Tuesday, August 3rd.—It gets somewhat monotonous to write every day of cold nights, but this last one has been no exception. The cold is so peculiar and penetrating that clad in flannel from head to foot, and covered with a blanket and rug, I failed to keep it out, and slept very badly in consequence. When I did sleep, too, I was troubled with dreams and fancied myself in Ireland hunted by ‘Moonlighters.’ I had proposed to go to a very distant district called “Golvanua” to-day, but at the eleventh hour my escort cried off and I could not go alone. I cannot quite say why it is, but natives when they are about to make an excursion almost invariably start on the spur of the moment without making any previous appointment, or specifying any distinct time. Whether they wish to elude ‘Fate’ and deprive it of the chance of being unpropitious by stealing a march, or whether the fear of material foes induces them to do these things secretly so that they may not be cognizant of their movements, or what it is I do not know, but fact it is that if you want to make a journey, you must abide the native’s time and conveniences for they will seldom assent to yours if premeditated or prearranged.
I quite expect that some fine morning, before I am out of bed perhaps, my escort will be awaiting me outside my door, and anxiously and impatiently desiring to start at once. Natives make no preparation for a journey, they have no impedimenta of travel, and lightly clad, and lightly weighted, they are ready at any moment to start, and a long or short stay is all the same to them. They want no canteens or bedding or change of clothing, and they can lay their heads down in any spot, and rest and refresh themselves, and be ready for any emergency. They do not even need as much as a tooth brush and pair of slippers for their excursions, and marvel at our wanting so much to them unnecessary luggage. I believe I should make many more journeys, if I could accomplish them with so little inconvenience and discomfort.
Samuel went back this morning, and I am to go to Tasmouri on Friday for a week. He gives a very good account of his work there and I am anxious to see and judge for myself. The whole Community there are Baptized, and most exemplary Christians they are. They are very nice lively good-natured people too, but are not very numerous. Indeed these Maewo villages have dwindled down to very few inhabitants, from one cause and another, and a large measure of the decrease is owing to the wide spread practice of infanticide. Now in this district that practice, thank God, is checked and the population is again on the increase. Moses who was here with Samuel to-day asked me to Baptize while at Tasmouri his fourth child, three boys of his are already Baptized, and such mothers as his wife are a blessing to the race. Here two mothers have three children apiece, and several have two. I wish however the mothers would bring up their children a little better, they are the perfect slaves of their offspring, and give into them in everything. Talk about spoilt children, I have to roar every day of my life to some little urchin, screaming his lungs out because his mother does not do at once what he wants. The mother beats at one moment and coaxes at another, and the child grows up anyhow, a burden to himself and a nuisance to his neighbours. I want a good superior minded and well educated mother here to give some practical advice. Arthur’s wife is but a child herself, and as devoid of gumption as the rest of them. Poor people, they do not know what trouble and misery they entail upon themselves and their children from a want of a little firmness, and well timed correction.
It has been a most glorious day, and this morning I accepted an invitation from the boys to go to ‘Kerepei.’ The tide was very low and many of the people had preceded us, and were busy searching the reef and rocks for the much prized products of the sea shore. The little fellows got me most deliciously sweet green cocoanuts, and while I was bathing caught me a nice lot of prawns for my tea. Days spent in this way are very pleasant, for we get to know each other all the better, and I can exercise a continual supervision over their actions. I generally carry a paper or portable volume with me, and to-day the Church Times was my companion. The evening was most glorious and peaceful, but when the sun went down peculiarly cold. Now as I write I have a blazing fire in my house, and I feel the comfort of it. The poor ill clad people are shivering all around, and are off to their several domiciles to try and get some heat. The attendance at school to-night was worse than I have known it yet, and the cold was said to be the reason of it.
Wednesday, August 4th.—There seems a perfect rage for fishing just now, when the exceptionally low tides afford such advantages for the pursuit. School was no sooner over to-day, than there was a general exodus seaward of all the able bodied inhabitants of the place. They talk to-day of trying the “Tasigoro” to see what it yields. This Tasigoro is a tabu’d enclosure of so much of the reef as those who make it choose, and it is made in this way—one, two, three or indeed any number of people who have reached the rank of “welu” kill a certain kind of pig, and for ten days the killer or killers are supposed to subsist on pig’s flesh, at the end of ten days they go to the beach, and mark off the chosen portion of the beach with a long bamboo at either end, like a base for football, but on a somewhat larger scale, and tie on to the bamboo the leaf of a certain palm tree; the person or persons then bathe in that part of the sea, and the juice of the pig’s flesh which they have eaten, is supposed to have the effect of sanctifying in some way the place, and no one fishes within the enclosure until the “welus” choose to take the “tabu” off. There is a talk of doing this to-day, and the whole population turns out to it. Of course the whole length and breadth of the reef during these low tides is left high and dry, and the fish have wisdom enough to retire as the tide goes out, but some are dilatory like Lot in his flight from Sodom, and some stop to have a look back like his wife, these are therefore left behind in the several pools that are everywhere dotted about of more or less depth. Some fish again which feed upon the reef have natural channels of escape into deep water, but these are very skilfully guarded by the natives with large nets, and the fish are captured while making a rush to get out into the open sea. All these channels are carefully guarded, and a very large number of fish shut in from escape on the more or less exposed reef. The leaves of a certain shrub are used for the purpose of stupifying the fish in the deeper pools, and they are easily caught when under the influence of the stupification. Others again are shot with bows and arrows, others speared, others caught by hand until at times the haul numbers several thousands, of all sorts, sizes and descriptions. After this great catch of course there is much feasting and rejoicing, and according to their own old heathen superstitious ideas there is something sacred in the fish so caught. ‘Kava’ is largely drunk on these occasions and the festivities are prolonged for many days. After my experience the other day I did not care to go again, and followed Arthur and some others to ‘Rarava,’ whither I took my photographic camera, and shot off a most beautiful picture in nature. I hope it may prove so in development.
William, one of the men, lit a fire and soon produced some fine large bread-fruit which were placed on the embers, and deftly turned over and over so as to be properly cooked all round. The result was that in about a quarter of an hour I was engaged upon a smoking hot loaf of bread, which eaten with scraped cocoa-nut is very nice indeed. Breadfruit is too much like boiled dough to be really very nice, but to me it is very palatable food. The black outside coating peels off very readily when well cooked, and leaves a round puddingy sort of compound to be eaten. Inside are seeds somewhat bigger than a marble, not unlike filberts, and these are generally eaten with the breadfruit, the hard outside husk easily peeling off, and leaving a large bean like kernel. “Duwu” prepared his in quite a new way to me. Having pealed off the outside crust caused by the cooking, he wrapped the whole fruit up in the long dracæna leaves, and tied up the neck very carefully. He then took a small bamboo, and beat the breadfruit into a soft pulp, giving it a few final bangs on the ground, the leaves were opened, and the pudding turned out on leaves resembling very much a squash, and then cut up like a vegetable marrow into slices and eaten with scraped cocoanut. This I think was nicer than the bare breadfruit. We were a little party of twelve of both sexes, and all shared alike, men and women eating together in the most friendly manner, and not only so but the men did the cooking and helped the women in the nicest way. I could not help thinking what a contrast it was to years gone by. There we were sitting every man under his own vine and under his own fig, with no apparent fear or apprehension of evil, and the most perfect harmony of the two sexes existing among us. Here you scarcely ever now see the husband without the wife, and where you see the wife you may know the husband is not far off. Amina and Eliza kindly got me some land crabs which I enjoyed for tea. These and prawns are readily obtainable, and make a nice occasional change.
Thursday, August 5th.—A strong Trade wind blowing fresh all night, and this morning it is still very gusty and disagreeable.
To-morrow there is another house to be thatched, and those who are not crazed about fishing are off getting food. From the commencement to the finish, house building here is a matter of great importance. There are four kinds of houses, of which the ‘gamal’ is the chief. This is the men’s club, and the young men’s sleeping quarters. Within its walls the women may not enter, and there is a certain circumscribed boundary into which they may not trespass. All food cooked in the ‘gamal’ is partaken of by the men only, and a woman may not eat of it under any consideration. ‘Kava’ is prepared and drunk there also, and of this a woman may not drink. Within the gamal are various ovens according to the several degrees of rank, and those of the same grade eat out of one oven, and the rules of precedence are strictly adhered to. Fire used within the gamal may not be used in a private house. After a certain age all boys are supposed to live in the gamal, and that becomes their proper quarters until they marry and build houses of their own. Any man may sleep in the gamal and eat food there.
The next house in importance is the “ima” or married man’s residence. Within this house the cooking of the food for the family is done, and the married couples live. This house is known from the rest, by having the front and back end worked with cane, and more pains are expended on the building of it. The third kind of house is the “vale,” within which there is no fire place for cooking, and this is used mostly as the apartments of the young females before marriage, and for stowing any treasures which may be inconvenient in the “ima.” The front and end of the ‘vale’ are made only of bamboos. A fourth kind of house is the “ima somu” (the Bank). In this house is kept the treasures of the village, and it is always known by a peculiarly neat front of reeds, and by a very curious sort of pallisade of reeds placed in a sort of semicircle around the front door. Within this house a fire is kept continually burning night and day, and the reason for this is that the most prized and valuable article of barter here is the smoked mat, and the blacker it can be smoked the more does it increase in value. As may be supposed, within these houses a most weird and odd sight presents itself. The gross darkness being only relieved by the glowing embers of the undying fire, the fresh black mats look like so many great flying foxes suspended over it.
The importance of the several houses is therefore in this order, the “gamal,” “ima,” “vale,” and “ima somu.” When a building is finished there is always a great ceremony ranging in importance according to the description of the house. For the gamal the ‘house warming’ is a matter of much ceremonial called “nasu,” and a man is supposed to “nasu gamal” with a pig at least. Any live stock may be slaughtered in “nasu ima,” and fowls, or if possible fish, are mostly in requisition. Plain food only is required for the two latter, but all the same there must be some house warming, or the building would not be properly finished. The house I occupy is an “ima,” and being a proprietor of many pigs, I am going to add to the dignity and full completion of my residence, by slaughtering two innocent animals next Thursday (D.V.) and the school will get a general holiday and a pleasant evening. I do this partly because I want to give the boys some slight return for the pains they have been at in building the house, to get a piece of pork myself, and to give a holiday in honour of my return among them. They say they must dig an oven within the ‘ima’ to make the thing complete, but to this I object. To-morrow, all being well, I go to Tasmouri.