j

FUNAFUTI

G. Sweet Foreman Burns. W. Poole.
Foreman Dent. Frof. David. Mh. David.
\V. Woolnouch, I1.. A.

FUNAFUTI
OR THREE MONTHS ON A CORAL
ISLAND: AN UNSCIENTIFIC
ACCOUNT OF A SCIENTIFIC
EXPEDITION

By MRS. EDGEWORTH DAVID

WITH PORTRAITS, MAP, AND ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1899

TO
THE LEADER
OF THE
EXPEDITION

PREFACE
This does not claim to be a literary production, but
merely an accurate, though unscientific, account of
the 1897 Funafuti coral-boring expedition.
I write because Funafuti proved so intensely
interesting to me, and because I hope others may
like to know the island without enduring the hard
ships of going there.
I also have a faint hope that this book will enlist
sympathy for the Funafutians, and perhaps be in
directly the cause of securing a medical missionary
for the island.
I am greatly indebted to the severe, but kindly,
criticisms of Professor Scott, of the Sydney Uni
versity, without whose help and encouragement I
should never have attempted to publish.
The leader of- the expedition says that as my
MS. has thrice made him fall asleep, the book will
probably prove an infallible cure for insomnia, and
is worth publishing as such.

x PREFACE
I owe very hearty thanks to Dr. Bullen-Beattie, of
H.M.S. Royalist, to Messrs. Pool and Woolnough,
and to the leader of the expedition, for the photo
graphs from which the illustrations were prepared ;
also to the Rev. S. Ella, of Sydney, and Mr. J.
O'Brien, of Funafuti, for the translations of native
songs and stories.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Mrs. David, the wife of Professor T. W. E. David, of
Sydney University, resides in Australia, and it has con
sequently been impossible for her to revise the proofs of
her book as it was passing through the press. This task
has been very kindly undertaken on her behalf by Mrs. G.
R. Scott, of Merton College, Oxford, to whom, as well as to
Professor Bonney, D.Sc, F.R.S., who has also read the proofs,
and has added a postscript on the continued work of the
expedition, I beg to tender my sincere thanks for the care
and pains which they have bestowed on the book.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Introductory— Our Arrival — First Impressions . . i

CHAPTER II.
Sunday in Funafuti . . . ' . 17
CHAPTER III.
Settling Down and Daily Life . • ¦ 35
CHAPTER IV.
The Wise Woman— Sick-nursing . 48
CHAPTER V.
Sing-sings . -58
CHAPTER VI.
Fateli — Thirty-one Native Songs, with Translations by
the Rev. S. Ella . . ... 72
CHAPTER VII.
The Village School . . . 79
CHAPTER VIII.
Stories Interpreted by Mr. J. O'Brien, the Trader in
Funafuti, and by the Rev. S. Ella 92

xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER IX.
PAGE
Language . . . . . in

CHAPTER X.
The King, the Sub-chief, and the Trader . 118
CHAPTER XL
Our Friends and Relations . . 133
CHAPTER XII.
Tattoo .... 146
CHAPTER XIII.
Other Manners and Customs . .152
CHAPTER XIV.
Amusements . . . . . 169
CHAPTER XV.
Missionaries and Morals— Laws Old and New 179
CHAPTER XVI.
Food and Cooking .... 202
CHAPTER XVII.
Clothes and Plants . . . ... 221
CHAPTER XVIII1.
Animals . . . . . 237

CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER XIX.
Uninhabited Islets . ... 256

PAGE

CHAPTER XX.
Sip a Sip a ! . . . ... 271
CHAPTER XXI.
Another Island . . ... 280
CHAPTER XXII.
What the Expedition Accomplished . ... 292

Postscript (by Professor T. G. Bonney, D.Sc, F.R.S.)—
The Continued Work of the Expedition . . 305

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Author and her Companions
Foliage in Funafuti
Main Street in Funafuti
The Native Pastor's Hut
The Trades-Union Man and King's Hut
My Hut in Centre
Opataia My Botanical Friend Tavau
The Trader, Mr. J. O'Brien, and his Family
Naina and Solonaima
The Island Beauty Solonaima
Lagoon Reef at Low Tide .
Two Cooks
A Midday Meal of Fish and Cocoanut
Palm-leaf Gutter for Catching Rain-water
A Fine Crop of Hair
Palu Hook
Nukulaelae Natives

Frontispiece

Faces page 10

14

, 26

, 38

. 44
, 126
128
» 13°
, 138
, 142
170
, 204
, 210
Page 214
Faces page 224
Page 249
. Faces 1
iage 284
\Funafala
II yJ FUNAFUTI.
\a^/ St-a Mik-s

170 " - 180
 Gilbert Is. ~

Ellice Is.

Funafuti I.
Nukulaeiae I.

> Tokelau Is

-Niue I.

AUSTRALIA

Norfolk /

Sydney^

The Voyage
from SYDNEY to FUNAFUTI, & back

S.S. Taviuni, S. S. Maori, & S. S. John Williams.
1897.
Drawn by Capt. Horc

1700 Long. E.

1700 Long. W.
Walker ¦ & Boutalt sc.

FUNAFUTI

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY— OUR ARRIVAL— FIRST
IMPRESSIONS
To start with, we none ef us knew where it was ;
but my husband said he was going, and politely
hinted that I should be an idiot not to go with him.
After that there was nothing for me to say ; he said
it was a great opportunity that one might never get
again. I hope we shan't ; but then some people are
never properly grateful for their advantages.
Then two University students volunteered to go
with us, and finally a man from a neighbouring colony
decided to do the same. We were all to go and work
as hard as possible, and pay our own expenses. What
for ? Why, to prove whether the great Darwin's coral
atoll theory was true or not.
Well, we all said we were going, and then inquisitive
friends wanted to know where we were going, and
soon we began to feel a little natural curiosity on
the subject ourselves. It was a coral atoll, called
Funafuti, and it was in the Ellice Group. We were

2 FUNAFUTI
sure this was true, because a very clever Oxford
professor of 'ologies had been there, and he told us
so. Still I wanted to see it on a map, to measure the
distance from Sydney, and calculate how long it would
take to get there, for we were wretched sailors. We
pored over many atlases, but could not find the name
Funafuti. After much search we found in one large
map of the Pacific a few dots labelled "Ellice Group."
This map put the dots somewhere about eight degrees
south of the Equator, and about seven hundred miles
north of the Fiji Group, and we calculated that a
steamer, going ten knots an hour, ought to take us
from Sydney to Funafuti in twelve days at the
longest. We took just twelve days to get there, with
a delightful break of five days in hospitable Suva ;
but we took five weeks and three days to get back
again ! We noticed that no two atlases agreed as
to the exact position of the Ellice Group, but then,
for such a group as that, anywhere within two hundred
miles is near enough.
The map labelled the islands British by putting a
pink line under the name. Under our own flag, any
how ! And if the black people kill and eat us, we shall
be avenged ! Unutterable comfort in that thought !
We found afterwards that the Ellice Islanders
hadn't the faintest desire to kill and eat us ; on the
contrary, they were quite as civilized as most white
folks, and merely wanted to earn our dollars easily
and eat our " kaikai " freely.
My husband was a great authority on geography,
because he had lectured on the subject for years, and

INTRODUCTORY— THE START 3
he told us a lot about currents and trade-winds, and
how they would be in our favour or against us,
according to the direction in which our ship was
steering. It was curious that those currents and
trade-winds should not have been more amenable
to geographical laws than they were this year ; it
was distinctly ungrateful to all the learned professors
who had taken such pains to formulate complicated
and satisfying theories about their movements. The
winds and waters would not blow or run in the
theoretical course for us at all ; the currents were
always dead against us, and the winds were head
winds, all the way there and all the way back. No,
this is not exaggeration, merely undecorated fact !
As to the climate of Funafuti, a man who had been
there said it wasn't half bad, at any rate no worse than
the Sydney climate in February. He also said that
there was seldom wind enough there to blow papers
about in his hut, and that it rained only about once
a week. But even the climate refused to maintain
its written character for us. It blew hard by fits and
starts nearly every day, and rained for a short time
almost every day, and greeted us with twelve days
and nights of almost unceasing downpour when we
first arrived.
After collecting a great deal of such accurate and
useful information about distance, winds, currents, and
climate, we ordered our provisions, and again sought
the advice of theoretical experts as to quantities
required for ourselves, the scientific volunteers, and
the six workmen who were going with us to work

4 FUNAFUTI
the diamond drill plant. We took down carefully all
the information these experts could give us, quantities
of various food stuffs for eleven persons for fourteen
weeks, and then cunningly multiplied most of the
quantities by four. We did not want hunger to be
among the hardships we expected to encounter. We
therefore took four times the quantities advised, and
ran short of several things at the end of the tenth
week ! The result was that we were obliged to beg
food from all three of the ships that visited us during
our exile. The scientific party had excellent appetites,
but they could not compete with the workmen ; these
last could dispose of 8 lbs. of flour, 4 lbs. of sugar,
1 2 lbs. of ham in one day, besides corned beef, tinned
vegetables, jam, rice, haricot beans, and unlimited
cocoa-nut. After securing provisions I began collecting clothes,
and we amassed garments sufficient to stock a second
hand clothes shop with, and yet we were hard up
for clothes before the end of the three months. Our
undergarments mildewed in our trunks and on us, and
we were really obliged to change them rather more
frequently than did the renowned Nansen. The
gentleman who had made himself responsible for the
weather in Funafuti had told us that sandshoes were
the best wear for the atoll, and that we should need
a new pair every week ! We bought four pairs each,
and said that these and our old ones must do. They
did. We had a pair each to wear on the return
voyage, and when the ship's carpenter had worked
at them a little they weren't half bad.

INTRODUCTORY— THE START 5
When food and clothes were secured, I began to
consider what amusements it would be necessary to
provide. My husband said there would be absolutely
no time for recreation on the island ! I didn't believe
him, and so laid in a good stock of books, needle
work, knitting, etc. But I might have saved myself
the trouble. One's fingers were always too damp for
sewing or knitting, and needles and scissors rusted
every night and had to be cleaned with emery cloth
every morning ; and this added so materially to the
dirty work one had to do that it was discontinued
after the first week. I occasionally knitted for the
delectation of the natives, who had never seen the
work before, and were much astonished at the
rapidity with which it was done, and kept up an in
cessant clucking and tapa-ing throughout the stance.
The books, too, fell flat. Funafuti was so hot,
that by the time one had finished cooking food,
washing clothes, cleaning pots and pans, poulticing
patients, and giving out stores, one was too tired
and sleepy to read. The first hour of leisure that
fell to me I determined to devote to the improvement
of my mind, and selected from my stock of books
Civilization, its Cause and Cure, as being an ex
tremely suitable study under the circumstances. I
settled myself at a comfortable angle in a deck
chair and set to work ; the first chapter was nearly
conquered, but the surf was monotonous outside, and
there was a monotonous clink of machinery close
by too ; and then it really was hot, and so  I woke
up, when a dirty little brown hand shook me, to

6 FUNAFUTI
see a smiling little jewel of a piccaninny offering
me a cocoa-nut alofa. I always fell asleep over a
decent book, and never managed to get through
anything but a few shilling shockers sensibly provided
by one of the workmen. The Funafuti people are
very practical and intelligent, and they never read
anything but their school primers, a hymn-book, and
the Bible.
After providing food, clothes, unnecessary amuse
ments, and useless medicines, and having made our
wills, we took a solemn farewell of all our Sydney
friends, and set off for Suva in the s.s. Taviuni
on June 2nd, 1897. We know many clever men
in all professions, and have unbounded faith in them
all, so that when one of them recommended us to
lay in a stock of cocaine-tabloids for the voyage,
we did so. Over the results of cocaine-tabloids it
is well to draw a decent veil ; the tabloids must
be excellent remedies — because just see what the
advertisements say ! But we concluded that our
digestive organs were not in sympathy with cocaine.
We reached Suva after eight days' steaming against
head-winds, and found that the little s.s. Maori,
which was to take us on to Funafuti, would not be
ready for five days. But we struck better luck than
such foolish people deserved, for we were taken home
by the Honourable B. G. Corney, m.d., who, with
his wife, made that five days in Suva a never-to-be-
forgotten happy time. They not only took us round
to see delightful people and entrancing scenery, but
gave us the full benefit of their long experience in

INTRODUCTORY— THE START 7
the tropics, in the shape of useful hints on all
subjects, without which we should have come to grief
in Funafuti. The doctor took me in hand, and told
me all that was essential to know regarding the
preservation of health and the curing of skin diseases,
or other ailments, to which our party might fall
victims in the climate we were bound for. It was
entirely owing to his instruction that our little party
had such capital health during their stay on the
island. Of course most of the medicines I had
bought in Sydney were useless, but Dr. Corney
provided us with the right drugs as well as the best
advice. The doctor must have considered our ex
pedition a sensible venture ; he proved that he did
by aiding and abetting in every possible way, and
doing as much as anyone to insure its ultimate
success. Everyone we met all along our route
helped us in the heartiest way, and seemed to take
a real live interest in us ; and we owe a lasting debt
of gratitude, not only to our Fiji benefactors, but
to the commanders and officers of all the ships who
conveyed us or called on us, and also to the English
missionaries in Apia and Nuie.
The five days in Suva came rapidly to an end,
as all good things do, and in the grey dawn of a
wet morning we went on board the s.s. Maori. Such
a little cockle-shell as she was, although she was
supposed to register 120 tons, and had powerful
engines which took us along well against a head-wind,
albeit they shook the poor ship and its passengers
nearly to pieces. And how she could roll too! It

8 FUNAFUTI
seemed as if she were always playing practical jokes
with us, and pretending she meant to roll quite over
some day.
We were not the only passengers to Funafuti. A
misguided young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Wall, from
Fiji, in need of a change, thought it a brilliant idea
to accompany our expedition to the Ellice Group,
and return in the Maori. The lady lay on the
deck prostrate with sea-sickness all the way there,
as did several others of us, myself included, and her
husband, who was an excellent sailor and a kind-
hearted man, waited on her and the rest of the
incapables. He arranged our rugs, steadied us
tenderly when we tottered to the side, tried to
shield us from the rain and spray, tempted our
appetites with floury potatoes and plenty of salt, and
brought us a bucket of water, soap and a towel, so
that we could rinse our faces and hands on deck — the
only washing the weather and our sea -sickness
allowed us from Fiji to Funafuti ! No one was well
enough to take a snapshot of the leader of the
expedition, his wife, and others, as they knelt un
certainly round that bucket, rinsing faces from which
every expression except abject misery had fled. It
took us four days to fetch Funafuti, four days during
which we lay on deck, alternately washed by the rain
and spray ; the tiny cabin, with ports closed on account
of the sea and rain, was insupportable, and we pre
ferred the fresh air of the deck, even though that
deck was hard and wet.
It was a grey morning, threatening rain again, when

INTRODUCTORY— THE START 9
the Maoris engines ceased to vibrate, and we heard
the skipper's cheery voice ring out, "There's your
island, Professor!" We dragged our limp bodies
into an approximately perpendicular attitude, and
looked round hopefully. We saw what was ap
parently the open ocean with several islands near,
and several more looking like grey clouds on the
horizon. I thought one of these islands must be
Funafuti, and that we should soon steer for a narrow
opening leading into the still waters of a tiny lagoon
round which would lie a green ring of palm trees.
You know that poetical utterance about the "garland
of green in an ocean of blue," don't you ? Well, I
did, and, although the ocean wasn't blue that morning,
I was keen to see the garland of green, chiefly because
I steadfastly believed that the water enclosed by it
would be perfectly still. So I ventured to ask the
skipper when we should get in. " Get in where ? "
said he. "Why," said I, "into the lagoon, of course.
I 'm just pining to reach that small enclosure of
perfectly smooth water, where all the gorgeous coral
gardens grow." He looked at me pityingly and
then said, "You're in it now." In it now! This
enormous piece of the ocean a lagoon ! Those
scattered misty grey islands so far away from us
and each other, do they compose the garland of
green ? It was necessary to enlarge one's conception
of a lagoon, evidently. This lagoon is about fourteen
miles across in one direction and eleven in another,
and it isn't circular at all ; and the islets bounding it
are of all shapes and sizes — some close together, others

10 FUNAFUTI
far apart, and connected only by a thin white line of
breakers just distinguishable on the horizon. There
are two passages into this lagoon, formed by breaks in
the reef, both large enough to admit the largest ship,
as well as a strong current and heavy sea froni the
ocean outside.
While we were making these observations, the
Maori was very slowly making her way towards the
largest islet on the east of the lagoon, and I wondered
why she went so slowly. Looking over the side for
the reason, I soon found it in the form of pretty green
"patches," treacherous shallows formed by the growth
of coral here and there. No wonder we went slowly
and tortuously, carefully following the line of indigo-
blue water which spoke of safety.
Clearer and clearer the long low line of green, the
islet that was to be our home, came out ; and just as
the ship dropped anchor, out came the gorgeous trop
ical sun, lighting up sky, sea, and land as if by magic
with new colouring, completely transforming the scene.
All was not delusion. We anchored close to the
lagoon reef, about a quarter of a mile from the shore,
and over the side, under the shallow water, we saw
irregular-shaped masses of dun-coloured coral, with
myriads of brilliant fishes flashing across from hollow
to hollow, inquisitive, but timid. Then on the shore
was a long narrow crescent of brilliant white sand,
lapped by the tiny idle wavelets of the lagoon ; beyond
that a line of low thick tausuna and gasu bushes, and
behind a dense mass of graceful cocoa-nut palms.
Among the trees we could see the brown leaf huts of

H
Bft
<

o

INTRODUCTORY— THE START u
the natives, and the large whitewashed mission church
and schools. The shore was covered with excited
natives running to and fro, shouting and gesticulating.
Soon a couple of quaint-looking little brown dug-out
canoes put off for the ship, and brought the white
trader to pay his respects to us and the supercargo
of the Maori.
There was little time to make acquaintance with
the trader to-day, for it was Saturday, and we knew
the islanders were strict Sabbatarians, and would
work neither for love nor money on the morrow.
Therefore, as the Maori was in a hurry to get back
to Suva, the officers began discharging the cargo at
once and at a terrific pace. Of course it began to
rain again as soon as the hatches were taken off, so
that such of our personal effects as escaped being
dropped into the lagoon got nicely soaked with rain
water. We hadn't a dry garment among us for about
a week, it wouldn't leave off raining long enough to
dry them, and when at last the rain ceased we found
our clothes fragrant and decorated with artistic
patterns in mildew.
My husband, with marital frankness, had told me
that just while the cargo was being landed women
would be in the way. I therefore went aft with Mrs.
Wall, and we amused ourselves with trying to dodge
the rain and watching the black boys discharge the
cargo. It was amusing for about an hour to see a
landing-raft made and the heavy cases of machinery
hauled up, swung over the side, and dumped on to the
raft, to note what immense weights the black boys

12 FUNAFUTI
could lift, and how nimbly they got out of the way
just when one expected them to be crushed to death.
Occasionally one of the boys or an officer would slip
off the raft into the sea in dodging a case that
threatened mischief, and then the ducked one was
fluent and the unducked unduly merry. But even
this delightful entertainment palled after a time; there
was too much sameness about it, and we were feeling
chilly, and had been wet to the skin since breakfast.
At last we could endure it no longer, and induced a
black man to take us ashore on top of a boat-load of
luggage. There was no complaining about cold on shore, wet
and windy though it was, and a very short walk
reduced us to the trembling stage, so we sat down
on a pandanus log and let the flies and natives collect
round us. Limp and dejected with four days of sea
sickness, garments draggled and tumbled with wet
and four days and nights of lying about on deck, we
must indeed have been pitiable-looking objects, and
the natives seemed to regard us as such and criticized
us openly, and adversely, as we gathered from their
derisive laughs and gestures. We were compelled to
note that they were not shy. Two handsome girls
pretended to be shy, and hid behind palm-trees, and
peeped round now and again to languish at the tallest
and best-looking of the white men who had joined us
on shore. These girls had donned their best titi and
tiputa, and decorated their heads, necks, and ears with
fresh flowers; so we knew the shyness was put on for
the occasion. Men, women, and children were mostly

INTRODUCTORY— THE START 13
of a pale copper colour, had regular features, large
velvety black eyes, magnificent teeth, and the most
innocent, confiding, childlike expression imaginable.
My heart warmed to the children, dear plump little
brownies ; but, alas, nearly all of them were disfigured
by the revolting skin disease known as yaws or tonu.
We sat on a log while the sun lasted, and when the
rain came down again repaired to the trader's hut,
and were there regaled with green cocoa-nut juice,
which we quaffed from the shell and found delicious.
It is invariably the custom, when a visitor goes into a
Funafuti hut, for one of the girls or women of the
family to knock off the top of a drinking cocoa-nut
and offer the visitor a drink. At first I thought it
was etiquette to drink all that was offered, but later
on learned to refuse when I wasn't thirsty. There
was often over a pint of fluid in one nut, and I had
not the Funafuti capacity for fluid. I have seen a
native man take eight nuts at one meal and walk
about comfortably after it.
In spite of both heat and rain we managed to
explore the village. There was a clear space in the
centre, close to the lagoon shore, near which were
grouped the king's state house, the mission church
and schools, and the native pastor's house, all built of
coral rubble and cement, whitewashed with coral lime
and neatly thatched with pandanus leaves. North
and south from this group of buildings, a long
straggling street of leaf huts stretched for about half
a mile in each direction, the huts being separated by
spaces of unequal size. The greater part of the main

14 FUNAFUTI
street was bordered with chunks of coral, and there
was an irregular avenue of shady bread-fruit trees
(met fenua mult) about half a mile long near the
centre of the village, while cocoa-nut palms bordered
the road, or path rather, all the rest of its length.
The paths and spaces were tidily kept, and I found
out afterwards that every Saturday the women swept
up and burned all the leaves and rubbish that had
accumulated round the huts during the week. Each
woman kept "her own doorstep clean," so to speak.
The king's state house is evidently kept for show.
I never saw the king in it except on Sunday after
noons between the services; and all the state business
was transacted in a large, airy leaf hut close by. But
it was a cool, clean, nice-looking place, with its white
washed walls, large open spaces for doors and windows,
and white coral pebble floor. A rough table and
settee,, a good American clock, a tablecloth of
matting, and a Bible were its only articles of furni
ture. It was the only clean coral hut in the island.
The trader owned a coral hut, which he generously
offered to let to me for the modest rent of 105. per
week. I went to look at it ; it had two rooms, about
10 by 12 feet, with apertures for doors and windows,
and the ground for a floor. It had been whitewashed
in former days, but the whiteness was now toned
down by slimy lichen and greasy looking dirt. I felt
that I should die of the blues if I had to live in such
a place for three months. It was squalid and grimy,
right in the heart of the native village, on the lagoon
side of the island, without a breeze from the ocean,

Main Street in Funafuti.

INTRODUCTORY— THE START 15
with hosts of flies and mosquitoes, and with the
constant depressing sight of the dear little brown
cherubs covered with sores and flies. While I was
looking at the place the natives filled up every door
and window space watching me, and the trader ad
mitted that if I lived there many of the natives would
spend the entire day lounging about watching me.
I began to understand what an inestimable boon is
the privacy of the poorest Englishman's cottage.
On the whole I felt I would rather camp somewhere
outside the native village, and, if possible, in a leaf hut.
These leaf huts, neatly thatched with pandanus leaves,
with airy walls of loosely plaited coarse palm-leaf mats,
and floors of white coral pebbles covered with palm-
leaf mats, looked cool, clean, and picturesque ; and just
as I was covetously admiring one of them, my husband
steamed up, streaming with rain and perspiration, but
radiant with happiness, and said, " Come along now,
and see what a lovely hut I have found for you to
live in, and what a jolly site I 've fixed on for the
machinery and the camp." We all followed him. A
walk of about a quarter of a mile northward from the
village brought us to a branch road leading to the
ocean side of the islet, away from the native village,
and there, swept by the sea-breezes, and about five
feet above sea-level, on a rocky platform, with a back
ground of palms and pandanus, was a large native leaf
hut, without walls, but with the eaves coming down
to within four feet of the ground. We stooped and
entered. There were piles of boxes and provision
cases belonging to our expedition covering the floor,

16 FUNAFUTI
the dripping shirts and trousers of our workmen hang
ing from the rafters — nothing lovely or attractive
about such an interior. At that unpropitious moment
I could not foresee what a pretty happy little home
that hut was going to be for the next three months.
I had stupidly promised never to grumble during the
expedition (the self-repression thereby entailed nearly
killed me), and so with outward cheerfulness accepted
the hut ; and also said it would do beautifully when
the roof was made water-tight and the wall spaces
enclosed with mats, and the provisions and rotting
vegetation moved out, and a few other slight improve
ments effected. The thatch was mended, and the
wall mats hung that day, but the wet clothes and
provision cases remained there for ten days ; and we
had to camp on a roughly-cleared space of about six
feet square at one end, while the students camped on
the boxes and pebbles at the other end.
The workmen were busy putting up their tents in a
lovely palm grove about twenty yards from this hut,
and a number of the natives employed as carriers
were dumping down a varied collection of machinery
and provision cases.
We returned to the ship at sundown, and slept
soundly on the wet deck in spite of the continuous
swish of the rain, after discussing the day's doings,
and groaning over a few choice beachcombers' yarns.

CHAPTER II.
SUNDAY IN FUNAFUTI
June 22nd, 1897. Record Reign Day, and our
first Sunday in Funafuti ! We woke early, raised
ourselves from hammock, bench, or deck, and looked
round us. Water under us, water round us, water
swishing down on the awning above us, nothing to be
seen but water, and we had been told that fresh water
was a luxury in Funafuti ! I quoted a bit from the
weather-prophet who knew all about Funafuti ; " Yes,
it rains occasionally, perhaps you 'd get a shower
about once a week." My fellow-passengers smiled,
and said we might find that weekly shower lasted
from Sunday morning to the following Saturday night.
It did, that first shower, and at the end of the week
we were quite satisfied that we should always re
member what tropical rain was like. After the first
week, however, the rain gave the sun a chance
several times a day. We seldom had more than
three showers a day, and one week it actually didn't
rain at all !
We had dried our clothes on us during the night,
and I for one was so comfortable in the hammock our
skipper had fixed up for me, that I loathed the idea of
c 17

18 FUNAFUTI
putting foot on the wet deck. However, it had to be
done, and we had to have breakfast too, after which
we concluded that the scene on deck was not exhila
rating, and hadn't even the attraction of novelty,
and as we couldn't possibly be wetter on shore we
decided to go there. So on shore we went, and in
going were thoroughly bathed without the trouble of
undressing. When we landed we found we were just in time
for the so-called nine o'clock service in the Mission
Church. No one dreamed of being punctual in Funafuti. To
begin with there were only three clocks ; one belong
ing to the trader, which I never knew to go at all; one
in the King's state house, which was wound regularly,
and kept fairly good time (only it was too much
trouble to go to see the time, it was quite near enough
and much easier to guess the time by the position of
the sun) ; and the other, a gorgeous piece of furniture
belonging to the native pastor, and this was eccentric
in its movements, because his reverence had tinkered
with it constantly to make it keep even with the sun
all the year round. Our blacksmith was called in
several times to doctor it, and rearranged it internally
as well as he could, but the pastor never would let it
alone, and it therefore continued to be uncertain in its
behaviour. In consequence, perhaps, of this lack of
accurate timepieces, we were always in a delightful
state of uncertainty as to the time of service, and
during our entire stay on the island, only hit it right
once — yet we lived only ten minutes from the church.

SUNDAY IN FUNAFUTI 19
One Sunday we arrived in time for the hymn before
the sermon, and being determined to be in at the start
next time, we strolled up leisurely about an hour
before advertised time, and found the pastor half-way
through his sermon. The next Sunday we did the
same, and found everyone in the midst of the noon-
sleep. One wakeful boy saw us, and concluded it was
church time, so jumped up and began beating the
drum vigorously. Everybody hurried into church
looking sleepy and dazed, and we wound up with the
last hymn just when we should have been going in.
After that we gave it up, and just walked in at what
was supposed to be the right time, and it got to be
quite exciting to guess what particular portion of the
service we might strike.
But on this first Sunday we were just in time, that
is to say only the 'first hymn had come off, and the
native pastor was about to start on the prayer ; but
our boat landed just then, and every native who could
get a peep outside was pretending not to look at us.
Under the circumstances the pastor did the most
sensible thing, he kept that prayer in abeyance until
we had been shown into seats, and also until we had
got through with " the prayer on entering a church."
It was slightly embarrassing to know that the whole
congregation was waiting for us to sit up so that they
could get an innings, yet although we felt the eyes
and the breathless suspense in the church, we did not
laugh, but sat up as seriously as the Puritan founders
of the mission could have wished. Then the pastor
got his turn, and as we saw that all the congregation

20 FUNAFUTI
sat still and shut their eyes (very tightly), we sat still
and shut our eyes too.
After the prayer came a hymn, and as this was
our first experience of Funafuti singing we were
much impressed. One man started and got through
half a line, when all the others joined, in harmony,
such a weird savage harmony, but still harmony. I
regretted being unmusical, for I am certain it would
have been worth while to write down a few of the
chords. The natives sang in many parts, from the
high-pitched nasal reedy treble to deep thunderous
bass. I instinctively thought of the rushing of wind
through palm trees, and the roaring of the surf on the
reef; and what a volume of sound there was too,
everyone joining in with all his might, such go, and
such perfect time — it was like a tonic. The sudden
shock of the dead stop at the end of each verse was
always trying to us — it was difficult, even after three
months, to avoid a start when the whole rushing,
roaring sound suddenly stopped ; one never could get
prepared for the almost painful suddenness of the
cessation of sound. Instead of decreasing the pace,
when coming to the end of a song or hymn, the
Funafutians always increase it considerably ; and just
as you think you are going on at express speed —
stop !
I never saw people more reverent at prayer and at
Holy Communion, or so hearty over the hymn singing ;
but they always fidgeted during a sermon, and at that
one couldn't marvel, for the Pastor's face and voice
when preaching were always expressionless. Twice,

SUNDAY IN FUNAFUTI 21
however, I saw the natives still with rapt attention
during a sermon, once when the sub-chief Opataia
preached (because the pastor was ill), and once when
the white missionary preached at his annual visitation.
During this our first sermon we gave ourselves up
to observation, as we knew not one word of Samoan.
There was plenty to look at, church, people, and
preacher. The church was a large, lofty, oblong building ; the
walls of coral rubble and cement, whitewashed with
coral lime. There were six large doors which were
kept open, except at prayer-time, when they were
mysteriously closed by the sidesmen. The church
looked north and south ; there was one door at each
end, two on the east and two on the west ; there were
no less than twenty-two large windows, the only glazed
windows in the village, and they were always propped
open to the widest extent to let in the air, and they
had never been cleaned since the church was last
whitewashed, but many had been broken. The
roof was lofty and picturesque, with the brown rafters
all neatly lashed together with native sinnet, and the
thatch was extremely well made from pandanus leaves.
One felt comfortable in church, it was spacious, airy,
comparatively cool, and fairly free from flies. The
floor of the church was in three portions. The south
end was cemented and covered with clean cocoa-nut
mats ; the centre was fitted with rough benches, just
logs laid across from post to post, and these benches
had attained a high polish from the rubbings of
restless Funafutians, unaccustomed to sitting otherwise

22 FUNAFUTI
than tailor-wise. The north end of the church, where
we were sitting, was raised a few feet above the rest
of the church, and separated from it by rough railings
very clumsily nailed together, and plentifully be
sprinkled with splashes of whitewash. This platform
contained the reading-desk, and two pews for dis
tinguished visitors, and in its centre supported a
smaller railed-in platform which did service as a
pulpit. We, being misguided Anglicans, received
a severe shock to our nerves when we were politely
bowed on to the space behind the altar rails, as it
seemed to us, and it was some little time before I
felt quite at home in the seat of the bishop. How
ever, all things become easy by custom, and we made
the most of our elevated position, for from it we
could see the remotest corner in the church with
ease. The men and bigger boys sat on one side
of the church, the women, girls, and children on
the other ; and there was a broad gangway of
separation between them.
There were two sidesmen on each side of the
church to close the doors before prayers and to open
them afterwards, and to whack naughty boys and
girls on the head with a long pole of office, which
they carried with conscious pride. My native daughter
received an admonitory crack on the head on one
occasion all through her love of geography. She
possessed a Samoan geography book, and studied it
fitfully whenever she could find a quiet time ; she
found a quiet time during the sermon one day, and
Tanei, one of the sidesmen, found he could just reach

SUNDAY IN FUNAFUTI 23
the top of her head nicely with his pole of office — and
he did. The sidesmen so seldom got a reasonable
excuse for using their poles, that they never missed
an opportunity.
The men and boys all had some sort of shirt or
cinglet on, also lava-lavas (waist cloths), and less
frequently trousers. They were all washed and
brushed for the occasion, and as their skins were well
covered, were a very fine, good-looking, respectable
set of men. The women had been washed and
brushed too, out of respect for the Sabbath, but
were so fantastically and absurdly dressed, that one
scarcely recognized the flower-begarlanded beauties
of yesterday. Natural flowers were forbidden in
church, but hats were commanded, and of course
lava-lavas and tiputas (bust cloths) were indispensable.
The native pastor's wife set the example of cover
ing by wearing a muslin Samoan gown down to her
bare ankles, and managed to balance on a fuzzy knob
of back hair a very perky-looking sailor-hat, decorated
with the ghastly wreck of a common artificial flower.
This lady, with her two youngest children, was
honoured by having a seat on a mat on the floor
inside the platform rails, and just outside our pew.
At first I approved of the Samoan gown as being
decent, but when I was obliged to observe that the
lady kept it open from neck to waist, so as to nurse
her infant with more ease and comfort, I concluded
that a native petticoat would have been quite as
serviceable, and much cheaper and more picturesque.
All the ladies brought their babies to church and

24 FUNAFUTI
nursed them deliberately, at intervals not exceeding
five minutes in duration, all through the service ; and
at sermon time used them as excuses for running out
for a few minutes to work off the fidgets acquired by
the unusual posture on benches. Funafuti babies
upset all the doctors' theories about infant digestion,
for they thrive and seldom cry, although they are
fed all day long, with intervals of only about fifteen
minutes for sleep.
But to return to that interesting topic, the dress
of the women. A few of them wore Samoan gowns
made of printed calico of most diabolical patterns
and colours ; most of them wore lava-lavas made of
gaudy handkerchiefs knotted round the waist and
reaching to the knees ; and all had some kind of
upper garment, which usually did not effect the
purpose for which it was worn, if that purpose were
concealment. These upper garments were varied,
but all brilliant except two, and they were undoubted
chemises, worn outside with ill-concealed pride. The
commonest bust-cloth was a kind of tiputa (tippet?)
like two pocket handkerchiefs, one for the chest
and one for the back, just fastened together on the
shoulders ; the fashion was to adorn these pieces of
rag with patches of all shapes and colours obtain
able, and to edge them with frayed strips of rag in
imitation of fringe. The favourite colours were red,
white, and blue, and the general effect that of bronze
statues carelessly draped with Union Jacks.
All this war of unblendable colours would not have
spoiled the appearance of the girls, for they can stand

SUNDAY IN FUNAFUTI 25
plenty of colour ; but it was the hats that were so
cruel. Just imagine, if you can, a small Tyrolese
hat perched rakishly on a huge fluffy mass of black
hair, and held in place by two frayed strings of soiled
white calico ; the hat itself covered with scraps of
red, white, blue, pink or yellow print — a veritable
crazy hat, occasionally ornamented with a tarnished
brass button, a draggled feather, a dirty artificial
flower, or streamers of red and blue worsted braid,
and sometimes all of these together ! I brought one
of these hats away with me, and had successfully
established a new fashion in hats before leaving the
island. Why should Funafuti women be made to wear hats
in church ? They never wear them anywhere else, and
if it rains on Sunday always run across to church with
their precious hats carefully tucked under their tiputas,
and put them on just inside the church door. If
women don't need hats as a protection from the
sun or rain, if they don't wear them as ornaments
or to keep their heads warm, in the name of all that 's
sensible, why should they wear them at all ? Just by
way of slavish obedience to an ancient oriental
custom ! Tapa ! as they say in Funafuti.
It took us all sermon time to recover from the
shock those hats had given us. After the- sermon
was over an intelligent member of our expedition
suggested that the natives ought to be warned that
at noon we were going to let off twenty-one guns in
honour of the day, Diamond Jubilee Day. My
husband said the intelligent person was at liberty

26 FUNAFUTI
to attempt to impart this information, whereupon this
intelligent person rose with great solemnity, beckoned
to the pastor, and began a series of remarkable
utterances and gesticulations — marionettes were not
in it — which reduced the pastor first to a state of
terror and finally of despair. There was no need
for the poor darkie to stammer out " Me no savee " —
we knew he didn't, folks who knew English couldn't
have savee-ed, much less this poor fellow. By way
of extricating himself from the painful situation, he
called up one of his show church members, a man
who did know some English, and the illustrated utter
ances were repeated more vigorously than before.
At first nothing but perplexity was visible on the face
of the show church member, but -suddenly he had an
inspiration, and waving the white gesticulator to
silence he said he quite understood — we wanted to
conduct a service on our own account for the edifi
cation of the people ! This was too much ; I had
sat with the gravity of a judge all through the service,
hadn't even laughed when those hats struck me
between the eyes — but I had to go now, I couldn't
watch the intelligent person go through that panto
mime again. I got outside into the rain ; it is good
for suppressed laughter to stand out in the wet — a
tropical shower by preference. My husband followed
me out, ostensibly to see what was wrong with me.
He felt ill too. We had just time to exchange a
volume of feelings in one look when the whole con
gregation filed out, tore off to their huts (with hats
under tiputas), switched off Sunday garments, and

The Native Pastor's Hut.
(The best leaf hut in Funafuti.)

SUNDAY IN FUNAFUTI 27
returned in the soiled but picturesque garb of
yesterday, to stare and smile at us.
The pastor courteously bowed us across the road to
his hut, where we regaled ourselves on cocoa-nut
tipple and were introduced to the pastor's wife,
Faataape, a pleasant and amiable woman who
thoroughly appreciated the distinction of being a
pastor's wife. And why not ? Hadn't she a better
hut than the king even, and more kaikai than she
could eat without working for it, people to cook it
for her and other people to nurse her baby, so that
she could rest most of her time ? Then, too, had she
not a seat on the dais in church, a place of honour to
which even His Majesty, King Elia of Funafuti, was
not invited ?
After admiring the pastor's fine little family of boys,
and chaffing some of the young folks in prize pigeon-
English, we said "Tofa" (good-bye) and went on
board again, drenched and tired, but very merry.
Now we made the appalling discovery that it was
close on midday, and there were not twenty- one
rockets to be had, and everybody had not come on
board. But we were not to be done, we meant to be
the first people in the Empire to start the rejoicings
on Diamond Jubilee Day, even if we did frighten the
natives. After rapid consultation, we decided that our
alumni should fire off twenty-one rifles, as we couldn't
have twenty-one roaring guns. And so they did ;
there were twenty-one feeble pops, and then I started
" God Save the Queen " to a tune of my own — I 'd
forgotten the right one — and all the others joined in

28 FUNAFUTI
with their pet tunes too, and we tried to look loyal
and important and to make a lot of noise. When we
were safely through with the National Anthem, we
toasted Her Most Gracious Majesty in cocoa-nut
juice, and spread ourselves rather, because we really
thought that from our position on the globe we were
bound to be the first in at the rejoicings. We
couldn't help remarking what a pity it was that Her
Majesty would never know how loyal were her
drenched and bedraggled subjects in this out-of-the-
way corner of her Empire.
While we were thus feeling content with our
Sovereign, our nation, and ourselves, a stray member
of our party came on board and said casually, " Aren't
you rather late with your guns ? " We explained that
they had been let off without damage to the alumni or
others, and expressed a hope that the natives hadn't
been very much alarmed by the noise. He said the
sound of those guns hadn't carried as far as the shore.
We looked at him, and he made some feeble remark
about the deadening effect of a blanket of rain on
sound, but we deigned no reply.
That afternoon we spent on board, contemplating
the now familiar tropical rain, and consuming the pro
visions of the Maori, and we turned in early to dry
ourselves and dream of the horrid roar of cannon
discharged from the crowns of the Sunday hats of
the Funafuti belles.
There were many Sundays after that, but never
such a full one. The people and the church became
every week more familiar and more lovable, and we

SUNDAY IN FUNAFUTI 29
had heaps of time during many services to observe,
think, and compare, while the pastor preached and
his people endured. It were long to tell of the
things one saw in church — the lady who hunted
and slaughtered parasites in the tenth row from the
front, the girls who exchanged hats or tiputas when
the pastor's attention was on his book, the cool
maiden who deliberately did up her back hair like
mine during a prayer, those of both sexes who
amused themselves by raising a floor mat dexterously
with a big toe so as to expectorate decently on the
floor beneath, and the rare occasions on which the
precentor made a false start with a hymn, causing the
rest of the congregation to giggle like white school
girls. These occasional incidents were the more
amusing, because on the whole the behaviour in
church was most exemplary.
Every Sunday after service I went into the girls'
hut, where boys were supposed never to come, and
chatted about Peritania (Britain), Sini (Sydney), my
children, and the girls' new clothes. Except for this
short gossiping time after two o'clock service, the
natives never did anything on Sunday but eat, sleep,
and go to church or prayer meeting. After each
spiritual exercise they stretched themselves out with
a sigh of relief on the floor of anyone's hut, ate what
they could get, and plenty of it, in that position, and
slept soundly until the church drum woke them again
for another service.
My husband and I dedicated Sunday mornings to
idleness ; we never rose before 6.30 a.m. on that day,

30 FUNAFUTI
we took our time over breakfast, discussed the events
of the past week and the progress of the diamond
drill, and tried generally to be civil to each other.
But, alas, from the fourth Sunday our early mornings
were marred by discord, and it was all due to Luia.
Luia was a young woman of untidy appearance, wife
to an old man who had been extensively married
before. She wasn't noticeable in any way, except for
the absurd partiality she began to show for my
husband's society. On and from the fifth Sunday
Luia came after 6 a.m. service and squatted down on
the floor of our hut, and there she stayed placidly
gazing at us. Of course we were in our bunks, and
we didn't want spectators at dressing-time, and so at
first we waited and waited, hoping she would go. But
she didn't. Then my husband muttered things dis
courteous, and then he said, at first pleadingly and
then angrily, "Can't you send that woman away?
I can't stay here all day ! " For the life of me I
couldn't help seeing the humour of the situation, but
he flatly refused to sympathize with me, and so I tried
saying, " Tofa ! alu ese " (good-bye, go away) to the
woman. But she did not budge. Then I gave her
an old white dressing-gown, hoping she would rush
off and show her friends what "te fafine" (the woman),
as they called me, had given her. But no ; she was
very much pleased, but didn't budge. Then I got
up and calmly went about preparing breakfast in my
night-gown, and when everything was ready sat down
and reasoned with my angry lord in this fashion,
" You 'd better get up, dear, and have your breakfast ;

SUNDAY IN FUNAFUTI 31
she 's stopping on purpose to see you do it, and you
might oblige her. Besides, your pyjamas and my
night-dress are far more comprehensive coverings
than any Funafuti garments, and so you can't shock
her, and /don't count." "But I want a bath," groaned
the poor man. " I daresay, dear, but I wouldn't go
so far as that in present company if I were you."
Then in desperation he jumped out of bed, flung
himself crossly into a chair, and wouldn't laugh or
talk all breakfast time, though I gave him ample
provocation. This Sabbath-day entertainment went on until we
both agreed that something must be done, and as
by this time my native daughter Naina could under
stand a fair amount of English, I told her that Luia's
behaviour was not strictly conventional from a white
woman's point of view. Naina's eyes flashed, and
she said, " Luia no good, me tella Opataia (the sub-
chief), Luia fined sillingi." I calmed her down a
little, and explained that I did not wish Luia to be
reported to the magistrate or fined a shilling, but
merely told to absent herself on future Sunday morn
ings until we had got through our ablutions comfort
ably. After that we had a rest from Luia, but when
we met her in the village she showed no resentment.
The very worst time I ever spent on Sunday, was
on the first occasion when I was present in the church
at a celebration of the Holy Communion. The pastor
had specially invited me, as a spectator only, and as
soon as I entered the church I was conscious of an
unusual display of finery even for Sunday, and an

32 FUNAFUTI
unusual air of expectancy and solemnity. There was
an opening hymn sung, and then a great hush fell on
the people for a few minutes, after which loane (a
deposed pastor residing in the island) was heard in
a faltering voice offering up the prayer before com
munion. How thoroughly in earnest he seemed, and how
much in earnest too were the others ; it was im
possible not to be affected by their devotion. When
loane had finished, the pastor in charge stood up
in front of a rough little table that served for a
reading-desk, and which, I noticed, had some kind
of vessels on it covered with a soiled sheet of once
white calico. He addressed his flock briefly but
more feelingly than I had ever known him do before ;
then he reverently raised the grimy cover, and
revealed a sight which filled me with horror, though
one swift glance round the congregation assured me
that they saw nothing out of the usual way on the
table. The taro (which was to take the place of
bread) was placed on two soiled enamelled plates ;
the cocoa-nut juice (which took the place of wine)
was in a brown crockery teapot with broken lid
and spout, and the cups were just two common
German beer glasses with their metal tops broken.
Nothing was clean and nothing was whole. For
the first time it struck me that it was a pity the
London Missionary Society, which has done so much
good work in these islands, could not afford a white
missionary to live in the group, to make more fre
quent visitations than once a year, and to make

SUNDAY IN FUNAFUTI 33
longer stays than just one day. Perhaps these things
do not really matter so much, especially when, as in
Funafuti, the people seem to have grasped real
religion in spite of the shabby externals ; but English
people like everything done decently and in order,
even in such a never-never island as Funafuti. I
never went to a Communion service there again
until the Sunday when the white missionary arrived
for his annual visitation. Just before seeing the
church he had invited me to attend the service
and to communicate, but I felt I could not face
that strange collection of vessels when he was there,
and so made feeble excuses. But he was a business
like and observant man, and went into the church
to inspect the arrangements for the service, and came
out with a red spot on each cheek and something
like anger in his eye. He said in a pained voice,
" Have you seen the vessels used in the Communion
service here ? " I said " Yes," not daring to look him
in the face, as the recollection of what I had seen
rushed into my mind. He promptly sent off to the
mission ship for a clean damask cloth, clean water
carafes, and clean tumblers. When I saw the
spotlessly clean array, and looked round on the
faces of my Funafuti friends, I felt that I ought
to join in the service with them on this my last
Sunday among them, and I am glad I did.
That native pastor "caught it" for his careless
ness and dirt, and I couldn't pity him — cleanliness
is cheap anywhere. On islands where they have
white missionaries things are very different, cleanliness
D

34 FUNAFUTI
and order reign in church and schools ; and even
Cook's famous Savage Island (Nuie) possesses a
good plated Communion service presented by the
native Christians, who take great pleasure in keeping
it in beautiful order. However, such are the trials
of the missionaries in the north-west out-stations from
Samoa. That memorable last Sunday we dined on the
John Williams, and how I enjoyed eating the
first meal I had not cooked for three months ; and
how tearfully happy some of us felt, though we tried
to hide the fact, at joining in the English Church
service again ; and how it seemed that we had
been years and years away from home on that
lonely island.

CHAPTER III.
SETTLING DOWN AND DAILY LIFE
June 23rd. An unromantic morning indeed! Rain
and sunshine, rain and sunshine, and much more
rain than sunshine, all day long. The Maori must
positively leave us before daybreak the next morning,
and therefore all the remaining cargo must be landed
before dark, for our independent natives will not
work after sundown, even for extra pay, without a
terrible hullabaloo. One of their number had been
a sailor, and having imbibed trades-union principles
had successfully imparted some of them to his fellow-
islanders. With an apprehensive shiver one realized that after
to-day our little party would be completely cut off
from communication with the civilized world for three
months. After all, missionaries allow themselves to
be cut off from civilization for six or eight months at
a time, even on islands where the natives are known
to be unfriendly. So also do traders. Anyhow,
there wasn't much time to indulge in shivers ; there
were clothes, and pots and pans, and food to be
found, and a nice job it was to find them.
Fifteen of the native boys (all natives are "boys"
35

36 FUNAFUTI
so long as they can work ; when they are too old to
do anything but eat, smoke, and palaver they are
"men") had been hired at one dollar a day to carry
our food, machinery, and personal luggage across
from the landing-place on the lagoon to the camp on
the ocean side of the islet. These delightful, sweet-
faced, irresponsible darlings carried boxes and cases
as far as they felt disposed, and then calmly dumped
them down and left for another load. The result was
that a wide and irregular track was marked out across
the island, strewed with all sorts of oddments, and it
wasn't easy to hunt up any special article that might
be needed.
One of our party undertook to superintend the
carrier "boys," and put in a few record days in trying
to hurry them. No one who hasn't tried hurrying a
Pacific islander-at-home can have any idea of what a
fearful amount of energy can be expended this way
with very poor results. The natives were like
children in their artful ways of dodging work, but
in spite of that they were made to put in much more
hard work in a day than they had ever done before,
and they used language in consequence which would
have brought down on them heavy fines, had not the
whole population been upset by the excitement of our
arrival. There is no doubt that Funafutians object to
being driven, and all through our stay I noticed that
they worked harder and more cheerfully for those who
never attempted to hector or hurry them.
The natives were very much taken with a large
heavy truck we had brought with us. This truck

SETTLING DOWN AND DAILY LIFE 37
was intended to lighten the labour of carrying heavy
goods ; and one would have thought that a machine
on wheels would have been serviceable, but alas,
there are no paved or metalled roads in Funafuti.
The roads are of nice soft sand, bordered by slabs
of coral, and as heavy rain had been falling for days
they were not in a condition to support heavy weights
on wheels. As soon as a heavy piece of machinery
had been hoisted on to this truck by dint of much
jabbering, shouting, and gesticulation, and the word
was given to shove all together, down went one of the
wheels into a foot of soft wet sand, and there the
truck stuck for minutes ; and the amount of muscular
exertion needed to get the wheel out on to a log or
plank was far more than would have been needed to
carry the goods in the native way — slung on poles.
It took fifteen natives three days to carry all our
goods for about a quarter of a mile, and the boys
thoroughly enjoyed the work at the start ; but they
got very sulky at being hurried. They wanted to
take their own time and to be allowed to sit down
and smoke, or get a snack of food every half hour ;
and when they found they were not allowed to do
this they showed remarkable genius in the matter of
finding opprobrious nicknames for the white man
who was superintending them, and many of them
pretended to work and didn't ; however, they suffered
for that afterwards. It was in this way ; the good
workers were all marked, and they were the only
men who got regular employment from us afterwards.
This did not suit the others at all, so they had the

38 FUNAFUTI
conch blown and all the men assembled, and after
much discussion it was decided to send the sub-chief
to the leader of our expedition to say that we must
not always employ the same men, but must take them
all, turn and turn about, so that every man had a
chance of earning some of our dollars. It took a vast
amount of diplomatic palaver on the part of our leader
to make such arrangements with the sub-chief as
should suit our plans ; but it was accomplished at last,
and in such a way as to leave no ill-feeling. The
arrangement was that our leader was to be allowed
to employ the same men always to help in the
machinery, because they had learnt how to do it and
knew the names of the tools used. Of course they
happened to be the best workers too ; but the others
our leader properly impressed with the danger to life
entailed on persons who wanted to work a machine
without understanding it. Then our leader magnani
mously arranged that carrying coals and cutting
firewood, and other such unskilled labour, should be
contracted for by the people themselves, they being
paid for quantity and not for time. This plan satisfied
everybody, and the natives worked amicably with us
for the rest of the time. Overtime work was always
a trouble with them; they worked willingly from 8 a.m.
to sundown, but growled consumedly when they were
asked to work an hour later, although they had is.
extra given them for this overtime. The trades-
union boy was the one who talked them into
discontent ; he would have got a good salary as a
labour agitator in a civilized community ; he made

The Tkades-Union Man and King's Hut.

SETTLING DOWN AND DAILY LIFE 39
them feel ill-used, though they couldn't say why they
felt so. At last he hit on a fine plan ; he persuaded
them not to work an hour later, even for a shilling,
unless they got biscuit kaikai as well. This caught on
splendidly, the natives always being get-at-able by way
of their stomachs ; and so one night they demanded one
biscuit kaikai each, which was given. The next night
they asked for two biscuit kaikai per man, and went
on until they demanded "five biscuit kaikai buttered!"
Then my husband struck, and said they could work
for their dollar a day and shilling overtime, or leave
it, just as they chose ; he didn't mean to feed them
any more. They made no more fuss, but worked
well for the original agreement. It would have been
interesting to find out how many biscuit kaikai they
would finally have demanded, had our provisions been
equal to the strain.
But I had other things to do on the first day of
settling down, besides observing the ways of the
native when employed as a workman to white men.
I had to make my hut fit to sleep in before the
Maori left. My fellow-passengers came and helped
vigorously, hunting up and hauling about and ripping
open boxes and provision cases. We spent hours
in sorting out from the mass of luggage the cases
containing tea, sugar, biscuits, tinned meat, jam,
butter, my primus atmospheric stove, kerosene,
methylated spirits, and matches.
We were charmed to find every match wet ; the
intelligent packer had considered paper a sufficient
protection for Bryant and May's safeties, also for

40 FUNAFUTI
maizena, coffee, and a few other articles. The
matches we dried on a lamp, having begged a
dry match from a smoker with which to light it.
It took three weeks to dry all the matches, and
when the last packet was dried those first dried
had absorbed sufficient moisture from the atmosphere
to render them useless, until they were dried again.
After that we let them go, merely drying a box at
a time as we needed them. The coffee and maizena
later on afforded us interesting subjects of conversa
tion, when over the cheerful cup or pudding we
discussed the relative values of pink, yellow, or blue
paper pulped, as flavourings.
After hunting up the afore - mentioned articles,
together with a kettle, teapot, frying-pan, a few
rugs, and a couple of bunks, we cleared a space of
about six feet square at one end of the hut ; and
after removing the dripping garments wherewith the
place was lavishly draped, dedicated the six-foot clear
ing to my use, as bedroom, kitchen, and reception-
room. Then the sub-chief, Opataia, came to call on me,
and for afternoon tea we had a tin of beef and a
plate of biscuits. He was a courteous man, and
thought it was etiquette to eat all that was offered
him ; and had I not noticed his predicament and
cut off supplies in time, he would have perished, a
martyr to good manners. Then he began to talk;
he could say " koot " (good), and I could say " io "
(yes), so he smiled at me and said "koot," and I
grinned back again and said " io." I never knew

SETTLING DOWN AND DAILY LIFE 41
my conversational abilities, until I met Opataia. He
quite brought me out. You 'd have been astonished
to know how much we contrived to say to each
other just by using those two words with appropriate
gestures. It was a little tiring of course, conversation
in a foreign language always is ; but after half an
hour's brisk exercise with these two words we parted,
I think, with mutual admiration.
The Maori left us next morning at daybreak, and
now I had no nice unemployed globe-trotters to help
me move cases and straighten up generally. There
was nothing for me to do for a week but cook and
dry clothes, for the six feet of space did not admit
of much house-cleaning ; and until the provision store
was built, I must either sit on one box and look at
another (it rained too much for drying clothes), or
cook, so I cooked. The natives presented me with
various new food-stuffs to experiment on ; and for
a few days it was amusing to find out how to cook
taro, yams, green bread-fruit, and bananas. But it
is curious how soon the charm of novelty wears off.
It seemed an endless time that week they took to
build the corrugated iron store-shed ; but when it
was finished and the piles of cases and dripping
clothes moved into it, I turned my attention to the
now all but empty hut. Yes, it distinctly had possi
bilities. It was about 30x14 feet ground measure
ment, and the thatch was neat in patches where it
had not been hurriedly mended with palm mats ;
the rafters were neatly tied with sinnet, and had
aged to a pretty brown. There was a soft green

42 FUNAFUTI
bloom over the brown, made by a lichen, of which
I stupidly forgot to bottle a specimen. The floor
was covered with fragments of rotting palm-leaves,
pandanus fruit, and cocoa-nut, all in an advanced
stage of mustiness.
It occurred to me that I could utilize a native girl
to clean out all this rubbish, and so I sent for one.
She came, graceful and smiling, with a business-like
tabola and salu (basket and broom) under her arm,
and, after about ten minutes of work, she settled
herself down contentedly and watched me scrape
together and sweep up the rubbish, and carry it
down to the beach. I soon entered into the joke
and explained pleasantly and practically how I
wanted the work done, until it was all finished, and
then paid her, and said " Tofa " cheerfully. It was
some time before I employed native girls again ;
one had to learn their ways, and cure them too of
a few skin diseases, bearing unsavoury names and
deserving them. In fact, I found for many reasons
it was better to rely on myself, although I often got
valuable help from my five piccaninnies, led by my
vivacious and handsome little Pole, or Pore (Polly),
as she was called by her fellows.
After clearing all the rotting vegetation from the
floor of my hut, I spread a layer of clean white coral
pebbles, and over them again a layer of rough palm-
leaf mats, and over all three good pandanus leaf-mats
presented to me by the trader, and by Tili, one of
my husband's friends. Then I placed the sleeping-
stretchers at one end of the hut, and close by them

SETTLING DOWN AND DAILY LIFE 43
arranged toilet requisites on a packing-case, which
I had draped with what my small son would call
" nice rag " ; nailed up cabin pockets and tidies on
the posts of the hut, fenced off small areas as hanging
wardrobes with more "nice rag" ; selected the centre
of the hut for dining-room, and turned a packing-case
upside down for a table ; unstrapped my deck-chairs,
and fell into one with an ecstatic grunt. Oh, the
luxury of a chair after a week of provision cases !
But I left the remainder of that delicious rest till later,
and rushed round putting finishing touches before
my husband came in. Not that one really expected
him to appreciate the comfort and tidiness, but one
always had a sneaking hope that some day he might
notice the attempt, and pat it on the back. I fixed
one large packing-case as a carpenter's bench for him,
and made the mistake of arranging the tools neatly,
with the usual result — he couldn't find a thing he
wanted for a week. Then on the opposite side of
the hut, I converted another packing-case into store-
cupboard, kitchen-table and dresser combined. When
I had completed a masterly and scientific classification
of pots, pans, and provisions, and hung up a few
more ' rags ' to hide inartistic interiors, I gazed round
complacently. The hut was now clean and comfort
able ; more than that, it was pretty, with a Funafuti
style of prettiness. The neatness of the pillars,
rafters, and thatch, the picturesque low wall of
matting, all in different tones of brown, were really
charming, and the sudden change to order and
cleanliness made me feel rested and contented. In

44 FUNAFUTI -
a few days the rain cleared off pretty well, so that
we were able to dry our clothes, which still further
diminished the discomforts of camping.
In a Funafuti hut one never suffers from closeness ;
the wall-mats let in plenty of air, and rain too for that
matter ; and the unhung door spaces are excellent
ventilators, when not blocked by friendly natives.
Fancy living, bathing, feeding and sleeping in a one-
roomed house with unhung door-spaces ; a house with
mat walls that are constantly being lifted by little
brown hands to let in little brown heads, with big
innocent inquiring eyes ! At first I did not venture
a bath indoors, but repaired daily to the lagoon for a
swim with my native daughter. But one soon got too
salt and sticky, and even a billyful of water to rinse
with after a swim wouldn't take off the stickiness ;
and I began to crave for a tub of fresh water and a
good soaping down. How to manage this in my hut
without getting up in the middle of the night was the
question. At last I hit upon a plan, which although
not perfect, was tolerably satisfactory. When I wanted
a bath indoors I stationed my daughter, Naina, and
my botanical friend Tavau, outside my hut, with
strict orders to send off anyone, man, woman, or
child, white or brown, who wanted to interview me.
They were delighted with the idea, and paraded
round the hut while "te fafine makee washee," and
hurled cocoa-nuts and other such convincing missiles
at any would-be visitor ; and after each rout they put
their heads inside, with an angelic smile and compre
hensive stare, and say, "e go way misi." It was a

SETTLING DOWN AND DAILY LIFE 45
case of two visitors or"the entire village in relays, and
of two evils 
Our camp took up a fair space, and was really a
pretty little village in itself. There was my hut, and
a smaller one behind it, my cook-house about ten
yards in front ; a little further away from the sea,
under the shelter of a lovely grove of palm trees,
were the workmen's tents, and the site of the
diamond drill ; and about thirty yards to the right
three well-pitched tidy tents belonging to the students
of our party. To the left, looking even more hideous
than any other corrugated iron building I had ever
seen, was our store-shed. It was an insult to the
lovely palm grove in which it stood. However, it was
a necessary and very useful piece of ugliness. During
the day the forge, the drill-plant, the boiler, the iron
tubing and core-boxes, that strewed the ground, also
detracted considerably from the beauty of the scene.
But at night nothing could surpass the weird beauty
of the camp, with the bright red light from furnace
and forge lighting up the palms and the quick-moving
dusky figures. At first the roar of the breakers on
the ocean reef, and the continual clink, clatter, and
hammer in the drill-camp kept me awake at night,
and rendered the day uneasy ; but one soon became
so accustomed to these noises that they were as
though they were not. At night, looking seaward,
with one's back to the camp, what a lonely desolate
picture it was, and how melancholy the dull booming
of the surf made one feel ; but right about turn, and
there one had a scene all life and bustle, waving

46 FUNAFUTI
palms, the whirr and movement of machinery, sparks
and flashes of rosy light, busy figures moving about
briskly in all directions — a little bit of the "black
country" popped into Eden.
All day long my husband, the students, and the
rest of the folks were busy working with rusty, greasy
machinery ; and each week they seemed to get dirtier
and more disreputable looking ; grease, rust, rags,
patches, and perspiration, were about all one could see
of them. They had to scrape and scrub themselves
so on Saturday nights trying to get clean, that they
looked quite raw and uncomfortable all Sunday.
We daily breakfasted at 7 a.m., dined ostensibly
at 1 p.m. (but my husband suffered from a bland dis
regard of punctuality applied to meal times, and had
to be fetched at all hours), and had tea soon after
sundown. Besides these three meals we had frequent
drinks of cocoa-nut juice, which is both refreshing and
sustaining, during the morning ; and we had cocoa-nut
juice again for afternoon tea, for we could always get
cocoa-nut wherever we happened to be. Two drink
ing cocoa-nuts was the regular evening offering from
about a score of our brown friends, so that with all
the thirst induced by the climate, we had more than
we could dispose of ourselves.
My mornings were taken up with cooking, cleaning
pots and pans, trimming lamps, tidying the hut, wash
ing clothes, poulticing patients, giving out stores and
keeping accounts. But after the midday meal I was
free to wander till sundown, and did. I gossiped with
the natives near the drill or in their huts, collected

SETTLING DOWN AND DAILY LIFE 47
flowers, gathered shells, and bathed in the lagoon.
But whatever I was doing, wherever I went, I had
a train of inquisitive piccaninnies after me, who
watched my every action, and reported the same duly
and in detail to the entire village. At first this
publicity was annoying, then amusing, and finally
neither. As I walked out along the main street of
the village the cheerful greeting "Talofa" would ring
out from all sides, and smiling women would pop
their heads out of their huts to look at me ; those
who were already out of doors would stand still to
watch me out of sight, making audible and pertinent
criticisms in the friendliest way. The grown-ups
would put the children through a brisk catechism
thus : — " Where has she been ? Whom did she see ?
What did she give them ? What has she in her
basket ? Who is it for ? Where is she going now ?
What is she going for?" etc., etc. The children
would call out the answers to these questions as
they walked along. The chief amusement in
Funafuti was the time-honoured old custom of
English villages and country towns, viz., discussing
other people's business ; in Funafuti, however, they
had introduced a primitive-Christian improvement on
the game — they did not make mischief. They dis
cussed each person's sayings and doings before him
with the frankest coolness, just as we discuss the
vagaries of the weather, and the subject under
criticism was as unmoved as the weather is by our
futile objections.

CHAPTER IV.
THE WISE WOMAN— SICK-NURSING
Every day in the week a good deal of my time
was devoted to doctoring and nursing. The white
people came at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and the natives
at all hours.
There were Fiji sores, sprained ankles, tropical
bilious attacks and sunburn, yaws or tonu, as the
Funafutians call it, lafa and magesu (Tokelau ring
worm and itch), also a few odd ailments, like
incomprehensible pains in an elbow, and megrims,
to prescribe for, these last "not dangerous in them
selves, but all needing great care in such a climate."
We had no serious ailments except one attack
reported to me as " inflammation of the bowels " ; I
prescribed one China pilule, and the cure was worked
that very day. There was a good deal of faith-
healing of this kind.
The tropical sores were the most troublesome
ailments ; the least scratch, unless at once disinfected
and covered from flies, would inflame and develop
into an ulcer needing constant care.
The trader told me that the old native doctors used
to be very clever over these matters, and that there
48

THE WISE WOMAN— SICK-NURSING 49
was one aged woman left now who could cure the
very worst sore in a few days. He told me this just
as I was in despair about our chief foreman, who had
an ulcerated leg which would only just not get worse
in spite of all my care. I at once asked him if he
would be willing to allow the native wise-woman to
experiment on his leg, and he was quite ready to do
so. The trader took me round to the lady doctor,
whose name was Tufaina, and who was afterwards my
native mother, and we explained the case to her.
She accepted my present, gave me a cocoa-nut drink,
and then said " koituai " (by-and-by) ; but instead of
putting off the engagement indefinitely, which is
usually what " koituai " means, she arrived a week
afterwards at 7.30 a.m. carrying a bunch of leaves
and a soiled piece of calico, followed by one lady to
make a fire and a few more to look on (it is not
etiquette in Funafuti to do any kind of work without
an audience). We saluted each other with great
formality and deliberation ; and after a short palaver
went down to the foreman's tent and asked him to
produce his leg. He did so, and Tufaina and her
train shook their heads, and clucked over it like
broody hens. The old lady then began her pre
parations, leaving the patient to amuse himself
keeping the flies off his leg. She arranged a few
large nonu leaves like a plate, and on these spread
out the rag, and then very carefully cut up into it
a pile of young gasu leaves, as if for a salad. Then
she tied the chopped leaves up in the rag, and made a
thick covering of the nonu leaves outside to prevent

50 FUNAFUTI
the rag burning, and popped the bundle on to a
smouldering fire of cocoa-nut husk, which had just
been prepared by one of her satellites. We all sat
quietly round the fire, dodging the puffs of smoke,
until a crackling noise was heard inside the bundle ;
then Tufaina dexterously whipped it off and opened
the outside case of leaves, in which was a fair
amount of evil-smelling juice. Then she picked
up the rag bag of leaves and alternately dipped it
into the juice and applied it to the inflamed swelling
round the ulcers, pressing the juice out well ; after
she had done this for about a minute and a half
she announced her intention of coming the following
morning, and went. The next morning she came
again and repeated the treatment, and then she said
that the next morning at that hour the leg would
be well ! Both the foreman and I felt quite hopeful,
it was all so deliciously mysterious, and the next
morning at the magic hour I ran down to his tent,
and found the leg exactly as it had been for the
past fortnight. My faith was not quite crushed,
so with more presents in hand, I again sought out
Tufaina ; she was smoking and seemed to have lost
interest in the case, but I pleaded, and she eventually
said "koituai." This time the useful expression
meant "shortly," for in a couple of hours she arrived
in our camp with a struggling crab of many hues,
which crab she deftly ripped open and laid its quiver
ing "innards" on the ulcer. Tufaina said if that
didn't cure him, nothing would. I believed her.
When she was safely out of ear-shot the foreman

THE WISE WOMAN— SICK-NURSING 51
and I relieved our pent-up feelings with a hearty
laugh ; still I was anxious all that night for fear of
blood-poisoning. However, nothing happened except
that the crab began to decompose, as all flesh will
under such encouraging circumstances, and I syringed
the leg thoroughly with corrosive sublimate solution,
and returned to our former methods.
Then the trader raised my hopes again by saying
that the leaves of the tolotolo creeper were just grand
for sores, if made into a good hot poultice. He said
that the leaves had been taken away by white doctors
who had analyzed them, and found them to contain an
essence that was a certain cure for boils. So for one
week I spent several hours daily patiently picking and
boiling tolotolo leaves, and twice a day tolotolo
poultices were applied to the obstinate leg ; but they
didn't hurt the ulcers at all, so we decided to return
to the treatment we had tried before we got excited
over native remedies, and the leg improved slowly
but surely.
The tropical bilious attacks, which supervened after
a course of fried ham breakfasts, were a source of
some suffering, and a vast amount of amusement.
They attacked different people differently. One
man got greeny white in the face and stuck to
his work all day, swearing horribly at intervals,
but at last solicited a Dover tabloid, and was
right the next day. Another man tried to stop
the sickness by drinking half a pint of kerosene
oil, after which he felt so bad that he came to me
for medicine ; I felt inclined to prescribe a lighted

52 FUNAFUTI
match, but thought there might be trouble for me at
the inquest. Another man got so weak in half an
hour after the dizziness came on that he was quite
speechless, and could not so much as move a finger ;
this was alarming to my inexperience, but I thought
that, as he was so near dissolution, two Dover tabloids
followed by a basin of hot bovril couldn't hurt him ;
he was well next day.
Tropical sunburn is much worse than it sounds.
One of our party got burnt badly while swimming
and diving in the lagoon, trying to save things from
a raft-wreck. The next day his back was decorated
with a huge blister, half an inch thick, reaching from
neck to waist ; there were similar blisters on his arms
from shoulder to elbow, and a huge one across his
chest. For two nights that man had to sit up to
sleep, he couldn't lie down ; but after a few applica
tions of vaseline the blisters dried, and on the fourth
day the skin came off in sheets like cream-laid note-
paper. After that all the men were careful to wear
shirts when in the sun.
The native patients included nearly every man,
woman, and child on the island. We were thought
ful enough to bring with us from Fiji a fine
assortment of influenza germs, and these ran riot
among the native population. A few days after
our arrival two-thirds of the people were down
with it, and dismal objects they looked ; but very
simple remedies reduced the fever, and rid them
of aches and pains, though the lassitude and coughs
lasted some time. My inventive genius was over-

THE WISE WOMAN— SICK-NURSING 53
taxed by the need to provide varied and harmless
" vai " (medicine), for without vai they refused to
be healed. The people rapidly developed an absolute
faith in my remedies, and I was soon as eager to
keep up my reputation as if I had been paid for it.
My remedies, combined with the people's faith, never
failed. Over and over again I was summoned to a
sick mat, by a boy with a fine grip of the English
language, in some such words as these, " Misi, come,
Meneua palenti sick, 'ead no good, belly no good,
come ! " And he would stay and worry me until I
went. I noticed that always after pig-feasts my native
patients increased in numbers. For the good of the
people I tried to discourage the eating of pork, and
whatever medicine I gave them to work off the
biliousness, I always solemnly affirmed that if they
ate pig soon after taking that medicine they would
die. They believed me, and abstained from pork-
eating until they had leave from me to begin again.
They would hang round my hut disconsolately and
say, "Misi, me palenti like puaka, you tell me eat
'im." But I said "no" pitilessly, till I feared the
rage for pig would make them break bounds, and
that, finding they did not die as I threatened, they
would lose respect for my witchcraft. Rather than
that, I gave them leave to eat pork, just a little,
say not more than a leg of pork at one sitting.
I never saw a native doctor practising on a patient
except once, when I saw a fine-looking, grave old
man sitting cross-legged with his palm on the naked

54 FUNAFUTI
abdomen of a little girl, who lay passive for hours
under this very simple treatment. I found that she
was supposed to be suffering from an internal chill ;
so they had taken off her clothes, put her on the
floor, and called in the doctor, who sat with his
hand on the spot where the pain was without moving
for several hours. There was no striking result from
this treatment !
We heard a good deal about the strange sickness
that sometimes took the young boys and girls in the
island, but fortunately the excitement of our presence
stopped any outbreak of it while we were there.
The trader said that when people got an attack of
this, they would be melancholy and refuse to eat
for a day or two, and then all at once they would
go mad and seize a knife, if there was one handy,
and just rush through the village slashing at every
body and doing no end of damage, until they finally
fell exhausted. If they could not find a knife just
when the fit came on, they would rush to the ocean
reef and fling themselves into the water and swim
"for miles," until they drowned or a boat picked
them up. Dr. Corney said that this was South
Sea Island hysteria, and was common to all the
islands. The skin diseases were worse than anything else
that one had to contend with. Tokelau ringworm
and itch were easily cured by a few applications
of chrysophanic acid ointment and sulphur ointment
respectively ; but " yaws," or " tonu," was a very
different matter, especially when it had reached the

THE WISE WOMAN— SICK-NURSING 55
stage of ulceration, and attacked the bones. Nearly
all the children under three years of age took this
filthy disease, for no precautions were taken to stop
its spreading ; generally, however, it was only a
skin disease with these small people, and when
after a few months the sores died and fell off, the
skin underneath grew smooth and clean, and the
pale mark wore completely off. It was quite a
common spectacle to see a small child stand howling
pitifully in the street, covered with brownish-yellow
sores, like hideous warts, from the size of a pea
to the size of a hen's egg. No one would take
the faintest notice of the child ; it howled till it
felt better, and then it would lie down to sleep
sobbing, while the flies crowded on to the sores.
Nothing was ever done to ease the suffering, and
it seems that the patients have no continuous dis
comfort, except in one stage of the disease. It
seemed to me just a miracle that these poor, afflicted
little people could ever be jolly and merry ; but
they were a happy little crowd most times, and
never so much as troubled themselves to brush off
any of the numerous flies which got foothold on a
raw, raspberry-like lump of the disease. Nevertheless
the ugly sight got on my nerves, and depressed me.
I tried to get the mothers to cover the sores with
clean white rag, so as to stop the flies carrying the
infection, but they wouldn't take the trouble ; and
they laughed derisively when I advised them not
to let a clean child sleep with, or nurse, or exchange
clothes, or wash in the same water, with a tonu

56 FUNAFUTI
patient. For the first time I wished myself a
missionary ; they will obey a missionary. The
native pastor smiled in a superior way when I tried
to get his influence working on the side of sanitary
reform ; and I had the flattering conviction that he
also thought I was a fool to try to stave off the
"visitations of Providence."
Children generally recover from tonu in three or
four months ; but sometimes they cannot shake it off,
and then they slowly, but certainly, rot away like
lepers. Several of the adult islanders had tonu in
the face, and they were marred beyond description.
These unfortunates generally hid themselves from
strangers, but associated with the islanders as if noth
ing was wrong, although they were constantly derided
by the other natives, who seemed to think the fearful
disfigurement a rich joke.
Several who had only just developed this disease
came to me to have the ulcers syringed regularly, and
I tried to teach the women how to treat it, and left
them plenty of medicine and disinfectant, but I doubt
if they will persevere with the treatment. The itch
and ringworm patients never seemed to suffer any
inconvenience from these diseases, unless they went
into salt water, when, for a time, the skin would itch
and burn painfully. Some of them were covered
from crown to sole with a shell-pattern of ringworm,
and, as this disfigured them and they were bantered
about it by their fellows, they liked to be cured. At
the end of six weeks I had cured more than half
the people on the island ; but to my disgust and

THE WISE WOMAN— SICK-NURSING 57
disappointment, after two or three weeks many of them
returned showing me pimples and rings to prove that
they had caught it again ! They would wash in the
same stagnant pool, whatever I might say, and it was
possible sometimes to see on this pool a grey scum
formed entirely of scales that a ringworm patient had
scraped off with a piece of cocoa-nut shell ! And
then they would smoke the same pipe, passing it
round from mouth to mouth, and they would exchange
garments, and they would use each other's sleeping
mats ! Oh for a medical man for my obstinate, good,
lazy, lovable Funafutians !

CHAPTER V.
SING-SINGS.
The third day after our arrival we received a visit
from Opataia, who came to say that there was to be
a sing-sing that night in the schoolroom, in honour of
the expedition, and of the officers of the s.s. Maori,
who were to leave at daybreak the following morning.
Our first evening party in Funafuti ! And we
hadn't found our soap and towels ; even our cabin
pockets, with combs and such-like luxuries, had been
deposited somewhere on the road to our hut, but we
hadn't yet discovered where. Unwashed, uncombed,
tired and wet — and yet we did not plead a previous
engagement, but started off quite keenly to the show.
The rain stopped long enough for us to walk, bare
headed, by the light of a hurricane lamp, to the
school, where we were courteously received by
Opataia, the trader, and the native pastor. We were
shown to a seat on a rough settee, covered with native
matting, facing the natives who were squatting tailor-
wise on the floor in a semi-circle, so as to leave about
twelve feet of clear floor space, on which was arranged
a motley collection of lamps, from the gorgeous kero
sene reading lamp belonging to the native pastor,
58

SING-SINGS 59
down to the primitive half cocoa-nut-shell lamp be
longing to the king. Several of the natives possessed
kerosene lamps of various shapes and sizes, and were
very proud of them, and, although kerosene cost 12s.
a tin, managed to afford kerosene for these occasions ;
but most of the people used half a cocoa-nut shell,
full of crude cocoa-nut oil with a floating piece of rag
as a wick.
As there were no lamps hanging from the rafters we
could only see the front row of the choir, the mass of
natives behind appearing as dark shadows. At the
next sing -sing our students hung their hurricane
lamps from the central rafter so as to light up the
scene behind, and were well chaffed for it by the
native boys, who said they had done that just to be
able to see the girls better — which was true, too.
The floor was packed with natives of all ages, and
every door and window aperture was blocked by
others, so that what with the steamy heat of the
night, the smell of scented wreaths, of refined and
scented cocoa-nut oil warmed on the hot bodies of
the natives, and the stench of the crude oil burning
in the cocoa-nut-shell lamps, to say nothing of the
fragrance from the kerosene, the atmosphere was a
little trying. The natives rather like the smell of
kerosene, and one would imagine that they liked the
flavour too, because I saw one of the girls deliberately
suck up into her mouth the oil out of one lamp that
had been overfilled, and then let it run out into
another lamp !
The trader and the chief men among the natives

60 FUNAFUTI
sat on mats spread on the floor near us, and gave
us occasional explanations of the proceedings. Besides
ourselves, there were present as honoured guests the
captain and officers of the s.s. Maori, and two Fiji
boys from the Maori 's crew, who were got up regard
less of expense in wreaths and flowers, because they
were going to favour the Funafutians with a few Fiji
songs, by way of returning the compliment of this
sing-sing. As soon as our eyes had become accustomed to the
dim light, we made out that the front row of natives
represented the stars of the choir. They were the
best-looking of the just-grown-up boys and girls, the
upper class in the village school, dressed in their best
lava-lavas ; the girls with their brightest tiputas, the
boys dressed in a varnish of cocoa-nut oil from the
waist upwards. All had wreaths, or leaves, or coloured
handkerchiefs on their heads, necks, and arms. The
boys looked well, but the girls perfectly lovely.
While the visitors were assembling I noticed that
there was a very animated conversation going on in
the front ranks of the choir ; occasionally one girl
exchanged tiputas with another, or a boy had a
wreath thrown at him by a girl. In the front row
of the choir the girls sat on the north and the boys
on the south, in the groups behind they were mixed.
The mass of natives on the north side composed one
choir, and those on the south side constituted the rival
choir. The two choirs sang alternate songs, and there
was an exhilarating rivalry thereby induced.
There were various rolls of mats disposed here and

SING-SINGS 61
there among the people behind, and I was puzzled as
to what they were there for. I found out soon. There
were about half a dozen briar pipes and a few dried
banana-leaf cigarettes, doing duty among the crowd ;
this communistic pipe or cigarette was at first dis
agreeable to contemplate, but one soon grew callous.
When all the visitors had arrived, one dusky damsel,
with head thrown back, lids half closed, lips parted in
a dreamy smile, but teeth tightly closed, began to clap
slowly and sing a few words in a high-pitched, nasal,
reedy voice ; one after another the boys and girls
joined in, swaying their bodies dreamily and grace
fully, and clapping their hands to mark the time. The
whole body of natives behind the stars chimed in
lustily too, and several of them banged vigorously
with sticks on the rolls of mats, which I now dis
covered were used as drums, to mark the time more
sharply. I never heard any Salvation Army drum
that equalled a Funafuti mat-banging in ear-splitting
misery. The songs resembled anthems, in that there
was a constant repetition of words or phrases ; the
same phrases were repeated over and over again to
the same tune with the same actions ; at each change
of phrase there was a change of tune and action, and
a considerable increase of speed. The singing was in
several parts, making a full, rich, though barbarous
harmony ; the actions were varied and all graceful,
and were changed with lightning rapidity at each
change of phrase. It was an excellent drill in fact,
perfectly done, and yet these children have no drill or
musical instructor — they just watch, listen, and imitate.

62 FUNAFUTI
It was amusing to see the small children, some of
them not more than a year old, with wide-open eyes
watching the older ones, and lisping some of the
words, while imitating the movements cleverly. Any
Funafuti child of four could teach our best Kinder
garten children both singing and drill.
The movements, which the natives consider a sort
of dance, displayed the pretty arms and small, well-
shaped hands of the girls to perfection, swaying,
curving, pointing, and clapping. The curious thing
about the singing was that the longer the natives
sang the more excited they got, and the faster ran
both words and actions, and the louder were the
voices ; and just when the din became all but in
supportable the whole choir and orchestra would
suddenly stop dead, and one's ears crackled painfully
in consequence. I never could find out how they
knew when to stop, for there was no signal given
that I could detect, but they always stopped clean,
not one singer ever being the veriest shade behind
the others.
After a few seconds of silence, there was a perfect
babel of conversation among the performers, com
ments on the visitors, criticisms on the singing,
suggestions for the next song (they have no pre
arranged programme), requests for sucks at the
family pipes, etc. Then a boy would strike up
another song ; they always sang " fair," first a girl
and then a boy, all through the evening.
On this occasion, after the Fiji boys had displayed
their vocal powers, and had been so applauded by the

SING-SINGS 63
Funafuti girls as to make the Funafuti boys jealous,
Opataia got up and made a speech, which the trader
interpreted. It was as follows: — "We, the people
of Funafuti, are all very glad to see you here to-night
at our sing-sing, which we hold in your honour.
Although it is against the law of our island to keep
up a sing-sing after ten o'clock, yet for your pleasure
we have to-night set aside that law, and we are willing
to sing until two or three o'clock, or all night, if you
wish it. We are thankful to Almighty God that we
are now friends with the white man. When white
men first came to our island, many years ago, our
people were afraid and ran away and hid themselves
in the bush ; but now we are all friends, we are under
the same Queen, we obey the same laws, and we
worship the same God. There are black men and
white men, and red men, but the heart and the blood
are the same. Since we have been friends with the
white men we have all learned to read and write,
and are getting enlightened, and we are thankful to
be under the protection of Britain. The ship
Maori may leave us to-night, or she may not,
but in any case we thank you for coming to-night,
and we hope the Maori will have a pleasant voyage
back to Fiji, and that the white people who remain
in our island will become our friends." Opataia sat
down amid an approving murmur from his people,
and a hearty clap from the white folks.
It was then my husband's duty to enlarge on the
pleasure we had derived from the entertainment, and
to say that we should like to stay all night, of course,

64 FUNAFUTI
but it was midnight already, and we were all tired
after a hard day's work, and would have to tear
ourselves away, etc., etc. Unfortunately my good
man had completely lost his voice through a cold
contracted on the voyage, and struggle as he might
he couldn't speak above a whisper. But as every
white man present shrank from the privilege of taking
his place, he resigned himself to the inevitable, with
an appreciative twinkle in his eye, and whispered
pretty things in a confidential way to the trader, who
proclaimed them to the assembly.
We then filed out and found that there was another
break in the downpour, and utilized it to let off a few
fireworks to the mingled terror and delight of the
natives ; and then gave the captain of the Maori and
his officers a hearty cheer as they rowed off into the
darkness, not to be seen by us again. My husband
went on board with them once more to ransack the
ship from stem to stern to make quite sure that no
piece of that precious diamond drill machine had been
left behind. I went back to my hut and threw myself
down, too tired to undress, and slept the sleep of the
weary. During the night I was awakened by curious
sounds, ending in a gasp and a struggle, proceeding
from the other side of the tarpaulin which separated
my camping corner from that of the two students. I
felt sick with terror, but dared not move, for I had
still to acquire faith in the perfect harmlessness of
the natives. In the morning it transpired that the
scrimmage was occasioned by one of the students
developing a nightmare, in consequence of a huge

SING-SINGS 65
crab having elected to sleep on his chest. He said
he "chucked that crab," but it did not make much
difference, there were so many exploring round his
way. There were musical evenings once a week in
Funafuti, but none of them lasted so long as that
first one ; Opataia did not believe in setting aside
a law too frequently, and we generally found that
from eight to ten p.m. was sufficiently long to satisfy
both singers and audience.
The number of native songs was enormous ; the
trader said there were more than a thousand. One
of the girls, Tavau, wrote out about two hundred for
me, and then got tired and threw it up, and I couldn't
induce her to go on, even with the present of a hair
brush with a looking-glass on the back. I tried to
get at the meaning of some of the songs, and found
that some of them were so old that the meaning was
not intelligible to the present generation of natives ;
the words, music, and actions had been handed down,
but the meaning had been lost. Some were in a
foreign tongue, Raratongan,* for example; others
had no meaning, but were only as Naina expressed
it, "makee larfee talkee," like our "fee-fi-fo-fum,"
and "hey -diddle -diddle," I suppose. By far the
larger number were in Samoan, and were recent
compositions, not dating further back than the
missionary movement ; most of these were songs
* There was only one Raratongan song, and the natives when
questioned about it said, " Mauta make him." Mauta was a Raratongan
residing in Funafuti.

66 FUNAFUTI
made on Biblical stories, or geography, astronomy,
and natural history ; while some were merely a
repetition of certain names. One of these last
immortalizes three pioneer missionaries, thus : — " Misi
tana e, misi eli e, talamoni e ! " This was a tremen
dous favourite, and the natives always got so wildly
excited over it, working themselves up to frenzied
speed at the end, that I thought the words must
recall some blood-thirsty savagery of old time, and
was much astonished to find that the ditty was
a very harmless one, in fact, when rendered into
literal English, it means : — " Mr. Turner ; Mr. Ella ;
Drummond ! ! ! " These three missionaries seem to
have left a splendid record behind them among the
islanders. The songs based on incidents in the Old and New
Testaments are the most numerous, and many of
them laughable. One great favourite was an up
roarious repetition of: —
" Go it, Israel !
Go it, Israel !
Fight the Assyrian ! !
Fight the Assyrian ! !
Never mind his horses ! ! !
Never mind his horses ! ! ! "
This song divided honours with one describing the
sending of the twelve spies to Canaan. All the
heroes of Bible history come in for recognition. One
of the very quaintest, in which I am sure there was
no intentional irreverence, described the Ascension,
how the disciples looked up, and down, and all round,

SING-SINGS 67
in blank astonishment at the sudden disappearance.
The acting in this song was very realistic.
The actions accompanying the songs are not always
descriptive. In many cases they are "alia sama
dance," as the girls told me. Sitting down, and
swaying the body and arms, is not our idea of
dancing ; but the natives have been forbidden by the
missionaries to dance on their feet, or to wear natural
flowers in church or school. These puritanical re
strictions puzzled me, but after hearing the reasons
for forbidding tattoo, I thought it advisable to ask the
white missionary when he came what harm he saw
in wearing wild flowers, or kicking the feet about
in a stand-up dance. He explained that Samoans
dressed in wreaths of flowers for their native dances,
that these dances lasted all night, and developed into
obscene and licentious orgies of an indescribable
nature ; and that the pioneer missionaries thought it
best to forbid altogether everything that could recall
these disgraceful revels. That was the edict for
Samoa; and the pastors sent out to Christianize the
Ellice Islanders were all Samoans, and they enforced
on their congregations the laws that had been made
for Samoa.
The native children had learned scraps of what
they called English songs ; one of these scraps was
a great favourite, and there was a something familiar
in the tune, but I could not make it out. Semanua
said, "Alesanda, Penekuini," which meant that Mr.
Alexander of H.M.S. Penguin had taught it them.
I could make neither head nor tail of the words,

68 FUNAFUTI
however, and therefore asked my sparkling little Pole
to write them down for me.
This is what she wrote : —
" Tesi, tesi, kivi ulana setu
Kivi u arta, mai falaoa, alofa u !"
It took me a week to unravel this, and robbed me
of some sleep too, but at last I got an inspiration —
the words must be : —
" Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do ;
Give your heart, my flower, I love you ! "
This turned out to be correct, the children recog
nizing the words and the air with great delight when
I sang the two lines. I think " Alesanda, Penekuini "
had been improving the original as well as the
occasion. Singing in Funafuti is quite an athletic exercise,
and severe at that ; for the songs are long, they are
sung all over the body so to speak ; a great volume
of sound is the most important thing, the actions are
rapid and tiring at the end of every song, and there
is a great deal of fierce clapping all through. Some
of the boys slapped their bare arms so mercilessly in
beating time, that the sound rivalled the sound of the
mat banging.
The natives were very curious to know how
foreigners amused themselves, and how they sang or
danced, if they did either. On one occasion when
they were giving a special sing-sing in honour of
the arrival of Dr. Corney, there were present the

SING-SINGS 69
captain and crew of the s.s. Clyde, thirteen Norwegian
shipwrecked sailors, two Rotuma boys, besides several
members of our expedition, and the natives saw the
opportunity and seized it. Opataia stood up and
said : — " We are very glad that you have come to our
sing-sing to-night. We have done our best to amuse
you, and we shall be very glad if you will sing and
dance in your foreign way, so that we may learn how
the English, Norwegian, and Rotuma people amuse
themselves. We have never seen anything of the
kind, and it would give us great pleasure to do so."
We felt we ought to do something, yet none of us
were very keen. Most of us would have performed
for the benefit of the natives, had there been no white
people present ; but holding ourselves up to ridicule
before our fellow-countrymen was a different matter.
After some slight hesitation, however, one of our
students, with his usual courage, flung himself into
the breach, and sang " Little Brown Jug." The
natives caught the tune very quickly, and liked it
far better than any other tune we ever tried on them.
But the killing fun to us was that the native pastor
and Opataia looked on smilingly, because they were
ignorant of the words. Anyone drinking spirit out of
a " little brown jug," or out of anything else, would
have been promptly "run in" and fined £1. And
quite right, too. Yes, they had a lock-up (fale-pui-
pui) in Funafuti, a substantial-looking hut with strong
slab walls, and no windows ; no one was ever in it
while we were there, and I never even saw the door
opened, so that fale-pui-pui — the shut-up house — is an

70 FUNAFUTI
extremely suitable name for it. After our student
had sacrificed himself on the altar of politeness,
the Norwegian sailors sang one or two glees most
beautifully, but they sounded very dismal after the
brisk Funafuti performances, and were therefore not
appreciated by the natives. Two of the Norwegian
sailors then consented to waltz, and they revolved
solemnly round to a slow waltz whistled by the purser
of the Clyde, amid shouts of derisive laughter from
the younger generation of Funafutians. The older
people were far too polite to laugh, but they thought
it a very ludicrous and tame performance.
Then I felt I ought not to shirk my duty, but
should do something for the general amusement, and
I succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. I in
duced the lively old captain of the Clyde to dance a
Highland schottische with me. I must have looked
crazy, with a native wreath all askew on my head and
a flaming scarlet muslin dressing - gown on, cutting
such undignified capers, but it brought the house
down. I selected the schottische because I saw that
the slow movements and solemn faces of the waltzers
did not take with my lively Funafutians. But the
Samoan pastor's face was a study ! He was simply
furious, and would have liked to send me off to the
lock-up then and there for daring to dance on my
feet. He suffered more, though, when the Rotuma
boys contributed their share to the entertainment.
These boys were decorated in much the same way
as the Funafuti boys, and began by sitting down
round a rolled-up mat and banging it in time with a

SING-SINGS 71
monotonous chant ; then all at once they sprang up
on their feet, and went through a very clever and
athletic dance with curious movements of the arms
and legs. The Funafuti girls were tremendously
pleased, and applauded all through, and so openly
admired the tall handsome Rotuma boys that the
Funafuti swains glowered with envy. The pastor
wanted to stop the Rotuma boys when they got up
on their feet, but Opataia restrained him, reminding
him that the foreigners had been asked to give speci
mens of their ways of dancing. Poor conscientious
pastor! I fear that all we sinful white foreigners
enjoyed his discomfiture.

CHAPTER VI.

FATELI— THIRTY-ONE NATIVE SONGS
WITH TRANSLATIONS BY THE REV. S. ELLA
And these were the songs they sang, O !

i. Misi tana, e !
e ! talamoni, e !

Misi Eli,

2. E toki te fale te fanauga
Isalaelu, e nofonofo ai ko
Isalaelu, oi, aue ! Te ao
faaniutu ka fa'anake savavali,
e ! savavali, e ! oi ! aue !

3. Te a ese ia oe le susu
tautau ; oi e gata i teine susu
tutu, oi, e ! ma liuliu taualo
te moana e. He gau o le foe,
ae motu le taula, tau malua e
tau malualua. Lelei o lelei o
lou vaa a e tau malua e tau
malualua.

1. Mr.
Ella, e!

Turner, e ! Mr.
Drummond, e.

2. A house was raised by
the children of Israel, for
Israel to dwell in. Oh! alas!
The cloud standing like a
cocoa-nut palm directed their
journeyings, e ! directed their
journeyings, e ! oh ! alas !
3. Take away, you, the
breasts hanging down. Oh !
only girls have breasts stand
ing out, oi, e ! Turn your
paddling to the sea. When
the paddle is broken, and the
anchor -rope broken, wait a
little. Wait and paddle
slowly, good, good, is your
canoe ; but wait awhile,
paddle gently.

72

FATELI— THIRTY-ONE NATIVE SONGS 73

4. E fakamatala mai taka
pi e tolu, se moa se moa ne
ave ke tatao ke maua mai se
tama se tamai moa.
5. Finau tele o le nu'u
suesue mea uma e toatele o
tagata Talu ia Lutelu na
lilui le tusi sai le gagana
Siamani me tagi ke lolomi
faka tasi ma tusi i le gagana
Siamani.

6. Na fai atu o Paulo ia
Timoteo, e ! Soia e te inu
i le vai auri, e ! a e inu ae
Sina uaina, e ! aoga i lona
mai. Avatu ia se ipu ava i
le ua na inu, e ! Soia e te
inu i le vai auri, e !

7. Le apoga - leveleve, ou
mata ke pula i te matagi,
ko agi te aso ko ua?

4. There is made known in
my third primer, a fowl, a
fowl that was set to obtain
chickens, chickens.
5. The people strove
strongly. There were many
enquirers regarding all things
from the time of Luther, who
translated the Scriptures into
the German language, and
demanded that the entire
book should be printed in
the language of Germany.
6. Paul said to Timothy,
e ! He should leave off
drinking cold water, e ! but
drink some wine, as good for
his sickness. Give the cup
of kava to him who is thirsty,
e! Leave off drinking cold
water, e !
7. Spider, your eyes are
bright to see the wind ;
whence is it going to blow
to-day ?

8. Ma'uma'u ko taupou 8. Lost are the virgins of
osa Juta ! Ko fea, e ! ko fea Judea ! where, oh, where are
i latou ? ko tafea i Papelonia ! they ? Carried off to Baby
lon.
9. Ua faalogo le Laumei 9- The turtle has heard
i upu a tautal o a taeao e the words of the fishermen.

74

FUNAFUTI

fai ai le faiva e lau uo, e !
Tago mai lo'u lima.
io. Niukini e, tuku toku
tainamu laukaka, me se malu
koe i te namu ! Tamato, e,
tuu faka malosi ki te galuega
i Kapati !
11. E pei o se sevilou
manamea, o i ai le mauga
i o Peteli ; ina ta tuu ia
Lepanona, e ! lau ava, ina ta
tuu. O loo silasila i le
faamalama o loo pupula mai
lona tino. Ina ta tuu ia
Lepanona e, lau ava. ! Ina
ta tuu, si au uo, e ! Si ou
laalelei, tulai mai ia, ina sau
ia, ina ta tuu io Lepanona, e !
lau ava, ina ta tuu !
12. Nukini, e! fou ake tou
tao lakau mo ke fagota i te
vao mago, e ! Niukini, e !
tutii ake tau an mo ke tuli
manu mo ke tuli manu.
Niukini, e ! sa fe ake tau
titi mo fakalave manu mo
fakalave manu.
13. Ne fasia e ona uso le
tamai oti ke maua mai se
toto e fufui ai le ofu. Iakapo,
e ! tenei ! tena ! gatu tenei !

In the morning there will
be fishing by your friend, e !
Lay hold of my hand !
10. New Guinea, place your
mosquito net of kaka leaves
to protect you from the
mosquitoes ! Chalmers, make
strong your work in Kapati !
11. My beloved is like a
dove, that is in the mountain
of Bethel. Let us two leave
for Lebanon, e ! My wife,
let us leave. There is seen
through the window the
brightness of his body. Let
us leave for Lebanon, e !
My wife ! Let us leave, my
friend, my beauty ! Stand
up, come ! Let us leave for
Lebanon, e ! My wife, let us
leave !
12. New Guinea! Do up
your wooden spears for the
hunt in the dry bush, e !
New Guinea, light up your
fires for the huntsmen, for
the huntsmen. New Guinea,
bind up your titis to entangle
animals, to entangle animals.
13. His brothers killed a
kid to obtain some blood
and to dip the coat in it.
Jacob, e ! This or that ! this

FATELI— THIRTY-ONE NATIVE SONGS 75

e i e tenei ! e i e tenei ! e i torn rag ! Whose is this !
ko tena ! gatu ? e ko ia e ! whose is this ! whose that
ko ia e ! ko ia ! ko ia ! torn rag ! That is it ! that
is it ! that is it ! that is it !

14. Malia, e ! Iosefa, e !
tula' i mai ia Savali mai, ie
savali tonu ki Aikupito,
fanau, se tamaiti i le fale
povi Makoi e, tafuli ou vae,
tafuli ou vae ma mea mangoi.
15. Portukali, Portukali e
tuaoi ma Sepania, a e tupito,
a e tupito, i nuu sisina. oi,
aue ! fa' amiliona mona tupu
ona tagata ; a e tupito, a e
tupito i nuu sisina, oi, aue !

16. E lua masina e faata-
milo tuu atu pianete i tua o
Satuno. 17. O le, o le, o le Laumua
o Falane, o Pale, o Pale, le
laumua ! O le, o le, o le
laumua o Siamani o Pele, o
Pele, o Pelelini e !
18. Amuia ko Tavita ko
Sola ki te vao. Fana mai se
pulu — fana — fana — fana — ke
vaue ke taunuu atu kie Lono-
tona ; Fanatu Tavita, e ! moe

14. Mary, e ! Joseph, e !
stand up walk quickly, walk
quickly direct to Egypt.
Born, a little child, in the
cow-house ! Magi, hasten your
feet, hasten your feet, with
the sweet smelling things.
15. Portugal, Portugal, on
the boundary of Spain, but
stands foremost, but stands
foremost in the Peninsula.
Oh, alas ! multiply millions
to the growth of his people,
which stands foremost, which
stands foremost in the Penin
sula, oh, alas !
16. There are two moons
revolving around the planets
at the back of Saturn.
17. The, the, the capital of
France is Paris, Paris, the
capital ! The, the, the capital
of Germany is Ber — Ber —
Berlin, e !
18. Fortunate was David
to flee to the bush. Shoot
with a bullet — shoot — shoot
— shoot quick, to reach
London ! Shoot out ! David,

76

FUNAFUTI

ko Saulo, Amuia ko Saulo,
ko se fasioti te tama na fai
mo ana fili, e !

19. Oi, Temese! le vaitafe
ua tuu ai o Lonetona ! Te
fua ona maila i uta ie fua ona
maila i uta !

run to Saul ! How fortunate
was Saul, who would have
killed the boy who had be
come his enemy, e !
19. Oh, Thames! The river
on which London stands !
Measure its miles inland —
measure its miles inland !

20. O le mauga Vesuvio
e mu pea lava, aue ! puna mai
ma tafetafe faa suavai.

21. Nei maumau o upu o
le lauga, fafagu atu ia. Soia
le moe, oi, aue ! nei maua oe
le oti faavavau, fafagu atu ia !
Soia le moe ! oi, aue !

22. E Samasoni, ia tu'u ake
ki luga ; tulai o fano ; fafasi
o Filisitia ; tago atu tou lima
ko pou, o le fale, lolou, ia
vave ; aua le fiasili !

20. The mountain Vesuvius
burning continually, alas !
Springing forth, and running
down like water.
21. Lest you lose the
words of the sermon, wake
up ! Leave off sleeping, oh,
alas ! Lest you be overtaken
with eternal death, wake up !
Leave off sleeping, oh, alas !
22. Samson, stand up !
Arise or perish ! Slay the
Philistines ! Lay hold with
your arms to the pillars of
the house ! Bend down
quickly ! Don't be proud !

23. O Niue\ te fenua lasi, 23. Niue, a large land,

e siomia te akau lasi. O
Niue, te fekau kino e tanu
ola o latou matua. Io, Funa
futi, te fenua kino, e uke ai te
manilala.

surrounded by big reefs. Of
Niue is the bad report that
they buried alive their
parents. In Funafuti, the
plain land, the manilala is
caught.

FATELI— THIRTY-ONE NATIVE SONGS 77

24. O le fa'ata salafalafa
lenei ua tatele ai nei ona po
taina. Puke ake ki tou faka-
ata tena, toku ata e takato
atu nei.
25. Po sia e tou se alofa,
me ne ke toli nia ko te Potu-
kali? Po sia e tou se alofa
me ne ke tuli nia ko te Aliki
Falane ? Sau ia, o puke ki te
pusa ; tenei, tena ata, e taka
to atu nei.

26. Amuia Malia ko savali
o kilo ana mata ki, te tuga-
mau Malia, e, savali mai ia,
ko te solosolo fua tenei, e
takato atu nei !
27. Palaamo e, aue ! Pa
laamo, te aliki Mesopotamia,

e ! ea-e-aue

a-e-ea-e-aue !

Palaamo, e ! tele mai tena
manu, ponotia e te agelu,
e-e-a-e-aue ! e-ae-aue ! Pa
laamo, e ! Aita no na efaka-
logo te palau te Atua e ua
oti Palaamo, te taua Samalia
Moapi, e !
28. Kerisiano e ua tele lou
alofa ia te oe. Tala mai ia
tala maia se mea i lau ma-
laga.

24. This is a flat looking-
glass which magnifies its re
flections. Lift it up to show
your own reflection and laugh
at. 25. Where is your com
passion that we should be
driven away to Portugal?
Where is your compassion
that we should be driven off
to the French chief? Come
here ; lay hold of the smoke ;
this or that shadow to laugh
at. 26. Blessed is Mary who
walked down to peep with
her eyes into the tomb !
Mary, e, walk on towards the
cloths here, and smile again !
27. Balaam, e, alas ! Balaam,
the chief of Mesopotamia, e !
ea-e-aue ! a-e-ea-e aue ! Ba
laam, this animal is slow !
Stayed by the angel ! e-e-a-
e-aue ! e-ae-aue ! Balaam had
you only listened to the word
of God you would not have
died ! Balaam ! The war of
Samaria ! Moab, e !

28. Christian, great is my
compassion for you ! Tell us,
tell us something about your
journey.

co

78

FUNAFUTI

29. Te futl ka solo, mo fai
te falava, a fafao e ki apa, o
tuku ke loa o ave ki faga ki
faga o Amelika.

30. Ia outou ilia le sofao
Ikepea ma le pu i totoni o le
nuu o Lama.
31. O Vitolia e tuu ai le
Laumua, o Melepone, o Sini
foi lea.

29. The fallen bananas,
make bread with them to put
in a tin, to keep a long time,
to take to the bays, the bays
of America.
30. Blow you the trumpet of
Egypt, and the conch-shell
among the people of Rama.
31. Victoria has its capital,
Melbourne, that is Sydney !

These thirty-one songs are selected from among
two hundred, and are good types.
I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. S. Ella,
of Sydney, for the translations ; and to Tavau, a girl
in the upper class of the mission school in Funafuti,
for the native words.

CHAPTER VII.
THE VILLAGE SCHOOL
The preceding chapter shows that the natives have
acquired some Christian and civilized information.
But besides possessing an astonishing and varied
collection of " facts," scientific, geographical, and
Biblical, they can all read and write well, and can
do sums in the simpler rules.
All these things they learn in the mission school
from the Samoan pastor, who is in the employ of the
London Missionary Society. Education is free and
compulsory, and there is no age limit that I could
discover. The mission supplies the pastor with
stationery, medicines, soap, some clothes, and occa
sionally food ; but Funafuti is so well off for food,
and supplies the pastor so liberally, that the mission
is put to very little expense for him. The natives
tax themselves in order to raise the sum of ^"io
yearly for the teacher's salary. The pastor is con
sequently the richest man in the island, and, as he
has been trained and educated by the white mission
aries in Samoa, gives himself a few airs, lords it,
in fact, over king, magistrate, and natives just like
79

80 FUNAFUTI
an old-fashioned rector-squire in a country parish in
England. And the people submit quite happily too,
they have always been accustomed to fear and obey
the man who stood between them and the spirits ;
the " old fool of a devil doctor " the trader called this
heathen dignitary.
It was strange in this far-away scrap of land to
hear the same plaint about the cost of education, and
about its bad effects on children. Here the children
have to buy a reading book, a copy book, slate, pen,
and pencil, but owing to the lack of money all the
scholars do not possess even these few articles, and
reading books, slates, and pencils are freely lent and
borrowed. The borrowing system is carried to enor
mous lengths here ; no one minds borrowing or
lending clothes, kitchen utensils, boats, canoes, fishing
lines, tools, or school books.
The trader maintains that the young people are not
as clever as the uneducated generation immediately
preceding them ; he said they could not make as
good turuma (boxes), mats, baskets, fish-hooks, sinnet,
or canoes as their parents, and that this was all owing
to the long hours spent in school ; the children had no
time to learn to work.
This set me noticing again, and I was obliged to
come to the conclusion that it was merely an old
person's want of appreciation of his juniors ; no
old people ever think the rising generation equal to
their own. As an instance, the trader's own children
were educated as well as anyone on the island, and
they were also the smartest at work, and we found

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL 81
that most of the young men who worked best for us,
and were the best fishermen and gardeners, were also
men who had "wasted" their time in the mission
school. Besides this the school hours were absurdly short,
the children were seldom kept for longer than one
hour a day, rarely for an hour and a half. In addition
to this, there was a fabulous sewing-class, held by
the pastor's wife once a month (so she told the white
missionary's wife at the annual visitation), for the
benefit of the bigger girls. This class met once
while I was on the island to make new hats for the
girls, but then our visit seemed to interfere with
all the arrangements. The girls were not taught
to be neat or thrifty with their clothes, and seemed
surprised when I told them that tiputas and lava-lavas
would last much longer if they were carefully hemmed.
They preferred the raw edges, unless the pastor's wife
would hem them with her sewing-machine. The
reason why the pastor's wife had so many more
clothes than the other women was partly owing
to her possessing a sewing-machine. The natives
take very kindly to any foreign machine which saves
labour. The girls sewed very badly and were not ashamed
of it ; in fact they laughed at my small stitches,
and said I was "palenti big foola," because larger
stitches would do quite as well and were not half the
trouble. The children seemed much more eager to learn
English than anything else, and were very quick

82 FUNAFUTI
at picking up the most necessary words and phrases.
The pastor came to me for English lessons twice a
week, and was really anxious to learn, but he was
direfully dense, and it was very difficult to be patient
with him. The difficulty with him was that he
thought he knew. The other natives were so much
smarter, that I thought I would relieve the monotony
of the four hours weekly devoted to the pastor, by
having in a few of his flock. They came, and did
very well, and after half a dozen lessons there were
so many applicants for admission that I had to ask
for the use of the mission schoolroom. Then nearly
the whole village came, and did extremely well ; and
then the whole thing was suddenly stopped. I was
very curious to know why, but my curiosity was never
satisfied. The village school had a great attraction for me, and
I would often stroll round at the supposed school hour
for the fun of seeing the children assemble. Punctuality
was not a strong point in Funafuti. When the pastor
gave the word that he was ready for school, Tavau (my
botanical friend) would sally forth from the pastor's
hut with pate and kauta (native drum and stick) in
hand, and saunter leisurely up and down the village
street, tap-tapping, until all the children were waked
from their midday sleep. They would roll over on
their mats, stretch, yawn, jump up, snatch book or
slate and school dress, and tear up to the school —
with book or slate in between their teeth, or pencils
stuck in holes bored in the lobes of their ears,
while their little hands were busy snatching off

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL 83
wreaths, and dragging on tiputas, and fixing lava-lavas
securely. The children are forbidden to wear native petti
coats in school. The reason for this is apparently
that they are forbidden in Samoa, and Samoan pastors
enforce Samoan rules wherever they go, whether they
apply or not. The Samoan lava-lava of native cloth is
objectionable because it cannot be washed, and one
can quite understand how it was that white mission
aries objected to these ancient, unwashed garments.
The leaf petticoat of Funafuti is, however, frequently
washed in the sea, and also fumigated and " scented "
by being placed in the dense smoke and heat caused
by smouldering wood and green leaves. There are
occasional accidents during the fumigating process ;
a breeze may fan the smoulder into a flame, and
before you can say " Jack Robinson " all the petti
coats are ablaze, and you can hear the shrieks and
hullabaloo made by the unlucky owners of the burnt
petticoats all over the village. The leaf petticoat
takes much time and trouble to make, but then it will
last a generation, unless some accident of this kind
happens. But to return to the children. While the school
drum was being tapped, you would meet all the school
children hurrying along, dressing themselves as they
went. It is quite the thing to dress out of doors, in
view of all the village, and it is wonderful how quickly
and deftly garments can be exchanged in public.
Out of sheer friendliness children will exchange
garments in school itself; it is quite as good an

84 FUNAFUTI
amusement to these brown bairnies, if done quickly
while the teacher is looking another way, as " noughts
and crosses " are to white school children.
Little children out of school hours seldom wear
anything above the waist except a wreath, but for
school they always don some kind of tiputa — a pocket-
handkerchief, crazy-work tippet, chemise, or waistless
blouse. When all the children were assembled the drum
would cease, and the scholars then had a short
interval, during which they swung their legs, or
fought and skylarked good - temperedly, until the
pastor turned up and reduced them to order.
School then commenced in earnest ; the children
sang a hymn very nicely, then all read out of the
Bible, and the rest of the time was taken up in
writing, or working sums. Those who had no slates
would rest till they could borrow one, and the slate
owners would rest while their slates were borrowed.
This would continue from three-quarters of an hour
to an hour and a half, and then the school would
dismiss itself pell-mell, yelling and capering off the
fidgets acquired from sitting so long on benches.
In spite of this happy-go-lucky style of school
keeping, the children were fairly well on, except in
arithmetic and sewing. The handwriting was ex
cellent throughout the school. All the children, and
the grown-up people too, could sing the multiplication
table, and they didn't seem to find it depressing.
They clapped and made rhythmical movements to it,
just as they did to their songs. There seems to be

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL 85
a superstitious reverence attached to the multiplication
table, everyone prides himself on knowing it, and
once, when a commissioner was exerting his authority
over that of the pastor, the pastor triumphantly asked
him if he were "lord over the multiplication table."
That must have settled the commissioner !
The reading throughout the school was fluent, but
all read as if they were intoning, and stopped with
a curious jerk after each phrase. The school language
is Samoan, and everyone knows that when the mission
aries reduced Samoan to a written language they
avoided the mistake of having redundant letters in
the alphabet, and they also spelt the words phoneti
cally, thus saving the children of the Pacific the
agonies which English children suffer over an extra
ordinary alphabet and senseless spelling. When once
a Funafuti child has learnt the sounds of the fourteen
letters of the alphabet, he can read and spell straight
off! Lucky little children !
Tavau was very much astonished at an English
man's spelling of some Funafuti words. The words
in question were in a pamphlet on Funafuti, and were
"ingia," "brokka," and "beret." Tavau puzzled over
them a long time in sore perplexity, then said in
reference to the gentleman who had mis-spelt these
words : "Me lov im, e goot man, e palenti big foola,
he no sepela (spell), e go sekula (school)." After I
had recovered from this good-natured and thoroughly
Funafutian criticism of an English scientific man's
work, it took us a week to 'find out what these words
were intended for, but with the trader's help and

86 FUNAFUTI
Tavau's perseverance we discovered that they were
meant for the native words "gie," "pulaka," and
"puleleti." It was in vain that I tried to explain
that the bookmaking man had spelt the words pho
netically from the trader's pronunciation ; Tavau con
tinued to shake her head and repeat that she loved
him, but that he was a fool and couldn't spell, and
ought to go to school.
The natives did not know I had learnt the Samoan
alphabet, and so when I occasionally took up a book
in one of the huts, and read off a few lines glibly,
(they didn't seem to mind my lack of expression and
emphasis) they would tapa! and cluck with astonish
ment. They knew I could not speak the language
at all. They were equally astonished when I wrote
down, correctly spelt, native names of plants which
they told me. They said white people were the same
in the outward image as black people, but that their
spirits were different ; white people were higher spirits
because they were able to do such wonderful things —
to read and write a language they had never heard
before — and to make the water run up hill. (They
had seen the pump of the diamond drill machine at
work.) I held an examination in the village school one day,
in order to work off as prizes a number of toys I had
brought with me.
That examination was a very amusing show. There
were present, to constitute a board of examiners, the
pastor, the trader, the sub-chief, the scribe, and myself.
The children were much excited, stood and sat about

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL 87
where and how they pleased, criticized the arrange
ments openly, and insisted on altering them occa
sionally. The arithmetic test was the funniest. The pastor
told the upper class (in which, by the way, there
was an engaged couple) to reduce £15 iay. 4^. to
farthings, and I awarded the prize to the boy who
had finished first, and had worked correctly. Immedi
ately there was a rebellious hubbub, and the trader
explained to me that the children said it was not fair,
because they had never been told that the one who
finished first was to have the prize. They insisted
on having it all over again, and when I saw that the
sub-chief seemed to think the demand quite reason
able I gave in, and gave out another sum. Then the
uproar was renewed ; they said it would not be fair
unless I gave out the same sum ; but I was obstinate
on this point, and carried the day. Order was
restored by a policeman twisting the ear of the only
quiet boy in the room, who happened to be near him ;
and they all set to work on the new sum in frantic
haste, copying shamelessly. The first to finish this
sum had it wrong, and I thought there would have
been another row when I gave the prize to the first
one right, who was third in point of time. As there
were only two sums correctly worked perhaps they
were ashamed to make any more fuss.
I was anxious to find out if the children had any
idea of original composition, and so asked the trader
to explain to them that they were to make up a story
of their own, and write it down. This was beyond

88 FUNAFUTI
most of them. Very few attempted it, while most of
them contented themselves with writing down verses
from the Bible, or Bible incidents. For instance, a
mite of eight wrote : "Job was a good man, he said
he did not wish to know the number of his days, the
Lord took him out of his mother's womb, and he was
content that the Lord should know his end." One
boy of seventeen, who was the engaged youth, tried
his hand at an essay on sleep. This was the result :
" It is better to sleep, there is no good in waking up.
This is a parable. Sleep brings nothing. Every
thing comes by being awake ! ! ! " One girl of fifteen,
a half-caste, was the only one who attempted a story.
Here it is : " There was a ship, and it went away for
a voyage. It was called the Bird. A rat and a crab
went to sea in her, the rat kept safe in the ship, but
the crab fell overboard and was drowned." But if this
girl couldn't write an original story, she could write a
letter well. The following is one she wrote to me : —
"Papauta, Sept. 13, 1897.
" To Mrs. David, the lady —
" My love to you ! alas my mother ! The thought
weeps when I think of you, together with the others, because
of your kindness to me. Alas for my love ! Dear, oh dear,
my heart is full of love, but it is difficult because I cannot
speak ; but I thought I would try and send this small piece
of paper to make known to you my love. Alas my mother !
my love is very great, and it is difficult and hard because we
shall be so soon parted. Grief continues to grow in my
heart when I think of the days we were together in Funafuti.
Alas ! I do not forget them and you all. I feel I want to be
still with you. It is hard that we have been so soon parted

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL 89
on shore. May you return with blessing to your home.
This love of mine has nothing with which to make itself
known, but I have striven to make appear before you that
which was hidden, namely, my love to you. Alas, my
parents, love is difficult.
"This letter is hurriedly written. May Jehovah remain
with us both when we are separated. Good bye.
" May you live ! VlTOLIA."
This letter was written, as you see, at " Papauta,"
the High School for girls, established by the London
Missionary Society in Apia, Samoa. This school
admits about eight girls from the Tokelau, Ellice, and
Gilbert groups ; the girls have to find their own
clothes and books and about £\ per annum, and the
mission finds them board, lodging, and education.
The course of instruction lasts over four years, and
the girls from this school should be good examples to
their islands when they return. Vitolia was selected
from among the Funafuti girls to go to "Papauta," and
she travelled there with us in the mission ship John
Williams, which took our party off the island. This
wailing letter was sent because I had seen very little
of Vitolia on the voyage or in Apia, as I was quite
disabled by sea-sickness and pleurisy. However, I
managed to get up to the High School before re-
embarking, and found Vitolia very happy in her new
surroundings. But I have wandered away from that examination.
The distribution of prizes caused some excitement,
but not half so much as I expected from the demon
strative Funafutians. The trader informed me

go FUNAFUTI
afterwards that the children were disappointed, as
they had expected to be paid in money for doing
such hard work as sitting for an examination ! The
dolls, which I had dressed with great care, caused a
little consternation ; most of the children shrank back
when they first saw them, and the boy who could
speak English best said : " Me no likee im, e alia
sama devil ! " However, they were accepted after a
little demur, and next Sunday the ribbons, laces, and
dresses of the dollies adorned the church hats of the
Funafuti belles. I never saw one of the dolls again,
and I fear the natives credited me with giving them
idols. The mechanical toys took better, but even in
these they suspected devilry, and preferred to see me
handle them.
Anyone who wants to be popular in Funafuti must
give money, printed calico, kerosene, or fish-hooks
as school-examination prizes.
I had been deterred from taking picture books for
the children, because I had been told that the natives
did not understand or care for pictures. This was
a great mistake, they revelled in pictures ; and men,
women, and children would crowd round me if they
saw me with an illustrated paper, and would listen
eagerly, and make very intelligent remarks, while I
explained the pictures to them, and a present of an
old illustrated paper always gave unbounded satisfac
tion. It is difficult to say how far the Funafuti children
could go in the matter of education ; they are
remarkably bright and clever at all practical work ;

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL 91
but whether they could hold their own with European
children (as the Tongans do) is a question. I should
say they have not sufficient physical stamina for
severe mental work, and I doubt if the plodding
industry of Europeans could ever be inculcated into
these idle, happy islanders.

CHAPTER VIII.
STORIES*
In the olden times, the trader said it was a great
custom for the islanders to tell stories by torch or
firelight ; but now only a few people keep up the
custom, and that not regularly. I was naturally
curious to hear some of these native stories, but
began to fear that the "by-and-by" policy of the
island would defeat me. At last the trader undertook
to interpret, and the king, two of the trader's children,
Teone and Peke, and the trader himself supplied me
with several that he guaranteed to be typical.
The Tupu (king) told me one story, and I asked
Siali, the Government scribe, to write it down for
me in the Funafuti language. This is what Siali
wrote : — O LE TALA KAI MAI LE TUPU.
" Te atua Mataiva, o lana tama o Taliga-maivalu,
o le avaga a Taliga-maivalu, o Sina. O le Taliga-
maivalu mo Sina o fai faiva, o le seu. Ka o mai
manu, a e mulimuli mai le rupe. Kai kalaga atu
Sina kia Taliga-maivalu, ia faola le rupe ma ia, o
le manu muli lea. Ko ola kia Mataiva. Faalogo
* Interpreted by Mr. J. O'Brien, the trader in Funafuti, and by the
Rev. S. Ella. 92

STORIES 93
ifo Sina i le lupe, ua tautala ane ia Sina, o ia o
Tinilau. E muamua Taliga, a e na te le iloa o Sina.
A oo i laua i le fale, ia aumai se malo mo fakamanoa
tena vae, ka e aumai se lakau taua mona faiatu Sina.
Ka e nofo mai Taliga mo te lakau mona tuu. E le
mafai ona tu ai, aua e pau i lalo. Ona fai atu lea
o Sina ia Taliga, ia aumai te lakau taua mo tuu te
manu. Ua tuu le manu i te lakau taua. Ua o'o
i le taeao, ua alu atu Sina mo talo e fagai, a e le
iloa e Taligamaivalu. O Sina e tautala pea ma le
rupe. Ua o'o i le po a momoe, a o te atua Mataiva
ua na iloa ua tautala Sina ma le rupe, ona masalosalo
ai lea o Mataiva pe se Rupe pe se tino. Ua momoe
ai, tagi mai Mataiva Taliga-maivalu ka momoe ifo
i la ie tatou i afiafi. Ka e fano ifo i la te Rupe
mai aluga tipatipa ma Sina fano e ai manu e fakatu
ki lakau taua kae manoa ki malo taukatava te me
ana. Pe ai te lupe ka se tino, pe si atua. A tagi
faapea, ona moe lea o le isi mata, aua e iva mata,
a e ita atu Taliga, ia moe malie e tagi faapea ia o'o
i le iva ua noe. A e alu ifo te Rupe, o Tinilau ;
ua lima, i e Rupe ; ua fasi Taliga ; a e sosola ma
Sina. A ua tagi pea Mataiva i lana tama ua oti,
ua faapea ana upu, Ua uma ona o'u fai atu ou te.
me ane pe ai se lupe ka se tino."
For the following translation of this story I am
indebted to the Rev. S. Ella : —
A TALE TOLD BY THE KING.
" The god Mataiva (nine eyes) had a son Taliga-
maivalu (of eight ears). The wife of Taliga-mai-valu

94 FUNAFUTI
was Sina. Taliga-mai-valu went fishing, net fishing.
There came up birds, but followed by a pigeon.
Sina called to Taliga-mai-valu to save for her the
pigeon, that was the bird that was following (the
others). It cooed to Mataiva. Sina listened to the
pigeon which spoke to Sina (and said) he was Tinilau.
Taliga went first, but he did not see Sina, who
followed after him and talked with the pigeon. The
two entered the house. ' Bring me some cord to
fasten its leg, and bring me a club (lit. fighting-stick)
for its perch ' (said) Sina. But Taliga sat still with
a stick for its perch. The pigeon could not stand
on it, for he fell off. Then Sina said to Taliga,
' Bring me a club, and stand the bird on a club.'
When the morning was come Sina went out with
some taro (arum esculentum) to feed it, but Taliga-
mai-valu did not know. Sina continued her con
versation with the pigeon. When night came on
they slept. But the god Mataiva came, and when
he saw Sina talking with the pigeon, then Mataiva
doubted in his mind ' Is it a pigeon or some being ?'
They slept on, but Mataiva cried out ' Taliga-mai
valu, are you lying there wrapped in our cloth ? '
Then the pigeon came down from his perch aloft
and flew around. Sina also went out. ' What bird
can leave his club perch, and unloose the fastenings
of his cords ? Is it a pigeon, or some being, or a
god ? ' Thus he cried, then the other eyes slept,
for there were nine eyes. But Taliga was angry,
for he was sleeping peacefully. He (Mataiva) cried
thus when it happened that the ninth eye slept.

STORIES 95
But the pigeon, Tinilau, came down. The pigeon
now had hands. He killed Taliga and ran off with
Sina. But Mataiva wept continually for his dead
son. These were his words : ' I told him I doubted
if it were a pigeon or some being.' "
This story excited a good deal of amusement among
the natives, but I absolutely failed to see the points.
Peke, the trader's handsome daughter, told me five
others ; and she also told me that if I put them into
a book I was to say they were her stories. Peke was
one of the most industrious among the younger
women on the island, and when telling me stories
usually employed herself in plaiting a mat. Her
father would settle himself comfortably on his settee,
Peke would be seated tailor-wise on the floor near
him, and as many of the natives as could get inside
the hut did so, whilst the rest choked up every door
and window space. Peke would tell the story piece
by piece, and her father would interpret, for she could
speak very little English ; and during the recital of
each one of the following stories there was continuous
and uproarious merriment among the native audience.
The trader and I laughed a good deal too, not because
the stories struck us as being so extremely funny, but
because laughter is infectious.
THE TWO FRIENDS, POGA AND SIMA.
" Poga and Sima. were two great friends, they lived
in the same house ; and when they wished to be
married they agreed to be married on the same day.

96 FUNAFUTI
They arranged to let the people know that they
wanted wives, and on a certain day they went up
to the middle of the village and blew their conches,
to see what girls would come out to them willing
to be their wives. It was arranged that Poga should
be the first, and he blew his conch, and when he
had finished a hundred girls came round him, willing
to be his wives. Then Sima. blew his conch, and,
by and by, one solitary girl came towards him, and
when she came close to him he saw that her face
was terribly disfigured by tonu (yaws). Then Poga
and the hundred girls who had come to him laughed
and jeered at Sima. and the poor ugly girl ; and Poga
was very proud of himself, and went laughing about
among his hundred girls, looking at them to see
which of them he would like most. Sima felt very
much ashamed, but he did not refuse to marry
Tinitaulokoa, for that was the name of the ugly
girl. Poga said to his hundred girls : ' Now go
away into the bush and gather flowers, and make
wreaths and dresses for yourselves to make you
look beautiful, and when I blow my conch come
back to my house to be married to me.' And Sima.
said the same to Tinitaulokoa. But Tinitaulokoa
went to her mother, and told her all her trouble,
how Poga and the hundred girls had said unkind
things about her, and that Sima was ashamed of
her ugly looks. And her mother said : ' Come
with me to the water.' So they went to the water,
and the mother said : ' Dip your head in and wash,'
and she did so, and when she lifted up her head

STORIES 97
her face was clean, all the tonu had fallen off. And
the mother said : ' Dip your head in a second time
and wash,' and Tinitaulokoa did as she was bid the
second time, and when she lifted her head she was
as bright as the lightning. And her mother, who had
the ruling of all the flowers in the island, said to her :
'Come,' and they went together, and the mother
gathered the loveliest flowers, and dressed her
daughter in scented wreaths, and while they were
walking back to the village the mother worked a
charm, so that a flash of lightning shone on
Tinitaulokoa, and it made her the most beautiful
girl that ever was. When Sima. blew his conch,
instead of the ugly girl he had expected, Tinitaulokoa
walked up to him beautiful as the flowers, and bright
as the lightning, and he was very pleased and proud,
and loved her, and took her home. But Poga and his
hundred wives were all struck with amazement, and
felt ashamed, for now they looked quite ugly by the
side of Tinitaulokoa. And Poga lived with his wives
until he had ten children, but he was never happy, and
by-and-by he drowned himself. But his friend Sima
had only one child by his beautiful wife, a boy, whom
they named Tafaki ; but they lived happily together
for all the rest of their lives."
THE MAN INI.
"There was a man who found a tiny little manini
(fish), and he kept it as a pet in a cocoa-nut shell,
and took care of it, and fed it until it grew too large
for the shell ; and then he made a box to keep it

98 FUNAFUTI
in, and fed it there until it grew too large for the box ;
and then he went down to the lagoon and banked up
a little fishpond for it, and fed it and kept it there
until even the fishpond became too small for his big,
big, pet fish. So then he was obliged to throw it into
the lagoon ; but every morning he went down to the
lagoon, and called his manini, and it would come up to
him to be fed, and then go back to the deep water.
After a time several boys came to this place from a
neighbouring island ; and they saw the man call his
manini and feed it, and they waited till he was gone,
and then two of them speared and killed it. Then
they towed it behind their vaka (canoe), for it was
too big and heavy to take on board. When they
reached their own village they blew a conch and
called all the people of their village together, and
showed them the big fish they had speared ; and
then they divided it into as many pieces as there
were people, and gave each person his share. Now
the oldest woman in the village received the heart
for her share, but she did not like to eat it, and so
she put it by in a cocoa-nut shell, and covered it
up with a half shell. The next day the man went
down to the lagoon, and called and called to his
manini, but, of course, it could not come, for it was
dead. When he found out how it had been killed,
he took his spear and followed the boys to their
island. When he landed there he met the old woman
who had kept the heart of his manini ; and he
questioned her, and she told him all about it, and
said he might have the heart because she had kept

STORIES 99
it, not wishing to eat it, but that all the rest of it was
eaten. Then he went up to the village and blew
his conch, and when he had called all the people
together, he told them to go and find any pieces of
his manini that were thrown on the ground and not
eaten. They went all about the village, and collected
all the bones and the small pieces they could find, and
brought them all to the man. When he had received
the pieces he killed everyone in the island in revenge,
except the old woman who had kept the heart of his
manini, and her he did not kill. Then he took the
pieces of his manini and went back to his own island,
and went down to the lagoon and threw all the pieces
of his pet into the water, and as each piece touched
the water it turned into a tiny little live manini. And
these manini lived, but they never grew any bigger ;
and from that day all manini were tiny fishes, because
their big forefather had been killed and eaten."
THE TURI (SANDLARK), THE UGA (CRAB), THE KIMOA
(RAT), AND THE FEKE (STARFISH).
"There was once a vaka (canoe) getting ready for
sea, and the sandlark was going to sail her. And
a crab said to the sandlark, ' Let me go with you.'
But the sandlark said, ' What is the good of you
coming to sea; suppose the wind were to blow, and
the vaka struck a rock, you would be drowned ! '
'Oh,' said the crab, 'that's all right, I have claws,
and I can stick on to a rock.' So he was allowed
to go. But a rat wanted to go too, and the sandlark

ioo FUNAFUTI
said, 'What is the good of you coming to sea;
suppose the wind were to blow, and the vaka struck
a rock, you would be drowned.' ' Oh,' said the rat,
' that 's all right, I can swim, and I would swim
ashore.' So they all three went out to sea in the
vaka, and the wind blew, and the vaka struck a
rock, and the rat cried out, ' It 's all right, the sand
lark can fly with his wings, the crab can stick on
to the rock with his claws, and I can swim ashore,'
and off he swam. On the way he met a starfish,
and the starfish said, ' You are tired ; get on my
back, and that will rest you,' and so he did. But
while he clung on to the starfish's back he gnawed
off all the hair from the back of the starfish's head.
When he got ashore he called out to the starfish,
'Ha, ha ! feel the back of your head, old bald-head ! '
This made the starfish mad, and he swam ashore
quickly ; but the rat ran and hid in a hole in a log.
Then said the starfish, ' I took pity on you when you
were tired and helped you, but you seem to have no
pity,' and with that he put one of his legs into the
hole, and dragged out the rat, and killed it."
TUTI.
" There was once a man called Tuti, and he made
a great bunch of torches to go out fishing, and when
he got out at the back of the reef he called out to
his friend Tinitinimarepu to come and help carry
the basket of fish. After they had finished fishing
Tuti said to Tinitinimarepu, ' Let us go ashore and

STORIES 101
cook the fish.' And when they got ashore they
found they were close to the graveyard, and Tuti
began to make an oven there, and Tinitinimarepu
said, ' Let us go away a little farther from the
spirits ' ; but Tuti would not, and so they stayed
where they were, and cooked the fish. When the
fish was cooked, they were going to eat some, but
Tuti said, ' Wait a bit, I '11 go and get an old cocoa-
nut to eat with the fish,' and off he went. But
instead of getting a cocoa-nut, he went to the grave
yard, and dug up the bones of a spirit, and came
back, and ate them with his fish. And Tinitinimarepu
said to him, ' What are you cracking in your mouth ? '
'Oh,' said Tuti, 'it's only an old cocoa-nut I'm
eating.' But while he was eating, Tuti began to
be afraid that the spirit might come after its bones,
and so he made an excuse to get away home without
telling Tinitinimarepu anything about it. Tuti said
to Tinitinimarepu, ' Wait a bit, I '11 go and gather
some pi (drinking cocoa-nut) to drink with our fish,'
and off he went. First he climbed up a kalevi tree,
and said to the shell that held the kalevi (toddy),
' If Tinitinimarepu calls out, you shout out " Io "
(yes),' and then he went up the next tree, and did
the same there ; and then he climbed down and ran
away as fast as he could back again to his village.
He told the people there that there was a spirit
coming, and so they all got up and lit big fires,
and went round the village, beating drums, and
shouting to frighten the spirit away. All this time
Tinitinimarepu was waiting and wondering why

102 FUNAFUTI
Tuti did not come back, and at last he shouted
out and called him, and the kalevi tree sang out
' Io ! ' And so Tinitinimarepu, who was very mad
with Tuti now, called out, ' Wait till I come up,
I '11 knock you on the head for this.' So up the
tree he climbed, and when he got up he found
nothing but the shell full of kalevi ; and he was
very mad then, and he drank up all the kalevi, and
ate off the whole top of the tree. Then he went
down the tree and shouted for Tuti again, and the
other kalevi tree shouted out ' Io ! ' So he thought
he had got him this time, and he climbed up the
tree in a great hurry, and said, ' I '11 kill you for
this when I get you ! ' But when he got up there,
there was nothing but the shell, not even the kalevi
to drink. So down he went again, and made for
the village as fast as he could go to find Tuti and
kill him ; but when he got there, he couldn't get
into the village at all, because all the people were
round the village beating drums, making big fires,
and shouting to frighten away the spirit that Tuti
said was coming."
THE LAND-CRAB AND HER DAUGHTER.
" Once upon a time there was a land-crab who gave
birth to a human daughter. Now the land-crab is
very timid, and is afraid to come out in the day-time,
so she stays in her hole all day, and crawls out at
night. This land-crab's daughter walked about in the
day like other girls, but stayed with her mother till

STORIES 103
she was grown up. When she was grown up the
king's son noticed her, and said he wanted her for
his wife, and so she was married to him. No one
knew who her mother was, and her husband was
curious to know, and asked her many times, but she
would not tell, because she was ashamed to have a
crab for a mother. By-and-by the daughter was with
child, and she told her mother the crab, and the crab
was very pleased, and worked secretly to make plenty
of titi (leaf-girdles) and mats, and baby mats, ready
for her daughter's confinement. When it was time
for the child to be born, the crab crept out of her hole,
and went to her daughter's hut secretly, and filled it
quite full up to the roof with beautiful mats and titi ;
and in the morning when the people came to see the
king's son, and his wife, and the new baby, they were
very much astonished to see so many mats, and asked
who had brought them. But the crab's daughter
would not tell. Every night the crab used to creep
to her daughter's hut to have a chat, and to nurse
her grandchild, for she loved them both dearly. And
every night the crab took the baby's little clothes
down to the water to wash them ; and she would
stay and talk with her daughter till morning, and
then run back to her hole and stay there all day.
Now this went on for a very long time ; but when the
king's son saw the fresh presents in his hut every
morning, he got very curious ; and as his wife would
not tell him who brought them, he made up his mind
to watch and find out for himself. And he watched
night after night, but saw nothing ; but at last one

104 FUNAFUTI
night he happened to go down to the water just as
the crab was going out with the baby-clothes on her
back. He did not see the crab, and accidentally trod
on her and crushed her to death. Now his wife
wondered why her mother did not come back as usual
with the clothes, to talk to her. She waited and
wondered, and wondered and waited, till nearly
morning; then she got up and went out to find her
mother ; and, going down to the water, there she
found the poor crab quite dead, with the clean-
washed baby-clothes on her back."
One day when Peke had just finished telling me
one of the above stories, her brother Teone (Johnnie)
said he knew a better story than any his sister had
told me, and that it was about a "little, little man."
I will give it now, and you will see from it that the
malicious dwarf is not absent from Funafuti story-land.

THE DWARF CALLED " NARIAO.
" Nariao was a man, a little, little, tiny man. He
went on his travels till he came to a small island. In
this island he saw a hut, and the hut belonged to four
brothers ; and the four brothers sat each at a post,
each one had a corner post of the house to sit against.
And the names of the four brothers were these ;
Nautiki was the eldest, Nautaka the second, the third
was called Valivalimatanaka, and the youngest was
called Naka. Nariao went up to this hut, and he
said to the brothers, ' This hut belongs to me, you

STORIES 105
must get out.' But they said ' No, the hut is ours.
Who are you ? What is your name ? Where do
you come from ? ' Then he was determined to drive
them out, though the hut was not his ; and they
argued for a long time ; and at last the brothers
agreed that if the little, little man could guess their
names, they would go away and let him have the hut.
As soon as they said this the little, little man dis
appeared, and they thought he had vanished away, and
so they sat talking, each one leaning against his own
post. But Nariao had crept up to the roof of the
hut, just over the post where the eldest brother was
sitting, and he peeped through, and then he let down
a big spider on its long web, till it crawled on
Nautiki's forehead, and the other brothers called out,
' Nautiki, Nautiki, there 's something crawling on your
forehead ! ' So then Nariao knew the name of that
one was Nautiki. Then he went softly over the roof
till he got to the next post, and he let down a spider
till it touched Nautaka's forehead, and the brothers
called out, 'Look out, Nautaka, Nautaka, there's some
thing crawling on your forehead ! ' So then Nariao
knew that the second brother was called Nautaka.
Then he went softly over the roof till he got to the
third brother's post, and he let down another spider
on to his forehead, and his brothers cried out, ' Vali
valimatanaka, there's something crawling on your
forehead.' So then Nariao knew that the third
brother's name was Valivalimatanaka. Then he crept
softly to the fourth post, and let down a spider on to
the youngest brother's face, and his brothers sang out

106 FUNAFUTI
to him, ' Why, Naka, Naka, there 's something crawl
ing on your forehead too ! ' Then Nariao knew all
their names, so he slipped quietly down and went into
the house and said, ' Your name is Nautiki, your name
is Nautaka, your name is Valivalimatanaka, and your
name is Naka.' So when the brothers saw that he
knew all their names they went away, and left the
little, little, tiny man in possession of their hut. After
he had stayed there a long time he got tired, and
thought he would start off on his travels again. So
off he went. After a time he got to another island,
and saw all the men flying kites ; and all the kites
flew well, but the king's kite flew best of all. The
king's name was Kanava. Nariao said to himself
that he would stop all this sport. So he climbed up
a post close by where the kites were lying ; and he
spat on Kanava' s kite, and- when Kanava went to fly
it again, instead of flying nicely as before, it turned
over towards one side. And all the men wondered
what was the cause of this ; and when they went to
fly their kites Nariao spat on each one, so that all
the kites flew sideways instead of flying well as they
did before. Then the people were angry and very
much surprised too, and they went to the place where
the kites had been lying to see if they could find
out the cause. When they looked up they saw the
little, little, tiny man, and he laughed. And when he
laughed he said ' Oom,' with his mouth nearly shut,
because he had no teeth, and he had put in pieces of
white cocoa-nut to make people believe he had teeth,
and if he opened his mouth wide to laugh the cocoa-

STORIES 107
nut teeth would fall out. When the men saw him
they sang out for him to come down, and they began
to arrange a plan among them to kill him by cunning.
So they pretended to be friendly with him, and said,
' Oh, come along, we 're going to dig a post hole ' ;
and they went together, and all the men took turns at
digging until they had dug the hole deep enough, and
then they said to Nariao, ' Now it is your turn, you go
down and dig a little deeper.' So down he went ;
and as soon as he stooped down to begin to dig they
all lifted the post, and banged it down into the hole,
and crushed him to death ; and then they left the post
on top of him, and filled up the hole with earth, and
so Nariao was buried there, and that was the end
of him."
Not only dwarfs, but giants, figured in the old
stories of Funafuti. The following giant-story was
told me by the trader, as he remembered hearing it
told " scores of times " by the people in the " good
old times." THE GIANT NAO.
"Once upon a time there was a bad, powerful
spirit with nine eyes, Atua-mata-iva, and he went
to a village and killed and ate all the people there,
except one woman, and she managed to squeeze
herself into the hollow trunk of a tree, so that he
did not see her. While the. woman was in the tree
she gave birth to a son, and she called his name
Nao. She began to plait a mat, and she laid her

108 FUNAFUTI
baby on the mat while she plaited, and as the mat
grew the baby grew the same size, and so the mother
plaited on and on until the mat was ten fathoms long,
and Nao was ten fathoms high. Then he thought he
would like to go across the sea to find out other
islands. So off he started and walked through the
sea, and the sharks and other big fish bit him ; but
he said, ' Oh, that 's nothing, only a centipede biting
me.' And he went on and on until he came to
another island, and here he found a large village,
but there were no people in it ; so he went up to
the king's house, and took possession and stayed
there. After he had been there some time he saw
a number of canoes coming ; but he stayed in the
big house and watched, and they turned out to be
all the people of the village coming back, for they
had only been away for a time camping in another
island. As he watched he saw that the canoes
were so heavy that the people could not get them
up the beach ; so he got up, went down the beach,
and took a canoe in each hand, and carried them
up the beach. The people all wondered who he
could be, and where he came from, and why he
was there. They did not like having such a strong
man there, so they set about to kill him. When
they came to fight him he saw what they meant,
and he tore up a big cocoa-nut by the roots, used
it for a club, and laid about him right and left till
he had killed them all. Then he lived in peace for
a time. By-and-by he thought he would like to go
and see how his mother was getting on ; so he

STORIES 109
started to walk back through the sea again, and
the sharks and the big fishes bit him again, but he
minded them no more than flies or mosquitoes. He
walked on and on, and at last fell in with another
man almost as big as himself; so he asked him his
name, but he would not tell. Then they fell to
fighting, and Nao killed the other man, and then
walked on till he came to the island where his
mother lived. She was very glad to see him, and
asked him where he had been, and what he had
done all the time ; so he told her all. But when
he told her about the other big man, she said,
' But surely you didn't kill him ? ' and he said, ' Yes,
I did.' 'Why,' said she, 'you fool, you've killed
your brother ! ' ' Well,' said he, ' how should I know
who he was ? I didn't even know I had a brother.'
But his mother mourned because her other son was
dead. Then Nao said to his mother, ' Why do you
always live in this tree ? There are plenty of nice
huts in the village and no one to live in them.' But
his mother said, ' Oh, I dare not ; don't you know
that Atua-mata-iva lives in the island, and he killed
and ate all the other people, and he would do the
same to us.' And he said, ' Oh, would he ? We'll see
about that ! ' Then he went out for a walk, and fell
in with the spirit, and Atua-mata-iva said, 'Ha, ha !
I see you, my man, I '11 make short work of you ;
I shall kill and eat you in no time.' And Nao
said, ' Oh, you will, will you ? Very good ; come on
and see ! ' And he snatched and tore up a big cocoa-
nut tree, and went for the spirit with nine eyes, and

no FUNAFUTI
they fought and fought, and at last Nao killed the
spirit. Then he went back to his mother and said,
' You can come out of that now, Atua-mata-iva is
dead ! ' So she went out, and they took possession
of the village, and lived in the king's house happily
ever after."

CHAPTER IX.
LANGUAGE
Before the coming of the missionaries there was
no written language in Funafuti ; songs, stories, and
history were handed down from one generation to
another by word of mouth. Now almost every man,
woman, and child in the island can read and write
in the Samoan language.
The men learned in Pacific languages say that
the old Funafuti language is a great mixture.
There are Funafuti words, Maori words, Samoan
words, Tongan words, English words, and other
words. Whatever sort of a compound the language
may be, it is certainly in a fair way of dying out
altogether in favour of Samoan. Therefore if it
is of vital importance the language should be got
at now.
The base of the Funafuti language must be
Samoan, because a Samoan has always been able
to make himself understood by the Funafutians.
The pioneer missionaries learned this fact, and to
save time and money despatched native Samoan
pastors there ; and the Bible, hymn books, and

112 FUNAFUTI
school books in the Samoan language were supplied
to the mission school.
The Samoan language is therefore the church and
school language in Funafuti, and is rapidly becoming
the general language for this reason, and also because
the Samoan pastors think Peritania (Britannia) is
heaven, and Samoa the gate thereto, and all other
islands, their language, manners, and customs, beneath
contempt. The old trader complains that lately the
young people don't seem able to understand the
old language, and that even in their play they use
a great deal of Samoan.
The children were always anxious to teach me
to speak Funafutian, and whenever we were walking
or sitting together they would pick up a flower, or
shell, or piece of food or clothing, and say the native
name of it very slowly and carefully, and make me
repeat it over and over again until my pronunciation
became fairly satisfactory. They would shriek with
laughter over some of my attempts, and would say
" Koot " (good) very patronizingly when I succeeded
better than usual. They knew that I was more
interested in Funafutian than in Samoan, and so
would say carefully, " Funafutian — puaka, Samoan —
pua'a, Ingaliss — peek" (pig). When they did not
know the English word I would supply it, and so
we formed a mutual improvement society. The
construction of sentences was very puzzling ; there
were so many stray letters and words sprinkled round
that didn't seem to mean anything when caught loose,
but when strung into a sentence were vastly important.

LANGUAGE 113
These objectionable letters and words daunted me,
and I gave up trying to learn to speak connectedly,
although I was sorry to rob the natives of a grand
source of amusement. I found that two or three
verbs, one or two phrases, and about two hundred
nouns carried me through triumphantly, especially
when I had instructed the children in pigeon- English.
Such magical words as " Talofa," "Tapa!" and
" Ko i tuai " were invaluabe. I believe if all the
languages in daily use were written down, two-thirds
of it would consist of "Talofa" and " Ko i tuai."
I found that it was absolutely necessary to learn the
sentence "Alu ese" (go away) during the first week.
' ' Talofa " is a form of greeting, and means almost
anything from a " How de do" to " I love you." It
is what you say for " Good morning," " How are
you?" "Here we are again !" "Well, I never!" "How
nice!" " I like you," " I love you," and ever so much
more. "Tapa" (pronounced "tah-bah" quickly) is the prize
word. You should never open your mouth in Funa
futi without letting it pop out. It is an exclamation.
It means anything you like, according to your intona
tion, the expression of your face, or your gestures
while using it. In Australia if you wish to express
unbelief vulgarly you say " Wotchergiven us?", in
London the street urchins say " Garn ! ", but in
Funafuti you say " Tapa ! " If you wish to say
" How wonderful ! " " How awful ! " or " Stop that ! ";
if you wish to express contempt, admiration, astonish
ment, anger, disgust, unbelief, or "cheek" of any

ri4 FUNAFUTI
kind in Funafuti, you say " Tapa ! " When an infant
upsets a kumete of food a Funafuti mother says
angrily, "Tapa!" When a palagi (white) boy tells
a Funafuti girl that he loves her, she replies derisively,
and with a fetching roll of her bright eyes, "Tapa ! "
When the king saw our diamond drill machine begin
to work, he started back in mingled terror and
astonishment and said, " Tapa ! "
As for " Ko i tuai," it is unnecessary to say more
than that it is the convenient expression "Bine-by."
You can satisfy your neighbours, relieve yourselves
from embarrassing circumstances, evade responsi
bilities, and get an easy time all round by a skilful
and amiable use of the words " Ko i tuai." Constant
use of the expression, even in pursuit of the same
object, does not detract from its value. " Ko i tuai "
for ever !
I have already said that a few English words have
become incorporated into the Funafuti language, but
spelt phonetically, d la Samoa, they are not recog
nizable. You would not know them either when
used by a Funafutian, unless you had been told about
them, and were consequently listening for them.
Among the most amusing of these words were
some English names given to the islanders. Would
anyone recognize "Pore" (Paur-ray), "Petise" (Pet-
ee-say), "Make" (Mah-kay), as "Polly," "Betsy,"
and " Maggie."
Perhaps specimens of English as she is spoken in
Funafuti may interest others besides philologists.
The following is a conversation between myself and

LANGUAGE 115
the boy who spoke the best English, and was there
fore always sent to me with any goods the natives
wished to barter : —
Boy. "Misi, you wantee fua-moa?" (eggs, or lit.,
"the fruit of the hen").
Me. " Io, me palenti likee good fua-moa."
Boy. " Ee palenti koot, ee new born a ! "
Me. " Me tink you palenti lie — you give me fua-
moa palenti pooh ! "
Boy. " Me no lie, misi, me tink ee koot, me no
lookee in-a-side ! "
Here I collapsed, helpless with laughter, and the
boy's anxious face brightened up, and he shouted with
glee ; and the laugh and the joke flashed through the
length of the village like lightning.
With reference to the above conversation I must
explain that " pooh " is the native word for an evil
smell ; also that " lie " is the only word the natives
know of to express what is not true. There is no
mincing matters in Funafuti ; there are no equivalents
for "fib," " mistake," "untruth " ; anything that is not
the truth is a "lie" without mitigation. In the same
way the word equivalent to our " fool " is used much
more frequently in ordinary conversation, so that
when they are supposed to be speaking English, the
natives often astonish you by saying you are " palenti
big foola," when they merely mean to imply that you
are somewhat silly or stupid. For instance, they
thought my swimming bad, and my daughter said,
" You palenti big fool, no good," meaning to let me

116 FUNAFUTI
know that my method of swimming did not meet with
her approval. It is very amusing to be called a fool
in this way by one's native daughter, who smiles
winningly and speaks softly and sweetly too, while
she is treating you to the experience.
Very few ever tried to write English. The follow
ing is a letter written in English by the native pastor,
with the help of a Samoan- English grammar and
dictionary. I was told too that it only took him three
days' hard work to compose it : — "June. 22. 1897.
" Dear Sir.
" Professor. T. W. E. David. &c. and George Sweet. My
Friends. I am very glad to meet your. I thank you very to
much, you present jams (yams). I give you Fowll and
cocoanuts. I love to yours. " I am " Simona.
" The Teachers."
Tavau, my botanical friend, picked up my diary and
pencil one day, and wrote in it : "I am Tavau the
girl of Funafuti. Tavita (meaning Professor David)
goot man, me love im. I nevare ufo get you."
The children had very quick ears for sound, and
always derided our mispronunciation of their names.
Tavau would strike herself on the chest and say,
" me Tavau " (tah-vah-oo), then she would point to
one of our party, screw up her ample mouth, and say,
"E say 'Tevveou,'" giving an Australian's cockney pro
nunciation of the vowel sounds of her name to per
fection. Even the men occasionally objected to the
manner in which our party maltreated their names ;

LANGUAGE 117
for instance, an extremely-intelligent and polite native
rejoicing in the name " Meneua " (which should be
pronounced " May-nay-oo-ah " very rapidly), said to
me one day, " Misi, you say ' Meneua ' good, e "
(pointing with mingled reproach, sorrow, and indigna
tion in his face to one of the men of our party), " E
say ' Manure' ! Dat no good, very bad." No wonder
the poor man objected. Most of our party failed to
catch the pretty Italian sounds of the native vowels.
We were all struck with the musical vowel sounds —
the soft consonants and the general sweetness and
richness of the language and voices of the people.
The voices of the Anglo-Australians sounded harsh
and grating by contrast, a fact which did not escape
the quick observation of our Funafuti friends, who
never lost any opportunity of laughing at us, our
speech and our ways ; yet in spite of the fact that
they laughed at us persistently, they tried very hard
to imitate us in dress and manner, and really made
good progress with English, which they lisped with
an extremely pretty accent.

CHAPTER X.
THE KING, THE SUB-CHIEF, AND THE TRADER
There is a king in Funafuti, and a fine old gentleman
he is too. His title is the Tupu, and his Christian
name is Elia.
By the way there are no such things as surnames
in Funafuti. Every man has his Christian name,
and every woman has her Christian name, and that
only. Men and women here never address each
other by titles, not even by an equivalent to the
humble " Mr." and " Mrs." ; children never address
their parents as "father" or "mother," but call them
"Solomona" (Solomon), or "Iesapela" (Jezebel), as
the case may be. The smallest talking youngster on
the island in speaking to the king, would call him
"Elia." I tried hard to see the advantage of being a king
in Funafuti, but couldn't. The king's hut was not
so good as the native pastor's, his clothes were no
better than those of his subjects ; and his food was
the same — cocoa-nut, fish, and taro. He had only
one voice in the making of laws on the island, and
seemed to look up to the Samoan pastor as an authority
n8

THE KING, SUB-CHIEF, AND TRADER 119
in things temporal as well as spiritual. He certainly
received a salary of five dollars per annum from his
subjects (that is, one-tenth of what is considered
necessary for the pastor), and he had a fair amount
of cocoa-nut and taro land, but less than some of his
subjects. Since the island has been under British
protection the king is a nominal king only, an orna
mental, but not very expensive, head to a nice little
republic. In old days the king had more authority,
but was not despotic by any means ; he had one
beautiful prerogative, which was this, that any criminal
could be saved by him from justice, if the said criminal
were smart enough to make his way to the king's
house before he was caught by his enraged fellows !
So that the king's house was a sanctuary, or city of
refuge. I could not find out how long a refugee
had to keep sanctuary ; probably the king found his
prerogative burdensome.
The Funafutians seem never to have had any strict
notion about caste, such as is characteristic of the
Samoans ; any Funafuti person is as good as another.
They have a great respect for law, and have always
inclined to be a law-abiding folk ; and they respect
a man and his office, when they have elected him as
king, sub-chief, or policeman.
They do not believe in allowing the king's favourite
to rule, and on one occasion (before being under
British rule) they threatened to depose the king,
because Tili, his favourite, had too much to say in
the management of the island. It seems that on this
occasion the old king wept, and said if they deposed

120 FUNAFUTI
him he would be obliged to go right away to die on
another island, for he could not bear to live in
Funafuti after such a disgrace. After a big palaver
the people announced their intention of retaining him
as king, provided he gave up his favourite. The
king promised, and has kept his word ; and Tili has
no more voice than other men in affairs of state,
although he is a fine-looking, good, and able man,
and is, in addition to this, a man rich in cocoa-nut
land. The king was well on in years, and did little but
sleep, and eat, and " take the chair " (really sit on a
mat of state) at public meetings, and he always got
away from these last as soon as he decently could.
He was a good-looking man, grave, dignified, and
courteous, but always seemed somewhat bored ; and
he never turned up at any frivolity such as a sing-
sing. He could read his Samoan Bible and hymn-
book, and seemed to like doing so ; and he was
never absent from his seat of state outside the
platform-rail in church. He scrupulously attended
every service. He must have learnt to read after
he had reached man's estate, because no one on the
island could read or write before the advent of the
missionaries, and the mission is not more than thirty
years old.
He did not care to move about much, but the
native pastor once insisted on His Majesty accom
panying him and the school-children on a week's picnic
round the various islets of the atoll. The pastor,
after eighteen months of keeping up his dignity and

THE KING, SUB-CHIEF, AND TRADER 121
lording it over his flock, had made up his mind that
he was going in the mission ship to Apia for a holiday
with all his family ; this made him restless, and in
order to make a reasonable excuse for cutting school
work for a week, he organized a farewell picnic for
the school, and carried the poor old king round with
him as a nineteenth-century spiritual captive. The
king looked more bored than ever on his return, and
had heavy arrears of sleep to make up.
Poor old chap, he hadn't even the solace of a pipe,
for he did not smoke. I wondered why the king was
the only non-smoker on the island, and asked the
trader the reason, and he gave me the following
instructive information.
Elia had been a smoker in his young days, and
dearly loved his pipe ; but in those old days the
trading ships came seldom, and money and cocoa-
nuts were scarcer, and very often tobacco was very
scarce. When the king had finished his, he would
demand some from those of his subjects known to
possess it. But the subjects didn't see why a king
should expect more luxuries than any other man,
and firmly declined to hand over to royalty their
few remaining figs of tobacco. Thereupon the
affronted monarch pondered in his own mind, and
came to the conclusion that, as this craving for
tobacco only put him into a humiliating position, he
would give up smoking, cure himself of the craving,
and so save himself the ignominy of being refused
supplies by his subjects. He did so ; and has
never smoked since ! And this is the sort of man

122 FUNAFUTI
whom white people would loftily describe as a
" savage " !
Two days after our arrival on the island we waited
on the Tupu, made a formal call on him as the repre
sentative of government in the land, and presented
a letter of introduction we had received from the
High Commissioner, a letter which explained who
we were and what was our errand. In order to
comply with the customs of the Pacific islanders, we
at the same time presented him with a sack of yams.
Yams are great luxuries in Funafuti, as they cannot
be cultivated there, the soil not being rich enough
to grow them. On the same day we also sent a
similar bag of yams to Opataia, and one to the native
pastor. We were surprised to see that these three
bags of yams remained for two days where we had
left them, unopened. We began to wonder if the
three dignitaries were offended in any way. But
on the third day the mystery was explained ; the
big conch was blown, and all the island assembled,
the three bags of yams were carried to the state
house, and equally divided among all the people
according to their families. How many civilized
monarchs, priests, or premiers would have parted so
generously with a handsome gift ! Of course, if the
Funafuti monarch hadn't done this, his people would
have growled audibly under his royal nose — but
still !
After this we did not see the king for about a
week, and then, as our machinery was ready for
work, and the steam up, we invited Elia to come

THE KING, SUB-CHIEF, AND TRADER 123
and start the machinery. He said he would come
if he wasn't afraid, and if he was afraid he would
send Opataia.
He wasn't afraid ; and arrived in company with
Opataia, the trader, and nearly the whole village,
and he wore a hat, too, for the occasion, a decoration
that he usually allowed himself on Sundays only.
He was shown what to do, and screwed up his
courage and turned on the screw, but started back
with a " Tapa ! " of terrified amazement when he
saw the wheels go round. Then my husband made
a little speech, which the trader interpreted to the
people, and called for three cheers for the Tupu ;
and the Tupu took off his hat, as he saw the white
men do, and cheered himself right lustily. Then
we made him a present of a tin of meat, which we
hoped he would be allowed to keep for himself.
Often after this occasion he would stroll round to
the drill-camp to watch the progress of the work,
and to make enquiries as to how many fathoms we
had sunk ; for we had made him understand that
his turning on the screw to start the work was to
bring good fortune, and he was mightily flattered,
and a trifle anxious too.
Soon after our arrival the king fell a victim to a
mild attack of influenza, which ended up with a bad
attack of bronchial catarrh. He sent for me to
cure him. My fame as a medicine woman was
already established, through a marvellous cure
wrought on a bilious child by one cascara tabloid.
The king wanted a tabloid too, and I gave him

124 FUNAFUTI
one, and rubbed his chest with eucalyptus oil to
his immense gratification ; for he liked the smell
of it! I tried hard to rub it in; my arm ached
and my palm was excoriated, but I am sure that
oil did not penetrate his sable majesty's skin. Such
a skin — wrinkled, leathery, pachydermatous ! He was
much better the next day, and said I had cured
him. He was so taken with the eucalyptus oil that I
gave him a small bottle of it for himself, which he
called sau-sau (scent !) and treasured jealously.
After this I used to call on him regularly without
first sending word that I was coming ; for by this
time I had discovered it was unnecessary to pre
arrange an audience. The children always followed
me wherever I went, and would always want to
know where I was going, and when I said " Tupu,"
two or three of them would tear off to the king's hut,
where he was generally to be found, shirtless and
happy, asleep on the platform in his hut. The first
in the race would shake the king unceremoniously
by the arm and yell out, "Elia! Elia! te fafine
palagi" (Elia, Elia, the woman foreigner), and the
king would sit up half dazed but quite amiable,
and as soon as he was sufficiently awake to realize
who I was would make a frantic dash for his shirt,
pull it hurriedly over his head while I looked on,
then, when the shirt was on correctly, tails outside,
he would get off the platform, bow courteously,
shake hands, wave me to a mat, and tell one of the
girls to offer me a cocoa-nut drink.

THE KING, SUB-CHIEF, AND TRADER 125
Elia is a widower, with no family of his own, but
he adopts stray boys and girls from time to time,
and has a fine family of these adopted children of
all ages, who live with him, and care for him as
much as they could for a real father. It would
seem that all orphans are wards of the king, for he
is responsible up to a certain « extent for them, not
by written law, but by the law of custom.
One of his adopted daughters, Solonaima, is quite
the belle of the island, and is as good as she is
charming. Her mother died soon after the birth
of this child, and before dying sent for the king
and confided her child and her cocoa-nut land to
his care ; she probably guessed that her husband
would marry again. Elia accepted the charge, and
has been a good father to Solonaima, even refusing
her in marriage to lovers of whom he did not
approve. Solonaima has had many offers of marriage, but
says she " no likee Funafuti boy," but that she
"palenti likee palagi boy." But I fear her kind
foster-father will have to give her to a Funafuti boy
some day, unless she elects to be classed as "fafine
taka" (old maid); for the palagi boys admire and
respect, but do not offer matrimony. The "palagi
boys " of our party greatly admired the dignified and
sweet-faced Solonaima ; and were discussing her
charms one day in a boat in which were several
natives who did not understand, as we thought, what
we were saying, when all at once Samu, a half-caste
(father African negro, mother Funafuti woman), struck

126 FUNAFUTI
in with an appreciative smack of his lips, " Io, Solo
naima palenti lubly, e palenti big leg ! " I noticed the
legs of the Funafuti girls more particularly after this,
and found that few had finely developed thighs and
calves like Solonaima.
Before leaving the island the king presented
me with a finely plaited mat, and I gave him a
kerosene lamp ; he told me that I was a good
woman and that he loved me, and I told him that
he was the very nicest king I had ever met. He
was quite pleased.
Opataia is the next to the Tupu in rank, and is the
real ruler of the island, in that he is responsible to
the Commissioner and is responsible for the enforcing
of all laws. Not only is Opataia the magistrate
appointed by the British Commissioner, but he is
also the sub-chief chosen by the people ; and the
people have shown remarkably good sense in electing
him. He is barely middle-aged, tall, grave, strong,
clean, brave, clever, pious yet humble, and he wears
a complete suit of white ducks on Sundays. Opataia
is a model man, and is much thought of and respected
by all who know him. He can spear or hook fish,
row, climb a cocoa-nut tree, cultivate taro, make
bonito hooks and sinnet, cook fish, make puleleti
and lolo, and lasso a rat with any man on the island.
He certainly makes a splendid sub-chief and will
probably be Tupu some day. Affairs of state seem
to weigh heavily on his mind, he is not so gay and
frisky as are most of the others ; and he has a
good deal of work and anxiety as compared with

Opataia.

THE KING, SUB-CHIEF, AND TRADER 127
most other men in Funafuti, for he is a deacon of
the church as well as sub-chief and magistrate, so
that he feels himself responsible for the spiritual
as well as the moral and physical welfare of his
people. Is there a dispute of any kind among
the islanders ? Opataia is appealed to, and his
decision accepted. Does the white chief need
help ? Opataia gives it. Does the white woman
need fish, or cocoa-nut, or a canoe ? Opataia supplies
it. Is the native pastor sick ? Opataia takes the
services. He is able to do, and has to do, pretty
well everything ; and his salary is not quite so large
as that of the Tupu. On one occasion, when the
islanders put in an exorbitantly high tender for
the carriage of coal for our expedition, Opataia called
a meeting of all the men, and rated them soundly
for their greed, which he rightly called dishonesty,
to their great amazement. Then in order to shame
them, and also to set a good example, he donned
a native petticoat and carried coals for the expedition
for three days and refused remuneration ; and he
did more work in the time than any other man in
Funafuti. He was also an excellent sailor, and could keep his
wits about him in the most trying circumstances on
the water ; he knew every patch of coral, every
shallow, every deep spot in the lagoon, and every
place on the reef where it was good to fish or safe to
land ; he knew the habits of all the animals on the
island, and how best to catch them ; he knew all
the plants on every islet of the atoll, and just where to

128 FUNAFUTI
find them, and what were their uses : he could under
stand a little English, and whenever there was a
stiff bit of rowing or hauling to do Opataia always
stuck to it better than any other man.
There are spots on the sun, however, and Opataia
has erred in committing excessive matrimony. Before
the Christian era in Funafuti he had married,
become the father of two daughters, and then got
tired of his wife and sent her about her business.
This was of course quite the understood thing in
the old days. But he married again, and his second
wife presented him with a son and a daughter ; and
then she died, and he married again this time a
tiny little woman with a Mongolian countenance, who
now has three small sons, and still lives and rules
over his household. She is very clever at all the
island work of cooking, mat plaiting, fan and hat-
making, is a good singer, and was extremely kind
to me on every occasion.
Opataia's first wife, Fipi (Phcebe ?), is a jolly,
rackety old girl, covered from head to foot with
lafa, looks old enough to be Opataia's mother,
is very fond of practical jokes, but is very indus
trious for a Funafutian, and has two almost
grown-up daughters. One of these is at the
High School for native girls in Samoa, and the
other is my botanical friend, Tavau. Tavau inherits
her mother's jollity and her father's brains and
powers of observation. Many a happy day have
I spent with Tavau collecting specimens for my
botanical collection, and being coached up in all the

My Botanical Friend Tavau.

THE KING, SUB-CHIEF, AND TRADER 129
uses of the various native plants, their haunts, and
their time of flowering. When we first began col
lecting plants, she would sometimes bring me a twig
of a plant I had not yet seen, and say hopefully,
" Fuga (flower) bineby," and some time after she would
triumphantly produce the first blossom of the season,
and bear me off to see the plant that bore it ; and she
never failed to look among the vegetable refuse under
the tree to find a last year's fruit, and would hunt
up a young seedling of the plant too whenever
possible. She was the noisiest flirt on the island and the
best shot with a cocoa-nut ; our students had to dodge
their smartest when Tavau was on the war-path. She
was one of the best singers on the island and the least
gentle of all the girls. She was inclined to be jealous,
and on one occasion sulked with me for four days —
I never knew why. We had a sort of explanation ;
I upbraided her with loving me no more, and she
nearly broke down in a fit of penitence, and we
kissed and made friends amidst an admiring group
of piccaninnies.
Opataia's eldest son, Tamatoa, is a dear little boy,
aged seven, and very intelligent ; he can climb a
cocoa-nut tree like a squirrel, and twist off the huge
nuts with apparent ease. Opataia's youngest daughter,
Nemei, was one of my five piccaninnies, and is a gentle,
docile little maid. Altogether Opataia's family is an
extremely promising one.
As a deacon of the church Opataia was much cast
down just as we left the island, because the white

130 FUNAFUTI
missionary had lectured him on the untidiness of the
church and the school, and had told him that
Funafuti was less enlightened than any other island
in the group. This was a great blow to Opataia,
and with his usual promptitude he assembled the
islanders, and told them that as soon as ever our
expedition had left the island the people would have
to drop fooling round generally, and would have to
spend their evenings in school.
If the other islands of the group are more en
lightened morally and spiritually than Funafuti, they
must be far ahead of any civilized country I know of.
After all, Opataia's work is less arduous than it
might be, for his authority is greatly strengthened
by the vague terror that his people have of the
supernatural powers of the missionary, and by the
wholesome respect for law inspired by the British
Commissioner and the big guns of the British war
ships. So much for the two chief natives on the island.
Now for the resident white man, the trader, an Irish-
Australian, Mr. John O'Brien, or "Tiaki" (Jacky), as
he is called by his children and the other islanders.
The trader is a cheery old boy and most wonderfully
energetic, although he must be over seventy years of
age, and has been trading in the islands for nearly
forty years. He thoroughly understands the people
and speaks their language fluently, though his pro
nunciation is very unlike that of a native. He was
most obliging and helpful to us, and was always
willing to supply us with information about the people

The Tr:ider
Sarai. (Mr. J. O'HKiiiN).

Janei. Teone. Peke,
The Trader, Mr. J. O'Brien, and his Family.

THE KING, SUB-CHIEF, AND TRADER 131
and the island. He generally dresses like the natives,
but adopts European dress, including a hat, whenever
a ship comes in.
He was not the sort of man that we expected the
trader to be : he was neither a low-down ruffian, nor
a romantic, adorable scamp, like some novelists'
creations; he was just a normal, decent fellow, with
the average amount of truthfulness and honour
usually met with among men of few opportunities.
The natives respect him, and he respects their laws
and customs, and is on the whole a peaceable, likable
old man. One reason why the natives respect him
is that he is able to do well the sort of work that
they understand : he can swim, dive, row, or fish
wonderfully well, and then, too, he is one of the
chief links between them and the great unknown
world whence the white people come.
He was not actively opposed to the mission, but
did not attend church, or rather has not troubled
to do so since the one-shilling fine for non-attendance
has been abolished. Opataia has been much exer
cised in his mind about the ungodliness of his friend
the trader, and since he cannot force his attendance
at church has waited upon him as a deputation to
remind him of his increasing years and the need to
look after his soul. On these occasions the trader,
with a godless twinkle in his eye, evades and makes
excuses such as that he has no fit clothes to go to
church in, etc.
The trader's wife, Sarai, is a tall, handsome native,
but well on in years. Her family is a large one, and

132 FUNAFUTI
her children are all good-looking, well grown, and
intelligent ; but unluckily they are all of them delicate.
They are proud of being half-caste whites, and at the
same time are well up in all the native legends, games,
and manufactures. O'Brien is fond of his wife and
family, and says that although he would like for many
reasons to return to Sydney, he cannot leave his
children and Funafuti.

CHAPTER XI.
OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIONS
Orphans and strangers were we when we landed at
Funafuti, but in a very short time we had numerous
official friends and quite a formidable array of relatives.
Adoption is a very common and a very real thing
in this island ; a man will adopt a child and lavish as
much tenderness on it as if he were really its father.
When I had had time and opportunity to make this
observation, my own self-appointed brown relatives
assumed a more serious character, and I understood,
that as I had accepted the proffered relationship,
we were indeed "all a same a one family," as my
daughter put it.
My native mother, Tufaina, met me under circum
stances already described. She was an aged and
wise woman, who had the character of being one
of the best hands at doctoring and at making all
native goods such as titi, takai, fans, baskets, and
wreaths, in addition to which she was an excellent
cook from the native point of view. After securing
her valuable assistance for our foreman's leg, I fre
quently visited her hut and cook-house, and conversed
with her, in dumb show chiefly, for she never learned
a word of English. Soon after I had formed the
i33

134 FUNAFUTI
habit of dropping into her cook-house, she told me
that I was good, that she loved me, that she was my
mother. I thanked her, said that I loved and re
spected her and was proud to be her daughter. Then
I gave her six figs of trade tobacco, and she gave me
a fan of her own making, and the compact was sealed.
My mother had a beautiful big hole in the lobe of
each ear, and found it a very handy pocket for her
briar pipe when she was not smoking or lending it.
She neatly twisted the long loop of lobe twice or
thrice round the' stem of the pipe, and there it was
both safe and handy. Tufaina was small, like most of
the Funafuti women, but wiry and strong, though she
was lame from some injury to her hip, and needed a
staff when walking ; she consequently walked little,
preferring to sit tailor-wise on the floor of her hut,
where she could be very busy with eyes, ears, and
fingers at one and the same time. She had been
a handsome girl, and was a striking old woman, with
regular features, aquiline nose, large, dark eyes, and
black wavy hair, with only an occasional streak of
grey in it, which she wore hanging loose on her
shoulders. She possessed all her teeth, though they
were blunt and yellow from age. How old she was
I could never find out, but concluded that she was
probably somewhere between forty-five and eighty.
She had a numerous family of children, and adopted
children, of grandchildren and great grandchildren ;
but as she, her children and grandchildren were prob
ably married at the early age of fifteen, she might
easily have been a great grandmother before fifty.

OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIONS 135
It struck me as a curious fact that no one in Funa
futi knew his own, or another person's age. I once
asked a young mother how old her baby was, and she
could not tell me, but turned to the other women and
held an animated discussion with them with much
counting of fingers ; she finally told me that her baby
was " ono masina " (six months). After hearing that
a young mother did not know the age of her first
baby, you will not be astonished to hear that a
husband doesn't know his wife's age, or a brother
his sister's.
I usually called in at my mother's hut every day,
but when I was obliged to pass by without stopping
I would call out, "Talofa toku matua" (My love to
you, my mother), and she usually answered, "Aue!
Talofa " (Alas ! My love to you). The trader told
me that Tufaina had been a great dancer and singer
in her young days, those good old days, which he was
always regretting, when Funafutians could dance on
their feet, when " free love " was the fashion, and when
tattoo was compulsory.
By the way, my mother was tattooed ; but I never
dreamed of insulting her by mentioning it, for she
was a devout church-member and looked upon her
tattoo as a personal disgrace, although she had been
obliged to receive it in pre-Christian days. She
was also one of the very few natives free from
skin diseases, so that I could give her my arm in
walking or kiss her forehead without any creepy
forebodings. Kissing is not the fashionable salute in Funafuti,

136 FUNAFUTI
but the English custom of hand-shaking is coming in.
Nose-pressing is the native custom of salutation when
a native goes away, or comes back after a long
absence, and it is not a pretty form of salutation.
Two noses are flattened one against the other, and
the breath is expelled, at the moment of nose-flatten
ing, in a vigorous howl.
My mother was a very good Christian from the
native pastor's point of view ; she went to church
regularly, always had evening prayers in her hut,
subscribed money and mats for the mission, and gave
liberally of food for the support of the pastor and his
hungry family. The women of her end of the village
always assembled in her hut for church work (plaiting
mats for the mission), and she always opened each
little stance with prayer. She was a well-to-do woman,
her hut was large and well built, and she had plenty
of cocoa-nut land.
She was a good Christian from my point of view
too, for she was always cheerful and industrious, by
far the most industrious woman on the island, her hut
was always clean, and it was always open to all those
in trouble or disgrace. For instance, she housed a
few of her grandchildren, two motherless girls, a
divorced woman and her child, and an illegitimate child
and its fifteen-year-old mother. I could not see that
she made any difference between these last and the
others. Was this a remnant of the old heathen in
difference to sexual immorality, or had she read and
understood that word, " Let him that is without sin
among you," etc. ? She always read her Bible every

OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIONS 137
day. Several photographs were taken of Tufaina,
but unfortunately they were all spoiled.
Naina, my native daughter, was named after the
city of Nain, and was the only daughter of Tili,
the ex-favourite of the king. Her real mother died
three months before I landed on the island, and
Naina confided to me that Elisapeta (her mother)
was good, had been dead three moons, and that she,
Naina, "palenti kli." Of course I was sympathetic,
and then Naina suggested that I should be her
mother, and I willingly adopted the pretty, taking
little maid. From that day Naina was my shadow,
fetching and carrying for me, supplying me with fish
and cocoa-nut, attending me at my bath, in fact
showing me every attention in her power, even
choosing to carry on her flirtations where I could
be witness to her skill. She was somewhere about
thirteen years of age, the trader thought, was in the
top class in school, and was ambitious to be chosen
as a pupil for the High School at Apia. She had
a huge patch of lafa (ringworm) on one cheek when
I adopted her, but that was soon cured ; and she
really tried to obey me about not washing herself
or her clothes in the common bathing pool, so I
hope she will not take the infection again. She
was very quick at picking up English, and very soon
I could trust her with messages to the other islanders.
She got into a sad scrape while I was on the island,
and was fetched up before the court and fined one
shilling, for appearing in public without a lava-lava
on. It was this way ; she and another child of the

138 FUNAFUTI
same age were bathing in the lagoon, when they saw
the boats coming in, and as their huts were only
about ten yards from the shore, they tore up to
them, carrying their lava-lavas in their hands. A
man saw them, and reported them to Opataia.
Naina was furious about this disgrace, and when
I questioned her about it, her eyes flashed and she
raved out, " lelamia bad man ! Me die, me no
sepeeka lelamia!" I sympathized with this lapse
to savagery, for the girl had thought the coast clear
when she made that eventful trip across the sand,
and the Funafuti Peeping Tom was so far off that
he must have guessed rather than seen that she wore
no lava-lava. Naina possessed a geography book, and
this she frequently carried about with her. She pre
tended to learn up her lesson for the morrow at all
sorts of unpropitious times ; whenever she set to work
seriously to learn it she fell asleep, and I was never
sorry to see the geography expression fade out of
her face as she gradually sank into a peaceful slumber.
The climate of Funafuti is not conducive to exertion,
mental exertion least of all. Naina never went to
sleep though when there was a sing-sing on, she
was always in the front row of the choir, and had
a full rich voice of great power and sweetness.
She was very much amused the first time she saw
me trying to clean fish. I was sitting on the ocean
reef close to a pool of sea-water, and working very
hard, with a blunt table knife, at cutting off the head
of a fish. She watched me for some time, laughing
at me as usual, till I tried to justify my helplessness

QZ<<z

OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIONS 139
by explaining to her that I hadn't a knife sharp
enough to cut butter with. She didn't understand,
but held out her hand and said "kivi," and I gave
her the fish, and offered her the knife, which she
scornfully refused ; then with one bite of her magni
ficent teeth she severed the head of that fish, ripped
open its body and disembowelled it with two
dexterous twists of her forefinger, snatched up a
fragment of cocoa-nut shell that was lying close by,
and in a few seconds had scaled the fish perfectly.
It was done in less time than it takes to write about
it. I was sorry that I had ever cultivated a prejudice
against food that had been in someone else's mouth,
for it certainly was a very quick and easy method
of cleaning fish — but then civilized teeth could not
do the trick.
I am bound to admit that although Naina was only
about thirteen years of age, she was an accomplished
little flirt ; she chose as her knight during our stay
on the island a tall, good-looking student of our
party, and her attentions to him were marked and
unmistakable. She took him presents of drinking
cocoa-nut and fish, and always prepared a fresh
wreath of scented flowers for him every day, to
ornament a disreputable old felt hat that he prided
himself on wearing. He was a fearful tease, and
I have seen Naina speechless with rage when he
accepted a wreath from another girl, and placed it
with hers on his hat. This breach of Funafuti
etiquette on his part was conducive to ill-feeling,
and Naina would tell me sulkily, " Pulu no good,

140 FUNAFUTI
me no sepeeka Pulu," but in a few hours she would
have forgiven him, and be willing to make friends.
Naina was an idle little puss, and I thought it part
of my motherly duty to lecture her about her idleness
on one occasion ; at first she only laughed and said,
" Me no savey work, me little girl," and when she
saw this did not convince me, she looked defiant
and said, " Me no work, my fader palenti lovee me."
This was enough for me, and I never again attempted
to mar her life of ease, except on one occasion, when
I noticed she had a large hole in her tiputa. I
showed her how to put on a patch, fixed it and
tacked it, and she was very much pleased and in
terested while I was working ; but as soon as I made
her take the needle, and told her to sew the patch
down, a look of unutterable boredom came over
her. She sighed heavily all through the progress
of that patch, but I made her finish it. When it
was finished she took a long sleep of genuine weari
ness at my feet. I felt remorseful as I watched her
there, and resolved not to trouble her by cultivating
in her a conscience on the matter of mending clothes.
After all, why should one consider rag-mending such
a sterling virtue ? When she awoke I maliciously
suggested another patch, but she looked at me
pathetically and said, " Bine-by," so "Bine-by" I
let it remain. Happy little Naina !
My daughter was quite in the fashion in not
mending worn or torn garments. There was only
one woman on the island whom I ever saw mending
clothes, and she was a cripple, paralyzed from her

OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIONS 141
waist downwards ; she could not therefore spend a
great part of her time pleasantly running about
chaffing and gossiping as the other women did, and
she was bound to put in her waking time at some
thing, so she plaited hats and mats, and made and
mended the garments of her family. On islands
where there are married white missionaries the people
are more in the habit of wearing European clothes,
and keep them very tidily mended. I was struck
with the neat, smooth patches to be seen on the
seats of the trousers which the Nuie boys wore
with such evident pride, and Mrs. Lawes (wife of
the resident white missionary in Nuie) told me that
the perfect fit of the patches was due to the fact
that the patches were applied while the garment
was being worn. A man who had worn his way
through the seat of his trousers would lie face
downwards (out in the street by preference), and
a friend would cut, fit, fix, and sew on the patch ;
and those patches fitted the garment and the man
admirably ! Men make their own garments and patch
those of their friends too in Nuie.
To return to my Funafuti relatives. I adopted by
degrees five little girl piccaninnies — Pole, Semanua,
So-So, Taatava, and Nemei. They often accom
panied me when I paid calls in the village, or when
Tavau and I went collecting flowers they would
carry my basket or umbrella, collect cocoa-nut husks
and leaves for me when I was cooking, and run
messages ; in return for which I would give them
biscuit kaikai, " lo-le " (Australian word " lolly "),

142 FUNAFUTI
illustrated papers, or new print for clothes. The
eldest of these children could not have been more
than ten, and the youngest was probably about six
years of age ; but they could all read and write,
cook in the native fashion, make peka and plait
teano, and they could sing very well indeed. They
would always come when I was cooking bread in
the camp oven, because I had to sit in my cook
house to keep up the fire and put fresh glowing
embers on the lid of the oven, and they liked
helping to do this with native tongs that they
ripped off a palm petiole with their strong white
teeth ; and in the intervals between attending to
the fire they would sing songs to me, and sing them
quite as well as the grown-ups did too. It was
always an institution with them on these occasions
that I should sing " The Farmyard " nursery rhyme
to them ; they took huge delight in the baa-baaing
of the sheep, the clucking of the hens, and the
grunting of the pigs.
So much for my relatives. My friends included all
the women on the island, but Peke, the trader's hand
some daughter, Solonaima, and Tavau were the chief.
These have been mentioned elsewhere, and so I will
pass on to my husband's friends.
It is a custom in Funafuti, when any strange man
arrives, for one of the natives to appropriate him as
a special or official friend, by going up to him and
saying, "Will you be my friend?" If you accept —
and it is bad form to refuse — your friend waits on
you, works for you, and presents you from time to

OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIONS 143
time with food, clothes, or curios. You must not
insult him by offering payment for work or goods ;
friends cannot buy and sell with each other ; you
must wait a decent time for manners' sake after any
service or present, and then make ample compensa
tion. There were friends and friends, of course.
Some really felt hurt if you tipped them ; others
liked to wait awhile, so as to look disinterested ;
while stray ones were greedy, and wanted immediate
presents far exceeding the value of their service or
gift. Taking it all round, the custom is as satis
factory as it is pretty ; but like other good customs,
it is open to abuse. Three of my husband's friends,
for he had five instead of the orthodox one, were
splendid fellows, being no less personages than
Opataia, and Tili, and Tanei, one of the trader's
numerous sons. These men always tried to give
more than equivalents for favours received. Opataia
has been described already. Tili, the father of my
adopted daughter, was a strong, well-built man, of
very courteous bearing, easy and dignified. He was
the happy possessor of much land, both in taro
gardens and cocoa-nut groves, and his hut was the
only one in the village, except the trader's, that
possessed a boarded floor. Tanei was the hand
somest man in the island, and was very nearly
white ; but could speak very little English, although
he had been cook for a year on board an English
trading vessel. He was very proud of having been
to the Gilbert Islands ; it is a very plucky thing for
an Ellice islander to go to the Gilberts, for these

144 FUNAFUTI
peaceful, harmless people have a great horror of
their bloodthirsty neighbours in the Line Islands.
Tanei had been twice married. His first wife had
been too noisy, he told me. " Me no likee this
woman," said he ; so he calmly sent her back to
Niutao, her native island, and married an extremely
pretty little woman, who looks like a child herself,
although she is the mother of four children. He was
a member of the church and a sidesman, with pole
of office, and I never understood how it was that
he could shunt his wife in that summary way, and
yet be a pillar of the church, just like a civilized
white man ! But perhaps he turned pious after re-
suiting himself with a wife. He was reticent on
this subject. I told him that now he was under
English rule he would not be able to change wives
in that free-and-easy fashion, and he seemed thought
ful, probably considering that the English law was
weak on this subject ; but like a wise man he said
nothing. The other two friends were not so satisfactory as
Opataia, Tili, and Tanei. They were, in fact, dis
tinctly self-seeking. One came and asked for a 400-
gallon tank, a kerosene lamp, a tin of kerosene, all
our knives, forks, spoons, dishes, towels ; in fact, he
wanted us to give him everything we possessed when
we left the island. We put him down gently but
firmly. The other fellow was a dreadful old creature,
hungry-eyed, insatiable, and an irrepressible beggar.
He would come to our hut just at meal-times, and
amuse himself by expectorating noisily' and lavishly

OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIONS 145
all over the floor. I surprised him by losing my
temper with him one day, and he left hurriedly. He
was so fearfully greedy that he would eat anything
and any quantity that was given him. On one
occasion the drill men gave him the pot of porridge
that had been made for their breakfasts and burnt ;
he sat down and rapidly ate the whole batch, and we
had rest from him for about a fortnight afterwards.
The first time he came to see me he sat down and
talked to me for half an hour, and I failed to under
stand anything he said; then he pointed at me and
crowed, and I thought perhaps he wanted to know if
I would like a fowl. So I nodded, and off he trotted,
and shortly after he returned with a hen in one hand
and an egg in the other, and pointed first to the hen,
then to the egg, to make me understand that she was
responsible for its existence. I took the hen and the
egg and said " Faafatai " (Thank you) patiently, and
he squatted on the floor of my hut expectorating and
expectant. I understood the waiting attitude at once,
but gave him nothing. Then he began talking again,
but I shook my head and said, "No savey." Then
he pointed to his mouth and then to mine, but I still
"no savey-ed " ; and then, finding me so obtuse, he
pressed his stomach affectionately and then pointed
at mine. This was too realistic, and I hastily pre
sented him with a basket of yams, and said, "Alu
ese," and he went.
The two unsatisfactory friends were not Funafu
tians ; they were Samoans resident in Funafuti,

CHAPTER XII.
TATTOO
The ignorant natives of Funafuti called tattoo "tau"
(pronounced " tah-oo " very rapidly). I didn't correct
them. My husband had promised to take all the tattoo
patterns he could get on the island, and send them
home to a learned man in the learned city of Oxford.
He was very keen about this till we got to Funafuti,
but then he found that among the fair sex only the
very old, skinny natives were tattooed ; so he said he
really hadn't time to do everything, and besides he
said he was naturally shy about strange ladies, and
on the whole he thought it would be more correct if
I took the women's tattoo, and left him just to tackle
the men. Afterwards he found he was too busy to
tackle the only old man who was tattooed, and who
was doubly interesting as being the host for a fine
colony of Tokelau ringworm (lafa).
In my ignorant zeal in the cause of science I under
took to copy the tau. The trader told me there were
only four old crones who were tattooed, and he also
said that all the tattoo patterns were exactly alike,
so that in former days one could tell a Funafuti
146

TATTOO 147
man or woman by the tau they bore. I felt that
there were more than four remaining specimens of
tattoo in the female form, but if you won't believe
a trader in the South Seas, what are you to do?
Anyhow, he introduced me to the "only four," and
I visited them in turn, giving them reels of cotton
and figs of tobacco as a recompense for sitting for
their tau pictures. I knew those patterns wouldn't
all be alike, and they weren't. The tattoo on the
back and ribs from the waist up to the shoulder-
blades was the same in every case, and one woman
had that only ; the other three had a considerable
amount of decoration in addition to this, and these
decorations were different on every woman and
extremely complex. I found also that the women
had lost a good deal of adipose tissue since they
were tattooed, for their skins now hung in wrinkled
folds, and the patterns had consequently run into
each other considerably, so that the skin had to be
stretched out bit by bit to discover the real hang
of the pattern. I did not like doing this ; it was
distinctly nasty to have to handle warm moist skin
that had not been too much subjected to the action
of soap and water. The women didn't like it any
more than I did, after the preliminary presentations
were over ; they soon got tired, and wanted to lie
down or lean up against a post and smoke off their
weariness ; and besides, they thought I was irreligious
and a bit of a fool too to want to have anything to do
with tau.
I set to work, however, stretching out the skin,

148 FUNAFUTI
drawing the pattern, measuring sizes and distances,
and got through about two square inches of work in
one afternoon, with intervals of rest for my subjects.
They wanted a fearful lot of rest, and more than
that, they seized upon the opportunity for making
minute enquiries into my family history. It was
kind of them to be so interested, but I was afraid
my inadequate acquaintance with the language of
Funafuti might be the cause of a few slight mistakes
in the information they were trying so praiseworthily
to collect.
After a few weeks of this method of trying to take
the tau, I had a brilliant idea. I would lay tracing
paper on the subjects, and take the patterns rapidly
that way. Off I started cheerfully, with a nice little
roll of tracing paper, intending to bag the entire
collection of patterns that afternoon. But it wouldn't
do. The skin and the tau were both so like that the
pattern didn't show through the paper at all ; and
there was no way of stretching the skin and fastening
the tracing paper down except with drawing pins, and
the women objected to that. So I had to return to
the old slow way of stretching the skin with one hand
while measuring and drawing with the other. I finally
succeeded in getting an accurate copy of the pattern
common to all, which fortunately happened to be the
simplest. The other patterns I regretfully passed.
One woman had nearly half a square foot of pattern
on her right shoulder, and it looked like an elaborate
geometrical design executed by Kindergarten babies
when their teacher's back was turned ; another lady

TATTOO 149
had both shoulders covered with a fearful and wonder
ful work of the savage imagination.
When I had been trying for several weeks, with
very little success, to secure these tattoo patterns, I
made a discovery. It was this — the greatest part of
the tattoo, and the most important, so they said, was
covered up by the leaf-petticoat ! I didn't get this
part of the tattoo ; the proud owners of it were shy,
and somehow I couldn't work up sufficient curiosity
to want to see it. But I thought about it. I also
tried to collect information on the subject, but this
was not easy, owing to the beautiful simplicity of the
trader and the natives. The natives had been taught
by the missionaries that the old heathen custom of
tattooing is wicked, and so they were ashamed of it,
and wouldn't "let on" about it any more than they
could help. The trader held that tattooing is one
of the beautiful and elevating old customs which the
missionaries are unnecessarily hard on. He said that,
before the missionaries came, every girl had to be
tattooed ; that the tattooing was done by the public
tattooer — a man, of course ; that the operation was
painful, and took several weeks ; and that there used
to be long-drawn-out feasts and orgies connected with
this public method of announcing that a girl had
reached a marriageable age. It seems that the
pioneer missionaries were horrified at the indelicacy
of the whole proceeding, and made a church rule
to the effect that tattooing was forbidden to Christians,
and that anyone who submitted to this beautiful old
heathen custom would straightway be degraded from

ISO FUNAFUTI
church membership. Very narrow and bigoted of the
pioneer missionaries, say the high-toned, disinterested
traders. What a pity it is that we cannot all go and
find out for ourselves the truth of all the statements
made against missionaries. At any rate, it would be
wise to reserve our condemnation until we have heard
the facts of the case from all parties concerned.
There is no doubt that the native pastors, who
enforce the church rules in these far-away groups,
do make ludicrous mistakes by their inability to
distinguish between the letter and the spirit of the
law. The following anecdote, told me by the trader,
illustrates this fact ; and it also goes to prove how
necessary it is to have a white missionary resident
in the group as overseer of the native pastors : —
" A youth and a maiden wished to enter the holy
estate of matrimony, and applied to his sable reverence
to unite them according to the Christian law and
custom. His reverence ruled that it was against
the law to marry a church member to one who was
not a church member ; and in this case the girl had
been admitted to membership and the boy had not.
This was a great blow to the amorous young couple,
and they racked their brains to find a way out of the
difficulty. At last, with the childishness of their
race, they agreed that as the youth had been
unable to obtain his ticket of membership from the
pastor, the girl had better do something to forfeit
hers, so that they, being on the same plane of
unworthiness, might be eligible for each other.
They consulted together as to what crime the girl

TATTOO 151
was to commit, and decided that she should have
two or three tiny spots tattooed on the back of her
hand. This was done, and the fact duly reported to
his reverence, who solemnly excommunicated the girl
for her grievous sin, and then married her to the man
of her choice, there being now no ecclesiastical bar to
their union.

CHAPTER XIII.
OTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
The much-vexed question as to what is essentially
man's work, or woman's work, seems never to have
been raised in this ideal little community.
In the first place both the men and women of
Funafuti are far too sensible to do a stroke more
work than is actually necessary to provide food,
clothes, and shelter ; and these are easily obtained.
Very little work is ever done in order to procure
luxuries ; a native's best-loved luxury is rest.
Then both men and women do what they can of
the work that has to be done ; a woman can, and
occasionally does, do almost every kind of work that
has to be done in the island. I never saw a woman
take part in the deep-sea fishing outside the lagoon,
perhaps because this entails occasional severe exertion,
such as rowing against wind and tide. I never saw
a woman spear fish ; but women fish from the shore
and from canoes constantly, whenever fish is wanted
for a meal.
The heaviest of the building work, such as cutting,
carrying, and placing posts and rafters, is done by the
men ; the women sometimes make the thatch, and
hand up sinnet and thatch for the men to tie on.
'52

OTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 153
Men generally do the planting and digging in the
taro-gardens and cocoa-nut groves, but I have seen
women helping in this work ; they nearly always help
in gathering taro roots and leaves, and they do nearly
all the manuring that is done in the gardens, which
consists of plaiting wreaths of pukavai leaves to place
round the roots. When the gardens needed en
riching the men would go in boats to one of the
islets where pukavai trees grow abundantly, gather
a boat-load of leaves, bring them back to the main
islet, and turn them over to the women, who plait
them into wreaths and place them round the plants.
I could not find out that there was any feeling
among men and women as to what was the correct
thing in work for either, but I noticed that the men
usually did the heavy work, although, when men were
not available, the women did it cheerfully and as
a matter of course. We always employed the men
to carry boxes, coal, or wood, but I saw two or three
women helping their husbands to bring in baskets
of wood ; and some of the women will carry very
heavy loads of cocoa-nuts. There seemed no general
tendency among the men to make slaves of the
women, but the women would volunteer to do any
necessary work on occasions. There is, however, as
I have said before, no need for anyone to work, as
a rule, for more than two or three hours a day, and
therefore very few people do so.
I never saw a woman climb a cocoa-nut tree ; when
the men were away the women sent the small boys
up the trees to twist off the nuts ; the women would

154 FUNAFUTI
collect them and carry home the load. The young
girls can run up trees as nimbly as the boys, but
they think it an unseemly thing to do when they
are big girls.
Cooking is done by both men and women ; the
men always cook the loads of fish they catch far from
home, because it will not keep fresh even for a few
hours unless it is cooked. I remarked to the trader
that cooking did not seem to be specially women's
work in the island, and he replied, " Lor bless ye,
no, mum, the men can do it just as well as the
women, and a good deal better too." Masculine
prejudice again.
The women usually made the hats, mats, titi,
takai, looked after the babies, helped in the cooking,
fishing, gardening, and building, and the men did
the deep-sea fishing, made hooks and lines, cut
timber, made canoes, boxes, tuai (cocoa-nut grater),
fish-traps, and kumete (wooden dishes), climbed
cocoa-nut trees, and helped in the cooking and
gardening. It seemed the custom for man or
woman to do any piece of work that was needed,
without questioning whether they ought to do it or
not. Perhaps if they had to work as hard as white
people do they would be a little more particular.
Although most of the heathen customs are abo
lished, it is still the rule for men to kill, cut up,
and cook the turtle, but they let the women eat
some of it now, which they did not in former days,
so that the women are not likely to complain over
this insult to their sex.

OTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 155
Men are not above waiting on the women either ;
for instance, when the women were busy making
mats at the king's order, the men cooked their food
and brought it to them, and even helped to look after
the babies so that the women could work without
interruption. The Funafuti babies don't want much looking after;
there is no elaborate system of bathing and dressing
the precious darlings, and when they are not feeding
they lie on a mat and sleep, and as soon as they
can walk they toddle off with the older children, and
give their parents no trouble except when they are
hungry. They often are hungry, and there are no
settled meal-times in the island ; people eat and drink
whenever they feel hungry or thirsty so long as there
is something handy to eat, and there is always cocoa-
nut to be had for the fetching.
The daily housework consists of reefing up and
letting down mosquito screens ; the mats are turned
out and the hut tidied once a week. Both men and
women wash clothes, but the weekly Wash is a small
matter, and the process is simple. Each person
probably needs a clean lava-lava once a week, and
the way to wash it is to take a small piece of soap
(soap is a shilling a bar here) into the bathing pool
with the lava-lava ; after a few rubs and a rinse, you
hang it on a palm leaf to dry, and lie down to smoke
or rest till it is ready. No starching or ironing is
done here, but the blue-bag has been introduced by
the trader, and is used as a dye ; the natives very
much affect pale blue garments.

156 FUNAFUTI
The women do not take any apparent part in the
government ; but on public occasions they are in
evidence, and sit in the circle that is formed round
an orator, and join in the applause or derision.
I once heard a woman make a speech before the
king, sub-chief, and parliament ; but that brings me
to the custom of making presents.
Twice during my stay on the island there was a
public presentation of mats : the first was to the
native pastor, the second to myself. I saw the
whole ceremony from start to finish, and found it
most interesting.
To begin with, the conch was blown to summon
all the chief men ; the king then proposed that the
women should be asked to make mats as a present
to the native pastor, who was expecting to go away
for a holiday. As debating is exhausting work, the
men always carry with them to the court-hut a small
basket of provisions wherewith to sustain themselves
while others are speechifying. There was a good
deal of speechifying on this occasion, as the whole
of the men did not agree with the idea of making
this present ; they thought the native pastor was
sufficiently well paid for his services, and they said
so. After all the men had talked themselves amiable,
they decided that the women should be told that the
king wished them to make these mats. Then came
the women's turn to chatter and discuss. They didn't
talk more than the men did (that was scarcely
possible), but they seemed to do a lot more, because
theirs was a kind of from hut-to-hut discussion, and

OTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 157
the arguments ran high. Only the very extra pious
women were keen about making the mats ; most of
the women objected to the fortnight's spurt of hard
work that it entailed. They finally consented to make
the mats, and determined to get as much excitement
out of it as possible, to which end they arranged that
there should be a race between the women of the
north and the women of the south end of the
village. Each set of women was to undertake five mats.
Sarai, wife of the trader, took the leadership of the
women of the south end ; Tufaina took the leadership
of the women of the north end, and each set worked all
day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ; not all the workers at once,
but about eight at a time, and when one woman got
tired another took her place. Every day I paid a
visit either to Sarai or Tufaina to see how the work
was getting on, and to note how church-workers in
Funafuti conducted their meetings. Each woman
had a tabola (palm-leaf basket) of provisions by her,
and the work was agreeably diversified by eating,
drinking, smoking, chattering, and singing.
The native pastor is trying to teach the women
that smoking is a habit that should be restricted to
men, but the women go on smoking ; only the school
girls and very young married women pretend to be
horrified at the idea of a woman smoking.
About a fortnight after the commencement of the
mat-plaiting bee there was great excitement at the
south end of the village, and I saw Lui (one of
Sarai's band), dressed in fresh green wreaths, carrying

158 FUNAFUTI
a long pole to the top of which were tied a few leaves
and feathers, dancing, singing, shouting, and waving
the pole, followed by half the village. She danced up
to Tufaina's hut, where a few of the north end women
were working, flourished her pole, and said a few
words, which seemed to please the crowd behind her
more than the women whom she addressed.
When I could get near enough to make enquiries,
I found that this was an old custom, and that it meant
that the women at the south end of the village had
won the race in the mat-plaiting, that their mats were
finished, and that Lui had been the first among them
to finish her mat. This gave her the right and pri
vilege of parading the street with a pole, chaffing the
slower women, and finally of leading the revels at the
presentation. When all the mats were finished a day was fixed
for the presentation, and the native pastor was noti
fied of the honour in store for him. He had known
about it all along, of course ; those natives could not
keep such a secret to save their lives ; but it was
the correct thing for the honoured one to appear
sublimely unconscious of what was going forward,
and the native pastor did his duty in this matter
wonderfully well.
Tufaina sent for me early on the day of presentation,
and I found all the women belonging to the north
end of the village assembled in her hut when I
arrived at 9 a.m. They all wore native costumes,
had huge tabola (baskets) and kumete (dishes) of
food by them, and all were nimbly plaiting wreaths

OTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 159
of flowers, creepers, and leaves, with which to decorate
themselves. As soon as I arrived my mother made a sign with
her hand, and every eye was closed while she offered
up a short prayer, in which, as usual, the word "faa
fatai " (thanks) took a prominent part. When the
prayer was over we all fell to eating, chattering, and
wreath-making, and this went on till a woman pointed
skyward to show that the sun was overhead. Then
all jumped up, put their wreaths on, seized the mats
which were hung up. to the rafters, and all went up in
a body to the open space in the centre of the village,
where were already assembled the women from the
south end of the village with their mats.
Then the mats were unrolled and held up for
general inspection and criticism, and they got it too.
After much chattering, chaffing, and laughter, the
mats were rolled up again, ten women took one mat
each and marched across the space to the court-hut,
where all the men had been feeding, talking, and
waiting since 9 a.m. The mats were once more
unrolled and spread out for the men to quiz and
comment on, and some very pointed remarks flew
round, especially when an extra small mat was un
rolled. The woman who made the small mat was
thoroughly well roasted over it, but didn't seem to
care in the least about all the adverse criticism her
idleness and meanness evoked.
When all the mats had been displayed the king,
Opataia, and a few other men made speeches of
thanks to the women, and then Salota (an elderly

160 FUNAFUTI
widow) was called on to reply. She did not enter
the hut to do this, but lolled up against the side,
looking in waggishly at the men, and made an
animated little speech which elicited roars of laughter
from both men and women.
Next came another meal, after which men and
women formed themselves into a solid block, the
front row of which carried the mats over their heads
like awnings. Lui, dressed almost entirely in wreaths
of a leafless creeper called fetai, led the way ; and
the block moved solidly and very slowly on towards
the pastor's hut, singing as they went, and stopping
after every song to laugh and talk and rest, and
decide what the next song was to be.
It took them an hour by the clock to walk from
the court-house to the pastor's hut, a distance of
about fifty yards !
The pastor was in his hut, dressed in his best,
with his family and most intimate friends near him,
and a group of his older pupils very much dressed
waiting near, with a heap of drinking-nuts, taro, and
pig beside them.
The procession stopped at a distance of about
twenty yards from the pastor's hut, and Lui took a
mat, rolled it up, poised it gracefully above her head,
and advanced singing and dancing very prettily
towards the hut ; when she was half-way there a
girl from the group of pupils picked up two nuts,
and went smiling out to meet her. They went
through a few amusing antics, dancing round and
pretending not to see each other for a while, then

OTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 161
they exchanged presents, the pupil danced up with
the mat, and spread it out before the pastor's hut,
and Lui danced back to the block of people. This
went on for an hour, each mat being presented and
received by a different woman or boy, with a different
dance and song, the antics also being varied, such
as occurred to the dancers on the spur of the
moment. I began to fear the presentation would
go on all day, and it was nearly 3 p.m. before the
last mat was received. The people were all tired,
and seemed very glad to squat down near the
pastor's hut in order to hear the speeches. The
king was not present during this part of the pro
ceedings, and so Opataia and Siali made the speeches,
nice sugary speeches, exactly the sort of speech that
white people make when giving a testimonial to
a fellow-creature. The pastor, too, was just like a
white brother in the same trying circumstances, very
diffident, bashful, halting in his speech ; in fact,
showing unmistakably that he wished his friends to
see how deeply their kindness had affected him.
When the speechifying was all over, the people
moved off a few yards and had another feast, this
time a roast pig presented by the people to the
pastor, and re-presented by him to the people. As
I had had nothing to eat since breakfast, for fear
of missing any of the show, and it was now nearly
four o'clock, I was thankful for a green cocoa-nut
offered me by the pastor, and sat down among the
people to devour it.
After this there was a general holiday for a week ;
M

162 FUNAFUTI
for the natives always recruited their strength by a
good long rest after a spurt of work of this kind.
Exactly the same process was gone through on
the day when the women presented me with six
mats, except that I only had five minutes' notice of
the event, and so had no time to dress up or to
prepare return presents. However, I made up for
these omissions next day in a manner that seemed
entirely satisfactory to the natives.
Famerea, Tanai's pretty little wife, was the chief
woman on this occasion, and very charming she
looked as she ran and danced and sang merrily
while she brought the mats, and laid them at my
feet. As I had had such short notice I had not
arranged to have friends receive my present, and
therefore was obliged to take them myself in the
English style, conscious all the time that the English
method was far inferior to the Funafuti one in grace,
poetry, and artistic effect.
The presentation was very hurried this time, only
lasting an hour, because my husband said he could
not stay longer, and Opataia consequently made the
people hurry, and I fear it somewhat spoiled their
pleasure. When all the mats were spread out before me,
Opataia rose and made a speech, which the trader
interpreted in the following startling way : " He ses,
mum, that it isn't the custom of the island to make
presents to white people, but he ses, ses he, you 's
different. He ses you 's been very good to all the
people, so, ses he, they takes pity on you, ses he, and

OTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 163
gives you these mats. They've all worked, ses he,
very hard to make these, ses he, and they are all very
thankful to ye, ses he."
Had I not learned by this time that a trader's in
terpretation of a Funafuti speech is, to say the least
of it, bald, I might have felt rasped, but I had learned
this, and responded to the speech as I guessed it had
been made, and not as it had been rendered by the
trader. I had been able to follow part of Opataia's speech
myself, and gathered the rest of it from my friends
and native daughter. The following is a short
summary of it : — " The women of Funafuti and all
the people greet you with love. They want to thank
you for all your kindness to them, since you have
been living among them. They will always love you,
and mourn for you when you are gone, not only
because you have given them many gifts, but because
you have been among them, talked with them as
friends, and cured them when they were sick. The
women all felt sorry that they had nothing good
enough to give you in return for what you have done
for them. But, they said, we can plait mats, and we
will all weave our love into a little bit of a mat, and
give it to the foreign woman, and tell her it is not
enough, but it is all that we have to give ; and every
time the woman looks at these mats when she is far
away in Sydney, she will think of the love we bear
her." There are very few of the old heathen customs
retained, they have all been discouraged by the

1 64 FUNAFUTI
missionaries, and probably with very good reason ;
but this old custom of dressing-up, dancing, feasting
and singing, at the time of making a public presenta
tion, is delightful in every way, and being quite
harmless has been allowed to pass the stern scrutiny
of the ecclesiastics.
Many of the old marriage customs had fallen into
disuse before the advent of the missionaries, but
since their arrival all marriages are celebrated in
the Mission Church on an approved Christian plan.
Since " education " has been the fashion in Funafuti,
the youths prefer to write on paper a formal proposal,
and the girls write a letter in reply ; but before this
era youths paid attentions to damsels, and had to look
out for an answer at a sing-sing. If a girl meant to
encourage a lover she would throw him a scented
wreath publicly ; if she didn't wish to be worried with
his love-making she threw an unscented wreath.
I n former days marriages were sometimes arranged
long before the parties to the contract were of an age
to give an opinion. For instance, two friends would
arrange that the son of one should marry the daughter
of the other, when the son was an infant, and the
daughter only a probability. The betrothed children
knew, as soon as they knew anything, that they would
have to marry each other, and they did not always
fall in with the arrangement. " In fact," said the
trader, " this old-time custom bred a lot o' rows."
When a boy was old enough to think about marriage,
he might fancy another girl, and in the same way the
girl might fancy another boy, and as the Funafuti

OTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 165
youths and maidens were not too meek, they found
means of freeing themselves from distasteful engage
ments. They could keep on postponing marriage until the
king would order them to obey their parents by
marrying each other. If it was the girl who objected,
she usually had another boy in reserve, and when she
saw she could not postpone marriage, she would go
off into the bush with her lover, and stay away a night
or two. The jilted man would in this case be so
unmercifully chaffed that he would resign his claim,
and the girl would be allowed to keep the man she
preferred. Sometimes it was the boy who objected
to his betrothed, and when he was ordered to marry,
he would hide in the bush for days, until hunger or
other mixed motives prompted him to return to the
village, when he would promptly be fined. This
would continue until the patience of the parents had
worn out, and they would make other arrangements
for the girl, and then the contumacious youth would
be free also.
Now the youths and maidens select their own mates,
although up to the present parents have the right to
stop any marriage of which they do not approve.
Probably now that the island is under British rule,
the young people with obstinate parents will be
obliged to wait until they are twenty-one years of
age ; this would be unusually late in life for a man or
woman in Funafuti to marry, a girl of twenty-one
would be reckoned among the " fafine taka '' (old
maids).

166 FUNAFUTI
There are some excellent regulations made since
the island has been christianized, which tend very
much to the well-being of the pretty Funafuti
damsels ; one of these rules is that after sundown
every person must be in his or her own hut. As the
population is small, only about two hundred and
seventy, as there are six policemen, and the island
is only seven miles long by half a mile in its widest
part, it is comparatively easy to see that these rules
are enforced.
During the day the young people see a good deal
of each other, and the bantering and chaff that flies
about the island is very entertaining. The boys get
the full benefit of the girls' opinion of them, especially
when it is adverse ; I have heard an unfortunate boy
baited almost to madness by the rude personalities of
two or three girls. The girls very much fancied the
palagi (foreigners or heaven-bursters, from "papa," to
burst, and "lagi," the heavens) boys of our party,
and did not neglect to compare their Funafuti ad
mirers with the white men, considerably to the dis
advantage of the former. This caused some small
amount of sulking ; but it was wonderful how soon
the boys recovered from the snubbings, a very small
joke would set them laughing, apparently forgetful of
the rough time they had just been having.
The method of flirtation between a Funafuti girl
and a palagi boy is novel. The girl will present
scented wreaths in token of friendship, makq her
hero presents of cocoa-nuts, and hang round where
he is working, alternately chaffing and petting him.

OTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 167
She will give him a hearty resounding thump on the
back when she passes him close enough, or hurl a
cocoa-nut at his head if she sees him in the distance.
She will languish at him before any number of on
lookers, and lisp quite audibly, " Me palenti lovee 00 !"
The white men enjoyed themselves tremendously in
thus being adored by the prettiest girls on the island.
The girls would stand no nonsense though, and
occasionally a flash of the savage came out ; for
instance, I saw a girl (who till then had struck me
as being one of the sweetest and gentlest little pusses
imaginable), deliberately slash round with a large
knife, and cut open the leg of a native boy who
had tweaked a lock of her hair in passing. She was
sauntering along with an armful of palm leaves, when
she felt the slight pull ; she glowered instantly and
struck out recklessly with the knife almost before
looking round to see who it was.
The old-time marriage ceremony was very simple.
On the wedding day the happy man, accompanied by
his friend, called casually on his mother-in-law-elect
with a present of cocoa-nuts. Later on in the day he
called again by himself, and his mother-in-law-elect
placed a mat on the floor and he and his bride sat down
on it side by side for a short time. This constituted
a marriage, and the bridegroom would saunter away
tand turn up that night and henceforth at his mother-
in-law's hut. It is the custom for a daughter and her
husband to live with her mother, until the combined
families become too large for the hut, when they are
obliged to separate.

168 FUNAFUTI
The feasting in connection with a marriage was its
chief feature ; the families of the contracting parties
were expected to keep open house for a week, and to
supply food for all and every who chose to drop in,
and most people chose to drop in ; and a Funafuti
appetite is one to reckon with.
Then again an extensive trousseau had to be pre
pared, for it was the custom for the bride to be
dressed in new clothes, and sent up to the hut of
her husband's people ; it was etiquette for the
husband's people to relieve her of her new clothes,
and send her back with others if possible finer than
those they took from her, and the girl would be sent
backwards and forwards all day long, till she was
" fairly beat," the trader said.
Although the wedding breakfast a week long, free
to all comers, and the number of clothes to be pro
vided must have been a strain on the finances of the
two families, yet after all getting married was cheap
in Funafuti as compared with getting married in
Europe. There was no house to find, no furniture or
house-linen to buy ; the young couple lived with the
bride's mother for some time, and even when they
finally had to set up for themselves they needed only
a hut, a few mats, a mosquito screen, and the few
cooking utensils mentioned in another chapter.
A Funafuti woman, however wealthy her husband
might be in cocoa-nut land, would have no servants,
but would do her own work, which is not at all likely
to overtire her.

CHAPTER XIV.
AMUSEMENTS
The trader constantly expatiated on the good old
times when he first came to the island, when the
people held feasts, public games, dances, and such-like
pleasures, most of which had been put down by the
missionaries. He said things were much more lively
in those days. I expect they were !
In those grand old times European clothes were
unknown, men and women dressed in the native leaf
petticoat ; both wore their hair long, and decorated
their heads, necks, and arms with garlands of flowers ;
and all were tattooed. The king had more power,
and kept up a little more ceremony in those days too ;
for instance, on state occasions he used to sit inside
an enclosure made of ornamental mats ; now he sits
on a mat like any other man ; and the patterns on his
state mats, which in the old days were forbidden to
common folks, are now woven into all the fine fala-
mats made by the women.
It was difficult to work out anything like a satis
factory account of " former days " ; the trader in
variably praised them, but details did not always
agree. The men and women were stronger and
169

170 FUNAFUTI
handsomer, the climate was better, life was pleasanter,
the people were less grasping — in fact, everything
was better in the days when he was young.
In the old times kite-flying used to be a great
feature in all the public games on the island, and this
game is mentioned in many of their stories ; but
there was no exhibition of kite-flying during our stay
on the island.
Wrestling also figured largely at all the old heathen
feasts, and a wrestling match is generally arranged,
even now, by the trader, whenever Europeans visit
the island, which is, of course, very seldom.
Surf-riding is still supposed to be a great delight
with the natives ; but either the sea was not favour
able, or our expedition furnished the natives with so
much amusement that they could dispense with surf-
riding for a while : whatever the cause we never saw
any surf-riding, and I never even saw a surf-board.
The ocean reef is rather dangerous, and the people
seldom swam there, except when there was a surf-
riding display, or when the ocean was so calm that
the men could dive off the ocean edge of the reef for
the growing corals. They did this several times while
we were there, and chopped off and swam up with
large pieces of coral, which they gave to our work
men. My daughter, Naina, and my botanical friend,
Tavau, once induced me to go into the surf with
them, on the ocean reef. They walked out on the
long, flat platform, about half-way across, then stood
still with legs firmly planted and rather wide apart,

AMUSEMENTS 171
and waited till a wave rolled in, they then jumped
on it, turned deftly over, and were smoothly carried
a long way shoreward. They were not carried back
by the suck-out of the wave, and it looked so easy
that I too ventured. I got as far as being washed
up by a wave, but I couldn't get out of that wave ;
when it withdrew it quietly but firmly insisted on
carrying me with it, to the uproarious merriment of
my daughter and friend, who never held out so much
as a finger to help me. Just as I was feeling too
tired to try any more, and had begun to wonder
whether I should be drowned or eaten by a shark,
I passed close to a projecting bit of rock, and with
some difficulty managed to clutch it and hold on until
the wave had finished drawing. Then in between
that and the next wave I floundered and ran as hard
as I could on the sharp and jagged rock of the
platform, back to the shore. It was a fairly hot race
between me and the next wave, and I was spent, and
scratched and bruised too, before I reached the shore,
and I was too grateful to find myself there to wish to
go back again ; though my daughter did her best by
laughing and jeering at me to make me go in again,
I summoned up enough moral courage to refuse.
The natives all swim like fishes, and dive marvel
lously too, always feet first. Whenever we happened
to be in a boat, if a native saw a giant clam, he would
instantly dive over after it, perhaps in twenty or
thirty feet of water, tear it off the rock, and swim
up with it. The huge juicy mollusc was promptly
devoured, and the shells kept to sell as curios.

172 FUNAFUTI
The children taught themselves to swim ; tiny little
mites not two years old would toddle in after their
bigger brothers and sisters, and they would splash
round until they could swim somehow. I often saw
a big child throw in a tiny one who couldn't swim,
and the mite would splutter, and gasp, and choke, but
always managed to get out of the difficulty without
help ; and it never seemed to resent the rough treat
ment. I always took from half a dozen to a score of
children down to the lagoon with me when I went
to bathe, and we put in a very merry time. The
children would shout at me " Fonu " (turtle), and then
off they would go and plunge into the lagoon, bunch
ing themselves up to look as like a turtle as possible,
and paddling along in the funniest way, with their
noses just out of the water, and their arms moving
rhythmically in imitation of flippers.
Then there would be another shout of " Magu "
(shark) this time, and down all the youngsters would
go under water, swimming along rapidly and steadily,
with only the bent elbow of one arm for the fin
showing above water. Then we should be called
into a ring, the children standing up to their necks
in water, and there would be a spouting competition.
The children had several methods of working their
hands on the surface of the water so as to spout up
a large quantity of water, and they could aim well
too, and got tremendously merry over aiming at me
and each other, and dodging their rivals at the same
time. It was warm work dodging half a dozen

AMUSEMENTS 173
spouts, but after getting one or two swift and well-
aimed ones in my eye, I found that I could work up
enough energy to avoid the rest. I never laughed
so much in my life as I did in the lagoon with these
frisky, mischievous piccaninnies. Then they always
insisted on a performance from me, and I would swim
about half a dozen strokes in a frog-like fashion, and
they would caper and yell with delight, and shout out
criticisms, which resolved themselves into something
like this, " Te fafine (the woman) koko (swims) all-a-
same maniki" (monkey). The small people have never
seen a real monkey, by the way, but have frequently
seen pictures of this agile and beautiful animal.
Then we would wind up with a race, and off all the
children would go, swimming up against each other,
pushing against and trying to swamp those that
seemed likely to win ; but they always came out of
the fray amiably.
Other games were almost as amusing, if not quite
so exciting as kite-flying, swimming and diving.
Top-spinning, aforetime very commonly a man's game,
is now rarely indulged in. Tanei presented me with
a native top (vaka) ; it was a simple affair, just two
pieces of cocoa-nut shell, slipped one inside the other,
smoothed round the rim, and stuck together with
pitch, the centre of the convex side being supplied
with a neat little peg, a tiny spiral shell about one
quarter inch long, also stuck on with pitch. The
cord for the top was a rough piece of native sinnet
rather more than a yard long. We could not imagine
how this cord was ever going to be wound round

174 FUNAFUTI
the shallow saucer-like top ; but Tanei twisted it
tightly round the top, curving it alternately over
and below the rim, so as to make a pattern like
this <ooo<=> round the rim ; he then took it in
his right hand with the loose end twisted on to his
little finger, gave a quick inward and then outward
jerk, and let the top fly ; it landed on a board he
had placed ready, and spun rapidly for at least five
minutes. We tried frequently to spin that top, but
came to the conclusion that it would only spin for a
native. There was a game very like draughts much in
vogue among the natives. My native mother
possessed a board roughly cut out of kanava wood
with alternate chequers chipped out. The two sets
of men used in the game were merely a handful
of flattish fragments of drift pumice, which is very
plentiful all over the atoll, and another handful of
white shells. Pumice against shells. The rules
of the game are nearly, but not quite, as in draughts,
and it is evidently meant for draughts.
I introduced the game of halma, and taught Peke to
play. She learned the game rapidly, and when she
and I were playing we generally had an interested
audience who would make intelligent remarks, and
occasionally suggest moves, or point out a move
we missed seeing. Peke is now the proud possessor
of my halma board.
The children's games were interesting and were
generally played roughly, and with a vast amount
of noisy shrieks and laughter. One game they

AMUSEMENTS 175
greatly favoured was moulding, very realistically, the
figure of a woman in the sand ; when it was finished
they would lie down by it, gabble off some gibberish,
and then jump up and run away, leaving the figure
to be washed out by the tide. Like all children they
took pleasure in the mischievous fun of destroying
each other's handiwork, and there was usually a great
scrimmage in attempting to kick the sand figures out
of shape.
One rowdy game was very like the English game
of fox and geese ; the trader said it was a native game,
but the resemblance to the English game is so strik
ing that I think it must have been introduced. One
big girl was chosen as leader, and all the smaller girls
tailed off behind her holding each other round the
waist ; one lively child was left out by herself, and she
placed herself in front of the head of the tail, and
began an animated parley — every now and then, when
least expected, making a dash to try to grab one
of the children forming the tail. The head and tail
had to be very quick to avoid being caught ; and the
game waxed fast and furious, and was not concluded
until all the children had been stolen from the tail.
Another equally noisy game was somewhat similar.
One girl was chosen as mother, several more, her sup
posed children, were placed crouched upon the ground
close together. The mother gave them a few vigorous
spanks and some hectoring instructions, and then
sallied out on an errand. During her absence a girl,
personating a strange woman, would step out of a bush,
drag off one of the children, hide it, and then sit down

176 FUNAFUTI
close to the rest of them looking innocent. Then the
mother would return, miss her child, spank and scold
the others, and make enquiries of the stranger, who of
course was quite ignorant of the whereabouts of the
missing child. This would continue till all the
children were stolen, and the mother and stranger
fought, when the children would escape and run away
screaming. The Funafuti game of hide-and-seek was almost
identical with the English one, although it had a
native name, and was claimed as a native game.
The simplest toys were those used in the native
game corresponding to our tip-cat ; these were just
two pieces of wood, one larger than the other, the
larger piece being used to strike one end of the other.
This game was very solemnly played by the small
boys, who did a great deal of arguing and measuring,
for in tipping the small stick it had to be tipped in
certain directions and to certain distances.
A very good, long, curved whistle was made by the
children out of the hollow petiole of the pawpaw leaf;
and the children generally took these green whistles
into the water with them to help swell the uproar that
usually accompanied a bathing party.
The native toy windmill, or peka, is a very simple
affair, but spins well in the wind. The children use,
instead of the stick, a piece of palm-pinnule petiole,
tied into a knot at one end, which serves the same
purpose as the pin in the English article ; the wind
mill's arms are plaited out of palm - pinnule, or
pandanus leaf, and there are always four of them.

AMUSEMENTS 177
The teano, or native balls, are really cubes, most
cleverly plaited out of palm or pandanus leaf. They
are very strong, and will stand a great deal of
knocking about. The smallest of my piccaninnies,
a child certainly not more than six years old, could
plait these well and rapidly. In the use of ears, eyes,
nose, tongue, and fingers, especially fingers, these
little brownies surpass the smartest Kindergarten
children I have ever seen.
When plaiting a ball they start by tying together
three long strips of pandanus leaf or palm-pinnule.
These they weave cunningly together, rolling the
plaiting round on itself, until they have made a cube
(not a ball) as large as a cricket ball ; they then tuck
in the stray ends so carefully that it is difficult to
find out where they are, and there you have a neat
solid teano plaited from within outwards in about ten
minutes. I often saw the boys playing with two equal-sized
pieces of cocoa-nut shell connected by a fairly long
piece of native sinnet. When I asked what these
were for, the boys would pop the piece of sinnet
round their necks, place their feet on the convex side
of the shell (the string coming between the big and
second toes), and off they would trot on these queer
little clogs. They seemed to like it, but white
children might find if painful exercise.
The girl children enjoyed playing "being grown
up" better than any other game, and they would
plait mats, fish, cook, scold their playnchildren, and
look very wise and important. Funafuti children at

178 FUNAFUTI
play are the prettiest, most lovable little scraps of
mischief imaginable, but they certainly seem to be
utterly without feeling. The pushing, spanking,
thumping, and jumping on that these scraps do and
endure during a game would make the pluckiest white
child howl with pain.

CHAPTER XV.
MISSIONARIES AND MORALS— LAWS OLD AND NEW
The trader often laughed about the old religion of
Funafuti, which he called devil worship. He said
he had tried to put them off it by laughing at the
absurd tricks of the devil priest, or "devil doctor,"
as he called him. It seems that the devil priest
had more influence than the king, because of his
supposed supernatural powers ; he was consulted
about the weather, called upon to say whether the
spirits were favourable for a camping - out or a
fishing excursion, and generally played " Sir Oracle."
When he was consulting his familiar he used to
retire into a hut full of smoke, where he would be
half suffocated with the fumes ; and when the spirit
who thus delighted in the suffering of his priest
finally gave his answer, the poor old " devil doctor "
would emerge from his hut with eyes inflamed and
running tears of agony. On these occasions the
trader would reason with the poor fanatic in this
style : " Wotcher makin' y' self so oncomfortable for,
y' ole fool, y' know as well as I do yer spirits is all
dam nonsense." This style of reasoning, though
probably convincing enough in its way, did not alter
179

1 80 FUNAFUTI
the habits of the "devil doctor," perhaps because he
earned his living by means of his smoky and painful
mysteries. It was also a custom to smoke an evil
spirit out of a man who was supposed to be
"possessed." The patient suffered badly, and the
fees were high.
It must have been hard luck for the last of the
" devil doctors " when Christianity was introduced, and
rapidly stole from him the faith and allegiance of
his dupes. The stories regarding the manner in
which Christianity was introduced into the Ellice
Group are varied and conflicting. The trader's story
is that two Christian boys from Rotuma came and
taught the people, that the people listened readily,
and when the John Williams arrived with a native
pastor to organize the mission properly, they found
the whole island already Christian. Another story
is that some Christian Gilbert islanders were cast
away in a canoe, and were stranded weak from
starvation on one of the Ellice Islands ; as soon as
they were strong enough they preached the Gospel,
and the whole of the group was finally converted by
them. Perhaps there is truth in both these stories.
If the second one is true, the Gilbert islanders must
first have learnt the Samoan or Funafuti language,
as Gilbert islanders speak an entirely different
language from the Ellice islanders. Whatever may
be the truth of this, it certainly is the fact that about
thirty years ago the mission ship of the London
Missionary Society arrived in Funafuti, and properly
organized both church and school, and that their

MISSIONARIES AND MORALS 181
Samoan pastors have been resident there ever since,
and found the islanders easy to convert to, and keep
in the faith.
The trader thinks that the Samoan pastor is all the
same to the natives as the old devil doctor, also that
they are just as superstitious about the Christian hell
and devil, as they were about the spirits they used to
worship in old days. They certainly are superstitious ;
but so also are many Europeans after centuries of
Christian influence.
The native superstitions are childish and amusing.
For instance, they loathe the dark, and will not readily
walk alone in it ; anyone who has to go abroad after
sundown takes care to provide plenty of palm-leaf
torches (lama), and a companion if possible. There
was an old woman dying while we were on the island,
and all the natives feared to go into the bush, even
with a companion and a light, dreading that the spirit
of the old woman would catch them by the leg. They
seem, however, not to be afraid of spirits in the day
light, and walk fearlessly in their burying ground,
which is about a mile south of the village church.
It will take much more than thirty years, I should
imagine, for all the old-time superstitions to die out.
There is no drunkenness in Funafuti, and con
sequently no street brawls, except on the very rare
occasions when a civilized white strays there, and
demonstrates to the natives how well the white folks
obey the laws of the religion they are so anxious
to spread.
Traders in the old times tried to dispose of some

182 FUNAFUTI
of their healing compound, "trade gin," to the un
suspecting natives, but the missionaries interposed,
and would not allow the people to use alcohol ; and
since legislation has passed into the hands of the
Commissioners they have endorsed the law which
makes it a serious misdemeanour to sell alcoholic
liquors to natives.
The natives of this island have never, like the
Gilbert islanders, made an intoxicating drink out
of cocoa-nut sap ; neither have they inherited the
Samoan custom of drinking kava. Missionaries and
commissioners found the natives a sober people, and
are trying to keep them so.
Curiously enough, any white man resident on the
island may buy or drink as much alcohol as he likes,
so long as he does not give or sell it to the natives ;
and yet he is subject to all the other laws of the
island. The Funafutians are a peaceable as well as a sober
folk ; they have few traditions of war and were never
well able to defend themselves, consequently they
were very much at the mercy of the Tongan and
other Pacific Vikings. Now that the islanders are
under British protection their peaceable character is
a distinct advantage to them and their rulers.
And they are honest, too. So absolutely honest
as to astonish white people. For three months I had
money, food, clothing, knives, scissors, tools, fish
hooks, cooking utensils, lying in my hut unlocked,
and to be had easily for the stealing, and nothing was
ever stolen. It is impossible to lock up a Funafuti

MISSIONARIES AND MORALS 183
hut, so that all my possessions were left unprotected
for several days together while I was camping out on
other islets. Nothing was so much as touched. And
yet these belongings of mine were as valuable in the
eyes of a native as plate and jewellery are in the eyes
of a European burglar.
I believe the Ellice Group is the only one in the
whole of the Pacific which bears the reputation of
being absolutely honest.
In Funafuti we could leave our belongings about in
any part of the island ; sometimes they would be
left where they were, sometimes they would be
brought back to us, but they were never stolen.
Nails are an expensive article in Funafuti, yet the
native boys would never take so much as a bent one
that they found on the ground near our camp, without
first saying, "You want im fella?" They would go
off delighted with the treasure when told they might
keep it.
The trader said he couldn't make out how it was
that the people were so honest now, for they were not
always so. He thinks, perhaps, it was owing to a
lesson taught the people by an American ship, many
years ago, before he came to the island. The
story among the people was that an American
ship called at the island, and several of the natives
went on board. One of the natives saw, coveted,
and stole a chronometer. The theft was discovered
just as the canoes had left the ship, and the captain
sent a boat after the canoes to try to recover his
property. The canoes would not stop, and so the

184 FUNAFUTI
sailors fired on the natives, killing or wounding
several. In their terror the natives threw the
chronometer into the lagoon, and as many as escaped
the shots hurried ashore, among them the thief, whose
jaw had been wounded by a shot. The islanders
wanted to kill him as he had been the author of the
tragedy, but the man managed to crawl into the
sanctuary of the king's house, and the king refused
to give him up, saying that enough harm had already
been done, and that this man's life should not be
sacrificed too. He warned them also never to lay
hands on the property of a white man again.
This may all have been true, and the horror of
the incident may have deterred that generation from
meddling with a white man's goods. But they still
continued to steal from each other, if I am to believe
a story of an incident that the trader said happened
after he landed on the island.
This story was told by the trader publicly at a
sing-sing. Here it is : —
"Years ago in Funafuti stealing was punished with
death ; and once, when the cocoa-nut season was
very bad, and the people were half starved, one
woman who had three children pretended to be
ill, and lay in her hut all day ; at night she crept
out when everyone else was sleeping and stole a
few cocoa-nuts from a neighbour's store to feed her
self and her children. The owner soon began to
miss the nuts, but no one detected the thief, until
they agreed secretly to sit up all night to watch ;
then the sham sick woman was caught in the act.

MISSIONARIES AND MORALS 185
She was brought before the king and council, and
•condemned to die, she and her infant at the breast.
They carried her to a tiny islet of the atoll, bound
her hand and foot, and left her there with her
innocent little baby. After several days had elapsed
some of the men went to see how she was getting
on, and found her dead, but the starving baby still
lived. One man suggested bringing the babe away,
but the majority were for leaving the child there,
and it was left to finish its horrible death."
It seems impossible to believe that such a tale
could be true of the immediate forefathers of the
present kind, affectionate, and happy Funafutians.
Yet the trader and the oldest inhabitants vouched
for the truth of this "little incident"!
Perhaps this kind of severe punishment helped to
deter people from stealing as much as did the sharp
lesson taught by the American ship. Personally, I
am inclined to think that the almost absolute honesty
displayed during the last quarter of a century is due
to the influence and teaching of the servants of the
London Missionary Society. The natives seem to
have fully grasped the moral code and the main
doctrines of Christianity, as taught them by these
puritan pastors, and what is more they live up to
their light, and the general result is one of which
the society may be justly proud.
Did you ask if these wonderful natives are truthful
as well ? Um ! It is difficult to say. To begin with
they are very courteous, and they consequently object
to blurting out a blunt " yes " or " no " ; and they

1 86 FUNAFUTI
do not like to refuse a request point-blank, and will
not do so while they can evade with a gracious
"koituai" ("bine-by") ; and they like to tell you what
they think you wish them to say rather than the
actual facts ; and finally, they are extremely sensitive
to ridicule, and do not for that reason care to furnish
you with too many particulars about themselves and
their doings.
All these things are in a measure opposed to candid
truthfulness. I do not wish to imply that I consider
the Funafutians are strikingly untruthfuh^they are
not so ; indeed most of their evasions are resorted
to in order to avoid hurting people's feelings, and
are on a par with the society dame's " not-at-home "
fiction. As to industry, I have already noticed that the
natives do not suffer so much from the primal curse
as do their white brethren in civilized lands. They
can work hard in spurts, and do so on occasions,
on big fishing expeditions, or when loading copra
for the trader. But a spurt takes it out of them
very considerably, and it is always followed by days
of absolute rest. At home they seem to have no
staying power for continuous heavy work, although
when fed on "bull-a-ma-cow," as they call beef, on
Queensland sugar plantations, they develop into
splendid workers. The islanders, however, work
better than did their ancestors, for the missionaries
have taught them to cultivate taro and other edible
arum roots, bananas, bread-fruit, and pawpaws ; and
by the modern written law the magistrate is bound

MISSIONARIES AND MORALS 187
to see that every man plants his land, so that no
part of the small space is lost.
In olden times men were too thoughtless and
improvident to plant cocoa-nut palms to replace
those blown down by hurricanes, or eaten down by
white ant, and consequently many portions of the
various islets were barren. Now every available
spot is planted, and food is abundant.
The cultivation is not hard work, the soil is
sandy, and easily turned over with a light hoe ; and
the enriching consists of placing wreaths of leaves
(usually of pukavai) round the roots of the plants,
as stated in a previous chapter. The natives say
that these leaves rot very quickly, and that the plants
nourished by them shoot up rapidly ; " You can see
'em grow after it," as the trader said.
The natives do not work too long at a time in their
gardens, or anywhere else ; they are all independent
landowners, not needing to work for wages, and only
doing so on occasions, and can therefore take their
own time, with easy minds, for working, resting,
sleeping, smoking, and chatting.
The land is owned by the people ; every man has
his own tiny estate, which was bequeathed to him by
his forbears. Some have much larger portions than
others, but all have enough to feed off, and if any man
is not satisfied with his belongings, there is nothing to
hinder him working for wages either in money or
kind. The land is generally bequeathed by the father
to his sons, with the understanding that his widow and
unmarried daughters feed off it ; sometimes it is left

188 FUNAFUTI
to the widow, and divided among the children at her
death ; sometimes it is left entirely to daughters when
there is no son ; and sometimes portions are left ex
pressly for daughters, even when there are sons. It
seemed, so far as I could gather, that every man
had a right to dispose of his property as he saw-
fit, not by written wills in the old times, but by
making the king and chief men witnesses, these wit
nesses being bound to see justice done in the case
of infant orphans.
The men who work the land for young orphans
have a right to part of the produce of the land, and
they usually adopt the children, and treat them like
their own, resigning the land as soon as the children
are of age to work it themselves.
Any dispute about land used to be settled by the
king at a big palaver ; now all such disputes are
referred to the British Commissioner at his annual
visit. Now that the people can write they prefer to write
their bequests as well as their love-letters, so that
some sort of written wills will soon be among the
civilized treasures of the natives.
I never could discover how each person knew his
or her own land ; there were no fences, no dividing
ditches, no surveyors' pegs, no landmarks of any
kind that I could see, and yet every man knew his
own patch even when it was right in the middle of
another man's patch. I think they knew it by the
trees in the cocoa-nut land ; they certainly knew the
owners of all the odd pawpaws, bananas, and bread-

MISSIONARIES AND MORALS 189
fruit trees that were scattered about the village, and
everyone respected his neighbour's right to the fruit
of his cultivated trees.
The common pandanus (fala vao) grew self-sown
everywhere, and I noticed that the fruit and leaves of
.this variety were free to all, no matter on whose land
they grew. A large fruited variety of pandanus (fala
kai), which was planted and cultivated, was not free to
all, but, like cocoa-nuts and bananas, the property of
the man who planted it.
So far as I could gather, anyone could build himself
a hut anywhere in the village without paying ground
rent, all clear spaces being available for the purpose,
and the boat-houses, boats, and canoes could be placed
anywhere most convenient to the owners along the
sandy shore of the lagoon. There were several good
sailing boats on the island belonging to the natives ;
each boat belonged to several men who had clubbed
together and raised the sum of ^40 or ^"50 by the
sale of copra. The natives having amassed the
necessary sum would give the trader an order for
the kind of boat they required, and he would order
it from Sydney through the supercargo of the trading
ship. The names of two of the boats were the Sini
(Sydney) and the Palameino (Balmain, a suburb of
Sydney). The native canoes are dug out of the soft trunks of
puka trees, and every man is his own canoe builder ;
but if no puka tree grows on his land he must bargain
for one, if he needs it, from a more fortunate neigh
bour.

190 FUNAFUTI
When a native wants some fish for himself and
family, he fishes with hook, spear, or net on the reef,
and contents himself with catching a few ; but when
a "boatie" goes out on a fishing expedition and brings
back a boat-load, a conch is blown, the whole village
assembles, and the fish is equally divided among the
various families. The trader told me that this was
always done in the olden times with both fish and
turtle, but that the people were now beginning to
want to keep all they got for themselves and their
immediate relations and friends ; as he put it, "they're
gitten very avaricious since the missionaries come,"
by which one is led to infer that the methods of
exchange adopted by traders are not such as to
inculcate avarice.
The "fonu" (turtle) is still held to be the king's
property, and is always formally presented to the
king before being divided among the people. In
former days only men were allowed to kill, dress,
cook, and eat the turtle, and this was done with
much ceremony and singing. Even now, although
I have seen women eating turtle, I never saw any
but men preparing and cooking it. The men must
have been rather scandalized on the occasions when
they presented us with a turtle with great pomp and
ceremony, for I, not knowing their prejudices, defiled
it by touching it ; in fact I cut steaks off it before
their very eyes, before sending the body down to
the drill men in our camp.
Turtle steak fried is excellent, as I can testify ;
and turtle eggs curried are also pleasant to the taste,

MISSIONARIES AND MORALS 191
but one does not yearn after them as a standing dish
for breakfast, dinner, and supper.
The government of Funafuti seems to have been
at all times somewhat republican ; the people had
a voice in the choice of both king and sub-chief,
and usually selected men for these offices who were
respected for their achievements in work, talk, and
sport. The sub-chief was apparently both prime
minister and probable successor to the "throne."
Now, under the British protectorate the king is little
more than the nominal ruler ; the sub-chief does the
greater part of the actual ruling, and is responsible
to the British Commissioner. All state matters, great
or small, are discussed fully by all the people in big
palavers conducted by the king and Opataia (the
present sub-chief) ; in small matters Opataia's ruling
stands, but all important questions are left to be
decided by the British Commissioner. A British
Commissioner in the Pacific — "the great white chief,"
as he is called — needs to be a perfect encyclopaedia of
knowledge, for he is expected to be ready with
prompt decisions on all kinds of cases, legal, social,
and ecclesiastical.
The island regulations in most cases are excellent ;
for instance, it is a rule that every woman keeps the
space round her own hut tidy. Every Saturday, there
fore, you will see all the women busy for a few minutes
sweeping up and removing all leaves and scraps that
have collected round the huts and in the streets during
the week, so that on Sunday the village is trim and
neat. It is never very untidy during the week.

192 FUNAFUTI
The drainage question will not affect Funafuti for
some time to come, because none of the houses are
more than twenty yards from the sea, and it suits
the free-and-easy islanders to deposit their rubbish
below high-water mark, and leave the high tide to
do the tidying up. This arrangement is sometimes
inconvenient and distasteful to white people, who
have prejudices in favour of a non-odorous and
clean sandy beach at low tide as well as at high
tide, and it also detracts somewhat from the romantic
pleasure of bathing in the lagoon, but on the whole
it is a very satisfactory sanitary arrangement.
The soil of the island is so porous, and the rain
so frequent and heavy, that liquid impurities are
quickly washed away ; and the innumerable crabs
are excellent and economical scavengers.
There are neither water nor lighting rates in
Funafuti ; every man catches what water he can in
a wooden kumete (dish) under a palm tree ; and since
our expedition there are four good four-hundred-
gallon iron tanks for the use of the natives ; also
there is no need to light the streets in a village where
the inhabitants are not supposed to be out of their
huts after sundown.
Before the advent of the missionaries there was
no such thing as morality from the Christian point
of view. In the good old times which traders
remember with such genuine regret, wives and
husbands were not supposed to be faithful to each
other ; a man had no exclusive right to his wife,
but he had to her work, so that wives were secured

MISSIONARIES AND MORALS 193
and valued on account of the increase of wealth they
brought in their ability to make mats and such-like
articles of value. Perhaps this accounts for the fact
that even to the present day a man is just as con
tented with adopted children as with his own.
But, alas ! those reforming missionaries did not
approve of such free-and-easy relations between the
sexes, and one of the first things they did, after
securing the king and sub-chief as friends and con
verts, was to get regulations framed to enforce
Christian laws in this matter of marriage. At first
there were difficulties in the way ; all the people were
not converted, and force of habit is powerful. But
the rulers were thorough-going and determined, and
they organized a system of nocturnal surprise visits,
which made life irksome to those who preferred the
old customs. In order to nullify the effects of the
night surprises, the naughty, unconverted people
introduced house-dogs, which by their timely bark
ing gave law-breakers a chance to escape. But the
government of Funafuti ordered all the bow-wows
to be executed, and issued a law which made it
illegal to keep such pets. After this slaughter of
the innocents things were too lively for the uncon
verted folks, and they, being easy-going if anything,
gradually left off trying to evade the law, and by
degrees the new system of morality became general.
Now Funafuti is one of the most strictly moral places
in the world.
Yet these people are not solemn and prudish, they
all express themselves on delicate subjects with the

194 FUNAFUTI
unembarrassed frankness of children, and there is
no limit to harmless fun and flirtation.
There were no people leading lives of vice on the
island ; I knew of one mother among the unmarried
girls, and of one divorced woman, but both were lead
ing exemplary lives under the wing of my native
mother. The story of the divorced woman, as told me by
the trader, is a curious one. She was unhappy in
her married life, and appealed to the native magistrate
to set her free from the husband who ill-treated her.
The magistrate puzzled over the law as set down
in the Bible, and finally told the woman that if she
wanted to be divorced it was necessary for her,
according to Christian law, to break the seventh
commandment ! She did.
Since the island has become British such ignorant
misreadings of Christian law are not possible, the
Commissioner sees to that.
A Funafuti hut consists of one undivided room,
and sometimes two or three families inhabit one ; thus
it is almost as difficult in Funafuti to instil into the
people any refined sense of modesty as it is in the
densely crowded slums of the " centres of civilization."
But the native teachers have done well in this direc
tion also ; they have not introduced partitioned houses,
but the married people and the young children usually
sleep in the hut ; the boys sleep (in very noisy parties
too) on the rocks on the windward side of the island,
where they get plenty of fresh air, few mosquitoes,
and sundry sudden showers. Many of the unmarried

MISSIONARIES AND MORALS 195
girls sleep in one of the mission buildings, which is
given up to their use, the others sleep in the huts
of old widows, like my native mother, for instance,
who sheltered four girls besides the divorced woman
and the unfortunate child-mother.
In former days, when a husband wearied of his wife
he calmly sent her back to her people, and if a woman
wearied of her husband she simply returned to her
mother, and the thing was settled ; either husband or
wife thus easily divorced could re-mate at pleasure.
Under present conditions women in Funafuti are
well protected ; the British Commissioners have made
it impossible for women to be unfairly oppressed by
the law. This reminds me that once a Commissioner
had occasion to punish a man for beating his wife,
since which time one man, at least, has had a sorry
time of it. The people know that a man must not
beat his wife, but nothing so far has been said about a
woman not beating her husband ; and one poor young
man, in dread of the law, submits to be scratched and
kicked regularly by his pretty little vixen of a wife !
I wonder if the maltreated husband will appeal to the
Commissioner for protection ?
The heathen laws relating to population pressed
very heavily on the women. Before the era of
Christianity and cultivation, foodstuffs often became
scarce, and infanticide was commanded, as one means
of keeping the population within the provision possi
bilities. Every mother was allowed to keep alternate
children, but the second, fourth, and so on, had to be
destroyed. There was no getting out of it, except

196 FUNAFUTI
by paying heavy ransoms in the form of thousands of
fish and cocoa-nuts, which ransoms would be almost
impossible for any mother to procure. Very pretty
romances might be woven out of the efforts of heart
broken parents to raise ransoms to save the lives of
their children, but I failed to light on any interesting
records of such devotion. On the contrary, the people
seemed to submit like lambs to the destruction of their
children, and many a woman's health and life were
sacrificed to this cruel law.
The missionaries interfered here too, and as with
the mission came trade and cultivation, the people fell
in readily with the new teaching, and make kind and
affectionate parents. They are somewhat easy-going
in the matter of training their children, in fact it
seemed to me that the children were not trained at
all, but allowed to grow up. I never saw a woman
ill-treat a child, nay, I never saw one so much as give
a well-deserved slap ; but I once saw a half-caste
white man reason with a small child of two by hurling
the butt end of a palm petiole at it. I thought the
child was killed, and rushed up to it, but it had only
had the breath knocked out of it, and when it re
covered it raised the echoes with indignant bellows,
until I pacified it with the present of a reel of coloured
cotton. Owing to the practice of infanticide, and to the fact
that large numbers of the young men were decoyed
away to work in the Peruvian mines and never
returned, the old population decreased from 2000
to about 300, but since the laws have been altered,

LAWS OLD AND NEW 197
and food is abundant, the population, unlike that of
many Pacific islands, is steadily increasing.
There are now both written and unwritten laws in
Funafuti ; the unwritten laws are on small matters of
jurisdiction, and are altered or added to by the natives
as occasions arise.
One of the unwritten laws provides that a man
who is athirst far from home may help himself to
drinking cocoa-nuts off another man's trees, so long
as he reports the fact as soon as he returns to the
village. Another law provides that any man who
wishes to preserve the fruit of a tree for any special
purpose must put a mark (taboo) on the tree ; I never
saw any of these taboo marks, but my piccaninnies,
when out walking with me, would frequently point to
trees and say " taboo." The palms at the south end
of the island were apparently all tabooed for copra.
The written laws are all in Samoan, and the sub-
chief allowed me to borrow, for a few days, the only
printed copy of them that the island possessed.
I copied them, and on my return to Sydney was
fortunate enough to get them translated by the
Rev. S. Ella, a great authority on Pacific languages,
who has been engaged in mission work among the
islands under the London Missionary Society for fifty
years. These laws arrange about chiefs, judges, scribes,
juries, watchmen, and their salaries ; they fix the
dates of courts and councils and state their powers,
and they contain regulations about prisoners, wit
nesses, trials, judgments, and punishments.

198 FUNAFUTI
The following are the most important ones, which I
hope will prove interesting reading : —
i. A murderer must die, but not without the con
currence of the British chief.
2. A thief shall be imprisoned for six months with
hard labour ; he shall likewise restore the stolen goods,
or make payment for the same. If the thief is a man,
he shall, in addition, be beaten with ten stripes.
3. Quarrelling shall be punished with fines or im
prisonment, according to the judge's discretion.
4. Adulterers and adulteresses shall be punished
with from six to twelve months' imprisonment. An
adulterer must make money compensation to the
injured husband, and the adulteress must make a
fixed number of hats, mats, and rolls of sinnet for
the public treasury.
5. Rape shall be punished with one year's im
prisonment. 6. For setting fire to plantations or houses, whether
wilfully or through carelessness, the punishment shall
be hard labour for six months or a year ; but if the
offender is able to pay in full for all the damage done,
the imprisonment is not enforced.
7. Anyone using angry words and insulting language
shall be fined £1, or be imprisoned for one month with
hard labour.
8. Any person making mischief, by spreading lying
reports in the land, shall be imprisoned for six months
with hard labour.
9. Anyone found guilty of drinking intoxicating

LAWS OLD AND NEW 199
liquors shall be fined £1, or imprisoned for one month
with hard labour.
10. The felling of cocoa-nut palms in anger or
envy shall be punished with three months' hard
labour. 11. The High Chief must see that all waste or
recovered land is planted with cocoa-nut palms, and
that all beacons * are repaired and renewed.
12. No man must work in any great works, or
gather cocoa-nuts, or do any other labour on a
Sunday. The cooking of food, or bathing, is not
forbidden ; neither is anything essential to life or
the safety of property forbidden.
(The latter part of this law is a very necessary
addition, for before the coming of the British Com
missioner a man was fined is. every time he absented
himself from church, and was fined and imprisoned
for washing himself or cooking food on a Sunday.
All strangers staying on the island were made to
obey this law, and the trader told me an amusing
story about a Chinaman, who was put ashore at
Funafuti for misbehaving on his ship, and who was
obliged to live on the island for some considerable
time. Master Chow-chow felt the Sabbaths weari
some, and by way of passing the time went off in
a canoe to fish. The whole village rose in its wrath,
and compelled him to come on shore and rest all
* Danger marks showing positions of shoals in the lagoon, and also
the great white steering beacon, shaped like a monster bee-hive of coral
lime, built by the late Commissioner, Mr. C. R. Swayne, at the south-east
entrance to the lagoon.

200 FUNAFUTI
day out of respect for their laws. And he had to
do as they ordered him, although he blasphemed
horribly at this interference with his liberty, and tried
to explain that his religion was unlike theirs.
I never saw a native cook, bathe, or do any work,
except dress himself and eat, on a Sunday ; all wash
ing of their bodies and clothes, and all cooking was
done on a Saturday.)
1 3. The High Chief must see that all children attend
school, and that the teacher's salary is paid.
14. The laws shall be the same for males and
females ; but a female must not be made to work
on the roads, or to do any oppressive labour. " Hard
labour" for a female means making hats, mats, or
sinnet for the public treasury. But if any female
is obstreperous, the judge may order her to be bound
and kept in solitary confinement until she becomes
submissive. I was curious to know how this primitive people
had managed to secure for themselves such an
admirable code of laws. So on my return to
civilization I sought out Mr. C. R. Swayne, who
had been British Commissioner at the time when
these laws were printed. He informed me that soon
after the Protectorate of the Line Islands had been
proclaimed by Great Britain he was appointed Com
missioner, and the chief part of his work was to see
that the people were supplied with fair and just laws.
He began this work by collecting from all the people
in every island of the group an account of the

LAWS OLD AND NEW 201
unwritten laws which had gradually come to be
respected and obeyed among them. He took a
great mass of evidence on these unwritten laws,
wrote down all of them, cut out any objectionable
ones, added such as were necessary, and modified
the others considerably. He thus evolved a code
which could be enforced in all the islands alike, one
which would satisfy the British High Commissioner
in the Pacific, and yet was by no means a new or
revolutionary code, so that it also satisfied the natives.

CHAPTER XVI.
FOOD AND COOKING
The main object in life with all Funafutians is to
get enough kaikai (food), and most of the work done
by them consists of the cultivation, procuring, and
cooking food.
In olden times, before the missionaries encouraged
the people to cultivate bananas, bread-fruit, and taro,
and when therefore the food supply depended entirely
on the cocoa-nut season and the fisheries, starvation
times were not uncommon. Now the laws compel
all landowners to keep their land fully planted with
food-producing trees, and food is plentiful.
It is impossible not to be struck with the common
sense shown by the islanders in simplifying processes
and reducing labour in the preparation of food.
There is perfect equality in the island as regards
food and methods of cooking. The king and all
his subjects eat the same kind of food, cooked and
served in the same way ; this fact clears the ground
a good deal, and makes it unnecessary to have
separate cooks or kitchens.
Almost every hut has its own cook-house at the

FOOD AND COOKING 203
rear, but that does not necessitate its being used
every time its owner wants his food cooked — quite
the contrary. A cook-house is a convenient store
for firewood, for cocoa-nut-shell saucepans, for tuai,
old cocoa-nuts, cooking-stones, tabola, etc., and of
course it can be used for cooking when anyone
wishes so to use it. As a matter of fact, two, three,
or more women generally unite forces for mutual help
and society, and a man or two generally offers his
services, so that a big cooking-day is more like an
American Bee on a small scale ; and they cook
sometimes in one cook-house, sometimes in another,
according to fancy.
Saturday is the great cooking-day, and next to
Sunday it was the most interesting day in the week
to me. I always finished all my preparations for
Sunday before the midday meal on Saturday, so
that I had the whole afternoon free to spend in a
native cook-house watching the proceedings.
The cook-houses were not very impressive struc
tures, and they were easily run up. You need a few
saplings stuck into the ground so as to inclose a floor
space of about six by eight feet ; these saplings should
then be tied together and to a light ridge-pole, not
more than eight feet from the ground ; a few rafters
tied down each side of the sloping roof, and fastened
to these, so as to keep out most of the wet, a loose
thatch of rough palm-leaf mats, and there 's your
cook-house. Walls and chimney are dispensed with.
One or two light beams fastened across inside, with
mats laid on, will make practicable shelves, and also

204 FUNAFUTI
serve as excellent booby-traps, if you are not careful
to stoop nearly double when entering.
The floor of a cook-house is always divided into
halves by the simple plan of laying a small sapling
across it ; this acts as a dividing line between the
space devoted to the native oven and that used as
squatting ground for the cooks. The oven end con
tains a shallow hollow scooped in the sand, a heap
of sand, a pile of cooking-stones (harder kinds of
coral are the only ones obtainable on the island,
but ships' ballast of basalt and such-like hard rock
is carefully treasured, as it is so much more durable
for cooking-stones than the crumbling coral), a good-
sized heap of dried cocoa-nut husks for fuel, and a
few old mats.
On the other end of the floor sit the cooks with
the cooking utensils, and heaps of raw food, within
easy reach. I generally sat on a box, provided for
me by a polite native, just on the inside of the hut,
and to windward of the fire, so as to get as much air
and as little smoke as possible ; but the wind had
an unpleasant Saturday -afternoon habit of coming in
little puffs from all directions unexpectedly, so as to
give everyone a fair share of the smoke from the
smouldering husk fire.
The kitchen utensils are not numerous, complex,
or expensive. A Funafuti woman needs two wooden
dishes (kumete), one large one for mixing grated
roots, and one small one for lolo ; a scraper (tuai)
for flaking cocoa-nut kernel ; a number of cocoa-nut
shells for saucepans ; a flat piece of iron (sisi) to crack

oo
u

FOOD AND COOKING 205
open cocoa-nut shells ; a huge European knife, rather
like the formidable weapon flourished by British
butchers ; a few palm-leaf baskets (tabola) ; a good
number of pua, banana, and bread-fruit leaves, also
to be used as saucepans ; and a cocoa-nut shell or
glass bottle. Glass bottles are much prized, and the
natives prefer them to the cocoa-nut-shell article of
home manufacture.
It is not absolutely necessary for every house
keeper to possess all these utensils ; neighbours are
neighbourly in Funafuti, and whoever lacks sisi or
kumete borrows without apology from her more
fortunate neighbour, who lends without making any
favour of it.
On Saturday morning men and women will collect
the food, old cocoa-nuts (niu), green drinking nuts
(pi), taro, ikalaoi and pulaka, roots and leaves, palm
leaves, sprouting cocoa-nuts (utanu), fish and crabs.
Midday is taken up with a meal, a smoke, and a
sleep ; but between two and three o'clock the cooks
assemble, and the work of cooking begins. There
is always a large amount to be done on Saturdays,
because the natives eat more on Sundays and go in
for a large number of services, so that Monday is
a sort of holiday after the spiritual exertions of the
preceding day, and thus food is required for forty-
eight hours.
After proper time for rest and contemplation the
cooks would set to work in earnest ; two would be
told off to see to the native oven, and this was
the most objectionable task, because they had to

206 FUNAFUTI
work in the blackened sand and ashes, and always
got the worst of the smoke and heat. First of all
they scraped out the circular hollow in the sand
with scraps of cocoa-nut shell, and when this was
clean and smooth they arranged in it a great heap of
broken pieces of cocoa-nut shell and husks, which they
tore up with their teeth and fingers ; this, when
lighted, made a very hot but smouldering fire. Next
they arranged the cooking stones cunningly on the
heap of fuel, so that every stone should get a good
amount of heat from the fire ; after which they had
only to sit down and watch the fire.
Meantime others have been plaiting baskets and
mats out of portions of a green palm leaf. The
baskets are to carry away the cooked food in, and
the mats will be used in the cooking. One woman
or man will then slip the iron end of a tuai through
a fresh, green mat, sit cross-legged on the top of the
wooden end of the tuai, and begin to scrape the
kernels of old cocoa-nuts. This is interesting work
to watch ; the old nuts, stripped of their husks, are
taken up in the left hand and dealt a couple of smart
taps with a sisi, and at once fall into clean-cut halves ;
then each half-nut is taken up, turned over the teeth
of the tuai, and scraped rhythmically, the kernel
falling on the green mat in a snowy shower of curly
flakes. A great deal of the flaked kernel will fall on the
naked, unwashed knee of the person scraping, but that
is brushed back into the heap on the mat ; where is
the use in being so very particular ?

FOOD AND COOKING 207
Cocoa-nut grating is hard work ; I learned to do it,
and my back and arms ached for days afterwards.
When there is enough flaked kernel ready, another
cook kneads it until a milk-white juice begins to flow,
then the whole thing is put inside a mass of clean
frayed fibre (tauaga), and twisted and squeezed till all
the milky juice is extracted. This juice is caught in a
kumete and is called lolo ; it is like a thick, rich cream
flavoured with cocoa-nut. Lolo is used in much the
same way as we use butter, milk, or cream, and it
enters into every compound dish in Funafuti. We
found it delicious, satisfying, and nourishing, but dis
tinctly bilious.
The dry, squeezed kernel left in the tauaga tastes
like sawdust scented with cocoa-nut oil, and is thrown
to the pigs and fowls.
While the lolo is being made one of the cooks will
be scraping taro, and the other arum roots. This is a
very neat operation too; the roots are placed broadside
down on a clean bread-fruit leaf, held in place by finger
and thumb on the narrow end, and then a small sea-
shell is used to scrape off all the fibrous roots, yellow
skin, and dirt. When the roots are scraped they can
be put just as they are on the hot stones ; or placed in
a supple banana leaf, with lolo poured over them,
rolled up in the leaf, and cooked thus ; or if you feel
disposed for luxuries, and have some green banana,
you can grate the arum roots and bananas to a pulp
(on a rough slab of coral), and mix this pulp up with
lolo till the whole looks like porridge. Then you roll
up portions of this thick batter-like substance in

208 FUNAFUTI
banana leaves and bake them. The result of this is a
kind of stiff pudding, called solopulaka, a very dis
appointing compound to a European palate when
cooked, for it looks like grey mud, tastes of smoked
oil, and feels rough on the tongue like raw oatmeal.
The natives think a great deal of it, and it is an
extremely nourishing food, as one can see from the
ingredients used in its manufacture.
If bread-fruit is in season, as it was for the first six
weeks of my stay in Funafuti, it makes a very
pleasant variety in the food. It is scraped, cut up
into quarters, and roasted on the hot stones ; or it
is pulled into small pieces, and packed away inside
empty cocoa-nut shells, lolo is poured in to fill up the
spaces, a leaf and a piece of cocoa-nut shell are placed
over the opening in the shell to prevent the steam
escaping, and a very nice bread-fruit pudding is made
that way.
If you leave a bread-fruit until it is like a custard
inside, it can be baked in its skin, and makes a "good
English pudding," the trader said, but he did not
specify what sort of an English pudding, and I am not
going to do it either.
Taro tops are excellent when cooked in the
Samoan way, i.e., cooked whole with lolo and a little
sea-water, all tied up together carefully in bread-fruit
leaves — this is called palu-same, and is like spinach
cooked in cocoa-nut oil.
During all this preparation of food the cooks
need little "snacks," and we frequently refreshed
ourselves with green banana roasted in its jacket,

FOOD AND COOKING 209
then peeled, dipped in lolo, and eaten hot. It is
very good.
When you have a goodly array of bundles of
palu-same, of solopulaka, bread-fruit, and lolo in shells,
lumps of bread-fruit, arum roots, and unpeeled green
bananas, all you need is to plait up your fish (whole,
unsealed, and not disembowelled) in palm leaves, and
you are ready for the oven. And by this time the
oven is ready for you ; the fuel has all burnt away, and
the cooking-stones lie hot and glowing on the bottom
and sides of the shallow concavity which serves as an
oven. The fire-makers rearrange the hot stones
quickly, with the aid of native tongs (a piece of green
palm petiole bent up like sugar-tongs), and the various
packages of food are arranged in the hollow, every
thing all mixed up together, fish, bananas, and bundles ;
a few hot stones are popped on top, and then the oven
is closed in. This has to be done very thoroughly,
and the Funafuti way is to pile a number of green
leaves (pulaka and pua when obtainable) over the
food, then a few old mats, and then the sand is piled
on, at least four inches thick all over and round, and
pressed and trodden in carefully to prevent any of the
heat escaping. There is nothing more to be done
now for an hour or two, according to the quantity of
food there is in the oven ; no fire tending as in our
civilized kitchens, so the cooks can rest, and smoke,
sleep, or chatter till it is time to open the oven. Then
all the people concerned either help to scrape off the
sand and remove the leaves, or wait round with
baskets handy for their portions. The cooked food is

210 FUNAFUTI
then taken to the huts, together with sprouting cocoa-
nuts and green drinking cocoa-nuts, which are foods
to be enjoyed raw.
Then comes the weekly bath. The women nearest
to it go to the bathing pool for women (vai fafine),
a stagnant pool of green water, in which most of the
clothes of the villagers are washed, and in which
most of the women are also washed. It is a filthy
hole, and is accountable for a good deal of itch,
ringworm, and yaws. But it was very difficult to
make any of the women see that it was not a highly
desirable place in which to perform their weekly
ablutions. A few of those who lived a long way
from the pool bathed in the lagoon as I suggested,
and then came up and rinsed themselves with a little
rain-water in the main street. When this is over
there is no more work of any account to be done
for two days at least.
The commonest food used by the islanders is
cocoa-nut ; they eat it in several stages of its growth,
and usually raw ; it supplies the place of bread.
The kernel of the old cocoa-nut (niu), the nut as
it is exported to Europe, is broken out of the shell
and eaten just as it is, but I seldom saw a native
drink the fluid from a nut in this stage. A piece
of niu is eaten with fish or palu-same, as we should
eat bread.
The full-grown but young green cocoa-nut supplies
the commonest beverage, and it is a very refreshing
and sustaining drink ; it fizzles slightly when first
opened, and is like ginger-beer flavoured with cocoa-

A Midday Meal of Fish and Cocoanut.

FOOD AND COOKING 211
nut. The kernel in a drinking cocoa-nut is thin
and soft and semi-transparent, like a very lightly-
boiled white of egg ; it is scraped out and eaten. I
have seen mothers scrape it into a soft, juicy pulp,
and feed very young babies with it.
The utanu, or sprouting cocoa-nut, is a favourite
food. In this case the kernel, though rich "and oily,
is relegated to the pigs ; the natives eat the sweet,
crisp, apple-like ball which has formed inside. I
was very much astonished when I first saw a
sprouting cocoa-nut. The old nut was covered with
its thick, tough case of fibre, and a young leaf had
pushed its way through this case in one direction,
and a young root had done the same. A native
ripped off the husk in several pieces, and disclosed
the brown, hard nut-shell, with the leaf and root
growing out of the " eyes." He then cracked the
shell, which was lined as usual with a kernel about
a quarter of an -inch thick, but the whole of the
central space, which once contained fluid, was filled
with a pale green ball, out of which grew the leaf
and the root. When the pale green ball was broken
up, I saw that it was snow-white and crisp inside,
and had a spongy appearance. The natives ate this
with evident relish, but I could never eat more than
a mouthful at a time, as it was too sickly sweet for
my taste.
Some of the old cocoa-nuts are preserved for years
in case of times of scarcity, and they receive different
names according to the length of time they have
been kept. The one-year-old nut called taka-taka

212 FUNAFUTI
is very good, and only just beginning to turn a
bluish colour ; but some of the older nuts, though
still forming wholesome food, are black, bitter, and
unpalatable. The nut is not the only part of the cocoa-nut tree
which is good for food. The central sprout of a
young tree is perfectly delicious, but this is seldom
taken, as it destroys the tree. The pinnules of the
palm leaf are all packed away inside the bud, neatly
folded, white and glistening, and the girls pull them
out carefully, and strip from them the white epidermis
which makes long, delicate, almost transparent
streamers ; these streamers, tied together on to a
piece of wood to serve as a pin, are worn with great
effect as hair ornaments. The rest of the butt,
especially the thick stalk, destined to be the future
petiole, is eaten, and it is the sweetest and daintiest
thing in nuts that fairies could dream of, and there
is enough in one bud to satisfy a giant's appetite.
One variety of cocoa-nut, a sweet one, is a great
delicacy, much esteemed by invalids. The green
nut of this species is used, and it is called "outo,"
and the entire nut is eaten except a thin layer on
the very outside of the husk. My piccaninnies
sometimes brought me an outo as a great treat, and
they generally stopped to help me eat it. We all
sat down in a circle ; Pole would tear off the thin,
green, outer layer of husk with her teeth and fingers,
then she tore off the white fibre under it, and passed
pieces of it round the circle, and we all sat and
chewed. It was a pleasant but unsightly operation,

FOOD AND COOKING 213
this chewing of the fibre, but we cared nought for
appearances while we were crunching out the nutty,
juicy substance which connected the fibres. The
noise made in chewing is distinctly uncivilized, but
I tried hard, and found it impossible to chew outo
fibre without " suzzling." It took us at least half
an hour to chew through all that fibre, and the
ground round us would be strewed with plugs and
strips of discarded fibre, turning brown in the air.
Then we came to the shell, which in this stage is
thin and crisp, and lined with a delicate transparent
film which represents the future kernel. The shell
can all be eaten, and tastes like young filberts, and
the fluid inside is too good for words on a hot, steamy
day, for it is cool and slightly effervescent, and of a
very delicate, nutty flavour.
There is a remarkable sweetmeat, called puleleti,
made from cocoa-nut too ; it looks like a ball of
heavy gingerbread, tastes like cocoa-nut icing, and
has the merit of keeping good for years. There
was a great making of puleleti in the trader's family
for our benefit on one occasion, and I watched the
process carefully. When it was finished I was not
surprised to hear that it was only made on occasions,
for it is a costly dish, giving an immense amount of
trouble to make, and when it is made it is unwise
to take a full meal of it, for it is rich, very sweet,
and conducive to thirst.
The ingredients required are only two, a huge
pile of flaked cocoa-nut kernel, and a great quantity
of kalevi molasses. That doesn't sound so very

214

FUNAFUTI

expensive or troublesome, but it is. To begin with,
it will take two men the whole morning to flake
enough kernel for six balls of puleleti, and it takes
a large number of old cocoa-nuts, too. It must be
flaked on a hot day, because the flaked kernel has
to stand in the sun about three hours before it can
be made into puleleti. The kalevi is what is often

WOODEN KUMETE AND PALM-LEAF GUTTER
FOR CATCHING RAIN-WATER.

called " toddy " in other islands ; it is the sap which
drips from the cut flowering spathe of a cocoa-nut
palm. Kalevi trees have notches cut up their stems
to enable the boys to run up and down easily, night
and morning, to change the cocoa-nut shell bottles,
which are hung under the dripping spathe to catch
the sap. Kalevi is a sweet and pleasant juice, and
mixed with water it makes a wholesome, nourishing

FOOD AND COOKING 215
drink ; the Funafutians have never been in the habit
of fermenting this to form the intoxicating drink
so much used in the Gilbert Islands. Kalevi when
boiled the right length of time makes a brown, thick
syrup, exactly like treacle in appearance, which the
people call "m'lasses."
The children always get very much excited when
molasses are being made, and generally squat round
the fire, where it is cooking, in order to get stray
licks of the tongs used to stir it, and of the shells
in which it is boiled. Sometimes they will have
a small quantity given them in a shell ; they boil
this a little longer, and it makes a delightful stick
jaw toffee.
When the flaked kernel has been a sufficient length
of time in the sun it is swept into a deep, circular
kumete ; and a man takes a pounding-stick (tuki-
tuki) and bangs away at it vigorously, while a woman
from time to time pours in a shell-full of the thick
syrup-like molasses. The pounding is very hard
work in such a climate, and has to go on a great
length of time ; but suddenly oil begins to spit out
from the pounded mass, and then the pounding can
cease. The man then takes up a handful of the
pounded mixture, and works it round in his hands
into the shape of a ball, squeezing all the time, so
that the oil drips out freely. When as much oil as
can come has been squeezed out, the puleleti is ready,
and is rolled up in pandanus leaves and put away in a
dry place. (I found the Funafuti rats thoroughly
appreciated my store of puleleti.) A woman poured

2i6* FUNAFUTI
off the oil that had been expressed, strained and
scented it, and put it by to use as anointing oil.
Vatia (arrowroot) grows like a weed all over the
island, and yet it is seldom used for food. When
Tavau pointed out the plant to me, I said, " palenti
good kaikai " ; and she explained to me that the
natives knew the value of it as food, and liked it
cooked into a pudding with lolo. I wondered why
I had never seen it used, and she said, "Vatia good
kaikai, too mochee work make cook." That was the
secret of it ; the trouble of scraping and washing the
root to get the flour, and after that the bother of
cooking it, were too much for the Funafutians, so
unless they ran short of other food, or some sick
person required it, they never cared to prepare arrow
root. Arrowroot is esteemed by them as a certain
cure for dysentery.
I saw a goodly number of a pretty dracsena plant,
called ti, growing among the cocoa-nut palms and
arrowroot, in the centre of the main island. Tavau
explained that the root when cooked was "all a same
a sooka " (sugar). I asked why it was not more used
now, and she said it was a lot of trouble to plant and
tend at first, and that when the roots were ready they
had grown down very deep, and needed a great deal
of heavy digging to get them up. For this reason
the cultivation of ti is dying out, only two men,
Opataia and Mareko, having plantations of it on
the main islet. In old times it was much more
cared for, and the people had periodical feasts for
the digging, cooking, and eating of the sugary roots.

FOOD AND COOKING 217
A very few thin, poor-looking rattans of sugar-cane
are to be seen in various parts of the taro-gardens ;
and the natives are much addicted to chewing the
cane. They do not attempt to make sugar out
of it.
The following is, I believe, a complete list of the
plants used, cooked or raw, as foods in Funafuti : —
Niu (cocoa-nut), fala (pandanus), ti (draceena), vatia
(arrowroot), kau (crow's-nest fern), taro, pulaka, and
ikalavi (edible arums), futi (bananas), muniapelo (paw
paw), and mei fenua muli (bread-fruit).
The animal food consists chiefly of fish, pig, fowls,
turtle, and a few wild sea-birds. The natives all
shudder at the thought of eating fua-moa (hens'
eggs), and seem to think the white people give way
to a disgusting custom by doing so. But they had no
scruple about selling eggs to us at a shilling a dozen.
I never saw a native eat a fowl, but the trader said
they liked them ; as, however, they could sell any
number of fowls to the ships that came at two
shillings per pair, they probably kept them more
as merchandise than as food.
When we were camping on the uninhabited "islets,
our boatmen would occasionally net sea-birds ; these
were roasted whole in their feathers, and very much
relished. Pork is highly esteemed. Pigs are roasted whole
periodically, and every bit of the animal is eaten
except the bones.
Fish is an almost constant article of diet, and the
natives prefer it raw ; but it won't remain good in the

218 FUNAFUTI
raw state, and when a large haul comes in it has to
be cooked. The method of cooking is simple and
satisfactory ; you take a fish just as it comes out of
the water, inside, head, tail, skin, scales and all, and
plait it up neatly in a few palm pinnules, and place
it in the native oven, where it cooks in its own juices.
When the fish is cooked you take off the plaited case,
and the skin comes with it, and you can put your fish
on a clean bread-fruit leaf, and pick off the moist
white flesh with your fingers.
The nicest fish I ever ate in my life was cooked
this way ; and Tili took it out of its case, picked off
all the white flesh with his fingers, placed it on a
bread-fruit leaf, and brought it to me, with his usual
courtly bow. I was awfully hungry at the time, and
never so much as thought of a fork.
If fish is wanted to keep for several days, it is
cooked in this fashion first, then all the skin and
bones are removed, and the flesh put out in the sun
to dry. When prepared this way it needs Funafuti
teeth and digestion to extract nourishment from it.
Crabs are eaten in great numbers, not quite raw, but
nearly so ; the correct thing is to stab the crab and
throw it back downwards on a fire, leave it there just
long enough to warm it through, without actually
cooking it, then snatch it off, and eat it on the spot.
I never mustered sufficient courage to taste a crab
cooked this way, therefore cannot say if it is palatable
or otherwise.
The native baskets (tabola), which the natives use
for carrying food, are usually plaited quickly out of

FOOD AND COOKING 219
half a green palm leaf. Although they look simple
enough, I found it much more difficult to learn to
make one of these than I did to plait a mat. My
piccaninnies, who were very painstaking little teachers,
at last succeeded in overcoming my stupidity on
this point ; and the basket made by " te fafine " (the
woman) was shown and laughed at all over the
island. My piccaninnies would in about ten minutes
make a rough tabola for carrying food in ; these were
used once or twice, and then thrown away ; as were
also the pretty little green leaf trays that the women
sometimes made for carrying small fish. There was
a stronger, more durable tabola, made of dried palm
leaves, an extremely neat affair, but it had a keel,
instead of a flat bottom, and so rolled over on its
side unless propped up. A Niutao woman on the
island made a basket in exactly the same way, but
with its sides bulged out, so that it would stand up
without propping.
As most of the cooking operations are so simple,
and as so much of the food is eaten raw, the Funafuti
women are not overworked with the cooking ; but
white women will envy them, when I say that a
Funafuti woman never has the unpleasant duty of
washing up pots and pans, knives and forks, tumblers,
plates, or dishes. Cocoa-nut shells and banana leaves
are used as saucepans one day, and as firewood the
next, for there is always abundance to be had ; a
bread-fruit leaf is an aesthetic plate, and answers as
a serviette at the same time ; scraps of cocoa-nut shell
serve as spoons, and fingers make excellent forks.

220 FUNAFUTI
The knife that is used in cooking is easily wiped on
a leaf; while the shell scraper and the coral-slab grater
can be thrown on the ground, and will be beautifully
cleaned by the sun and rain before next cooking-day.
No wonder Funafuti women can get plenty of time
for rest.

CHAPTER XVII.
CLOTHES AND PLANTS
Now we have come to that interesting topic clothes.
No Funafuti husband has to groan over dressmakers'
or milliners' bills, every woman is her own dressmaker
and milliner here.
In olden times the vegetable kingdom, as repre
sented in Funafuti, supplied all the necessary and
very picturesque clothing. Men, women, and children
big enough to need clothes wore a leaf petticoat, and
wreaths of leaves and flowers ; the hair, thick and
fluffy, was allowed to grow as long as it would,
generally not much below the shoulder.
The favourite wreath for the hair, and a very
effective one, was one plaited with alternate strips of
orange and green ; the green strips were small scraps
of palm leaf, and the orange strips were the outer
rind of the ripe segment of pandanus fruit.
Since the white trader has taken up his residence
on the island, the natives are all keen to possess
printed calico, though they have to pay a high price
for flimsy goods with blinding colours. Three yards
of print are sufficient to make a lava-lava, and as the
natives do not think it necessary to hem the borders,

222 FUNAFUTI
the garment is ready for use as soon as the three
yards are cut off the roll. The strip of calico is
twisted thrice round the waist so as to hang to the
knee, and then fastened on one side of the waist by
a knowing little twist and tuck-in. These bright-
coloured lava-lavas are really very picturesque, when
worn with garlands of flowers only. The men always
look well on week-days, because they wear nothing
but a lava-lava, or a native leaf petticoat. The women
spoil themselves, even on week-days, by the hideous
tiputas (bust cloths) they wear above the leaf petticoat
or the lava-lava. These bust cloths are of various
designs, the commonest being an oblong piece of
print about a yard long by a quarter of a yard wide,
with a hole, big enough to admit the head, cut in the
centre. The tiputa hangs down like a handkerchief,
back and front, and is blown about by every breeze,
so it is absolutely useless as a covering ; many of the
women wear them rolled up like a string round their
necks with the ends just hanging in front. The
young girls really spend a great deal of time and
trouble over making one of these hideous tiputas.
They collect scraps of coloured print, cut them into
varied shapes, and applique' them on to the outside
of the garment ; pieces that are too small and frayed
to sew on in this way are torn into narrow strips, and
tacked all round the edge for fringe. Although the
girls were very proud of bright crazy-work tiputas,
they preferred a white embroidered chemise, and
looked extremely well in it ; the long, white tails,
however, hanging outside struck one as ludicrous, and

CLOTHES AND PLANTS 223
I always longed to cut them off at the waist, so as
to make them look like the pretty, short garment
worn by many of the Fiji girls. This was a low-
necked sleeveless blouse, not gathered in at the
waist ; it was perfectly decent, cool, and easy, and
showed off the pretty shoulders and arms to per
fection. I made a few of these for my pet girls in
Funafuti, and they looked extremely well. The
students of our party suffered agonies from suppressed
laughter in church when the girls lifted their tiputas,
waistless blouses, or chemises, and waved them up
and down to send a good breeze underneath. I 'm
sure I longed to be able to manipulate my own
dress in the same way. After church our men would
imitate them, and laugh, and though the girls could
not see the joke, they were soon too shy to fan them
selves this way in public. The hideous Samoan
gown is gaining favour in Funafuti ; this is a long
straight garment, like a badly-cut night-gown, high
up to the neck, with long sleeves, the skirt reaching
from the yoke to the heels. Not only is this ugly, but
it is also comparatively expensive, as it takes about
seven yards of material to make, and has the further
disadvantage of being dirty and dangerous, especially
if worn in the cook-house, where the floor constitutes
both table and fireplace ; the Samoan gown dips into
the dirt and the food, and is more liable to catch fire
than is the leaf petticoat. I noticed that the few
women who wore them had a great deal of trouble
with them, tucking them this way and that to try to
keep them out of the way.

224 FUNAFUTI
The women all admired lace and embroidery very
much, but clucked and "tapa'ed" in horror, when told
the price of such articles. They imitated embroidery
by cutting holes in strips of white calico, but the raw
edges of the holes soon frayed in a disappointing
manner. The men's Sunday upper garment was either a
shirt, cinglet, or coat ; and a bright-coloured handker
chief knotted round the neck was considered very
stylish. These garments were all purchased from the
trader ready made, as were also the few pairs of
trousers that walked abroad on Sundays. Herein,
again, the Funafutians are behind the Niu6 men, who
can cut out and make remarkably good trousers.
Natives always walk well with an easy, free step,
and consequently do not look so well in trousers as in
the waist cloth.
Boots and shoes are not yet de rigueur in Funafuti ;
the natives' feet are small and shapely, and the soles
quite hard enough to walk on the sandy shore and
roads without protection. The men can walk barefoot
on the jagged coral reef when spearing fish, but if
they have a long day on the reef they wear a rough
sandal plaited out of cocoa-nut fibre.
Since it has been the fashion in Funafuti for men to
cut their hair very short, men and boys are beginning
to wear hats on occasions, even during the week ;
they delight in being " all a same a white man
masher." The tiny boys look very ugly with their little
shaven heads ; but the girls are very proud of their
thick, bushy crops of hair, and try to make their heads

A Fine Crop of Hair.

CLOTHES AND PLANTS 225
look as big as possible. All the women wore their
hair down until I arrived, and then they all began to
make queer attempts at doing up their "back hair,"
some of them completely spoiling their appearance.
Even the tiny girls tried to keep their hair twisted up,
until I showed them the portrait of my two little
daughters, immediately after which fringes and hang
ing locks were the fashion among the small girls.
At my afternoons " at home " in Funafuti the chief
pleasures of the women were to examine my clothes,
look at fashion plates, and see me do up my hair ; and
the refreshments that were liked best were sweets and
ship biscuits.
I wondered if their interest in the fashion plates
was prompted by the desire to obtain fresh patterns of
clothes ; but one afternoon a Nukulaelae woman (wife
to a white man) was present, and after there had been
a great chattering over the fashion plates, she turned
to me, glanced quickly at my waist, and then pointed
to the waist of a figure in the book, and said with
great emphasis, "white woman palenti big fool, tie up
belly all tight, bine-by no goody in-a-side ! " I felt
bound to defend my countrywomen, and explained
that though the pictures were all made like that, only
a very few English women were silly enough to
squeeze themselves in that way. She explained to
the other women, who nodded and hummed in a
satisfied way, and after that the fashion plates were
not so much in request.
The people, men, women, and children, were all
very fond Of decorating themselves with shell or bead
Q

226 FUNAFUTI
necklaces, but they always looked better in their
floral wreaths.
Most of the hats worn by men in Funafuti were
neatly plaited out of narrow strips of pandanus leaf;
and as only a few women could make them well, their
work was much in request. These leaf hats are
extremely light and thin, and are therefore but little
protection from the sun, and the slightest breeze will
blow them away. On one occasion, when my husband
was dredging on the ocean reef, his native hat was
blown away. Tili, who had made him a present of this
hat, immediately sprang overboard, swam after it, re
gardless of sharks, and brought it back in triumph.
After that it was attached by a string guard. These
hats are all very small in the crown, too small for the
average white man, and are nearly all made on the
same block. The only shaping appliance that the
women use in making a hat is a small, smooth crown-
block of hardwood. The rim they plait without any
guide. The Funafuti hats are not so well plaited as similar
hats from the Gilbert Group ; but even the Gilbert
islanders cannot make them so well as can the women
of Nuie. The white missionary's wife in Nuie always
wears native hats, and has introduced pretty and
more modern shapes, and has taught the women
several ways of plaiting straw for sewn hats. There
fore the Nuie hats are of marketable value as hats,
and not only as curios.
Although the tiny Tyrolese hat worn by the Funa
futi women is an absurd-looking article, it is a very

CLOTHES AND PLANTS 227
ingenious piece of work. Tagasia (Opataia's wife)
made one so that I could see how it was done, and I
was astonished at the resourcefulness displayed in its
manufacture, and the amount of labour it entailed.
Tagasia pasted together scraps of newspaper so as to
make a fairly thick sheet of cardboard, and this was
left between flat mats for a day to dry. The shapes
of the crown, sides, and rims were then cut out and
sewn together. The sewing took a long time, and
broke several needles ; and the edges were then
strengthened by palm-pinnule midrib sewn on as hat-
wire. The pastor's wife taught the girls to plait a pretty
straw pattern, and many of the girls made plait
enough for a hat for themselves, which they sewed
into a small, rather high-crowned sailor hat. They
could buy no flowers, feathers, ribbons, nor lace, with
which to trim these hats, and so they frayed out some
plait and bunched the wavy stuff into rosettes or
aigrettes, and dyed them blue with Reckitt's blue, or
red with the juice of the nonu root. So they had
their favourite colours on the new hats — red, blue,
and white straw trimmings. These straw hats were
all made, after I had given away a dozen English
straw hats, by the girls who were not fortunate
enough to get one of mine, and were all finished in
time to wear the Sunday before my departure. They
were a great improvement on the pasteboard
atrocities, but all the girls look much prettier without
any hats at all.
They have no real straw on the island, and so the

228 FUNAFUTI
girls make "straw" to plait by peeling the outer skin
off the pulaka stalks, which is soaked and bleached,
and when dry it makes a pretty delicate shiny "straw,"
which, however, soon loses its brightness. In Nuie
the women make similar "straw" in the same way
from sugar-cane and arrowroot leaves.
The rougher kinds of leaf petticoats were made from
palm pinnules which had been soaked and dried.
When the pinnule was dry and sufficiently matured
the skin of the upper side would rip off easily, and
formed a soft curly string, and it was this skin of
which nearly all the women's petticoats (titi) were
made. When the titi was needed for great occasions,
a row of ribbons of dyed pandanus leaves, or of
feathers, would be arranged round the waist, so as to
flap over the outside of the petticoat as the wearer
walked. The titi were very full and bunched out
round the hips, and when the girls walked in them
the slight up and down movement of the hips gave
them a curious emu-like gait and appearance. The
titi were always fastened by a string just big enough
to go round the waist.
The men's petticoats (takai) were made on a
different plan, and of different material, too, when
needed for a gala dress. The ordinary working
petticoat made of half palm pinnules was harsher
and rougher than the titi, but the gala takai was
a very fine kilt long enough to go two and a half
times round the body, and had a plaited waist quite
unlike the knotted arrangement in the titi. These
gala takai were always made out of the beautiful,

CLOTHES AND PLANTS 229
creamy bast of the fo fafine tree — a lovely hibiscus
bearing a cream-coloured flower with a ruby centre.
The bast had to be stripped and soaked in the sea
for many days, bleached in the sun for many more
days, drawn piece by piece over the blunt edge of
a knife to make it supple, then split up into strips
of about a quarter of an inch wide, and put away in
bundles. The two native dyes used for colouring pandanus
leaves for ornamenting titi, takai, or mats, were red,
prepared from the root of the nonu, and black, pre
pared from the mangrove ; but now that the natives
can buy pitch from the trader, they use that for black
dye, instead of troubling to extract the dye from the
mangrove. The preparation of the fala (pandanus) leaves for
making and ornamenting petticoats was tedious.
Peke took me through the whole process. To begin
with, Peke, Sarai, Petise, and myself started off one
afternoon, armed with long knives, in search of young
pandanus trees. We selected healthy, strong, young
plants about six feet high, not having yet shot up into
the trunk stage. With the long knives we cut these
down about six inches from the ground, leaving a row
or two of old and damaged leaves on the stump ;
then we cut off about eighteen inches of the top of
the stem, rejecting the young half-grown leaves at the
top which were too immature for our purpose. Then
came the delightful work of stripping the leaves from
the centre of the stem ; this needs great care, for
pandanus leaves have strong saw-like margins, and

230 FUNAFUTI
strong and saw-like also are the backs of the midribs,
so that a jagged scratch from margin or midrib will
prove very painful, even if it does not fester, as it is
prone to do.
It is thought a good practical joke in Funafuti for
a girl to saw an unsuspecting youth with a pandanus
leaf: a good deal of laughter on the one side and
volubility on the other is the usual result of this
joke. When we had collected as many pandanus leaves
as we could carry, we took them into the village
where Famerea, Tanei's wife, had made a good
blazing fire, and through the fire we drew all the
pandanus leaves a few at a time. The leaves thus
treated became supple, and the saw-like back and
edges were softened so as to be quite harmless.
The leaves were then put into the lagoon to soak
for a week or more, and they were taken out and
spread on the sand in the sun to dry and bleach ;
this part of the work should not be hurried, or the
leaves will shrink after they are plaited, and spoil
your mats.
When the leaves are well shrunk and bleached and
dried, you have to peel off the saw-like margin and
back, and then draw the leaves backwards and for
wards round a stake stuck in the ground ; this makes
them flat, smooth, and supple. They are then rolled
up in neat balls, and stuck between a rafter and the
thatch of a hut until they are wanted.
Pandanus leaves required for thatching are treated
in exactly the same way, except that the saw- like

CLOTHES AND PLANTS 231
edges are allowed to remain on, and they are left
in flat ribbons instead of being rolled up into balls.
The actual plaiting of the mats is very simple : there
is but one pattern, the common crossed pattern, used,
and the only difference between the coarse and the
fine mats is the difference in the width of the strips
of leaf used in the plaiting. The patterns are made
by laying coloured strips over the ordinary crossed
pattern, and do not increase the difficulty of the
plaiting in the least.
The mats from some of the other islands in the
Ellice Group, also from the Gilbert Group, are much
better made than those from Funafuti. The Samoan,
Fiji, and Nuid mats are a much better class of goods
also ; in fact, the Funafuti mats are the poorest of any
island mats I have ever seen.
The Funafuti children taught me how to make mats,
and were much amused at my awkwardness. It is
very trying indeed to a white woman to sit cross-
legged on a coral pebble floor for any length of time,
and holding down ends of fala leaves with a big toe
is an utter impossibility. The children laughed
frankly at my efforts, and then tried to soothe my
wounded vanity by saying reassuringly, " Bine-by, te
fafine palagi make palenti good mat."
Mats stand in the place of night - clothes and
bedding to the natives, only very coarse mats made
of palm leaves ever being used for floor mats to be
walked on. A native's preparation for bed is a
very simple one. He takes off his clothes, rolls
himself up in a mat, and places his head on a

232 FUNAFUTI
wooden oblong stool with very short legs, which
does duty as a pillow. Since the advent of the
trader all the natives indulge in mosquito screens,
very few of which are made of real mosquito netting.
Most of them are pieces of calico, plain or printed,
sewn into flat-topped tents about six feet long and
three feet high, and about two feet wide. These
were rolled up during the day and tucked away on
a rafter, and were let down by strings at night, thus
separating the hut into several tiny compartments
with calico walls. I never could understand how
the people managed to breathe under these dreadful
screens. The mosquito-nets were not washed too
often, nor were they hung up straight, and the in
terior of each hut at night presented a very untidy
and squalid appearance.
I must not close the chapter on clothing without
mentioning the oil used so frequently for anointing
the hair and the body, and the scents used to make
this oil pleasant to the nostrils of the natives.
Although the natives like the smell and the taste of
kerosene, they have not yet gone so far as to use it as
a scent. They always rub their hair and skins with
scented cocoa-nut oil, the preparation of which is
rather tedious, but interesting. Peke and I made
some scented oil one day, and it took us an entire
morning. First of all we flaked the hard kernel of
old cocoa-nuts, then we squeezed out the white juice
(lolo), and this lolo was put into cocoa-nut-shell sauce
pans and boiled over a hot-stone fire. After the lolo
had boiled a certain length of time it suddenly

CLOTHES AND PLANTS 233
separated into oil and white curds ; the shell was
then whipped off the fire and its contents strained
into another shell. The strainer was again supplied
ready-made by the miraculous cocoa-nut palm. We
stripped off the coarse, cast-off sheaths of the leaves,
which hang round the stems like stiff bagging, and
found that it made an excellent strainer. Having
strained the oil clear of the white curds we had to
scent it, and we did this by throwing fresh green
leaves of a fern called maili, and of a shrub called
valo-valo, into the boiling oil, till all the scent was
extracted from them ; then we finished up by throw
ing in pieces of the skeletons of the pulaka leaves —
leaves that had had all the green rotted off them by
being buried in mud, and then dried in the sun.
When these ingredients had been well stirred and
boiled into the oil for about five minutes, the oil was
again strained, then cooled, and bottled for use.
This oil is clear, but has a queer, stifling smell, not
at all a European's notion of toilet scent ; but the
natives delight in it, and rub themselves lavishly with
it on sing-sing nights.
They have another method of preparing cocoa-nut
oil to burn in their lamps. The kernels of old nuts
are flaked and put out in the sun, then squeezed and
kneaded in a kumete day after day until all the oil
runs out. Whenever I saw a kumete full of this evil-
smelling, dirty-looking stuff, I got on the windward
side of it with all expedition.
The cocoa-nut palm, as I have already remarked, is
a miraculous tree ; it supplies food, drink, cord, bait,

234 FUNAFUTI
thatch, mats, oil for lamps, anointing oil, firing,
saucepans, bottles, plates, spoons, brushes, and
clothing. The old dry leaves that fall with a warn
ing swish — mind you get out of the way when you
hear one coming, for it is heavy enough to stave in a
strong boat — are gathered by the girls and bound
into "lama" (torches), and used in the canoe-fishing
on dark nights. The tiny rootlets that grow at the
base of the stems are often used to help in the
making of fish - traps, and the hollow trunks of
veteran trees make roomy tanks for the rain water.
In fact every part of the tree is used in some
wonderful and eminently satisfactory way, and know
ing its value as a food-bearer, I was astonished to see
a magnificent tall, straight specimen cut down while
in full flower to help in building a new house.
This indicates the value of building-timber. Trees
used only for their timber are not plentiful, and least
of all on the main islet, so that sometimes valuable
palms have to be sacrificed thus. The trees used
only for their timber grow chiefly on the other islets,
and it is quite a week's business to go over in boats,
cut down trees, and float them across to the main
islet. Every kind of tree that grows on the atoll is
used for building purposes, although durable hard
woods like kanava, fetau, and milo are preferred :
hardwood trees are not common, and are used for
making tuai, kumete, tuki-tuki, pillows (luuga), boxes
(turuma), axe-handles, fish-hooks, husking sticks, etc.,
etc. ; so when a man wants to build a hut or a cook
house he has to build it of what he can get — not of

CLOTHES AND PLANTS 235
the best materials for the purpose. In one hut I
have seen posts, beams, and rafters made of all the
different hardwoods, and palm, pandanus, pua, man
grove, and valovalo into the bargain.
The soft light wood of the puka tree is reserved
for the building of canoes. The short, scrubby
tree called gie (pronounced "ngia") produces small
branches of beautiful hardwood. This is not large
enough for building, but makes very tough and
durable tuki - tuki, fish - hooks, and huskers. The
smaller pieces of gie make excellent firewood, but
the natives prefer using cocoa-nut husks and shells
for this purpose. They used to supply gie, cut in
two-feet lengths, at the rate of ten shillings a ton, for
the furnace of the boiler belonging to the diamond
drill. The only drawback to the use of this as fuel
was that while the average diameter of the sticks was
three inches, about one-third of this was sodden bark
and wet moss. It burned very well, however, when
thoroughly dried. The pliable roots of the toga
(mangrove) are also in great request ; in fact the
trees are so few in number and varieties that the
natives have learned to make use of every part of
most of them — root, stem, bark, sap, branches, leaves,
and fruit.
Next to the cocoa-nut palm the most useful tree on
the atoll was the fala (pandanus). There are two
varieties of this tree ; one called fala vao, which is
self-sown, and springs up everywhere from the cast
away chewed segments of the fruit. The pandanus
is even more marvellous in its feeding than the

236 FUNAFUTI
cocoa-nut palm, for it seems able to extract sufficient
nourishment from solid rock and the air alone. The
fala vao looked exactly like its cultivated cousin, the
fala kai, except at fruiting time, then the cone of the
fala kai is twice the size of that of the fala vao, and
much more juicy. The edible seeds of the fala are
not eaten in Funafuti ; the natives wait until the
segments of the cone have turned a bright orange
colour, then they pull them apart, and chew the
pointed end ; the square end containing the seeds
is thrown away, and this accounts for the number
of young fala plants that are seen springing up in
every direction.
The natives were very fond of chewing pandanus
fruit, and the hermit crabs esteemed it a dainty also ;
I tried it one day, but it was like slightly sweetened
gum-arabic, and I did not repeat the experiment.
The fala kai, which is planted and cultivated, is
private property, and only the man who owns it has a
right to the fruit of it, but the fala vao is common
property, and anyone can help himself to the fruit or
leaves, no matter upon whose land the plant may
grow. The children generally keep their eyes on a
ripening pandanus cone, and when it is declared fit to
eat, a dozen youngsters will share the booty. As fala
leaves are so constantly in request for making hats or
mats, it is a great boon to the poorer women that the
plant is free.

CHAPTER XVIII.
ANIMALS
We had been told that there were no land birds in
Funafuti, except on one islet, where was to be seen
on rare occasions a pigeon, "probably new to science."
The man who told us this said the bird was so
dreadfully shy that it was quite impossible to get near
it, and that was why he had not bagged one. Of
course the first thing to be done was to get one of
those pigeons, so we landed on the islet celebrated
for these shy birds, and Mr. Woolnough, one of
our students, brought down a specimen with his first
shot before we had been ashore many minutes. After
this the pigeons sensibly made themselves scarce, and
we had to content ourselves with this solitary unfortu
nate one. The poor bird scattered its tail-feathers,
and the gun scattered some shot over my husband
and myself, but these were mere trifles. The tail-
feathers were collected, and they and the bird con
signed to the methylated spirit tub, there to await
fame. There were no other land birds on the atoll, and
the cocoa-nut groves were strangely silent, for there
was no twittering of small birds, no piping of cicadas
or other noisy insects, whilst even the mosquitoes
237

238 FUNAFUTI
were not so noisy as our Sydney ones, but they made
up for that in venom.
The Funafuti mosquitoes (namu) in numbers and
venom excel any others of the genus that I have had
the felicity of meeting. One of these delightful little
creatures would make the whole night an agony, and the
only way to secure immunity from them was to take a
scrap of candle and matches into bed, tuck in the
mosquito net carefully all round, and then deliberately
hunt and kill very dead every mosquito that had been
smart enough to accompany one inside. We each
had a narrow bunk to sleep in, and in the abandon of
sleep an elbow or a knee would frequently come in
contact with the net, and then all the mosquitoes that
could possibly find hold hung on to that knee or elbow
through mosquito net and night-gown, and in the
morning that portion of one's anatomy would look as
if it had a flourishing attack of native itch.
We had been prepared, by the naughty inaccuracy
of rumour, for sand-flies as well as mosquitoes, but we
were spared this added woe, and the trader assured
me that sand-flies were unknown in the island.
The common house-fly was a great pest during the
daytime on the lagoon side of the islet, but our camp,
on the ocean side, was generally freshened by a
breeze from the ocean strong enough to drive the
flies away. They worried us not at all, except on
a still day, but even then the mass of them were
disinclined to leave the lagoon side, where the natives
afforded them such sumptuous banqueting grounds.
I never once saw a blow-fly, nor were there any

ANIMALS 239
horrors in the shape of large biting ants. The ants were
small black things that tried to spoil our sugar and jam,
and even made occasional raids on the butter-tin.
The white ant swarmed everywhere, and ate every
thing wooden that was left on the ground for a few
days. They even worked their soft bodies through
into the solid core-boxes and tried their skill on the
hard coral core, but here they were unsuccessful ; the
core that had frequently smashed powerful machinery
was too much even for the white ant. The Funafuti
white ants are like malicious dwarfs ; they do not
confine their attentions to cut timber or dead wood,
they must needs eat out the hearts of live cocoa-nut
palms, and many a fine palm has fallen a victim to
their depredations.
More than one variety of cockroach (loga-loga) has
been introduced into the island, and these unpleasant
and mischievous creatures increase and multiply here
as they do elsewhere, only more so. I once saw a
specimen four inches long, and said so, but my stater
ment was received with the cold silence of distrust.
There was not time to collect that specimen to con
vince the unbelievers.
There were numbers of sweet, little, fly-hunting
lizards, green and gold and grey, jolly little things
that made themselves quite at home in our huts, and
hunted most industriously for what seemed at best
a precarious livelihood, for flies are very "fly" in
Funafuti. They could make rapid and long jumps
too, and yet one often saw the fly sail away, and
the lizard look out at the corner of one eye to see

240 FUNAFUTI
if anyone noticed his failure. They were considerate
little creatures, and very seldom fell into one's plate
or cup at meal times ; but I grieve to say that several
were consigned to the spirit tub. They do say that
the ancestors of these dear little creatures came over
concealed among the vegetable food brought by the
Tongan Vikings when they raided Funafuti.
Spiders large and spiders small frequented the
thickets, and many and long and tough were the
ropes they spun to trap unwary travellers.
Many a moth too delivered up its small body to
be burnt at our lamps, and little brown flies hovered
in crowds over our fruit and food. The collection
of tiny winged creatures strewn round our lamps
every night, would probably have rejoiced the heart
of an entomologist.
Hundred-leggers there were also, but they were
heavy with sleep, and had stowed themselves away
comfortably in unsuspicious corners, so that we
bottled very few specimens.
I was very much on the alert to keep all our
vegetable food from the depredations of the native
rat (kimoa), a reddish-grey little fellow, very little
bigger than an English mouse, who had been re
ported to me in Sydney as a strict vegetarian. He
certainly liked banana and taro, but only when he
could not get flesh food. The little rascal made such
inroads on my fish, turtle, meat, and eggs, that I had
very little compunction about setting a trap for him.
Several were among the creatures which met their fate
in the spirit tub. One was caught in a trap standing

ANIMALS 241
close by a bough of bananas ; one of his fellows came
round to see what was amiss, and at once began to
eat his comrade's flank, completely ignoring the ad
jacent bananas. In olden times the rats were such a
pest that the king ordered each native to catch a certain
number of rats every night before retiring to rest. If
any rat-catcher slept while at his work, his neighbours
facetiously stole his rats to make up their tale.
The Funafutians have never been rat-eaters, and
shudder at the suggestion.
The natives keep cats, pigs, and poultry, and the
pigs are the pets. Every native child likes a sucking-
pig as a pet, and cuddles it affectionately just as a
white child cuddles a kitten ; but when this pet has
developed into a well-grown pig, there is no stupid
sentiment about eating it. The whole populace,
including tiny children, will watch the killing and
dressing of a pig with lively interest ; and when one
is taken out of a native oven, shedding fat and
bilious odours, the happy owner is followed into his
hut by a crowd of admiring friends, and when the
cooked pig is deposited on a mat on the floor of a
hut, guests, invited and otherwise, natives and flies,
settle on to it, and " settle it " in no time. Each man,
with his unwashed hand, tears off a limb, and eats
it without knife or fork, eats solidly through crackling,
fat and muscle, dripping lard from the corners of his
mouth, and in a few minutes a very well-picked bone
goes flying out of the hut. To do the natives justice
they don't eat puaka (pig) often ; on certain occasions
a number of pigs are slaughtered and cooked, when

242 FUNAFUTI
a great feast is held in honour of something or other,
and men, women, and children eat to repletion.
There were three puaka feasts while I was in
Funafuti, and they cost me in my capacity of nurse
and doctor many a long, hot walk, and several bottles
of cascara and Dover tabloids. The sugar-coated
tabloids were much in favour with the natives, and
after pig feasts they both needed and deserved them.
Pussy is a harmless, cocoa-nut fed, thin, melancholy
creature in Funafuti ; the climate makes her indolent,
and she does not keep down the native rat in a very
satisfactory manner.
The fowls are a miserable-looking set, most of
them a mixed edition of that specially ugly breed
of fowls which has its feathers turned the wrong
way. They are scraggy, and thin, and despondent-
looking ; the- cocoa-nut gratings on which they chiefly
subsist do not agree with them, or else the climate
is too moist and hot for fowls. There was one
peculiarity about these fowls that puzzled me con
siderably, and that was that they laid eggs with the
chicken already formed inside. There can be no
mistake about this, because I constantly asked for
" new-born " eggs, and in almost every case there
was a chick inside. When there was no chick, the
egg was addled. This interesting discovery of mine
was explained by Tanei, an intelligent half-caste ; he
said it was the climate ! I am not sure but that this
startling piece of information is " new to science." If
so, give Tanei the honour.
Some folks deplore the want of singing birds,

ANIMALS 243
sand-flies, bullamacow (oxen), and bow-wows in
Funafuti, but to my mind the ubiquitous crab more
than compensates for the lack of these interesting
creatures. There are ocean crabs, reef crabs, land
crabs, crabs of all sizes, shapes, and colours, crabs
Brobdingnagian and crabs Lilliputian, crabs long and
crabs broad, crabs all legs and crabs all body, crabs
grey, red, yellow, brown, and drab, crabs up every
tree, in the thatch of every hut, under every rotten
leaf or stem, crabs in the earth beneath, and crabs
in the waters under the earth. They go everywhere
and do everything, except fly. All the energy that
the men of Funafuti ought to have and have not,
seems to have been borrowed by the crabs. They
walk and climb day and night, especially night. They
examine minutely every scrap of land and vegetation
daily, and are the cheapest and most conscientious
scavengers imaginable. If you throw down a chewed
segment of pandanus fruit and " lie low " for a few
seconds, you will suddenly become aware that the
earth round that bit of pandanus fruit is moving ;
you rub your eyes and stare, and, behold ! it is not
the ground moving, but merely a host of hermit crabs
on the march to the discarded piece of food ; and
in a few minutes there will be nothing of it left
but the hard nut and dry fibre.
The crab is a true scientific explorer, he inspects
everybody and everything minutely, and is not
content with a single or rapid survey of any object.
One felt quite on one's best behaviour with all those
protruding, critical crab-eyes levelled at one.

244 FUNAFUTI
Fortunately for us most of the crabs were timid and
fled in all directions at the sound of a booted foot
step. The hermit crabs, as soon as ever they heard
this, would draw back into their shells and roll down
the rocks like a small hail-storm, and they would
lie as if dead till the sound of the steps had ceased.
Hermit crabs have not imbibed the new morality
of Funafuti, for they are shameless cannibals and
impudent thieves.
I had collected a rather nice set of shells from the
lagoon reef to take home to my children. These shells
were left in a basket on the floor of my hut while I sat
down to recover from the exertion of gathering them.
Soon I heard a scratching and scrambling noise in
the neighbourhood of this basket, and looking round
I saw a number of hermit crabs undressing them
selves, backing into or running off with my pretty
whole shells, leaving me their discarded, battered
shelters behind them. After a few seconds of sur
prised stillness I made a dash for the thieves, but
succeeded in capturing only about half of my collection.
Then I replaced these in the basket, and smiled
grimly as I considered how I would "do" these
audacious robbers. I tied a piece of muslin, tightly
stretched and securely fastened, over the top of the
basket, and sat down to watch the expected defeat
of the crabs. Very soon the hermits returned, and
after a brief survey of the situation deliberately set
to work to tear the muslin ; it took them a long time,
but they persevered, and I remained quiet ; their
claws reduced the muslin to shreds, and the crabs

ANIMALS 245
walked off triumphantly with the rest of my shells.
I did not interfere this time.
I never did like crabs, and after three months'
intimate acquaintance with many varieties in Funafuti
I find my aversion to them has distinctly increased.
The nastiest thing you can imagine is to have a
square foot of squashed crab to clean off your best
Sunday mat. I know, because I had to do it. It
was this way. I used to give the native pastor
English lessons in my hut twice a week between
8 and 10 p.m., just the witching hour at which
the night crabs begin to prowl. The pastor and
I used to put a lamp on the floor and sit tailor-wise
beside it (I did not learn this attitude young, and
found it hurt), bending over a Samoan and English
Bible respectively. Whether the crabs, like the
native pastor, yearned after more learning, I don't
know, but I do know that they were always more in
evidence on these than on any other occasions.
I used to get the creeps at their projecting eyes,
long legs, and unsteady gait, and when an extra
large one came and fixed me with a goggly stare,
I could not repress a shudder. Thereupon the native
pastor chivalrously brought his convincing hand down
on that crab, when crack ! squelch ! Oh, horror !
I asked the trader and the natives if there were
any giant robber-crabs on the atoll, and they replied
cheerfully that there were heaps of them, and that
they stole cocoa-nuts. They never brought me a
specimen, nor did I see anything in the shape of a crab-
guard except on one tree, on which I saw a sheet of

246 FUNAFUTI
tin tied down about half-way up the stem. I concluded
that they said there were plenty just to please me.
It is a curious sight to see a grave and reverend
land-crab stiffly and deliberately scooping out the
kernel of a drinking cocoa-nut, and delicately con
veying the snowy morsels to his mouth. Everything
with a mouth eats cocoa-nut in Funafuti — ants, rats,
cats, sea-birds and fowls, crabs, pigs, piccaninnies
and adult humans ; and if natural historians will not
permit me to say that the lizards, flies, and mosquitoes
do so also, I will merely remark that they pretend
they do, and pretend it very cleverly. I never in
quired if the fish affected a cocoa-nut diet, but they
probably do.
Talking about fish, now, Funafuti has a splendid
assortment, from a tiny fish of azure blue, only about
one inch long, up to grandfather sharks and fabulous
palu. Many of the fish were brilliantly coloured, even
of the edible kinds, and many were poisonous. It
was never safe to eat fish without first consulting a
native. The natives often brought us horrors of the
finny deep, and warned us solemnly that they were
" no good kaikai " ; these were brought as specimens
for the spirit tubs. A common present for breakfast
was a dozen garfish on a bread-fruit leaf.
The natives spear fish very cleverly, though their
spears are anything but effective-looking weapons.
The handle of a fishing-spear is about two and a half
yards long, and at its business end are fastened two
iron prongs, about two inches apart, with barbs point
ing outwards and away from the tips. The natives

ANIMALS 247
poise these lightly and easily, and will frequently
spear a dozen fish in half an hour. They spear
anything that comes within range, whether edible or
not, and they frequently spear baby sharks which
come on to the reef quite close to the shore.
The lagoon as well as the ocean is full of sharks,
but the natives are apparently not in the least afraid
of them ; and the trader said that during his forty
years' residence on the island only two men had been
taken by the sharks. When the last man was taken,
some of the natives went out in a boat and waited
round till they caught that shark, or his proxy. I
used to bathe by moonlight alone on the reef, until
I found that sharks often came up to within a few
yards of the shore ; after which I preferred to bathe
in company with a score of shouting, splashing, yell
ing amphibious piccaninnies.
The natives were much more afraid of a Portuguese
man-o'-war than of a shark, and if the harmless-
looking blue cable of one of these queer creatures
happened to twine itself round an oar that a native
was holding, that native would leave hurriedly.
The bonito fishing is the great event of the year.
For the bonito season the whole island moves, bag
and baggage, to one of the southernmost islets
(Funafala) where there is a collection of permanent
huts, and a church on almost as magnificent a scale
as that in Funafuti. Here the women make copra,
and prepare fala leaves for mats and thatching, while
the men go into the open ocean fishing for bonito.
Bonito fish-hooks are extremely pretty, made of pearl

248 FUNAFUTI
shell and feathers. One hook, I was told, takes a
man three weeks to shape out of a shell. I was not
told how many hours per day a man would feel
disposed to grind the shell. A Funafuti man could
easily take a year to make a hook at the rate I
usually saw him working.
They say that no bait is used in bonito fishing,
but the bright -feathered hook is poised above the
water, and occasionally flapped on the surface, so
that the bonito, trusting to its eyesight only, leaps
out of the water to meet its fate.
There was one particular fish that the natives were
extremely fond of talking about, they were monstrously
proud of it, and they called it a palu. I collected a
lot of information about the palu. Here it is. The
palu is a deep-sea fish ; it can only be caught in a
special kind of calm weather ; very few men are
clever enough to catch it ; it needs a line 200
fathoms long to catch it ; only one particular sort
of wooden hook will catch it ; no bait is needed ;
you just have to let your hook down about 200
fathoms, and if there is a palu handy he will
swallow the hook and swim up complacently to tell
you so ; he kicks a little bit, not much though, when
you try to take him on board your boat ; he is six
feet long ; he is dark grey in colour, and smooth-
skinned ; one of him will feed the whole village,
three hundred mouths, for a week ; and so on.
By the time we had collected all this informa
tion about the palu, our biologist said " it was new
to science." I knew he would, but thought the

ANIMALS

249

conclusion justifiable this time. Palu hooks are cut
solidly out of a very tough hardwood, are eight
inches long, and nearly four inches wide in the
widest part, are difficult to shape and to lash on to
a line, and the trouble they cost the natives to make
induced me to think that the natives really believed
in palu. But then they offered palu-hooks for sale at
one dollar a pair, and I hardened
into unbelief again.
The men on our scientific staff
were very keen to secure a palu,
and spent nearly all meal-times in
planning and discussing how to
bottle a palu when they got him.
One man bagged the empty meat-
casks, and talked seriously about
the advisability of cutting up and
pickling the palu in brine, and
ordered all the meat-casks to be
opened in such a way as to spill
half the brine, so that the lids should not be in
jured. Another man said that the head and skin
would be enough to guide the scientist who would
have the describing of his palu, and he meant just
to pickle the head in a kerosene tin, and dry the
skin. Our biologist said he thought he could manage
to keep a palu if once he had it. But no palu was
ever forthcoming while we were on the island. We
did not offer a reward for a palu, which was a mis
take. Had we offered, say five dollars, for a palu,
and still one was not to be . had, then we should

PALU HOOK.

250 FUNAFUTI
have been justified in saying boldly that the palu
was to be found only in the fevered imagination of a
Funafutian. But we heard of the palu again at Nuie, and then a
missionary told us a few more wonderful stories about
it, but it wasn't quite like the Funafuti one.
Fish generally in Funafuti have a bad time of it ;
they are hooked, speared, netted, and trapped, and
yet in spite of all these drawbacks they manage to
increase and multiply exceedingly.
The native fish-traps are cunningly devised of lattice
work made of tiny, tough twigs, lashed together by
fine sinnet (native cord) ; they have a front entrance
left invitingly open, and a back door not intended
for the use of the fish. This basket-trap is let down
into the lagoon, and acts as a sorting machine as
well as a trap, because all the useless, small fish can
slip easily through the meshes of the lattice-work,
and any big fish who saunters in on an exploring
expedition is not likely to get out again. This
method of fishing just suits the natives, because the
trap can be left until they feel sufficiently energetic
to go and haul it up, and the fish feed and fatten
while they wait.
The natives were extremely generous to us in the
matter of giving us fish, but the supply was irregular ;
we sometimes had more than we could eat while it
was fresh, and then for days we were without any
fish at all. So one of our party said he was going
to be independent, and make a trap of his own of
wire netting, and he should put it down in the lagoon

ANIMALS 251
and paddle off in his canoe any time our camp wanted
fish, and there it would be. We all thought this an
excellent idea, and watched the making of the trap
with great interest. It looked very well when it was
finished, and we were all very glad when it was put
into the lagoon, and already fancied ourselves in
possession of a regular and punctual supply of fresh
fish daily. The natives had watched the making of
this fish-trap too, but they said nothing till it was
finished; then one of them said quietly, "'e no cats
fiss." This was a damping remark, but the quiet
assurance of our manufacturer's manner restored
confidence, and we waited hopefully. We waited
all the rest of the time, and sure enough " 'e no
cats fiss." We avoided the subject of fish and fish-
traps after the first two weeks of waiting.
Every boy and girl on the island liked to possess a
fishing-line, and hooks were in great request as presents
or barter. They liked to get twelve fish-hooks for one
egg, but we refused to deal on those terms, especially
after a week's experience in the purchasing of eggs.
Net-fishing from a canoe by torch-light looked so
romantic and picturesque as seen from the shore,
that I could not rest until I had taken part in it.
So one moonless night Opataia placed his canoe
at my service, Lua brought his fishing net (a small
netted bag, like a strong butterfly net, affixed to the
end of a long slender pole), Tavau made a bundle
of torches and came as torch-bearer, Falaoa came
to paddle the canoe, little Nemei was bailer, and I
was just dead weight.

252 FUNAFUTI
We were a very merry party as we pushed off and
paddled to where the torches were flashing in canoes
already at work. We were soon in the thick of it,
surrounded by other canoes darting about in all
directions, torches flashing, natives shouting and
laughing, and nets whirling and splashing. The
method of it was this : you start dry, with a good
bundle of torches (lama) across the platform made
by the outrigger ; everybody laughs and chatters
for a few minutes, except the one who paddles. He
is looking out for the fish, and suddenly he shouts,
and the man with the net springs " for'ard," whirls
his net, and brings it down with a dexterous dab
and a twist ; the girl with the torch springs up at the
same instant, waves her torch like a maniac, scatter
ing a thick shower of sparks and glowing scraps of
charcoal over the whole company ; the canoe rocks
recklessly, and is made to shoot about in a dozen
directions in as many minutes, and consequently
begins to fill with water which simply streams in
at the sewn joints ; the bailer bails furiously, and
you help ah you can for fear of a swamping, only
stopping occasionally to flick off about two inches
of red-hot charcoal which the torch-bearer playfully
drops on you. Just as you congratulate yourself
that the water is decreasing, the man with the net
lands a fish in your eye, and the bailer looks at
another canoe and inadvertently empties the scoop
into your lap instead of over the side. This alter
nation of pleasant little surprises goes on till you
are scorched in several places, wet through, half

ANIMALS 253
blinded by the flashing torches, and till all the torches
are burnt out. Then you count the fish, if they
are not too numerous, the canoe is paddled back
in the dark to the shore, and you bail and sing
alternately, and pretend you have had an awfully
good time.
I only went torch - fishing once. But I was
ambitious to catch fish, and determined to try line-
fishing. I borrowed a line, according to the custom
in Funafuti, and nearly got a sunstroke in collecting
hermit crabs for bait. After two hours' exciting work
at extracting the wary hermits, I induced a native
boy to show me how to fix on the bait Funafuti
fashion. I carefully followed his instructions for
several days, but caught nothing. Then I sought
that boy's help again, and he again fixed the bait
for me, and even threw the line and caught a plump
little fish at once to show me how easy it was. So
I tried again, got any number of bites, but no fish.
Then I patiently held the line and watched the
fish. The water was clear and shallow, and the
fish were numerous, beautiful, and cautious without
being timid. They always did the same thing ; they
swam up to the surface, blew a little bubble, looked
quickly at me, spoke reassuringly to each other, and
then started on the bait. They made dainty little
nibbles and sharp little tugs, and always fetched the
whole thing off without touching the hook, quarrelled
over and ate it. On one occasion I landed two small
fish, but they were not of an edible variety ; and once
I hooked a large fish and in great excitement hauled

254 FUNAFUTI
him ashore, where he turned a back somersault, and
dragged the line over my finger, cutting it to the
bone. This was painful, and I danced round and
used expressions that would have shocked a mission
ary ; in the meantime the fish got away, carried with
him the hook and more than half the borrowed line.
I borrowed another line and several hooks, and began
fishing again. I worked like this for a week, and
caught several loose chunks of coral, but never a fish,
and having lost all the hooks and the second line I
gave up. After this when the natives enquired, with
a beaming smile slightly tempered with slyness, when
I meant to " make fiss " again, I used to reply airily,
"me palenti work now ; bine-by me make fiss."
Except the creatures already mentioned, and a few
sea-birds, I saw no other animals on the island. There
were neither fleas nor snakes, and to one who has
camped out in the Australian bush this was something
to marvel over.
Dogs and goats were both introduced into the island
years ago. Dogs met their fate for reasons which I
have elsewhere specified ; goats made such ravages
in the taro gardens that the natives, who do not
understand fencing, were driven to convert them
all into kaikai (food).
Once upon a time a trading vessel called in at
Funafuti with a real live horse on board, and the
entire native population went off in their canoes to
see the wonderful solofanua, as they called it. One
small boy, to whom I showed the picture of a horse,
got tremendously excited ; his eyes started out, and

ANIMALS 255
he simply yelled " Solofanua ! Solofanua ! ! Solo
fanua!!!" The reading books supplied to the mission school
are furnished with pictures of strange animals, such as
lions and monkeys, and an amusing story is told by
Captain Hore, of the L. M. Society's ship John
Williams, of the excitement the sight of a sheep
on his ship caused among the natives. The sheep
in question was in a pen, and one native caught
sight of it, stared, and started back with the usual
exclamation, "Tapa!" He called his comrades, and
then all came to look, creeping cautiously, with wide-
open eyes of terror, and tumbled back on each other
in a panic if the poor sheep did but move. The
captain could not make out why the people were
so scared, but after some questioning discovered that
the natives thought this strange animal was the lion
(leona), a picture of which they had seen in their
school primers !

CHAPTER XIX.
UNINHABITED ISLETS
Funafuti is the main islet of the atoll, and on it the
natives live for about nine months in the year ; for the
remaining three months most of them live in Funafala,
one of the southernmost islets. They carry with
them all their belongings (not an overpowering mass
of luggage) to Funafala, and make themselves
fairly comfortable for the extended picnic. They
have a permanent village of good huts there and
a church, and they spend their working time in
fishing for bonito, and in making copra. This plan
gives the people a change of scene, a slight change
of air, and a distinct change of work, and the taro
gardens on the main island get a much-needed rest.
Funafala is well planted, with cocoa-nuts chiefly ;
there are only one or two bread-fruit trees and no
taro or ikalaoi (a large variety of edible arum)
patches. The -chief foods, therefore, during these
months must be fish and cocoa-nut ; but on Sundays
the natives indulge in lau-kau, i.e., the curled tips of
the young fronds of a crow's-nest fern, cooked in lolo.
This crow's-nest fern, kau, grows all over the islets in
great abundance, and I have seen fronds of it four
256

UNINHABITED ISLETS 257
feet long and a foot wide ; but that was only on one
islet, where the soil was enriched with pumice and
guano. On the main islet the largest fronds seldom
reached more than two feet in length.
There are ruins of a fine coral cement church in
Funafala ; one side and the roof of it were destroyed
by a hurricane a few years ago. I don't wonder that
the natives have not summoned up sufficient energy
to repair it ; the wonder is they were ever industri
ous enough to build it. Fancy two large, well-built
churches on one atoll, and only two hundred and
seventy-five inhabitants. They have run up a very
airy hut for the services now, a lovely place for wor
ship on a fine day. On a wet one the Sabbath garments
would come to grief. The other islets have no perma
nent huts, nothing but half a dozen palm-leaf shelters
on those islets nearest the fishing grounds. These
shelters are used by the natives when they land to
cook the fish before bringing it back to the main islet.
The islets are of various shapes and sizes, and are
all covered with vegetation, except the smallest islet,
which is just a patch of coral reef above high-water
mark, supporting two miserable-looking cocoa-nut
palms. That pretty story we learnt as children about
drifting cocoa-nuts landing on a newly-emerged reef,
and straightway sprouting and growing, and gradually
dropping a flourishing family of palmlets round it, is
a fairy-tale it seems. The natives laugh at the notion
of a self-raised cocoa-nut, and declare that their fore
fathers planted all the old trees, and that they have

258 FUNAFUTI
planted all the young ones. A cocoa-nut tree needs
tender nursing during the first years of its life.
The day on which we visited the smallest islet the
sea was rather rough, and as the reef close in to the
islet was an extra tricky one, our boatmen got out
and walked up to their waists in the water, guiding
the boat through the surf towards the shore ; occa
sionally they slipped off a ledge of coral, and dis
appeared for an instant, to the great amusement of
the rest of the party. We could not get very close
to the shore, so Opataia took my husband on his
shoulders and walked through the surf with him. He
got just as wet as if he had walked, for the surf was
heavy, but he got ashore much quicker than he would
have done had he tried floundering through on his
own feet. I could see every inch of this islet from
the boat, and it was not inviting, so I elected to
remain in the boat, which was dancing recklessly
about in the surf. My husband solemnly paced the
patch, took levels, eyed a few pieces of coral rubble
knowingly, made a few notes in a book, and then
looked happy. The people watched him respectfully,
and when he had finished, Opataia, with great gravity,
planted a sprouting cocoa-nut he had brought with
him, and called it Tavita (David), in honour of the
learned one. Did he think that Tavita might have
brought fruitfulness to that barren spot by walking
over it and muttering to his strange instruments ? A
geologist, if he's not a fool in the eyes of a native,
must be a devil-man (magician).
One islet, Fuafatu, has the dearest little boat-cove

UNINHABITED ISLETS 259
imaginable ; the chief difficulty about it is that the
entrance is only just wide enough to let a small boat
through, and if you do not hit that tiny passage your
boat and you are doomed, for the surf is strong and
the reef jagged, and if by a miracle you escaped
being dashed to pieces on the reef, you would be
carried across it to drift about on the open Pacific,
out of the track of vessels. I shall not easily forget
that boat-cove, because of my manner of arriving
there. It was in this way. The survey party that
went there started when I was bound to remain to
nurse a sick man, and I was therefore left behind on
the main islet. My patient rapidly recovered, and
just as I was reviling my luck because of missing this
trip, I saw one of the boats, that had taken the party
to Fuafatu, returning. I ran down to the landing-
place, and was told that they had come back for more
ropes for a dredging excursion on the morrow, and
that they intended returning that very night as soon as
the moon rose. I determined to go with them. The
moon was hidden by clouds, and did not appear at the
right time ; I went down, however, to the boat, and
found that Opataia (who was in command as usual on
these trips) was asleep, and no one seemed thinking
of making a start. I put this down to the " bine-by "
policy of the natives, and ruthlessly roused Opataia
to ask him when he meant to start, as I was going
with him. He looked at me, and then at the sky,
and across the lagoon, and then placidly gave orders
to the boatmen to get ready, and we set sail about
9.30 p.m. There were a few stars peeping, just

260 FUNAFUTI
enough for Opataia to steer by ; he always smiled
in a kindly, pitying way when we mentioned a com
pass. I asked him what he would do if all the stars
were hidden, he gravely emitted the noun "taula"
(anchor !)
The murkiness of the night was weirdly pleasant
while we were under the shelter of the island on the
lagoon reef, but as soon as we were clear of the
shelter, I began to understand why Opataia had gone
to bed instead of starting off on that eleven mile
sail across the lagoon. I did not understand why
he had not tried to explain to me that it would be
wiser to postpone the trip, but I said nothing, words
would be useless under the circumstances, for the
wind was distinctly in favour of our getting to
Fuafatu ; and the islet we had left, although not
more than a mile behind us, was lost in the blackness
of the night. We could see a few stars through
broken clouds, we could see the white horses on
the waves, we could hear the sudden rushes of the
gusts of wind and the swish of the water as our
tiny boat tore through it.
I made a comfortable seat for myself in the stern,
and settled in my mind how I was to avoid getting
mixed up in the coils of dredging-rope when we
capsized. Then I looked round the boat, and saw
that the natives were in a little group near the mast
with their eyes directed to the lug sail ; a student
of our party sat in the centre of the boat also looking
at the lug sail. Opataia, I gratefully observed, was at
the helm with the "heroic look" in his face, and his

UNINHABITED ISLETS 261
eyes alternately glancing round at the sky and sea,
and then at the lug sail. I looked at the lug sail
a good deal too, because I knew the natives didn't
understand that particular sort of sail, and the student
had rigged up a paddle to make an apology for a
boom for it, and with such a strong and withal un
certain wind, we were never sure where that paddle
would find itself next.
The natives looked perfectly placid, but grave, and
there was no chattering or singing, even the pipe did
not circulate freely. We were all still and waiting.
A queer feeling of elation took me, and in order to
depress myself properly I thought of the possibilities.
They were pretty bad ones — the chance of a capsize
every time the wind puffed from a new direction, the
chance of being blown out of the northern entrance
and drifting and starving on the unsympathetic ocean,
and the chance of smashing up on the reef in attempt
ing to make the narrow entrance to the boat harbour.
But it was of no use, it was impossible not to feel
uplifted. We none of us attempted to look at a
watch ; it was too dark to begin with, and besides time
did not seem to be of such great importance just then.
It seemed as if one had gone on like that — in the
roar of the wind, the swish of the sea, and the dark
ness — for ages, and that one would continue to go on
and on like that for ever. Suddenly Opataia looked
stern, slightly moved the helm, shouted a short, sharp
order to the men ; there was a change in the motion
of the boat, a roll, a lurch, and there we were, inside
the still water of the tiny boat harbour of Fuafatu !

262 FUNAFUTI
It seemed little short of a miracle to us that we had
really run that eleven miles in such a wind and sea,
and had hit that tiny passage not more than twenty
yards wide on a dark night, with only the occasional
glimmer of a star among the broken clouds to guide
us. But we had, and before we had finished praising
Opataia's skill, the moon shone out for the first time,
only for an instant, and showed us the seething white
mass of surf we had just come through and the black,
angry waves beyond. Opataia pointed to a huge
black cloud speeding towards us from the east, and
said " lei " (good), meaning that we had landed not a
moment too soon.
We found the rest of our party quietly asleep
under shelters made of a few sticks, stuck into the
ground about four feet apart, tied together at the
top, and covered with loose palm leaves as thatch.
Opataia pointed out Tavita's hut, and as I had
brought a rug in a biscuit-tin and it was dry, I
crawled under the shelter, wrapped the rug round
my wet skirts and feet, and stretched myself on the
floor, with elbows in the sand and chin on palms,
and looked out of the hut while relating the ad
ventures of the past three days to my spouse, who
dutifully tried to rouse himself from his beauty-sleep
to listen. He woke up soon though, for, before I
was half through with my recital, the short lull was
broken by a squall of wind of almost hurricane force,
that broke the supports of our hut, and bent the
palm-tree crowns almost to the ground. The moon,
which had been struggling fitfully to assert herself,

UNINHABITED ISLETS 263
was hidden, and we were left to imagine the damage
that was being done by the storm. When the rain
came — real, nice, tropical rain — swept almost hori
zontally by the wind, we were quickly soaked to the
skin, and yet we felt quite jolly, and shrieked out to
each other our satisfaction at finding ourselves in
such a Mark Tapley frame of mind. It was difficult
to talk in such a din, and we contented ourselves
most of the time with listening, and wondering how
the rest of the party were faring. When the blow
had spent itself and we settled ourselves for a nap,
there came up a thunderstorm of unusual violence ;
so we waited patiently until that was over, and then
slept, but not soundly, worn out though we were.
If you have never slept on a palm-leaf bed, take
my advice and don't, unless you can stretch out full
length, and can sleep without moving. At every
camping-place our native friends gathered numbers
of palm leaves, split them up through the midrib,
and disposed them on the floor of our hut cunningly —
midribs out to form the edge of the bed, and pinnule-
points in to make a soft, springy mattress. That
sounds good, you say. Yes, but if you don't lie
perfectly still one or more of those midribs will become
displaced, and will get under you, and then — well,
when you feel very sore on one side, you roll over
in desperation and misery, and you displace a few
more midribs, and so on, all night, until you have the
sensation of sleeping on a gigantic gridiron. In the
morning you get up early, under a sense of ill-usage
and general discouragement.

264 FUNAFUTI
We were up very early on the morning following
the storm, for we were very damp, the midribs had
got awfully mixed, and numbers of the biggest and
most impudent of the hermit crabs had come into our
shelter to keep us company.
When the whole party assembled we found that
our two students had been spending most of the
night holding on to the guy ropes of their tent ;
one confessed to having got a little wet, but the
other said he had not got wet all through the storm.
We didn't challenge the statement. The natives had
not been so well protected as we had been, for their
shelters blew clean away at the first puff; but like
true philosophers, they rolled themselves up in their
fala mats, and waited for more news. They hadn't
a dry rag among them, and it was a chilly morning
for the tropics ; but they seemed quite cheerful, and
all assembled on the beach at 6 a.m. for prayers.
By the way, the natives never miss prayers. We
took them away to various islets for several dredging
and surveying trips, and the boatmen assembled in
clean lava-lavas, regularly at 6 a.m. and at sundown,
on the beach for prayer-meetings. No matter where
we were, or what the weather was like, prayers were
never neglected. We were very much astonished
the first time we saw them preparing for the service,
getting into clean shirts and lava-lavas, and grouping
themselves round a fire. We wondered what the fire
was for, as it was a hot night ; and we wondered why
the men had put on shirts, because they seldom wear
any clothing but the loin cloth when working. The

UNINHABITED ISLETS 265
fire was to give light enough for Opataia to read
by ; and the shirts were a part of the religious
ceremony, "palenti does" being one of the ob
servances that the pastors insist on. My husband
and I were strolling on the sandy beach while these
preparations were going forward ; but the sudden
outburst of the weird singing stopped our wanderings,
and we stood still to watch these brown children of
the London Missionary Society. It was a perfect
night, still and balmy, with a faint light from a
young moon ; and the natives made an exquisite
picture as they sat in their bright clothes round a
wood fire, under a stately clump of palms. They
sang a hymn heartily and reverently, and then
Opataia's deep voice was heard reading from a
Samoan Bible, after which all the men closed their
eyes and sat still while Opataia offered up a short
prayer. After the few still seconds which usually
succeed a prayer, the men dispersed, took off their
clean clothes, and got into working garb and went
to bed, or wandered off in quest of sea-fowl. After
the first night we always joined the group for evening
prayers, and we were struck with the frequency of
the word " faafatai " (thanks) in all Opataia's prayers ;
they were chiefly thanksgiving, and not begging, as
are many extempore prayers.
I passed several happy days under the palm-trees
on the various islets of the atoll, with Opataia, Tanei,
and the trader ; while my husband and his students
were pacing, and taking levels, and otherwise ac
cumulating knowledge.

266 FUNAFUTI
First of all Opataia always took me round the islet
— it was never a long walk — and pointed out to me
all the trees and plants that were peculiar to the islet,
and he always wrote down or dictated their native
names for me. He would also draw my attention
to all extra big deposits of drift-pumice, and to the
soil enriched by guano, and to any patches of cultiva
tion, evidently mistaking me for an intelligent person
yearning after interesting and varied information.
When I was tired he would politely climb a palm
and fetch me down a drinking cocoa-nut, and after
a refreshing drink we wandered back to the shade
nearest the landing place. Here I would rest, while
Opataia, spear in hand, went off to the reef in search
of fish for our midday kaikai. In the meantime
Tanei would make a native oven, and when the fish
arrived it would be plaited in palm pinnules, laid on
the hot stones (with some unskinned green bananas
if we were fortunate enough to have any), and all
would be covered in with the leaves of the crow's-
nest fern, and a hillock of sand piled on top. When
the meal was thus satisfactorily arranged for, they
would sit down with me, and talk, and prepare fibre
from the fo tagata for fishing-lines, or lasso rats
for my amusement.
The fo tagata was not so plentiful on the main islet
as on the northernmost islets, and so the natives used
to seize the opportunity offered by surveying trips, to
gather a good supply of the tough pliable bark. The
fo tagata is a shrub sending up from the rootstock
a number of slender shoots from three to six feet in

UNINHABITED ISLETS 267
length. The natives selected those that were not too
young or too old, but just right for their purpose, cut off
as many as they could carry, and brought them back
to the landing place. After stripping off the leaves
they would, with their teeth, peel off the whole
bark from base to tip. This bark was then flattened
out like a strip of dark green ribbon, about two and
a half inches wide at the base, and narrowing almost
to a point at the tip, and was rolled into balls with
the smooth damp inner side in ; and these balls were
then carefully rolled in several layers of thick green
leaves, to keep them moist until they got back to the
main islet. Next day they would unroll these ribbons,
and scrape until all the soft greenish material was
removed, and only the long tough fibres remained,
and these when seasoned would be plaited into
exceedingly strong and durable fishing-lines. The
natives prefer buying European fishing-lines when
they can afford it.
Lassoing rats is rather an exciting game. In all
the uninhabited islets these rats are as numerous as
the crabs, and you can't sit down quietly anywhere
for two minutes without seeing their sharp little noses
and bright eyes peeping out from under the vegetable
refuse on the ground. Opataia was a capital hand at
lassoing them ; and even his stately gravity would
relax somewhat when he nicked a rat neatly. The
method was this : a drinking cocoa-nut was scooped
out, and just a small portion of the delicate soft white
kernel left in the bottom of the shell. The shell
was then propped upright carefully, circular aperture

268 FUNAFUTI
uppermost, and a running noose made in the end
of a fishing-line was laid carefully round this aperture.
When these preparations were complete, Opataia
returned to the other end of the noosed line, and
waited. Soon several little noses would poke out of
the rubbish, and sniff rapidly ; then the bravest spirit
would run up the nut, and hang half-way down inside
it, while the little paws scraped up the delicate kernel,
and then the cruel line would be jerked, and the loop
closed on the poor little panting body. Opataia
caught five rats in five minutes, and then I got sorry
for the poor, pretty, cheeky little things, and drew him
away from this pursuit.
Dredging on the outer edge of the ocean reef was
part of the work of a surveying party ; it was an
amusement in which I did not join, although I often
watched it with bated breath from the shore, and
always counted heads whenever they were at rest long
enough, to make sure that the tale was complete.
The quantity of rope that was lost over that 800 feet
of submarine cliff was something to wonder over.
There were all sorts of contrivances for dredging :
iron claws to snatch and break the branching corals
growing out from the reef, hemp-tangles and nets to
catch the broken scraps, and iron tubes lined with
tallow and resin to dump down on to the soft stuff.
It was very easy to lower these things into the water,
but it took my husband, two students, and about half
a dozen natives to haul one up, and they had to pull
sometimes for hours, and finally hauled up enough
stuff to fill a small pill-box ; sometimes there was

UNINHABITED ISLETS 269
enough to fill a 2 lb. meat tin, and then there were
great rejoicings. Have you ever tried getting sprays
of delicate coral out of hemp-tangles ? I have. My
husband thought it would be nice for me to help the
great work of the expedition by freeing the coral
chips from the tangles. I did a little, but found that
the employment was too mechanical, and so I re
signed. No one else seemed keen about taking up
the work I had so basely abandoned, and I observed
that pieces of the tangles were still mixed up with
those corals when they arrived in Sydney. My
husband thought it would be a nice new game for our
children, and spread the dining-room floor with news
papers and showed the dear children how easy it was
to pick out hemp -tangles, and how nice. They
looked dubiously at the coral and worked for about
half an hour, and then unostentatiously dispersed ;
they avoided mentioning coral for a few days.
Whether the " office boy " finally had to complete
the work, or whether the Royal Society of London
got the corals with hemp-tangles thrown in, I have
deemed it best not to inquire.
Sometimes the iron claws of a dredge or the
tallowed iron tube would lose its heart to a big
chunk of the reef, and would cling to it firmly, in
spite of all the hauling of all the willing hands aloft.
Then something had to go, and it was usually the
rope ; if it was a good rope it would break close up
to the boat, so that all the rope as well as the amorous
dredge would be left to woo the reef ; if it was an old
rope, scarcely worth the hauling up, it would break

270 FUNAFUTI
close to the dredge, so that none of it was lost. When
a rope snapped, those who were pulling it fell back
wards promiscuously into the bottom of the boat.
This kind of pastime could only be pursued on
comparatively fine days (when of course it was fear
fully hot), on account of the smallness of the boats
and the danger of the reef; and about five hauls a
day, in addition to the rowing there and back again,
were generally enough to satisfy all hands. The
natives required a good deal of rest after a day's
dredging, and when it was calm and they could not
sail back to the main islet, but had to row the eleven
miles or so, it required all the trader's cheerful
management to save them from despondency.

CHAPTER XX.
SIP A SIP A!
One Sunday morning, just before our usual time for
rising, an excited native tore into our hut yelling,
" Sip a sip a ! " (A ship, a ship). We rose and dressed
at express speed, and tore down to the lagoon beach,
for we had only been one month on the island, and
no ship was expected. There, comfortably anchored
close to the lagoon reef, was the little white steamer
Clyde, and on the shore, just landed from a boat, was
no less a person than our Fiji friend, Dr. Corney, in
spotless white ducks, looking so beautifully civilized
that we felt almost too shabby and dirty to claim
acquaintance. We did though, with no apparent
hesitation, and carried him off to our hut, deluged
him with questions, introduced him to our most
troublesome patients, and got advice which strength
ened our hands considerably for the remainder of
our stay. He had brought us a box of good things
to eat, a present from his thoughtful wife, a box of
apples, tomatoes, pumpkins, onions, pawpaws, and
passion fruit, all of which were delicious to us after
a month's abstinence from such dainties.
The Funafuti girls, as usual on such occasions, put
271

272 FUNAFUTI
in a very good time flirting with the sailors, white
men, Fiji boys, and Rotuma boys, who came in the
Clyde. The Rotuma boys were very handsome, and
the Funafuti girls scrupled not to tell them so publicly,
and in such a way as to lacerate the feelings of the
Funafuti boys. The Clyde had brought with her a
shipwrecked crew of thirteen Norwegian sailors
whom they had picked up on Sophia Island, the
southernmost of the Ellice Group. These blue-
eyed, fair-haired sailors came on shore, and were a
great centre of attraction to us as well as to our
brown friends. Theirs was a pitiful story. Their
ship had been wrecked more than a year before on
Maiden Island, and they had drifted about in an
open boat with very little food for weeks, for a dis
tance of about 1660 miles. Just as they were
exhausted from want of food and exposure, they
saw Sophia Island, and with a last supreme effort
got their boat nearly ashore. There were three
black women and one man on the island, which is
only a guano station, and these ran into the surf and
helped them ashore ; one man died as soon as he
landed, the rest pulled round and were in capital
health and good condition, but almost without clothes,
when the Clyde saw their signals and took them off.
They had been on the island ten months when they
saw a ship ; they signalled, the ship passed on ! Just
think of it ! It was our ship, the Maori, that had
passed, but she was a long distance off, and not one
of us saw the signals. After this bitter disappoint
ment a month had elapsed, and then the little Clyde

SIP A SIP A! 273
passed, providentially close in to the island, and they
were rescued. The few natives on the island had
been very good to them, but they had no spare
clothes to give ; the women did what they could
though, they made them pandanus-leaf hats and fed
them on cocoa-nut, fish, turtle, and wild-fowl.
The Clyde could only stay two days at Funafuti,
but they were two red-letter days to us, and we felt
lonely and flat after she left. We had no more
visitors until a week before we left the island.
On this occasion we were at Funafala on a dredging
expedition, and the boat with the dredging party on
board were about half a mile from the shore, when
I noticed that the natives began to jump about and
behave strangely. The boat turned about and made
for the shore again, and as soon as it was close
enough Samu bellowed out, "Man-o-wah, man-o-wah,
e palenti fai lup" (Man-of-war, man-of-war, he plenty
fire up), and pointed to a column of smoke rising
from the ocean side of the belt of palms on the
opposite islet. We scrambled our camping materials
together in a great hurry, bundled everything into
the boats, and set sail for the main islet. We could
see the smoke of a steamer working round the
western side of the atoll, evidently making for the
north passage, and the natives got very happy and
excited, speculating as to which would reach the
main islet first, ourselves or the man-of-war. We
did, but only by the skin of our teeth, just in time
to get clean clothes on before the cruiser dropped
anchor in the lagoon. The natives were rather
T

274 FUNAFUTI
astonished at seeing us shake off our working garb,
but we advised them to put on their best clothes
too, because, as we put it, " Man-o-war, plenty big
boss," but they laughed and said, " No, missionali
big boss." When the warship came in she proved
to be H.M.S. Royalist, commanded by Captain
Rason. Soon the whole island was making holiday
again, flirtation was the order of the day, and the
Jack-tars who got ashore had an extremely good
time. The captain and officers, who were soon
busy taking photographs, were followed by admiring
groups of natives, all anxious to appear in the sun-
pictures, all inquisitive and quizzical, passing the
funniest remarks and making apt criticisms. The
piccaninnies pretended to be terrified of Captain
Rason, followed him gingerly, and made tracks for
the bush as soon as he turned round, but they
became quite friendly when he wanted to photograph
them, all except Semanua, my piccaninny with the
reddish brown hair, and she was with difficulty
induced to stand still, probably because her picture
was the one specially wanted.
H.M.S. Royalist stayed only a day, but gave us
such provisions as we needed, and helped us in a
number of ways. When she was gone we began
speculating as to whether the long-expected trading
ship would turn up, and how long it would be before
the mission ship came in. Two days after the
Royalist left us there was another cry, on Sunday
morning again, too, of "Sip a sip a!"; this time
followed by the excited cry of " Teone Viliamo,

SIP A SIP A! 275
Teone Viliamo ! " [John Williams, John Williams).
We looked at each other ; this was the mission ship,
in which it had been arranged that some or all of us
were to return to Sydney. She was not expected
for at least another week, and we had scarcely done
any packing.
What a variety of feelings the sight of that ship
induced — joy at the idea of getting back home to
the bairns, regret at leaving my Funafuti friends,
distaste at the prospect of having to travel in a
missionary ship. How I had been pitied by my
Sydney friends who knew that I had to return in a
mission ship, and I pitied myself too, for I did not
feel it would be pleasant for me, an unorthodox and
not too pious Anglican, to be boxed up in a small
ship with a number of stiff, unsympathetic Puritans.
I certainly felt a little sorry for the Puritans too.
Notwithstanding my doleful anticipations I was
in a great hurry to get a glimpse of my fellow-
passengers for the return voyage ; so my husband
told Tanei to get us a canoe, and we were paddled
off to the ship, and were received by Captain Hore
(of Tanganyika renown) and the visiting missionary
and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Goward, of Samoa.
The first look into their faces and the first handshake
were reassuring, and I soon found that the Puritan
bigots I had dreaded did not exist. These were
just good, earnest people, full of their work, of
course, and anxious to do what was right, but they
were also people who had not only read and thought,
but had travelled widely, and were broad - minded,

276 FUNAFUTI
full of interesting information, and pleasant to live
with. They managed to put up with our short
comings, too, in an extremely liberal and amiable
manner. We were soon friends, went round the village
together, and chatted amicably, even about mission
work, which before coming to the island I had held
in small esteem. I had never seen any mission
work when I disposed of the subject in this summary
fashion, but what I had seen of the results of the
London Missionary Society's work in this island
commanded my respect.
The John Williams could only stay two days, and
during those two days everyone worked at high
pressure. The visiting missionary and his wife ex
amined the school, consulted with church deacons and
the native pastor, distributed stationery and medicines,
and conducted services and prayer meetings. We
rushed round packing with all our might, for four of
us were to go in the John Williams, and the other
seven were to remain behind "to bottom the bore,"
if possible. This necessitated rapid thought and
arrangement for the securing of money and provisions
for those who were to be left behind.
At last the farewell moment came. I had been
round to my special friends, the trader's family, and
my native mother ; my daughter and piccaninnies
had followed me round ever since the ship had come
in, making me feel throaty with their sad, long-drawn-
out "aues" (alas!). I had seen too much of a South
Sea Island farewell to wish to have to endure one,

SIP A SIP A! 277
and I was puzzled for a way out of it, for the people
had said, in a manner to imply that it was to be an
exciting entertainment to them and a great compli
ment to me, that they would "palenti too moshy cly"
(plenty too much cry) when I went away.
I had seen them say good-bye to Misalaima, a
Nukulaelae girl, who was returning to her island in
the mission ship. They had given her a pet pig, and
she clasped it to her bosom, while the girl friends she
had made in Funafuti crowded around her, hugging
and rubbing noses and howling. In this scrimmage
the pet pig got squeezed, and he joined his squeals
to those of the native girls, much to the amusement
of our students, who said derisively, " Look there,
puaka palenti cly too ! " This made them shriek with
laughter in the middle of a beautiful wail.
But the full meaning of "palenti too moshy cly" did
not dawn on me until I saw them say good-bye to
one of their own girls, Vitolia, who was going in the
John Williams to Apia, to the High School there.
All the village assembled on the beach. Vitolia came
out, with swollen eyes and damp countenance, in a
frock just presented to her by another girl. When
she was close up to the boat her mother clung round
her neck, rubbed noses, and set up the most dismal
howl that ever anyone's nerves were thrilled with.
Then the mother stood aside, emitting fearful howls
at intervals, and raining down a perfect tropical
shower of tears ; and one after another the girls went
up to Vitolia, hung on her neck and wailed, until I
feared the girl would be reduced to pulp with the

278 FUNAFUTI
squeezing and the tears. By this time the wailing
had become general, and was so dismal and bitter
that I felt it was approaching the unendurable. Just
then Vitolia was hustled into the boat and taken
away. The people dried their eyes and left off
howling to watch the boat, and in about half an hour
were capering about all smiles and high spirits.
This was a startling change, and rather surprised
me. They had been in earnest over their miserable
wailing, and yet they were genuinely happy again
so soon. I came to the conclusion that in their grief,
as in many other ways, they were like children — they
were quickly moved, violent in their expressions of
sorrow, and as easily diverted.
It occurred to me that I might catch itch, ringworm,
and yaws combined if I let them hang round me in
the island fashion when they said good-bye. This
thought gave me the creeps, and I consulted Mr.
Goward, who laughingly suggested that I should be
rushed through the crowd and hustled off into the
boat, before the people could guess what was happen
ing. The girls and boys, however, had arranged to
give me a little sing-sing as a farewell compliment,
and when the usual speech -making time arrived I
had a happy thought. I asked Mr. Goward to make
a little speech in Samoan for me, to tell the people
how happy I had been on their island, how much I
loved them, and how I regretted leaving them ; that I
wanted to remember them with bright eyes and smiling
faces as I had always seen them while living among
them ; that I did not like tears and lamentations,

SIP A SIP A! 279
so that no one who cared for me was to cry, but
that if they wanted to make a big noise they were
to sing out " Hip, hip, hurrah!" like the palagi boys
did. This pleased them immensely, and I went
round shaking hands with all, kissed my native
mother and daughter, and got into the boat ; and
the last I saw of my Funafuti friends was a swaying,
capering mass of arms and legs, and ear-piercing yells
of " Ip-ip-ulla ! "

CHAPTER XXI.
ANOTHER ISLAND
Slowly Funafuti faded from our sight as we stood
on the deck of the John Williams looking backward
regretfully, watching the ever-increasing indistinctness
of its outline, until at last it lay buried in the quiver
ing yellow light of the setting sun.
From that golden blot I turned with a sigh.
I leaned over the rail that separated me from the
lower deck, on which were scattered interesting
groups of coloured passengers — a sick child on the
way to the medicine-man in Samoa, our pretty
Vitolia setting out into the big world with swollen
eyes and pathetic mouth, several contented-looking
Samoan pastors returning home for a holiday after
several years' exile, and last, but not least interesting,
the castaways.
There were eight of these castaways, sole survivors
of a party of twenty-two Samoans, who had been
drifting about the Pacific in a canoe from June 17th
to August 1 6th, 1897. They had set out from
Tutuila, an island in the Samoan Group, on June 17th,
with only two days' provisions on board, to cross
to another island in the group, but were blown away

ANOTHER ISLAND 281
in a NW. by W. direction to Nanomea, the northern
most island in the Ellice Group, a total distance of
nine hundred and thirty miles.
During this ghastly voyage of eight weeks these
unfortunates lived first of all on the few cocoa-nuts
which they had brought for the two days' sail they
had anticipated, then at long intervals they were
fortunate enough to hook two sharks ; they carefully
collected the rain that fell in frequent showers, and
finally were driven to gnawing wood and siapa (native
cloth) to allay the pangs of hunger.
Eight of them died during this eight weeks of
misery ; the remaining fourteen were cast up on the
reef at Nanomea, too weak to get out of the boat,
and though they were carried ashore and hospitably
entertained by the Nanomeans, six more of them
succumbed to starvation. The eight survivors were
taken on board the John Williams when she called
at Nanomea on her annual visitation, and she was
now taking them back to their homes. There were
three men, one elderly woman, and a girl of about
twelve, who had revived wonderfully, and even put
on flesh, although they had not reached the stage
when they could smile or rejoice over their escape.
They sat on the deck for the most part, thoughtfully
dejected. The other three were pitiable objects, thin as
skeletons, and too weak to walk : one, a boy of four,
was feeding up in a hopeful way, but the other two,
young women, were in the last stage of consump
tion from exposure and starvation, and it was doubtful
whether they would live until they reached Apia.

282 FUNAFUTI
A story of horrors this, too common on the bosom
of the gentle Pacific. I thought of the terrible
experience of the Norwegian sailors rescued by the
Clyde, of the numbers of ships and canoes that had
been missing and never heard of again, and with
a shudder recalled our narrow escape in crossing
the outward-setting current of the lagoon on that
memorable night when Opataia steered us into safety
with such marvellous skill.
I shook off these creeping horrors and turned to
the more cheerful companionship on the upper deck,
but had barely regained my cheerfulness when I found
I had urgent business at the ship's side, after which
I retired to an airy and spotlessly clean cabin and
there lost all regrets, and hopes too, for that matter,
in the grip of a more absorbing misery.
The night wore on, and the day dawned, the ship
stopped, and I hastily dressed and went on deck.
Land again ! Something like Funafuti too, but with
less dense and brilliant foliage. This was Nukulaelae,
the last of the islands at which the John Williams
has to call on its annual visitation.
Like Funafuti, Nukulaelae is a coral atoll, but there
is no entrance for ships into its lagoon, and the John
Williams had to lie off at a respectful distance from
the ocean reef and send the visiting missionary and
his wife ashore in one of the fine surf boats belonging
to the ship. My husband and the alumni were, of
course, keen for the shore, and persuaded me to
accompany them. That landing was an experience.
It was low tide, and we could only be rowed close

ANOTHER ISLAND 283
in to where the surf broke on the ocean edge of the
reef; there we had to step out of the large, safe-
looking surf boat manned by a dozen strong Aitutaki
boys into a cockle-shell of a canoe manned by a
solitary Nukulaelae native. This canoe was rapidly
paddled towards what looked like a little cove with
a waterfall at the end, and just as I was wondering
why we were making suicidal tracks for such a place,
the native in charge of the canoe yelled and per
formed extraordinary antics with his paddle, and
suddenly the canoe was lifted up on the back of a
big wave, and with a rush and a roar we were carried
over the breakers and a long way up on to the reef
platform. Here another native, standing waist deep
in water waiting for us, seized the canoe, and we
were paddled across the reef until the water of the
lagoon became too shallow, and then we were invited
to get out and wade. We did, but I floundered
about so helplessly on the uneven and slippery coral
floor, knee deep in water, that a polite native offered
me his back, and I mounted and rode triumphantly
" pick-a-back " across the rest of the reef, and landed
among a small but observant group of natives.
By the time I reached the shore the missionaries
were well into their work of interviewing pastor and
deacons, examining the school, and conducting ser
vices. My husband and the students were yearning
for a geological and photographing tramp, and so I
said good-bye to them and began a leisurely stroll on
my own account. This atoll is much smaller than
Funafuti, the islets are closer together, and really

284 FUNAFUTI
form a "garland of green" round a small lagoon,
the calm surface of which is protected from the deep-
sea currents by an unbroken wall of coral reef.
The main islet on which I stood was very small ;
the foliage was not so rich as Funafuti, the trees were
scraggier and farther apart ; there seemed less soil
and less moisture, and the glare from the greyish-
white coral was distressing to the eyes. The natives
were not so lively or so well dressed, though in every
other respect remarkably like our Funafuti friends.
Every man I met asked me for tobacco, and I found
that the island was miserably poor and had run
completely out of tobacco, because their trader had
been absent for several months, and there had been
no one therefore to buy their copra or to sell them
tobacco. Their trader was not an admirable person,
even Louis Becke couldn't make an adorable scamp
out of him ; he certainly had been entangled in a
lively squabble in which he had threatened to shoot
the king, and for which he had been deported to
Funafuti, there to await the High Commissioner's
pleasure. While we were in Funafuti this man had
received permission from His Excellency the High
Commissioner to return to Nukulaelae, and he there
fore posed as a reformed character before the good
missionaries, and got a free passage for himself, his
native wife, and two children in the John Williams.
The Nukulaelae natives welcomed him back affec
tionately. I saw the natives with their arms tenderly
entwined about his waist, for this man meant tobacco,
and what is life in Nukulaelae without tobacco ? But

Chief Justice of Nukulaelae
in Native Costume

The Trader.

The Jamaica Man.

Nukulaelae Natives.

ANOTHER ISLAND 285
there was one person who was not pleased to see
the trader back ; this was a Jamaica native, much
darker in colour than the Ellice islanders, who spoke
of them contemptuously as " niggers," and called
^himself an Englishman because he was born a British
subject. This worthy had been put on shore about
ten years previously from a ship on which he had
misbehaved himself considerably ; but he was not
in the least depressed by his position, and had made
himself of consequence in the island by bullying the
natives, and he hated the trader bitterly as a rival
bully. Such men as these are corrupting influences in the
Pacific Islands.
The Jamaica worthy saw me coming, jauntily
advanced to meet me, and said, " Me de Gob'ment
Interpreter, king e say e want speka you, misi, you
come along." I followed him to the royal hut and
was introduced to the king, a dirty old man in a
filthy shirt and lava-lava, with his face bound up
in unclean rags. He was sitting cross-legged with
dejected mien on a rough settee, and with the
"Government Interpreter's" help I found that he
was suffering from some serious disease of the jaw,
either tonu or cancer, and wanted medicine from me.
He ruled over sixty souls all told !
There were several other disconsolate-looking men
sitting about on the floor of the hut, and they were
introduced to me by the "Government Interpreter"
as the " Chief Justice " of Nukulaelae, the " Secretary
of State," the " Legal Adviser to the Crown," etc.,

286 FUNAFUTI
etc. I felt I was in distinguished company, and
therefore answered very meekly to the questions so
briskly put to me by the "Government Interpreter."
They wanted to know who I was, was I a missionary,
if not was I good, where did I come from, where
was I going, what was I doing at Nukulaelae, and
finally had I any tobacco ? This was all very well,
but when the Jamaica man said the king wanted to
know why we had brought that trader white-fella back
again, I got weary, referred them to the white
missionary, and with properly respectful adieux to
such noble personages, made my escape out into the
glare of the sun again.
Here I was joined by a couple of friendly picca
ninnies, who had finished with their school ex
amination, and together we prowled around. The
village was not pretty ; the huts were all built at
regular distances from each other round three sides
of a square, and the square was absolutely devoid of
verdure, except for one or two dusty-looking cocoa-
nut palms.
The houses were thatched with pandanus leaf as in
Funafuti, but the walls were on a different plan.
They were fixtures, made of upright palm petioles
with inch spaces between for the admission of light
and air. This style of wall is tidier but far less
picturesque than the palm-leaf mats in Funafuti. I
took a stroll round the taro gardens, and had a good
look at the cocoa-nut groves, and came to the con
clusion that the food supply was not so great in
proportion to the number of inhabitants as it was

ANOTHER ISLAND 287
in Funafuti. After seeing the taro gardens and the
native well, I returned to the village and watched a
woman cooking food in a native oven. The method
was precisely that in vogue in Funafuti.
I glanced in at the school and church, where
services and examinations were going on, and then
walked on to the pastor's house, round the door of
which were heaped several cases of provisions, tins
of biscuits, bags of flour and rice. This was the yearly
contribution from the London Missionary Society
to the support of the native pastor ; Nukulaelae
cannot be so liberal in its provision for the pastor as
is the more favoured Funafuti, because its soil is
less fertile, therefore the mission supplies the defi
ciency. One hears amusing stories about the pastor's food.
After the mission ship goes his flock collects about
him in an extra friendly way, and keep dropping in to
afternoon tea, so to speak, until all the " white fella
kaikai done gone " ; then the pastor has to make shift
for the rest of the year on presentations, not too
liberal, of cocoa-nut and fish.
The pastor's wife in Nukulaelae set a splendid
example of cleanliness and tidiness. Her skin was
perfectly clean, she wore a tidy gown of navy-blue
print spotted with white, with a lace collar round
the throat, and her hair was bright and glossy,
plaited in a pig-tail, and tied up with a piece of
print. She was a pretty little woman, or girl rather,
for she did not look more than seventeen years of
age.

288 FUNAFUTI
Her house of coral cement was dazzling with fresh
whitewash, there were several rooms neatly partitioned
off from one another, there were coloured pictures
from illustrated papers on the walls, snowy -white
coral pebbles (" Futunu feathers," these are facetiously
termed by beach-combers when they have to sleep
on them) on all the floors, and in the reception-room
a table covered with a finely-wrought Samoan mat on
which was a large copy of the Samoan Bible. The
dining-room was furnished with a rough table and
settee, but all was spotlessly clean. No one was at
home, and so I wandered round till I found a bed
room, with a queer four-post bed in it ; this bed
had neither pillow, mattress, nor rug, but merely
planks stretched across where the spring - mattress
should have been ; but I took possession of it, and
slept soundly during the hot part of the afternoon.
It was half-tide when we were ready to embark,
and so the ship's boat came close up to the shore for
us, and we were spared the pleasure of wading (our
clothes had dried on us by this time), also the excite
ment of shooting the surf in a canoe, and of tranship
ping from the canoe to the boat.
When we had settled down for the evening and the
mission ship was heading for Samoa, we were mightily
entertained by the missionary's account of the manner
in which he was hauled over the coals by His Majesty
the King of Nukulaelae.
It seems that when the king and the high dignitaries
failed to extract any information from me on the sub
ject of the trader's return, they sent a message to

ANOTHER ISLAND 289
the missionary, telling him they wanted to see him
on important business. Mr. Goward therefore went
across to the king's hut, and was there introduced
to all the state officials by the " Government Inter
preter," just as I had been. When the introductions
and preliminary palaver were over, the " Government
Interpreter," who had been visibly swelling as his
opportunity approached, burst out volubly in this
wise: " De king e say e vely angly; one, two, dree
ting make e angly. E say ' Teone Viliamo ' {John
Williams) come to Nukulaelae port, an e see gob'-
ment flag Nukulaelae, an e no pull im flag up an
down. King e say why you no make you flag pull
im up an down, make all a same a salute when you
see gob'ment flag Nukulaelae ? Den two ting, king
say e send gob'ment boat to ' Teone Viliamo,' and
Chief-Justice Nukulaelae go board, an Legal Adviser
go board, an Sekkatarri State go board. King tell
dese fella say capitaine 'Teone Viliamo,' 'What ship
dis is ? Ware e come from ? Ware e go ? What
for you come Nukulaelae ? ' And one man, mate
you call im, shove Sekkatarri State an say, ' Look
ere, you clare out,' an e make Sekkatari State an
all gob'ment men go back in gob'ment boat. King
e vely angly, an say why you do dis ? Tree ting,
King e say you bring back white fella trader ? Dat
white man no good. King e say e no want dat
fella ere, an e say who tell you bring him here ? "
Mr. Goward let the man run himself down, and
then, completely ignoring him, turned to the king,
and in chieftain's language asked if the king and

290 FUNAFUTI
chiefs could speak Samoan. They were all delighted
to say yes, and then Mr. Goward addressed himself to
them alone in Samoan, using chiefs language all the
time, and said he thought he could explain away these
difficulties in a perfectly satisfactory manner. In the
first place they had been wrongly informed that the flag
they displayed (the Union Jack) was the government
flag of Nukulaelae ; it was simply the sign to
foreigners that this island was under British pro
tection. He further explained that it was not the
custom for vessels in entering a port to salute the
Union Jack. After the king and chiefs had discussed
these statements at great length, they assured Mr.
Goward that they were perfectly satisfied now that
no insult had been intended to the Government of
Nukulaelae, and that the Jamaica man had misled
them. Then Mr. Goward proceeded to the next point,
still ignoring the "Government Interpreter," who
several times interrupted angrily and rudely, and
had to be snubbed into silence. Mr. Goward asked
if the Government canoe sent by the king carried
a flag or any other mark by which the officers of the
John Williams could distinguish it from the other
canoes that came round the ship, or if the high chiefs
who went on board wore any uniform or badge, or
presented any document which explained who they
were, or what was their business. After an embar
rassed silence the king and chiefs said no ; they had
neither flag, uniform, badge, nor letter by which they
could be distinguished. Then Mr. Goward pointed

ANOTHER ISLAND 291
out that the officers of the John Williams were not to
blame in this matter, that, although he deplored the
need of the rule, it was a rule of the John Williams
that canoes were not to hang round the ship, because
the screw of the steamer was a very serious danger to
the canoes. Then, when the king was impressed with
this explanation, he said that the John Williams had
brought the trader back because a letter had been
received from his Excellency the High Commissioner,
giving the man leave to return to his business in
Nukulaelae. Then followed a palaver, which the Jamaica fire
brand vainly tried to mar, after which the missionary
took leave of the State and Majesty of Nukulaelae
with every possible expression of friendliness on both
sides.

CHAPTER XXII.
WHAT THE EXPEDITION ACCOMPLISHED
And what about Darwin's coral -atoll theory? Just
so. And why was it necessary to prove its truth
or otherwise ? I don't think it was necessary myself;
but there is a restless class of people, to whom the
world is infinitely indebted, people who want to know,
and they worry themselves aged over questions of
this sort. The great Darwin has a host of admirers,
but rival theories have been mooted, theories that
sound as well as Darwin's ; and the whole question
could be settled, said these want-to-knows, just by
putting a diamond-drill bore down a coral atoll, and
bringing up a core of rock from a depth of 500 to
600 feet. Darwin had cried for a " doubly rich
millionaire " to do the work, but doubly rich million
aires are not as common as daisies in spring, and the
few specimens of millionaires sprinkled round have
other worthy objects to spend their money on. So
the millionaire did not respond to Darwin's appeal,
but the Royal Society of London did, and a wealthy
woman of Sydney (Miss Eadith Walker) helped
liberally, and so did the Government of New South
Wales, and by these means a few hundred pounds
292

WHAT THE EXPEDITION ACCOMPLISHED 293
and a good set of gear were collected, and the ex
pedition was manned by men who could only afford
to give their services and go at their own expense.
For weeks before starting I had heard of little else
but our foolishness from some of our friends. The
usual cry was, "Well, what's the good of it all? If
you were going to open up a diamond field, or a gold
mine, or even a good guano deposit, I would take
shares." Of course there was no money in it, nothing
but the desire to know, and it was consequently
foolishness unparalleled. But the leader-elect per
severed, and wouldn't let his spirits be damped, so he
went on persistently, with Mr. Slee, the Government
superintendent of diamond drills, hunting up boilers,
pumps, engines, lining - pipes, core - barrels, under-
reamers, bits, staging, diamonds, monkeys, driving-
wheels, steel shoes for lining-pipes, tanks, core-boxes,
ropes, and portable forges ; and he had to run about
after these strange creatures like a child after pet
mice, for they had the same marvellous capacity for
slipping through fingers and getting lost. All these
things had to be hunted up from Government stores
and ordinary, shops and forges ; they had to be packed,
they had to be shipped in Sydney, transhipped from a
steamer to a sugar-punt, and from a sugar-punt to
another steamer in Suva, and finally they had to be*
landed on rafts and in boats at Funafuti. Anyone
who has not had the pleasure of hunting luggage
round in the bewildering process called transhipping
can have no notion of what this means. Our scien
tific staff of volunteers were pretty well fagged out

294 FUNAFUTI
in Sydney, Suva, and Funafuti, in trying to keep
the eighty cases of machinery, the loose pipes and
timber, from going in directions never intended by the
shippers. At last, however, it was all safely landed in Funa
futi, nothing missing but one bundle of shovels ; and
the workmen had the machinery ready for work a
week after landing, and then we thought everything
would go smoothly.
But the rock to be bored was unlike any rock the
men or the machinery had ever tackled before. It
was very hard, but they had cut hard, dense rocks
easily enough before with the diamond drill ; the
point was that this rock was very hard and full of
holes at the same time. The machine would cut for
a few inches very slowly, but steadily, then, all at
once, off would go the barrel spinning round in a
cavernous hollow, and sand, water, and pebbles would
pour in on all sides, and then the barrel would jam.
Then the workmen had a lively time, "tonging " and
executing other curious manoeuvres with hair-thinning
names, trying to unjam the barrel.
Then, when everything was clear again, a piece of
rock would come into the way of the barrel, and for
an hour or two the steady grind would go on, and
then suddenly the barrel would spin round on nothing,
and fetch up against the hard rock with a wicked jerk,
and scrunch would go all the diamonds ; then the
barrel had to be lifted and work stopped while the
foreman reset the bit with diamonds.
After this things would go serenely for a day or

WHAT THE EXPEDITION ACCOMPLISHED 295
two, then the under-reamer would get unhitched and
stick fast provokingly at the bottom of the bore, and
it would take a week to fish it up again ; then would
go on the old routine of getting jammed and un-
jammed, varied by the smashing of the driving-wheel,
owing to the barrel suddenly coming in contact with a
jutting piece of coral after whirling round merrily in
a hollow ; and occasionally excessive monkeying tele
scoped the lining-pipes.
Over and over again came the chief foreman with
the doleful tale, " We 're at the end of our tether now,
professor, we '11 have to jack this job " ; over and over
again the leader said grimly they would do nothing of
the kind, and he and the other foremen (true Britishers,
who didn't know when they were beaten) invented
some ingenious way out of the difficulty.
Everything unfortunate that could happen did
happen ; monkeys smashed, new ones were made ;
under-reamer lost, recovered ; pump out of gear, put
it in again ; barrel jammed, unjammed ; lining-pipes
telescoped, cut away, smaller pipes inserted; diamonds
smashed, replaced ; boiler burst, patch bolted on ;
teeth of driving-wheel broken off, new ones put in ;
and thus slowly and painfully, fighting hard for every
inch of way, a depth of 497 feet was reached. Then
the driving-wheel got so hopelessly smashed, that the
optimistic leader, the second foreman and the fitter,
all had to admit that it would take more than a week
to repair it.
So far, like sensible men, they had helped them
selves out of difficulties and resumed work cheerfully ;

296 FUNAFUTI
but this was a staggering blow, for there were only
about three weeks of working time left to the ex
pedition, the leader had to return to his post in
Sydney at the end of three weeks, the desired depth
had not been reached, and provisions were running
out terribly fast. Everything looked black. While
the leader and his good men and true were shaking
their heads over this disappointment, Tili, who was
looking on, said, " You sepoil that fella, he no good ? "
and being assured that the breakage would seriously
delay the work, and was worrying his friend Tavita
(the leader), Tili cheerfully said, " Me got fella alia
same a dat fella." This assertion was received with
unbelief, and only a sickly show of amusement, for
the delay was not fun to the men who had been
working so hard, and were so deadly in earnest about
finishing the bore. Tili strode off without more
parley, and shortly returned with a driving-wheel that
exactly fitted the machine, in fact it was a driving-
wheel belonging to a sister machine to the one we
were using. Tili explained, " Dis fella alia same ;
las' time white man leave im, me put im in ground,
make cocoa-nut palm grow ! " This was a fact, the
wheel had been rejected by the workmen of the
previous expedition, because its teeth were somewhat
worn ; Tili had picked it up, buried it at the root of
a palm, and there it had remained, till unearthed at
this opportune moment.
The leader was just dumb with astonishment, and
could scarcely believe his eyes, and the lucky find
gave the workmen fresh energy ; they fitted in the

WHAT THE EXPEDITION ACCOMPLISHED 297
resurrected wheel, and resumed work, while the
fitter went at the broken one cheerfully. These two
wheels kept us lively for the rest of our stay, as fast
as one was mended the other was broken, and the
fitter got the title of dentist because all his time was
spent in putting in new teeth, made from pieces cut
off wrought-iron bolts, into the wheel.
Thus the work went on, in spite of hindrances, but
much too slowly for the time allowed. When the
John Williams arrived, the bore was down to 557
feet, and the bottom was not yet reached, and it was
the darling desire of the party to reach the bottom.
The leader had to go ; but the much-broken, much-
mended machine was still in working order, there
were coals to go on with, and provisions had been
augmented by the kindness of the commanders of the
Royalist and the John Williams. The leader could not
give it up, the bottom should be struck somewhere
about 800 feet, and so he determined to leave the six
workmen to go on with the work under the direction
of the second in command of the expedition.
Everyone was in high spirits about the results, the
success so far had been beyond expectations, and the
men were now used to the temper of the rock ; but,
alas, the work was stopped at the end of a month
(at a total depth of 698 feet) because the chief fore
man had again come to the " end of his tether," the
cracking of a large tube in the tubular boiler being
considered by him to offer an insuperable obstacle to
continuing the work.
Still the bore had passed the depth named by

298 FUNAFUTI
Darwin, a good core had been secured, and the bore
hole was left so that other " doubly rich millionaires "
might continue the work, and bring it to a triumphant
close. Whether Darwin's theory, or Murray's, or Wharton's
is the true one, is a secret contained in that mysterious
core, now in the hands of the scientific experts in
London, the restless men who " want to know."
Let us hope their minds will be set at rest, and that
young students for the future will not have their
heads addled by a multiplicity of theories on this
subject at any rate.
This was not the only work done by the expedition
on the island. Over eighty specimens of plants were
collected, and these gave almost as much trouble as
did the boring, but no one got excited about that,
because collecting the flora was not so important as
obtaining the core.
First of all the flowers were collected and pressed.
They promptly rotted. Other specimens were secured,
but neither paper nor specimens would dry ; there was
so much moisture in the air that we could preserve
nothing but smell, mildew, and stain.
Then kerosene tins were secured and a solution
of formaline made, the plants were re-collected for
the third time, and put into the mixture ; then the tins
would not solder up because the solution boiled every
time the soldering-irons were applied ; and after a
few hopeless attempts to keep them, this third collec
tion spoiled.
But there was still some formaline left, and the store

WHAT THE EXPEDITION ACCOMPLISHED 299
was ransacked for tins with nice little lids set over a
sunken rim ; these were found full of currants, so the
currants were ousted, while formaline and a fourth
collection of plants were made ; and the lids were
fastened on and the treasures safely bottled, so we
thought. But alas ! in a few days moisture was ob
served in a large patch round these tins, and on open
ing them it was discovered that all the solution had
leaked slowly away through the imperfectly soldered
corners of the currant tins. The specimens were all
spoiled again, and now there was no formaline left.
But Mr. Woolnough generously offered his bottle of
formaline, declaring that his biological specimens
would keep very well in the spirit tub ; and Mr.
Sweet came forward with what turned out to be a
brilliant suggestion. He advised making a mixture
of resin and fat, and running this along the imperfect
seams and corners of the tins. This was done, and
the tins left to cool ; when tested they were found
to be perfectly watertight. The fifth collection of
plants was then made, and safely stowed away in
the resined tins with the formaline ; this collection
reached Sydney in good condition.
None of these plants were new to science, so say
the botanists ; and the pigeon wasn't new to science
either, neither were the lizards ; but it is interesting
to know that they are not. Now we may hope that
Funafuti will not be collected barren by people in
search of scientific curios.
The scientific volunteers on the expedition did more
than this. They had provided themselves with a light

300 FUNAFUTI
boring plant, a sort of baby diamond drill, because
they had been assured that there was a sandy cay in
the middle of the lagoon, which would be easy and
most interesting to bore. There wasn't any sandy
cay ; and the trader and the natives said " Big lie "
when we told them there was one. They had never
seen it.
This would have crushed some people. But the
leader said, " We have the drill, let us try it on the
island, as there is no cay ; we shall get up something."
They did ; it took them six weeks to get twenty-seven
feet of core ; and then the pump said it wouldn't play,
and it didn't.
But this little drill had been worked by the scientific
staff with their own hands, and the idea of doing
something with it died hard. They came to the con
clusion that they would make a raft with the staging,
and take part of the machinery out to the centre of
the lagoon, and try to bore in the deepest part of the
lagoon. No sooner suggested than begun. The raft was
built, and the natives were in a high state of excite
ment and expectation, for had not the leader of this
expedition been introduced to them by a native word
meaning " master builder of canoes," the nearest
approach to the title " professor " that the native
language admitted of? Of course they expected
something extra marvellous when " Tavita, the
master builder of canoes," set his people to work
on this new kind of vaka ; and they were not
disappointed.

WHAT THE EXPEDITION ACCOMPLISHED 301
I went down to the lagoon shore, on Friday,
August 6th, 1897, when the raft was floated, to see
the party start for the centre of the lagoon. There
were three boat-loads of natives and machinery, and
the boats had tow lines to tow the raft into position.
She was certainly a queer-looking craft, a platform
just about a foot above water, with a seventeen-foot
derrick instead of a mast, and three tanks and some
spare timber for floats, lashed with three-inch rope to
the four corners of the platform.
It was a beautiful day, clear and calm ; and the
scientific party disposed itself in picturesque and easy
attitudes on the platform and derrick, and responded
to my assurance " that they would capsize for a dead
certainty," with a quiet smile of scorn for my feminine
ignorance ; and the leader confidently assured me that
he would be back for tea at 6 p.m. sharp.
I wish I could forget that day. The sun shone
steadily for a few hours, and there was an ominous
stillness in the air ; but before midday the sky was
clouded, the wind began to roar, and soon lashed
the lagoon into a sea of angry, white-crested waves.
I went restlessly between my hut and the lagoon
shore, and gazed over towards where the raft and
the boats should be, but I could see nothing. The
slow hours dragged on, with no sign of the returning
boats, and I tried talking to the women to see if
they took a more favourable view of the situation
than I did. They smiled as usual, pointed to the
centre of the lagoon, and said cheerfully, " Mafuli,"
which means "capsize." This was dreadful.

302 FUNAFUTI
As the hour of sunset approached I remembered
that my husband had named six o'clock for his tea,
so I dragged myself back to my hut through the wind
and rain, and dolefully prepared tea of bread-fruit,
fish, tea, and scones on my primus stove. Then I
sat down ; six o'clock came, and was followed by the
sudden tropical sunset ; seven o'clock, eight, nine,
half-past nine. I could bear it no longer ; I must
run across the island, in spite of dense darkness,
wind, and rain, just to look at another woman ; but
at that moment a man stooped under the eaves of
my hut, and stood there, hatless, bootless, dripping,
and smiling ! It was my husband. The relief was
too much ; and then he looked so droll, dressed only
in a very thin and much torn suit of pyjamas, which
stuck to him like a skin, his hair in flat rat-tails round
his face, and water running in streams from nose,
ears, fingers, and feet — I was bound to sit down
and laugh before I could get him dry clothes and
his food.
When he was dried, clothed, and fed, he began
to laugh too, and gave an amusing description of
the day's misadventures ; and I composed myself to
listen after being assured that no one was drowned
or injured. It had been what the natives called a
" mili-mili mafuli ! " " Mili-mili " refers to the rotating
of machinery, and " mafuli " means " capsize," so that
one can get close up to what they meant.
It seems that everything went gaily at the start,
and the raft was within a mile of the spot where
it was intended to anchor, when the wind and waves

WHAT THE EXPEDITION ACCOMPLISHED 303
arose and beat upon it. The natives were pulling
their hardest, but could make no headway, and the
raft and boats began to get drifted in the direction of
the ocean current.
The strong ropes that held the tanks began to
cut through like rotten tow, for the tanks wobbled
with every wave, and the ropes were sawn against
the sharp edge of the raft. Then one tank broke
away, and Opataia with a magnificent spring and
dive swam to the tank, caught the rope, and re-
fastened the tank to the raft, and in such a sea, too !
Then another tank broke away, and O'Brien (the
trader) dived and secured the rope of that, and
fastened it in the same way. Then, as there was
no doubt that the boats and raft were drifting at
the mercy of the wind and current, the order was
given to let go the anchors at once. An attempt
was made to secure the tanks, and all hands set to
work to save ropes and tools by removing them
from the raft to the boats. This was satisfactorily
done, but soon afterwards two tanks broke away
suddenly and simultaneously on the port side of the
raft ; then the raft stuck its starboard side up in the
air and swamped the opposite side. Two tanks
that were not properly watertight began to fill, and
had to be let down to the bottom of the lagoon by
ropes, the ends of which were secured and fastened
to the anchored raft. After this the raft heaved
once or twice, and finally with great dignity heeled
completely over, and then bobbed about bottom
uppermost, straining viciously at her cables. The

304 FUNAFUTI
crew swam for the boats. One boat-load reached
the island at about 9.30 p.m., the other two at
midnight. It had been a very exciting "mili-mili
mafuli," and I joined in the merriment made over
it by the natives, for no one had been injured, and
now there could be no more attempts to bore the
lagoon with inadequate appliances.
The raft broke loose from her moorings in the
heavy sea, and the last we saw of her she was
kicking herself to pieces on the reef, trying to get
out into the open ocean.
After this " mafuli " the scientific volunteers set
to work at all the islets, and geologically surveyed
each one ; then they dredged on the ocean reef,
and filled a goodly number of meat-tins and chip-
boxes with sand, shells, and corals, brought up from
various depths down to two hundred fathoms.
I hope these mysterious hauls will help the still
more mysterious core to decide the point for, or
against, Darwin.
After all these adventures and misadventures I
was heartily tired of the very word "coral," and so
by this time will my readers be, if readers ever
get so far as this  THE END.

SCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT
NOTE ON THE RESULTS OF THE BORINGS
AT FUNAFUTI, ELLICE GROUP
By PROFESSOR T. G. BONNEY, D.Sc, LL.D., F.R.S.
A BRIEF sketch of the conflicting hypotheses in regard to
the origin of coral-reefs and atolls is given in the third edition
of Charles Darwin's well-known book, Structure and Distri
bution of Coral Reefs* It was his opinion that an atoll
might be regarded as a monument erected by corals to the
memory of a buried island, on the shore of which it had
begun its existence as a " fringing reef," and had continued
to grow upwards as the land beneath it gradually subsided.
This hypothesis for some years was widely accepted, but
for about the last twenty it has been questioned by more
than one very competent critic. It was, however, very
generally admitted that reef-building polyps, though they
might occasionally exist, did not flourish at greater depths
than about twenty-five fathoms. Thus it became a matter
of the utmost importance to ascertain the actual structure of
an atoll, and the initiative of testing this by a boring was
taken by Professor Sollas, with the result that the Royal
Society of London determined, in co-operation with a com
mittee of scientific men in Sydney (in which Professors
* Appendix ii. p. 281 (1889). The first edition appeared in 1842.
X 3°5

306 FUNAFUTI
Edgeworth David and Anderson Stuart took a leading
part), to make the attempt. The Admiralty gave most
valuable aid by instructing Captain Field, of H.M.S. Penguin,
then engaged on the Australian station, to convey the party,
of which Professor Sollas was in charge, to Funafuti, to
co-operate in the work of boring, and to make a survey
of the atoll and adjoining part of the ocean. Of this
expedition the principal expenses were defrayed by the
Royal Society, but the Department of Mines (New South
Wales) contributed largely by lending the necessary boring
apparatus and the services of skilled workmen.
The party reached Funafuti in May, 1896, and the
machinery was set up near the sandy beach of the lagoon
a short half-mile to the south-west of the village. With
considerable difficulty the bore-hole was carried to a depth of
105 feet, when further progress was prevented by material
which flowed like quicksand, baffling the tool and choking the
pipes. The tool had passed through 32! feet of sand with
some blocks of coral ; then through 52^ feet of blocks and
thin reefs of coral, the remaining 20 feet consisting of material
resembling the first, but becoming still more sandy towards
the bottom. The sand, it should be mentioned, was wholly
organic material, consisting largely of foraminifera and
nullipores. The apparatus was then removed to the sea
ward side of the island, where the surface of the reef seemed
more promising, and a boring was made near to the water's
edge. This, however, was even less successful. It was
carried down to a depth of 72 feet, through material generally
similar to that pierced in the other one, and was arrested
by the same cause, the occurrence of a " quicksand." The
attempt was then abandoned, as the boring plant was
evidently incapable of coping with the very peculiar material
which had been so unexpectedly encountered. But though
the expedition was unsuccessful in its principal object — viz.,
to bore to a depth of at least 600 feet — it was not so in

SCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT 307
many respects, for Professor Sollas, with its other scientific
members, Messrs. Gardiner, Collingwood, and Hedley, made
a thorough study of the natural history of the atoll above and
below water,* and Captain Field completed an elaborate
survey of the lagoon and surrounding ocean. The form of
Funafuti is remarkable. It resembles a gigantic fortress
wall t crowning a conical mountain. The nearly circular base
of the latter, 30 miles long by 28 miles broad, is at a depth
of 2000 fathoms — the general level of the ocean floor in this
part of the Pacific. From this the mountain rises with a
slope, at first very gentle but gradually steepening, to the
submarine contour line of 400 fathoms or thereabouts, from
which it ascends, at an average angle of about 30°, to 140
fathoms ; thence it rises almost precipitously, the slope being
commonly from 75° to 80°, till it arrives within about 15
fathoms from the surface, when it rounds off to pass into the
shallow flat of the growing reef.
The experience gained during this expedition showed that
England was too far from Funafuti to be a good base for the
undertaking. Happily its friends in Sydney determined not
to accept defeat and set to work to prepare for another attempt.
The incidents of this are described in the present volume.
The expedition was aided by a liberal contribution from the
Royal Society, was furnished with apparatus specially devised
'to cope with the difficulties which had been encountered in
the operations of the previous year, and was in charge of
Professor Edgeworth David. The boring was successfully
carried to a depth of 643 feet, of which 557 feet had been
accomplished before his duties in the university recalled him
* See J. S. Gardiner, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc, vol. ix. p. 417, for a general
sketch of the atoll of Funafuti. Also the Reports of the Sydney Museum.
+ The chain of reefs and islands forming the atoll has an outline roughly
resembling a shoulder of mutton, with the shank (sawn short) pointing to the
south, and the main island (Funafuti) representing the projecting corner of the
blade-bone at the east. The atoll is about twelve miles from north to south
and eight miles in greatest breadth.

308 FUNAFUTI
to Sydney. The stoppage was the result of an irremediable
breakdown in the machinery. The boring passed through
the following deposits. Below a hard coral breccia, about
a yard in thickness, came coral-reef rock interspersed with
broken organic material, the latter predominating in a layer
between 15 and 20 feet. After 40 feet more or less sandy
material set in, with a variable quantity of coral, occasionally
in thin reef-like bands, and this continued to a depth of 202
feet, when a rather sudden change took place, and down to
373 feet sandy material was dominant, which at times almost
became a mud. Then more reef-like material set in, coral
and sand alternating as in the first 200 feet, till at 526 feet
a mass of fairly compact, dense, and hard coral limestone
occurred, which had a thickness of 29 feet, and below this
the same alternation continued to the end. Thus this
third zone (from 373 feet downwards) corresponds with
the upper one, but contains larger and more numerous
masses of true reef. By this year's work it was proved
that true reefs were lying at a depth of full 100 fathoms
below the sea-level.
But this result was not enough for our friends in Sydney.
They had now reached a low stage in the fortress wall,
which, according to Captain Field's soundings, crowns the
submerged mountain, but it was most important to discover
what lay at the base of that wall. Could the bore-hole have
been carried down from 1 50 to 200 feet further, they might
have pierced through the foundations of the atoll, and found
them resting upon a totally different kind of rock. So in
1898 another expedition was despatched from Sydney under
the direction of Mr. C. H. Halligan. Work had ceased in
1897 m a s°ft dolomitic limestone, but almost immediately
after the new party had begun to deepen the bore the tool
struck a harder and more crystalline limestone, largely
composed of shells and corals. Through this steady pro
gress was made. By September 7th a depth of 987 feet had

SCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT 309
been reached, and while this note was being written a
telegram reached the Royal Society to announce that boring
had ceased at a depth of 1 1 14 feet, in " coral-reef rock," which
apparently had been traversed continuously during all this
last stage of the work. Thus buried reef must exist, not
only at the bottom of the great atoll wall, but also for at
least 1 50 feet down in the slope which comes beneath it.
This, however, is not the only success obtained by the last
expedition. A light boring apparatus had been taken to
Funafuti, which it was hoped might be used from the deck of
a vessel, so as to discover the structure of the reef at the
bottom of the lagoon. By permission of the Admiralty,
Captain Sturdee paid a short visit to Funafuti with H.M.S.
Porpoise, so that the attempt might be made with his aid
from that vessel. A station was selected where the lagoon
was 101 feet deep,* the vessel made fast, and the machine
set up. The experiment was a success, for a hole was rapidly
driven down to 144 feet, or 245 feet from the surface of the
water. It passed through 80 feet of sandy material, composed
of joints of a calcareous alga and bits of shells, and after that of
similar material mixed with fragments of coral, which became
larger as the depth increased. But at 245 feet progress was
arrested by a mass of very hard coral, which baffled all
attempts to pierce it, owing to the difficulties presented by so
great a length (121 feet) of unsupported pipe. Captain
Sturdee then warped the Porpoise to a spot about 90 feet
nearer the middle of the lagoon, where another boring was
made. This went down for 1 1 3 feet (about 214 feet below sea-
level), passing for the first 80 feet through sand as before ;
the remainder being a rather hard coral gravel, the lumps
varying from the size of a Brazil nut to that of a man's fist.
Boring was then discontinued, because Captain Sturdee was
unable to make a longer stay at Funafuti.
* The soundings over a considerable part of the lagoon vary from 120 to 150
feet, the maximum depth obtained being 180 feet.

310 FUNAFUTI
The cores obtained in all these borings have been, or are
being, consigned to the Royal Society, and those which
have arrived, i.e. those obtained in 1896 and 1897, are being
worked out under the supervision of Professor Judd at the
Royal College of Science, South Kensington. Till this task
is complete it would be premature to discuss their bearing
on theoretical questions, but we may safely assert that such
ample and valuable materials for the study of the structure
of an atoll have never before been obtained.

INDEX

Abstinence, Total, 69, 181,
198, 210.
Admiralty, 309.
Adoption, 125, 133, 142.
Adultery, 198.
Age never known, 135,
America, 78, 183.
Amusements, 169 et seg., 5.
Animals, 237 et seg.
Ants, 239.
Apia, 7, 89, 281.
Arithmetic, 84, 87.
Arrival, 10.
Arrowroot, 216.
Arson, 198.
Arums, 209, 217.
Atoll, 305-307.
Babies, 24, 155, 211.
Babylon, 73.
Baking, 209.
Balaam, 77.
Balls, 177.
Banana, 78, 188, 202, 208.
Baskets of palm-leaf, 157,205,
219.
Bathing, 44, 210.
Beacon, 199.
Beads, 225.
Bedding, 231, 263.
Beef, 186.
Berlin, 75.

182,

218,

3H

Bethel, 74.
Biliousness, 51.
Boats, 189.
Bonito, 247.
Borrowing, 80, 205.
Botany, 128, 298, 299.
Bottles, 205.
Boys, 35.
Bread-fruit, 14, 188, 202, 208.
Breasts, 72.
Building materials, 13.
Bust cloths (tiputas), 23, 222.
Calico, 90, 142, 221, 222, 232.
Camp, 15, 16,45,
Canoes, 189, 235.
Caste, none, 1 19.
Cats, 242.
Cay, 300.
Centipedes, 108, 240.
Chalmers, 74.
Chemises, 222.
Chewing, 212, 213.
Children, 196.
Chinaman, 199.
Christian, 77.
Church, 21, 22, 130, 247, 257.
Church membership, 1 50.
Church Service, 18-26, 29.
Clams, 171. j-263
Climate, 3, 12, 17, 40, 192, 242, 262,

312

FUNAFUTI

Clocks, 1 8.
Clogs, 177.
Clothes, 221-231, 4, 23-25, 141,
168, 169.
Clothes exchanged for fun, 83.
Clyde, s.s., 69, 271, 272.
Cockroaches, 239.
Cocoanut, 210-215, 232-234> J3> 46,
160, 166, 167, 187, 197, 199, 206,
207, 257.
Cocoanut oil, 60, 232.
Collingwood, Mr., 307.
Commissioner, 126, 130, 182, 188,
191, 194, 195, 199, 200, 201, 284.
Communion plate, 31, 33, 34.
Communism, 122, 190, 236.
Composition, 87, 88.
Conch shell, 78, 96, 122.
Conversion, 180.
Cooking, 1 54, 202 et seg.
Cook-houses, 202-204.
Copra, 186, 197, 247, 284.
Coral, 170, 204, 269, 288, 304-310.
Corney, Dr., 6, 68, 271.
Crabs, 243-246 ; 50, 65, 99, 192,
218, 236; land-crab, 102; crab-
guard, 245.
Criticism, 225.
Cultivation, 187.
Curiosity, 30.
Currents, 3.
Dancing, 62, 70, 71, 160, 161.
Dark, 181.
Darwin, 292, 298, 305.
Daughter, native, 22, 31, 44, 115,
137, 170.
David, 75.
Deacons, 127, 276.
Death, 76.
Decency, 194, 195.

Devil, 181.
Devil doctor, 80, 179-181.
Disease, 13, 48-57, 285.
Dishes, 204, 214.
Diving, 171.
Divorce, 194, 195.
Doctors, 7, 48-5 '> 53,54-
Dogs, 193, 254.
Doll = deviI, 90.
Dove, 74.
Drainage, 192.
Draughts, 174.
Dredging, 268-270.
Dried fish, 218.
Drink, 181, 182, 198, 210, 214.
Drums, 61, 82.
Dwarf, 104.
Dwellings, 194.
Dye, 227, 229.
Dysentery, 216.
Ears good, 116.
Education, 79-91, 164; vide School.
Eggs, 217, 242.
Egypt, 75, 78.
Ella, Rev. S., 72,93, 197.
Ellice Islands, 89, 183.
Embroidery, 224.
Examination, 86, 87, 90, 276.
Excommunication, 151.
Faith-healing, 48-53.
Fan, 134, 223.
Farewell, 276-279.
Favourite of king dismissed, 119;
vide Tili.
Fern, edible, 256.
Field, Captain, 306, 307, 308.
Fiji boys, 60, 62, 272.
Fiji clothes, 223.
Fines, 31, 131, 137.

INDEX

313

Fish, 97 et seg., 209, 217, 218, 246
et seg.
Fish-cleaning, 138.
Fish-hooks, 90, 247-249.
Fishing, 74, 100 et seg., 190, 246
et seg.
Fishing-lines, 266, 267.
Fish traps, 250.
Flag, 289.
Flies, 238.
Flirtation, 129, 138, 166, 272.
Flowers, 169.
Flowers, forbidden, 23.
Food, 202 et seg.
Foreman, 295, 297.
Fowls, 73, 116, 217, 242.
Fox and geese, 175.
France, 75, 77.
Frankness, 47.
Friends, 142.
Fruit, 188, 189.
Fuafatu, 258.
Fuel, 235.
Fumigation, 83.
Funafala, 247, 256, 273.
Funafuti : position, 1, 2 ; climate,
3; language, in, 117; akin to
Samoan, m ; tending to be
superseded by Samoan, 112; the
plain land, 76; unenlightened,
according to Missionary, 130.
Funds, 292.
Gardiner, Mr., 307.
Garfish, 246.
Geography, 138.
Germany, 73, 75.
Giant, 107.
Gilbert Islands, 89, 143, 180, 182,
226.
Girls' hut, 29.

Goats, 254.
Government, 191.
Goward, Mr., 275, 278, 288 et seg.
Guano, 257, 266.
Hair, 221, 224.
Halligan, Mr. 308.
Halma, 174.
Hats, 25, 226.
Hedley, Mr., 307.
Hell, 181.
Hibiscus, 229.
Hide and seek, 176.
Honesty, 182.
Hore, Captain, 275.
Horse, 254.
House, 288.
Hunt, 74.
Huts, 41-44, 189, 247.
Hysteria, 54.

Imitativeness, 117, 225.
Industry, 186.
Infant marriages, 164.
Infanticide, 195.
Infection, 57.
Influenza, 52, 123.
Inheritance, 187, 188.
Inquisitiveness, 47.
Insult, 198.
Interpreter, 285, 289.
Iron, 204.
Israel, 72.

Jacob, 74.
Jamaican, 285, 289.
Jealousy, 129, 139.
John Williams, s.s., 275 et seg., 34,
89, 180.
Jokes, 115, 230.
Joseph, 75.

314

FUNAFUTI

Jubilee Day, 25-28.
Judd, Professor, 310.
Judea, 73.
Kaka, 74.
Kapati, 74.
Kensington, South, 310.
Kerosene, 59, 90.
Kidnapping, 196.
King, 118 et seg., 92, 156, 165, 184,
188, 190, 191, 285, 288 et seg.
King's house, 14 ; a sanctuary or
city of refuge, 119.
Kitchen utensils, 204.
Kites, 106, 170.
Ko i tuai=By-and-bye, 114.
Labour, 35-39.
Lace, 287.
Lagoon, 9.
Lamps, 59.
Land, 187, 188, 189.
Landing, n.
Language, 92, ill el seg. ; sweet ;
vowels Italian in sound, 117.
Lasso, 126, 267.
Laws, 63, 65, 118, 166, 194, 195,
197 et seg.
Law-abiding, 119.
Laziness, 152, 186, 216.
Lebanon, 74.
Lessons, 245.
Letters, 88, 116.
Light, 192.
Line Islands, 200.
Lizards, 239, 299
Lolo, 207.
London, 75, 76.
London Missionary Society, %'ide
Missionaries.
Looking-glass, 77.

Lui, 157, 160.
Luia, 30, 31.
Luther, 73.
Machinery, 293-297, 300.
Magi, 75.
Magistrate, 194.
Maiden Island, 272.
Mangrove, 229, 235.
Manilala, 76.
Maori, s.s., 6, 7, 58, 272.
Maori words, in.
Marriage, before and after the
Christian era, 164 et seg., 128,
135, 'So, 192, 193-
Mary, 75, 77.
Mats, 156 et seg., 169, 231.
Meals, 46.
Mealtimes, none, 155.
Melbourne, 78
Men, 36.
Mending clothes, 140, 141.
Mesopotamia, 77.
Mines Department, N.S.W., 306.
Missionaries, 179 et seg., 7, 21, 32,
33, 66, 79, 81,89, in, 120, 130,
136, 141, 149, 164, 169, 265, 275,
276, 287, 288-291.
Moab, 77.
Molasses, 215.
Monday, a holiday, 205.
Monkey, 173.
Moons, 75.
Morals, 179 et seg.
Mosquitoes, 74, 238.
Mosquito screens, 155, 232, 238.
Mother, native, 49, 133, 157.
Moths, 240.
Murder, 198.
Nails, 183.

INDEX

315

Naina, 22, 31, 44, 115, 137, 170.
Names, 114, 118.
Nanomea, 281.
Navigation, 259-262.
Necklaces, 226.
Netting, 217.
New Guinea, 74.
Night-clothes, 231.
Niue, 7, 34, 76, 141, 224, 226, 250.
Niutao, 144.
Norwegians, 69, 70, 272.
Nukulaelae, 277, 282 et seg.
Nursing, 23.

O'Brien, Mr., vide Trader.
Opataia, 126 et seg., 21, 63, 69, 71,
123, 131, 142, 159, 161, 162, 163,
191, 259-262, 265-268, 303.
Orphans, 188.
Orphans wards of the king, 125.
Oven, 205, 206, 209.
Overtime, 35, 38-41.
Paddle, 72.
Palagi = foreign or white, 114.
Palavers, 188.
Palu, fish, mythical ? 248-250.
Pandanus, 13, 177, 189, 215, 221,
226, 229 et seg., 235, 236.
Papauta, 88, 89.
Parents' rights, 165.
Paris, 75.
Parricide, 76.
Pastor, 20, 32, 33, 70, 71, 79, 116,
118, 150, 156 et seg., 276, 280,
287.
Pastor, deposed, 32.
Pastor's wife, 23, 27, 81, 287.
Paul, 73.
Pawpaw, 176, 188.

Peaceableness, 182.
Peke, 95, 142, 174, 229.
Penguin, H.M.S., 67, 306.
Peru, 196.
Petticoats, 221, 228, 229.
Petticoats forbidden at school, 83.
Philistines, 76.
Photographs, 274.
Picnic, 120, 256.
Pictures prized, 90, 142.
Pigs, pet, 241, 277.
Pig-feasts, 53, 161, 217, 241, 242.
Pigeon, 94, 237, 299.
Pillows, 232.
Plaiting, 95, 108, 227, 231.
Plants, 217, 298, 299.
Policemen, 87, 166.
Population, 195-197.
Porpoise, H.M.S., 309.
Portugal, 75, 77.
Pounding, 215.
Prayers, 136, 159, 264, 265.
Presents, 122, 123, 126, 134, 156,271.
Prison, 69.
Prizes, 90.
Professor, 300.
Pronunciation, 115, 117.
Pronunciation; inability to pro
nounce two consecutive conso
nants, 29, 66, 67, 75, 77, 189.
Property, 187-189.
Prophecies, 3, 4.
Provisions, 4.
Pudding, 208.
Puka trees, 189, 235.
Pulaka, 228.
Pumice, 174, 257, -266.
Punishment, 185, 198, 199.
Quarrelling, 198.
Queensland, 186.

3i6

FUNAFUTI

Race, 157, 173.
Raft, 300-304.
Rama, 78.
Rape, 198.
Raratongan, 65.
Rason, Captain, 274.
Rats, 99, 215, 240, 267.
Reading and writing not prior to
Missionaries, 120.
Religion, 179.
Reserve fund, 211.
Results, 305 et seg.
Roads, 37.
Rotuma boys, 69-71, 180, 272.
Royal Society, 292, 305, 306, 307,
3°9-
Royalist, H.M.S., 274.
Salota, 159.
Salutes, 135, 136, 289, 290.
Samaria, 77.
Samoa, provides gowns, 23 et seg.,
223.
Samoan language, 65, in, 290;
used in school ; phonetic spell
ing, 85 ; used for laws, 197.
Samoan rules enforced in Funafuti,
83-
Samoans less satisfactory than
Funafutians, 145.
Samoans send pastors, 181.
Samson, 76.
Sandals, 224.
Sandlark, 99.
Sarai, 131, 157.
Saturday cleaning, 191 ; Saturday
cooking, 203.
Saturn, 75.
Saucepans, 204.
Saul, 76.
Savagery, 167.

Scent, 232, 233.
School, village, 79-91, 201 ; blamed
by missionary, 130; examina
tion, 86, 276; picnic for school
children, 121.
School, high, for girls in Samoa,
89, 128, 277.
Scrapers, 204, 206.
Scribe, 86, 92.
Sea-birds, 217.
Sea-sickness, 8.
Semanua, 274.
Sermons, 20, 21, 76.
Servants, domestic, 42 ; none, 168.
Sewing, 140.
Sewing class, 81.
Sewing machine, 81.
Sharks, 108, 171, 172, 247, 281.
Sheep, 255.
Shells, 174, 215, 225, 244; vide
Conch shells.
Ships, vide Clyde, John Williams,
Maori, Penguin, Porpoise, Royal
ist, Taviuni.
Shoot, 75.
Siali, 92.
Sidesmen, 22, 144.
Singing, 20, 5.8-70, 138, 142.
Sinnet, 177, 250.
Skin disease, 13, 42, 54"57, 96,
135-
Slander, 198.
Slee, Mr. 293.
Smoke, 179, 180, 204.
Smoking, 57, 61, 157; King the
only non-smoker. Why, 12 1.
Soil, 192.
Sollas, Professor, 305, 306.
Solonaima, 125, 142.
Songs, 72-78.
Sophia Island, 272.

INDEX

3*7

Spain, 75.
Spears, 74, 246.
Speeches, 63, 69, 156, 159, 161, 162,-
163, 278.
Spelling, phonetic, 85.
Spelling of Englishman, 85, 86.
Spiders, 73, 105, 240.
Spirits, 101, 102, 107 et seg., 181.
Spirits of white people thought
higher, 86.
Starfish, 99.
Stones, 204, 206, 209.
Stories, 92 et seg.
Straw, 228.
Stuart, Professor, 306.
Sturdee, Captain, 309.
Sub-Chief, 191 : vide Opataia.
Sugar-cane, 217.
Sunburn, 52.
Sunday, 17 et seg., 199, 205, 224.
Surf-riding, 170, 283.
Suva, 2, 6.
Swayne, Mr., 200.
Sweet, Mr., 299.
Sweetmeat, 213-215.
Swimming, 172.
Sydney, 78.
Taboo, 197.
Tagasia, 227.
Talofa, 113.
Tanei, 143, 144, 162, 173, 242,
265.
Tanks, 234.
Tapa, 113.
Taro, 119, 207, 208.
Tattoo, 146 et seg., 135.
Tavaii, 44, 65, 82, 85, 116, 128, 142,
170.
Taviuni, s.s., 6.
Teone, 104,

Thames, 76.
Thatch, 230.
Theft, 183, 184, 198.
Ti, 216.
Tili, 143 et seg., 119, 218, 226, 296.
Timber, 234.
Timothy, 73.
Tipcat, 176.
Tobacco, 134, 284 : vide Smoking.
Tokelau Islands, 89.
Tolotolo creeper, 51.
Tongans, 182, 240.
Tongan words, m.
Tongs, 209.
Tops, 173.
Torches, 181, 234.
Trade, 182, 224.
Trader, 130 et seg., 11, 80, 85, 86,
149, 162, 169, 179-185, 189, 190,
221, 265, 284, 289, 303.
Trades Union, 35, 38, 39.
Trays, 219.
Trees, 188, 189.
Trousseaux, 168.
Truthfulness (?), 185.
Tufaina, 49, 133, 157.
Turtle, 73, 154, 172, 190.
Tutuila, 280.
Vesuvius, 76.
Vice, 194.
Victoria, 78.
Village, 13-15, 286.
Vitolia, 89, 277, 280.
Wage-earning, 187.
Waist-cloths (lava-lavas), 23, 221,
222.
Walker, Miss, 292.
Wall, Mr. and Mrs., 8.
Walls, 286.

3*8

FUNAFUTI

Washing, 155.
Washing up, none, 219.
Water, 192, 214.
Wedding breakfast, 168.
Whistle, 176.
Wife-beating, 195.
Wind, 73.
Winds, 3.
Windmill, 176.
Wine, 73.
Wise woman, 48-51.

Women, 164 et seg., 149, 152 et seg.,
167, 190, 195, 200.
Woolnough, Mr., 299.
Wreaths, 60, 139, 157, 164, 221.
Wreaths for manure, 153.
Wrecks, 272, 280-282, 301-304.
Wrestling, 170.
Writing, 188.
Yams, 116, 122.

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