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

AOBA 247

many pigs for him. He has shot a miserable pigeon,
and his mother and the girls laugh at the poor booty,
much to his chagrin.

Agelan now takes me to “view” a particularly
fine tusked pig, tied under a roof, on a clean couch of
straw; the boy shows it bits of cocoa-nut to make it
open its mouth, so that I can see and admire its tusks.
Agelan would like nothing better than to show off all
his pigs, and if I were a native I would pass them in
review as we Europeans visit picture-galleries; but I
refuse as politely as I can. We return to the cook-
house, where the cocoa-nut rasping is finished; the
man washes his hands in the water of a nut, splitting
it open and squeezing the water in a little spray on
to his hands. Mrs. Agelan knows a simpler way;
she fills her mouth with water and squirts it on her
hands. The cocoa-nut gratings are kneaded with a
little water, while the girls sweep the earth off the
cooking—place and uncover the stones; an appetizing
smell spreads, and the master of the house watches
the preparations with a sharp eye and a silent
tongue. One feels that the least carelessness will
provoke an outburst, and, indeed, a solemn silence
has fallen on the company, only the wife smiles
quietly.

“ Lap-lap banana good! ” Agelan roars in my ear,
and I nod assent. Now the hot stones are removed
with bamboo tongs, and the great flat object, wrapped
in banana leaves, is taken out. Mrs. Agelan throws
back the leaves and uncovers the beautifully cooked
golden lap-lap. Her lord looks at it critically, and