[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

VAC 9 I

piece of ground. We saw big bananas, taro, with
large, juicy leaves, yams, trained on a pretty basket-
shaped trellis-work; when in bloom this looks like
a huge bouquet. There were pine-apples, cabbages,
cocoa-nut and bread—fruit trees, bright eroton bushes
and highly scented shrubs. In this green and con-
fused abundance the native spends his day, working a
little, loafing a great deal. He shoots big pigeons
and little parakeets, roasts them on an improvised
fire and eats them as a welcome addition to his
regular meals. From sun and rain he is sheltered
by simple roofs, under which everybody assembles at
noon to gossip, eat and laugh.

Long ago there were villages here. An enor-
‘ mous monolith, now broken, but once 5 metres
high, speaks for the energy of bygone generations,
when this rock was carried up from the coast, probably
for a monument to some great chief.

While the women were gathering food for the
evening meal we returned to Vao. The breeze had
stiffened in the midst of the channel, and one old
woman’s canoe had capsized. She clung to the boat,
calling pitifully for help, which amused all the men
on the shore immensely, until at last, none too
soon, they went to her rescue. Such adventures
are by no means harmless, as the channel swarms
with sharks.

We explored the interior of Vao, going first
through the thicket on the shore, then through reed-
grass over 6 feet high, then between low walls
surrounding little plantations. Soon the path widened,