ts 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 enormous 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, and
on both sides we saw stone slabs, set several rows deep; presently
we found ourselves under the wide vault of one of those immense fig
trees whose branches are like trunks, and the glare of the sun gave
way to deep shadow, the heat of noonday to soft coolness.

Gradually our eyes grow accustomed to the dimness, and we distinguish
our surroundings. We are in a wide square, roofed by the long branches
of the giant tree. At our left is its trunk, mighty enough in itself,
but increased by the numerous air-roots that stretch like cables
from the crown to the earth, covering the trunk entirely in some
spots, or dangling softly in the wind, ending in large tassels of
smaller roots. Lianas wind in distorted curves through the branches,
like giant snakes stiffened while fighting. This square is one of
the dancing-grounds of Vao. The rows of stones surround the square
on three sides--two, three or more deep. Near the trunk of the great
tree is a big altar of large slabs of rock; around it are stone tables
of smaller size, and one or two immense coral plates, which cover the
buried skull of some mighty chief. A large rock lies in the middle of
the road on a primitive slide half covered by stones and earth. Long
ago the islanders tried to bring it up from the beach; a strong vine
served as a rope, and more than fifty men must have helped to drag the
heavy rock up f