. It is customary to hold +a death-feast for a man of no caste after five days, for a low-caste +after one hundred, and for a high-caste after three hundred or even +one thousand days. The soul remains in contact with the world of +the living, and may be perceived as a good or bad spirit of as much +power as the man had when alive. To obtain the favour and assistance +of these spirits seems to be the fundamental idea, the main object of +religion in the New Hebrides. The spirit of an ancestor will naturally +favour his descendants, unless they have offended him deeply; and the +more powerful the dead ancestor was, the stronger and safer do his +descendants feel under the protection of his spirit. If a man has no +powerful ancestral ghost, he joins some strong clan, and strives for +the favour of its tutelary spirit by means of rich sacrifices. The +spirits admit those who bring many sacrifices to their special favour +and intimacy; these people are supposed to have gone half-way to the +spirit-world, and even in this life they are dreaded and enormously +influential; for the spirits will help him in every way, the elements +are his servants, and he can perform the most terrible sorceries. Thus +he terrorizes the country, becomes chief, and after death he joins +the other ghosts as a powerful member of their company. + +The "Suque" transferred the hierarchy of the spirit-world into this +world, and regulated the number of castes and the method of rising +in caste; it also originated the rules for entering into connection +with the other world. Its origin probably goes back to one of those +secret societies so highly developed in Melanesia, of which I shall +speak later. + +Caste is obtained by sacrificing tusked pigs; it is possible that +this has taken the place of former human sacrifices. The "Suque" is +the community of all the men who have sacrificed tusked pigs. It is +an international society, divided into numerous groups composed of the +men of different islands, districts, villages or clans. It is the only +means to assure oneself of bliss hereafter, and to obtain power and +wealth on earth, and whoever fails to join the "Suque" is an outcast, +a man of no importance, without friends and without protectors, whether +living men or spirits, and therefore exposed to every ill-treatment +and utter contempt. This explains the all-important position of the +"Suque" in the life of the natives, being the expression both of +religion and of ambition. + +Frequently a young boy will join the "Suque," an uncle on the mother's +side donating pigs to be sacrificed in his name after he has touched +them with his hand. The boy is then free of the gamal, the "Suque" +club-house. Later he works his way up in the society by attending +numberless feasts and ceremonies, by having endless discussions +on tusked pigs, by borrowing, buying and lending pigs, by plotting +and sacrificing. + +The number of castes varies on different islands: in Ambrym there are +fourteen, in Venua Lava twenty, in Aoba ten. On some islands, Santo, +for example, the caste-system is connected with a severe separation of +the fires; each caste cooks over its own fire, and loses its degree on +eating food cooked on the fire of a lower caste. In these districts the +floor of the gamal is frequently marked by bamboo rods or sticks in as +many divisions as there are castes each containing one fireplace. The +highest castes sit at the front end of the gamal, the lower at the +back; these are forbidden to enter the gamal from the front, in order +not to touch or step over the fireplaces of their superiors. At each +rise in caste the novice receives the new fire, rubbed on a special +stick and decorated with flowers; certain ceremonies attend the cooking +of the first food with this new fire. It is then carefully tended in +the fireplace, and if it goes out it has to be rubbed afresh with the +stick. The number of pigs necessary to a rise in caste also varies +on the different islands. Generally, only tusked pigs are counted, +and there are feasts at which as many as forty of these valuable +animals are killed. Naturally, the high-castes cannot keep all the +animals themselves, but they lend them, like money, to those who do not +possess the number needed to rise in caste; in this way a complicated +credit-system has developed, by which the so-called chiefs support +and strengthen their influence and tyrannize the country. + +A young man, as a rule, owns no tusked pigs. If he wishes to raise his +caste, he has to borrow from the rich high-castes, who are very willing +to help him, but only at exorbitant rates of interest. First he has to +win their favour by presents, and then he has to promise to return a +more valuable pig later. The bargain made, the transaction takes place +publicly with some ceremony. The population of the district assembles, +and all the transactions are ratified which have been negotiated in +private. The owner holds the pig, the borrower dances around him and +then takes the animal away. All the spectators serve as witnesses, +and there is no need of a written bill. In this way nearly all the +men of lower rank are in debt to the high-castes, and dependent on +their goodwill, and these can obtain anything they like, simply by +pressing their debtors to pay for their pigs. + +As a rule, the highest castes of a district work together; they are +the high priests, who arrange everything connected with the "Suque," +set the dates for the feasts, and decide whether a man shall be +permitted to raise his caste. They are practically omnipotent, until +one of them rises by still larger sacrifices to a still higher caste, +and becomes sole master. If there are no more degrees to reach, the +whole scale is run through again an octave higher, so to speak. The +jaws of the killed pigs are hung up in the gamal in bundles or rows, +as a sign of the wealth and power of the proprietor. These chiefs +are in connection with the mightiest spirits, have supernatural power +and are as much hated as they are feared. + +There is another independent witchcraft beside the "Suque," for +weather-making, charms and poisoning, which is known to private +men. They take expensive "lessons" from old sorcerers, and transmit +their art to the young men they consider clever enough, for good +wages. These are the real mischief-makers, for they will lend their +murderous assistance to anyone for adequate payment. + +In some islands there is also a "Suque" for the women, but it is +quite independent of that of the men, and its degrees are easier to +reach. Still, women of high rank enjoy a certain consideration from +the men. + +Real chiefs do not exist in the northern part of the New Hebrides, +but the chiefs are the high-castes, who, according to their rank and +the strength of their personality, have more or less influence. They +cannot give direct orders, but rule indirectly through pressure, +threats and encouragement. Officially, all decisions are taken in a +meeting of the whole "Suque." The chieftainship is not hereditary, +but the sons and especially the nephews of high-castes generally +reach high degrees themselves, being pushed by their relatives, who +are naturally anxious to be surrounded by faithful and influential +friends. Thus there have risen aristocratic families, who think +themselves better than the others, and do not like to mix with +common people. Daughters of these families command high prices, +and are therefore accessible only to rich men, that is, men of high +caste. Young men of less good family are naturally poor, and since a +woman, as a rule, costs five pigs, it is almost impossible for them +to marry, whereas old men can buy up all the young, pretty girls; +the social consequences of this system are obvious. In Vao conditions +are not quite so bad, because there is considerable wealth, and women +are numerous, so that even young men are enabled to have a family; +in consequence, the race here is healthier than elsewhere. + +In Vao I had occasion to attend a death-feast. The hero of the day +was still alive and in excellent health; but he did not quite trust +his family, and wishing to make sure that his death-feast would not +be forgotten, he held it during his lifetime. His anxiety about the +feast is explained by the following facts. According to Vao beliefs, +the souls of the dead travel to the island of Ambrym, and after five +days climb a narrow trail up to the volcano. In order that the soul +may not starve on the way, the survivors often make a small canoe, +load it with food and push it off into the sea, thinking it will drift +after the soul. It is generally stranded behind the nearest point, +bringing the neighbours a welcome addition to the day's rations. This +custom is in contradiction to the feeding of the body through a tube, +and proves that quite contradictory customs can exist simultaneously, +without the natives noticing it. Half-way up the volcano sits a +monster with two immense shears, like a crab. If no pigs have been +sacrificed for the soul by the fifth day, the poor soul is alone and +the monster swallows it; but if the sacrifice has been performed, +the souls of the sacrificed pigs follow after the human soul, and as +the monster prefers pig, the human has time to escape and to reach +the entrance to paradise on top of the volcano, where there are pigs, +women, dancing and feasting in plenty. + +The feast I was to attend had been in preparation for some time. On all +the dancing-grounds long bamboos were in readiness, loaded with yams +and flowers, as presents to the host. Everything was brought to his +gamal, and the whole morning passed in distributing the gifts, each +family receiving a few yams, a little pig, some sprouted cocoa-nuts +and a few rolls of money. This money consists of long, narrow, fringed +mats, neatly rolled up; in this case they were supposed to be the mats +in which the dead are buried, and which are taken out of the grave +after a while. These mats formerly served as small coin, as similar +mats are still used on other islands, and they still represent a value +of about one shilling; but in daily life they have been quite replaced +by European coin, and only appear on such ceremonial occasions. + +All the gifts were piled up, and when the host was convinced that +every guest had received his just dues, he took a stick and smashed +the heads of all the pigs that were tied up in readiness for this +ceremony. They struggled for a moment, the dogs came and licked +the blood, and then each guest took away his portion, to have a +private feast at home. The whole performance made a desperately +business-like impression, and everything was done most prosaically; +as for me, having no better dinner than usual to look forward to, +I quite missed the slightly excited holiday feeling that ought to go +with a great feast. Formerly, the braining of the pigs was done with +skilfully carved clubs, instead of mere sticks, and this alone must +have given the action something of solemnity; but these clubs have +long since been sold to collectors and never replaced. + +In spite of their frequent intercourse with whites, the people of Vao +are still confirmed cannibals, only they have not many opportunities +for gratifying their taste in this direction. Still, not many years +ago, they had killed and eaten an enemy, and each individual, even +the little children, had received a small morsel of the body to eat, +either with the idea of destroying the enemy entirely, or as the +greatest insult that could be offered to him. + +These same people can be so gay, childlike, kind and obliging, +tactful and generous, that one can hardly believe the accounts +one often hears of sudden outbreaks of brutal savagery, devilish +wickedness, ingratitude and falsehood, until one has experienced them +himself. The flattering and confiding child will turn suddenly and +without apparent reason into a man full of gloom and hatred. All +those repressing influences which lead the dwellers in civilized +lands to some consistency of action are lacking here, and the morals +of the natives run along other lines than ours. Faith and truth are +no virtues, constancy and perseverance do not exist. The same man who +can torture his wife to death from wanton cruelty, holding her limbs +over the fire till they are charred, etc., will be inconsolable over +the death of a son for a long time, and will wear a curl, a tooth or +a finger-joint of the dead as a valuable relic round his neck; and the +same man who is capable of preparing a murder in cold blood for days, +may, in some propitious evening hour, relate the most charming and +poetic fairy-tales. A priest whom I met knew quite a number of such +stories from a man whom he had digged alive out of the grave, where +his relatives had buried him, thinking him old enough to die. This +is not a rare occurrence; sometimes the old people themselves are +tired of life and ask to be killed. + +What has preserved the old customs so well on Vao is the aversion of +the natives to plantation work. But one day, while I was there, a ship +rode at anchor off the coast, and a member of the French survey party +landed, collected all the men on the beach, and told them that unless +there were thirty men on board that evening, the whole tribe would +be driven out of the island, as the island belonged to the French +company. This was, to say the least, extremely doubtful; moreover, +it would never have been feasible to expropriate the natives in this +summary way. They were furious, but, unprotected as they were, they +had to obey, and in the evening nearly all the young men assembled +on the beach and were taken away in whale-boats, disappearing in the +mist and darkness of the night. The old men and the women remained +behind, crying loudly, so that the terrible wailing sounded sadly +over the sea. Even to the mere spectator it was a tragic moment when +the tribe was thus orphaned of its best men, and one could not help +being revolted by the whole proceeding. It was not womanish pity for +the men who were taken off to work, but regret for the consequent +disappearance of immemorial forms of tribal life. Next day the +beach was empty. Old men and women crossed over to the yam-fields, +the little children played as usual, but the gay shouts were silent, +the beautiful, brown, supple-bodied young men were gone, and I no +longer felt the joy of living which had been Vao's greatest charm. The +old men were sulky and sad, and spoke of leaving Vao for good and +settling somewhere far inland. It is not surprising that the whole +race has lost the will to live, and that children are considered an +undesirable gift, of which one would rather be rid. What hopelessness +lies in the words I once heard a woman of Vao say: "Why should we +have any more children? Since the white man came they all die." And +die they certainly do. Regions that once swarmed with people are now +lonely; where, ten years ago, there were large villages, we find the +desert bush, and in some districts the population has decreased by +one-third in the last seven years. In fifteen years the native race +will have practically disappeared. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PORT OLRY AND A "SING-SING" + + +The event just described reduced my chance of finding servants in Vao +to a minimum, as all the able-bodied young men had been taken away. I +therefore sailed with the missionary for his station at Port Olry. Our +route lay along the east coast of Santo. Grey rain-clouds hung on +the high mountains in the interior, the sun shone faintly through the +misty atmosphere, the greyish-blue sea and the greyish-green shore, +with the brown boulders on the beach, formed a study in grey, whose +hypnotic effect was increased by a warm, weary wind. Whoever was not +on duty at the tiller lay down on deck, and as in a dream we floated +slowly along the coast past lonely islands and bays; whenever we looked +up we saw the same picture, only the outlines seemed to have shifted +a little. We anchored near a lonely isle, to find out whether its +only inhabitant, an old Frenchman, was still alive. He had arrived +there a year ago, full of the most brilliant hopes, which, however, +had not materialized. He had no boat, hardly ever saw a human being, +and lived on wild fruits. Hardly anyone knows him or visits him, +but he had not lost courage, and asked for nothing but a little salt, +which we gave him, and then sailed on. + +In Hog Harbour we spent the night and enjoyed a hearty English +breakfast with the planters, the Messrs. Th., who have a large and +beautiful plantation; then we continued our cruise. The country +had changed somewhat; mighty banks of coral formed high tablelands +that fell vertically down to the sea, and the living reef stretched +seaward under the water. These tablelands were intersected by flat +valleys, in the centre of which rose steep hills, like huge bastions +dominating the country round. The islands off the coast were covered +with thick vegetation, with white chalk cliffs gleaming through them +at intervals. A thin mist filled the valleys with violet hues, the +sea was bright and a fresh breeze carried us gaily along. The aspect +of the country displayed the energies of elemental powers: nowhere can +the origin of chalk mountains be more plainly seen than here, where we +have the process before us in all its stages, from the living reef, +shining purple through the sea, to the sandy beach strewn with bits +of coral, to the high table mountain. We anchored at a headland near +a small river, and were cordially welcomed by the missionary's dogs, +cats, pigs and native teacher. There was also a young girl whom the +father had once dug out of her grave, where a hard-hearted mother +had buried her. + +I had an extremely interesting time at Port Olry. The population +here is somewhat different from that of the rest of Santo: very +dark-skinned, tall and different in physiognomy. It may be called +typically Melanesian, while many other races show Polynesian +admixture. The race here is very strong, coarse-featured and lives +in the simplest way, without any industries, and is the primitive +population in the New Hebrides. + +A few details as to personal appearance may be of interest. Among the +ornaments used are very large combs, decorated with pigs' tails. Pigs' +tails also are stuck into the hair and ears. The hair is worn very +long, rolled into little curls and plentifully oiled. A most peculiar +deformation is applied to the nose and results in extreme ugliness: +the septum is perforated, and instead of merely inserting a stick, +a springy spiral is used, which presses the nose upward and forward, +so that in time it develops into an immense, shapeless lump, as if +numberless wasps had stung it. It takes a long time to get used to +this sight, especially as the nose is made still more conspicuous +by being painted with a bright red stripe on its point, and two +black ones on each side. A more attractive ornament are flowers, +which the men stick into their hair, where they are very effective +on the dark background. In the lobes of the ears they wear spirals +of tortoise-shell or thin ornaments of bone; the men often paint +their faces with a mixture of soot and grease, generally the upper +half of the forehead, the lower part of the cheeks and the back of +the nose. The women and children prefer the red juice of a fruit, +with which they paint their faces in all sorts of mysterious designs. + +The dress of the men consists of a large belt, purposely worn very low +so as to show the beautiful curve of the loins. About six small mats +hang down in front. Formerly, and even at the present day on festival +occasions, they wore on the back an ovoid of wood; the purpose is +quite unknown, but may originally have been a portable seat, as the +Melanesian does not like to sit on the bare ground. Provided with +this article of dress the wearer did not need to look about for a seat. + +If the appearance of the men, while not beautiful, is at least +impressive, the women are so very much disfigured that it takes +quite some time to grow accustomed to their style of beauty. They +are not allowed to wear many ornaments, have to shave their heads, +and generally rub them with lime, so that they look rather like +white-headed vultures, all the more so as the deformed nose protrudes +like a beak and the mouth is large. The two upper incisors are broken +out as a sign of matrimony. + +Their figures, except in young girls, are generally wasted, +yet one occasionally meets with a woman of fine and symmetrical +build. The dress is restricted to a small leaf, attached to a thin +loin-string. Both men and women generally wear at the back a bundle of +leaves; women and boys have strongly scented herbs, the men coloured +croton, the shade depending on the caste of the wearer. The highest +castes wear the darkest, nearly black, varieties. These croton bushes +are planted along the sides of the gamals, so as to furnish the men's +ornaments; and they lend the sombre places some brightness and colour. + +Half for ornament and half for purposes of healing are the large +scars which may frequently be seen on the shoulders or breasts of +the natives. The cuts are supposed to cure internal pains; the scabs +are frequently scratched off, until the scar is large and high, +and may be considered ornamental. Apropos of this medical detail +I may mention another remedy, for rheumatism: with a tiny bow and +arrow a great number of small cuts are shot into the skin of the +part affected; the scars from these wounds form a network of fine, +hardly noticeable designs on the skin. + +The life and cult of the natives are as simple as their dress. The +houses are scattered and hidden in the bush, grouped vaguely around +the gamal, which stands alone on a bare square. No statues stand there, +nor tall, upright drums; only a few small drums lie in a puddle around +the gamal. + +The dwelling-houses are simply gable-roofs, always without side-walls +and often without any walls at all. They are divided into a pig-stable +and a living-room, unless the owners prefer to have their pigs living +in the same space with themselves. + +A few flat wooden dishes are the only implements the native does +not find ready-made in nature. Cooking is done with heated stones +heaped around the food, which has been previously wrapped up in +banana leaves. Lime-stones naturally cannot be used for that purpose, +and volcanic stones have often to be brought from quite a distance, +so that these cooking-stones are treated with some care. In place of +knives the natives use shells or inland bamboo-splinters, but both +are rapidly being replaced by European knives. + +On approaching a village we are first frightened by a few pigs, which +run away grunting and scolding into the thicket. Then a pack of dogs +announce our arrival, threatening us with hypocritical zeal. A few +children, playing in the dirt among the pigs, jump up and run away, +then slowly return, take us by the hand and stare into our faces. At +noon we will generally find all the men assembled in the gamal making +"lap-lap." Lap-lap is the national dish of the natives of the New +Hebrides; quite one-fifth part of their lives is spent in making +and eating lap-lap. The work is not strenuous. The cook sits on the +ground and rubs the fruit, yam or taro, on a piece of rough coral or a +palm-sheath, thus making a thick paste, which is wrapped up in banana +leaves and cooked between stones. After a few hours' cooking it looks +like a thick pudding and does not taste at all bad. For flavouring, +cocoa-nut milk is poured over it, or it is mixed with cabbage, grease, +nuts, roasted and ground, or occasionally with maggots. Besides this +principal dish, sweet potatoes, manioc, bread-fruit, pineapples, +bananas, etc., are eaten in season, and if the natives were less +careless, they would never need to starve, as frequently happens. + +The men are not much disturbed by our arrival. They offer us a log to +sit on, and continue to rub their yam, talking us over the while. They +seem to be a very peaceful and friendly crowd, yet in this district +they are particularly cruel and treacherous, and only a few days +after my departure war broke out. The gamal is bare, except for a +few wooden dishes hanging in the roof, and weapons of all kinds, not +in full sight, but ready at any moment. We can see rifles, arrows and +clubs. The clubs are very simple, either straight or curved sticks. Old +pieces are highly valued, and carry marks indicating how many victims +have been killed with them: I saw one club with sixty-seven of these +marks. In former years the spear with about two hundred and fifty +points of human bones was much used, but is now quite replaced by +the rifle. The bones for spear-points and arrow-heads are taken from +the bodies of dead relatives and high-castes. The corpse is buried in +the house, and when it is decayed the bones of the limbs are dug out, +split, polished and used for weapons. The idea is that the courage and +skill of the dead man may be transmitted to the owner of the weapon, +also, that the dead man may take revenge on his murderer, as every +death is considered to have been caused by some enemy. These bones +are naturally full of the poisons of the corpse, and may cause tetanus +at the slightest scratch. On the arrows they are extremely sharp and +only slightly attached to the wood, so that they stick in the flesh +and increase the inflammation. Besides, they are often dipped in some +special poison. + +All over the archipelago the arrows are very carefully made, and +almost every island has its own type, although they all resemble +each other. Many are covered at the point with a fine spiral binding, +and the small triangles thus formed are painted in rows--red, green +and white. Much less care is bestowed on the fish- and bird-arrows, +which are three-pointed as a rule, and often have no point at all, +but only a knob, so as to stun the bird and not to stick in the +branches of the trees. + +Shields are unknown. It would seem that the arrow was not, as +elsewhere, the principal weapon, but rather the spear and club, +and the wars were not very deadly, as the natives' skill in handling +their weapons was equalled by their skill in dodging them. + +Having inspected the gamal, we received from the highest caste present +a gift of some yam, or taro, which we requited with some sticks of +tobacco. The length of the gamal depends on the caste of the chief +who builds it. I saw a gamal 60 metres long, and while this length +seems senseless to-day, because of the scanty population, it was +necessary in former days, when the number of a man's followers rose +with his rank. Not many years ago these houses were filled at night +with sleeping warriors, each with his weapons at hand, ready for a +fight. To-day these long, dark, deserted houses are too dismal for +the few remaining men, so that they generally build a small gamal +beside the big one. + +To have killed a man, no matter in what way, is a great honour, +and gives the right to wear a special plume of white and black +feathers. Such plumes are not rare in Port Olry. + +Each man has his own fire, and cooks his own food; for, as I have +said, it would mean the loss of caste to eat food cooked on the +fire of a lower caste. Women are considered unworthy to cook a man's +meal; in fact, their standing here is probably the lowest in all the +archipelago. Still, they do not lack amusement; they gather like the +men for social carousals, and are giggling and chattering all day +long. Their principal occupation is the cultivation of the fields, +but where Nature is so open-handed this is not such a task as we might +think when we see them coming home in the afternoon, panting under +an immense load of fruit, with a pile of firewood on top, a child on +their back and possibly dragging another by the hand. Port Olry is the +only place in the New Hebrides where the women carry loads on their +heads. Everywhere else they carry them on their backs in baskets of +cocoa-nut leaves. In consequence the women here are remarkable for +their erect and supple carriage. + +The work in the fields consists merely of digging out the yam and +picking other fruit, and it is a sociable affair, with much talking and +laughter. There is always something to eat, such as an unripe cocoa-nut +or a banana. Serious work is not necessary except at the planting +season, when the bush has to be cleared. Then a whole clan usually +works together, the men helping quite energetically, until the fields +are fenced in and ready for planting; then they hold a feast, a big +"kai-kai," and leave the rest of the work to the women. The fences are +made to keep out the pigs, and are built in the simplest way: sticks +of the wild cotton-wood tree, which grows rankly everywhere, are stuck +into the ground at short intervals; they immediately begin to sprout, +and after a short time form a living and impenetrable hedge. But they +last much longer than is necessary, so that everywhere the fences +of old gardens bar the road and force the traveller to make endless +detours, all the more so as the natives have a way of making their +fields right across the paths whenever it suits them. + +The number of women here amounts only to about one-fourth of that +of the men. One reason for this is the custom of killing all the +widows of a chief, a custom which was all the more pernicious as the +chiefs, as a rule, owned most of the young females, while the young +men could barely afford to buy an old widow. Happily this custom is +dying out, owing to the influence of the planters and missionaries; +they appealed, not unwisely, to the sensuality of the young men, who +were thus depriving themselves of the women. Strange to say, the women +were not altogether pleased with this change, many desiring to die, +for fear they might be haunted by the offended spirit of their husband. + +When a chief died, the execution did not take place at once. The +body was exposed in a special little hut in the thicket, and left to +decay, which process was hastened by the climate and the flies. Then +a death-feast was prepared, and the widows, half frantic with mad +dancing and howling, were strangled. + +Ordinary people are buried in their own houses, which generally decay +afterwards. Often the widow had to sleep beside the decaying body +for one hundred days. + +Being short of boys, I could not visit many of the villages inland, +and I stayed on at the mission station, where there was generally +something for me to do, as the natives frequently came loitering +about the station. I made use of their presence as much as possible +for anthropological measurements, but I could not always find willing +subjects. Everything depends on the humour of the crowd; if they make +fun of the first victim, the case is lost, as no second man is willing +to be the butt of the innumerable gibes showered on the person under +the instruments. Things are more favourable if it is only fear of +some dangerous enchantment that holds them back, for then persuasion +and liberal gifts of tobacco generally overcome their fears. The best +subjects are those who pretend to understand the scientific meaning +of the operation, or the utterly indifferent, who never think about +it at all, are quite surprised to be suddenly presented with tobacco, +and go home, shaking their heads over the many queer madnesses of white +men. I took as many photographs as possible, and my pictures made quite +a sensation. Once, when I showed his portrait to one of the dandies +with the oiled and curled wig, he ran away with a cry of terror at his +undreamt-of ugliness, and returned after a short while with his hair +cut. His deformed nose, however, resisted all attempts at restoration. + +The natives showed great reluctance in bringing me skulls and +skeletons. As the bones decay very quickly in the tropics, only skulls +of people recently deceased can be had. The demon, or soul, of the +dead is supposed to be too lively as yet to be wantonly offended; in +any case, one dislikes to disturb one's own relatives, while there +is less delicacy about those of others. Still, in course of time, +I gathered quite a good collection of skulls at the station. They +were brought carefully wrapped up in leaves, fastened with lianas, +and tied to long sticks, with which the bearer held the disgusting +object as far from him as possible. The bundles were laid down, and +the people watched with admiring disgust as I untied the ropes and +handled the bones as one would any other object. Everything that had +touched the bones became to the natives an object of the greatest +awe; still they enjoyed pushing the leaves that had wrapped them +up under the feet of an unsuspecting friend, who presently, warned +of the danger, escaped with a terrified shriek and a wild jump. It +would seem that physical disgust had as much to do with all this as +religious fear, although the natives show none of this disgust at +handling the remains of pigs. Naturally, the old men were the most +superstitious; the young ones were more emancipated, some of them +even going the length of picking up a bone with their toes. + +Most of them had quite a similar dread of snakes, but some men handled +them without much fear, and brought me large specimens, which they +had caught in a sling and then wrapped up in leaves. While I killed +and skinned a big snake, a large crowd always surrounded me, ever +ready for flight, and later my boys chased them with the empty skin, +a performance which always ended in great laughing and dancing. + +I had been in Port Olry for three weeks, waiting anxiously every +day for the Marie-Henry, which was to bring the luggage I had left +behind at the Segond Channel. My outfit began to be insufficient; +what I needed most was chemicals for the preservation of my zoological +specimens, which I had plenty of time and occasion to collect here. One +day the Marie-Henry, a large schooner, arrived, but my luggage had been +forgotten. I was much disappointed, as I saw no means of recovering +it in the near future. The Marie-Henry was bound for Talamacco, +in Big Bay, and took the Rev. Father and myself along. + +One of the passengers was Mr. F., a planter and trader in +Talamacco, and we soon became good friends with him and some of the +others. Mr. F. was very kind, and promised to use all his influence to +help me find boys. The weather was bad, and we had to tack about all +night; happily, we were more comfortable on the big schooner than on +the little cutters. At Talamacco Mr. F. offered us his hospitality, +and as it rained continually, we were very glad to stay in his +house, spending the time in sipping gin and winding up a hoarse +gramophone. Thus two lazy days passed, during which our host was +constantly working for me, sending his foreman, the "moli," to all +the neighbouring villages, with such good results that at last I was +able to engage four boys for two months. I took them on board at once, +well pleased to have the means, at last, of moving about independently. + +We sailed in the evening, and when, next morning, we rounded Cape +Quiros, we found a heavy sea, so that the big ship pitched and +ploughed with dull hissing through the foaming waves. She lay aslant +under the pressure of the wind that whistled in the rigging, and the +full curve of the great sails was a fine sight; but it was evident +that the sails and ropes were in a very rotten condition, and soon, +with anxious looks, we followed the growth of a tear in the mainsail, +wondering whether the mast would stand the strain. A heavy sea broke +the rudder, and altogether it was high time to land when we entered +Port Olry in the late afternoon. + +A few days later I started for Hog Harbour, for the plantation +of the Messrs. Th., near which I meant to attend a great feast, +or "sing-sing." This meant a march of several hours through the +bush. My boys had all put on their best finery,--trousers, shirts, +gay handkerchiefs,--and had painted their hair with fresh lime. + +"Well, boys, are you ready?" "Yes, Masta," they answer, with +conviction, though they are far from ready, as they are still tying +their bundles. After waiting a while, I say, "Well, me, me go." They +answer, "All right, you go." I take a few steps and wait again. One +of them appears in front of the hut to look for a stick to hang his +bundle on, another cannot find his pipe; still, after a quarter of an +hour, we can really start. The boys sing and laugh, but as we enter +the forest darkness they suddenly become quiet, as if the sternness +of the bush oppressed their souls. We talk but little, and only in +undertones. These woods have none of the happy, sensuous luxuriance +which fancy lends to every tropical forest; there is a harshness, +a selfish struggle for the first place among the different plants, a +deadly battling for air and light. Giant trees with spreading crowns +suppress everything around, kill every rival and leave only small +and insignificant shrubs alive. Between them, smaller trees strive +for light; on tall, straight, thin stems they have secured a place and +developed a crown. Others look for light in roundabout ways, making use +of every gap their neighbours leave, and rise upward in soft coils. All +these form a high roof, under which younger and weaker plants lead a +skimped life--hardwood trees on thin trunks, with small, unassuming +leaves, and vulgar softwood with large, flabby foliage. Around and +across all this wind the parasites, lianas, rotang, some stretched +like ropes from one trunk to another, some rising in elegant curves +from the ground, some attached to other trunks and sucking out their +life with a thousand roots, others interlaced in the air in distorted +curves. All these grow and thrive on the bodies of former generations +on the damp, mouldy ground, where leaves rot and trunks decay, and +where it is always wet, as never a sunbeam can strike in so far. + +Thus it is sad in the forest, and strangely quiet, as in a churchyard, +for not even the wind can penetrate the green surface. It passes +rushing through the crowns, so that sometimes we catch an upward +glimpse of bright yellow sunshine as though out of a deep gully. And +as men in sternest fight are silent, using all their energy for one +purpose, so here there is no sign of gay and happy life, there are +no flowers or coloured leaves, but the endless, dull green, in an +infinity of shapes. + +Even the animals seem to shun the dark forest depths; only on the +highest trees a few pigeons bathe in the sun, and as they fly heavily +over the wood, their call sounds, melancholy as a sad dream, from +afar. A lonely butterfly flutters among the trees, a delicate being, +unused to this dark world, seeking in vain for a ray of sun and a +breath of fresh air. Sometimes we hear the grunt of an invisible +pig, the breaking of branches and the rustling of leaves as it runs +away. Moisture and lowering gloom brood over the swampy earth; one +would not be surprised if suddenly the ground were to move and wriggle +like slimy snakes tightly knotted around each other. Thorns catch the +limbs, vines catch the feet, and the wanderer, stumbling along, almost +fancies he can hear the spiteful laughter of malicious demons. One +feels tired, worried, unsafe, as if in an enemy's country, helplessly +following the guide, who walks noiselessly on the soft ground. With +a branch he sweeps aside the innumerable spider-webs that droop +across the path, to keep them from hanging in our faces. Silently +the other men follow behind; once in a while a dry branch snaps or +a trunk creaks. + +In this dark monotony we go on for hours, without an outlook, and +seemingly without purpose or direction, on a hardly visible path, in +an endless wilderness. We pass thousands of trees, climb over hundreds +of fallen trunks and brush past millions of creepers. Sometimes we +enter a clearing, where a giant tree has fallen or a village used to +stand. Sometimes great coral rocks lie in the thicket; the pools at +their foot are a wallowing-place for pigs. + +It is a confusing walk; one feels quite dizzy with the constantly +passing stems and branches, and a white man would be lost in this +wilderness without the native, whose home it is. He sees everything, +every track of beast or bird, and finds signs on every tree and vine, +peculiarities of shape or grouping, which he recognizes with unerring +certainty. He describes the least suggestion of a trail, a footprint, +or a knife-cut, or a torn leaf. As the white man finds his way about +a city by means of street signs, so the savage reads his directions +in the forest from the trees and the ground. He knows every plant and +its uses, the best wood for fires; he knows when he may expect to find +water, and which liana makes the strongest rope. Yet even he seems +to feel something of the appalling loneliness of the primeval forest. + +Our path leads steeply up and down, over loose coral blocks, between +ferns and mosses; lianas serve as ropes to help us climb over coral +rocks, and with our knives we hew a passage through thorny creepers +and thick bush. The road runs in zigzags, sometimes turning back +to go round fallen trunks and swampy places, so that we really walk +three or four times the distance to Hog Harbour. Our guide uses his +bush-knife steadily and to good purpose: he sees where the creepers +interlace and which branch is the chief hindrance, and in a few deft +cuts the tangle falls. + +At last--it seems an eternity since we dived into the forest--we hear +from afar, through the green walls, a dull roaring, and as we go on, +we distinguish the thunder of the breakers like the beating of a great +pulse. Suddenly the thicket lightens, and we stand on the beach, +blinded by the splendour of light that pours on us, but breathing +freely in the fresh air that blows from the far horizon. We should like +to stretch out on the sand and enjoy the free space after the forest +gloom; but after a short rest we go on, for this is only half-way to +our destination, and we dive once more into the semi-darkness. + +Towards evening we reach the plantation of the Messrs. Th. They are +Australians of good family, and their place is splendidly kept. I +was struck by the cleanliness of the whole establishment, the good +quarters of the native labourers, the quiet way in which work was +done, the pleasant relations between masters and hands, and last, +but not least, the healthy and happy appearance of the latter. + +The brothers had just finished the construction of what was quite a +village, its white lime walls shining invitingly through the green +of the cocoa-nut palms. There was a large kitchen, a storehouse, a +tool-shed, a bakery, a dwelling-house and a light, open summer-house, +a delightful spot, where we dined in the cool sea-breeze and sipped +whisky in the moonlight, while the palm-leaves waved dreamily. Then +there was a large poultry yard, pigsty and paddocks, and along the +beach were the boat-houses, drying-sheds and storehouses, shaded by +old trees. The boys' quarters were roomy, eight sleeping together in +an airy hut, while the married couples had houses of their own. The +boys slept on high beds, each with his "bocase" underneath, to hold his +possessions, while all sorts of common property hung in the roof--nets, +fish-spears, bows, guns, etc. + +Such plantations, where the natives lack neither food nor good +treatment, can only have a favourable influence on the race, and it is +not quite clear why the Presbyterian missionaries do not like their +young men to go in for plantation work. Owing to the good treatment +of their hands the Messrs. Th. have always had enough labourers, and +have been able to develop their plantation wonderfully. It consists +almost exclusively of cocoa-nut palms, planted on ground wrested from +the forest in a hard fight. When I was there the trees were not yet in +full bearing, but the proprietors had every reason to expect a very +considerable income in a few years. The cultivation of the cocoa-nut +is extremely simple; the only hard work is the first clearing of the +ground, and keeping the young trees free from lianas. Once they are +grown up, they are able to keep down the bush themselves to a certain +extent, and then the work consists in picking up the ripe nuts from +the ground, husking and drying them. The net profit from one tree +is estimated at one shilling per annum. Besides the cultivation of +their plantation the Messrs. Th. plied a flourishing trade in coprah +and sandalwood all along the west coast of Santo, which they visited +frequently in their cutter. This same cutter was often a great help to +me, and, indeed, her owners always befriended me in the most generous +way, and many are the pleasant hours I spent in their company. + +After dinner that first day we went to the village where the +"sing-sing" was to take place. There was no moon, and the night was +pitch dark. The boys had made torches of palm-leaves, which they +kept burning by means of constant swinging. They flared up in dull, +red flames, lighting up the nearest surroundings, and we wound our +way upwards through the trunk vines and leaves that nearly shut in +the path. It seemed as if we were groping about without a direction, +as if looking for a match in a dark room. Soon, however, we heard +the dull sound of the drums, and the noise led us to the plateau, +till we could see the red glare of a fire and hear the rough voices +of men and the shrill singing of women. + +Unnoticed, we entered the dancing-ground. A number of men were standing +in a circle round a huge fire, their silhouettes cutting sharply into +the red glare. Out of a tangle of clubs, rifles, plumes, curly wigs, +round heads, bows and violently gesticulating arms, sounds an irregular +shrieking, yelling, whistling and howling, uniting occasionally to +a monotonous song. The men stamp the measure, some begin to whirl +about, others rush towards the fire; now and then a huge log breaks +in two and crowns the dark, excited crowd with a brilliant column of +circling sparks. Then everybody yells delightedly, and the shouting +and dancing sets in with renewed vigour. Everyone is hoarse, panting +and covered with perspiration, which paints light streaks on the +sooty faces and bodies. + +Noticing us, a man rushes playfully towards us, threateningly swinging +his club, his eyes and teeth shining in the darkness; then he returns +to the shouting, dancing mob around the fire. Half-grown boys sneak +through the crowd; they are the most excited of all, and stamp the +ground wildly with their disproportionately large feet, kicking and +shrieking in unpleasant ecstasy. All this goes on among the guests; +the hosts keep a little apart, near a scaffolding, on which yams are +attached. The men circle slowly round this altar, carrying decorated +bamboos, with which they mark the measure, stamping them on the ground +with a thud. They sing a monotonous tune, one man starting and the +others joining in; the dance consists of slow, springy jumps from +one foot to the other. + +On two sides of this dancing circle the women stand in line, painted +all over with soot. When the men's deep song is ended, they chant the +same melody with thin, shrill voices. Once in a while they join in +the dance, taking a turn with some one man, then disappearing; they +are all much excited; only a few old hags stand apart, who are past +worldly pleasures, and have known such feasts for many, many years. + +The whole thing looks grotesque and uncanny, yet the pleasure in mere +noise and dancing is childish and harmless. The picture is imposing and +beautiful in its simplicity, gruesome in its wildness and sensuality, +and splendid with the red lights which play on the shining, naked +bodies. In the blackness of the night nothing is visible but that +red-lit group of two or three hundred men, careless of to-morrow, +given up entirely to the pleasure of the moment. The spectacle lasts +all night, and the crowd becomes more and more wrought up, the leaps +of the dancers wilder, the singing louder. We stand aside, incapable +of feeling with these people or sharing their joy, realizing that +theirs is a perfectly strange atmosphere which will never be ours. + +Towards morning we left, none too early, for a tremendous shower came +down and kept on all next morning. I went up to the village again, to +find a most dismal and dejected crowd. Around the square, in the damp +forest, seedy natives stood and squatted in small groups, shivering +with cold and wet. Some tried to warm themselves around fires, but +with poor success. Bored and unhappy, they stared at us as we passed, +and did not move. Women and children had made umbrellas of large flat +leaves, which they carried on their heads; the soot which had formed +their festival dress was washed off by the rain. The square itself +was deserted, save for a pack of dogs and a few little boys, rolling +about in the mud puddles. Once in a while an old man would come out +of the gamal, yawn and disappear. In short, it was a lendemain de +fete of the worst kind. + +About once in a quarter of an hour a man would come to bring a tusked +pig to the chief, who danced a few times round the animal, stamped his +heel on the ground, uttered certain words, and retired with short, +stiff steps, shaking his head, into the gamal. The morning was over +by the time all the pigs were ready. I spent most of the time out of +doors, rather than in the gamal, for there many of the dancers of the +evening lay in all directions and in most uncomfortable positions, +beside and across each other, snoring, shivering or staring sulkily +into dark corners. I was offered a log to sit on, and it might have +been quite acceptable had not one old man, trembling with cold, +pressed closely against me to get warm, and then, half asleep, +attempted to lay his shaggy, oil-soaked head on my shoulder, while +legions of starved fleas attacked my limbs, forcing me to beat a +hasty though belated retreat. + +In the afternoon about sixty pigs were tied to poles in front of +the gamal, and the chief took an old gun-barrel and smashed their +heads. They represented a value of about six hundred pounds! Dogs +and men approached the quivering victims, the dogs to lick the blood +that ran out of their mouths, the men to carry the corpses away for +the feast. This was the prosaic end of the great "sing-sing." + +As it is not always easy to borrow the number of pigs necessary to rise +in caste, there are charms which are supposed to help in obtaining +them. Generally, these are curiously shaped stones, sometimes carved +in the shape of a pig, and are carried in the hand or in little baskets +in the belt. Such charms are, naturally, very valuable, and are handed +down for generations or bought for large sums. On this occasion the +"big fellow-master" had sacrificed enough to attain a very high caste +indeed, and had every reason to hold up his head with great pride. + +Formerly, these functions were generally graced with a special feature, +in the shape of the eating of a man. As far as is known, the last +cannibal meal took place in 1906; the circumstances were these: Some +young men were walking through the forest, carrying their Snider +rifles, loaded and cocked as usual, on their shoulders. Unluckily, +one of the rifles went off, and killed the man behind, the son of +an influential native. Everyone was aware that the death was purely +accidental, but the father demanded a considerable indemnity. The +"murderer," a poor and friendless youth, was unable to pay, and fled to +a neighbouring village. He was received kindly enough, but his hosts +sent secretly to the offended father to ask what they were to do with +him. "Kill him and eat him," was the reply. They therefore prepared a +great feast, in honour, as they said, of their beloved guest, and while +he was sitting cheerfully near the fire, in anticipation of the good +meal to come, they killed him from behind with an axe. The body was +roasted, and the people of his village were asked to the feast. One +man had received the forearm and hand, and while he was chewing the +muscles and pulling away at the inflectors of the fingers, the hand +closed and scratched his cheek,--"all same he alive,"--whereupon the +horrified guest threw his morsel away and fled into the forest. + +On my return to Port Olry I found that the Father had gone to visit +a colleague, as his duties did not take up much of his time. His +post at Port Olry was rather a forlorn hope, as the natives showed no +inclination to become converts, especially not in connection with the +poor Roman Catholic mission, which could not offer them any external +advantages, like the rich and powerful Presbyterian mission. All +the priests lived in the greatest poverty, in old houses, with very +few servants. The one here had, besides a teacher from Malekula, +an old native who had quarrelled with his chief and separated from +his clan. The good man was very anxious to marry, but no girl would +have him, as he had had two wives, and had, quite without malice, +strangled his second wife by way of curing her of an illness. I was +reminded of this little episode every time I looked at the man's long, +bony fingers. + +One day a native asked me for medicine for his brother. I tried to find +out the nature of the ailment, and decided to give him calomel, urging +his brother to take it to him at once. The man had eaten a quarter of +a pig all by himself, but, of course, it was said that he had been +poisoned. His brother, instead of hurrying home, had a little visit +with his friends at the coast, until it was dark and he was afraid to +go home through the bush alone; so he waited till next morning, when +it was too late. The man's death naturally made the murder theory +a certainty, so the body was not buried, but laid out in the hut, +with all sorts of finery. Around it, in spite of the fearful odour, +all the women sat for ten days, in a cloud of blow-flies. They burned +strong-scented herbs to kill the smell, and dug a little trench across +the floor, in order to keep the liquids from the decaying corpse from +running into the other half of the house. The nose and mouth of the +body were stopped up with clay and lime, probably to keep the soul +from getting out, and the body was surrounded by a little hut. In the +gamal close by sat all the men, sulky, revengeful, and planning war, +which, in fact, broke out within a few days after my departure. + +The Messrs. Th. had been kind enough to invite me to go on a recruiting +trip to Maevo, the most north-easterly island of the group. Here I +found a very scanty population, showing many traces of Polynesian +admixture in appearance and habits. The weather was nasty and our +luck at recruiting poor, so that after a fortnight we returned to +Hog Harbour. I went to Port Olry to my old priest's house, and a few +days later Mr. Th. came in his cutter to take me to Tassimaloun in +Big Bay; so I bade a hearty farewell to the good Father, whom I have +never had the pleasure of meeting again. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +SANTO + + +There are hardly any natives left in the south of the Bay of +St. Philip and St. James, generally called Big Bay. Only to the +north of Talamacco there are a few villages, in which the remnants +of a once numerous population, mostly converts of the Presbyterian +mission, have collected. It is a very mixed crowd, without other +organization than that which the mission has created, and that is +not much. There are a few chiefs, but they have even less authority +than elsewhere, and the feeling of solidarity is lacking entirely, +so that I have hardly ever found a colony where there was so much +intrigue, immorality and quarrelling. A few years ago the population +had been kept in order by a Presbyterian missionary of the stern and +cruel type; but he had been recalled, and his place was taken by a man +quite unable to cope with the lawlessness of the natives, so that every +vice developed freely, and murders were more frequent than in heathen +districts. Matters were not improved by the antagonism between the +Roman Catholic and Presbyterian missions and the traders; each worked +against the others, offering the natives the best of opportunities to +fish in troubled waters. The result of all this was a rapid decrease +of the population and frequent artificial sterility. The primitive +population has disappeared completely in some places, and is only to +be found in any numbers far inland among the western mountains. The +situation is a little better in the north, where we find a number of +flourishing villages along the coast around Cape Cumberland. + +The nearest village to Talamacco was Tapapa. Sanitary conditions +there were most disheartening, as at least half of the inhabitants +were leprous, and most of them suffered from tuberculosis or +elephantiasis. I saw hardly any children, so that the village will +shortly disappear, like so many others. + +Native customs along the coast are much the same as at Port Olry, but +less primitive, and the houses are better built. There is wood-carving, +or was. I found the doorposts of old gamals beautifully carved, and +plates prettily decorated; but these were all antiques, and nothing +of the kind is made at the present day. + +The race, however, is quite different from that around Port Olry. There +are two distinct types: one, Melanesian, dark, tall or short, thin, +curly-haired, with a broad nose and a brutal expression; and one +that shows distinct traces of Polynesian blood in its finer face, +a larger body, which is sometimes fat, light skin and frequently +straight hair. Just where this Polynesian element comes from it +is hard to say, but the islands in general are very favourable to +race-mixture along the coasts. As I said before, the Melanesian type +shows two distinct varieties, a tall dark one, and a short light +one. At first I did not realize the significance of the latter until +I became aware of the existence of a negroid element, of which I saw +clear traces. The two varieties, however, are much intermingled, and +the resulting blends have mixed with the Polynesian-Melanesian type, +so that the number of types is most confusing, and it will be hard +to determine the properties of the original one. + +Finding little of interest in the immediate surroundings of +Talamacco, I determined to make an excursion into the interior of the +island. Mr. F. put his foreman, or moli, at my disposal, and he engaged +my bearers, made himself useful during the trip in superintending +the boys, and proved valuable in every way, as he was never afraid, +and was known to nearly all the inland chiefs. + +After a rainy spell of six weeks we had a clear day at last; and +although the weather could not be taken into consideration when making +my plans, still, the bright sunshine created that happy and expectant +sensation which belongs to the beginning of a journey. The monthly +steamer had arrived the day before, had shipped a little coprah, and +brought some provisions for the trader and myself. I had completed +my preparations, engaged my boys and was ready to start. + +In the white glare of a damp morning we pulled from the western shore +of Big Bay to the mouth of the Jordan River. The boat was cramped +and overloaded, and we were all glad to jump ashore after a row of +several hours. The boys carried the luggage ashore and pulled the +boat up into the bush with much noise and laughter. Then we settled +down in the shade for our first meal, cooking being an occupation of +which the boys are surprisingly fond. Their rations are rice and tea, +with a tin of meat for every four. This discussed, we packed up, +and began our march inland. + +The road leads through a thin bush, over rough coral boulders and +gravel deposited by the river. We leave the Jordan to our right, +and march south-east. After about an hour we come to a swampy +plain, covered with tall reed-grass. Grassy plains are an unusual +sight in Santo; the wide expanse of yellowish green is surrounded +by dark walls of she-oak, in the branches of which hang thousands +of flying-foxes. At a dirty pond we fill our kettles with greenish +water, for our night camp will be on the mountain slope ahead of us, +far from any spring. Even the moli has to carry a load of water, as I +can hardly ask the boys to take any more. He feels rather humiliated, +as a moli usually carries nothing but a gun, but he is good enough to +see the necessity of the case, and condescends to carry a small kettle. + +Straight ahead are the high coral plateaux across which our road +lies. While we tackle the ascent, the sky has become overcast, the +gay aspect of the landscape has changed to sad loneliness and a heavy +shower soaks us to the skin. The walk through the jungle is trying, +and even the moli loses the way now and again. Towards nightfall +we enter a high forest with but little underbrush, and work our way +slowly up a steep and slippery slope to an overhanging coral rock, +where we decide to camp. We have lost our way, but as night is closing +in fast, we cannot venture any farther. + +The loads are thrown to the ground in disorder, and the boys drop +down comfortably; strong language on my part is needed before they +make up their minds to pile up the luggage, collect wood and begin +to cook. Meanwhile my own servant has prepared my bed and dried my +clothes. Soon it is quite dark, the boys gather round the fires, and do +not dare to go into the yawning darkness any more, for fear of ghosts. + +The rain has ceased, and the soft damp night air hangs in the +trees. The firelight is absorbed by the darkness, and only the nearest +surroundings shine in its red glare; the boys are stretched out in +queer attitudes round the fire on the hard rocks. Soon I turn out the +lamp and lie listening to the night, where vague life and movement +creeps through the trunks. Sometimes a breath of wind shivers through +the trees, shaking heavy drops from the leaves. A wild pig grunts, +moths and insects circle round the fires, and thousands of mosquitoes +hum about my net and sing me to sleep. Once in a while I am roused +by the breaking of a rotten tree, or a mournful cry from one of the +dreaming boys; or one of them wakes up, stirs the fire, turns over and +snores on. Long before daybreak a glorious concert of birds welcomes +the new day. Half asleep, I watch the light creep across the sky, +while the bush is still in utter darkness; suddenly, like a bugle-call, +the first sunbeams strike the trees and it is broad day. + +Chilly and stiff, the boys get up and crowd round the fires. As +we have no more water there is no tea, and breakfast is reduced to +dry biscuits. The moli has found the lost trail by this time, and we +continue the ascent. On the plateau we again strike nearly impenetrable +bush, and lose the trail again, so that after a few hours' hard work +with the knives we have to retrace our steps for quite a distance. It +is a monotonous climb, varied only by an occasional shot at a wild +pig and fair sport with pigeons. Happily for the thirsty boys, we +strike a group of bamboos, which yield plenty of water. All that +is needed is to cut the joint of the stems, and out of each section +flows a pint of clear water, which the boys collect by holding their +huge mouths under the opening. Their clothes are soaked, but their +thirst is satisfied and our kettles filled for the midday meal. + +Presently we pass a native "camp" under an overhanging rock: it +consists of a few parallel sticks, on which the native sleeps as well +as any European on a spring-mattress, and a hollow in the ground, +with a number of cooking-stones. + +After a stiff climb we stop for our meal, then follow a path +which gradually widens and improves, a sign that we are nearing a +village. Towards evening we come to some gardens, where the natives +plant their yam and taro. At the entrance of the village I make my +boys close up ranks; although the natives are not supposed to be +hostile, my people show signs of uneasiness, keeping close together +and carrying the few weapons we have very conspicuously. + +We cross the village square to the gamal, a simple place, as they +all are, with a door about a yard from the ground, in order to keep +out the pigs which roam all over the village. In line with the front +of the house is a row of tall bamboo posts, wound with vines; their +hollow interior is filled with yam and taro, the remains of a great +feast. The village seems quite deserted, and we peep cautiously +into the interior of the gamal, where, after a while, we discern a +man, lying on the damp and dirty ground, who stares at us in silent +fright. He gets up and comes slowly out, and we can see that he has +lost half of one foot from leprosy. From him the moli learns that +the two chiefs are away at a great "sing-sing," and the rest of the +men in the fields or in their wives' houses. There is nothing for us +to do but sit down and wait, and be sniffed at by pigs, barked at by +dogs and annoyed by fowls. The moli beats vigorously on one of the +wooden drums that lie in the mud in front of the house. He has his +own signal, which most of the natives know, so that all the country +round is soon informed of his arrival. + +One by one the men arrive, strolling towards the gamal as if +unconscious of our presence; some of them greet one or the other +of my boys whom they have met when visiting at the shore. Nearly +all of them are sick with leprosy or elephantiasis or tuberculosis, +and after the long rainy period they all have colds and coughs and +suffer from rheumatism; altogether they present a sad picture of +degeneration and misery, and there are few healthy men to be seen. + +My luggage is taken into the gamal, and I order the boys to buy and +prepare food, whereupon the natives hurry away and fetch a quantity of +supplies: pigs, fowls, yam, taro, of which I buy a large stock, paying +in matches and tobacco. There are also eggs, which, I am assured, +are delicious; but this is according to native taste, which likes eggs +best when half hatched. While the boys are cooking, I spend the time +in measuring the villagers. At first they are afraid of the shiny, +pointed instruments, but the tobacco they receive, after submitting +to the operation, dispels their fears. The crowd sits round us on the +ground, increasing the uneasiness of my victims by sarcastic remarks. + +Meanwhile, the women have arrived, and crouch in two groups at the +end of the square, which they are forbidden to enter. There are +about twenty of them, not many for nearly fifty men, but I see only +three or four babies, and many faded figures and old-looking girls +of coarse and virile shape, the consequence of premature abuse and +artificial sterility. But they chat away quite cheerfully, giggle, +wonder, clap their hands, and laugh, taking hold of each other, +and rocking to and fro. + +At last the two chiefs arrive, surprisingly tall and well-built men, +with long beards carefully groomed, and big mops of hair. Like all the +men, they are dressed in a piece of calico that hangs down in front, +and a branch of croton behind. They have big bracelets, and wear +the curved tusks of pigs on their wrists. There is just time before +nightfall to take their measures and photographs, then I retire into +the gamal for my supper, during which I am closely observed by the +entire male population. They make remarks about the spoons and the +Worcester sauce, and when I put sugar into my tea, they whisper to each +other, "Salt!" which idea is almost enough to spoil one's appetite, +only the delicious roast sucking-pig is too tempting. + +My toilet for the night is watched with the same attention; then, while +I am still reading on my bed, the men seek their couches in the long, +low house. They stir up all the fires, which smoke terribly, then they +lie down on their bamboo beds, my boys among them, and talk and talk +till they fall asleep,--a houseful of leprous and consumptive men, +who cough and groan all night. + +In front of me, near the entrance, is the chiefs place. He spends +a long time in preparing his kava, and drinks it noisily. Kava is a +root which is ground with a piece of sharp coral; the fibres are then +mixed with water, which is contained in a long bamboo, and mashed +to a soft pulp; the liquid is then squeezed out, strained through a +piece of cocoa-nut bark into a cocoa-nut bowl and drunk. The liquid +has a muddy, thick appearance, tastes like soapy water, stings like +peppermint and acts as a sleeping-draught. In Santo only chiefs are +allowed to drink kava. + +At first, innumerable dogs disturbed my sleep, and towards morning it +grew very cold. When I came out of the hut, the morning sun was just +getting the better of the mist, and spreading a cheery light over the +square, which had looked dismal enough under a grey, rainy sky. I made +all the women gather on the outskirts of the square to be measured +and photographed. They were very bashful, and I almost pitied them, +for the whole male population sat around making cruel remarks about +them; indeed, if it had not been for the chiefs explicit orders, they +would all have run away. They were not a very pleasant spectacle, on +the whole. I was struck by the tired, suffering expression of even the +young girls, a hopeless and uninterested look, in contradiction with +their lively behaviour when unobserved. For they are natural and happy +only when among themselves, and in the presence of the men they feel +that they are under the eye of their master, often a brutal master, +whose property they are. Probably they are hardly conscious of this, +and take their position and destiny as a matter of course; but they +are constrained in the presence of their owners, knowing that at any +moment they may be displeased or angry, for any reason or for none, +and may ill-treat or even kill them. Aside from these considerations +their frightened awkwardness was extremely funny, especially when +posing before the camera. Some could not stand straight, others +twisted their arms and legs into impossible positions. The idea of +a profile view seemed particularly strange to them, and they always +presented either their back or their front view. The poor things got +more and more nervous, the men roared, I was desperate,--altogether +it was rather unsatisfactory. + +I was in need of more bearers to carry the provisions I had bought, +and the chiefs were quite willing to supply them; but their orders +had absolutely no effect on the men, who were too lazy, and I should +have been in an awkward position had not one of the chiefs hit on +the expedient of employing his women. They obeyed without a moment's +hesitation; each took a heavy load of yam, all but the favourite wife, +the only pretty one of the number; her load was small, but she had +to clear the trail, walking at the head of the procession. + +The women led the way, chatting and giggling, patient and steady +as mules, and as sure-footed and supple. Nothing stops them; with a +heavy load on their heads they walk over fallen trunks, wade through +ditches, twist through vines, putting out a hand every now and then to +feel whether the bunch of leaves at their back is in place. They were +certainly no beauties, but there was a charm in their light, soft step, +in the swaying of their hips, in the dainty poise of their slim ankles +and feet, and the softness and harmony of all their movements. And +the light playing on their dark, velvety, shining bodies increased +this charm, until one almost forgot the many defects, the dirt, the +sores, the disease. This pleasant walk in the cool, dewy forest, +under the bright leaves, did not last long, and after two hours' +tramp we reached our destination. + +At the edge of the square the women sat down beside their loads, +and were soon joined by the women of the village. Our hostesses were +at once informed of every detail of our outfit, our food and our +doings, and several dozen pairs of big dark eyes followed our every +movement. The women were all quite sure that I was a great doctor and +magician, and altogether a dangerous man, and this belief was not at +all favourable to my purposes. + +We men soon withdrew to the gamal, where the men likewise had to be +informed of everything relating to our doings and character. The gamal +was low and dirty, and the state of health of the inhabitants still +worse than in the first village, but at least there were a few more +babies than elsewhere. The chief suffered from a horrible boil in +his loin, which he poulticed with chewed leaves, and the odour was +so unbearable that I had to leave the house and sit down outside, +where I was surrounded by many lepers, without toes or even feet, +a very dismal sight. + +I now paid my carriers the wages agreed upon, but they claimed that I +ought to pay the men extra, although their services had been included +in the price. I took this for one of the tricks by which the natives +try to get the better of a good-natured foreigner, and refused flatly, +whereupon the whole crowd sat down in front of the house and waited +in defiant silence. I left them there for half an hour, during which +they whispered and deliberated in rather an uncomfortable way. I +finally told them that I would not pay any more, and that they had +better go away at once. The interpreter said they were waiting for +the chiefs to get through with something they had to talk over, and +they stayed on a while longer. My refusal may have been a mistake, +and there may really have been a misunderstanding, at any rate, +I had to suffer for my unyielding way, inasmuch as the behaviour of +our hosts immediately changed from talkative hospitality and childish +curiosity to dull silence and suspicious reticence. The people sat +around us, sullen and silent, and would not help us in any way, +refused to bring firewood or show us the water-hole, and seemed most +anxious to get rid of us. Under these circumstances it was useless +to try to do any of my regular work, and I had to spend an idle +and unpleasant afternoon. At last I induced a young fellow to show +me the way to a high plateau near by, from which I had a beautiful +view across trees to the east coast of the island, with the sea in +a blue mist far away. As my guide, consumptive like all the others, +was quite out of breath with our short walk, I soon had to return, +and I paid him well. This immediately changed the attitude of all +the rest. Their sullenness disappeared, they came closer, began to +talk, and at last we spent the afternoon in comparative friendship, +and I could attend to my business. + +But the consequences of my short visit to the gamal became very +noticeable. In my hat I found a flourishing colony of horrid bug-like +insects; my pockets were alive, my camera was full of them, they +had crawled into my shoes, my books, my luggage, they were crawling, +flying, dancing everywhere. Perfectly disgusted, I threw off all my +clothes, and had my boys shake and clean out every piece. For a week +I had to have everything cleaned at least once a day, and even then I +found the loathsome creatures in every fold, under straps, in pouches. + +On that afternoon I had a great success as an artist. My drawings +of pigs, trees and men went the rounds and were quite immoderately +admired, and preserved as we would a sketch of Holbein's. These +drawings have to be done as simply as possible and fairly large, else +the natives do not understand them. They consider every line essential, +and do not understand shadows or any impressionistic treatment. We must +remember that in our civilized art we work with many symbols, some +of which have but a vague resemblance to the object they represent, +whose meaning we know, while the savage does not. This was the reason +why I had often no success at all with what I considered masterpieces, +while the natives went into raptures over drawings I thought utter +failures. At any rate, they made me quite a popular person. + +The sick chief complained to me that a late wife of his had been +poisoned, and as he took me for a great "witch-doctor," he asked me +to find out the murderer. To the native, sickness or death is not +natural, but always the consequence of witchcraft, either on the part +of enemies or spirits. The terribly high death-rate in the last years +makes it seem all the more probable that mysterious influences are +at work, and the native suspects enemies everywhere, whom he tries +to render harmless by killing them. This leads to endless murders +and vendettas, which decimate the population nearly as much as the +diseases do. The natives know probably something about poisons, +but they are always poisons that have to be mixed with food, and +this is not an easy thing to do, as every native prepares his food +himself. Most of the dreaded poisons are therefore simply charms, +stones or other objects, which would be quite harmless in themselves, +but become capable of killing by the mere terror they inspire in the +victim. If the belief in these charms could be destroyed, a great deal +of the so-called poisoning would cease, and it may be a good policy to +deny the existence of poison, even at the risk of letting a murderer +go unpunished. I therefore felt justified in playing a little comedy, +all the more, as I was sure that the woman had died of consumption, +and I promised the chief my assistance for the next morning. + +I had my bed made in the open air; even the boys would not enter the +dirty house any more, and we slept well under the open sky, in spite +of the pigs that grunted around us and the dew that fell like rain. + +Next day the chief called all the men together; he was convinced +that I could see through every one of them and tell who had done any +wrong. So he made them all sit round me, and I looked very solemnly at +each through the finder of my camera, the chief watching carefully to +see that I did not omit any one. The men felt uneasy, but did not quite +know what to make of the whole performance. I naturally could not find +anything wrong, and told the chief so, but he was not satisfied, and +shook his head doubtfully. Then I talked to him seriously and tried +to convince him that everyone had to die once, and that sickness was +something natural, especially considering the filth in which they +lived; but I do not think my speech made much impression. + +The men had now become very suspicious, the women were away, and I +had great trouble in finding bearers and guides to the next village. A +pleasant march brought us to this settlement, whose houses were close +together in a big clearing. We were received very coolly by the chief +and a few men. My bearers and guides would not be induced to accompany +us farther, so that I had to ask for boys here; but the chief said he +had not a single able-bodied man, which I felt to be mere excuse. I +also noticed that my own boys were very dissatisfied and sullen, +and that something was in the wind. In order to raise their spirits, +and not to leave our yam provisions behind, I had them cook the midday +meal, but the sullen, threatening atmosphere remained the same. When +it was time to continue our march, I heard them grumble and complain +about their loads, and it all looked like rising mutiny. I was ahead +with the chief, who had consented to show us the way, when the moli +came after me and informed me that the boys were unwilling to go on, +that they were afraid to go farther inland and were ready to throw +their loads away. Later on I learned that two of the boys had tried to +bribe some natives to show them the road back to the coast and leave +me alone with the moli. I assembled the boys and made them a speech, +saying that their loads were not too heavy nor the marches too long, +that they were all free to return home, but would have to take the +consequences, and that I and the moli would go on without them. If +they liked, I said, they could throw away their tinned meats, I did not +care, and the two bottles of grog were not meant for me, and we could +easily spare those. I grasped the bottles and offered to smash them, +but that was too much for the boys; half crying, they begged me not to +do that: the bottles were not too heavy, and they would gladly carry +them as far as I liked. Hesitatingly I allowed myself to be persuaded, +and kindly desisted from the work of destruction. I had won, but I had +lost confidence in my boys, and was careful not to put their patience +and fidelity to any more tests, conscious as I was of how much depended +on their goodwill. After this episode they accomplished a long and +tiresome march, up and down through thick bush on slippery clay, +quite willingly. In the evening we reached a few huts in a clearing +at a height of about 1200 feet, and went into camp for the night. + +While cooking, we heard dismal howling and weeping from a neighbouring +hut; it was a woman mourning her husband, who had been dead ninety-nine +days. To-morrow, on the hundredth day, there was to be a death-feast, +to which all the neighbours were invited. Of course, this man, too, +had been poisoned. + +The fire of revolt was smouldering in my boys. They sat round +the camp-fire in groups, whispering and plotting, grumbling and +undecided; but I felt safe enough, as they were evidently divided +into two parties, one faithful and the other mutinous, and the former +seemed rather more influential. They proved their goodwill to me by +delightful servility, and took excellent care of me. + +Next morning we were wakened by the howls of the unhappy widow, +and soon the guests appeared, some from far off, and all bringing +contributions to the feast. They killed several pigs, and while +the men cut them up in a manner rather more clever than appetizing, +the women prepared the fires by lighting large quantities of wood +to heat the cooking-stones. This lasted several hours. Meanwhile, +every person present received his share of a half-rotten smoked pig, +of the freshly killed pigs, yam, taro and sweet potatoes. The women +took the entrails of the pigs, squeezed them out, rolled them up in +banana leaves, and made them ready for cooking. When the fire was +burnt down they took out half of the stones with forks of split +bamboo, and then piled up the food in the hole, first the fruit, +then the meat, so that the grease should run over the fruit; then the +hole was covered with banana leaves, the hot stones piled on top and +covered with more leaves. Food cooked in this way is done in three or +four hours, so that the "stoves" are usually opened in the afternoon, +and enormous quantities eaten on the spot, while the rest is put in +baskets to take home. The amount a native can eat at one sitting +is tremendous, and one can actually watch their stomachs swell as +the meal proceeds. Violent indigestion is generally the consequence +of such a feast. On the whole, no one seemed to be thinking much of +the dead man in whose honour it was given,--such things are said to +happen in civilized countries as well. + +I stayed in this village for another day, and many chiefs from the +neighbourhood came to consult me, always complaining of the one +thing--poison. Each secretly accused the others, each wanted me to +try my glass on all the others. I did not like my reputation of being +a magician at all, as it made the people still more suspicious of me +and more afraid of my instruments and my camera. + +These so-called chiefs were rather more intelligent than the +average. Most of them had worked for whites at one time, and learned to +speak pidgin-English; but they were as superstitious as anyone else, +and certainly greater rogues. They were naked and dirty, but some had +retained some traces of civilization, one, for instance, always took +off his old felt hat very politely, and made quite a civilized bow; +he must have been in Noumea in former days. + +There was no leprosy or elephantiasis here, but a great deal of +tuberculosis, and very few children, and nearly all the men complained +that their women were unwilling to have any more children. + +From the next village I had a glimpse of the wild mountains of western +Santo. I decided to spend the night here, left the boys behind, and +went southward with the moli and a few natives. This was evidently +the region where the volcanic and coral formations meet, for the +character of the landscape suddenly changed, and instead of flat +plateaux we found a wild, irregular country, with lofty hills and +deep, narrow gullies. Walking became dangerous, though the path was +fair. On top of a hill I found an apparently abandoned village, from +which I could overlook all central Santo. To the west were the rugged, +dark-looking mountains round Santo Peak, with white clouds floating +on the summit, and a confusion of deep blue valleys and steep peaks; +northward lay the wild Jordan valley, and far away I could distinguish +the silver mirror of Big Bay. All around us rose the silent, stern, +lonely forest--imposing, unapproachable. + +On our way back to camp we rested beside a fresh creek which gaily +squeezed its way through rocks and rich vegetation. A little tea +and a tin of sardines were all the menu, but we enjoyed a delightful +bath in the cool water, and had as good a wash as we could without +soap. It was a great luxury after the hot days in the coral country +without any water. While our things were drying in the bright sun, +we lay in the moss near the rushing stream, and it was like a summer +day at home in the mountains. The water sounded familiar, the soft, +cool breeze was the same, and while I lay watching the white clouds +through the bright foliage I dreamt of home. At home I had dreamt of +travel, and thus one wish follows the other and the soul is preserved +from lazy content. I almost fancied I heard the sound of bells and the +far-away lowing of cattle. And again the reality seemed like a dream +when I roused myself and saw the dark figures crouching on the rocks, +with their frizzy mops of hair and their Sniders on their knees. + +The village turned out to be too dirty to spend the night in, and I +decided to go to one which seemed quite near, just across a gully. Had +I known what an undertaking it would be, I would not have started, +for the ravine was very deep and the sides unpleasantly steep; +but my boys managed the descent, over rocks and fallen trees, with +their usual cleverness. At the bottom we were rewarded by a beautiful +sight. Beneath us, in a narrow cut it had eaten through the rock, +roared a river, foaming out of the depths of the dark wilderness. It +was like one of the celebrated gorges in the Alps, only the tropical +vegetation which hung in marvellous richness and variety over the +abyss gave a fairy-like aspect to the scene. The boys did not seem +to appreciate it in the least, and prepared, sighing, for the steep +ascent. A simple bridge led across the gully; it was made of a few +trees, and even provided with a railing in the shape of a vine. The +existence of this bridge surprised me very much; for, considering +the thoughtless egotism with which the natives pass through life, I +had thought them incapable of any work of public utility. They rarely +think of repairing a road or cutting a vine, nor do they remove trees +that may have fallen across the path, but always rely on others to +see to it. + +The second village was not much cleaner than the first, but we camped +there, and the next day I went with the moli and a few of my boys to +the western mountains. The natives warned us, saying that the people +were "no good" and would kill us. But, for one thing, I could not +see that they themselves were particularly "good," and, for another, +I knew that all natives consider other tribes especially dangerous; +so I stuck to my intention, only we hung all our available weapons +about us, leaving the rest of the boys defenceless. + +This turned out one of the most strenuous days I ever had in the +islands, as the road--and what a road!--constantly led up and down +the steepest slopes. It seemed to me we were climbing perpendicular +mountains all day long, and I had many an opportunity of admiring the +agility of my companions. I am a fair walker myself, but I had to crawl +on my hands and knees in many spots where they jumped from a stone to +a root, taking firm hold with their toes, never using their hands, +never slipping, and always with a loaded and cocked rifle on their +shoulders. My boys from the coast, good pedestrians though they were, +always remained far behind. + +First we reached well-tended taro fields, then a few scattered +huts. The natives received us very kindly, and more men kept joining +us, till we formed a big, jolly crowd. The population here seemed very +primitive, and evidently had but little contact with the shore, but +they were clean and comparatively healthy and flourishing, and I found +them rather more frank, childlike and confiding than others I had seen. + +We roasted our yam, and while we were enjoying our frugal but +delicious meal, I witnessed rather an amusing episode. A bushman, +painted black for mourning, suddenly called to one of my boys, and +wanted to shake hands with him. My boy, a respectable "schoolboy," +was visibly annoyed by the idea of having anything to do with a naked +"man-bush," and behaved with icy reserve; but he could not long resist +the rural cordiality of the other, and presently resigned himself to +his fate, and made friends. It turned out that they had once worked +together in Vila, and one had become an elegant young swell, while +the other returned to simple country life. + +On the way back we rested by the river-bank, amusing ourselves by +shooting pigeons with pistols and guns, feeling quite peaceful and +happy. But the sound of our shots had an unexpected effect in the +village where I had left the rest of my boys. All the natives jumped +to their feet, shouting, "Did we not tell you that they would kill +your master? Now you have heard them; he is dead, and now we will +see what you have in your boxes and divide it among ourselves." + +They approached my boys threateningly, whereupon they all ran away, +with the exception of the ringleader of the mutineers of the last +few days, who sat down on the box containing the trading-stock and +said they had better go and see whether I was really dead before +plundering my luggage. The situation must have grown rather strained, +until some one had the good sense to go and look out for us, whereupon +he saw us sitting peacefully near the river below. This calmed the +natives, they withdrew, much disappointed, and my boys returned and +prepared everything for my arrival with remarkable zeal. I found +dry clothes ready, and tea boiling, and was quite touched by so much +thoughtfulness. I was not told of the day's occurrence till after my +return to the coast, and perhaps it was just as well. + +By this time I had seen a good part of south-east Santo, and I was +eager to visit the south-west, with Santo Peak. But without guides +and with marked symptoms of home-sickness on the part of my boys, +I decided it would not be wise to attempt it. The news that we were +going to start for home revived the boys at once. With enormous +alacrity they packed up next day and raced homeward with astonishing +speed and endurance; I had had to drag them along before, now I could +hardly keep up with them. In two days we had reached the plain of +the Jordan, had a delightful swim and a jolly last night in camp, +free from pigs, dogs, fowls, fleas and bugs,--but not from mosquitoes! + +The last day we strolled in and along the river, through the +forest swarming with wild pigs and pigeons, while a huge colony of +flying-foxes circled in the air, forming an actual cloud, and then +we came to the shore, with the wide expanse of Big Bay peaceful in +the evening sun. A painful walk on the sharp pebbles of the beach +brought us home towards nightfall. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +SANTO (continued)--PYGMIES + + +The term of service of my boys had now expired, and I had to look +about for others. Happily, now that I was known in the region, I had +less trouble, especially as I held out the prospect of a visit to +Noumea. With six boys of my own and a few other men, I started on +another journey. + +I had always suspected the existence of a race of pygmies in the +islands, and had often asked the natives if they had ever seen +"small fellow men." Generally they stared at me without a sign of +intelligence, or else began to tell fairy-tales of dwarfs they had +seen in the bush, of little men with tails and goat's feet (probably +derived from what they had heard of the devil from missionaries), +all beings of whose existence they were perfectly convinced, whom +they often see in the daytime and feel at night, so that it is very +hard to separate truth from imagination. + +I had heard stories of a colony of tailed men near Mele, and that, near +Wora, north of Talamacco, tailed men lived in trees; that they were +very shy and had long, straight hair. The natives pretended they had +nearly caught one once. All this sounded interesting and improbable, +and I was not anxious to start on a mere wild-goose chase. More exact +information, however, was forthcoming. One of my servants told me that +near a waterfall I could see shining out of a deep ravine far inland, +there lived "small fellow men." + +It was an exceptionally stormy morning when we started, so that +Mr. F. advised me to postpone my departure; but in the New Hebrides it +is no use to take notice of the weather, and that day it was so bad +that it could not get any worse, which was some consolation. Soon we +were completely soaked, but we kept on along the coast to some huts, +where we were to meet our guide. Presently he arrived, followed by a +crowd of children, as they seemed to me, who joined our party. While +climbing inland toward the high mountains, I asked the guide if he +knew anything about the little people; he told me that one of them +was walking behind me. I looked more closely at the man in question, +and saw that whereas I had taken him for a half-grown youth, he was +really a man of about forty, and all the others who had come with him +turned out to be full-grown but small individuals. Of course I was +delighted with this discovery, and should have liked to begin measuring +and photographing at once, had not the torrents of rain prevented. + +I may mention here that I found traces later on of this diminutive race +in some other islands, but rarely in such purity as here. Everywhere +else they had mingled with the taller population, while here they +had kept somewhat apart, and represented an element by themselves, +so that I was fortunate in having my attention drawn to them here, +as elsewhere I might easily have overlooked them. + +The trail by which we were travelling was one of the worst I ever +saw in the islands, and the weather did not improve. The higher +up we went, the thicker was the fog; we seemed to be moving in a +slimy mass, breathing the air from a boiler. At noon we reached +the lonely hut, where a dozen men and women squatted, shivering +with cold and wet, crowded together under wretched palm-leaf mats, +near a smouldering fire. There were some children wedged into the +gaps between the grown-ups. Our arrival seemed to rouse these poor +people from their misery a little; one man after the other got up, +yawning and chattering, the women remained sitting near the fire. We +made them some hot tea, and then I began to measure and take pictures, +to which they submitted quite good-humouredly. + +I was much struck by the fact of these men and women living together, +a most unusual thing in a Melanesian district, where the separation +of the sexes and the "Suque" rules are so rigorously observed. + +We started off once more in the icy rain, keeping along the crest +of the hill, which was just wide enough for the path. The mountain +sloped steeply down on either side, the thick mist made an early +twilight, we could only see the spot where we set our feet, while +all the surroundings were lost in grey fog, so that we felt as though +we were walking in a void, far above all the world. At nightfall we +arrived at a solitary hut--the home of our companions. After having +repaired the broken roof, my boys succeeded in lighting a fire, +though how they did it is a mystery, as matches and everything else +were soaked. Soon tea and rice were boiling, while I tried to dry +my instruments, especially my camera, whose watertight case had not +been able to resist the rain. Then I wrapped myself up in my blanket, +sipped my tea and ate my rice, and smoked a few pipes. It certainly +is a reward for the day's work, that evening hour, lying satisfied, +tired and dreamy, under the low roof of the hut, while outside the +wind roars through the valley and the rain rattles on the roof, and a +far-off river rushes down a gorge. The red fire paints the beams above +me in warm colours, and in the dark corners the smoke curls in blue +clouds. Around a second fire the natives lie in ecstatic laziness, +smoking and talking softly, pigs grunt and dogs scratch busily about. + +In the morning the storm had passed, and I could see that the house +was set on the slope of a high mountain, much as a chalet is, and +that we were at the end of a wild ravine, from every side of which +fresh rivulets and cascades came pouring. Owing to the mountainous +character of the country there are no villages here, but numerous huts +scattered all along the mountains, two or three families at the utmost +living together. The structure of the houses, too, was different from +those on the coast; they had side walls and a basement of boulders, +sometimes quite carefully built. Here men and women live together, +and a separation of the fires does not seem to exist, nor does the +"Suque" seem to have penetrated to this district. + +We passed several hamlets where the mode of life was the same as in +this one. The dress of the men is the same as at the coast, except +that they wind strings of shell-money about their waists in manifold +rows. The women wear a bunch of leaves in front and behind. The weapons +are the same as elsewhere, except that here we find the feathered +arrows which are such a rarity in the Pacific. It is surprising to +find these here, in these secluded valleys among the pygmy race, +and only here, near Talamacco, nowhere else where the same race is +found. It is an open question whether these feathered arrows are an +original invention in these valleys, an importation or a remnant of +an earlier culture. + +The population lives on the produce of the fields, mostly taro, +which is grown in irrigated lands in the river bottoms. + +In appearance these people do not differ much from those of central +Santo, who are by no means of a uniform type. The most important +feature is their size, that of the men amounting to 152 cm., that +of the women to 144 cm. The smallest man I measured was 138.0 cm., +others measured 146.0, 149.2, 144.2, 146.6, 140.6, 149.0, 139.6, 138.4 +cm. The maximum size is hard to state, as even here the small variety +has mixed with taller tribes, so that we find all the intermediate +sizes, from the pygmy 139.6 cm. high, to the tall Melanesian of 178.0 +cm. My object, therefore, was to find a colony of pure pygmies, and +I pursued it in many subsequent wanderings, but without success. The +following description is based on the type as I constructed it in +the course of my travels and observations. + +The hair is very curly, and seems black, but is in reality a +dark, yellowish brown. Fil-fil is less frequent than among the +tall variety. The forehead is straight, very slightly retreating, +vaulted and rather narrow, the eyes are close together, straight, +medium-sized and dark brown. The superciliar ridges are but slightly +developed. The jaw-bones are large, but do not protrude, whereas the +chewing muscles are well developed, which gives the face breadth, makes +the chin-line round and the chin itself small and pointed. The mouth +is not very large, with moderately thick lips, the nose is straight, +hardly open toward the front, the nostrils not thick. As a rule, the +growth of beard is not heavy, unlike that of the tall Melanesians; +there is only a light moustache, a few tufts at the chin and near +the jaw. Up to the age of forty this is all; in later years a heavier +beard develops, but the face and the front of the chin remain free. + +Thus it will be seen that these people are not at all repulsive, as +all the ridges of bone and the heavy muscle attachments which make the +face of ordinary Melanesians so brutal are lacking. On the contrary, +they look quite agreeable and childlike. Their bodies are vigorous, +but lightly built: the chest broad and deep, the arms and legs fine, +with beautiful delicate joints, the legs well proportioned, with +handsome calves. Their feet are short and broad, especially in front, +but the great toe does not stand off from the others noticeably. Thus +the pygmy has none of the proportions of a child, and shows no signs +of degeneration, but is of harmonious build, only smaller than other +Melanesians. + +The shade of the skin varies a good deal from a dull purple, +brownish-black, to coffee colour; but the majority of individuals +are light, and the dark ones probably inherited their shade from the +tall race. + +Deformations of the body are not practised, save for an occasional +perforation of the lobes of the ear. I never saw a perforation of +the septum, nor women with incisors extracted. + +It seems as if the small race were better preserved here in Santo +than the tall one. The diseases which destroy the other tribes are +less frequent here, there are more children and a good number of +women. All this may be due to a great extent to their living inland +and not coming into touch with the unfavourable sides of civilization +as the coast tribes do, but even more to the hardy outdoor life in the +mountains. In their country one cannot walk three steps on a level, +and the whole population is expert in climbing, very sure-footed, +thinking nothing of jumping with a heavy load from one rock to another, +or racing at full speed down the steep and uneven slopes. + +In character, too, they differ from the tribes near the water. They +seem less malicious and more confiding, and show less of the distrust +and shy reserve of the average Melanesian. They will laugh and chat +in the presence of strangers, and are very hospitable. I do not know +if these are accidental impressions, but I can only say that I always +felt safer and more comfortable in a village where the majority of +the inhabitants belonged to the small race. + +With all this the pygmies are by no means helpless or even inferior, +compared to their tall neighbours. Possibly, in former days, they +may have been driven from their homes in the plains back into the +mountains, but at present they are quite equal to the tall race, +and the "salt-water men" are even a little afraid of their small +neighbours inland. What they lack in size and strength they make +up in speed and suppleness and temperament. The barrier between the +races has disappeared, and the mixing process is hastened by the fact +that the small race frequently sells its women to the tall one. It is +rare for a woman from the coast to settle in the mountains, still, it +occurs frequently enough to alloy the purity of the pygmy race, and in +no village have I found more than about 70 per cent. of real pygmies. + +In the afternoon we came to the chief's dwelling. The old man lived +there alone with his wife, quietly and happily, venerated by all the +other people. It was touching to see the little couple, delicate as +two dolls, who seemed to love each other sincerely, a most uncommon +occurrence in Melanesia. I really had too much respect for the old +people to trouble them with my measuring instruments, but I could +not resist taking their pictures. After consulting her husband with +a look of the greatest confidence, the old lady consented shyly, +while he stood beside her as if it was an everyday event to him, +and a sort of tribute I was paying to his age and position and the +beauty of his wife. + +From this point I had a fine view of the cascade that fell down in a +wide silver ribbon through the forest. Some months later all that wild +scenery was destroyed by an earthquake, which caused many land-slides +and spoilt the cascade. Following the roaring river, jumping from one +block of stone to another, we soon reached our camp, a large gamal. As +we were nearing the coast its arrangements were adapted to the customs +of the tall Melanesians. There were a few small individuals, but the +tall race was predominant. The reign of the "Suque" was evident by the +floor of the gamal being divided by parallel sticks into compartments +corresponding to the number of fires and castes, and each man sat +down in his division and cooked his own food. + +Next day, after having waded through the cold water of the river, we +arrived at the coast. From the last hills I sent a farewell look into +the wild green tangle of forest, rocks, ravines, cascades and valleys, +over which heavy rain-clouds were gathering. Before me the greyish-blue +mirror of Big Bay lay in the mist, and in the Jordan valley the rain +fell heavily. The high reed-grass all around us rustled dismally, +and the damp cold was depressing. I hurried home and arrived there +in the night, wet as when I had started on my expedition. + +With regard to the pygmies I must not omit to mention the following +experience. The fact that among them husband and wife live together, +and that I had nowhere seen a man with two wives, made me suspect +that this race was monogamous, as other pygmy races are. I made +frequent inquiries, and was assured that each man was allowed but one +wife. Still, I was not quite convinced, for it seemed strange to find +a monogamous population in the midst of polygamous tribes. Others +having given me similar information, I began to accept this theory +as a fact. At last, however, I found I had been deceived, as all the +people had taken me for a missionary, and had fancied I was asking +them questions in order to interfere with their matrimonial customs +by sending them a teacher or a "mission-police-man." My error was +cleared up, thanks to the investigations of a trader, for which I am +much indebted to him. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SANTO (continued)--PIGS + + +The sun had hardly risen, yet the air hung heavy in the shrubs +surrounding my sleeping-hut. Damp heat and light poured into the +shed-like room, where hundreds of flies and as many mosquitoes +sought an entrance into my mosquito-net. It was an atmosphere to sap +one's energy; not even the sunshine, so rare in these parts, had any +attraction for me, and only the long-drawn "Sail ho!" of the natives, +announcing the arrival of the steamer, had power to drive me out +of bed. + +She soon came to anchor and sent a boat ashore, and when I entered +my host's house, I found some of the ship's officers there, ready for +business and breakfast. Probably to drown the touch of home-sickness +that the arrival of a steamer brings to those who are tied to the +islands, our host set about emptying his cellar with enthusiasm and +perseverance, while the visitors would have been satisfied with much +smaller libations, as they had many more stations to visit that day. + +While the crew was loading the coprah and landing a quantity of goods, +the host started his beloved gramophone for the general benefit, and a +fearful hash of music drifted out into the waving palms. Presently some +one announces that the cargo is all aboard, whereupon the supercargo +puts down his paper and remarks that they are in a hurry. A famous +soprano's wonderful high C is ruthlessly broken off short, and we +all run to the beach and jump on the backs of boys, who carry us +dry-shod to the boat. We are rowed to the steamer, and presently +descend to the storeroom, which smells of calico, soap, tobacco and +cheese. Anything may be bought here, from a collar-button to a tin +of meat, from perfumery to a shirt, anything,--and sometimes even +the very thing one wants. We provide for the necessities of life for +the next month or two, hand over our mail and end our visit with a +drink. Then the whistle blows, we scramble into the boat, and while +my host waves his hat frantically and shouts "good-bye," the steamer +gradually disappears from sight. My friend has "a bad headache" from +all the excitement of the morning. I guide him carefully between the +cases and barrels the steamer has brought, and deposit him in his bunk; +then I retire to my own quarters to devour my mail. + + + +Some days after this we went to see a "sing-sing" up north. We rowed +along the shore, and as my host was contributing a pig, we had the +animal with us. With legs and snout tightly tied, the poor beast lay +sadly in the bottom of the boat, occasionally trying to snap the feet +of the rowers. The sea and the wind were perfect, and we made good +speed; in the evening we camped on the beach. The next day was just +as fine; my host continued the journey by boat, while I preferred to +walk the short distance that remained, accompanied by the pig, whose +health did not seem equal to another sea-voyage in the blazing sun. It +was touching to see the tenderness with which the natives treated the +victim-elect, giving it the best of titbits, and urging it with the +gentlest of words to start on the walk. It was quite a valuable animal, +with good-sized tusks. After some hesitation the pig suddenly rushed +off, Sam, his keeper, behind. First it raced through the thicket, +which I did not like, so I proposed to Sam to pull the rope on the +energetic animal's leg; but Sam would not damp its splendid enthusiasm +for fear it might balk afterwards. Sam managed, however, to direct +it back into the path, but we had a most exhausting and exciting, +if interesting, walk, for the pig was constantly rushing, sniffing, +grunting and digging on all sides, so that Sam was entirely occupied +with his charge, and it was quite impossible to converse. At last +we proudly entered the village, and the beast was tied in the shade; +we separated, not to meet again till the hour of sacrifice. + +I was then introduced to the host, a small but venerable old man, +who received me with dignified cordiality. We could not talk together, +but many ingratiating smiles assured each of the other's sympathy. The +village seemed extremely pleasant to me, which may have been due to +the bright sun and the cool breeze. The square was situated on the +beach, which sloped steeply to the sea. Along the ridge were planted +brightly-coloured trees, and between their trunks we could see the +ocean, heavenly blue. On the other side were the large, well-kept +gamals, and crowds of people in festival attire; many had come from +a distance, as the feast was to be a big one, with plenty to eat +for everybody. + +Palo, the host, was very busy looking after his guests and giving each +his share of good things. He was a most good-natured, courteous old +gentleman, although his costume consisted of nothing but a few bunches +of ferns. The number of guests increased steadily; besides the real +heathen in unadorned beauty, there were half-civilized Christians, +ugly in ill-fitting European clothes, of which they were visibly vain, +although they made blots on the beautiful picture of native life. All +around the square grunted the tusked pigs. + +At noon four men gave the signal for the beginning of the festivities +by beating two big drums, which called the guests to dinner. Palo +had sent us a fowl cooked native fashion between hot stones, and, +like everything cooked in this way, it tasted very delicious. Shortly +afterwards the real ceremonies began, with the killing of about two +hundred young female pigs which had been kept in readiness in little +bamboo sheds. + +Accompanied by the drums, Palo led all the high-castes in dancing +steps out of the gamal and round the square. After a few turns the +chiefs drew up in line in front of him, and he mounted a stone table, +while everyone else kept on dancing. His favourite wife was next +to the table, also dancing. Palo was entirely covered with ferns, +which were stuck in his hair, his bracelets and his belt. He still +looked quite venerable, but with a suggestion of a faun, a Bacchus or +a Neptune. It was a warm day, and the dancing made everybody perspire +more than freely. + +Now one of the other men took hold of a little pig by the hind-legs and +threw it in a lofty curve to one of the dancing chiefs, who caught the +little animal, half stunned by the fall, and, still dancing, carried +it to Palo, who killed it by three blows on the head, whereupon it +was laid at his feet. This went on for a long time. It was a cruel +sight. Squealing and shrieking, the poor animals flew through the +air, fell heavily on the hard earth, and lay stunned or tried to +crawl away with broken backs or legs. Some were unhurt, and ran off, +but a bloodthirsty crowd was after them with clubs and axes, and soon +brought them back. Still, one man thought this troublesome, and broke +the hind-legs of each pig before throwing it to the chief, so that +it might not escape. It was horrible to see and hear the bones break, +but the lust for blood was upon the crowd, and on all sides there were +passionate eyes, distorted faces and wild yells. Happily the work was +soon done, and in front of Palo lay a heap of half-dead, quivering +animals. He and his wife now turned their backs to the assembly, while +a few high-castes counted the corpses. For each ten one lobe was torn +off a sicca-leaf, then the missing lobes were counted, and after a +puzzling calculation, the result was announced. Palo turned round +and descended from his pedestal with much dignity, though panting +from his exertions, and looking so hot that I feared an apoplexy +for the old man. I did not know how tough such an old heathen is, +nor that his efforts were by no means at an end. Noblesse oblige and +such high caste as Palo's is not attained without trouble. + +As female pigs may not be eaten, those just killed were thrown into +the sea by the women; meanwhile, the chiefs blew a loud blast on the +shell-bugles, to announce to all concerned that Palo's first duty was +accomplished. The deep yet piercing tones must have sounded far into +the narrow valleys round. + +Then poles were driven into the ground, to which the tusked pigs were +tied. Some were enormous beasts, and grunted savagely when anyone +came near them. I saw my companion of the morning lying cheerfully +grunting in the shade of a tree. Now came a peculiar ceremony, in +which all who had contributed pigs were supposed to take part. To my +disappointment, Mr. F. refused to join in. Palo took up his position +on the stone table, armed with a club. Out of a primitive door, +hastily improvised out of a few palm-leaves, the chiefs came dancing +in single file, swinging some weapon, a spear or a club. Palo jumped +down, danced towards them, chased each chief and finally drove them, +still dancing, back through the door. This evidently symbolized some +fight in which Palo was the victor. After having done this about +twenty times, Palo had to lead all the chiefs in a long dance across +the square, passing in high jumps between the pigs. After this he +needed a rest, and no wonder. Then the pigs were sacrificed with +mysterious ceremonies, the meaning of which has probably never been +penetrated. The end of it all was that Palo broke the pigs' heads +with a special club, and when night fell, twenty-six "tuskers" lay +agonizing on the ground. Later they were hung on trees, to be eaten +next day, and then everybody retired to the huts to eat and rest. + +Some hours later great fires were kindled at both ends of the square, +and women with torches stood all around. The high-castes opened the +ball, but there was not much enthusiasm, and only a few youngsters +hopped about impatiently, until their spirits infected some older +people, and the crowd increased, so that at last everybody was raving +in a mad dance. The performance is monotonous: some men with pan-pipes +bend down with their heads touching, and blow with all their might, +always the same note, marking time with their feet. Suddenly one gives +a jump, others follow, and then the whole crowd moves a number of +times up and down the square, until the musicians are out of breath, +when they come to a standstill. The excitement goes on until the sun +rises. The women, as a rule, keep outside the square, but they dance +too, and keep it up all night; now and then a couple disappears into +the darkness. + +Next morning Palo, who had hardly closed his eyes all night, was very +busy again, giving each guest his due share of the feast. The large +pigs were dressed, cut up and cooked. This work lasted all day, but +everybody enjoyed it. The dexterity and cleanliness with which the +carcases are divided is astonishing, and is quite a contrast to the +crude way in which native meals are usually dressed and devoured. We +whites received a large and very fat slice as a present, which we +preferred to pass on, unnoticed, to our boys. Fat is considered the +best part of the pig. + +The lower jaws of the tuskers were cut out separately and handed over +to Palo, to be cleaned and hung up in his gamal in the shape of a +chandelier, as tokens of his rank. + +Palo is a weather-maker. When we prepared to go home, he promised to +smooth the sea, which was running too high for comfort, and to prevent +a head-wind. We were duly grateful, and, indeed, all his promises were +fulfilled: we had a perfectly smooth sea, and such a dead calm that +between the blue sky and the white sea we nearly fainted, and had to +row wearily along instead of sailing. Just as we were leaving, Palo +came to the bank, making signs for us to come back, a pretty custom, +although it is not always meant sincerely. + +Late at night we arrived at home once more. + + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CLIMBING SANTO PEAK + + +Some days later I left Talamacco for Wora, near Cape Cumberland, +a small station of Mr. D.'s, Mr. F.'s neighbour. What struck me most +there were the wide taro fields, artificially irrigated. The system +of irrigation must date from some earlier time, for it is difficult to +believe that the population of the present day, devoid as they are of +enterprise, should have laid it out, although they are glad enough to +use it. The method employed is this: Across one of the many streams +a dam of great boulders is laid, so that about the same amount of +water is constantly kept running into a channel. These channels are +often very long, they skirt steep slopes and are generally cut into +the earth, sometimes into the rock; sometimes a little aqueduct is +built of planks, mud and earth, supported by bamboo and other poles +that stand in the valley. In the fields the channel usually divides +into several streams, and runs through all the flat beds, laid out in +steps, in which the taro has only to be lightly stuck to bring forth +fruit in about ten months. Taro only grows in very swampy ground, +some varieties only under water, so that it cannot be grown in the +coral region, where there is plenty of rain, but no running water. In +these districts yam is the principal food, while we find taro in the +mountains of primary rock. Both are similar in taste to the potato. + + + +My next journey led me across the peninsula to the west coast of +Santo. As usual, it was a very rainy day when we started, but once +across the divide the air became much drier. The clouds, driven by +the south-east trade-wind, strike the islands on the east side, +and this is the reason why the east coast is so much damper than +the west, and why the vegetation is so immoderately thick on the +one side, and much less luxuriant on the other. On the west side +the bush is thinner and there are wide stretches of reed-grass, +but there is plenty of water, bright creeks fed by the rainfall on +the mountains. Here, on the coast, it was much warmer than where we +had come from, but the air was most agreeable, dry and invigorating, +quite different from the damp, heavy air on the other side. + +Late at night, after a long walk on the warm beach sand, we reached +the village of Nogugu. Next day Mr. G., a planter, was good enough to +take me with him in his motor-boat, southward along the coast. High +mountains came close to the shore, falling in almost perpendicular +walls straight down into the sea. Deep narrow valleys led inland into +the very heart of the island. Several times, when we were passing +the openings of these valleys, a squall caught us, and rain poured +down; then, again, everything lay in bright sunshine and the coast +was picturesque indeed with its violet shadows and reddish rocks. The +only level ground to be seen was at the mouths of the valleys in the +shape of little river deltas. + +The village to which we were going was on one of these deltas. Hardly +had we set foot on shore than a violent earthquake almost threw us +to the ground. The shock lasted for at least thirty seconds, then +we heard a dull rumbling as of thunder, and saw how all along the +coast immense masses of earth fell into the sea from the high cliffs, +so that the water boiled and foamed wildly. Then yellow smoke came +out of all the bays, and hung in heavy clouds over the devastated +spots, and veiled land and sea. Inland, too, we saw many bare spots, +where the earth and trees had slipped down. The shocks went on all +night, though with diminished violence, and we continually heard the +thunderous rattling of falling rocks and earth. + +Next day we stopped at the village of Wus, and I persuaded a dainty +damsel (she was full-grown, but only 134.4 cm. high) to make me a +specimen of pottery. It was finished in ten minutes, without any tool +but a small, flat, bamboo splinter. Without using a potter's wheel +the lady rounded the sides of the jar very evenly, and altogether +gave it a most pleasing, almost classical shape. + +When we returned south we could see what damage the earthquake had +done. All the slopes looked as if they had been scraped, and the sea +was littered with wood and bushes. We also experienced the disagreeable +sensation of an earthquake on the water. The boat suddenly began to +shake and tremble, as if a giant hand were shaking it, and at the same +time more earth fell down into the water. The shocks recurred for +several weeks, and after a while we became accustomed to them. The +vibrations seemed to slacken and to become more horizontal, so that +we had less of the feeling of being pushed upwards off our feet, +but rather that of being in an immense swing. For six weeks I was +awakened almost every night by dull, threatening thunder, followed +some seconds later by a shock. + +Another village where pottery was made was Pespia, a little inland. The +chief obligingly gathered the scattered population, and I had ample +opportunity to buy pots and watch the making of them. The method is +different from that at Wus, for a primitive wheel, a segment of a +thick bamboo, is used. On this the clay is wound up in spirals and +the surface smoothed inside and out. This is the method by which +most of the prehistoric European pottery was made. The existence of +the potter's art in these two villages only of all the New Hebrides +is surprising. Clay is found in other districts, and the idea that +the natives might have learnt pottery from the Spaniards lacks +all probability, as the Spaniards never visited the west coast of +Santo. The two entirely different methods offer another riddle. + +I made my way back along the coast, round Cape Cumberland. One of my +boys having run away, I had to carry his load myself, and although +it was not the heaviest one, I was glad when I found a substitute +for him. This experience gave me an insight into the feelings of a +tired and discontented carrier. + +At Wora I found that my host had returned to his station near +Talamacco. So I returned to Talamacco by boat; the earthquake had +been very violent there, and had caused the greatest damage, and I +heard that all the new houses of the Messrs. Thomas at Hog Harbour +had been ruined. + +Times had been troublous in other respects at Talamacco; the natives, +especially the Christians, were fighting, and one Sunday they were +all ready, looking very fierce, to attack each other with clubs and +other weapons, only neither side dared to begin. I asked them to do +the fighting out in the open, so that I could take a picture of it, +and this cooled them down considerably. They sat down and began a +long palaver, which ended in nothing at all, and, indeed, no one +really knew what had started the excitement. + +In spite of the supercargo's announcement that the steamer would +arrive on the twentieth, she did not come till the first of the +following month. This kept me constantly on the look out and ready +for departure, and unable to do anything of importance. At last we +sailed, touching the Banks Islands on our route; and after enjoying +a few days of civilization on board, I went ashore at Tassimaloun, +on the south-west corner of Santo, where I had the pleasure of being +Mr. C.'s guest. My object there was to follow the traces of the pygmy +population, but as the natives mostly live inland, and only rarely come +to the coast, I had to go in search of them. At that time I was often +ill with fever, and could not do as much as I could have wished. Once +I tried to reach the highest mountain of the islands, Santo Peak, +but my guides from the mission village of Vualappa led me for ten +days through most uninteresting country and an unfriendly population +without even bringing me to the foot of the mountain. I had several +unpleasant encounters with the natives, during one of which I fully +expected to be murdered, and when our provisions were exhausted we had +to return to the coast. But every time I saw the tall pyramid of Santo +Peak rising above the lower hills I longed to be the first European +to set foot on it, and I tried it at last from the Tassiriki side. + +After long consultations with the natives, I at last found two men +who were willing to guide me to the mountain. I decided to give up +all other plans, and to take nothing with me but what was strictly +necessary. On the second day we climbed a hill which my guides insisted +was the Peak, the highest point of the island. I pointed out a higher +summit, but they said that we would never get up there before noon, +and, indeed, they did everything they could to delay our advance, +by following wrong trails and being very slow about clearing the +way. Still, after an hour's hard work, we were on the point in +question, and from there I could see the real Santo Peak, separated +from us by only one deep valley, as far as I could judge in the tangle +of forest that covered everything. The guides again pretended that we +were standing on the highest mountain then, and that it would take +at least a fortnight to reach the real Peak. I assured them that I +meant to be on its top by noon, and when they showed no inclination +whatever to go on, I left them and went on with my boys. We had to +dive into a deep ravine, where we found a little water and refilled +our bottles. Then we had to ascend the other side, which was trying, +as we had lost the trail and had to climb over rocks and through the +thickest bush I ever met. The ground was covered with a dense network +of moss-grown trunks that were mouldering there, through which we +often fell up to our shoulders, while vines and ferns wound round +our bodies, so that we did our climbing more with our arms than with +our feet. After a while one of the guides joined us, but he did not +know the way; at last we found it, but there were many ups and downs +before we attained the summit. The weather now changed, and we were +suddenly surrounded by the thick fog that always covers the Peak before +noon. The great humidity and the altitude combine to create a peculiar +vegetation in this region; the tree-ferns are tremendously developed, +and the natives pretend that a peculiar species of pigeon lives here. + +I was surprised to find any paths at all up here; but the natives come +here to shoot pigeons, and several valleys converge at Santo Peak, +so that there are important passes near its summits. One of my boys +gave out here, and we left him to repose. The rest of the way was not +difficult, but we were all very tired when we reached the top. There +was another summit, a trifle higher, separated from the first by +a long ridge, but we contented ourselves with the one we were on, +especially as we could see absolutely nothing. I was much disappointed, +as on a clear day the view of Santo and the whole archipelago must +be wonderful. I deposited a bottle with a paper of statistics, +which some native has probably found by this time. We were wet and +hungry, and as it was not likely that the fog would lift, we began the +descent. Without the natives I never could have found the way back in +the fog; but they followed the path easily enough, and half-way down +we met the other guides coming slowly up the mountain. They seemed +pleased to have escaped the tiresome climb; possibly they may have +had other reasons for their dislike of the Peak. They were rather +disappointed, I thought, that I had had my way in spite of their +resistance. They now promised to lead us back by another route, and +we descended a narrow valley for several hours; then came a long halt, +as my guides had to chat with friends in a village we passed. At last +I fairly had to drive them away, and we went down another valley, +where we found a few women bathing in a stream, who ran away at the +sight of us. We bathed, and then enjoyed an excellent meal of taro, +which one of the guides had brought from the village. Before leaving, +one of my boys carefully collected all the peelings of my food, and +threw them into the river, so that I might not be poisoned by them, +he said. A last steep climb ended the day's exertions, and we entered +the village where we were to sleep. While the guides bragged to the +men of their feats, the women brought us food and drink, and I had +a chance to rest and look about me. + +I was struck by the great number of women and the very small number +of men in this place; after a while I found out the reason, which was +that ten of the men had been kidnapped by a Frenchman while on their +way to a plantation on the Segond Channel, where they meant to work +a few days. The women are now deprived of their husbands for at least +three years, unless they find men in some other village. If five of the +ten ever return, it will be a good average, and it is more than likely +that they will find a deserted and ruined village if they do come back. + +This is one of many illustrations of how the present recruiting +system and the laxity of the French authorities combine to ruin the +native population. (I have since heard that by request of the British +authorities these men were brought back, but only after about nine +months had passed, and without receiving any compensation. Most +kidnapping cases never come to the ears of the authorities at all.) + +As our expedition was nearly at an end, and I had no reason to +economize my provisions, I gave some to the villagers, and the +women especially who had hardly ever tasted rice or tinned meat, +were delighted. One old hag actually made me a declaration of love, +which, unfortunately, I could not respond to in the same spirit. + +Night crept across the wide sea, and a golden sunset was followed by a +long afterglow. Far away on the softly shining silver we saw a sail, +small as a fly, that drifted slowly seaward and was swallowed up by +the darkness, from which the stars emerged one by one. The women had +disappeared in the huts; the men were sitting outside, around the +fires, and, thinking I was asleep, talked about me in biche la mar. + +First they wondered why a man should care to climb up a mountain +simply to come down again; and my boys told them of all my doings, +about my collecting curios and skulls, of my former wanderings and the +experiences we had had, and how often the others had tried to shoot +me, etc. In short, I found out a great many things I had never known, +and I shivered a little at hearing what I had escaped, if all the +boys said was true. At last, when I had been sufficiently discussed, +which was long after midnight, they lay down, each beside a small fire, +and snored into the cool, clear night. + +The following morning was brilliantly fine. We took a hearty leave +of our hosts, and raced, singing and shouting, down the steep hills, +and so home. The fine weather was at an end. The sky was cloudy, the +barometer fell and a thin rain pierced everything. Two days later the +steamer arrived, and I meant to go aboard, but a heavy swell from the +west set in, such as I had never seen before, although not a breath of +wind was stirring. These rollers were caused by a cyclone, and gave us +some idea of its violence. I despaired of ever reaching the steamer, +but Mr. B. was an expert sailor, and making the most of a slight lull, +he brought me safely through the surf and on board. His goods, however, +could not be loaded on to the steamer, which immediately sailed. We +passed New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at anchor in South-West Bay, +Malekula, while a terrific gale whipped the water horizontally toward +the ship and across the deck. We spent gloomy holidays, shut up in the +damp, dark steamer, unable to stay on deck, restless and uncomfortable +below. How one learns to appreciate the British impassiveness which +helps one, in such conditions, to spend a perfectly happy day with +a pipe and a talk about the weather! + +On the morning of the third day we lay off the east coast of Malekula, +on a blue, shining sea, with all the landscape as peaceful and bright +as if there were no such thing as a cyclone in the world. + +I landed, packed my collections, which I had left in Vao, and, with the +help of a missionary, I reached Bushman Bay, whence Mr. H. kindly took +me to Vila. There H.B.M. Resident Commissioner, Mr. Morton King, did +me the honour of offering me his hospitality, so that I was suddenly +transplanted to all the luxuries of civilized life once more. I spent +the days packing the collections awaiting me at Vila, and which I found +in fairly good condition; the evenings were passed in the interesting +society of Mr. King, who had travelled extensively and was an authority +on matters relating to the Orient. He inspired me with admiration +for the British system of colonial politics with its truly idealistic +tendencies. The weeks I spent at Port Vila will always be a pleasant +memory of a time of rest and comfort and stimulating intercourse. + +In February I left for Noumea, where I hoped to meet two friends and +colleagues, Dr. Fritz Sarasin and Dr. Jean Roux, who were coming to +New Caledonia in order to pursue studies similar to mine. The time I +spent with them was rich in interest and encouragement, and in March +I returned to the New Hebrides with renewed energy. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +AMBRYM + + +It was a miserable little boat in which I sailed from Noumea. We +were to have started on a Monday, but it was Friday before we +got off. The boat was overloaded. On deck there was a quantity of +timber, also cattle, pigs, sheep and calves, all very seasick and +uncomfortable. The deck was almost on a level with the water, and even +while still inside the reef occasional waves broke over the gunwale +and flooded the ship. At nightfall we entered the open ocean. Now +the waves began to pour on to the deck from all sides, and the bow +of the vessel dived into the sea as if it were never going to rise +again. The night was dark, shreds of cloud raced across a steel-grey +sky, while a greenish patch showed the position of the moon. At the +horizon glistened an uncertain light, but the sea was a black abyss, +out of which the phosphorescent waves appeared suddenly, rolled +swiftly nearer and broke over the ship as if poured down from above. + +I looked on without another thought save that of pity for the poor sick +calves, when the captain whispered in my ear that things looked bad, +as the ship was much too heavily loaded. In the darkness I could see +nothing but that the boat was very deep in the water, and that her +bow, instead of rising on the waves, dug into them. On deck a quantity +of water ran backward and forward in a wave as high as the bulwarks, +and it seemed as if the ship could scarcely right herself when once +she lay over on one side. The growing excitement of the captain, +his nervous consultations with the engineer and the supercargo, were +most uncomfortable; presently the passengers began to take part in +the deliberations, and to observe the behaviour of the ship. As our +course gave us a sidewise current, the captain ordered the sails to be +hoisted, in order to lessen the rolling; but the sea was too heavy, +and we shipped still more water and rolled alarmingly. The captain +sighed, ran hither and thither, then lowered the sails and took a +more westerly course, in the direction of one of the Loyalty Islands; +thus we had the current from behind, which made things still worse, +as the sea, rolling along the ship, filled the deck from both sides; +and as the bulwarks were blocked up by the lumber, the water could +not run off, thus adding an enormous weight to the already overloaded +ship; the water ran forward, pressing down the bow, while the stern +reared upward. + +When the captain saw the state of affairs, he lost his head completely, +and began to lament piteously: "We do not want to drown, no, we do not +want to drown; but we are going to. Oh, my poor wife and children! Do +you like to drown, doctor?" I denied this energetically, but I could +not help looking at the dark sea and trying to get used to the idea of +a closer acquaintance with it. The feeling of insecurity was increased +by the knowledge that the boat was old and in poor repair, and might +spring a leak at any moment. + +Meanwhile the skipper had turned her round and was making headway +against the waves, but still her bow would not lift, and the captain +wept still more. His womanish behaviour disgusted me. At last a quiet +passenger, an experienced sailor, gave some advice, which the skipper +followed, and which helped matters a little, so that he regained his +self-control to the extent of calling a general council; he announced +that he dared not continue the voyage, and asked our consent to +return to Noumea. We all agreed, and about midnight we approached the +reef. Now there are lights in the passage, but they are so poor as to +be invisible until the traveller is already in the passage, so that +they are of little use. We were trying to find the entrance, when the +experienced seaman I mentioned before, who was keeping a look out, +called out that we were close to the breakers and surrounded by the +reef. The only thing we could do was to turn seaward again and beat +about till daylight. After some hours the wind fell and the worst was +over; still, the night was unpleasant enough, and frequent squalls +kept us awake. We were all glad when the day broke and we were able +to enter the passage. We landed at Noumea in the finest of weather, +and our unexpected return created quite a sensation. We passengers +convinced ourselves that the cargo was considerably reduced before +starting out again the next day. + +This time we arrived safely at Port Vila, where the British and +French native police forces came aboard, bound for Santo, to quell +a disturbance at Hog Harbour; and so the hapless boat was overloaded +again, this time with passengers. + +Next day we arrived at Epi, and I landed at Ringdove Bay. The +station of the Messrs. F. and H. is one of the oldest in the +islands. Besides running a plantation, they trade with the natives, +and their small cutters go to all the neighbouring islands for coprah +and other produce. There is always plenty of life and movement at the +station, as there are usually a few of the vessels lying at anchor, +and natives coming in from all sides in their whale-boats to buy or +sell something. From Malekula one can often see them tacking about +all day, or, if there is a calm, drifting slowly along, as they are +too lazy to row. When they have found the passage through the reef, +they pull down the sails with much noise and laughter, and come to +anchor; then the whole crowd wades through the surf to the shore, +with the loads of coprah, and waits patiently for business to begin. + +On these stations, where almost everyone is squeezed into decent +European clothes, it is a charming sight to see the naked bodies of +the genuine savages, all the more so as only young and able-bodied +men take part in these cruises, under the leadership of one older and +more experienced companion. Their beauty is doubly striking beside +the poor station hands, wrapped in filthy calico. + +When the coprah has been bought and paid for, they all go to the +store, where they buy whatever they need or think they need. The +native of the coast districts to-day goes beyond needs to luxuries; +he buys costly silks, such as he may once have seen in Queensland, +and he samples sewing-machines or whatever else tempts him. In +consequence of competition, the prices for coprah and the wages of +labour are unreasonably high, and the natives might profit greatly +by this state of things if they knew the value of money or how to +use it to advantage. But, as a rule, they spend it for any nonsense +they may fancy, to the joy of the trader, who makes an average profit +of 50 per cent. on all commodities; or else the natives economize +to buy a pig (tusked pigs have brought as much as forty pounds), +or they bury their money. + +It is astonishing how easily a native might make a small fortune +here, and how little use he makes of his opportunities, not only +from laziness, but also because he has no wants. Nature supplies +food in abundance without any effort on his part, so that matches, +tobacco, a pipe and a knife satisfy all his needs, and he can spend +all the rest of his money for pleasure. Thus the native, in spite of +everything, is economically master of the situation in his own country, +and many traders have been made to realize this fact to their cost, +when the natives, to avenge some ill-treatment, have simply boycotted +a station. Needless to say that the traders always do their best to +excite the natives' cupidity by exhibiting the most tempting objects, +and, careful as the islander may be when buying necessaries, he is +careless enough when luxuries are in question. + +The house of the planters is a long, low building with whitewashed +walls, a broad, flat roof and wide verandas. Around it is an abandoned +garden, and one feels that long ago a woman's hand must have worked +here; but now no one cares about keeping the surroundings clean +and pretty, and the wilderness is reclaiming its own and advancing +steadily towards the house. Inside, the house is clean and neat; +from the veranda there is a splendid view over the sea, in which the +sun disappears at evening. + +The employes are quiet people, who have but little to say; the weather +and speculations as to the name and destination of some far-off +sail are their chief topics. After lunch they sit in easy-chairs, +enjoying the breeze and reading the papers. Soon the "Bubu" calls +to work once more, and the natives come creeping out of their huts, +away from their ever-burning fires. + +The production of coprah varies greatly on the different islands. While +on some of them there is scarcely any to be had, there are others which +are practically covered with cocoa-nut trees; this is chiefly the +case on islands of volcanic origin, on which springs and rivers are +very scarce. It has been supposed that the natives, being dependent +on the water of the cocoa-nut as a beverage, had planted these trees +very extensively. This is not quite exact, although it is a fact that +in these islands the natives hardly ever taste any other water than +that of the cocoa-nut. + +In sun and shower, the natives work in the plantations in long rows, +the women together with their husbands or with other women at some +lighter task. The men dislike to be separated from their wives, for +they are very jealous; neither do they approve of the women discussing +their husbands among themselves. For light work the women are more +useful, as they are more accustomed to regular work from their youth +up than the men, who are used to spending their days in easy laziness. + +Towards sunset, the "Bubu" announces the end of work, and the natives +stroll towards their quarters, simple huts of straw, where each man has +his couch, with a trunk underneath containing his belongings. Meals +are prepared by a cook, and the men go to fetch their rations, rice, +yam, or taro. Sometimes there is meat, but not often, except in +places where wild pig is plentiful. In that case, it is simplest for +the master to send his boys shooting every Sunday, when it depends +on themselves if they are to have meat during the coming week +or not. After the meal, the natives sit round the fires chatting, +gossiping and telling fairy-tales. They know stories of all sorts of +monsters and demons, and excite each other by tales of these horrors +to such a degree, that bad dreams or even a general panic are often +the consequence, and the whole crowd turns out in the middle of the +night, declaring that the place is haunted, and that they have seen +a devil, who looked thus and so. If someone suddenly dies in a hut, +it is worst of all. Death is invariably caused, so they all believe, +by poison or witchcraft, and the natives will build another house +of their own accord rather than go on living in one they consider +haunted. If a planter loses many hands by death, his plantation gets +a bad reputation, and the natives refuse to work there; so that it is +to the planter's advantage to take some care of their labourers, and +they do so to a certain extent, whereas in former years the mortality +on French plantations was very high, as much as 44 per cent. per annum. + +Sometimes, especially on moonlight nights, the boys wish to dance, +and they all go to the beach and spend the whole night singing and +dancing. Another amusement is hunting for crayfish on the reef at +low tide. + +My boys' term of service was over in a month. They were very much +afraid of being taken to another island, which was natural in a way, +as a savage is really not as safe in a strange place as a white +man. Besides, they had had their desire and had seen Noumea, so that +there was no longer any inducement for them to stay with me. They +accordingly became most disagreeable, slow, sulky and sleepier than +ever, and as I could not be punishing them all day long, life with +them became somewhat trying. It is disappointing to find so little +gratitude, but the natives are quite unaccustomed to be treated +better by a white man than his interest demands, so that they suspect +a trap in every act of kindness. Under the circumstances, I thought +it best to dismiss my boys, and, finding little of interest in Epi, +the natives having nearly all died out, I boarded the Australian +steamer for Ambrym. + +Although Ambrym is only twenty-five miles from Epi, I was five days +on the way, so zigzag a route did the steamer pursue. But if one is +not in a hurry, life on board is quite entertaining. The first day we +anchored near the volcano of Lopevi, a lofty peak that rises from a +base six kilometres in diameter to a height of 1440 metres, giving its +sides an average slope of 48 deg. which offers rather an unusual sight. The +whole of Lopevi is rarely to be seen, as its top is usually covered +with a thick cloud of fog or volcanic steam. It is still active, +and but few whites have ascended it. At periods of great activity, +the natives climb to the top and bring sacrifices to appease it, +by throwing cocoa-nuts and yam into the crater. + +We touched at Port Sandwich, and then steamed along the coast of +Malekula, calling every few miles at some plantation to discharge +goods, horses, cattle and fowls, and take on maize or coprah. At +last we arrived at Dip Point, Ambrym, where I was kindly received by +Dr. B. of the Presbyterian Mission, who is in charge of the fine large +hospital there. Its situation is not more picturesque than others, +but the place has been made so attractive that one can hardly imagine +a more lovely and restful sight. The buildings stand on level ground +that slopes softly down to the beach. The bush has been cleared, +with the exception of a number of gigantic fig trees, that overshadow +a green lawn. Under their airy roof there is always a light breeze, +blowing from the hills down to the sea. In the blue distance rises +Aoba, and the long-drawn coast of Malekula disappears in the mist. A +quieter, sweeter place for convalescents does not exist, and even the +native patients, who are not, as a rule, great lovers of scenery, +like to lie under the trees with their bandaged limbs and heads, +staring dreamily into the green and blue and sunny world. + +Dr. B. is an excellent surgeon, famous all over the group, not only +among the white population, but among the natives as well, who are +beginning to appreciate his work. Formerly they used to demand payment +for letting him operate on them, but now many come of their own accord, +so that the hospital never lacks patients. The good that Dr. B. does +these people can hardly be overrated, and the Presbyterian Mission +deserves great credit for having established the hospital; but it +is a regrettable fact that all these efforts are not strong enough +to counteract other effects of civilization, such as alcoholism, +which is the curse of the native race, especially on Ambrym. + +Although the sale of alcohol to natives is strictly prohibited by the +laws of the Condominium, the French pay no attention to these rules, +and sell it in quantities without being called to account. The sale of +liquor is the simplest means of acquiring wealth, as the profit on one +bottle may amount to five shillings. The natives of Ambrym spend all +their money on drink, and as they are quite rich and buy wholesale, +the results, in money for the trader and in death for the native, are +considerable. For they drink in a senseless way, simply pouring down +one bottle after the other, until they are quite overcome. Some never +wake up again; others have dangerous attacks of indigestion from the +poison they have consumed; still more catch colds or pneumonia from +lying drunk on the ground all night. Quarrels and fights are frequent, +and it is not a rare sight to see a whole village, men, women and +children, rolling on the sand completely intoxicated. The degeneration +which results from this is all the sadder, as originally the race +on Ambrym was particularly healthy, vigorous and energetic. These +conditions are well known to both governments, and might be suppressed +on the French side as easily as they are on the English; but the +French government seems to take more interest in the welfare of an +ex-convict than in that of the native race, although the latter is +one of the most important sources of wealth on the islands, setting +aside all considerations of humanity. If the liquor traffic is not +speedily suppressed, the population is doomed. + +Ambrym offers quite a different aspect from the coral islands, as +its sloping sides are seamed by streams of lava, the course of which +may be traced by the breaks in the forest, as the glowing mass flows +slowly down to the coast, congealing in the water to peculiarly shaped +jagged rocks. Every few hundred yards we find one of these black walls +on the shore in which the sea foams, and the sand that covers the +beaches is black too. In dull weather all this looks extremely gloomy, +monotonous and imposing--the war of two elements, fire and water; +and this dark, stern landscape is far more impressive than the gay, +smiling coral beach with the quiet blue sea. + +My stay on Ambrym was very pleasant. By the help of Dr. B., I +was enabled to find four bright boys, willing and cheerful, with +whom I used to start out from Dip Point in the mornings, visit the +neighbouring villages, and return loaded with objects of all sorts at +noon; the afternoons were devoted to work in the house. The weather +was exceptionally favourable, and the walks through the dewy forest, +on the soft paths of black volcanic dust, in the cool, dark ravines, +with occasional short climbs and delightful glimpses of the coast, +were almost too enjoyable to be regarded as a serious duty. + +The culture of Ambrym is similar to that of Malekula, as is plainly +shown by the natives' dress. The men wear the bark belt and the nambas, +which they buy on Malekula; the dress of the women is the same as that +worn in central Malekula, and consists of an apron of pandanus or +some similar fibre, wound several times round the waist; this forms +a thick roll, not unlike ballet skirts, but more graceful. It is a +pretty dress, though somewhat scanty, and the "skirts" flap up and +down coquettishly when the wearer walks. The other parts of the body +are covered with a thick layer of soot, filth, oil, fat and smoke, +for the Ambrymese are not at all fond of bathing. + +The villages are open, rarely surrounded by a hedge. The houses are +rather close together, grouped irregularly in a clearing; a little +apart, on a square by themselves, are the houses of the secret +societies, surrounded by images and large drums. The dwelling-houses +are rather poor-looking huts, with low walls and roofs and an +exceedingly small entrance which is only to be passed through on +one's hands and knees. Decency demands that the women should always +enter the houses backward, and this occasions funny sights, as they +look out of their huts like so many dogs from their kennels. + +As a rule, the first event on my entering a village was that the women +and children ran away shrieking and howling; those not quite so near me +stared suspiciously, then retired slowly or began to giggle. Then a few +men would appear, quite accidentally, of course, and some curious boys +followed. My servants gave information as to my person and purpose, +and huge laughter was the result: they always thought me perfectly +mad. However, they admired me from all sides, and asked all sorts +of questions of my boys: what was my name, where did I live, was I +kind, was I rich, what did I have to eat, did I smoke or drink, how +many shirts and trousers did I have, how many guns and what kinds, +etc. The end of it was, that they either took me for a dangerous +sorcerer, and withdrew in fear, or for a fool to be got the better +of. In the latter case, they would run eagerly to their houses and +bring out some old broken article to offer for sale. A few sarcastic +remarks proved useful; but it was always some time before they realized +what I wanted. The fine old possessions from which they did not like +to part would suddenly turn out to be the property of someone else, +which was a polite way of saying, "we have that, but you won't get it." + +In this way collecting was a very tiresome and often disappointing +process of bargaining, encouraging, begging and flattering; often, just +as I was going away, some man or other would call me aside to say that +he had decided to sell after all, and was ready to accept any price. + +Horror and silent consternation were aroused when I asked for +skulls. "Lots over there," they said, pointing to an enclosed thicket, +their burying-ground. Only very rarely a man would bring me a skull, +at the end of a long stick. Once I started on the quest myself, +armed with a shovel and spade; as my servants were too much afraid +of the dead to help, I had to dig for myself. A man loafed near by, +attracted by the excited chatter of some old women. He told me sadly +that I was digging up his papa, although it was a woman; then he +began to help with some show of interest, assuring me that his papa +had two legs, whereas at first I could find but one. A stranger had +given me permission to dig, so as to play a trick on the son; but +the latter was quite reconciled when I paid him well. For a week all +the village talked of nothing but the white madman who dug up bones; +I became a celebrity, and people made excursions from a distance to +come and stare at me. + +Although the Suque is highly developed here, there are other secret +societies whose importance, however, is decreasing, as they are +being more or less absorbed by the Suque. As each of these clubs has +its own house, we sometimes find quite a number of such huts in one +village, where they take the place of gamals. Each Suque high caste +has his own house, which the low castes may not enter. The caste +of the proprietor may be seen by the material of which the hedge is +made, the lower castes having hedges of wood and logs, the highest, +walls of stone and coral slabs. Inside the courtyard, each man lives +alone, served only by his wives, who are allowed to cook his food. The +separation of the sexes is not so severe on Ambrym as on Santo. On the +whole, it would seem that in the past Ambrym had a position apart, +and that only lately several forms of cult have been imported from +Malekula and mingled with genuinely local rites. Even to-day, it is +not rare for a man from Ambrym to settle for a while on Malekula, so +as to be initiated into some rites which he then imports to Ambrym; +and the Ambrymese pay poets large fees to teach them poems which +are to be sung at certain feasts, accompanied by dances. Unhappily, +I never had occasion to attend one of these "sing-songs." + +The originality of Ambrym has been preserved in its sculpture only. The +material used is tree-fern wood, which is used nowhere else but in +the Banks Islands. The type of human being represented differs from +that on the other islands, especially as regards the more moon-shaped +form of the head. Representations of the whole body are frequent, +so are female statues; these I have only found again in Gaua, where +they are probably modern inventions. Sometimes a fish or a bird is +carved on the statue, probably as a survival of old totemistic ideas, +and meant to represent the totem animal of the ancestor or of his +clan. The meaning of these carvings is quite obscure to the natives, +and they answer questions in a very vague way, so that it is probable +that totemistic ideas are dying out in the New Hebrides. + +Most of the statues are meant to represent an ancestor. If a native is +in trouble, he blows his whistle at nightfall near the statue, and if +he hears a noise, he thinks the spirit of the ancestor has approached +and entered the statue, and he proceeds to tell the statue his sorrows +and ask the spirit for help. Occasionally sacrifices are made to the +figures, as is shown by the pigs' jaws frequently found tied to them. + +The Ambrymese conceptions of the spirit world are very similar to +those of other islanders. The native likes to wear on his back or +chest or arm the tusks of the most valuable pigs he has sacrificed, +and has them buried with him, so that in the other world he may at +any time be able to prove how much he respected his ancestors. + +The centre of the dancing grounds is generally occupied by the big +drums, not quite so numerous but better made than those of Malekula. By +the drums, too, the caste of the proprietor may be recognized: the +higher his standing, the more heads are carved on them. Horizontal +drums are sometimes found, but they are always small, and only serve +to accompany the sound of the larger ones. + +There are usually a few men sitting round the drums, playing games. One +game is played by two men sitting opposite to each other; one sticks +a small shell into the ground, and his opponent tries to hit it with +another. There does not seem to be any winning or losing, as in our +games, but they keep it up for hours and even days. Another favourite +game borders on the marvellous. One man has six shells and the other +five. Each in turn puts a shell on the ground, and when they have +all been dealt, each in turn picks up one at a time, when the one who +had six before has five, and the one who had only five has six. They +stare at each other, wonder, and try it again; behold, the one who +had six at the beginning has five now and the other six. They try +again and again, and each time the shell changes hands, and nobody +can explain how on earth it could have jumped from one man to the +other. It seems too strange to be natural, and while a cold shiver +creeps up their backs, they play on and on, with ever new delight +and wonder. At such enviable pastimes these people spend their days +and kill time, which would otherwise hang heavy on their hands. Tops, +nicely made from nuts, are a popular toy; and there are other games, +more sportsmanlike, such as throwing reeds to a distance, and throwing +wooden shells, at which two villages often compete against each other. + +After I had exhausted the surroundings of Dip Point, I marched along +the coast to Port Vato, where I lived in an abandoned mission house, +in the midst of a thickly populated district. At present, the people +are quiet, and go about as they please; but not long ago, the villages +lived in a constant state of feud among themselves, so that no man +dared go beyond his district alone, and the men had to watch the +women while they were at work in the fields, for fear of attack. The +sense of insecurity was such that many people who lived in villages +only twenty minutes' walk from the coast had never seen the ocean. The +population as a whole enjoys the state of peace, which the missionaries +have brought about, though there are always mischief-makers who try +to create new feuds, and there is no doubt that the old wars would +break out anew, if the natives were left to themselves. + +These disturbances were not very destructive in the days of the old +weapons; it is only since the introduction of firearms that they +have become a real danger to the race as a whole. They even had their +advantages, in forcing the men to keep themselves in condition, and +in providing them with a regular occupation, such as preparing their +weapons, or training, or guarding the village and the women. With the +end of the feuds, the chief occupation of the men disappeared, and but +few of them have found any serious work to take up their time. Thus +civilization, even in its role of peace-maker, has replaced one evil +by another. + +In this district, I could go about with my servants wherever I pleased; +only one Santo boy I had with me did not feel safe, and suddenly +developed great interest in cooking, which allowed him to stay at +home while the rest of us went on expeditions. His cooking was not +above reproach; he would calmly clean a dirty cup with his fingers, +the kitchen towels occasionally served as his head-dress, and one day +he tried to make curry with some iodoform I had left in a bottle on +the table. However, I had learned long ago not to be too particular, +and not to take too much interest in the details of the kitchen. + +An exceptionally bright man had offered me his services as guide, +and with his help I obtained many objects I would never have found +alone. He had a real understanding of what I wanted, and plenty +of initiative. He made the women bring their modest possessions, +and they approached, crawling on their hands and knees, for they +are not allowed to walk before the men. Later on the men appeared +with better things. It is an odd fact that all over the archipelago +the owner rarely brings things himself, but generally gives them +to a friend. This may be due to the desire to avoid the ridicule +they would surely be exposed to if their possessions were to be +refused. The extreme sensitiveness and pride with which the natives +feel every refusal and are deeply hurt by any rebuke, may surprise +those who look on them as savages, incapable of any finer sentiment; +but whoever learns to know them a little better will find that they +have great delicacy of feeling, and will be struck by the politeness +they show a stranger, and by the kind and obliging way in which they +treat each other. It must be admitted that this is often enough +only a veneer, under which all sorts of hatred, malice, and all +uncharitableness are hidden, just as among civilized people; still, +the manners of the crudest savages are far superior to those of most +of the whites they meet. + +One sign of this sensitiveness is their reluctance to express any +desire, for fear of a refusal. I saw a daily illustration of this, when +my boys wanted the tin of meat for dinner which was their due. Although +they might have taken it themselves, a different boy came each day +to the room where I was writing, and waited patiently for some time, +then began coughing with increasing violence, until I asked what he +wanted. Then he would shyly stammer out his request. Never would they +accost me or otherwise disturb me while I was writing or reading; +yet at other times they could be positively impertinent, especially +if excited. The islander is very nervous; when he is quiet, he is shy +and reticent, but once he is aroused, all his bad instincts run riot, +and incredible savageness and cruelty appear. The secret of successful +treatment of the natives seems to be to keep them very quiet, and never +to let any excitement arise, a point in which so many whites fail. + +They are very critical and observant, and let no weakness pass without +sarcastic comment; yet their jokes are rarely offensive, and in the +end the victim usually joins in the general laughter. On the whole, +the best policy is one of politeness, justice and consistency; and +after many years, one may possibly obtain their confidence, although +one always has to be careful and circumspect in every little detail. + +In general, the Ambrymese are more agreeable than the Santo +people. They seem more manly, less servile, more faithful and reliable, +more capable of open enmity, more clever and industrious, and not +so sleepy. + +Assisted by my excellent guide, I set about collecting, which was not +always a simple matter. I was very anxious to procure a "bull-roarer," +and made my man ask for one, to the intense surprise of the others; +how could I have known of the existence of these secret and sacred +utensils? The men called me aside, and begged me never to speak +of this to the women, as these objects are used, like many others, +to frighten away the women and the uninitiated from the assemblies +of the secret societies. The noise they make is supposed to be the +voice of a mighty and dangerous demon, who attends these assemblies. + +They whispered to me that the instruments were in the men's house, +and I entered it, amid cries of dismay, for I had intruded into their +holy of holies, and was now standing in the midst of all the secret +treasures which form the essential part of their whole cult. However, +there I was, and very glad of my intrusion, for I found myself in a +regular museum. In the smoky beams of the roof there hung half-finished +masks, all of the same pattern, to be used at a festival in the near +future; there was a set of old masks, some with nothing left but +the wooden faces, while the grass and feather ornaments were gone; +old idols; a face on a triangular frame, which was held particularly +sacred; two perfectly marvellous masks with long noses with thorns, +carefully covered with spider-web cloth. This textile is a speciality +of Ambrym, and serves especially for the preparation and wrapping of +masks and amulets. Its manufacture is simple: a man walks through the +woods with a split bamboo, and catches all the innumerable spider-webs +hanging on the trees. As the spider-web is sticky, the threads cling +together, and after a while a thick fabric is formed, in the shape +of a conical tube, which is very solid and defies mould and rot. At +the back of the house, there stood five hollow trunks, with bamboos +leading into them. Through these, the men howl into the trunk, which +reverberates and produces a most infernal noise, well calculated to +frighten others besides women. For the same purpose cocoa-nut shells +were used, which were half filled with water, and into which a man +gurgled through a bamboo. All this was before my greedy eyes, but I +could obtain only a very few articles. Among them was a bull-roarer, +which a man sold me for a large sum, trembling violently with fear, +and beseeching me not to show it to anybody. He wrapped it up so +carefully, that the small object made an immense parcel. Some of the +masks are now used for fun; the men put them on and run through the +forest, and have the right to whip anybody they meet. This, however, +is a remnant of a very serious matter, as formerly the secret societies +used these masks to terrorize all the country round, especially people +who were hostile to the society, or who were rich or friendless. + +These societies are still of great importance on New Guinea, but here +they have evidently degenerated. It is not improbable that the Suque +has developed from one of these organizations. Their decay is another +symptom of the decline of the entire culture of the natives; and other +facts seem to point to the probability that this decadence may have +set in even before the beginning of colonization by the whites. + +My visit to the men's house ended, and seeing no prospects of acquiring +any more curiosities, I went to the dancing-ground, where most of the +men were assembled at a death-feast, it being the hundredth day after +the funeral of one of their friends. In the centre of the square, +near the drums, stood the chief, violently gesticulating. The crowd +did not seem pleased at my coming, and criticized me in undertones. A +terrible smell of decomposed meat filled the air; evidently they +had all partaken of a half-rotten pig, and the odour did not seem to +trouble them at all. + +The chief was a tall man, bald-headed, wearing the nambas, of larger +size than those of the others, and with both arms covered with pigs' +tusks to show his rank. He looked at me angrily, came up to me, and +sat down, not without having first swept the ground with his foot, +evidently in order not to come into contact with any charm that an +enemy might have thrown there. One of the men wanted me to buy a +flute, asking just double what I was willing to give; seeing that I +did not intend to pay so much, he made me a present of the flute, +and seemed just as well pleased. Still, the others stared at me +silently and suspiciously, until I offered some tobacco to the chief, +which he accepted with a joke, whereat everybody laughed and the ice +was broken. The men forgot their reserve, and talked about me in +loud tones, looking at me as we might at a hopelessly mad person, +half pitying, half amused at his vagaries. The chief now wished to +shake hands with me, though he did not trouble to get up for the +ceremony. We smiled pleasantly at each other, and then he took me +to his house, which, according to his high rank, was surrounded by +a stone wall. He rummaged about inside for a long time, and finally +brought out a few paltry objects; I thought best to pay well for them, +telling him that as he was a "big fellow-master," I was ready to +pay extra for the honour of having a souvenir of him. This flattered +him so much that he consented to have his photograph taken; and he +posed quite cleverly, while the others walked uneasily around us, +looking at the camera as if it were likely to explode at any moment; +and as none of them dared have his picture taken, I left. + +Rounding a bend of the path on my way home, I suddenly came upon a +young woman. First she looked at me in deadly fright, then, with a +terrified cry, she jumped over the fence, and burst into hysterical +laughter, while a dozen invisible women shrieked; then they all ran +away, and as I went on, I could hear that the flight had ceased and the +shrieks changed to hearty laughter. They had taken me for a kidnapper, +or feared some other harm, as was natural enough with their experience +of certain kinds of white men. + +Walking along, I heard the explosions of the volcano like a far-away +cannonade. The dull shocks gave my walk a peculiar solemnity, but the +bush prevented any outlook, and only from the coast I occasionally +saw the volcanic clouds mounting into the sky. + +From the old mission-house the view on a clear day is splendid. On +the slope stand a few large trees, whose cleft leaves frame +the indescribably blue sea, which breaks in snowy lines in +the lava-boulders below. Far off, I can see Malekula, with its +forest-covered mountains, and summer clouds hanging above it. It +is a dreamlike summer day, so beautiful, bright and mild as to be +hardly real. One feels a certain regret at being unable to absorb +all the beauty, at having to stand apart as an outsider, a patch on +the brightness rather than a part of it. + +At night the view is different, but just as enchanting. A fine dust +from the volcano floats in the air and the pale moonlight plays softly +on the smooth surface of the bay, filling the atmosphere with silver, +so that everything shines in the white light, the long, flat point, +the forest; even the bread-fruit tree on the slope, whose outline cuts +sharply into the brightness, is not black, but a darker silver. In +the greenish sky the stars glitter, not sharply as they do elsewhere, +but like fine dots, softly, quietly, as if a negligent hand had +sprinkled them lightly about. And down by the water the breakers +roll, crickets cry, a flying-fox chatters and changes from one tree +to the other with tired wings, passing in a shapeless silhouette in +front of the moon. It is the peace of paradise, dreamlike, wishless; +one never tires of listening to the holy tropical night, for there +is secret life everywhere. In the quiet air the trees shiver, the +moonlight trembles in the bushes and stirs imperceptibly in the lawn; +and from the indistinct sounds of which the mind is hardly conscious +the fancy weaves strange stories. We see all those creatures that +frighten the natives under the roof of the forest, giants with crabs' +claws, men with fiery eyes, women that turn into deadly serpents, +vague, misty souls of ancestors, that pass through the branches and +appear to their descendants; all that we dream of in our northern +midsummer night wakes in tenfold strength here. + +Suddenly, violent shocks shake the house, explosions follow, like +distant shots, and the thin, misty silver is changed to a red glow. The +volcano is in action,--a dull, reddish-yellow light mounts slowly up +behind the black trees, thick smoke rises and rises, until it stands, +a dark monster, nearly touching the zenith, its foot still in the +red glare. Slowly the fire dies out, the cloud parts, and it is dark +night again, with the silver of the moon brooding everywhere. + +But the charm is broken by this warning from the primitive powers that +counterbalance each other behind the peace of the tropic night. By and +by, one grows accustomed to the uncanny neighbourhood of the volcano, +and only the more formidable eruptions attract notice. Sometimes, +while at work, I hear one of the boys exclaim, "Huh, huh!" to call +my attention to the fact that a particularly violent outbreak has +taken place; and, indeed, half the sky is a dirty red, the smoke +rises behind the trees as if from a gigantic bonfire, and the dull +detonations resound. The glowing lava flies high in the air, and comes +down in a great curve. One of these performances lasted several hours, +presaging a wonderful spectacle for my visit to the volcano, which +was set for the next day. + +Several natives joined my party, evidently thinking it safer to go +to see the "fire" in my company than alone. Yet the Ambrymese in +general show remarkably little fear of the volcano, and regard it as +a powerful but somewhat clumsy and rather harmless neighbour, whereas +on other islands legend places the entrance to hell in the craters. + +Quite a company of us marched through the forest, accompanied by the +cannonading of the volcano; we felt as if we were going to battle. We +traversed the plain and mounted the foot-hills; halfway up, we observed +an eruption, but we could see only the cloud, as the crater itself +was hidden by hills. Through thick bush, we came to a watercourse, +a narrow gully, formed by lava-streams. The rocks in the river-bed had +been polished smooth by the water, and though the natives walked over +them with ease, my nailed boots gave me great trouble, and I had to +cross many slippery spots on my hands and knees, which greatly amused +my companions. We passed many tree-ferns, whose dainty crowns seemed +to float on the surface of the forest--like stars, and often covered +the whole bush, so that the slopes looked like a charming carpet of +the loveliest pattern. This tree, the most beautiful of the tropical +forest, far surpasses the palm in elegance, whose crown too often +looks yellowish and unkempt. + +For a few hours we followed the river, which led nearly to the edge of +the plateau. When the path branched off, I called a halt for lunch, +as we were not likely to find any water later on. We were now quite +near the craters, and while we ate our rice, we heard the roaring, +so that the boys grew nervous, till the joker of the company made +them laugh, and then the meal absorbed their attention. Still, they +occasionally sent furtive glances skyward, to see if any lava was +coming down upon us. + +Having filled all our vessels with water, we marched on, and after a +short ascent, found ourselves on the great plain, 650 metres above +sea-level, about 12 kilometres in diameter, and shaped like a huge +dinner-plate, a chain of hills forming the rim. It would seem that the +whole plain was formerly one gigantic crater; now only two openings +are left, two craters 500 and 700 metres high, in the north-west of +the plain. + +The ground consists of black, coarse-grained slag, which creaks when +walked on, and forms a fine black dust. Naturally the vegetation +in this poor soil is very scanty,--only bushes and reed-grass, +irregularly scattered in the valleys between little hillocks ranged +in rows. This arid desert-scene is doubly surprising to the eye, +owing to the sudden change from the forest to the bare plain. + +In this seemingly endless plain, the two craters rise in a bold +silhouette, grimly black. One of them stands in lifeless rigidity, +from the top of the other curl a few light, white clouds of steam. It +is a depressingly dismal sight, without any organic life whatever on +the steep, furrowed slopes. + +We camped on a hillock surrounded by shrubs; on all sides spread the +plain, with low hills, rounded by rain and storm, radiating from the +craters, and where these touched, a confused wilderness of hills, +like a black, agitated sea, had formed. The hilltops were bare, on +the slopes there clung some yellowish moss. The farther away from the +craters, the lower the hills became, disappearing at the edge of the +plain in a bluish-green belt of woods. + +The sky was cloudy, a sallow light glimmered over the plain, and +the craters lay in forbidding gloom and lifelessness, like hostile +monsters. Hardly had I set up my camera, when the western giant began +his performance. The clouds of steam thickened, detonations followed, +and at each one a brownish-grey cloud rose out of the mountain, +whirled slowly upwards, and joined the grey clouds in the sky. The +mountain-top glowed red, and red lumps of lava came flying out of +the smoke and dropped behind a hill. Then all became quiet again, +the mountain relapsed into lifelessness, the clouds dissolved to a +thick mist, and only the steam curled upward like a white plume. + +I had taken care to observe how far the lava flew, so as to know how +near it would be safe to approach. The path towards the craters was +the continuation of the one we had followed, and led to the north +shore of the island, passing between the craters. It is remarkable +that the natives should dare to use this road, and indeed it is not +much travelled; but it speaks for the courage of the first man who +had the courage to cross the plain and pass between the craters. The +sharp points of the lava caused great suffering to the bare-footed +natives, and here I had the advantage of them for once, thanks to my +nailed boots. + +The clouds had disappeared, the sky shone deeply blue, everything +reminded me of former trips in other deserts. The same dry air cooled +the heat that radiated from the ground, the same silence and solemnity +brooded over the earth, there was the same colouring and the same +breadth of view. After the painful march through the forest, where +every step had to be measured and watched, it was a joy to step out +freely and take great breaths of clear, sweet air. + +After a short, steep climb, I reached the ridge, sharp as a knife, +that joins the two craters, and following it, I suddenly found myself +on the brink of the crater, from which I could overlook the great bowl, +800 metres wide. The inside walls fell vertically to the bottom, an +uncanny, spongy-looking mass of brownish lava, torn, and foaming, +and smoking in white or yellowish clouds. The opposite side rose +much higher, and the white cloud I had seen from below floated on +top. There was a smaller crater, the real opening, and through a gap +in it I had a glimpse inside, but failed to see much because of the +smoke. The general view was most imposing, the steep, naked walls, +the wild confusion in the crater, the red and yellow precipitates +here and there, the vicious-looking smoke from the slits, the steam +that floated over the opening, swayed mysteriously by an invisible +force, the compactness of the whole picture, in the gigantic frame +of the outer walls. There was no need of the oppressive odour, +the dull roaring and thundering and hissing, to call up a degree of +reverent admiration, even fear, and it required an effort of will +to stay and grow used to the tremendous sight. The first sensation +on seeing the crater is certainly terror, then curiosity awakens, +and one looks and wonders; yet the sight never becomes familiar, and +never loses its threatening aspect. Still, the inner crater may be +a disappointment. From a distance, we see the great manifestations, +the volcano in action, when its giant forces are in play and it looks +grand and monumental. From near by, we see it in repose, and the crater +looks quite insignificant. Instead of the fire we expected to see, +we find lava blocks and ashes, and instead of the clash of elemental +forces, we see a dark mass, that glows dully. We can hardly believe +that here is the origin of the explosions that shake the island, +and are inclined to consider the demon of the volcano rather as a +mischievous clown than a thundering, furious giant. + +I went to the slope of the eastern crater to find a spot from which I +might be able to photograph an eruption, and returned to camp just as +the sun sank down in red fire, and the evening mists formed a white +belt around the two black mountains. The tops of the craters shone +red against a cool evening sky. + +Suddenly an immense cloud shot up, white and sky-high. One side of it +shone orange in the last sunbeams, the other was dull and grey, and +the top mingled with the evening clouds. It was a wildly beautiful +sight, gone too soon. A hawk circled afar in the green sky, night +crept across the plain, and soon the moon poured her silver over the +tranquil scene. I hoped in vain to see an eruption equal to that of +the last nights. Everything was quiet, the volcano seemed extinct, +the fog thickened, covering the mountains and the moon. It became +disagreeably cool, and there was a heavy dew. The natives shivered in +their blankets, and I was most uncomfortable under a light canvas. We +were all up long before daylight, when the volcano sent out a large +cloud. The sun and the fog had a long struggle, when suddenly the +clouds tore apart, and the welcome sunbeams came to warm us. + +I went to the spot chosen the day before and dug my camera into the +lava and waited. My impatience was quieted by the splendid view I +enjoyed, embracing nearly all the islands of the group: Epi, Malekula, +Aoba, Pentecoste, and higher than all, the cone of Lopevi. All these +floated in a soft, blue haze, and even the two craters shone in a +violet hue. + +We waited for several hours, freezing in spite of the bright sun, +between the damp, mossy walls of the gully where we sat, and the +volcano remained quiet, merely hissing and roaring and emitting steam, +but a real eruption did not occur then, nor for several weeks later. We +returned to camp, packed up our things, and hurried down the slippery +gullies and lava banks, diving back into the thick, heavy atmosphere +of the sea-level; and at nightfall I washed off the heat and dust of +the day in the warm waves of the ocean. + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +PENTECOSTE + + +The term of service of my Ambrym boys being over, I tried to replace +them in Paama, but failed; but Mr. G. kindly took me to Epi, where +I engaged four new boys. However, they proved as sulky as they were +dirty, and I was disgusted with them, and quite glad they had refused +to sign for more than a month. As they were all troubled with many +sores, they were of very little service to me, and I gladly sent them +home by steamer when their month was up. + +I returned to Dip Point, and a few days later Dr. B. escorted me to +Olal, where I took up my quarters with Mr. D., a young Australian +who was trying to make a living by the coprah trade. In Olal, at +the northern point of Ambrym, the alcohol trade is particularly +flourishing, and numerous settlers along the coast earn large sums +by selling liquor. Everybody knows this, and numbers of intoxicated +natives are always to be seen, so that it is somewhat surprising that +the authorities pretend not to have sufficient proof to punish these +traders. If ever one of them is fined, the amount is so minute that +the sale of half a dozen bottles makes up for it, so that they go on +as before. I myself witnessed two cases of death in consequence of +drinking, alone and at one sitting, a bottle of pure absinthe. + +The house of Mr. D. was typical of the dwellings built by the +colonists. In a circumference of about 50 metres, the bush had +been cleared, on a level spot somewhat off the shore and slightly +elevated. Here stood a simple grass hut, 3 metres wide and 6 long; +the floor was covered with gravel, and the interior divided into +a store-room and a living-room. On the roof lay a few sheets of +corrugated iron, the rain from which was collected in a tank to provide +water. A few paces off was another hut, where the coprah was smoked +and the boys slept, and on the beach was a shed for storing the coprah. + +The actual work a coprah trader has to do is very small, amounting +to little besides waiting for the natives who bring the coprah or +the fresh nuts, to weigh them and sell his goods. Occasionally he +may visit a distant village by boat to buy coprah there; but there is +plenty of unoccupied time, and it is not surprising that many of the +settlers take to drink from pure boredom. Not so Mr. D., who tried +to educate the neighbouring natives, but with small success. + +I did not see much of interest here, or learn anything new about +the natives, but I was able to obtain some interesting objects, and +my collection of skulls was nicely started, until some one told the +natives not to bring me any more skulls, as on the day of resurrection +the former owners would not be able to find their heads. The same +person created all sorts of difficulties when I attempted some +excavations, and at last insinuated that I was a German spy. It is +sad to see that the very people who, by virtue of their education +and position, ought to help one most, work against one, while very +often poor and plain people make sacrifices to help one along. + +A young Ambrymese who had worked for me for some days, wanted to +enlist in my service when I left, although he grew tearful at the +thought of Malekula, where I intended to go next, and where he was +convinced he would be killed. Lingban was a light-haired native, +very nice-looking, and a favourite with the ladies; this fact had +brought him into considerable trouble, and he was obliged to leave +his home. He stayed with me for three months, and was not killed, +but suffered much from home-sickness. He finally settled at the south +end of Pentecoste, whence he could see his beloved Ambrym, count the +cocoa-nut trees on the shore and see the heavy clouds over the volcano. + +From Dip Point Mr. S. took me over to Aunua on Malekula, the station +of the Rev. F. Paton, a son of the celebrated J. G. Paton, the founder +of the Presbyterian missions in the New Hebrides. He lived there as a +widower, devoting all his strength, time and thought to the spiritual +and physical welfare of the natives. + +Malekula has the reputation of being one of the most dangerous islands +in the group. The natives in the north, the Big Nambas, are certainly +not very gentle, and the others, too, are high-spirited and will not +submit to ill-treatment from the settlers. Malekula is the second +largest island of the group, and its interior is quite unexplored. I +could not penetrate inland, as I was unable to find boys and guides +for a voyage they all thought extremely dangerous. Mr. Paton, who +had traversed the island at various points, consoled me by telling +me that the culture inland was much the same as along the coast. So +I gave up my plan, though with some regret. + +Mr. Paton took me to the south end of Malekula, and left me on one of +the flat coral islands, which are all connected under the surface by +an extensive reef. The landscape is charming, the sea above the reef +shining in all possible shades, and small flat islands enlivening +the view in all directions. In these islands only Christians live, +the few remaining heathen having retired to the mainland. + +Here on the south coast the strange fashion obtains of deforming the +head. This habit is very rare in the Pacific, and restricted to two +small districts. It is now purely a matter of fashion or vanity,--the +longer the head, the handsomer the individual is thought to be,--but +probably there was originally some religious or hygienic notion at +the bottom of the peculiar custom. The operation is begun about a +month after birth, by rubbing the child's head with grease and soot, +and then putting on a small cap of braided pandanus fibre, which is +very tight and allows the head to develop only in the direction of the +crown. When the cap becomes too tight, it is cut off, and another, +a little larger, put on, until the parents are satisfied with the +shape of the child's head. These baby skulls have an extreme shape +which is very ugly, and the whole process can hardly be agreeable to +the patient; but the operation does not seem to have any prejudicial +effect on the intellect, and in later years the shape of the head +becomes somewhat less marked, although a man from the south of Malekula +is always unmistakable. + +This region is remarkable, too, for its highly developed +ancestor-worship. Although the general ideas on the subject are +the same here as elsewhere in the archipelago, there is a special +veneration here for the head or skull of deceased ancestors. The +bones are generally used in making arrow-heads and lance-points, +and the head, which is useless, is thrown away in most islands, +or buried again; but in the south of Malekula, the heads are kept, +and the face is reproduced in a plastic material of fibres, clay and +sticky juice. The work is very cleverly done, and the face looks quite +natural, with fine, slightly Semitic features. The surface is varnished +and painted with patterns corresponding to the caste of the dead. Often +the face has eyes made of bits of shell, the real hair is stuck on, +and the plumes and nose-stick are not forgotten, so that the whole +becomes an exact portrait of the deceased. Whether this head is to have +a body or not is a question of caste. The higher the caste of the dead, +the more completely is his body modelled. The heads of low castes are +simply stuck on poles, higher ones have bodies of carved wood, often +branches to indicate arms; but the bodies of the highest castes are +composed of bamboo, fibres and straw, and modelled throughout in the +same way as the head. They are covered with varnish, and every detail +reproduced, including dress, ornaments and caste signs. In their right +hands these statues carry a "bubu" or shell horn, and in their left, +a pig's jaw. The shoulders are modelled in the shape of faces, and from +these, occasionally, sticks protrude, bearing the heads of dead sons, +so that such a statue often has three or four heads. These figures +stand along the walls of the gamal, smiling with expressionless faces +on their descendants round the fires, and are given sacrifices of food. + +Side by side with this ancestor-worship there goes a simpler +skull-cult, by which a man carries about the head of a beloved son +or wife, as a dear remembrance of the departed. Among a flourishing +population it would naturally be impossible to obtain such objects, +but here, where the people are rapidly decreasing in number, a statue +often enough loses its descendants, whereupon others have no objection +to sell it. + +The taste for plastic art shows in other things as well. I found +several grotesque dancing-masks and sticks, made for some special +dance. The feeling for caricature expressed in these articles is +extraordinary and amusing even, from a European point of view. Here, +too, the Semitic type appears, and the natives seem to delight in the +hooked noses, thick lips and small chins. I gathered a rich harvest of +these curios near the little island of Hambi; unfortunately Mr. Paton +came to take me home before I had time to pack the objects carefully, +and I had to leave them in charge of natives until the arrival of the +steamer; when I found them again, after six months, they had suffered +a good deal. + +Towards evening, while rounding the south-east corner of Malekula, +our motor broke down, and we had neither oars nor sail. Fortunately +the tide was in our favour, and we improvised a sail from a blanket, so +that we drifted slowly along and reached the anchorage late at night. + +Mr. Paton then took me to Malo, where a Frenchman, Mr. I., was +expecting me. On the east coast there was but little to be done, +as the natives had nearly all disappeared; but I was able to pick +up some skulls near a number of abandoned villages. I found very +considerable architectural remains,--walls, mounds and altars, all +of masonry; buildings of this importance are to be found nowhere else +except in Aore and the Banks Islands, and it seems probable that the +populations of these three districts are related. + +I had an interesting experience here. Mr. I. and his neighbour did +not enjoy the best of reputations as regarded their treatment of +natives. One day Mr. I. took me over to N.'s place. N. was just +returning from a recruiting trip to Malekula. We saw him come +ashore, staggering and moaning; on being questioned, he told us +that he had been attacked by the natives, and his crew eaten up. He +was in a frightful state, completely broken, weeping like a child, +and cursing the savages, to whom, he said, he had never done any +wrong. His grief was so real that I began to pity the man, and +thought he had probably been paying the penalty for the misdeeds +of another recruiter. Mr. I. was just as emphatic in cursing the +bloodthirstiness of the natives, but while we were going home, he +told me that Mr. N. had kidnapped thirty-four natives at that very +place a year before, so that the behaviour of the others was quite +comprehensible. From that moment I gave up trying to form an opinion +on any occurrence of the kind without having carefully examined +the accounts of both parties. One can hardly imagine how facts are +distorted here, and what innocent airs people can put on who are really +criminals. I have heard men deplore, in the most pathetic language, +acts of cruelty to natives, who themselves had killed natives in cold +blood for the sake of a few pounds. It requires long and intimate +acquaintance with the people to see at all clearly in these matters, +and for a Resident it is quite impossible not to be deceived unless +he has been on the spot for a year at least. + +While waiting at Dip Point for an opportunity to cross to Pentecoste, +I saw the volcano in full activity, and one day it rained ashes, +so that the whole country was black as if strewn with soot, and the +eruptions shook the house till the windows rattled. I made a second +ascent of the mountain, but had such bad weather that I saw nothing +at all. We came back, black as chimney-sweeps from the volcanic +dust we had brushed off the bushes. I heard later that the extinct +eastern crater had unexpectedly broken out again, and that several +lava streams were flowing towards the coast. + +Pentecoste, a long, narrow island running north and south, resembles +Maevo in shape. My host here was a missionary who seemed to connect +Christianity with trousers and other details of civilization. It was +sad to see how many quaint customs, harmless enough in themselves, +were needlessly destroyed. The wearing of clothes constitutes a +positive danger to health, as in this rainy climate the natives are +almost constantly soaked, do not trouble to change their wet clothes, +sleep all night in the same things and invariably catch cold. Another +source of infection is their habit of exchanging clothes, thus +spreading all sorts of diseases. That morals are not improved by +the wearing of clothes is a fact; for they are rather better in the +heathen communities than in the so-called Christian ones. It is to be +hoped that the time is not far off when people will realize how very +little these externals have to do with Christianity and morality; but +there is reason to fear that it will then be too late to save the race. + +We undertook an excursion into the interior, to a district whose +inhabitants had only recently been pacified by Mr. F., my host; the +tribes we visited were very primitive, especially on the east coast, +where there is little contact with whites. The people were still +cannibals, and I had no difficulty in obtaining some remnants of a +cannibal meal. + +We frequently tried to obtain information about the organization of +the family among these natives, but, being dependent on biche la mar, +we made small progress. My observations were supplemented later by +the Rev. Mr. Drummond, for which I am very much indebted to him; +some of these observations may be of interest. + +The population is divided into two clans--the Bule and the Tabi. The +former is supposed to have originated from the tridacna shell, the +latter from the taro. Every individual knows exactly to which clan +he belongs, although there are no external signs. There is a strict +rule forbidding marriage within the clan, and an offence against this +law was formerly punished by death; to this day, even in Christian +districts, marriage within the clan is extremely rare. No one can +change his clan. Children do not belong to the clan of the father, +but to that of the mother, and property cannot be alienated from the +clan. The father has no rights over his children, and the head of the +family is not the father, but the eldest brother of the mother, who +educates the boys and helps them along in the Suque. Land belongs to +the clan, which is like a large family, and indeed seems a stronger +organization than the family itself; but the clans live together +in the villages, and as such they form a whole with regard to the +outside world. Quarrels between two clans are not so rare as those +inside a clan, and the vendetta does not act inside the clan, whereas +a murder outside the clan must be avenged. Uncles and aunts within +the clan are called father and mother, and the cousins are called +sister and brother. + +However, this exogamic system could not prevent inbreeding, as there +was always the possibility that uncles and nieces might marry, so +that a "horizontal" system was superimposed across this "vertical" +one, forbidding all marriages between different generations. Thus, +all marriages between near relations being impossible, the chances to +marry at all are considerably diminished, so that nowadays, with the +decreased population, a man very often cannot find a wife, even though +surrounded by any number of girls. I do not mean to imply by this +that the whole clan-system was organized simply to prevent inbreeding. + +As I have said before, young men, as a rule, either cannot marry, +being too poor to buy a wife, or, at best, can only afford to pay +for an old widow, a low-priced article. The young, pretty girls are +generally bought by old men, who often buy them when children, paying +half the price down, and waiting till the girl is of marriageable +age. As soon as she is old enough, she has to work for her future +husband, and is under the care of one of his wives. Later on, the +husband pays the rest of the money, builds a house for the girl, +and the marriage takes place without any ceremony beyond a dinner to +the nearest relatives of the couple. In most islands the girl cannot +object to a match otherwise than by running away from a disagreeable +husband. Generally, when she has run away several times, and repeated +beatings have not changed her mind, her parents pay back the money +and the husband gives up his wife. What is valued highest in a woman +is her capacity for work; but the young men have a marked taste for +beauty, and there are girls that are courted by all the young fellows +of the village, and who, although married to an old man, accept the +addresses of a young one. The husband does not seem to mind much, +provided the woman continues to work well for him. + +There is such a thing as love even here, and it has been known to +grow so powerful as to lead, if unrequited, to suicide or to rapid +pining away and to death. + +On the whole, the women are treated fairly well by their husbands, +but for an occasional beating, which is often provoked by foolish +behaviour; and they are taken care of, as they represent a great +value. There are old ruffians, however, who take a perverse pleasure in +torturing their wives, and these unhappy women are quite helpless, as +they are entirely in the power of their husbands. Otherwise, the fate +of the women is not as bad as many people think, and the severest rules +have never yet prevented Eve from finding and taking her pleasure. + +During babyhood the children stay with their mothers; but from the +age of four on the boys spend most of their time in the gamal, while +the girls remain under their mother's care. Clothes are not worn by +the boys till they have joined the Suque, which, in some cases, takes +place long after puberty. The girls seem to begin to wear something +whenever the mother thinks fit, generally between the ages of four and +seven. From that moment every connection between brother and sister +ceases; they may not speak to each other, not meet on the road, in +some regions not even see each other, and to mention the sister's +name before the brother is, if not an actual insult, certainly very +tactless. Similar rules regulate the relations between parents- +and children-in-law. + +The parents are very lenient to their children, and pass over every +impertinence; they get small thanks for their kindness, and the boys, +especially, often treat their mothers very badly. The natives' fondness +for children makes them very good nurses, and it is a source of the +greatest pride to a native boy to take care of a white child. + +The father's death is of little importance to the children, and not +much to their mother, who, as a rule, goes over to her husband's oldest +brother. If the mother dies, the children are adopted by a maternal +aunt or some other woman of the clan. One reason why all this is of +no great importance is the far-reaching communism which is a feature +of native life, every one sleeping and eating wherever he pleases. + +Mr. F. took me up north, where I wished to study the population. I must +not omit to mention that the population of Pentecoste is divided into +two distinct types: the people in the south are like those of Ambrym, +those in the north resemble the inhabitants of Aoba. This is evident +not only in the dress, but also quite distinctly in the exterior of +the people. Yet in spite of the close relations with Ambrym, the art +of sculpture, so highly developed in the other island, is entirely +lacking in the south of Pentecoste. + +In the north we find a dress similar to that of Aoba: the men do +not wear the nambas, while the women have a small mat around the +waist. The art of braiding is brought to great perfection here, and +the mats from Pentecoste are surpassed only by those from Maevo. The +material is pandanus, whose leaves are split into narrow strips, +bleached and then braided. Some of the mats are dyed with the root of +a plant, by boiling in a dyeing vat of bark. Besides the small mats, +chiefly used for the women's dress, there are larger ones which serve +as money and represent a great amount. They are as much as 1 metre +wide and 4 long, and are always dyed. The manufacture of these mats is +very laborious, and only high-caste men with many wives can afford to +have them made. The patterns for dyeing are cut out of banana-sheath, +which is then tied tightly on the mat, and the whole rolled round a +thick stick. The dyeing takes almost an entire day. These mats are +used, for example, to buy the valuable tusked pigs. + +The only form of wood-carving in this region are clubs, and those made +here are the most elegant of the whole group, and so much in demand in +all the islands that they are quite largely exported. At present they +are mostly used as ceremonial clubs at dances. All those of modern +make are inferior to the old ones in regard to hardness, elegance of +shape, polish and strength. Here, in Pentecoste, I found the first +basket-plates I had ever seen. They are frequent farther north, in +the Banks Islands, but do not exist in the south. These plates had +no centre, and had to be lined with leaves to make them serviceable, +being mere rings. They are used to carry cooked food about. In the +Banks Islands the natives have learned to braid the centre too. + +Up in these northern mountains I spent a most unpleasant week in wet, +cold weather, in a wretched house; but I had the satisfaction of +finding two boys to take the place of Lingban, who had, by this time, +become semi-idiotic with home-sickness. + +I returned to the coast and waited for an opportunity to cross to Aoba, +but the weather was so bad that even Mr. G., an old sea-dog, would not +risk the voyage; so we tried to get to Ambrym instead, where I could +meet the steamer for Aoba. We waited for a calm day, and started out +in the tiny whale-boat. Soon we were caught by one after another of +the ill-famed Pentecoste squalls, and though my skipper was known +as one of the best sailors in the islands, one squall struck us so +suddenly that the boat heeled over, and only a very quick turn of +the wheel saved us from capsizing. The escape was such a narrow one +that even Mr. G. turned pale, and decided to go back, especially as +the boys sat on deck, quite useless, green with fear and incapable +of helping us in any way. + +It took us a long time to beat back, and we were all glad to feel +solid ground under our feet once more. After a few days we started +again, but luck was against me on this occasion, and inside of twelve +hours I missed the steamer no less than three times, which, in the +New Hebrides, implies a delay of four weeks. + +So, in a heavy whale-boat, I rowed along the coast toward Olal with +some natives. A dull rain drenched us, followed by glaring sunshine +that stewed us in heavy dampness. Like the ruins of a giant wall, black +lava blocks lay here and there along the coast. The surf foamed white +in the crevasses, and the forest rose, sallow and greenish-yellow, +above the high bank. Here and there naked natives squatted on the +rocks, motionless, or looking lazily for crabs; among the huge boulders +they looked tiny, and their colouring scarcely distinguished them +from their surroundings; so that they seemed rather like animals, or +the shyest of cave-dwellers. Floating slowly on the grey sea, in the +sad broken light, I thought I had never seen a more inhospitable coast. + +Owing to the heavy swell, we had difficulty in passing through the +narrow channel inside the reef. The great rollers pounded against +the coral banks, and poured back in a thousand white streamlets, +like a wonderful cascade, to be swallowed by the next wave. + +I found my friend, Mr. D., in a sad state with fever, cold and +loneliness; wrapped up in woollen caps, blankets and heavy clothes, he +looked more like an Arctic explorer than a dweller near the Equator. He +spoke of leaving the islands, and, indeed, did so some months later. + +On my way to Aoba I had to spend a few days off Pentecoste, in such +rainy weather that I went ashore but once in all that time. The day was +fine, and I shall never forget the beauty of that woodland scene. A +lovely creek winds through reeds, reflecting the bright sand and the +bushes on its banks. Dark iron-woods rise in stiff, broken lines, +and their greyish needles quiver like a light plume against the blue +sky, where white clouds float serenely. Inland the forest swells in +a green wall, and farther off it lies in rounded cupolas and domes +of soft green, fading into a light around the distant hills. Under +overhanging branches I lie, sheltered from the sun; at my feet the +ripples caress the bank; delicate lianas hang from the branches +and trail lazily in the water. Swallows dart across the stream, +and sometimes the low call of a wood-dove sounds from far away. A +cricket shrieks, and stops suddenly, as if shocked at the discordant +sound of its own voice. Far off in the hills I can hear the rushing +of the wind, like a deep chord that unites in a sacred symphony with +the golden sun and the glittering water to voice the infinite joy of +living that penetrates all creation to-day. + +Down-stream I can see the heavy coast banks, with a narrow strip of +brilliant blue sea shining above them, and now and then a glint of +snowy foam. Two pandanuses frame the view, their long leaves waving +softly in the breeze that comes floating down the valley. Half asleep, +I know the delights of the lotus-eaters' blessed isle. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +AOBA + + +Next day I landed in Aoba, at "Albert's." He was an American negro, +who, after having been a stoker and sailor, had settled here as a +coprah trader. His language was of the strangest, a mixture of biche la +mar, negro French and English, and was very hard to understand. With +the help of two native women he kept his house in good order, and +he was decidedly one of the most decent colonists of the group, +and tried to behave like a gentleman, which is more than can be said +of some whites. He seemed to confirm the theory that the African is +superior to the Melanesian. Albert sheltered me to the best of his +ability, although I had to sleep in the open, under a straw roof, +and his bill of fare included items which neither my teeth nor my +stomach could manage, such as an octopus. There were several other +negroes in Aoba; one was Marmaduke, an enormous Senegalese, who had +grown somewhat simple, and lived like the natives, joining the Suque +and dancing at their festivals. He occasionally came to dinner at +Albert's; this was always amusing, as Albert thought himself far +superior to Marmaduke, and corrected his mistakes with still more +comical impossibilities. Both were most polite and perfectly sober. The +talk, as a rule, turned on stories of ghosts, in which both of them +firmly believed, and by which both were much troubled. Marmaduke was +strangled every few nights by old women, while a goblin had sat on +Albert's chest every night until he had cleared the bush round his +house and emptied his Winchester three times into the darkness. This +had driven the ghosts away,--a pretty case of auto-suggestion. I +was interested in hearing these stories, though I should hardly have +thought a sensible man like Albert could have believed such things. + +The people of Aoba are quite different from those of the other +islands,--light-coloured, often straight-haired, with Mongolian +features; they are quite good-looking, intelligent, and their habits +show many Polynesian traits. The Suque is not all-important here: +it scarcely has the character of a secret society, and the separation +of the sexes is not insisted on. Men and women live together, and the +fires do not appear to be separated. As a result, there is real family +life, owing in part to the fact that meals are eaten in common. The +gamal is replaced by a cooking-house, which is open to the women; +generally it is nothing but a great gabled roof, reaching to the +ground on one side and open on the others. Here the families live +during the day, and the young men and guests sleep at night, while +the married couples sleep in their huts, which are grouped around +the cooking-house. + +The position of the women, so much better here than elsewhere, is +not without effect on their behaviour. They are independent and +self-possessed, and do not run away from a stranger nor hide in +dark corners when a white man wants to speak to them. Because of +their intelligence they are liked on plantations as house-servants, +and so many of them have gone away for this purpose that Aoba has +been considerably depopulated in consequence; few of these women ever +return, and those who do are usually sick. Some Aoba women have made +very good wives for white men. + +The people of Aoba are remarkable for their cleanliness, the dwellers +on the coast spending half the day in the water, while those from the +mountains never miss their weekly bath, after which they generally +carry a few cocoa-nuts full of salt water up to their homes. The +women are very pretty, slim and strong; their faces often have quite a +refined outline, a pointed chin, a small mouth and full but well-cut +lips; their eyes are beautiful, with a soft and sensual expression; +and the rhythm of their movements, their light and supple walk, +give them a charm hardly ever to be found in Europe. The men, too, +are good to look at. Considering the intelligence and thriftiness of +the race, it is doubly regrettable that alcoholism, recruiting and +consumption have had such evil effects of recent years. + +I roamed about in the neighbourhood of Nabutriki and attended several +festivals; they are much the same as elsewhere, except that the +pigs are not killed by braining, but by trampling on their stomachs, +which apparently causes rupture of the heart and speedy death. + +As I mentioned elsewhere, a man's rise in caste is marked on every +occasion by the receipt of new fire, rubbed on a special stick +ornamented with flowers. Fire is lighted here, as in all Melanesia, +by "ploughing," a small stick being rubbed lengthwise in a larger +one. If the wood is not damp, it will burn in less than two minutes: +it is not necessary, as is often stated, to use two different kinds +of wood. To-day matches are used nearly everywhere, and the natives +hardly ever "plough" their fire, except for ceremonial purposes; +but they are still very clever about keeping the fire burning, and +often take along a smouldering log on their walks. + +Wood-carving and sculpture are wanting, except in the shape of drums, +which are placed in a horizontal position, and often reach considerable +dimensions. + +Not far from Albert's lived a man of the highest caste, my friend +Agelan. He was planning to kill one hundred tusked pigs in the near +future, which would raise him to the highest caste far and wide, +but would also impoverish him for the rest of his life. He lived +quietly and comfortably, like a country squire, surrounded by his +relatives and descendants. He seemed fond of good living, and his wife +was an excellent housekeeper. In the midst of a somewhat colourless +Christian population, wearing trousers and slovenly dresses, using +enamel pots and petrol-lamps, Agelan and his household were a genuine +relic of the good old times, and no one could have pretended that +his home was less pleasant than those around him. These things are +largely a matter of taste; and those who prefer grotesque attire to +beautiful nakedness will be happy to know that their wishes will soon +be fulfilled. I liked the old heathen, and spent a good deal of time +with him. A sketch of his home life may not come amiss, just because +these primitive ways are dying out so fast. + +As I near the house, some dogs rush out at me, and a woman's voice +calls them back; Agelan roars a welcome--he always shouts, and likes to +put on masterful airs; for in years gone by he was a very unpleasant +customer, until the man-of-war--but that is all ancient history, and +now his bark is much worse than his bite. I have the honour of being +in his good books, thanks to certain medical services I was able to +render him; he has an ugly cough, for which we have tried in turn: +iodine, Peruvian balsam, eucalyptus oil, quinine, and other medicines; +nothing helps, but he seems to enjoy swallowing the drugs. + +The floor of the house is hard clay; there are two fireplaces at one +end, and at the other some large drums serve as seats. Everywhere +in the roofing hang bows, arrows, bones, plummets, ropes, and +clubs. Agelan has been toasting himself at a little fire of his +own; now he rises, coughing, and shakes hands. He is a very tall, +strongly-made man of about sixty, with a high forehead, long, +hooked nose, wide mouth, thin lips and white beard. His dress is the +old-fashioned loin-mat, and around his wrists he wears heavy strands +of shell money. His wife, too, is very tall and strong, with quiet, +dignified movements; she may be forty years old. Everything about +her is calm and determined; while not handsome, she has such a kind +expression as to look very pleasant. She wears a small loin-cloth, and +her light coffee-coloured skin is scrupulously clean. Around her neck +and over her left shoulder she wears a string of shells, and around +her ankles, small red beads. Near her squats her little daughter, +a pretty child of six; an adopted daughter plays near the fire with +a small, thick-bellied orphan boy, who is always crying. The girls, +too, wear little ornaments; and their dainty movements, curly heads, +round faces and great dark eyes are very attractive. + +The midday meal is steaming under a heap of leaves and dust, and a man +is busily scraping cocoa-nuts for the delicious cocoa-nut milk. Agelan +sends one of the girls for an unripe nut, which is opened in three +deft cuts, and I am offered the refreshing drink as a welcome. Now +Agelan, who has been brooding for days over these matters, questions +me as to my origin and plans, and he roars himself nearly hoarse, +for we cannot understand each other. The other man, a fugitive from +the east coast, is asked to interpret, but he is sulky and awkward; +not that he is a bad sort, but he is sick, and spends most of his time +asleep in a shed he has built for himself in a corner of the house, +and only appears at meals. + +The youngest son comes in, the last left to Agelan, for the older +ones have all joined the mission,--it is the fashion. This boy is a +quiet, cheerful lad of twelve, already a high caste, for his father +has killed many pigs for him. He has shot a miserable pigeon, and +his mother and the girls laugh at the poor booty, much to his chagrin. + +Agelan now takes me to "view" a particularly fine tusked pig, tied +under a roof, on a clean couch of straw; the boy shows it bits of +cocoa-nut to make it open its mouth, so that I can see and admire its +tusks. Agelan would like nothing better than to show off all his pigs, +and if I were a native I would pass them in review as we Europeans +visit picture-galleries; but I refuse as politely as I can. We +return to the cook-house, where the cocoa-nut rasping is finished; +the man washes his hands in the water of a nut, splitting it open and +squeezing the water in a little spray on to his hands. Mrs. Agelan +knows a simpler way; she fills her mouth with water and squirts it on +her hands. The cocoa-nut gratings are kneaded with a little water, +while the girls sweep the earth off the cooking-place and uncover +the stones; an appetizing smell spreads, and the master of the house +watches the preparations with a sharp eye and a silent tongue. One +feels that the least carelessness will provoke an outburst, and, +indeed, a solemn silence has fallen on the company, only the wife +smiles quietly. + +"Lap-lap banana good!" Agelan roars in my ear, and I nod assent. Now +the hot stones are removed with bamboo tongs, and the great flat +object, wrapped in banana leaves, is taken out. Mrs. Agelan throws back +the leaves and uncovers the beautifully cooked golden lap-lap. Her +lord looks at it critically, and returns to his corner silent, but +evidently satisfied. His wife cannot quite hide a smile of pride. + +The stranger now squeezes the cocoa-nut gratings over a wooden bowl, +and a creamy juice runs through his fingers. The bowl is brought to +Agelan, who looks at it as if reading an oracle; then he selects a +hot stone from his own fire, and sends the bowl back to be embedded +in the gratings. He approaches with his stone in a wooden fork, +and squats down near the bowl lost in thought, as if anxious not to +miss the right moment; then he drops the stone into the milk, which +hisses, bubbles and steams. A fine smell of burnt fat is noticeable; +and while the liquid thickens, Agelan behaves as if he could perform +miracles and was in league with supernatural powers. After a while +his wife hands him the bowl, and he holds it over the pudding, +undecided how and where to pour the milk; one would think the fate +and welfare of creation depended on his action. Being a man of energy, +he makes up his mind, and pours one stream right across the pudding, +then empties his bowl and retires with a sigh to his seat. About ten +more bowlfuls are needed, but these are poured by Mrs. Agelan without +further ceremony. The solemn hush is over. With a long bush-knife, +Mama cuts the pudding into strips and squares and distributes it, +and the meal proceeds amid general satisfaction. I am given a large +slab; fortunately it tastes very good and is easily digestible, +for politeness ordains that one must eat enormous quantities. At +one stage of the proceedings the girls are sent to take some food to +the neighbours as a present. When everyone has finished, Agelan lies +down for a siesta, while his wife lights a pipe and squats in silent +happiness near the fire. The girls play with the dirty little boy, +and the son plucks his tiny pigeon and a flying-fox; singeing the +creature's fur off occasions such an evil smell that I prefer to take +my leave. Mrs. Agelan smiles her farewell, the girls giggle, and when +I have gone some distance I hear Agelan, awakened from his siesta, +roar a sleepy good-bye after me. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LOLOWAY--MALO--THE BANKS ISLANDS + + +Having traversed the western part of the island, I sailed to +Loloway, near the eastern point, one of the loveliest spots in the +archipelago. Lofty cliffs flank two sides of a round bay; at the +entrance a barrier-reef breaks the swell, which glides in a soft +undulation over the quiet water, splashing up on the sandy beach. All +around is the forest, hanging in shadowy bowers over the water, +and hardly a breeze is astir. The white whale-boat of the Anglican +missionary floats motionless on the green mirror; sometimes a fish +leaps up, or a pigeon calls from the woods. In the curve of the +bay the shore rises in two terraces; on the lower lies the Anglican +missionary's house, just opposite the entrance. In the evening the sun +sets between the cliffs, and pours a stream of the purest gold through +the narrow gap. It is a pity this fairy spot is so rarely inhabited; +Melanesian missionaries are not often at home, being constantly on +the road, or at work in the native villages. Mr. G., too, was on the +point of departure, and agreed to take me with him on his trip. + +In his alarmingly leaky boat we sailed westward, two boys baling all +the time. We ran into a small anchorage, pulled the boat ashore, and +marched off inland. The people I found here were similar to those in +the west, except that they had developed certain arts to a greater +degree of perfection, particularly mat-braiding and tattooing. The +braiding is done by a method very similar to that in vogue on +Pentecoste. The tattooing is mostly done by women and on women; +but the men, especially the high castes, often have a beautifully +designed sicca leaf running from the chest towards one shoulder, +which probably has some religious significance. The women often have +their whole body, arms and legs, covered with tattooing, as if with +fine lace. The operation is done bit by bit, some one part being +treated every few days. The colour used is the rosin of a nut-tree +precipitated on a cool stone and mixed with the juice of a plant; +the pattern is drawn on the skin with a stick, and then traced with +the tattooing-needle. This consists of three orange thorns, tied +at right angles to a stick. The needles are guided along the design +with the left hand, while the right keeps striking the handle softly +with a light stick, to drive the needles into the skin. This is kept +up until a distinct outline is produced; the operation is not very +painful. The skin is then washed and rubbed with a certain juice, +which evidently acts as a disinfectant; at least I never saw any +inflammation consequent on tattooing. During the next few days some +of the dye works out and falls off with the dry crust that forms on +the wound, leaving the tattooing a little paler. The patterns are +rather complicated, and at the present day there are no recognizable +representations of real objects; yet there seems no doubt that at one +time all the designs represented some real thing. They are carefully +adapted to the body, and accentuate its structure. The women who do +the tattooing are well paid, so that only the wealthy can afford to +have their wives and daughters tattooed all over; and naturally a +tattooed woman brings a higher price in the matrimonial market than a +"plain" one. + +In this same place I had occasion to observe an interesting zoological +phenomenon, the appearance of the palolo-worm, which occurs almost all +over the Pacific once a year, at a certain date after the October full +moon. The natives know the date exactly, which proves the accuracy +of their chronology. The palolo is a favourite delicacy, and they +never fail to fish for it. We went down to the shore on the first +night; there were not many worms as yet, but the next evening the +water was full of the greenish and brownish threads, wriggling about +helplessly. Each village had its traditional fishing-ground, and we +could see the different fires all along the coast. The worms were +gathered by hand and thrown into baskets, and after midnight we went +home with a rich harvest. The palolo is mixed with pudding, and said +to taste like fish; I am not in a position to pronounce an opinion. + +I returned to Nabutriki, and thence to Malo, where Mr. W. informed me +that the Burns-Philp steamer had already passed, and asked me to stay +with him and his kind family until I should find an opportunity to +cross. I accepted all the more gladly, as this part of Malo was still +quite unknown to me. The population I found here is probably identical +with that which formerly inhabited the south shore of Santo. This +was interesting to me because of certain scientific details, though +on the whole the life was much the same as elsewhere in Melanesia, +with the Suque, etc. I collected a number of charms and amulets, +which the people sold willingly, as they no longer believed in their +power. Formerly, they were supposed to be useful for poisoning, +as love-charms, or for help in collecting many tusked pigs. + +I also visited the neighbouring islands, and heard the gruesome story +of how the last village on Aore disappeared. The Aore people were for +ever at war with those of South Santo, across the Segond Channel. The +men of Aore were about sixty strong, and one day they attacked a +Santo village. Everyone fled except one man, who was helpless from +disease. He was killed and eaten up, and in consequence of this meal +thirty out of the sixty men from Aore died. The others dispersed among +the villages of Malo. In Aore, I had the rare sensation of witnessing +an earthquake below the surface. I was exploring a deep cave in the +coral banks when I heard the well-known rumbling, felt the shock, and +heard some great stalactites fall from the ceiling. This accumulation +of effects seemed then to me a little theatrical and exaggerated. + +The next steamer took me to the Banks Islands, and I went ashore at +Port Patterson on Venua Lava. Here were the headquarters of a rubber +planting company; but the rubber trees had not grown well, and the +company had started cocoa-nuts. I had met Mr. Ch., the director, +before, and he took me in. The company owned a motor-launch, +which cruised all through the Banks Islands, visiting the different +plantations; this gave me a good opportunity to see nearly all the +islands. The sea is much more dangerous here than in the New Hebrides, +being open everywhere; and the strong currents cause heavy tide rips +at the points of the jagged coasts. + +An excursion to Gaua was a failure, owing to bad weather. After +having shivered in a wet hut for four days, we returned to Port +Patterson only just in time; for in the evening the barometer fell, +a bad sign at that season, and the wind set in afresh. The launch was +anchored in a sheltered corner of the bay, near an old yacht and a +schooner belonging to Mr. W., a planter on a neighbouring islet. All +the signs pointed to a coming cyclone, and suddenly it shot from the +mountains, furrowed the sea, and ruled supreme for two days. From +the director's house I watched the whirling squalls gliding over +the water, lifting great lumps of spray, that shot like snow over +the surface and disappeared in the misty distance. Rain rattled in +showers on the roof; everywhere was a hissing, rushing, thundering; +the surf broke in violent, irregular shocks like the trampling of an +excited horse; the wind roared in the forest till the strongest trees +trembled and the palms bent over with inverted crowns. In a moment +the creeks swelled to torrents, and in every gully there ran rivers, +which collected to a deep lake in the plain. In the house the rain +penetrated everywhere, leaked through the roof, dripped on the beds, +and made puddles on the floor. + +Meanwhile the captain and engineer of the launch had passed an +unpleasant time; they had stayed aboard till the rolling of the boat +drove them to the larger yacht; but seeing the schooner break her +two chains and drift on to the reef, they became frightened and went +ashore in the dinghey, and home along the beach. Later they arrived +at the station and reported "all well," and were amazed when I told +them that the launch had stranded. I had just been looking from the +veranda through the glass at the boats, when a huge wave picked up +the launch and threw her on the beach. There she had rolled about a +little, and then dug herself into the sand, while the tide fell and +the wind changed. Next day the cyclone had passed, but the swell +was still very heavy. Equipped with everything necessary to float +the launch, we marched along the beach, which was beaten hard by the +waves. We had to cross a swollen river on an improvised raft; to our +satisfaction we found the boat quite unhurt, not even the cargo being +damaged; only a few copper plates were torn. Next day Mr. W. arrived, +lamenting his loss; for his beautiful schooner was pierced in the +middle by a sharp rock, and she hung, shaken by the waves that +broke over her decks and gurgled in the hold. The rigging was torn, +the cabin washed away, and the shore strewn with her doors, planks, +beams and trade goods. It was a pitiful sight to see the handsome +ship bending over like a fallen warrior, while the company's old +yacht had weathered the cyclone quite safely. + +During the work of refloating the boat, Mr. Ch. was taken very ill +with fever, and I nursed him for some days; he was somewhat better by +Christmas Eve, and we had the satisfaction of bringing the saved launch +back to the station. He was visibly relieved, and his good humour was +agreeably felt by his boys as well as by his employes, to whom he sent +a goodly quantity of liquor to celebrate the occasion. We sat down to +a festive dinner and tried to realize that this was Christmas; but it +was so different from Christmas at home, that it was rather hard. At +our feet lay the wide bay, turquoise blue, edged with white surf; +in the distance rose the wonderful silhouette of Mota Lava Island; +white clouds travelled across the sky, and a gentle breeze rustled +in the palms of the forest. The peaceful picture showed no trace of +the fury with which the elements had fought so few days ago. + +Tired with his exertions, Mr. Ch. withdrew early, and I soon followed; +but we were both aroused by the barking of the dogs, followed by the +pad of bare feet on the veranda, whispering and coughing, and then by +a song from rough and untrained throats. The singers were natives of +a Christian village some miles away, who came to sing Christmas hymns +in a strange, rough language, discordant and yet impressive. When +they had finished the director went out to them; he was a man whom one +would not have believed capable of any feeling, but he had tears in his +eyes; words failed him, and he thanked the singers by gestures. We all +went down to the store, where they sang to the employes, and received +presents; after which they spent the rest of the night with the hands, +singing, eating and chatting. On Christmas Day the natives roasted +a fat pig, the employes spent the day over their bottles, and I was +nurse once more, my patient being delirious and suffering very much. + +Before New Year's Day the launch was sent to all the different +stations to fetch the employes, an interesting crowd of more or less +ruined individuals. There was a former gendarme from New Caledonia, a +cavalry captain, an officer who had been in the Boer war, an ex-priest, +a clerk, a banker and a cowboy, all very pleasant people as long as +they were sober; but the arrival of each was celebrated with several +bottles, which the director handed out without any demur, although the +amount was prodigious. Quarrels ensued; but by New Year's Eve peace was +restored, and we all decorated the director's house with wreaths for +the banquet of the evening. The feast began well, but towards midnight +a general fight was going on, which came to an end by the combatants +falling asleep one by one. Thus the new year was begun miserably, +and the next few days were just as bad. The natives looked on at the +fights with round-eyed astonishment; and the director was in despair, +for a second cyclone was threatening, and there was hardly anyone in +a fit condition to help him secure the launch. + +All one morning it rained, and at noon the cyclone broke, coming from +the south-west, as it had done the first time, but with threefold +violence. We sat on the veranda, ready to jump off at any moment, +in case the house should be blown away. The view was wiped out by +the mist; dull crashes resounded in the forest, branches cracked and +flew whirling through the air, all isolated trees were broken off +short, and the lianas tangled and torn. The blasts grew ever more +violent and frequent, and if the house had not been protected by the +mountain, it could never have resisted them. As it was, it shook and +creaked, and a little iron shed went rolling along the ground like +a die. Down in the plain the storm tore the leaves off the palms, +and uprooted trees and blew down houses. The cyclone reached its +climax at sunset, then the barometer rose steadily, and suddenly +both wind and rain ceased. The stillness lasted for about half an +hour and then the storm set in again, this time from the north, +striking the house with all its strength; fortunately it was not so +violent as at first. With the rising barometer the storm decreased and +changed its direction to the east. All next day it rained and blew; +but on the third morning the storm died out in a faint breeze from +the south-east, and when we came to reckon up our damages, we found +that it might have been worse. Meanwhile the employes had had time +to recover from their orgy. A brilliant day dried the damp house, +and soon everything resumed a normal aspect except the forest, which +looked brown and ragged, like autumn woods at home. + +I made use of the first calm day to visit the lonely little islet of +Meralava. As it has no anchorage, no one can land there except in +quiet weather, and so it had come about that the company's employe +had had no communication with the outside world for four months. The +island is an extinct volcano, a regular cone, with the crater as a deep +cavity in the top. There is hardly a level square metre on the whole +island, and the shores rise steeply out of the sea; only a few huge +lava blocks form a base, on which the swell breaks and foams. When +we reached the island, this swell was so heavy as to render landing +almost impossible. All we could do was to take the employe aboard and +return home. I was very sorry to have to give up my visit to Meralava, +as the natives, though all christianized, have preserved more of +their old ways than those of other islands, owing to their infrequent +intercourse with civilization. For the same reason, the population is +quite large; but every time a ship has landed an epidemic goes through +the island, the germs of which appear to be brought by the vessels, +and the natives evidently have very small powers of resistance. We +may here observe on a small scale what has taken place all over the +archipelago in the degeneration and decimation of the aborigines. + +The people of Meralava live on taro, which they grow in terraced +fields, the water being obtained from holes in the rocks, and on +cocoa-nuts, of which the island yields a fair supply. + +The following day we started for Ureparapara, also a volcanic island, +with an enormous crater, one side of which has fallen in; because, +as the natives say, a great fish knocked against it. The sea has +penetrated into the interior of the crater, forming a lovely bay, so +that ships now lie at anchor where formerly the lava boiled and roared. + +In consequence of the frequent intercourse with whites, the population +is scanty. There is hardly a level patch, except the small strip at +the base of the slope and the great reef outside. Here, too, we had +difficulty in landing, but in the evening we found an ideal anchorage +inside the bay. The water was scarcely ruffled, and little wavelets +splashed on the shore, where mangrove thickets spread their bright +foliage. Huge trees bent over the water, protecting the straw roofs +of a little village. In the deep shade some natives were squatting +round fires, and close by some large outrigger-canoes lay on the +beach. On three sides the steep wooded slopes of the former crater's +walls rise up to a sharply dented ridge, and it all looks like a +quiet Alpine lake, so that one involuntarily listens for the sound +of cow-bells. Instead, there is the call of pigeons, and the dull +thunder of the breakers outside. + +We took a holiday in this charming bay; and though the joys of +picnicking were not new to us, the roasting of some pigeons gave us a +festive sensation and a hearty appetite. The night under the bright, +starlit sky, on board the softly rocking launch, wrapped me in a +feeling of safety and coziness I had not enjoyed for a long time. + +Along the steepest path imaginable I climbed next morning to the +mountain's edge. The path often led along smooth rocks, where lianas +served as ropes and roots as a foothold; and I was greatly surprised +to find many fields on top, to which the women have to climb every +day and carry the food down afterwards, which implies acrobatic feats +of no mean order. + +Ureparapara was the northernmost point I had reached so far, and +the neighbourhood of the art-loving Solomon Islands already made +itself felt. Whereas in the New Hebrides every form of art, except +mat-braiding, is at once primitive and decadent, here any number +of pretty things are made, such as daintily designed ear-sticks, +bracelets, necklaces, etc.; I also found a new type of drum, a regular +skin-drum, with the skin stretched across one end, while the other +is stuck into the ground. The skin is made of banana leaves. These +and other points mark the difference between this people and that of +the New Hebrides. As elsewhere all over the Banks group, the people +have long faces, high foreheads, narrow, often hooked, noses, and +a light skin. Accordingly, it would seem that they are on a higher +mental plane than those of the New Hebrides, and cannibalism is said +never to have existed here. + +My collections were not greatly enriched, as a British man-of-war had +anchored here for a few days a short time before; and anyone who knows +the blue-jackets' rage for collecting will understand that they are +quite capable of stripping a small island of its treasures. A great +deal of scientifically valuable material is lost in this way, though +fortunately these collectors go in for size chiefly, leaving small +objects behind, so that I was able to procure several valuable pieces. + +After our return to Port Patterson the launch took me to a plantation +from which I ascended the volcano of Venua Lava. Its activity shows +principally in sulphur springs, and there are large sulphur deposits, +which were worked fifteen years ago by a French company. A large amount +of capital had been collected for the purpose, and for a few weeks +or months the sulphur was carried down to the shore by natives and +exported. Then it was found that the deposits were not inexhaustible, +that the employes were not over-conscientious, that the consumption +of alcohol was enormous, and finally the whole affair was given up, +after large quantities of machinery had been brought out, which I saw +rusting away near the shore. In this way numerous enterprises have +been started and abandoned of late years, especially in Noumea. It +is probably due to this mining scheme that the natives here have +practically disappeared; I found one man who had once carried sulphur +from the mine, and he was willing to guide me up the volcano. + +There are always clouds hanging round the top of the mountain, and the +forest is swampy; but on the old road we advanced quite rapidly, and +soon found ourselves on the edge of a plateau, from which two streams +fell down in grand cascades, close together, their silver ribbons +gleaming brightly in the dark woods. One river was milk-white with +sulphur precipitate, the other had red water, probably owing to iron +deposits. The water was warm, and grew still warmer the farther up we +followed the river. Suddenly we came upon a bare slope, over certain +spots of which steam-clouds hung, while penetrating fumes irritated +one's eyes and nose. We had come to the lower margin of the sulphur +springs, and the path led directly across the sulphur rocks. Mounting +higher, we heard the hissing of steam more distinctly, and soon we +were in the midst of numerous hillocks with bright yellow tops, and +steam hissing and whistling as it shot out of cracks, to condense in +the air into a white cloud. The whole ground seemed furrowed with +channels and crevasses, beneath which one heard mysterious noises; +one's step sounded hollow, and at our side ran a dark stream, which +carried the hot sulphur water to the shore. Great boulders lay about, +some of them so balanced that a slight touch sent them rolling into the +depths, where they broke into atoms. Sometimes we were surrounded by a +thick cloud, until a breeze carried it away, and we had a clear view +over the hot, dark desert, up to the mountain-top. It was uncanny in +the midst of those viciously hissing hillocks, and I could not blame my +boys for turning green with fear and wishing to go home. But we went on +to a place where water boiled in black pools, sometimes quietly, then +with a sudden high jump; some of the water was black, some yellowish, +and everything around was covered with sulphur as if with hoar-frost. + +We followed the course of a creek whose water was so hot as to scald +our feet, and the heat became most oppressive. We were glad to reach +the crater, though it was a gloomy and colourless desert, in the +midst of which a large grey pool boiled and bubbled. In front was a +deep crevice in the crater wall, and a cloud of steam hid whatever +was in it; yet we felt as though something frightful must be going +on there. Above this gloomy scene stretched a sky of serenest blue, +and we had a glimpse of the coast, with its little islands bathing +in the sapphire sea. + +Next day we left for Gaua. Unhappily the captain met friends, and +celebrated with them to such an extent that he was no longer to be +relied on, which was all the more unpleasant as the weather was of +the dirtiest, and the barometer presaged another cyclone. After two +days it cleared up a little; I went ashore at the west point of Gaua, +where the launch was to pick me up again two days later, as I meant to +visit the interior while the others went to buy coprah. Even now the +wind and the swell from the north-west were increasing suspiciously, +and after I had spent a rainy night in a village off the shore, I +saw the launch race eastward along the coast, evidently trying to +make a safe anchorage, with the storm blowing violent squalls and +the sea very high. + +On my way inland I still found the paths obstructed by fallen trees +from the last cyclone, while nearly all the cocoa-nut palms had lost +their nuts. And again the storm raged in the forest, and the rain +fell in torrents. + +I was anxious to buy statues of tree-fern wood; they are frequently +to be seen here, standing along a terrace or wall near the gamal, and +seem not so much images of ancestors, as signs of rank and wealth. The +caste may be recognized by the number of pigs' jaws carved on the +statues. Often the artist first makes a drawing of the statue in +red, white and black paint on a board; and these same designs are +used as patterns for tattooing, as well as on ear-sticks and other +objects. Female statues are common, which is an unusual thing. + +I obtained a good number of skulls, which were thrown into the roots +of a fig tree, where I was allowed to pick them up as I pleased. + +The Suque is supposed to have originated here; and here certainly it +has produced its greatest monuments, large altar-like walls, dams and +ramparts. The gamals, too, are always on a foundation of masonry, +and on either side there are high pedestals on which the pigs are +sacrificed. Among the stones used for building we often find great +boulders hollowed out to the shape of a bowl. No one knows anything +about these stones or their purpose; possibly they are relics of an +earlier population that has entirely disappeared. + +When I returned from my excursion I looked down on a wild foam-flecked +sea, over which the storm was raging as it did during the previous +cyclones. I realized that I should have to stay here for some time, +and ate my last provisions somewhat pensively. I only hoped that +the launch had found an anchorage, else she must inevitably have +been wrecked, and I should be left at the mercy of the natives for +an indefinite time. The hut in which I camped did not keep off the +rain, and I was wet and uncomfortable; thus I spent the first of a +series of miserable nights. I was anxious to know the fate of the +launch, and this in itself was enough to worry me; then I was without +reading or writing materials, and my days were spent near a smoky +fire, watching the weather, trying to find a dry spot, sleeping and +whistling. Sometimes a few natives came to keep me company; and once +I got hold of a man who spoke a little biche la mar, and was willing +to tell me about some old-time customs. However, like most natives, he +soon wearied of thinking, so that our conversations did not last long. + +The natives kept me supplied with food in the most hospitable manner: +yam, taro, cabbage, delicately prepared, were at my disposal; but, +unaccustomed as I was to this purely vegetable diet, I soon felt such +a craving for meat that I began to dream about tinned-meat, surely not +a normal state of things. To add to my annoyance, rumours got afloat +to the effect that the launch was wrecked; and if this was true, +my situation was bad indeed. + +On the fifth day I decided to try and find the anchorage where I +supposed the launch to be. The wind had dropped a little, but it was +still pouring, and the walk through the slippery, devastated forest, +up and down steep hills and gullies, across fallen trees, in a thick, +oppressive fog, was strenuous enough. In the afternoon, hearing that +the launch was somewhere near, we descended to the coast, where we came +upon the captain and the crew. They had managed to anchor the launch +at the outbreak of the storm, and had camped in an old hut on the +beach; but the huge waves, breaking over the reef, had created such +a current along the beach that the launch had dragged her anchors, +and was now caught in the worst of the waves and would surely go down +shortly. Unfortunately the captain had sent the dinghey ashore some +time before coming to this bay, so that there was no means whatever +of reaching the launch. The rising sea had threatened to wash away +the hut, and the captain, leaving the boat to her fate, had gone +camping inland. + +I went down to the beach to see for myself how things stood, and +was forced to admit that the man had not exaggerated. In the midst +of the raging surf the launch rocked to and fro, and threatening +waves rose on every side and often seemed to cover her. Still she was +holding her own, and had evidently not struck a rock as yet; and if +her cables held out, hope was not lost. I watched her fight for life +for some time, and she defended herself more gallantly than I should +ever have expected from so clumsy a craft; but I had little hope. We +spent a miserable night in the village, in a heavy atmosphere, amid +vermin and filth, on an uneven stone floor. The rain rattled on the +roof, the storm roared in the forest like a passing express train, +the sea thundered from afar, and a river echoed in a gorge near by; +to complete the gloomy scene, a violent earthquake shook the hills. + +In the morning the launch was still afloat on the same spot; the +wind had abated, and the sky no longer looked quite so stormy. During +the night things improved still more, and we ventured to camp on the +shore. The boys went for the dinghey, and although they had hard work, +half dragging, half carrying it along the shore over the cliffs, they +succeeded in bringing it to our beach, and then made an attempt to row +to the launch, but were almost carried out beyond the reef. Encouraged +by a faintly rosy sunset and a few stars, we waited another day; +then the current along the coast had nearly ceased, only outside the +reef huge mountains of water rolled silently and incessantly past, +and broke thundering against the cliffs. The second attempt to reach +the launch was successful, and, wonderful to relate, she had suffered +no damage, only she had shipped so much water that everything was +soaked and rusty. The engineer began to repair her engines, and by +evening she steamed back to her anchorage, where we welcomed her as +if she had been a human being. + +The wind had quite fallen when we steamed out next day. It was dull +weather, and we were rocked by an enormous swell; yet the water was +like a mirror, and the giant waves rose and disappeared without a +sound. It all seemed unnatural and uncanny, and this may have produced +the frightened feeling that held us all that morning. While we were +crossing over to Port Patterson a sharp wind rose from the north, +and the barometer fell, so that we feared another edition of the +storm. If our engines had broken down, which happened often enough, +we should have been lost, for we were in a region where the swell +came from two directions, and the waves were even higher than in +the morning. Fortunately the wind increased but slowly; presently +we were protected by the coast, and at night we arrived at Port +Patterson. The men had given us up, and welcomed us with something +akin to tenderness. Here, too, the cyclone had been terrible, the +worst of the three that had passed in four weeks. + +Soon afterwards the steamer arrived, bringing news of many wrecks and +accidents. A dozen ships had been smashed at their anchorages, four +had disappeared, and three were known to have foundered; in addition, +news came of the wreck of a steamer. Hardly ever had so many fallen +victims to a cyclone. + +Painfully and slowly our steamer ploughed her way south through the +abnormally high swell. None of the anchorages on the west coast could +be touched, and everywhere we saw brown woods, leafless as in winter, +and damaged plantations; and all the way down to Vila we heard of +new casualties. + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +TANNA + + +Of the larger inhabited islands of the New Hebrides, only Tanna +remained to be visited. Instead of stopping at Vila, I went on to +White Sands, Tanna, where the Rev. M. was stationed. The large +island of Erromanga has but little native population, and that +is all christianized; the same is true of the smaller islands of +Aneityum, Aniwa and Futuna. I preferred to study Tanna, as it is +characteristic of all the southern part of the archipelago. The +population is quite different from that in the north, and one would +call it Polynesian, were it not for the curly hair which shows +Melanesian admixture. Light-coloured, tall, strong, with the fleshy +body that is often a feature of the Polynesian, the people have, not +infrequently, fine open features, small noses and intelligent faces +of oval outline. They are more energetic, warlike and independent +than those up north, and their mode of life is different, the Suque +and everything connected with it being entirely absent. Instead, we +find hereditary chieftainship, as in all Polynesia, and the chiefs +are held in the highest veneration by their subjects. This state of +things was greatly to the advantage of the missions, as the chiefs, +even if converted, retained their authority, whereas in the north the +high castes, on their conversion, lost all influence and position, +as these only depended on the Suque. The brilliant results of the +missions in Tanna are due, apart from the splendid work of the two +Presbyterian missionaries, chiefly to this fact. If the missionaries +and the authorities would join forces for the preservation of the +native race, great good might be done. Intelligent efforts along +this line ought to comprise the following features: revival of the +wish to live and the belief in a future for the race, increase in +the birth-rate, rational distribution of the women, abolition of the +present recruiting system, compulsory medical treatment, creation +of law and order, and restoration of old customs as to daily life +and food. + +The houses on Tanna are poor huts of reed-grass, probably because the +perpetual wars discouraged the people from building good dwellings. The +principal weapons are the spear and club, the arrow, as elsewhere +in Polynesia, playing a subordinate part. A weapon which is probably +peculiar to Tanna are throwing-stones, carefully made stone cylinders, +which were hurled in battle. If a man had not time to procure one of +these granite cylinders, a branch of coral or a slab of stone, hewn +into serviceable shape, would serve his turn; and these instruments +are not very different from our oldest prehistoric stone implements. + +Quite a Polynesian art is the manufacture of tapa: bark cloth. The +Tannese do not know how to make large pieces, but are satisfied with +narrow strips, used as belts by the men, and prettily painted in +black and red. + +The dress of the men is similar to that of Malekula, that of the +women consists of an apron of grass and straw; and they often wear +a hat of banana leaves, while the men affect a very complicated +coiffure. The hair is divided into strands, each of which is wound +with a fibre from the head out. A man may have several hundred of +these ropes on his head all tied together behind, giving a somewhat +womanish appearance. It takes a long time to dress the hair thus, +and the custom is falling into disuse. + +On the whole, the culture of the Tannese is low; there is no braiding +or carving, and the ornaments worn consist only of a few bracelets +and necklaces, with an occasional nose-stick; the only conspicuous +feature are ear-rings of tortoise-shell, of which as many as a dozen +may hang in one ear. + +On the other side of Tanna is Lenakel, where the Rev. W. was working +with admirable devotion and success in a hospital. I crossed the +island several times, and enjoyed the delightful rides through the +shady forest, on very good bridle-paths the natives had made. + +Tanna's most striking sight is its volcano; there is hardly another +in the world so easily accessible; for in half an hour from the +shore its foot may be reached, and in another half-hour one is at +the top. It is about 260 m. high, a miniature volcano, with all its +accessories complete, hot springs, lake, desert, etc., always active, +rarely destructive, looking like an overgrown molehill. A wide plain +stretches inland, utterly deserted owing to the poisonous vapours +always carried across it by the south-east trade-wind, and in the +centre of the plain is a sweet-water lake. + +I climbed the volcano for the first time on a rainy day. On top, I +suddenly found myself at the end of the world; it was the edge of the +crater, completely filled with steam. As I walked along the precipice, +such an infernal thundering began just under my feet as it seemed, +that I thought best to retire. My next ascent took place on a clear, +bright day; but the wind drove sand and ashes along the desert, +and dimmed the sunshine to a yellowish gloomy light. I traversed the +desert to the foot of the crater, where the cone rose gradually out +of brownish sand, in a beautiful curve, to an angle of 45 deg.. The lack +of all vegetation or other point of comparison made it impossible +to judge whether the mountain was 100 or 1000 m. high. The silence +was oppressive, and sand columns danced and whirled up and down, +to and fro, like goblins. A smell of sulphur was in the air, the +heat was torturing, the ground burnt one's feet, and the climb in +the loose sand was trying. But farther up the sea-breeze cooled the +air deliciously, and stone blocks afforded a foothold. Soon I was on +top, and the sight I saw seemed one that only the fancy of a morbid, +melancholy genius could have invented, an ugly fever dream turned real, +and no description could do it justice. + +In front of me the ground fell down steeply, and the torn sides of +the crater formed a funnel-shaped cavity, a dark, yawning depth. There +were jagged rocks, fantastic, wild ridges, crevices, fearful depths, +from which issued steam and smoke. Poisonous vapour poured out of +the rocks in white and brownish clouds that waved to and fro, slowly +rising, until a breeze caught and carried them away. The sight alone +would suffice to inspire terror, without the oppressive smoke and the +uncanny noise far down in the depths. Dull and regular, it sounded like +the piston of an engine or a great drum, heard through the noises of a +factory. Presently there was silence, and then, without any warning, +came a tearing crack, the thunder as of 100 heavy guns, a metallic +din, and a cloud of smoke rose; and while we forced ourselves to +stay and watch, the inferno below thundered a roaring echo, the walls +shook, and a thousand dark specks flew up like a swarm of frightened +birds. They were lava blocks, and they fell back from the height of the +crater, rattling on the rocks, or were swallowed up by the invisible +gorge. Then a thick cloud surrounded everything, and we realized +that our post at the mouth of the crater, on an overhanging ridge, +was dangerous; indeed, a part of the edge, not far off, broke down +and was lost in the depths. Another and another explosion followed; +but when we turned, we overlooked a peaceful landscape, green forests, +palms bending over the bright blue water, and far off the islands of +Erromanga, Futuna and Aniwa. + +A visit to the volcano at night was a unique experience. Across the +desert the darkness glided, and as we climbed upward, we felt and +heard the metallic explosions through the flanks of the mountain, and +the cloud over the crater shone in dull red. Cautiously we approached +the edge, just near enough to look down. The bottom of the crater +seemed lifted, the walls were almost invisible, and the uncertain +glare played lightly over some theatrical-looking rocks. We could see +three orifices; steam poured out of one, in the other the liquid lava +boiled and bubbled, of the third there was nothing to be seen but +a glow; but underneath this some force was at work. Did we hear or +feel it? We were not sure; sometimes it sounded like shrill cries of +despair, sometimes all was still, and the rocks seemed to shake. Then +suddenly it boiled up, hissing as if a thousand steam-pipes had burst, +something unspeakable seemed preparing, yet nothing happened. Some +lava lumps were thrown out, to fall back or stick to the rocks, where +they slowly died out. All at once a sheaf of fire shot up, tall and +glowing, an explosion of incredible fury followed; the sheaf dispersed +and fell down in marvellous fireworks and thousands of sparks. Slowly, +in a fiery stream the lava flowed back to the bottom. Then another +explosion and another, the thumping increased, one of the other +openings worked, spitting viciously in all directions, the noise +became unbearable. All one's senses were affected, for the din was +too violent to touch one's hearing only. Then there was silence; +the cloud rose, and beside it we saw the stars in the pure sky, +and heard the surf beat peacefully, consolingly, as if there were no +volcano and no glowing lava anywhere near. + +While we were standing on the brink as if fascinated, the silver +moon rose behind us, spread a broad road of light on the quiet sea, +played round us with her cool light, shone on the opposite wall of +the crater, and caressed the sulphurous cloud. It was a magical sight, +the contrast of the pure moonlight and the dirty glare of the volcano; +an effect indescribably grand and peculiar, a gala performance of +nature, the elements of heaven and hell side by side. + +At last we left. Behind and above us thundered the volcano, below +us lay the desert, silvery in the moonlight, in quiet, simple lines; +far away rolled the sea, and in the silence the moon rose higher and +higher, and our shadows followed us as we traversed the plain and +gained the friendly shade of the palm grove. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS + + +After my return to Port Vila, where I again had the honour of being +Mr. King's guest, and having practically finished my task in the +New Hebrides, I decided not to leave this part of the world without +visiting the Santa Cruz Islands, a group of small islands north of +the New Hebrides and east of the Solomon Islands. This archipelago +has not had much contact with civilization, and is little known. I had +a good opportunity to go there, as the steam yacht Southern Cross of +the Anglican mission in Melanesia was expected to stop at Vila on her +way to the Solomons. She touched at the Santa Cruz island of Nitendi +going and returning, and could therefore drop me and take me up again +after about six weeks. While waiting for her arrival, I investigated +some caves on Leleppa, near Port Havannah, which the natives reported +to be inhabited by dwarfish men; but the results were insignificant. + +Passage having been granted me by the skipper of the Southern Cross, +I once more sailed the well-known route northward through the New +Hebrides and Banks Islands; but from Ureparapara onward I was in +strange waters. The Southern Cross was a steamer of about five +hundred tons, built especially for this service, that is, to convey +the missionaries and natives from the headquarters on Norfolk Island +to the different islands. Life on board was far from luxurious; but +there was good company and an interesting library. I had the pleasure +of making some interesting acquaintances, and the missionaries gave me +much valuable information about the natives and their customs. When +the tone of the conversation in the evening threatened to become +too serious, our jovial Captain S. speedily improved matters by +his grotesquely comical sallies. A strenuous life was that of the +missionary who was responsible for the organization of the voyage; +he had to visit the native communities, and went ashore at every +anchorage, sometimes through an ugly surf or dangerous shoals, +generally with overcrowded whale-boats; and this went on for three +months. I had nothing to do, and amused myself by comparing the +boys from the various islands, who were quite different in looks, +speech and character. There were the short, thick-set, plebeian +natives from the New Hebrides, the well-built men from the Solomons, +with their long faces and open, energetic expression, the languid, +sleepy boys from the Torres Islands and the savage Santa Cruzians. + +The trip of the Southern Cross was important as an experiment, being +the first with an exclusively native crew. Hitherto the Melanesians had +been considered incapable of any work calling for energy, initiative +and conscientiousness. Captain C. was convinced that this was unjust, +and started on this voyage without any whites except the officers; +the result was most satisfactory. The natives, when carefully and +patiently trained, work quite as well as low-class whites, and have +proved themselves capable of more than plantation work. + +It was a bright morning when we entered the lovely Graciosa Bay on +Nitendi. The island had a much more tropical aspect than those of +the New Hebrides, and the vegetation seemed more varied and gayer in +colour. Natives in canoes approached from every side, and all along the +beach lay populous villages, a sight such as the now deserted shores of +the New Hebrides must have afforded in days gone by. Hardly had we cast +anchor when the ship was surrounded by innumerable canoes. The men in +them were all naked, except the teachers the missionaries had stationed +here; all the others were genuine aborigines, who managed their boats +admirably, and came hurrying on board, eager to begin bartering. + +The natives here have a bad reputation, and are supposed to be +particularly dangerous, because they never stir from home without +their poisoned arrows. A missionary had recently been forced to leave +the island, after having been besieged by the natives for several +days. But it would seem that they are not hostile unless one of their +many intricate laws and customs is violated, which may happen easily +enough to anyone unacquainted with their habits. + +I took up my quarters with the only white man in the place, a Mr. M., +who managed a cocoa-nut plantation for an Australian company with +boys from the Solomons. My first task was to find servants, as none +had dared accompany me from the New Hebrides to the ill-famed Santa +Cruz Islands. Through his coprah trade Mr. M. knew the people well, +and by his help I soon found two boys who had some vague notion +of biche la mar, real savages, who served me well in a childish, +playful way. They were always jolly, and although they seemed to +look upon what they did for me rather as a kindness than a duty, we +got along fairly well. When it became known that my service implied +good food and little work, many others applied, but I only chose one +young fellow, probably the most perfect specimen of a man I have +ever seen. He kept himself scrupulously clean, and in his quiet, +even behaviour there was something that distinguished him from all +the rest. It is difficult to put the beauty of a human body into +words; I can only say that he was of symmetrical build, with a deep +chest and well-developed limbs, but without the great muscles that +would have given him the coarse aspect of an athlete. His greatest +charm was in the grace of his movements and the natural nobility +of his attitudes and his walk; for he moved as lightly and daintily +as a deer, and it was a constant pleasure, while walking behind him +during our marches through the forest, to admire his elastic gait, +the play of his muscles and the elegant ease with which he threaded +the thicket. I tried to take some photographs of him, but without +great success, owing to technical difficulties; besides, the face had +to be hidden as much as possible, as to a European eye the natives' +faces often seem to have a brutal expression. The men of Santa Cruz, +too, wear disfiguring nose-rings of tortoise-shell hanging down over +their mouths, so large that when eating they have to be lifted up out +of the way with the left hand. Another ugly habit is the chewing of +betel, the nut of the areca palm, which is mixed with pepper leaves +and lime. The lime is carried in a gourd, often decorated with drawings +and provided with an artistically carved stopper. The leaves and this +bottle are kept in beautifully woven baskets, the prettiest products +of native art, made of banana fibre interwoven with delicate designs +in black. Betel-chewing seems to have a slightly intoxicating effect; +my boys, at least, were often strangely exhilarated in the evening, +although they had certainly had no liquor. The lime forms a black +deposit on the teeth, which sometimes grows to such a size as to hang +out of the mouth, an appendage of which some natives seem rather vain. + +The dress of the men consists of a narrow belt of bark and a strip +of tapa worn between the legs. Around their knees and ankles they +wear small, shiny shells, and on their chests a large circular +plate of tridacna-shell, to which is attached a dainty bit of carved +tortoise-shell representing a combination of fish and turtle. This +beautiful ornament is very effective on the dark skin. In the lobes +of the ears are hung large tortoise-shell ornaments, and on the arms +large shell rings or bracelets braided with shell and cocoa-nut beads +are worn. + +The men are never seen without bows and arrows of large and heavy +dimensions. Like all the belongings of the Santa Cruzians, the arrows +show artistic taste, being carefully carved and painted so as to +display black carving on a white and red ground. The points of the +arrows are made of human bone. + +I bought one of the excellent canoes made by these people, and often +crossed the lovely, quiet bay to visit different villages. The natives +take great care of their canoes, and make it a point of honour to +keep them spotlessly white, which they do by rubbing them with a +seaweed they gather at the bottom of the ocean. + +On approaching a village it requires all the skill of the native not +to be dashed by the swell against the reefs. A narrow sandy beach lies +behind, and then a stone terrace 6 feet high, on which the gamal is +built. Generally there was great excitement when I landed, and the men +came rushing from all sides to see me. They were not hostile, only too +eager for trade, and I had to interrupt my visits for a week and trade +only at the house where I was staying, so as to give them time to quiet +down. This helped matters a little, although, until the day I left, +I was always the centre of an excited mob that pulled at my sleeves +and trousers and shrieked into my ears. I was always cordially invited +to enter the gamals; these were square houses, kept very clean, with +a fireplace in the centre, and the floor covered with mats. As usual, +the roof was full of implements of all sorts, and over the fire there +was a stand and shelves, where coprah was roasted and food preserved. + +The natives are expert fishermen, and know how to make the finest as +well as the coarsest nets. They frequently spend the mornings fishing, +a flotilla of canoes gathering at some shallow spot in the bay. + +The afternoons are mostly spent in the village in a dolce far +niente. Each village has its special industry: in one the arm-rings +of shell are made, in another the breastplates, in a third canoes, +or the fine mats which are woven on a loom of the simplest system, +very similar to a type of loom found in North America. Weaving, +it will be remembered, is quite unknown in the New Hebrides. + +An object peculiar to these islands is feather money. This consists +of the fine breast-feathers of a small bird, stuck together to +form plates, which are fastened on a strip of sinnet, so that a +long ribbon of scarlet feathers is obtained of beautiful colour +and brilliancy. These strips are rolled and preserved in the houses, +carefully wrapped up and only displayed on great occasions. Considering +how few available feathers one little bird yields, and how many are +needed for one roll, it is not surprising that this feather money +is very valuable, and that a single roll will buy a woman. At great +dances the circular dancing-grounds along the shore are decorated +with these ribbons. + +For a dance the men exchange the nose-ring of tortoise-shell for a +large, finely carved plate of mother-of-pearl. In the perforated sides +of the nose they place thin sticks, which stand high up towards the +eyes. In the hair they wear sticks and small boards covered with the +same feathers as those used for feather money. They have dancing-sticks +of a most elaborate description, heavy wooden clubs of the shape of +a canoe, painted in delicate designs and with rattles at the lower +end. The designs are black and red on a white ground, and are derived +from shapes of fish and birds. Similar work is done on carvings showing +the different species of fish and birds; the drawing is exquisite, +and shows fine feeling for ornamental composition. + +The position of women in Santa Cruz is peculiar, although the +Suque does not exist, and therefore no separation of fires is +enforced. Masculine jealousy seems to have reached its climax here, for +no man from another village even dares look at a woman. The women's +houses are a little inland, away from the gamal and separated by +high walls from the outer world. Most of the houses are square, but +there are some circular ones, a type very rare in these regions. To +my regret I was never able to examine one of these round houses, +so that I have no idea how they are built. To enter the women's +quarters, or to approach nearer than 100 metres to any woman, is +a deadly offence, and such breaches of etiquette are the cause of +frequent feuds. Only once I was taken by one of my boys through the +lanes of his village, and this was considered very daring, and the +limit of permissible investigation. However, with the help of Mr. M., +who was practically a "citizen" of one of the villages, I succeeded +in taking some photographs of women; but only the oldest dowagers and +some sick girls presented themselves, and among them I saw the most +repulsive being I ever met,--an old shrivelled-up hag. At sight of +such a creature one cannot wonder that old women were often accused +of sorcery. + +It is surprising how much inferior physically the women of Nitendi +are to the men. The men are among the best made people I ever saw, +while the women are the poorest. The dress of the women consists +of large pieces of tapa, worn around the hips and over the head, +and a third piece is sometimes used as a shawl. Tapa is not made at +Graciosa Bay, but inland; it is often painted in simple but effective +geometrical designs. + +The majority of the population lives near the sea; I was credibly +informed that there are hardly any people inland. The Santa Cruzian +is a "salt-water man," and there is a string of villages all along +the coast. The inhabitants of the different villages keep very much to +themselves, and their territories are separated by a strip of forest, +and on the shore by high stone walls leading far out into the sea. On +the whole, the two thousand people in the bay live very quietly, +certainly more so than the same number of whites would without any +police. It is not quite clear in what respect our civilization could +improve them, as, like most aborigines, they have a pronounced sense +of propriety, justice and politeness. There is very little disputing or +quarrelling, and differences of opinion are usually settled by a joke, +so that in this respect the savages show a behaviour far superior to +that of many a roaring and swearing white. + +I found neither drums nor statues here, and of the local religion +I could learn nothing. There is a skull-cult, similar to that on +Malekula: a man will paint the skull of a favourite wife or child +yellow, shut all the openings with wooden stoppers and carry the relic +about with him. Towards the end of my stay I obtained possession of +some of these interesting skulls. The idea in shutting the holes is +doubtless to preserve the spirit of the dead inside the skull. + +One evening I crossed the bay to attend a dance. The starless sky shone +feebly, spotted with dark, torn clouds. A dull silver light lay on the +sea, which was scarcely lighter than the steep shores. In the silence +the strokes of our oars sounded sharp and energetic, yet they seemed +to come from a distance. In the darkness we felt first the outrigger, +then the canoe, lifted by a heavy swell, which glided away out of sight +in monotonous rhythm. Then light began to play around us, indistinct +at first, then two silver stripes formed at the bow and ran along +the boat. They were surrounded by bright, whirling sparks, and at the +bow of the outrigger the gayest fireworks of silver light sprang up, +sparkling and dying away as if the boat had been a meteor. The oars, +too, dripped light, as though they were bringing up fine silver dust +from below. The naked boy in front of me shone like a marble statue on +a dark background as his beautiful body worked in rhythmic movements, +the light playing to and fro on his back. And ever the sparks danced +along the boat in hypnotizing confusion, and mighty harmonies seemed +to echo through the night air. The feeling of time was lost, until +the opposite shore rose to a black wall, then, through the silence, +we heard the cold rush of the surf beating moodily on the reef. We +slackened speed, the fairy light died and the dream ended. We kept +along the shore, looking for the entrance, which the boys found by +feeling for a well-known rock with their oars. A wave lifted us, +the boys bent to their oars with all their might, we shot across the +reef and ran into the soft sand of the beach. + +But as the rain fell now in torrents, there was no dance that night. + +Mr. M. and I attempted a few excursions, but bad weather interfered +with our plans, and a rainy period of three weeks followed. One squall +chased the other, rattling on the roof, forming swamps everywhere, +and penetrating everything with moisture. I was glad when the Southern +Cross came back for me, especially as this was to be the beginning +of my homeward journey. + +This time we touched at a small island called Tucopia, where +a primitive Polynesian population still exists, probably the only +island where this is the case. When the steamer approached we saw the +people running about on the reef in excitement, and soon countless +canoes surrounded us. The appearance of these islanders was quite new +to me. Instead of the dark, curly-haired, short Melanesians, I saw +tall, light-coloured men with thick manes of long, golden hair. They +climbed aboard, wonderful giants, with soft, dark eyes, kind smiles +and childlike manners. They went everywhere, touched everything, +and flattered and caressed us. We were all eager to go ashore, and at +the edge of the reef an excited crowd awaited our arrival impatiently +and pulled our boat violently on the rocks in their eagerness. Two +tall fellows grabbed me under the arms, and, willy-nilly, I was +carried across the reef and carefully deposited under a shady tree +on the beach. At first I did not quite trust my companions, but I +was powerless to resist, and soon I became more confident, as my +new friends constantly hugged and stroked me. Soon a missionary was +brought ashore in the same way, and then, to our greatest surprise, +a man approached us who spoke biche la mar. He asked if we had no +sickness on board, for some time ago the same ship had infected the +island with an epidemic that had caused many deaths. We assured him +that we had none, and he gave us permission to visit the island, +telling us, too, that we were to have the great honour of being +presented to one of the four chiefs. This was indeed something to +be proud of, for in Polynesian islands the chieftainship, as I have +said, is hereditary, and the chiefs are paid honours almost divine. We +took off our hats and were led before the chief, a tall, stout man, +who sat in a circle of men on a sort of throne, with his ceremonial +spear leaning against a tree beside him. His subjects approached him +crouching, but he shook hands with us and smiled kindly at us. A noble +gesture of the hand gave us leave to taste a meal prepared to welcome +us, which looked most uninviting, but turned out to be beautifully +cooked sago and cocoa-nut cream. We could not finish the generous +portions, and presently signed that we were satisfied; the chief +seemed to regret that we did not do more honour to his hospitality, +but he gave us permission to walk about. While all the other natives +ran about in great excitement over our visit, the good old man sat on +his throne all the time, quite solemnly, although I am convinced that +he was fairly bursting with curiosity. We hurried through the village, +so as to get a general idea of the houses and implements, and then +to the beach, which was a beautiful sight. Whereas on Melanesian +islands the dancing-grounds only are kept cleared, and surrounded +by thick shrubbery for fear of invasion, here all the underbrush +had been rooted out, and the shore was like a park, with a splendid +view through dark tree-trunks across the blue sea, while the golden, +godlike forms of the natives walked about with proud, regal gait, +or stood in animated groups. It was a sight so different in its +peaceful simplicity from what I was accustomed to see in Melanesia, +it all looked so happy, gay and alluring that it hardly needed the +invitations of the kind people, without weapons or suspicion, and +with wreaths of sweet-scented flowers around their heads and bodies, +to incline us to stay. Truly, the sailors of old were not to blame if +they deserted in numbers on such islands, and preferred the careless +native life to hard work on board a whaler. Again and again I seemed +to see the living originals of some classical picture, and more and +more my soul succumbed to the intoxicating charm of the lovely island. + +But we could not stay; the steamer whistled, and we had to leave. A +young native was going to Norfolk Island, and he took leave of his +family and the chief in a manly way which was touching to witness. He +bowed and laid his face on the knees of some old white-haired men +with finely chiselled, noble faces. They seemed to bless him, then +they raised his head and tenderly pressed their faces against his, +so that their noses touched. The boy brushed away a tear and then +jumped bravely on board. + +When we came on board, the steamer was crowded with natives, and +they refused to leave. We had to drive them away energetically, and +as their canoes were soon overcrowded, many of them jumped into the +water with shouts and laughter, and swam several miles to the shore, +floating happily in the blue sea, with their long hair waving after +them like liquid gold. Thus I saw the last of the dream-island, +bathed in the rays of the setting sun. My regret was shared by the +boy, who stood, still ornamented with flowers and wreaths, at the +stern of the steamer, looking sadly back at his disappearing paradise. + +Our good times, too, were over. We had a dull, rainy night, a heavy, +broadside swell, and as the steamer had not enough ballast, she rolled +frightfully. In this nasty sea we were afraid she might turn turtle, +as another steamer had done some months ago. The storm became such +that we had to lie at anchor for five days, sheltered by the coast +of Gaua. It was with real relief that I left the Southern Cross at +Port Vila; sorry as I was to leave my friends on board, I did not +envy them the long voyage to New Zealand. + +Two days later I took the mail steamer for Sydney. Although tired +enough, and glad to return to the comforts of civilization, I felt +real regret at leaving the places where I had spent so many delightful +hours, and where I had met with so much kindness on all sides. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Years with the Natives in the +Western Pacific, by Felix Speiser + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO YEARS WITH THE NATIVES *** + +***** This file should be named 27578.txt or 27578.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/5/7/27578/ + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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