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

204 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

possessions from which they did not like to part
would suddenly turn out to be the property of some-
one else, which was a polite way of saying, “we have
that, but you won’t get it.”

In this way collecting was a very tiresome and
often disappointing process of bargaining, encourag-
ing, begging and flattering; often, just as I was
going away, some man or other would call me aside
to say that he had decided to sell after all, and was
ready to accept any price.

Horror and silent consternation were aroused
when I asked for skulls. “Lots over there,” they
said, pointing to an enclosed thicket, their burying-
ground. Only very rarely a man would bring me a
skull, at’the end of a long stick. Once I started on
the quest myself, armed with a shovel and spade; as
my servants were too much afraid of the dead to help,
I had to dig for myself. A man loafed near by,
attracted by the excited chatter of some old Women.
He told me sadly that I was digging up his papa,
although it was a woman; then he began to help
with some show of interest, assuring me that his
papa had two legs, whereas at first I could find but
one. A stranger had given me permission to dig, so
as to play a trick on the son ; but the latter was quite
reconciled when I paid him well. For a week all the
village talked of nothing but the white madman who
dug up bones; I became a celebrity, and peOple
made excursions from a distance to come and stare

at me.
Although the Suque is highly developed here,