[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
LOLOWAY—MALO—THE BANKS ISLANDS 265
On my way inland I still found the paths
obstructed by fallen trees from the last cyclone,
while nearly all the cocoa-nut palms had lost their
nuts. And again the storm raged in the forest, and
the rain fell in torrents.
I was anxious to buy statues of tree-fern wood;
they are frequently to be seen here, standing along a
terrace or wall near the gamal, and seem not so much
images of ancestors, as signs of rank and wealth.
The caste may be recognized by the number of pigs’
jaws carved on the statues. Often the artist first
makes a drawing of the statue in red, white and black
paint on a board; and these same designs are used
as patterns for tattooing, as well as on ear—sticks and
other objects. Female statues are common, which is
an unusual thing.
I obtained a good number of skulls, which were
thrown into the roots of a fig tree, where I was
allowed to pick them up as I pleased.
The Suque is supposed to have originated here;
and here certainly it has produced its greatest
monuments, large altar-like walls, dams and ram-
parts. The gamals, too, are always on a foundation
of masonry, and on either side there are high
pedestals on which the pigs are sacrificed. Among
the stones used for building we often find great
boulders hollowed out to the shape of a bowl. No
one knows anything about these stones or their
purpose; possibly they are relics of an earlier popu-
lation that has entirely disappeared.
