Fig. 29. Boys at Veifaa dressed up as Fulaari
Various other games were played, and towards the end of the afternoon several boys ran off and stayed away some time. When they returned they presented a remarkable appearance. They had bound round their bodies and limbs green or sere banana leaves, and looked for all the world like miniature knights of old in leafy armour. The head was entirely covered, the leaves in some cases being prolonged above into a long spike, like certain helmets. Flaps hung down from all the head-pieces like frilled capes. One or two boys had a fringe round the waist, and all had leaves radiating from their ankles; which gave them a very curious appearance, so that they looked like Cochin China fowls. Usually the hands were swathed in green strips, and the bandaging of the right arm was continued in some on to a stick held in the hand, so that it was uninterruptedly swathed.
The boys thus grotesquely accoutred chased the girls about and made them scream. These naughty little fellows were mimicking the fulaari of Aipiana!
I was immensely pleased to see an existing important social function imitated by children, and the game presumably also gave us an idea of what the real costume was like. We measured a few men in this village, and altogether had a most enjoyable and instructive time.
We started about 7 a.m. on Monday, July 18th, after breakfast, intending to visit Waima (Maiva) viâ Bereina; but at Inawi we received an urgent message from Yule Island that the Alice May had arrived there, and would sail on the 19th. This necessitated our giving up the much-desired visit to Waima, and returning instead to Yule Island. We therefore retraced our walk of Friday, except that we kept to the Government road leading direct to the sea. As it was low water the three creeks we had to cross presented no difficulties, but Brother Alexis was very exhausted when we reached Pinupaka at 4 p.m., after our eighteen miles’ walk, as he was suffering from an attack of fever.
Brother George gave us a good meal, and we then had three and a half hours’ beat to windward in the small Mission cutter, not arriving at the Mission on Yule Island till after 10 p.m. All had gone to bed by that time, but a frugal supper was somehow raked together, and we then retired, fairly tired out by our long day.
Next morning we spent in packing, as Captain Inman wished to start early in the day, and we left the good Fathers and Brothers, with very pleasant memories of the kindness and hospitality of all the members of the Sacred Heart Mission.
Before we left Yule Island for our little inland trip a Sister from Veifaa arrived very ill indeed. She was carried in a hammock by some natives, and shielded from the sun by a Sister holding an umbrella. So far as Father Guis could tell, she suffered from acute rheumatism, dropsy, and malarial fever. It seems a pity that with so many missionaries of both sexes there should not be one qualified medical man, or at all events one who has especially studied medicine. Father Guis has a very good practical knowledge of diseases and their treatment, but it is scarcely fair to expect an accomplished literary man to be responsible for the health and lives of his colleagues in so unhealthy a district. It would also seem desirable that the Brothers, who are often untutored working men, should be ordered to take more precautions, and especially to be careful as to the quality of their drinking water.